NorsePlay.

[plant matter, pine, lichen, and moss, suspended in resin!] NorsePlay has to ask if the ancient Germanic tribes had 3D printers and polycarbonate to create with whether they might've celebrated the runes in these materials, highly elaborating on their decorative aspects to better court the attention of the Norns and obtain deeper readings, or to use as sharper foci for galdr or  seiðr . [Yellow Glitter Runes!] In terms of "blooding" the runes, there's even a gold flake & pigs blood version that has suspended dots of blood in them. That's some serious  Neo-Vitki  tech for you. [Crafted by Portland's SaintDeath on Etsy, thanks to friend & artist Chiara Caballero for bringing these to our attention.] #    #    # 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...

In the Warhammer 40K Horus Heresy short story of The Harrowing , author Rob Sanders uses two neologisms, runebanks & runescreens , to describe devices of the technologically oriented Adeptus Mechanicus. We felt these two words alone were NorsePlay-evocative enough in terms of the implied uninterrupted use of runes , and wondered how we could runepunk that into our hardware/ software interfaces, so as to simultaneously NorsePlay the past, present, & future. Seeking manifestations of this, a few years ago designer MiTo made a limited-run of customizable keycaps called Canvas XDA. The alpha keys in the pictures below are the Dieter Rams rune kit based on the Elder Futhark alphabet.  (Rams was a German functionalist designer of the late 1950s to 1960s CE, whom MiTo named this modern runic product variation after.) [ergo-split futhark keyboard assembled by Xah Lee.] [wood-base version assembled by reddit user LukeNukem6.] With these in hand, code-skalds, it is ti...

Artist Will Wright explores a form of NorsePlay he titles "Folk Graff", an attempt to heal "the cultural timeline from the Neolithic period to present day via contemporary street art." After being loaned a 1983 Porsche 944, Wright bought toy versions to redesign into a Northern European shaman's "Wizardmobile"! We love the elder futhark racing stripe, and he's tagged the doors with a single eye -prominent raven logo. On top of his urban designs, Wright's stated wish to "heal" not only corrects the misuse of Nordic culture by racists & fascists, we also see it as helping to fill in the huge temporal gap between the conversion and modern day by establishing an artful & aesthetic beachhead we can move forward from, and that's something the greater concept of NorsePlay totally agrees with and supports in its very idea. [go and see Will Wright's awesome portfolio & wares here .] #    #    # Guillerm...

Because the Futhark always leaves an impression. We feel someone should retrofit a typewriter with these. [on Etsy from metalsupplychick.] #    #    # 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 .

In a no-conversion scenario, a cursive Futhark might have developed. The idea's still a valid one, and if we re-embrace & restore ritual/artistic/communicative use of the runes as way of building Asatru/Heathen Worldview, then something more script-like could evolve, a more truly connected cursive, and become useful. We would love to see a font developed from this. [by Erik Parsels of Middle Earth Craftworks.] #    #    # 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 o...

Eight-sided rune dice in birch wood! The Elder Futhark have been separated into each of the three aetts onto each one of these dice. The figuring and marbling of the birch is lovely and adds to the unique approach of using the runes. [From mazedasastoat's Etsy shop.] #    #    # 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 .

Sterling Rune Dice! These 24-sided Elder Futhark dice are based on a naturally occurring garnet shape, come 1/2" wide, and are hand engraved. [Made by domestic platypus for $49 each or $140 for a set of 3.] #    #    # 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 .

We've been waiting a long time for Asatru-themed wax seals for our formal correspondence. If the kings had not converted, perhaps these are what might've been used in a more Heathen  Renaissance. [From MisterStamp 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 .