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Showing posts from November, 2016

a Mjölnir from the future.

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In the grim future of Warhammer 40K there is only war, and within the arsenal of these wars are powerful melee weapons which include an obvious derivative of Mjölnir, the Thunder Hammer . These warhammers have a concussive energy field which emits when they hit their target and sounds like thunder. This unpainted version from this tabletop miniatures game in particular is wielded by the NorsePlay inspired Space Wolves, who use alot of rune decorations on their banners & power armor. We would love to see one of these crafted into an actual electro-superimpacting functional sidearm. #    #    # 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 neologis...

𝘑ø𝘵𝘶𝘯 by Thunder Lotus Games.

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Scored this sweet steelbook Valhalla Edition copy of 𝙅ø𝙩𝙪𝙣  by Thunder Lotus Games for PC, which includes a nifty Valknut keychain fob, a toy miniature of protagonist Thora and her double-bladed battleaxe to wield, plus a bonus soundtrack CD. Featuring exploration of some the Nine Worlds, rune-based puzzles, and combat with jötunar bosses, we are really looking forward to giving this some controller-based NorsePlay. #    #    # 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 of...

so I secretly hate Cards Against Humanity.

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So I secretly hate Cards Against Humanity. It gives people a sense of falsely achieved creativity when really they've done nothing but use some mild associative thinking to score the utmost inappropriate shock value with a hand of canned answers, which is entertaining in results but really, really shallow. But I play it because my friends love it, and I love my friends. Oddly such a game might remind one of the Lokasenna , where Loki publicly says all the inappropriate truths at a gathering of the Aesir to ruffle their feathers and falsely attempt to illustrate that they're just as malicious as he is . It took drawing that bottom card (which I'd never drawn before) to draw that parallel, wyrdly enough. #    #    # 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, pa...

NorsePlaying your treat bag.

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So for Halloween we went to a craft party and using what what was there, I NorsePlay 'd a treat bag with all the baddies: a two-tone bloody living & grey bone dead Hel suspended from the handle, painted a full Mani, the Moon, chased by Hati, the wolf who relentlessly pursues him, a pipe cleaner Jörmungandr coiled around a sanguine outpouring of red raffia, and at the bottom the hall of Náströnd, where the most dishonourable oath-breakers end up in Niflhel. Yes, Norse Lore has more than its share of cosmological monsters and spooky places to find them in. [Special thanks to Mitch Proctor & Natalie Carey for the event, resources, and good time.] #    #    # 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 ...

contemporary Norse Goddess meme: Hel.

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Hel, a goddess of death , ends this Norse Goddess meme series. Consigned to take those who do not die in battle, she's described as half-dead & half-alive, as depicted by contrasting panels 2 & 7. There's an adoption of medieval reaper imagery here with the beckoning hand & cowl of panels 1 & 8. The solitary figure on the misted land in panel 3 could be her initially arriving in Niflheim before setting up her eponymous realm for the dead. [Found on a VK Wall. This was the last of this series we could find, but if you know of more, do let us know. And if any of you know who made these, or the particular #Meme generator used, do tell, as we'd love to make more ourselves.] #    #    # 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 & s...

contemporary Norse Goddess meme: Angrboða.

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Ninth in the Norse Goddess series of memes is Angrboða, Jötunn mistress of Loki, and mother of Fenrir, Jörmungandr, & Hel, three of the greater adversaries lined up against the Aesir come Ragnarök, ergo her "Bringer of Sorrow" name. Again, this selection isn't a venerated goddess, given the above offspring, but seems to be selected for inclusion to fill out the strong feminine archetype being depicted. The wolf-mother imagery here's apropos for her raising of Fenrir & his brethren ( if she's identified with the giantess who dwells in the Ironwood in the Edda s), and the skull tableau on panel 7 implies the connection to Hel & death with the snuffed candle and expired hourglass. The obvious opportunity to include the world serpent association's glaringly absent. Odd redundancy: Panel 6 is the same as panel 3 in the Skadi meme except here in black & white. [Found on a VK Wall. If anyone knows who originally designed these, do let me know. (An...

contemporary Norse Goddess meme: Glut.

