Viking mythology and all that goes with it

[Bates]

You can also stab someone with an arrow. And you could also fire a pen, had you a small enough bow that it wouldn't be overdrawn. Even a lance could be fired from a big enough ballista. They're all just variations on the same simple theme that I'm sure all of us used at one point or another as a child.... the pointy stick.

 

[Knarfi]

You can also stab someone with an arrow. And you could also fire a pen, had you a small enough bow that it wouldn't be overdrawn. Even a lance could be fired from a big enough ballista. They're all just variations on the same simple theme that I'm sure all of us used at one point or another as a child.... the pointy stick.

Youve beat me

 

[Bates]

Nah, I just have a different way of looking at things. I tend to look for similarities and what things actually do, instead of differences and how they are used. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it's the best I can do... my brain's workings don't always lend themselves to being put into words.

 

[Knarfi]

Nah, I just have a different way of looking at things. I tend to look for similarities and what things actually do, instead of differences and how they are used. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it's the best I can do... my brain's workings don't always lend themselves to being put into words.

Yeah, same here. (see? ive found a similarity)

 

[Tyra]

OK, similarities... Pen comes from the Latin word penna, feather, tail, since people wrote with quill pens. Pencil then comes from penicillum the diminutive form of fether, but penis comes from the tail version. So the words penicillin and penis actually means "small tail". So, Bates, when you stab people with the small tail, make sure it's the right stabee.

Edit: Penicillin looks like a small bushy tail under the microscope.

 

[Knarfi]

Do you have too much spare time Tyra?

EDIT: not that i just laughed my ass off, but how the hell do you get with these things? Did you search google for an hour or do you just read enceclopedias for fun?

 

[Tyra]

I get it from where you laugh your ass off (thought that might crack you up)...no, I actually took Latin is school - and for some reason, that just popped into my mind when I saw your first post. Helps to know Latin when you have to study osteology as an archaeologist, since all the bones still go under their Latin names. That particular etymology was funny enough that I still remember it. I had an awesome teacher who had great fun just teaching us "bad" word etymology...

 

[Knarfi]

Heh, to speak latin must be pretty cool

 

[Bates]

It's useful, because it's a dead language, so the meanings of things never change. I'm pretty horrible at it myself(never actually took it), but that's what translation software is for.

No one's ever complained about my stabbing before!

 

[Knarfi]

How does pen stabing and the latin word for penis relate to Viking mythology anyway

 

[Erzebeth.Rouge]

Ok, since i decided to paint what im picturing in my mind when i hear Hermod's ride to Hel, there is some details i need to be clarified because i want to do something near to 'reality'. As i am not (yet) historian, ill ask you lol

ok.
Where can i find descriptions of Nifelheim, Rivenjoll, Hel, Hel's hall, Hermod, Balder? i know what look like Sleipnir hehe so no need to describe it

All i know about Nifelheim is it is to the north part of Ginnungagap, and is the land of the dead, death out of combat that is. there is 11 rivers pouring from Hvergelmir, i guess one of then is Rivenjoll. Hel is ruling there, shes Loki's monstrous daughter. but isnt it a place too? Hel a region of Nifelheim and Hel the person who live there? Anyway i dont know what its all look like if there is particularities, a specific color for the castle if there is even one, but as AA song is talking of bridge and gates, i guess there is some sort of fortifications. and as everything is freezing, would the main color be blue? i imagine it quite dark so, black ice maybe? and freezed blood..

As for Hel herself, she is said to be very ugly and i searched for some imagery of her from artists.. i saw a few with half her face young and the other old and decrepit.. what can you tell me about this please? and what is she wearing? is she in battlegear? robes ? color? what about her hair? what specefic symbols from her? on one of the picture i saw of her, there had serpents, is it justified?

I have an illustration of a medieval version of the Eddas showing Balder being pierced by Hod with the mistletoe, Loki hiding behind.. but... the characters have their name writen on them on the picture, so without that detail, it wouldnt have been as possible to find whos on the picture whitout the names.. i mean, there is no symbols to find out who is who.. so how recognize Balder at sight? and Hermod in the same time?

thats all i can think of right now. will be working onsome sketchs now
thanks for all help ^^

 

[Bates]

On Baldr:
Hárr said, "The second son of Odin is Baldr, and good things are to be said of him. He is best, and all praise him; he is so fair of feature, and so bright, that light shines from him. A certain herb is so white that it is likened to Baldr's brow; of all grasses it is whitest, and by it thou mayest judge his fairness, both in hair and in body."

