NorsePlay.

  Illustrator David Wyatt's Asgard from his otherworldly exploration  Nine Worlds in Nine Nights  book by "Hiawyn Oram" ( Walker Books, 2019 CE). #    #    # 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 t hen 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 e mployment/ opportunities in  investigative mythology,  field research, or product development to offer,  do contact him .

NorsePlay would like to take a moment this Yule to spot the influence of Frost Maiden turned Norse Goddess Gerðr within the figure of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale figure, The Snow Queen. The above Edmund Dulac illustration (1911 CE) found in Stories from Hans Andersen , features a regally divine lady, diaphanously dressed with her pallid arms bared, the Northern Lights encircling her head, perhaps projected or reflected from her physical presence. This presentation of comfort in extreme cold would suggest jötunness heritage given to her. Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy tale (1844 CE) also features heroine Gerda whose name may indicate a storyteller's easy choice of one degree of character displacement from Gerðr. The Snow Queen herself probably trickles down into C.S. Lewis' Imperial Majesty Jadis, Queen of Narnia, whom those thankless rebels impugn as "The White Witch". Gerðr's known for the feature of her shimmering arms, part of why G...

The above is a reconstruction of a tapestry fragment found in the Oseberg ship burial made from this: This lacuna-ridden ~12" long by ~8" wide weaving might've escaped notice on many digs, maybe been accidentally dug through or pushed aside as random gauze to get at some shinier sword fittings or silver treasures, but when we look very, very carefully at it, we can make out some of the details. Found during the excavation in 1903 CE, the Oseberg Tapestry makes its way to us after more than a millennium from a prestigious funeral in ~834 CE. That survival's something beyond magic, and the reconstruction by Stig Saxegaard of Storm Studios from 2018 CE (note the not-present colours in the artifact are an artistic choice in the visual reconstruction), revealing what are probably hung men sacrificed to Odin is grimly amazing. This process could be seen as a metaphor for the reconstruction of Ásatrú, for archaeology's restoration of a picture of the past, and of the a...

There's a lot going on in this vintage David Andersen made Norwegian Sterling Silver Viking Brooch 1960s Saga Series piece. Looking at the details, we have a Torslunda-patterned figure wearing what appears to be a winged cloak, crescent moons & spirals adorning the upper lining, a square chestplate, a crosspiece binding the figure's feet, and some seemingly aerodynamic fins coming off the sides of its head. As stated in the reverse's engraving below, this figure was recast & reinterpreted from an artifact by famous Norwegian Silversmith David Andersen and released in a limited run. Given the visual cues this could be many things: Freyja in her falcon cloak with the huge chest placard as  Brísingamen  and the side headknotworks as an up-do , Loki in Freyja's borrowed cloak (in  Þrymskviða ) if we look closer at the encircled lips that could be a round scar from their having once been sewn shut (in  Skáldskaparmál ), perhaps even  Baldr as the ches...