you yourself must also die.

The re-enactment group Andrimners Hemtagare decided to recreate Viking burials using living models. This series of photos with grave goods is beautifully stirring, and reminds us of the Hávamál's stanza 76 which this entry gets its title from.

Much has been posited about what's included in a grave find, whether the items actually do or do not have anything to do with the role of the interred, if the body is intentionally positioned, and even how nearby graves may provide a greater postmortem narrative/ritual theater grouped context for Viking Era communities.

Artistically, using living models for this connects more profoundly. The viewer can sense that they are still alive, and identifies with that on a greater level than if say they were actual dead bodies, which has more the feel of an inanimate & incomplete person that one gets at a present day open casket funeral.

The photos also make us question what it is we wish the objects in our lives to reflect about us and how we would ultimately like to be perceived not only while dead but while still living, which is the latter portion of Hávamál's stanza 76, "but he who wins word fame lives forever”.

And while everyone first thinks of the burning ship funeral, there's something elegant, serene, and ceremonially permanent about these internment photos to alternatively consider about setting up a post-life in the mound.

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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 then 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 employment/opportunities in investigative mythology,  field research, or product development to offer, do contact him.