Rhapsodies

Two-thirds into this and I’m back with Hans Christian Andersen with one of the best examples of the grateful dead motif (no, not that Grateful dead) The Traveling Companion.

The Traveling Companion is one of my favorite Andersen stories but it’s also one of the more frustrating ones since once again there’s not much about it that really stands out. Sure, there’s some really cool scene’s in it, my favorite being the one where he chases the witch in flight using borrowed wings, but there really any images that I could show you and you would say, “Hey. That’s from the Traveling Companion, isn’t it?”

So pretty much that leaves me with our hero, John, meeting the traveling companion. Not much about it to write home about, but it brings the general theme across. I think it’s important to capture the look of the companion. I always see him as tall and dignified, sort of a cross between Max Von Sydow and Ian McKellen.