John Bauer (June 4, 1882 – November 20, 1918)

Into the Wide World

1907

John Bauer is an amazing illustrator, though he's, unfortunately, not as well known outside of Scandinavia. Also, Bauer died at a rather young age (he'd booked a steamer instead of a train on his way back to Stockholm, after news reached him of a recent train crash; the steamer suffered shipwreck and Bauer, along with his wife and their two-year-old son, died), so his life's output was cut bitterly short. But what we have left is wondrous and intricate and full of a grand romanticism, all enveloping the myths of Scandinavia. (As an aside, Norse mythology is wildly strange and fascinating and if these images peak your interest, I would recommend reading Snorri Sturluson's The Prose Edda (I can't vouch for this translation, but it's free), which I believe is the earliest surviving prose account of certain myths, though I could be mistaken.)