NorsePlay.

Within the last episode of Brute Norse  there's a passage that before the Victorian livingroom global takeover of the Yule Tree (which may anyhow reflect & echo the far earlier interior hall tree from  The Saga of the Völsungs  with its sword-gift stuck in it by Jólfaðr [Yule-Father] Odin) there was an amazing Scandinavian tradition of assembling huge beautiful straw mobiles that were geometric cosmological models of the universe that would gently turn in the drafts from outside and the fireplace from the ceilings to admire over the winterbound nights : The above's a Norwegian Oro, while below's a Swedish Halmkrona: There are many other-regional variants from the Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, and more, so it was a rather widespread to Eastern Europe & Russia, and where it came from is anyone's guess, but that it got adopted, stuck, given a magical/representational meaning, and produced such craftworks of beauty seems totally worth re-adopting into the Nor

  NorsePlay loves the intersection of Art Nouveau with the Norse Lore into a Nordic Nouveau , and was delighted to find this tribute shirt to Iðunn.  From KrisArtShoppe's Etsy store, this goddess in profile & golden apple -framed shirt's so amazing that I wished I'd designed it . The awesome bannered quote is from the Hrafnagaldr Óðins poem's stanza 6 (which I get into more about Iðunn's origins   within this entry about her husband Bragi ). #    #    # 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

Along with already being at Nexus , the newly renovated & relaunched  Four Of Wands now has The Path Of Odin map up on display for purchase : As pictured, the  Óðinnsvegr 's in the second bay on Four Of Wands' west wall, just ask staff to get a print ($25) out of the back pocket, or if you want the prestige & convenience of the glass & wood framed one ($75) they'll gladly take it down for you. Note that the prints have sold out three times already at Nexus, so I'm glad to have the another local venue carrying the  Óðinnsvegr .   Remember that map purchase includes Gmail account access to the digital map with rollover story/source data and GPS coordinates! For example: About the Óðinnsvegr : Using the 54-Odinic mappoints from the larger Map Of Midgard Project, I commissioned Medieval Mapmaker Jesse Kennedy, an artist who has extensive experience in hand drawing hundreds of map designs. His adeptness in scripting hands & fonts, and his crisp linework (

While in Reykjavík during my recent cross-Atlantic trip, I went to investigate the Map Of Midgard site of the Álfasteinn, The Elf Stone! After leaving The Stone Of The Hidden Man , I had the cabbie drive to the east entry of the Icelandair Hotel Reykjavík Natura where on the north side of the driveway sits the above stone, but unlike the former, this stone actually has its own how-to sign: "If you'd like to visit with the elves, you can sit on the rock, stroke it and perhaps even have a spontaneous conversation with these invisible creatures. Those who know a thing or two about the world of the hidden folk also recommend bringing flowers as a gesture of friendship." Objective observations: In an oddly similar way to the Huldumannssteinn, the Álfasteinn also had a split along with the uneven one-third to two-thirds separation. One could infer from the sign's other text and this feature that removal was attempted, thwarted, and abandoned. About 3'6" tall and