NorsePlaying your dartboard.

This week's NorsePlay comes from the world of darts with a line of Viking-themed darts complete with shield holder made by Shot Darts! The barrels appear to be highly tactile & partly grooved for easier grip (though this is argued that such a feature in turn makes for a less-smooth release), come in anodized colors, and bomber, taper, or straight in a range of weights depending on which model you get, but all in 90% tungsten.

[check out those cool Huginn & Muninn flights!]

[whoa, that engraved tip!]

While outside of the sewing term of a dart, there isn't an Old Norse reference to darts as we know it now, but the origins are probably the medieval English doing archery, or axes, or spears into the ends of logs with their organically ringed wooden target-like circles & distinct centers, which would way later become the more formal dartboard "clock" we know of once someone wanted to move the action indoors, but decided that battle weapons probably weren't the best choice for enclosed domestic spaces, so darts were made in the 19th Century CE, and the 20-segment board in the 20th Century CE.

If we again look through the lens of an alt-history where Wessex falls to the Danelaw, and the later Normans repelled, maybe the axe throwing craze would've happen far earlier, but one can also include the idea of these darts' design cues happening much sooner and taking their place alongside the Tafl board for indoor meadhall recreation.

#    #    #

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.