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Glut is a Jötunn's daughter on her father's side, an Alfar Daughter on her mother's side, and married to a Múspellsmegir. While Glut's included in this Norse Goddess meme series, her association with her husband Logi places her outside the circle of the Aesir , though her mixed parentage makes her rather unique and raises the question: Does mixing a frost giant with a light elf create fire giants? If so, are these unions the source of the deadly Sons & Daughters of Muspel? As her name means "glowing embers" the choices of a redhead, flames, and smoke imagery's very fitting, and the racey & playful model personifies the seduction, beauty, & danger to be found in fire. [Found on a VK Wall. If any of you know who made these, do tell. (And if you know the particular Meme generator used, do tell, as we'd love to make more ourselves.)] #    #    # Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in  the Norse Lore when he picked up a cop...

contemporary Norse Goddess meme: Rán.

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Seventh in the Norse Goddess meme series is Rán, the Sea Goddess , who perhaps may be more appropriately defined as a Sea Jötunn. While the Norse prayed to Thor for protection in safe sea passage, it was Rán who dragged ships & men down with her net (an obvious icon absent from the tableau here, unfortunately) to a watery end by drowning. The panels depict her looking for ships or swimmers to claim in tandem with the grey & swirling forces of the sea. The choice of lantern & swimsuit update Rán nicely, and the image of the lady waiting for her husband's ship to come in is a clever situational inversion. [Found on a VK Wall. If anyone knows who originally designed these, do let me know. (And if it's from a known meme generator, do let me know which as I'd love to make some in the same style.)] #    #    # 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 ...

contemporary Norse Goddess meme: Jörð.

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Jörð takes this Norse Goddess meme series away from the Aesir into the selection of the femine Jötunn, which some of the gods do consort with and marry. Jord is the mother of Thor by Odin, so it makes sense that Thor rigorously protects Midgard as it's a manifestation of his Earth Goddess mother. The images selected show the natural fecundity & growth of the Earth parallel to the pregnant goddess figure. [Found on a VK Wall. If any of you know who made these, do tell. (And if you know the particular meme generator used, do tell, as we'd love to make more ourselves.)] #    #    # 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 Norse...

contemporary Norse Goddess meme: Skaði.

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Fifth in the Norse Goddess meme series we have the huntress Skaði , a Jötunndaughter by descent who becomes Aesir by marriage. Associated with winter, bowhunting, and mountains, it's a theory that her name is the root for Scandinavia, which would imply that she's very important. Also, her name could possibly be a version of "wound" or "damage", which emotionally fits with her initial revenge quest for her father's death. We especially love the pallid & otherworldly depiction in the second panel. [Found on a VK Wall. If anyone knows who originally designed these, do let me know. (And if it's from a known meme generator, do let me know which as I'd love to make some in the same style.)] #    #    # 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, pas...

contemporary Norse Goddess meme: Sigyn.

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Loki's long-suffering wife, Sigyn , is the subject of this fourth Norse Goddess meme in the series. The tears through the dust in the top right panel are a telling choice of commitment married to regret, while the contrast of the fifth & sixth panels show her sons before one is used to kill the other to make bindings for her captured husband. Or the wolf in the sixth panel could also be Loki shifted into a wolf and the couple in a fleetingly happier moment. In the seventh panel is the bowl she uses to intercept the serpent's venom of dripping down on her bound husband's face, thus also sparing us from the earthquakes caused by his uncontrollable writhing ... at least until her bowl is full and she leaves to empty it again. [Found on a VK Wall. If any of you know who made these, do tell. (And if you know the particular meme generator used, do tell, as we'd love to make more ourselves.)] #    #    # Guillermo Maytorena IV knew there was something special in  ...

contemporary Norse Goddess meme: Iðunn.

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Third in the Norse Goddess meme series is Iðunn . Provider of the apples of youth to the Aesir, the images associate her with the idea of providing an ageless spring for the gods. It's noted that she's married to an older god, Bragi, the god of skaldic poetry, so if she preserves the quality of youth, she's well matched as through his words past deeds are preserved. [Found on a VK Wall. If anyone knows who originally designed these, do let me know. (And if it's from a known meme generator, do let me know which as I'd love to make some in the same style.)] #    #    # 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 y...