Category: myths

Odin, the Allfather

Artist Unknown, “Odin, The Allfather, with His Ravens Hugin and Munin, as Well as His Wolves Geri and Freki”

In Norse mythology, Geri and Freki (Old Norse, both meaning “the ravenous” or “greedy one”) are two wolves which are said to accompany the god Odin. They are attested in the Poetic Edda, a collection of epic poetry compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and in the poetry of skalds.

In the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál, the god Odin (disguised as Grímnir) provides the young Agnarr with information about Odin’s companions. Agnarr is told that Odin feeds Geri and Freki while the god himself consumes only wine:

Freki and Geri does Heerfather feed,
The far-famed fighter of old:
But on wine alone does the weapon-decked god,
Othin, forever live.

The Kraken

The Fear of All Seamen: The Kraken

Kraken were also extensively described by Erik Pontoppidan, bishop of Bergen, in his Det første Forsøg paa Norges naturlige Historie “The First Attempt at [a] Natural History of Norway” (Copenhagen, 1752). Pontoppidan made several claims regarding kraken, including the notion that the creature was sometimes mistaken for an island and that the real danger to sailors was not the creature itself but rather the whirlpool left in its wake. However, Pontoppidan also described the destructive potential of the giant beast: “it is said that if [the creature’s arms] were to lay hold of the largest man-of-war, they would pull it down to the bottom.”

Werewolf by Night

Rafael Grampa, Werewolf by Night, Cover Illustration, Marvel

Rafael Grampa is a Brazilian comic book artist and writer. The comics anthology “5″ created by Grampá along with Gabriel Bá, Becky Cloonan, Fábio Moon and Vasilis Lolos won the 2008 Eisner Award for Best Anthology. He is author and artist of the “Mesmo Delivery” comic and “Furry Water”, both published by Dark Horse Comics.

Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg

Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, “Ulysses Fleeing the Cave of Polyphemus”, 1812, Oil on Canvas, 81 × 64 cm, Princeton University Art Museum

Christoffer Eckersberg’s biggest contribution to painting was through his professorship at the Danish Royal Academy of Art. He revitalized teaching by taking students out into the field, where they were challenged to do studies from nature. In this way it was he who introduced direct study from nature into Danish art. He also encouraged his students to develop their individual strengths, thus creating unique styles.

He developed an increasing interest in perspective on account of his marine paintings. He wrote a dissertation on the subject called “Linear perspective used in the art of painting” in 1841, and taught classes on the subject at the Academy. He made a small number of etchings that combine daily life observations with classical, harmonious principles of composition. This led the way to the characteristic manner in which Golden Age painters portrayed the common, everyday life.

One of a series of paintings and drawings Eckersberg made to illustrate episodes from Homer’s Odyssey, “Ulysses Fleeing the Cave of Polyphemus”, although a student work, demonstrates the artist’s talents for perspective, acute observation of nature, and nuanced treatment of light. It was painted in Paris, where his training in Copenhagen was supplemented by study with the leading French painter, Jacques-Louis David, whose life-drawing classes were the focus of his teaching. In French history painting, the body was the vehicle used to convey morally instructive tales from Greco-Roman antiquity and Christian sources, and here the young artist displays his mastery. After his stay in Paris, Eckersberg spent three years in Rome before returning to Copenhagen, where he taught the next generation of artists and became known as the Father of Danish Painting.

Thanks to http://hadrian6.tumblr.com

Andy Kehoe

Forest Monster Paintings by Andy Kehoe

Andy Kehoe, a graduate of Parsons School of Design, paints works that depict themes that are dark in nature, yet are elevated above being frightening by the use of playful humor or a dreamy, fairytale like quality.
The otherwordly landscapes and nature-spirit denizens that populate Kehoe’s work open up an even deeper portal to Kehoe’s world, one that contains a similar magic and enigmatic mystery as that of Hayao Miyazaki.

The Midgard Serpent

Artist Unknwon, (The Midgard Serpent Jormungandr: Disguised in the New Age), Computer Graphics, Animation Gifs

Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent, was one of three children fathered on the giantess Angroba by Loki, the Norse god of mischief and trickery. The Midgard Serpent was cast by Odin into the ocean where she grew so huge that with her tail in her mouth she soon encompassed the whole world, and the churnings of her coils raise the tsunami and tempests that drown sailors.

