quixotic chaotic

norse mythology: parenting edition

Dragon Sickness, part 2

The Hobbit Appendices GIFs

(These GIFs are free for use, re-editing, reposting, etc., credit unnecessary.)

Norse mythology from A to Z:

[F] - Fenrir or Fenrisúlfr

[Image description - Image of the genderqueer pride flag with the text: Like Loki. End description.]

Fenrir (Fenrisúlfr) - Father of wolves, Son of Loki, Odin’s bane

for @hynpos‘s myth event (fave norse group)

↳ the children of loki

writing-prompt-s:

Oh my god, this is beautiful.

A small child enters Valhalla. The battle they lost was “hiding from an alcoholic father.” Odin sees the flinch when he slams the cup and refrains from doing it again. He hears the child’s pain; no glorious battle this, but one of fear and wretched survival.

He invites the child to sit with him, offers the choicest mead and instructs his men to bring a sword and shield, a bow and arrow, of the very best materials and appropriate size. “Here,” he says, “you will find no man who dares to harm you. But so you will know your own strength, and be happy all your days in Valhalla, I will teach you to use these weapons.”

The sad day comes when another child enters the hall. Odin does not slam his cup; he simply beams with pride as the first child approaches the newcomer, and holds out her bow and quiver, and says “nobody here will hurt you. Everyone will be so proud you did your best, and I’ll teach you to use these, so you always know how strong you are.”

————

A young man enters the hall. He hesitates when Odin asks his story, but at long last, it ekes out: skinheads after the Pride parade. His partner got into a building and called for help. The police took a little longer than perhaps they really needed to, and two of those selfsame skinheads are in the hospital now with broken bones that need setting, but six against one is no fair match. The fear in his face is obvious: here, among men large enough to break him in two, will he face an eternity of torment for the man he left behind?

Odin rumbles with anger. Curses the low worms who brought this man to his table, and regales him with tales of Loki so to show him his own welcome. “A day will come, my friend, when you seek to be reunited, and so you shall,” Odin tells him. “To request the aid of your comrades in battle is no shameful thing.”

———-

A woman in pink sits near the head of the table. She’s very nearly skin and bones, and has no hair. This will not last; health returns in Valhalla, and joy, and light, and merrymaking. But now her soul remembers the battle of her life, and it must heal.

Odin asks.

And asks again.

And the words pour out like poisoned water, things she couldn’t tell her husband or children. The pain of chemotherapy. The agony of a mastectomy, the pain still deeper of “we found a tumor in your lymph nodes. I’m so sorry.” And at last, the tortured question: what is left of her?

Odin raises his flagon high. “What is left of you, fair warrior queen, is a spirit bright as fire; a will as strong as any forged iron; a life as great as any sea. Your battle was hard-fought, and lost in the glory only such furor can bring, and now the pain and fight are behind you.“

In the months to come, she becomes a scop of the hall–no demotion, but simple choice. She tells the stories of the great healers, Agnes and Tanya, who fought alongside her and thousands of others, who turn from no battle in the belief that one day, one day, the war may be won; the warriors Jessie and Mabel and Jeri and Monique, still battling on; the queens and soldiers and great women of yore.

The day comes when she calls a familiar name, and another small, scarred woman, eyes sunken and dark, limbs frail, curly black hair shaved close to her head, looks up and sees her across the hall. Odin descends from his throne, a tall and foaming goblet in his hands, and stuns the hall entire into silence as he kneels before the newcomer and holds up the goblet between her small dark hands and bids her to drink.

“All-Father!” the feasting multitudes cry. “What brings great Odin, Spear-Shaker, Ancient One, Wand-Bearer, Teacher of Gods, to his knees for this lone waif?”

He waves them off with a hand.

“This woman, LaTeesha, Destroyer of Cancer, from whom the great tumors fly in fear, has fought that greatest battle,” he says, his voice rolling across the hall. “She has fought not another body, but her own; traded blows not with other limbs but with her own flesh; has allowed herself to be pierced with needles and scored with knives, taken poison into her very veins to defeat this enemy, and at long last it is time for her to put her weapons down. Do you think for a moment this fight is less glorious for being in silence, her deeds the less for having been aided by others who provided her weapons? She has a place in this great hall; indeed, the highest place.”

And the children perform feats of archery for the entertainment of all, and the women sing as the young man who still awaits his beloved plays a lute–which, after all, is not so different from the guitar he once used to break a man’s face in that great final fight.

Valhalla is a place of joy, of glory, of great feasting and merrymaking.

