the Edda was written by a Raven.

During the early medieval period of Iceland, after the conversion brought with it a change from an oral tradition to written manuscripts, quills were made from goose, swan, and ravens' feathers.

Quills were always selected from a left wing, since the feather would curve away from the right-handed writer so they wouldn't Odinically poke themselves in the eye, nor have the feather blocking their line of sight from themselves to the page.

One could be poetic in saying that Huginn & Muninn had a pinion in the Prose Edda's scripting, the memory of Snorri writing, and the thoughts of Snorri composing, onto the vellum pages.

[Raven wing photo from the Slater Museum of Natural History
Raven Quill Dip Pen made by Mariya Green aka Vrana Raven (Etsy: vranaraven.)]

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Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants at age seven. Since then he's been fascinated by the truthful potency of Norse Mythology, passionately read & studied, embraced Ásatrú, launched the Map of Midgard project, and spearheaded the neologism/brand NorsePlay. If you have employment/opportunities in investigative mythology, field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.

Comments

  1. VinceJune 29, 2021 at 8:52 AM

    Very cool post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Guillermo the IVthJune 29, 2021 at 10:43 PM

      Thanks Vince! As a handwriting enthusiast I found the curving feathers factoid totally worth building a whole entry around.

      Delete

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