NorsePlay.

As I looked up at the New Year's sky yesterday, I saw something very much like this goat trotting its way across the firmament. In the Norse Cosmology, the clouds are long-dead Ymir's giant brains, possibly post-mortem thoughts unfolding themselves into shapes, maybe still functionally reflecting things that came into being after his necessary demise to form them. Or this is us catching a glimpse of  Tanngrisnir or Tanngnjóstr out for a solo run , and if you're lucky enough to have the sight of Heathen Worldview you have to believe it to be able to see it. [photo by David McDermott, inverted & bold italicized point in the last line from Netflix's 2022 Troll .] #    #    # 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, embr...

While this hoodie design is actually merch for a certain infamous furry con, it incidentally makes a pretty sweet 1980s mashup NorsePlay homage to  Tanngrisnir & Tanngnjóstr ! The evident teeth on the top only support the Teethgrinder & Teethgnasher descriptive names. [hoodie available here .] #    #    # 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 .

When we talk about the universal functions of electricity , which runs everything from the cognition in your brain to the internet, we are on a supernatural level talking about Thor. The charges that hold atoms together are an operating principle wrought by Thor's power, so the extension of Thor's role as a protector is that he keeps the all the matter that Midgard is constructed of together so that we may exist upon it in the first place. The resurrection of Thor's goats from death brought about by the hammer is in a sense a doubled Frankenstein's monster moment (well, really it's temporally the other way around as Shelley's Romanticism/Enlightenment-inspired fiction came far after) where on an atomic level Thor's electric charge re-coheres & reconstructs the dead matter of  Tanngrisnir & Tanngnjóstr using his hammer. (This godly feat could also be an electrically-based particle acceleration to produce a directed time-reversing effect, but that...

This awesome handcarving of Thor's goats in a cleverly conjoined version raises the pairing of these ferocious battle animals to a metaphysical level in terms of artistic interpretation. Yet if you instead confront the literal physicality of this sculpture, it also opens the question for NorsePlay: If Tanngrisnir & Tanngnjóstr can have one their legs broken and be resurrected lame & imperfectly, might this Siamese nightmare happen at an even worse misplacement of their bones?!? There's a story waiting to be written in this. [Note the black lightning figuring on the top front! We were introduced to the brilliant woodworking style of Jeremy Hehn's CrossGrainCraftsman while attending Southwest Frith Moot this year. Go check out his iconic altars, weapons, and other wares at CrossgrainTrading .] #    #    # 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 Gi...

The holiday decoration of the Yule Goat was probably inspired by Thor's battle cart goats Tanngrisnir (teeth-barer) & Tanngnjóstr (teeth-grinder). The world-record julbok's largest manifestation is the Gävle Goat, a 42.6' feet, 3.26 ton version! What makes the Gävle Goat even more like Thor's goats is its cycle of death & resurrection as every year it gets burned, crashed into, or vandalized, and rebuilt, just as Thor while traveling would cook his goats for food and bring them back to life using his hammer the next morning.  You can keep an eye on this process via webcam . [In Gävle, Sweden, first made by Stig Gavlén in 1966.] #    #    # 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, launch...

LEGO Thor brandishing Mjölnir in his battle cart drawn by Tanngrisnir & Tanngnjóstr! [Constructed by Thorskegga Thorn .] #    #    # 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 .

Our affection for Speed Racer only increased with this NorsePlay integration of racing team Thor-Axine , a Norse-themed trio of horned helmet wearing road warriors who go after Speed during a rally using a car-wielded Thor's Hammer device! Note the car being named after Thor's chariot goat Tanngrisnir (teeth-barer), and the longship-inspired wooden car body. [Capture from car selection screen of Speed Racer videogame.] #    #    # 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 developm...

Tanngrisnir & Tanngnjóstr front the God of Thunder's battlewagon! Those red goaty eyes are not messing around. And one imagines with them doubling as livestock that gets repeatedly necromanced back to life the next morning after serving as Thor's dinner, they must be quite beyond all fear of death, and would charge anything. Prepare to get the horns! #    #    # 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 .

An altar-worthy Thor statue from Blagowood carver Mihaylo Melnichuk of the Ukraine. We really like Tanngrisnir & Tanngnjóstr peeking out of Thor's cloakskirts, and the Ægishjálmr accented Megingjörð belt. Noting the background, Mihaylo currently offers 9 of the Norse Gods in his selections but also does larger scales & takes custom requests on his 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 .

Heathen Worldview made us stop and do a double-take in Target's home decorating section to look closer at these possibly altarworthy dead ringers for Tanngrisnir & Tanngnjóstr , Thor's battle wagon goats. #    #    # 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 .