On Gjoll:
Gjallarbrú is a bridge spanning the river Gjöll in the underworld which must be crossed in order to reach Hel, according to Gylfaginning. It is described as a covered bridge, "thatched with glittering gold", and figures most prominently in the story of Baldr, when Hermód is sent to retrieve the fallen god from the land of the dead. When Hermód arrived at the bridge he was challenged by the giant maiden Módgud who demanded that he state his name and business before allowing him to pass. The river itself is said to be freezing cold, and have knives flowing in it.

On Hel:
She has great possessions there; her walls are exceeding high and her gates great. Her hall is called Sleet-Cold; her dish, Hunger; Famine is her knife; Idler, her slave; Sloven, her maidservant; Pit of Stumbling, her threshold, by which one enters; Disease, her bed; Gleaming Bale, her bed-hangings. She is half blue-black and half flesh-color (by which she is easily recognized), and very lowering and fierce.

I can find nothing on Hermod, description wise. Hopefully, one of the folks who really know the lore might be able to help more, for I am but a wee newb

 

[Knarfi]

heh this reminds me of Chainer

 

[Erzebeth.Rouge]

Woot!! thanks alot Bates! thats a good starter!

 

[Erzebeth.Rouge]

On Baldr:
When Hermód arrived at the bridge he was challenged by the giant maiden Módgud who demanded that he state his name and business before allowing him to pass.

Bates, i never heard of that giantess, can you tell me whats happening with her? i mean.. is she just waiting there for someone to pass by to ask the person his name and business and simply step aside when the answers are answered? Isnt she acting a bit like a sphinx? Doesnt Hermod kill her? or is she just trying to look pretty on the side of the bridge like a secretary? : /
and what does she look like? lol

 

[Bates]

I'm not sure if she was a monstrous jotun or one of the more normal ones, a la Skadi. Giants are kinda confusing to me... some are pretty much mere monsters, and others are more or less peers to the Æsir. My brain hasn't quite digested it all yet, not done reading.
I'm pretty sure she was a bridgekeeper, kinda like a gatekeeper or doorman. She let in those who had a reason to be there, and kept the rest out. Hermod attempting to ransom Baldr must've been considered legitimate business.

 

[Tyra]

Yes, Hel is a goddess as well as the place where some dead go after life. I like this picture of her:Min egen sammanfattning om Hel
The Edda says that Oden's son Hermod rode Sleipnir for nine nights through valleys that were so dark and deep that he was unable to see anything at all until he reached the river Gjöll. He rode onto Gjallar-bridge, which was covered with gold. "Modgud is the name of the maiden that gueards the bridge." She asked Hermod of his name and origin, and told him that five troups of dead men had crossed the bridge the day before."But the bridge does not thunder any less under you, and you do not have the colour of a dead man. Why do you ride here on Hel's road?" So, it doesn't really say what she looked like.
Balder is still called Balder the Beautiful. All I can remember is that he was thought of as the most beautiful of all the gods, and that he has blonde hair. You should PM Runesinger and ask her, as Balder is her patron deity, and it would not surprise me if she knew exactly what he looks like. I myself have never spoken to him personally and in human form.

 

[Tyra]

I'm not sure if she was a monstrous jotun or one of the more normal ones, a la Skadi. Giants are kinda confusing to me... some are pretty much mere monsters, and others are more or less peers to the Æsir. My brain hasn't quite digested it all yet, not done reading.
I'm pretty sure she was a bridgekeeper, kinda like a gatekeeper or doorman. She let in those who had a reason to be there, and kept the rest out. Hermod attempting to ransom Baldr must've been considered legitimate business.

Because Hermod is alive, Sleipnir must jump over the gate to Hel (Helgrind, grind=gate), because "this gate only opens for those who are dead". It doesn't actually say that it is she that opens the gate, though, but I am assuming that's the case.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

nice read!

 

[Tyra]

Holy f*** Krigly Bigly, you cracked me up just then... Nice avatar. Still not as cute as mine, though.