NORSE MYTHOLOGY WORK

Over the years I have done a few paintings interpreting the imagery found in Norse mythology.
I research and put together compositions that I think best presents some of the more interesting moments in these stories, and hopefully it’s a genuine and original take.

“Thor slays the serpent” The climax of the Thor myth, in which the Aesir god Thor slays the fabled serpent Jormungandr, the world serpent, in a final climactic battle during Ragnarok. During the end of the world Jormungandr will poison the skies, a… — “Thor slays the serpent”
The climax of the Thor myth, in which the Aesir god Thor slays the fabled serpent Jormungandr, the world serpent, in a final climactic battle during Ragnarok.
During the end of the world Jormungandr will poison the skies, and poison the earth until half of Midgard is dying, and the giant wolf Fenrir will burn the rest to cinder.
Thor dies after this fight, walking nine steps before succumbing to the monster’s poison.

“Odin sacrifices himself for knowledge of the Runes”"I know that I hung on a windy tree nine long nights, wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin, myself to myself, on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run. No bread did they give … — “Odin sacrifices himself for knowledge of the Runes”
"I know that I hung on a windy tree
nine long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run.
No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn,
downwards I peered;
I took up the runes, screaming I took them,
then I fell back from there."
Odin is one of the strangest aspects of the Norse pantheon. He seems to be an amalgamation of many different concepts and gods from other religions. He has aspects of Zeus from the Greek pantheon, as well as many from Jesus of Nazareth. One of those aspects is what you see here, as a god sacrificed to himself. Some variations of this story has his sides poked with a spear, and some not, from what I recollect.

“Thor fights the rime-giants”Thor is often depicted as spending a significant amount of his time fighting the frost-giants, to the point where it seems like it’s his full-time job. There’s a whole ensemble cast of strange “jotun” type peoples, of fr… — “Thor fights the rime-giants”
Thor is often depicted as spending a significant amount of his time fighting the frost-giants, to the point where it seems like it’s his full-time job. There’s a whole ensemble cast of strange “jotun” type peoples, of frost-giants and mountain giants and whatnot.

“Odin creates the sky from the skull of Ymir”"Of Ymir's flesh | the earth was fashioned, And of his sweat the sea; Crags of his bones, | trees of his hair, And of his skull the sky. Then of his brows | the blithe gods made Midgard for sons of men; A… — “Odin creates the sky from the skull of Ymir”
"Of Ymir's flesh | the earth was fashioned,
And of his sweat the sea;
Crags of his bones, | trees of his hair,
And of his skull the sky.
Then of his brows | the blithe gods made
Midgard for sons of men;
And of his brain | the bitter-mooded
Clouds were all created."
This one is of the Norse creation stories, in which the primordial giant Ymir is slain by Odin, and his brothers(?). They fashion the world out of the carcass of the giant, filling the timeless void of Ginnungagap with substance.
After this they create the creatures of the world, among them the first humans — Ask and Embla.
It’s a story that fits quite neatly into the Norse idea of cyclical worlds, in which everything will burn to the ground in order to be reborn. There’s always some creature left to rebuild, whether it be at the end of the world with Ragnarok or at what we know as the beginning of time with this story.
This painting in particular is about the creation of the sky from the skull of Ymir, as it seemed the most appropriate to me. It’s quite the gruesome image, seeing as this level of violence is necessary to create in their minds.