NorsePlay.

I've successfully plotted 1100+ mappoints for my Map Of Midgard Project! This is the ninth progress update since  the initial blog post ,  the first update ,  the second update ,  the third update ,  the fourth update ,  the fifth update ,  the sixth update , the seventh update , and the eighth update . What marks this as a watershed is that aggregating mappoints is now "complete", and the Map Of Midgard Project can move one huge step forward towards publishing physical maps! When originally starting this project over six years ago , I imagined that there would be fewer than 100 mappoints. Then finding literature-to-location correspondences exponentially grew into far, far more than I'd imagined. Even with over 1100, there's more out there, but I feel that stickpinning a thousand-plus mappoints is a massive accomplishment and contribution of aggregation & original research to the field of Norse Lore. And sure, there's certainly more mappoints to be...

I've successfully plotted 900 mappoints for my Map Of Midgard Project! This is the eighth progress update since  the initial blog post ,  the first update ,  the second update ,  the third update ,  the fourth update ,  the fifth update , the sixth update , and the seventh update . Of the original backlist of 360 mappoints left to plot, 122 potential sites remain. Of the 100 points mapped since last update 44 were outside of that backlist thanks to more references & sources popping up. I keep thinking that if I read enough Norse Lore to make data for the Map Of Midgard that I'll put things together in a way no one else has via this map, and something will emerge in one of these stickpins for me to find. Something wonderous. Something magical. Something numinous. While the Map Of Midgard itself I feel fulfills that requirement in creating a geographical wonder that has places rife with sorcery, lairs & appearances of supernormal creatures, and...

  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...

I've successfully plotted 400 mappoints for my Map Of Midgard Project! This is the third update since  the initial blog post ,  the first update , and the second update . Instead of flashing another map teaser screenshot, this update I'm going to reveal how in-depth my research is in terms of my stacks of reading material. As I read sources, I use many, many, many metal page points to bookmark specific lines with references to possible places for Map Of Midgard  inclusion. For instance, my pictured copy of Njal's Saga upon finished reading has 77 page points in it, so for a book of 375 pages, (if it were spaced evenly) that's a citation that needs researching more frequently than every five pages! [with my spine-curved & spider-creased deluxe The Sagas of Icelanders .] I'm currently reading Orkneyinga Saga , to be followed up by Guta Saga , Jómsvíkinga Saga , and Landnámabók for the last, though if those readings lead us to more super must-have so...

As of a few days ago, I've successfully plotted 300 mappoints for my Map Of Midgard Project! This is the second update since the initial blog post and the first update . Serious progress. Now you're probably wondering at the points on the above screencap in North/Central/South America. While some mappoints are namesake sites for land features named after figures in the Norse Lore, and Viking exploration/settlement sites, there are other speculative and thought provoking sites we're including in the spirit of open debate/legend/scientific theory, and you have discovering them & their locations to look forward to when the map goes live. There remain 350+ locations left to attempt to map (which is a stunning 120 more than the last post) which only grows in number as more source/secondary/tertiary materials are mined for Lore-relevant sites. We suspect 500-600 mappoints by time of publication, so this may be a very exciting halfway mark, if our estimate is correct. ...

As of this writing, I've plotted 200 mappoints for my Map Of Midgard Project! This is the first update since the original blog post  as 200's an achievement of remarkable single-handed progress in & of itself. Note in the above screencap that Iceland resembles a cartographic porcupine mostly because they recognize & love their landvættir , and they're saga-riffic about recording their past. There remain 270+ locations left to attempt to map, and this number grows as more source/secondary/tertiary materials are mined for Lore-relevant sites. Subscribe & stay tuned to NorsePlay for more updates & announcements about my Map Of Midgard Project. Description Landvættir .  "There must be ready and generous cooperation between experts in different fields of knowledge if we are to make profitable use of the wealth of new information piling up concerning the pagan religion from which the myths emerged."   ~ H.R. Ellis Davidson #...

For the record, this is the aggregate post I wrote to the Asatru Lore, Asatru & Heathen, and Norse Mythology communities on GooglePlus in January of 2016: Have posted this Map of Midgard idea to my three Norse-related communities, and while it's garnered some plus one support, haven't really gotten needed response/s, and thought to re-post this as public in case the previously plus-tagged can't reply within those groups, or if anyone else circled but outside of those groups can offer some assistance. If so, do let me know. W ondering if anyone's ever constructed a Norse Midgard map with lore-relevant sites on it, like Asbyrgi canyon stamped by Sleipnir's horseshoe and other such locations? It would make an inspiring source for trip itineraries. If not, I want to commission this as a hand drawn map from an old style cartographer I met, which I'd have a different digital version shared online for everyone's use, but aside from the aforemen...