NorsePlay.

What's always bothered me about the iconic Torslunda helmet plates is there's wolfen Ulfhednar and boar-helmeted Svinfylking, but no actual bear-headed Berserkir since the former two are a specialized Fylgja-centric subset of the broader elite warrior Berserker category. So after weeks of questing for visual references followed by 12+ hours of fierce digital holmganga with a desktop graphics program, NorsePlay has victoriously filled in this archaeological werebear art blank to give us aspiring bearshirts an image to identify with, which I then specifically theme-crafted for my custom Byrna LE's holster: Just as one names a weapon of note in the Edda s & Sagas, I've named my kinetic/pepperball/teargas chemical ball launcher Ǫndbítr ( ᚭᚿᛐᛓᛁᛐᛧ ), meaning Breath-Biter, because this is exactly what it does -- it effectively robs potential assailants of their breath when hit . ["This is my  Ǫndbítr! There are many like it, but this one is mine!" ~ Fullkominn...

There are rare moments where Marvel actually takes a story to consider that they've added a Norse God to their line-up and what that might mean to the regular people watching Thor rescue their peers and even their world in what must strike them as a divine manifestation. We get a story arc of this in 2011 CE's  Spiral where Thor actually embraces his divinity, flexes some control over humanity and starts proactively integrating advanced Asgardian technology to save the environment while creating abundance for all, and allows the awestruck thankful to go ahead and worship him. By contrast wayyyy before this when a cult of Thor forms in the above 1983 CE issue, Don Blake isn't comfortable at all about it ... and neither is The Crusader whose faith allows him divine strength enough to take on Thor in an attempt to strike him down in a demonstration of monotheistic zealousness! Fun Bronze Age comic cover art aside, and that  the Crusader also probably doesn't recognize th...

Ran across this awesome sticker design from Celtichighland on Etsy: Urðr, Verdandi, & Skuld's shared knotty 'do reflects how temporally interwoven The Norns are, for the past, present, and future cords they attend are all along the same thread, which here has its origin from that triquetra skein they're all manipulating at once. The Web Of Wyrd all- Futhark inclusive bindrune sits beneath them, possibly positioned where it reveals itself to Odin after his self-sacrificial ordeal. Now you can place those Fates around your own personal Well Of Waterbottle to keep Yggself hydrated . [get the sticker as part of a set 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 Mi...

While there's no Norse literary precedent for using a bird in a duel or combat , there's a scene in 1958 CE's The Vikings where thrall Eric is being bullied by Viking Prince Einar into lying about where he got his superior hunting hawk from. In the confrontation, Eric gives the "Kill!" command for his hawk to attack Einar, and Einar Odinically loses his left eye , but spares Eric for the purpose of killing him later as an object lesson. Decades after this in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, where there's many honor culture medievalisms at play in his post-apocalyptic Weird West setting, a similar scene unfolds. Protagonist teen Prince Roland Deschain prematurely challenges his teacher Cort to a duel for the sake of earning his gunslinger revolvers, and shows up with his hunting hawk David as an unconventional wild card weapon that gives him the edge he needs to win, albeit with crafty surprise. This parallel would indicate that Stephen King was prob...