One of the symbols used to represent Loki is that of two snakes, circling one another to form an ‘S’ shape, and biting the tail of the other (years of archaeological evidence; see Rundkvist below).
Loki is connected to the snake in a number of ways.
Jormungandr, the giant serpent of Loki’s offspring, is said to be so big that he/she can circle the world and bite his/her own tail (Gylfaginning 34), (Thorsdrapa 1).
In an older version of the myth about Idunn’s kidnapping by Thjassi, Loki turns into a snake at one point to wriggle into the room in which the potion of longevity (similar to Idunn and her apples) is being kept (Skaldskaparmal 5).
A snake was also used to punish Loki after the events of Lokasenna. Loki was tied down, and the snake was tied above Loki’s head, so that its venom dripped directly onto Loki (final prose section of Lokasenna).
Another notable serpent in Norse mythology is the Nidhogg, a being that feeds on the roots of the world tree Yggdrasil. However, Nidhogg is not directly associated with Loki in any significant manner (Grimnismal 32-35), (Gylfaginning 15).
Sources: -Rundkvist, Martin. “Snake Brooches of South Scandinavia.” <http://www.academia.edu/313476> -image used with permission from <http://aomiarmster.tumblr.com/post/27782533517> -Gylfaginning, Prose Edda. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre04.htm> -Thorsdrapa, Prose Edda. <http://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/thoreng.html> -Skaldskaparmal, Prose Edda. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre05.htm> -Lokasenna, Poetic Edda. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe10.htm> -Grimnismal, Poetic Edda. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe06.htm>
I am so excited to reveal the cover for @neil-gaiman ’s Norse Mythology paperback, hitting the shelves on March 6th, 2018. I have always been a fan of mythologies and fantasies as well as Neil’s books and lectures, so unsurprisingly I devoured this book when it first came out in hard cover format, adorned by Sam Weber’s beautiful cover. It was a beautiful surprise when the paperback cover fell into my lap, and I was able ready to jump right in without needing to read the manuscript.
Water and stars have always feel timeless to me, I imagine Mjölnir being washed up on a shore of stars. How did the hammer end up in the sea? Maybe the not-the-brightest Thor has lost it, yet again, or maybe the gods and human have been long gone. Either way, the mythologies endure, and the cycle continues. Another reason behind the water concept is that the Norse world is flooded both when it is created and destroyed. What fascinates me the most about Norse Mythology is its cyclic perspective on time, which Neil has elegantly written in this book’s introduction: “Had Ragnarok happened yet? Was it still to happen? I did not know then. I am not certain now. It was the fact that the world and the story ends, and the way that it ends and is reborn, that made the gods and the frost giants and the rest of them tragic heroes, tragic villains. Tagnarok make the Norse world linger for me, seem strangely present and current, while others, better documented systems of belief felt as if they were part of the past, old things.” This image can be from any point of time in the world of Norse Mythologies.
Personally I think a good illustration doesn’t just create a scene, it creates a believable mythology. The richer the story-telling details, the more believable the myths are. The decorations on Mjölnir are inspired by the world which the hammer defends: we have Midgard and Asgard in the middled, connected by the World tree are and the rainbow bridge, surrounded by the Midgard serpent. The world tree extends to the handle where we can find the dragon Nidhogg. The two circular symbols on the side are the sun and moon.
Many thanks to Neil Gaiman, AD Steve Attardo and W.W.Norton.
Amalgams are mobile platforms that consist of stacked colonies of microscopic entities informally known as demons, which are bonded parasitically to the body of a magician. A byproduct of magic use on or near significant quantities of standing water, demons spontaneously swarm puddles or lakes in the presence of magical energy. They crave and feed on magic, which also appears to have a cohesive effect on them: normally individualistic, single-cell-like demons will bond together while feeding and create larger and more intuitive beings.
While demons largely ignore normal humans (although ingestion of contaminated water may result in severe health problems), they will aggressively pursue magicians, who often avoid and fear water for this reason. Demons are highly parasitic in nature, and contact with bare skin will result in them burrowing into and anchoring themselves to the body of the magic user, where they will remain, feeding off their latent energy. While smaller sites of contamination on the limbs can be localized and easily removed, the same cannot be said for the unfortunate magician who falls into a teeming lake of demons.
The event is called a ‘drowning’ among magician lingo, and the effect is said to be similar to throwing a magnet into a pile of iron filings. The demons will maul the unlucky mage, stripping them layer-by-layer of skin, organs, and bone until only a ragged approximation remains. This becomes the magical core of an amalgam–brought together around it, the demons will collectively form a new body and begin behaving like a single, sentient organism.
While the appearance of an amalgam is polymorphic–the demons that it consists of behave similarly to a fluid matrix–it often has a form, or elements of one, that it prefers. Amalgams are often jumbled masses of limbs, teeth and organs with little coherence besides an ability to move: this is due to the fact that demons appear to construct bodies by randomly sampling the anatomy of their core host. In addition, canid, avian and other animal structures are common in amalgams, suggesting that demons have a collective 'genetic catalog’ of things they’ve devoured.
The ability to regenerate from even full vaporization makes the amalgam a prized weapon in combat situations. The mechanism is not yet understood–even the organic core has been shown to re-form after total destruction–but as amalgams consist of units of tiny demons, they seem to be able to import more to repair themselves. Amalgams cannot be killed by conventional weaponry, although they can be immobilized by shrapnel that impedes their regeneration. They can, however, be killed by religiously significant objects, superchilled iron, or certain chemically pure metals, which have a dramatic effect on the demons, causing them to evacuate the body, which kills the exposed host.
Amalgams share both memory and personality with their host, prompting debate over whether or not the magician is the one in control (or even conscious). Most individuals suffer from neurological or psychological issues that are theorized to result from integration problems with the core and the traumatic nature of the drowning itself. Symptoms can range from face blindness to tremors to even the sudden onset of phobias, and most amalgams suffer some degree of visual or auditory hallucinations. As a result, the use of them in warfare is highly controversial.
sticker sheet of tiny dragons i’m giving out as a freebie at anime expo with every purchase until i run out! i’ll set aside some of them to include free with online orders for those who won’t be attending
It’s official - this is the largest felted piece I’ve ever completed! At 50 inches long and weighing about a pound and a half, this giant and devious beastie is a real record-breaker. Designed as a wearable piece, he includes a custom-sculpted head, glass taxidermy eyes, and a magnet and shoulder plate system to stabilize him while walking around. Nidhogg is named after and based on the Norse legend of the dragon who chews the roots of the world tree, and is accompanied by Ratatoskr, the squirrel who runs up and down the tree, carrying rumors and insults between Nidhogg and the eagle who sits at the top.
This doll was made on commission and is not available for sale. The majority of my inventory is offline right now in preparation for Fur the ‘More in just a couple weeks, but I do still have magnets and postcard prints in the shop.
