NorsePlay.

From the hands of the director of Troll Hunter  (2010 CE) comes another foray into the fields of NorsePlay: Mortal (2020 CE). Vagrant American tourist Eric (Nat Wolff) is hiding out in the Norwegian forest, on the lam from an apparent arson fire/murder at his cross-Atlantic family's farm. Eric is apparently emotionally damaged with post-traumatic stress from whatever actually happened, and has nightmares involving fire . Another apparent murder lands him in the local Ossa jail, where rookie psychologist Christine (Iben Akerlie) is called in to speak with him before U.S. authorities are to show up and extradite him. Willing to talk to her, Eric then seems to manifest some electrokinetic powers , which she intuits are related to his volatile emotional state, and manages to talk him down. The film becomes something of a chase movie in its second act, with a final reveal of why Eric is gifted/cursed with his electrokinesis. This dynamic, however, was explored in  The New Mutant...

As cultural champions of the Norse Lore & the 1980s, we're surprised to have never noticed this clip from 1987's Adventures in Babysitting , where the director sets up a young Vincent D'Onofrio as an avatar of Marvel Thor ! The joke here is that mechanic Dawson apparently isn't Thor, but the strongly presented visual diegesis of the film, along with how he, at the end of the exchange, acknowledges that perhaps he is Thor . Within that there's a lesson in Heathen Worldview in looking at how future Harry Potter director Chris Columbus sets up the majesty of Dawson's entrance. Sarah, a true believer in Thor, sees Thor when no one else can, or they're at least too secularized by non-belief and adulthood to perceive Thor, who actually has three kids and takes on two more as servants during one of his journeys to Jotunheim , and his begrudging change due to Sarah's persistence suits his role as a father. Dawson's temper at an implied ef feminate ness...

Gathering from online reviews, previews, and our personal powers of speculation, the Nordic Netflix show Ragnarok harnesses elements from the reincarnation & self-discovery of the children's book series The Blackwell Pages and the New Zealand TV cult favourite The Almighty Johnsons of gods into mortals, and partly the contemporary fantasy of American Gods  and tabletop RPG Scion , into what seems to be a teen fantasy drama. Headed by Danish writer Adam Price (of the successful Danish political series  Borgen)  and Danish editor-turned-debut-director Mogens Hagedorn, the show's set in the pointedly named town of Edda (actually shot in Odda, Norway). The description colour text: " In a Norwegian town poisoned by pollution and rattled by melting glaciers, the End Times feel all too real. It’ll take a legend to battle an old evil. " So it appears literal & figurative corporate giants are intentionally ruining the environment in order t...

We remember staring in shock at this 1978 Marvel Thor cover as a kid, wondering who exactly managed to take the mantle of Thor, and Sif with it. The answer was Red Norvell, a visiting cameraman of a New York news crew in golden Asgard who had more than a little help from (you guessed it) Loki. It was a rather neat three issue storyline. #    #    # 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 .