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9 months, 19 poets and writers, 22 Artists, 3 musicians, 1 Viking boat : a magical reworking of Norse Mythology for contemporary audiences
Poems and Writing inspired by the Norse realm of Nidavellir (The Realm of the Dwarves)
Featuring:
Kate Garrett, Mina Polen, Ross Beattie and Lydia Allison
Fenrir
by Kate Garrett
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give me your hand he said, jaws dripping with doubt eyes sidelong as they held out the bonds no heavier than silk strands and I knew my hand was a small offering as they wrapped him in chains made of lost thoughts made of movement and breath made of the unseen and all of these slipped past his eyes, sidelong and his jaws clenched and my wrist ripped apart and I knew this was a small gift to the beast wrapped in chains.
Petrol or spark light or lime …………little they know
sunshine and stone magic and knowledge …………little they know
work work work ………….little they know
hiding in the darkness …………little they know
coming going knowing ………….little they know
creating binding transforming ………….little they know
now you see it, now you don’t ………….little they know
about all they know ………….little they know.
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What life is this?
by Ross Beattie
To become what I am I had to chew dead flesh from cold bone. Only then was I strong enough to deserve a reason. Below the ground I live my life in the dark. Craving only the gold that is hidden beneath the surface. This realm is mine but what life is this ?
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MP3 to come
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the dwarf
by Lydia Allison
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he’s the best to ask. so much more than people think. imir knew him.
made an axe. blade sharper than people made. cut who made it. Sliced space. they made mistakes. It shined like night the lunar glow none of them had seen. they fell in love.
lightening cracked the lovely weapon’s face. tarnished white shine. the dwarf obsessed.
hating the flashing of candles heat of flames. he waited months felt time swell.
climbed. saw dusty light. creaked the last steps cracks on hands glinting silver. still and sun-saturated as the moon.
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You can read the overview of Nidavellirhere, and read some Jotunheim poemshere
19 poets, 22 Artists, 3 musicians and a Viking Boat
The Nine Realms
9 months, 19 poets and writers, 22 Artists, 3 composers, 1 Viking boat: a magical reworking of Norse Mythology for contemporary audiences
Poems and Writing inspired by the Norse realm of Nidavellir (The Realm of the Dwarves)
Featuring:
Joanna Lee, John Mansell, Nat Hall
the secret and impalpable things of the world
by Joanna Lee
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strength has no purchase here, in the dark places where ribbons of the secret and impalpable things of the world are forged from stony, sunless wrists to catch a moon- snatcher
by the heart, the chain.
he would slay the best of them, she said, so slaver- dripped fingers fish for breath of cat moving, the noise of mountain roots. even a god will lose a hand to feed a wolf and bind him.
Sombre snarled in nascent clutch the maggot-born unbound from mire of decaying Ymir.
In sunless dwelling of slate hue wrath Sindri’s bloodline wrought in nanistic voracity the skilled gems and emblems of gods.
Moon-wane fields that emptied to the shuddering north. The clout of smiths in melanic retreat, to swirl to solid mist the aureate seal of their fame.
In red-gold sanctum magic Hreidmar wrecked in wealth the family bonds to scream in shame his daughter’s names as sanguine blade slept through his flesh.
Three chains that snapped, one in death, unbridled Fafnir, serpent spawn slithered the morose realm. His rancid pause of poison like lava.
And Regin fearful shied to shameless oblivion. It is a dire place this home of dwarves, this land of shade and patricide.
There had been valour here, the lofty battle flags unwrapped. Their unfurling now a memory of dust chastened in the quietening mines.
the fen-dweller, son of Loki, fanged beyond fears, moon howler Inside a troll’s skin; feared by most gods, shackled by silk dwarves once fashioned in dark dwellings – ribbon woven out of mere six impossibles: a faint sound of feline footfall, a woman’s beard, a mountain’s roots, a bear’s sinews, breath of a fish and bird’s spittle…
9 months, 22 poets and writers, 22 Artists, 3 composers, 1 Viking boat= a magical reworking of Norse Mythology for contemporary audiences
Nidavellir
(the realm of the Dwarves)
Vikings Ahoy!
Happy New Year! Here we are at the beginning of January, with the deadline for the poetry and writing for the 3nd realm Jotunheim coming up: Monday 12th January. The poetry and writing inspired by the realm Vanaheim will continue to be posted out. This month we are outlining the realm of Nidavellir and the deadline for all writing, poetry and mp3s for this realm is Thursday12th February 2015.
