Gandalf

Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head (after Saruman's betrayal and fall) of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West. In The Lord of the Rings, he is initially known as Gandalf the Grey, but returns from death as Gandalf the White.

At the International Gypsy Festival, 2008

At the International Gypsy Festival, 2008

Violinist

A Serbian nationalist (or 'Cetnik') flashes a clenched fist saluteduring a rally at Mt. Ravna Gora, central Serbia, Sunday, May 13, 2007.

Stuart MacBride

Stuart MacBride is a Scottish writer, most famous for his crime thrillers set in the "Granite City" of Aberdeen and featuring Detective Sergeant Logan McRae.

A nude Hindu saint removing his own beard hairs.Another nude saint is removing his hairs on the head.

Writers: Rex Stout

Rex Todhunter Stout (December 1, 1886 – October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. Stout is best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the detective genius from 1934 (Fer-de-Lance) to 1975 (A Family Affair).

The Nero Wolfe corpus was nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon 2000, the world's largest mystery convention, and Rex Stout was nominated Best Mystery Writer of the Century.

Jesus (2)

 Refrain from filling yourself up with hot drinks, if you want to keep your beard!

The male beard as proof of God

From Bjørn Østman's blog


Why are men's beards so perfectly shaped? Most men have beard growing only in very defined areas on the face. It doesn't go all the way up to the ears, but instead there is an narrow area around the ear that's beard free. Below the eyes and down to the center of the cheeks there is no beard, and in two little patches below the mouth there isn't any either. Also nothing on the nose, forehead, or temples. Check out the pictures below.

What I truly don't understand is why the creationists haven't latched on to this curious fact of the shape of the male beard. It's the ultimate God of the gaps argument: The male beard is so perfectly shaped and so obviously designed that the Darwinists will never find a way to explain it. For what could possible be the advantage of having beard where men do, but not in those other areas? It's clearly cleverly designed to make men look as stunning as they do.

Jesus (1)

Not the first case of a body painted beard on this blog (see Hairy Sex, here), but well worth a post is this depiction of Jesus Christ.

Grave Diggers

The Grave Digger of Polotzk

The Death of the Grave Digger by Carlos Schwabe

Illustration from Third Eye Blind. 'Compassionate care'

Vicopisano

 Medieval Festival of Vicopisano 2010, Tuscany, Italy

Beards & Berets: Ramón María del Valle-Inclán y de la Peña

One of the nicest beards I've ever seen: Ramón María del Valle-Inclán y de la Peña's (1866 – 1936), Spanish dramatist, novelist and member of the Spanish Generation of 98 , is considered perhaps the most noteworthy and certainly the most radical dramatist working to subvert the traditionalism of the Spanish theatrical establishment in the early part of the 20thcentury. His drama is made all the more important by its influence on later generations of Spanish dramatists. Therefore, on the national theater day, his statue in Madrid receives the homage of the theatrical profession.

His early writings were in line with French symbolism and modernism; his later works became radical formal experiments. His political views changed from traditional absolutism (in Spain known as Carlismo) towards anarchism. This also caused him problems.

All his life he struggled to live up to his bohemian ideals, and stayed loyal to his steticist beliefs. During a row with a fellow writer his wrist was wounded and became infected, and he lost his arm.

In addition to being politically subversive, though, Valle-Inclán's plays often required staging and direction that went far beyond the abilities of many companies working in the commercial theatre, often featuring complex supernatural special effects and rapid, drastic changes of scene. For this reason, some of his works are regarded as closet dramas.

Due to a lack of translations his work is still largely unknown in the English-speaking world.

More Beards & Berets; in the Arts

Guiseppe de Luca - portrait of a bearded man, watercolour

And it is not only the artists themselves that are bearded and beret-clad

Rembrandt, "Bearded Man in Beret", 1657

but very much their subjects too!

17th Century Dutch Bawdy Tavern Scene Depicting Old Man Embracing Woman

Make a piece of art of yourself; get your own here!

Alexander Orlovsky Old Man Wearing beret

More Berets, on Gauchos

One can never have too many berets and likewise for this blog: there can never be too many posts on Beards and Berets!

 Among the Gauchos, for example.

 Be a man, get your own here!

Beards & Berets

Interesting how many beret-wearers also sport a beard.

I am not an anthropologist, nor a sociologist or psychologist and can only guess what the reasons behind this phenomenoncould be.

Possibly a strong affiliation with the sheep where the beret's wool comes from, or an overall desire to stay warm.Possibly a desire to hide one's head and face from view, although this shyness clashes with the attention that both berets and beards can generate...

A show of masculinity could be another reason, but then, so many women wear a beret as well these days, so that would be merely compensation.

Anyway, doing a little research on the subject rewarded me with some beautiful pictures; (from top to bottom) this 'far from shy' man from Cuba, a man at the University Library of Missouri, a bearded beret-wearer in Coolea, County Cork and this older Indian gentleman in Rajasthan.

And last, this bearded jazzman outside Newcastle University Union:

Visit South Pacific Berets to get your own!

Coptic Monks

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the official name for the largest Christian church in Egypt and the Middle East. The Church belongs to the Oriental Orthodox family of churches, which has been a distinct church body since the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, when it took a different position over Christological theology from that of the Eastern Orthodox Church. 

The precise differences in theology that caused the split with the Coptic Christians are still disputed, highly technical and mainly concerned with the nature of Christ. The foundational roots of the Church are based in Egypt but it has a worldwide following. According to tradition, the church was established by Saint Mark the apostle and evangelist in the middle of the 1st century (approximately AD 42). The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa on the Holy See of Saint Mark.

As of 2012, about 10% of Egyptians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was born on March 3, 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father taught elocution and his mother was deaf. In 1870, Bell and his family moved to Canada.

On March 7, 1876, the U.S. Patent Office granted Bell a patent for a communication device for "transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically." However, in 2002, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill conferring recognition for the invention of the telephone to Antonio Meucci. Later that year, the Parliament of Canada countered with a bill conferring official recognition for the invention to Bell. The controversy continues.

Samuel Morse

Morse developed 'lightning wires' and 'Morse code,' an electronic alphabet that could carry messages. The patent was applied for in 1840. A line was constructed between Baltimore and Washington and the first message, sent on May 24,1844, was 'What hath God wrought!' 

Egyptians

A false beard was a symbol of religious symbols and the Royal and noble in ancient Egypt.

Although beards were popular with ancient Egyptian men during the predynastic period, by the early dynastic period it had become fashionable, at least among the noble classes, to shave off all facial hair. This fashion spread to the rest of the population as time progressed. 

Despite this, certain types of beard were strongly associated with divinity . in particular a closely plaited beard was considered to be a divine attribute. For this reason, the pharaoh would wear a ceremonial false beard in certain ceremonial situations to emphasise his god-like qualities. This false beard was often made of goat's hair and was wider at the bottom than the top. 

When deceased, the pharaoh was often depicted as Osiris, and so wore the osiriform beard which was long and narrow with a curl at the end. Even non-royal men were sometimes depicted with a short form of this beard after their death.

The Romans

 Hadrien

 Marcus Aurelius

Emperor Lucius Verus