Idunna under the Ask Yggdrasill

katharsisdrill (71)in #art • 8 years ago (edited)

I made most of this drawing last night while the rest of the house were sleeping. In the cold, wet and DARK Scandinavian autumn it is very hard to leave the bed in the morning and everybody walk around like zombies all day. It is mandatory to get outside to exercise in Scandinavia - I bike. But in the evening we all stay indoor, the lamps are designed to cast the light downwards to imitate a glowing bonfire, and rooms have plenty of woollen plaids to put over your shoulder or legs. This state of circumstance and mind is called hyggelig or koselig in Norwegian, hygge in Danish, and Mysig in Swedish. It's all about being warm, being safe, being sated, being slightly intoxicated, but most of all it is about being together. So late in the evening you can still be mysig, koselig and hygge all by yourself, while everybody is there sleeping close to you.

This drawing was not planned or anything, just me playing with the mirror tool of Krita my favourite open-source drawing program. First it was only these Scandinavian iron-age ornaments, then I saw the woman in the lines and put her in. Then I suddenly became very tired and went to bed. But before I did I realised that the motive of the drawing had to be something I had read in an old Norse poem a while ago. So this morning I have finished the drawing: put in the poem in old Norse and drawn the foot of the world tree Ask Yggdrasil.

The poem is called Odin's Raven Song or Odin's Raven Magic and is a rather obscure and old thing. The place I remembered were verse 7, where it is told that Idunna (possibly the Goddess) is held captive between the roots of the world tree Yggdrasil, missing home, not satisfied with the lack of "hygge" in the underworld where the daughter of sinister Jötunn Nørve rule. His daughter's name is Darkness.

For West Scandinavians there is this incredible site with all the old translations and also the original texts of the Nordic mythology: Heimskringla

There is a high res. version at my Diaspora profile and at the Alexandria Project where it is possible to tip some Bitcoins. The drawing can be printed in 17 x 42 cm if you like and it can be done so for free, as it is licensed CC-by