These monthly posts will draw from a range of primary and secondary source materials and focus on selected gods, themes and stories that circle around the highlighted realm. They will not attempt to cover everything, and writers can embrace any other stories and characters within their writing which is not covered. Month by month we will be building our own magical, contemporary norse world whilst exploring the themes of POWER, NATURE and RELIGION. The project’s overall intention is to embrace orality, translation, storytelling and rhythm all of which are inspired by the origins of the oral tradition of the Norse Sagas.
I may well put out little mini-posts intermittently focusing on orality and poetic form as necessary.
What is presented below is designed to inspire, present basic information and offer a starting point for individual creativity within the project inspired by the themes, characters and spirit of the myths and stories.
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1. A brief Overview of Nidavellir
Nidavellir (Niðavellir)is the realm of the dwarves. Nida means ‘dark’ and vellir means ‘dwelling’, and Hreidmar is the King of the realm. Dwarves are consistently mentioned in theVoluspa poem of The Poetic Edda (see below):
Stóð fyr norðan, / á Niðavöllom / salr úr gulli / Sindra ættar
tr: ‘Before you reach the north (Niflheim being the world furthest to the north), A dark dwelling stands (The dwarf world), In halls of gold, Sindri’s bloodline lives’.
There is some confusion as to whetherNidavellir is actually the realm of the dwarves or the dark elves. They are often confounded, and associated with the realm called Svartalfheim (world of black elves). Snorri Sturlson refers to this in The Prose Edda calling the realmSvartálfaheimr. Dark elves or black elves, were generally conceived as being horrifying and hideous. In later storytelling traditions they became what we know as goblins. The light elves, became equated with the notion of fairies.
Dwarves are known for their wisdom, and alongside giants have a mortal fear of sunlight, as it turns them into stone. This is well highlighted in the story The Lay of Alvis (see Story Focus, below). As a consequence the sun is often called ‘Dvalin’s Delight (after Dvalin the dwarf who came to a similar end asAlvis). See Point 4 below.
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1. The Creation of Dwarves
Having created the worldOdinand his brothers then created beings to live in the world. He created the dwarves first. They grew from maggots infesting Ymir’s corpse. The gods gave dwarves a consciousness and then placed them underground so they could search for gold. The dwarves lived alongside trolls who also resided underground.
The dwarves live in darkness, breed in the earth and are often depicted as miners. In stark contrast to the Light Elves who live in Alfheim. They dwell amidst the rocks and hills, and were considered great craftsmen creating gifts for the gods.
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Hreidmar, King of Nidvellir
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2. Hreidmar (Hreiðmarr)
Hreidmar is the lusty King of the dwarves who captured three gods by using unbreakable chains. He was the father ofFafnir, ÓtrandRegin, and lived in a bejewelled house built for him by Regin. Son, Fafnir guarded the palace on the King’s behalf. The story goes that Ótr was accidentally killed by Loki. The Aesir, in order to make amends for his death, choose to repay him with what is known as ‘Andavari’s Gold’.Andvari was a dwarf who lived underneath a waterfall and had the power to change himself into a fish. The dwarf possessed a magic wealth-making ring calledAndvaranaut. Under duress Loki makes Andvari give up his ring and his gold to him. However, before he leaves Andvari curses the ring. The ring and gold are passed to Hreidmar as repayment for his loss. but out of greed, Fafnir and Regin kill Hreidmar to get the wealth and ring. Fafnir then gets even more greedy and turns himself into a dragon so that he can forcibly drive Regin away through his transformation.
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Thor Kicks Litr. illustration by Emil Doepler (ca. 1905)
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3. Lit (Litr ) and the Death of Balder/Baldr:
Litr, the dwarf appears in the story of the death of Balder/Baldr(who is the second son ofOdin. He is occidentally killed by his brother (Höðr)with a magical spear made from Mistletoe created byLoki). Baldr, in the mythology, is seen to be a paragon of graciousness and wisdom. Baldr’s death is signalled as being one of the many important stories in the sequence of events that lead toRagnarök. Nanna, Balder’s wife, also throws herself symbolically into his funeral pyre. At Ragnarök, Balder will be born into the new world.
Here is the reference to dwarf Lit in The Prose Edda.
Next Thor stood up and blessed the pyre with Mjolnir. A dwarf named Lit ran in front of his feet. Thor kicked the dwarf with his foot; it landed in the fire and burned to death.
Gylfaginning tr. by Jesse Byock (Penguin Classics, Section 49, p67).
You can also find the story of Baldr outlined in Kevin Crossley Holland’s Penguin Book of Norse Myths, under the title Balder’s Dream (p147).
Friggthen sendsHermod(Hermóðr) toHel (ruler over Helheim) to try and bargain Baldr’s life back from her. Hel stimpulates that in order for Baldr to be returned all things must weep for him. Trees, animals, metal and stones all cry for him, except a giantess calledThokk (who is said to be Loki in disguise). As Thokk does not give in, Baldr cannot return from Helheim .
