the hung men spake in the creak of ropes from Odin's gallows tree.


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 application of imagination in NorsePlay itself. 

NorsePlay hopes an extrapolated complete physical reconstruction will one day be made available of this relic for one's wall, or at least in a nice gift shop tea towel print.

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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.

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