once again Jadan has realised a commission idea brilliantly! Many thanks again for this atmospheric work and the usual wonderfully pleasant and very constructive contact!
For this Feral picture with my Friesian stallion character, we were aiming for a "The last unicorn" mood, but with a twist:
In this commission, Steppenfire has a nocturnal visit from a 'Night Mare' ...
The word "nightmare" has no real linguistic connection to female horses. Rather, it describes an evil, female spirit or goblin (incubus) that plagues sleeping people with the feeling of suffocation.
In Proto-Germanic, "maron" is a word for 'goblin' and went through several variations:
Middle Low German = Mar
Middle Dutch = Mare
Old High German = Mara
Old Norse = Mara (nightmare / Incubus)
German = Mahr (incubus)
But the Incubus also has a connection to horses in the form of the Drude (also Drud/Trut), the name by which this spirit that takes the breath away from sleeping people is known, especially in my native region Bavaria and Austria.
If the Drud could not get into the house to torment a victim, she liked to sneak into the stable. If a farmer went into the stable in the morning and his horses had had their manes and tails plaited overnight, were dripping wet with sweat and panting with exertion, this was a sign in popular belief that there was a Drude/Mahr in the stable.
The panicked neighing of mares at night could therefore also be interpreted as a sign that a Drud or nightmare was on the loose...
~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~
Restless dreams plagued the black stallion, who had been wandering lonely through the dark woods for days...
His saddlecloth and bridle had gradually been lost in the undergrowth... now only useless evidences of his former service, after he had already lost his rider in the great battle on the field days ago. Like countless soldiers and horses from both sides, his master had been left lifeless on the earthy, blood-drenched ground...
And the dangers of the dense forest that lay before him had lost their terror under the noise of this battle...
Standing near a rushing spring, the stallion had fallen into a doze at nightfall... his ears pricked up, while his nostrils evenly drew in the cold air and exhaled in warm, visible breath.
But this night it was not the memories of the battle-screams that woke him up... no distant howls of wolves or calls of hunting owls... The echoing neighing of another horse roused him from his sleep.
A mare?
The mist lay coldly over the spring as the stallion's dark brown eyes scrutinised the surroundings. An almost mystical light seemed to emanate from the mist as the faint moonlight fell on it. No other sound could be heard until suddenly another neigh broke the silence.
And then she stepped out from between the trees: A young mare with a beautiful coat that shone mystically like the moonlight... Her pearl-coloured mane and tail blew gently in the wind and seemed to merge here and there with the mist, as if she had risen from it.
The Frisian's heart immediately began to beat faster. He drew attention to himself with an impressive grunt and trotted closer with a springy gait... tossing his long, black mane to the side to show off his muscular neck.
The mare stopped seductively... squealed softly in the direction of the black stallion in order to inviting him to follow her to the other side of the forest stream.
But as the stallion entered the water, he suddenly stopped. The surface of the water reflected the true... frightening nature of his nocturnal visit:
The mare's reflection moved slowly to the stallion's position as a pale, sinister skeleton... all while her worldly appearance remained as beautiful and enticing as the first moment she appeared... Motionless, she kept her gaze turned towards the stallion.
The stallion watched in disbelief as his own reflection in the water remained bent forwards, even as he fearfully retreated. The waving of the mare's tail on the opposite bank became more ghostly, even as her eerie reflection approached his own closer and closer on the water...
And all at once, the previously still spring were whipped up as the mare's skull snapped at his reflection, seemingly dragging it under the water with it. Terrible, plaintive neighing echoed from the trees ... and when the stallion tried to look at the mare again, she had disappeared.
Panicked, the stallion reared up and wanted to run away in one turnaround... only to look directly into the pale face of the mare, who had silently appeared right behind him...
From one moment to the next, the stallion woke up in a cold sweat...
Before he could realise what had happened and where he was, a large stable door creaked open and rays of sunlight broke through the thick, slightly dusty air. One of his master's stablehands approached his stall with a saddlecloth and bridle... And with calm, serious words he spoke soothingly to the horse:
"I hope you are rested... Today you go into battle"
~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~
While the idea for this picture was strongly inspired by the song "Mares of the night" by Glen Gabriel, the following two themes express the mood better:
Andrey Vinogradov - Aequilibrium
Loreena McKennitt - The Mystic's Dream
For this Feral picture with my Friesian stallion character, we were aiming for a "The last unicorn" mood, but with a twist:
In this commission, Steppenfire has a nocturnal visit from a 'Night Mare' ...