You can find the text of the entire Gylfaginninghere.
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Hoor Killing Baldr
Giantess, Thokk
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4. Dvalin, and ‘Dvalin’s Delight’:
DwarfDvalinalongside his brothers Alfrigg, Berling and Grerr are responsible for the fashioning of the goldennecklaceBrísingamen(belonging to Freyja) whichFriggcovets hugely. The only other reference to Dvalin in The Poetic Edda is in connection to ‘Dvalin’s Delight’ (see realm overview 1) where Dvalin gets turned into stone, which is ultimately the fate of dwarf Alviss too (see below).
You can find the reference to Dvalin in the Voluspa of The Poetic Edda (see link above).
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Loki and Dvalin
Heimdall returning Freyja’s Brisingamen
4. Story Focus:
A. The Binding of The Wolf/Fenrir:
Odin and Fenrir
Tyr
Fenrir is a monstrous wolf, who was brought up in Asgard. In order to protect themselves some dwarves forge a chain to hold Fenrir securely. It is made up out of ‘the secret and impalpable things of the world’ (Ellis Davidson: 31):
the roots of a mountain
the noise of a moving cat
the breath of a fish.
It is delicate but is equally very strong, and Fenrir would not allow the chain to be placed on him unless a god’s hand was placed in his mouth as a ransom. Tyr, the only god who dared feed the wolf , managed to bind Fenrir with the chain. In so doing the gods were happy, but Tyr lost a hand in the process.
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B. The Lay of Alvis (Alviss):
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Alviss and Thor
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The Alvíssmál ( a poemin The Poetic Edda) outlines a discussion between a dwarf called Alviss (all-wise) and Thor. The conversation is relayed in a series of kenningswhich are features of skaldic poetry (Things of Interest 3. see below). Dwarves were often seen to be centres of knowledge and song, and were known to occasionally pass on their wisdom to the gods.
The story goes that Alviss approaches Thor to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage, saying that Thor had agreed to this earlier. Thor denies this, but says that Alviss can have his daughter if he answers a set of questions correctly. The dwarf’s answers act as an all-encompassing list of mythological entities ranging from giants to elves:
There are some discrepancies in relation to the naming of the various objects. However, the poet-writer of the Alvíssmál,as Crossley Holland points out (224), does not seem to mind as he is more keen to demonstrate an aspect of poetic technique (skaldic diction) than he is about proving he is 100% correct. So Alviss fulfils on his task, but is unfortunately turned into stone as the sun rises.
Poetic Form and Language: Many stories in connection with the dwarves seem to draw on either their status as wisdom-givers, or highlight their role as conduits of magic and transformation. However, the dwarf stories are more complex, particularly in the case of The Lay of Alviss which interestingly, combines this emphasis on magic and play with an overt engagement with poetic form and the flexibility of language/meaning. It is maybe worth thinking about how the Sagas , and the stories therein, blend an engagement and celebration of language with the mythic and the supernatural. What does this say about language, and what does this say about power?
‘Skald’ means poet, and makes reference to the poets ‘who composed at the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age and Middle Ages. Skaldic poetry forms one of two main groupings of Old Norse poetry, the other being the anonymous Eddic poetry’(Wikipedia, see next link).
Skaldicpoems which consisted of elegies and eulogies (by contemporary poets of the time celebrating their peers) were a huge resource for the myths outlined in The Poetic Edda and other Eddas. Skaldic poetry is delicate, syllabic, alliterative and full of internal rhymes and consonance. Above all skaldic poetry is known for its many ‘kennings, or condensed metaphors that contain part of their diction. Many of the kennings are rooted in myths with which the poem’s original audience were clearly familiar. So for instance, four of the kennings of gold are ‘Freyja’s tears’, ‘Sif’s hair’, ‘Otters ransom’ and ‘Aegir’s fire’.’ (Crossley-Holland: xxxiii). The kennings used by the poets not only make a nod to the myths that endured through the years and but also to those that had not. The kennings chosen by the poets always reflected the oral heritage that goes with them.
Anaphora, comes from the Greek meaning up or back, and consists of lines where lines or phrases in sequence begin with the same words. A single word can be repeated or a phrase. It is often used in devotional poetry and a favourite of the Romantic poets. Sonnet No 66, by Shakespeare is an example of this (see link below). The form creates a forceful rhythm and often repeats the same sound.
To get involved contact us via any of the comments boxes on our posts/pages or @ArtiPeeps. You would be very welcome!
Vikings Ahoy! It’s The Nine Realms!
