NorsePlay.

The Norse Lore has assigned hall names for many of the Gods' residences, but an omission I've always been curious about is where Bragi dwells. While Bragi, in a very Baldr-like way, is always welcome everywhere thanks to his storytelling abilities and the potential to glorify his host in poetry, it's never mentioned where he actually goes home to. Functionally Bragi's partly described as a meet-and-greeter for the honoured warriors who come into Valhalla. One could suppose that maybe he heralds them upon entry, perhaps naming & enumerating their martial deeds for those already in the hall. But this MC duty still doesn't actually place Bragi as living in Valhalla. There's also the possibly that he perhaps instead moved in with  Iðunn . One attestation from  Hrafnagaldr Óðins places Iðunn as descending from elves, as one of "Ivaldi's elder children", and as a dís who dwells in dales. Those descriptors would make Iðunn at least part elf and poss...

In Ibn Fadlan's Risala  (§ 85) , when Viking trading trips to Russia didn't work out after their first four attempts at the market after leaving offerings at the large godpoles , merchants would then employ a roundabout appeal via Gods' wives & children   by instead leaving offerings at their smaller statues surrounding those godpoles  to then intercede for them and get their Gods' attention & favour that way. This one-degree-removed hierarchy networking seems amusing, yet let's NorsePlay this idea from a religious practice standpoint and look at the divinity of the children themselves. Some modern Asatruar point out that the Æsir Gods & Ásynjur Goddesses are usually too busy to attend to individual appeals since on a cosmic level they are big picture beings keeping the Norse Níuverse in order . For instance, Odin's chessmastering things so Ragnarök either never happens or to make it so that the Aesir get the upper hand to  defeat the prophecies ...

  [hey there Loki , Thor, Valkyrie, Hela , and Sif !] As the close of summer approaches, NorsePlay presents this Marvel-ous fanservice cosplay version of the Æsir having a weapon-bearing loungeabout in a backyard pool. This totally updates the seasonal  Sports Illustrated -style swimsuit issues Marvel would sometimes put out in the 1980s. Also, you can't see below the waterline, but Thor 's trunks have the four steel shield chest badges on them. It's the less-is-more/just-enough  minimal   details of this group cosplay that we appreciate. [photo by Adrienne Longo.] #    #    # 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 spearheade...

Balder leads the next generation of Æsir from the ashes of Ragnarök in Marvel Entertainment's The Mighty Thor #294. This surviving line-up's made of Hoder, Hoenir, Magni, Modi, Vali, Ve, Vidar , and Vili. Note the hole in Balder's white tunic where the mistletoe arrow's been removed. [pencils by Keith Pollard, April 1980.] #    #    # 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 .

Scene 2A - "Meeting of the Gods: Ensemble" from Robert Wilson's Edda . This play premiered in Oslo, Norway and will run in Aarhus, Denmark in November. The stills from it run dreamlike to absurdist. While it's interesting to see someone besides Wagner take a staged run at Norse Mythology, Ladyofthe Labyrinth had some serious criticism for the Texan playwright/director's stylized interpretation in a recent Q&A. Have any of the rest of you seen this play? If so, would Snorri approve? [More photos/details here: http://www.robertwilson.com/edda/ ] #    #    # 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. ...

Eastern-European woodcarving style meets Lewis Chessmen-esque in this set of Norse Gods made by Triumpho . At 13 cm each, one could imagine that these are the golden gamepieces found in the grass after Ragnarök. [Found on Etsy.] #    #    # 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 .

Richard Wagner arguably perpetrated the most grandiose NorsePlay in 1876 with his Ring Cycle featuring Germanic versions of the Norse Gods. I sat enraptured for the whole 17-hour, four-opera run of the James Levine conducted Metropolitan Opera 1990 presentation on PBS. #    #    # 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 .

SPI Games put out in 1981 a hex-and-counter boxed NorsePlay game of Ragnarok: Twilight of the Gods ! We remember seeing this on a store shelf back in the day and needing more allowance. Have any of you played this? [Compare to TSR's similar offering only a year later.] #    #    # 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 .

Back in 1982, TSR put out a series of clamshell paper & chit games, one of which was the gem Viking Gods . A two-player game that enacted Ragnarök where one of you rallied the Æsir and the other controlled the adversaries, with the hex map showing a swirly oil endpaper patterned Bifrost, an icy frost giants area, and a deadly vortex in the middle from which Hela randomly emerges to take final victims from both sides. There were basic introductory rules & then an advanced ruleset where the Gods/adversaries had special powers, but it's pretty even chances in this one. After spotting it in the store as a kid who'd spent his allowance already, one finally fell into my hands last year which the wife & I played, and it was fun-fun. Yes, the Gods do play with wyrd dice, Mr Einstein. [And a closeup of those Fire Giants.] #    #    # Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in  the Norse Lore when he picked up a copy of the d'...

While irreverently NorsePlay'd, it's certainly awareness wearable pop cult modern. #    #    # 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 .

Loki's long-suffering wife, Sigyn , is the subject of this fourth Norse Goddess meme in the series. The tears through the dust in the top right panel are a telling choice of commitment married to regret, while the contrast of the fifth & sixth panels show her sons before one is used to kill the other to make bindings for her captured husband. Or the wolf in the sixth panel could also be Loki shifted into a wolf and the couple in a fleetingly happier moment. In the seventh panel is the bowl she uses to intercept the serpent's venom of dripping down on her bound husband's face, thus also sparing us from the earthquakes caused by his uncontrollable writhing ... at least until her bowl is full and she leaves to empty it again. [Found on a VK Wall. If any of you know who made these, do tell. (And if you know the particular meme generator used, do tell, as we'd love to make more ourselves.)] #    #    # Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something spec...