Traces of the old gods are very much alive in Stockholm. The city bears their marks in a number of ways, not least in some of the place names of its urban geography. Most of the major gods and goddesses have lent their names to a street: Torsgatan (“Thor’s Street”), […]
Succumb to Bram Stoker’s Swedish Dracula
Mörkrets makter is actually—at least in part—by Bram Stoker himself and was originally released in serialized format by the Stockholm newspaper, Dagen, from 1899 to 1900.
Trollywood, Sweden is the Place to be
Trollhättan: the City of Trolls. Or more aptly, the City of Troll Hats, since that’s what its name actually means. It’s a hilly, craggy place, with a mighty river running through it, and in the olden days the rocks that protruded from the riverbed reminded the locals of the headgear […]
The Folkloric Nordic Art of J.Z. Blackstadius
Good old Johan Zacharias Blackstadius; he just doesn’t get the credit that he deserves. It probably doesn’t help that his name doesn’t quite roll off the tongue with the same grace and ease of, say, a “John Bauer,” a “Gustaf Tenggren,” or a “Jenny Nyström.” Nor does it help that […]
Geatland Forever
So, the idea for this post came about through a brief, recent Twitter interaction in which I blabbered a bit about the Land of the Eastern Geats within the Kingdom of Sweden and someone responded, basically asking, “Hey, whatever happened to Geatland?” The relevance, of course, is that Beowulf was […]
Hugin and Munin Watch Over Us All from Their Perch in Örnsköldsvik
Hugin and Munin normally perch on Odin’s shoulders where they whisper all the news of Midgård into his ear. And that’s usually how they’re depicted—loitering around his head, whether perched beside it or hovering above it. But Kjell Landfors has given us a different vision of Odin’s ravens: one where […]
Gustaf Tenggren’s Tomtar and Troll
Poor old Gustaf Tenggren, he just doesn’t get the credit that he deserves for his tomtar and troll work. John Bauer usually receives all the glory, and it’s much deserved, but he wasn’t the only one working with these Nordic gnomes and trolls and deep, dark woods. And in case […]
How to Dally with Whores and Lose Kingdoms
“The sea was dark like iron, flecked with white horses, and with a livid band of light in the far distance. There was a biting wind blew from the north-east. ‘Wither shall we sail now?’ asked Biorn, ‘if we be not to be drowned?’ Styrbiorn answered and said, ‘We will […]