The Nine Realms: a Norse inspired interactive, combined arts experienceSeptember 12th, 2015
ONGOING EPICS
THE NINE REALMS (2014-2015):
Watch this space for our next 9-month large-scale collaborative project ! Starting in the 2nd Week of October 2014. Inspired by the Norse Sagas and Norse Cosmology, Giving creative opportunities to nearly 50 creatives. We'll be combining poetry, prose, art, music and sculpting a Viking boat out of ash, Vikings Ahoy!!!
The Nine Realms Poetry Playlist
The Nine Realms Realm Music
PAST EPIC COLLABORATIONS
TRANSFORMATIONS (2013-2014)
A POETRY AND ART EPIC:
31 Creatives from all around the world and the UK showcased through 1 Contemporary Reworking of Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Making the virtual real via a poetry-art exhibition held at Hanse House, Norfolk, 12-14th September 2014,
The launch of our large-scale exhibition template to be used to give creatives from all disciplines collaborative opportunities year on year.
A Shattered Moon
Via ArtiPeeps , Hot Potato Summer 2014 : 6 Writers, 12 weeks, 1 short story. Featuring: Steve Harris, Michael Schmidt, Shannon Pardoe, Sam Grainger, Josh Kremer and Jessica Cooke. Illustrations by artist Sam Grainger
ARTIPEEPS IS COLLABORATING WITH:
Future Radio
Community Radio, Norwich
Hanse House, King’s Lynn
Home to our 'Transformations' Exhibition/Poetry Performance September 2014
Elizabeth and Lisa
2 artists from Florida USA who create great comic strips...
Deborah Services Limited
Who help us build exciting exhibition stands
The Global Twitter Community Poetry Project
Click on the image to find out more
LAURA BESLEY
SNIPPETS : An ebook Collection of Flash Fiction. Written by Laura whilst with ArtiPeeps during her feature 'Flash Fortnightly' in 2013. Congratulations Laura!
Please note: the views expressed by the creatives on this site are their own, and are not necessarily the views held by ArtiPeeps.
VERY INSPIRING BLOGGER AWARD NOMINATION
The Inspiration in ArtiPeeps is entirely collaborative. With many thanks to Ant DiMartino for the nomination
VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARD NOMINATION
With thanks to AK Anderson for the Nomination
This site's versatility rests in the diversity and talents of its contributors on an ongoing basis
Super-Sweet Blogger Award Nomination
Thank you To Soad 88 for nominating us
The Sunshine Award
Many thanks to writer Laura Besley for nominating us
Kindly providing some music for 'Transformations' September 2014
@honeybeeandhare newly formed beliefs. We have to continually adjust the relationship between our beliefs & habits. That can be painful..(3 3 years ago
@honeybeeandhare our lives. This affects the habits we create. They have to be flexible enough (within their rigidity) to align with our..(2 3 years ago
@honeybeeandhare Yes, I agree. I also think that it's worth factoring in that these core beliefs & values can change as we move through.. (1 3 years ago
EXPRESS YOURSELF IN AS MANY WAYS AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT FEAR.THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR.THERE IS NOBODY WHO IS GOING TO PUNISH OR REWARD YOU. EXPRESS YOUR BEING IN ITS TRUEST FORM, IN ITS NATURAL FLOW, YOU WILL BE REWARDED IMMEDIATELY, NOT TOMORROW BUT TODAY, HERE & NOW. YOU ARE PUNISHED ONLY WHEN YOU GO AGAINST YOUR NATURE. BUT THE PUNISHMENT IS A HELP. IT IS SIMPLY AN INDICATION THAT YOU HAVE MOVED AWAY FROM NATURE, THAT YOU HAVE GONE A LITTLE ASTRAY-OFF THE ROAD-COME BACK. PUNISHMENT IS NO REVENGE.NO, PUNISHMENT IS ONLY AN EFFORT TO WAKE YOU UP: 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?' . SOMETHING IS WRONG, SOMETHING IS GOING AGAINST YOURSELF. THAT'S WHY THERE IS PAIN, THERE IS ANXIETY.
EVOLUTION IS INTRINSIC TO MAN'S NATURE, EVOLUTION IS HIS VERY SOUL, AND THOSE WHO TAKE THEMSELVES FOR GRANTED REMAIN UNFULFILLED. THOSE WHO THINK THEY ARE BORN COMPLETE REMAIN UNEVOLVED. THEN THE SEED REMAINS THE SEED. IT NEVER BECOMES A TREE AND NEVER KNOWS THE JOYS OF SPRING AND THE SUNSHINE AND THE RAIN AND THE ECSTASY OF BURSTING INTO MILLIONS OF FLOWERS.