NorsePlay.

  I've successfully plotted 800 mappoints for my Map Of Midgard Project! This is the seventh progress update since  the initial blog post ,  the first update ,  the second update ,  the third update ,  the fourth update , the fifth update , and the sixth update . Of the original backlist of 360 mappoints left to plot, 178 potential sites remain. Again this list would be less by now, but additional data for other mappoints does keep appearing in the course of research to add to the grand total number. This update in point, of the 100 points mapped since last update 30 are additional! [text mural by Dane EB Itso thrown up in Vardø, Norway, on the southernmost building of the island.] The above in-real-life memepaint appeals to my project's sense of discovery & wonder. It is also the above piece's incidental self-countering reflexive function to then label this unknown but evocative Scandinavian building's physical truth, which then actively puts it o...

  I've successfully plotted 700 mappoints for my Map Of Midgard Project! This is the sixth update since  the initial blog post ,  the first update ,  the second update ,  the third update ,  the fourth update , and the fifth update . I'm still working on the remaining backlist of mappoints that weren't as easily findable during the course of my research. This list, originally  of 360 candidates, is now down to 248 possible additional locations. [yes, this is a for-real one-off promo Map Of Midgard t-shirt, because it's only getting closer with each of these posts!] While I expected to take on a more mercenary & expedient approach to this final list to get to a publication point, such an approach  doesn't respect the value of the data, so even though this lengthens the timeline of the project, I'm giving these the time they deserve. For example, no respectable Norse Lore map wouldn't include a speculative mappoint for Jotunheim , but that's a ...

  I've successfully plotted 600 mappoints for my Map Of Midgard Project! This is the fifth update since  the initial blog post ,  the first update ,  the second update , the third update , and the fourth update . As of now, I've finished reading & researching the last of the included book sources,  The Sagas of Fridthjof the Bold .  Fridthjof proved far more time consuming in terms of mapping. While fornaldarsögur (legendary sagas) are our favourites, they then  require a lot of extrapolation & speculative assignment depending how inexact/exotic/otherworldly locational they get, but when dealing in the currency of legends and applying that to mythic cartography, it's sometimes all you have to go on short of actually confirming through fieldwork and digging up a magic sword . †  You're given pieces and then have to search past the boundaries of those pieces to find those mappoints. [runic map puzzle piece from Ultima: Shroud of the Av...

I've successfully plotted 500 mappoints for my Map Of Midgard Project! This is the fourth update since  the initial blog post ,  the first update , the second update , and the third update . Currently I'm finishing up post-reading mappoints from the  Landnámabók  (the Icelandic Book of Settlements ), which features an exhaustive survey of 3,000 people and their 1,400 settlements, initially listing 435 men as the first settlers and then moving temporally & spatially forward with the usually genealogies that all Icelandic sources are self-documented with. While the historical importance of the Landnámabók is inarguable, I realize that the above numbers could sound instead like using a boring phone book to make a boring land survey, so I totally want to reassure you the project is category specific, and within that I'm very discerning in terms of using only the really fascinating locations for the Map Of Midgard , of which Landnámabók actually has many amazing nut...

World map from Atone , a NorsePlay 2D story-driven puzzle game with battle sequences, all in a hand-drawn angular art style with synth music. The game is scheduled for release in 2019 on PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One from Wildboy Studios. [ https://www.atonethegame.com/ ] #    #    # 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 .

Illustrator Sam Valentino's " Map of Midgard " from his Art Sam-ples blog. Made for The Making of Middle Earth book, the author wanted to show where Tolkien got the concept of "Middle-earth" as the name for the world, which is, of course, from the Norse Lore. And everything always goes back to Norse Lore. #    #    # 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 .