The word "nightmare" has no real linguistic connection to female horses. Rather, it describes an evil, female spirit or goblin (incubus) that plagues sleeping people with the feeling of suffocation.
In Proto-Germanic, "maron" is a word for 'goblin' and went through several variations:
Middle Low German = Mar
Middle Dutch = Mare
Old High German = Mara
Old Norse = Mara (nightmare / Incubus)
German = Mahr (incubus)
But the Incubus also has a connection to horses in the form of the Drude (also Drud/Trut), the name by which this spirit that takes the breath away from sleeping people is known, especially in my native region Bavaria and Austria.
If the Drud could not get into the house to torment a victim, she liked to sneak into the stable. If a farmer went into the stable in the morning and his horses had had their manes and tails plaited overnight, were dripping wet with sweat and panting with exertion, this was a sign in popular belief that there was a Drude/Mahr in the stable.
The panicked neighing of mares at night could therefore also be interpreted as a sign that a Drud or nightmare was on the loose...
~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~
Restless dreams plagued the black stallion, who had been wandering lonely through the dark woods for days...
His saddlecloth and bridle had gradually been lost in the undergrowth... now only useless evidences of his former service, after he had already lost his rider in the great battle on the field days ago. Like countless soldiers and horses from both sides, his master had been left lifeless on the earthy, blood-drenched ground...
And the dangers of the dense forest that lay before him had lost their terror under the noise of this battle...
Standing near a rushing spring, the stallion had fallen into a doze at nightfall... his ears pricked up, while his nostrils evenly drew in the cold air and exhaled in warm, visible breath.
But this night it was not the memories of the battle-screams that woke him up... no distant howls of wolves or calls of hunting owls... The echoing neighing of another horse roused him from his sleep.
A mare?
The mist lay coldly over the spring as the stallion's dark brown eyes scrutinised the surroundings. An almost mystical light seemed to emanate from the mist as the faint moonlight fell on it. No other sound could be heard until suddenly another neigh broke the silence.
And then she stepped out from between the trees: A young mare with a beautiful coat that shone mystically like the moonlight... Her pearl-coloured mane and tail blew gently in the wind and seemed to merge here and there with the mist, as if she had risen from it.
The Frisian's heart immediately began to beat faster. He drew attention to himself with an impressive grunt and trotted closer with a springy gait... tossing his long, black mane to the side to show off his muscular neck.
The mare stopped seductively... squealed softly in the direction of the black stallion in order to inviting him to follow her to the other side of the forest stream.
But as the stallion entered the water, he suddenly stopped. The surface of the water reflected the true... frightening nature of his nocturnal visit:
The mare's reflection moved slowly to the stallion's position as a pale, sinister skeleton... all while her worldly appearance remained as beautiful and enticing as the first moment she appeared... Motionless, she kept her gaze turned towards the stallion.
The stallion watched in disbelief as his own reflection in the water remained bent forwards, even as he fearfully retreated. The waving of the mare's tail on the opposite bank became more ghostly, even as her eerie reflection approached his own closer and closer on the water...
And all at once, the previously still spring were whipped up as the mare's skull snapped at his reflection, seemingly dragging it under the water with it. Terrible, plaintive neighing echoed from the trees ... and when the stallion tried to look at the mare again, she had disappeared.
Panicked, the stallion reared up and wanted to run away in one turnaround... only to look directly into the pale face of the mare, who had silently appeared right behind him...
From one moment to the next, the stallion woke up in a cold sweat...
Before he could realise what had happened and where he was, a large stable door creaked open and rays of sunlight broke through the thick, slightly dusty air. One of his master's stablehands approached his stall with a saddlecloth and bridle... And with calm, serious words he spoke soothingly to the horse:
"I hope you are rested... Today you go into battle"
~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~°o°~~
While the idea for this picture was strongly inspired by the song "Mares of the night" by Glen Gabriel, the following two themes express the mood better:
Andrey Vinogradov - Aequilibrium
Loreena McKennitt - The Mystic's Dream
Category Artwork (Digital) / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Horse
Gender Multiple characters
Size 3101 x 1800px
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