The Valley of Song: Week 1

Artists, Job's Inspiration, and the Workshop

The frontispiece of The Valley of Song by Elizabeth Goudge in the UK edition, 1951

“Best of all were the six swans anchored like sailing-ships among the lilies. One of them was bigger than the others, and he was so lovely that when Job saw him he caught his breath. He was the very pattern of all swans, with feathers so white that they dazzled the eyes…”

🌿 Elizabeth Goudge, The Valley of Song

Artist and Their Workshop

Though Elizabeth Goudge was in the middle of grieving the loss of her mother after years of being her caregiver, she decided to write a fairytale. Goudge’s biographer, Christine Rawlins, says that:

“What ‘came through’ (grief) was the inspiration for a novel about a kind of parallel world, where a little girl discovers The Workshop - the creative source of everything beautiful on earth. Living so close to the shadow of death, Elizabeth yet wrote a beautiful fantasy in which there is almost nothing but joy. Youth is restored; old hurts are healed; dreams come true. There is beauty, colour, light and music everywhere: everything is (literally) heavenly in that place.”¹

Artist Problems

Artists sometimes have a couple of problems when trying to perform their art: lack of supplies & lack of inspiration. Today we will take a look at how Goudge solves these common problems in the first four chapters of The Valley of Song.

The Valley of Song by Elizabeth Goudge, UK edition, 1951

Join us today for a look at the problems of Artists, the inspiration for the woodcarver, Job, and the abundance of the Workshop…

Lack of Supplies

When artists embark on their mission, they usually need some tools to help them along the way. If you want to write on Substack, you will need a laptop to write on. You may need a phone to take photos for posts. If you want to plant a new patch, like I often do in my garden at Havenwood, you will need money for plants or seed, or perhaps a new shovel.