Thor is destined to destroy Jormungandr at the time of Ragnarok, the end of the world, when heaven, earth and the underworld will be destroyed. Then the world will tremble and the oceans leave their beds. The heavens will be torn apart and eagles will feed upon humans still writhing in their death throes. Thor will crush the skull of his old enemy, the Midgard Serpent, but will himself be slain by her dying struggles. Creation and Time itself will be shattered in the last battle, but afterwards a new heaven and earth will rise out of the sea, in which humans and gods will live in perfect harmony and ease forever.

My many thanks to http://3leapfrogs.tumblr.com from whom I reblogged this gif. One of my favorite blogs.

The God Thor

Artists Unknown, Eight Images of Thor, God of Thunder

Thor was one of the most important and famous gods in Norse mythology. He was the son of Odin and Fyorgyn, the earth goddess. Thor was considered the storm-weather god of sky and thunder and also a fertility god. His wife was Sif, a goddess also linked to fertility. He had a red beard and eyes, he was huge in size, he had an insatiable appetite and not much wit. Thor was the strongest of all gods and men according to The Prose Edda.

Thor was very talented at slaying giants; many of his stories revolve around violent episodes between him and his enemies. In order to perform his duties, Thor had a hammer, Mjollnir, a deadly weapon also associated with lightning and thunder, which was built by the dwarves. He also had iron gloves and a belt named Megingjard that doubled Thor’s strength once buckled on. There were also some other less destructive aspects of Thor. As a weather god he was associated with the fertility of the earth. He was also regarded as a guide for those travelling over the sea because of his power over storms and wind.

Pearl Whitecrow

Pearl Whitecrow, “Apollo”

Pearl Whitecrow is a visionary arist living and working in North Easter Oklahoma. She is a trained silversmith and a self-taught painter. Culturally, she identifies with several different groups due to both heritage and community. She grew up in rural Oklahoma and is of Cherokee, Sac n Fox, Scottish, Scandinavian, German and Creole descent.

Gustave Moreau

Gustave Moreau, “Apollo Vanquishing the Serpent Python”, 1885, National Gallery of Canada

Gustave Moreau was a French Symbolist painter whose main emphasis was the illustration of biblical and mythological figures.

“Oedipus and the Sphinx”, one of his first symbolist paintings, was exhibited at the Salon of 1864. Moreau quickly gained a reputation for eccentricity. One commentator said Moreau’s work was “like a pastiche of Mantegna created by a German student who relaxes from his painting by reading Schopenhauer”. The painting currently resides in the permanent collection at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sköll and Hati

Dobie, “Sköll and Hati”

In light of the super blood moon eclipse from this week, here’s the Norse mythological tale about two wolves who wish to eat the Sun and Moon.

The monstrous wolf Fenrir had two sons; Sköll (Old Norse for “Treachery”) and Hati (“He Who Hates, Enemy”).

Sköll chases the Sun, and Hati, running ahead of the Sun, goes after the Moon. When either are caught, there is an eclipse. When this happens, Vikings used to rush to rescue the Sun or Moon by making as much noise as they can in hopes of scaring off the wolves.

Illustration by Dobie

Max Klinger

Etchings by Max Klinger

Max Klinger was a German Symbolist painter, sculptor, printmaker, and writer. Klinger was born in Leipzig and studied in Karlsruhe. An admirer of the etchings of Menzel and Goya, he shortly became a skilled and imaginative engraver in his own right. Klinger began creating sculptures in the early 1880s. From 1883–1893 he lived in Rome, and became increasingly influenced by the Italian Renaissance and antiquity.

Klinger was cited by many artists (notably Giorgio de Chirico) as being a major link between the Symbolist movement of the 19th century and the start of the metaphysical and Surrealist movements of the 20th century. Asteroid 22369 Klinger is named in his honor.

Images from Top to Bottom: “Pursuit of the Centaur”, 1881, “The Titans”, 1892, Metropolitan Museum of Art; “Abduction of Prometheus”, 1894. “Prometheus Unbound”, 1894