Scotia's Grieve

DAZ Studio 4Pro render, edited in Photoshop CS3.

Most of my work is doesn't need much of an explantion, but i feel i owe this one a few words.

I am fascinated by this woman. My home & studio sits on a hill overlooking Tralee Bay & the view is dominated by the massive Slieve Mish mountain range where Queen Scotia rests.

Scotia was the daughter of the Egyptian Pharoah Friel. Legend here has it that she was married off to an ambitious Tribal King from western Europe called Milesius. Far from being a marriage to merely cement an alliance, Scotia loved her King & was adored by him & his tribes' people.
Seeking to expand his territory Milesius travelled to what is now the Kingdom of Kerry around 1700BC with a raiding party. Here he was ambushed & fataly wounded by the native Tuatha Dé Danann tribe & fled back to Europe where he died with his beloved young Queen.
Scotia was so enraged by the loss of her husband, that she raised an army & returned to Tralee Bay, intent on revenging the death of her King.
Sadly in the ensueing battle, she was knocked from her horse & soon after died from her injurys. Her people buried her beside the river Finglas in the hidden valley of Glenn Scoithin (Vale of the Little Flower) deep in the Slieve Mish Mountains. Here she has lain for over 3700 years in a stone tomb carved with her name in Egyptian Heiroglyphics.

I often walk my dogs along this beautiful sheltered little valley high on the windswept mountainside & always pause by her tomb to sit with her awhile & to look at the faded glyphs of the fallen Egyptian Princess. It's sad to think of her intured forever in this lonely place far from native land.

For my friend "The Master Armourer" - John Reilly - the wonderfully talented model maker who created the stunning sword featured in this image.