NorsePlay.

NorsePlay would like to take a moment to thank Sweden for the 3,000+ hits you visited on us last week! One day I will visit you in return! After questing for this  magic hat  from my Map Of Midgard , I'll politely take my shoes off inside, we can fika together , sing  Helan Går while  drinking glögg , and, of course, go blót at Gamla Uppsala. Hails to Sweden! [latte art of kissing Dala Horses, as continual cups of coffee are as Swedish as this equine national symbol (photo from Fika Swedish Kitchen {which is actually in Australia, and says alot about Swedish cultural reach}).] #    #    # 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 spear...

We loved Midsommar as a horror film, and that's its function.  While NorsePlay's all about media that uses the Norse Lore, as an incidental conveyance for Lore  Midsommer requires some explaining. [Spoilers happening now.] With the subgenre of folk horror, traditions & folklore become subverted & alienized to provoke uncertainty & fear. That's a horror film's job, and Midsommer co-opts four specific things from the Lore to help its story do this: 1. The Runes. Stitched in clothing, painted in folk art inside wall murals, handwritten in a book, and on two rather fake looking runestones, Midsommer uses the Runes as indecipherable roadsigns to sub/consciously make the viewer anxious about where the film's driving them. Aesthetically, the Runes by themselves evoke a mysterious & magical feel . In the Lore, the Hávamál explains that through Odin's self-sacrifice he gains knowledge of the Runes  as a writing system, as associative symb...

The enchanted Wäderhatt can turn the wind and storms ! Originally worn by Swedish King Erik Edundsson, this 1966 copper reproduction sits atop a on Kungshatt island in Lake Mälaren, Stockholm, Sweden. One can't help but think of Hogwart's Sorting Hat or The Sorcerer's Apprentice hat, but this weather-controlling headgear may have inspired these later lids. If anyone knows the whereabouts of the original, do PM me. #    #    # 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 ...