Uddrag af Knytlingesagaen om Knud den helliges udsendinge til Vendsyssel 1932 - 1935

This page, by Niels Larsen Stevns, is from around 1900 and is filled with tight, looping handwriting. It's like looking at a dense thicket of thoughts committed to paper. The ink is a dark, consistent tone, but there's a variation in the pressure and speed of the writing. Some words are formed with a swift, sure hand, while others appear more deliberate, almost as if Stevns paused to consider each letter. Look at how some of the words run together, the ascenders and descenders forming a kind of tangled dance. It reminds me of Cy Twombly’s scrawling gestures. It feels like a direct connection to the artist's mind, unedited and immediate. The texture of the page itself, slightly yellowed with age, adds to the sense of history and intimacy. This work, with its emphasis on language and narrative, is reminiscent of the way other Nordic artists like Edvard Munch explored literary themes in their work.