And it is a place for the soul and mind to heal.

I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING

THIS IS GLORIOUS

Beautiful.

Well I AM crying and have no shame in admitting it. Absoutely beautiful!

A woman enters the hall, arms wrapped tight around her. Her hair is dirty, red rimmed eyes hollow. Her clothes are worn, her soul is shadowed and grey.

Odin asks and all she says is ‘I’m sorry.’

Odin asks again, voice low and warm like the embers of a fire.

‘I’m tired,’ the woman says.

‘Then drink and rest,’ Odin says offering up a goblet filled to the very brim.

The woman shakes her head, tears welling from some deep place echoing with the cold and salt of bitter waves. It takes time before the woman speaks of a life lived on the edge, the battle each day from morning to night, the dark thoughts that dwell within.

‘You have long fought the twin demons of Depression and Anxiety, Warrior Maiden. The darkness is all consuming, with thoughts sharp as blades, and tongues of acid to wrap around your soul. There is no shame in the help you needed, with words and healing potions. It is time to lay down your weapons, your fight is over. You have a place in this hall, to rest and heal from the demons that fed on your soul.’

These are the most beautiful things I’ve ever read. 

Heroes, all of them.

It’s back. This meant everything to me the first time I read it. Still does.

Always reblog

art by: Tatiana Marotta / Chaos Crew Tattoo Munich

Anyone out there work with Angrboða?

I’m being shoved nudged to go do some research on her, but I’m not finding a whole lot out there. I’m familiar with what (little, apparently?) there is about her in the Eddas, but really any info would be welcome, including SPG and UPG. And I would love to connect up with anyone else who works with her!

Fenrir

Modern Worshippers: Fenrir [Requested by Anon]

Howls in the moonlight and blood on the teeth. They roam the forests, some filled with song and others with snow. They take pictures of the mountains, the woods, and should they be lucky enough, of His children as they pass by, far off in the mist paths only they know. Every day they see the sun, they know He is chained but appeased. They offer howls of their own and soft flowers for His paws to tread on. They ache for the shackles that cut into thick fur and hold strong paws.

So they run free in mind and body in His stead.

Fenrir the Wolf - Norse Mythology

Fenrir (or Fenris) is a gigantic and terrible monster in the shape of a wolf. He is the eldest child of Loki and the giantess Angrboda. The gods learned of a prophecy which stated that the wolf and his family would one day be responsible for the destruction of the world. They caught the wolf and locked him in a cage. Only the god of war, Tyr, dared to feed and take care of the wolf. When he was still a pup they had nothing to fear, but when the gods saw one day how he had grown, they decided to render him harmless. However, none of the gods had enough courage to face the gigantic wolf. Instead, they tried to trick him. They said the wolf was weak and could never break free when he was chained. Fenrir accepted the challenge and let the gods chain him. Unfortunately, he was so immensely strong that he managed to break the strongest fetters as if they were cobwebs.

After that, the gods saw only one alternative left: a magic chain. They ordered the dwarves to make something so strong that it could hold the wolf. The result was a soft, thin ribbon: Gleipnir. It was incredibly strong, despite what its size and appearance might suggest. The ribbon was fashioned of six strange elements: the footstep of a cat; the roots of a mountain; a woman’s beard; the breath of fishes; the sinews of a bear; and a bird’s spittle.

The gods tried to trick the wolf again, only this time Fenrir was less eager to show his strength. He saw how thin the chain was, and said that was no pride in breaking such a weak chain. Eventually, though, he agreed, thinking that otherwise his strength and courage would be doubted. Suspecting treachery however, he in turn asked the gods for a token of good will: one of them had to put a hand between his jaws. The gods were not overly eager to do this, knowing what they could expect. Finally, only Tyr agreed, and the gods chained the wolf with Gleipnir. No matter how hard Fenrir struggled, he could not break free from this thin ribbon. In revenge, he bit off Tyr’s hand.

Being very pleased with themselves, the gods carried Fenrir off and chained him to a rock (called Gioll) a mile down into the earth. They put a sword between his jaws to prevent him from biting. On the day of Ragnarok, Fenrir will break his chains and join the giants in their battle against the gods. He will seek out Odin and devour him. Vidar, Odin’s son, will avenge his father by killing the wolf.

Starting at $11.00, by LittleDevilDesigns on etsy

In Norse folklore, both the Acorn and its bearer, the oak tree, bring good fortune. The Vikings associated oak trees with Thor, the god who created thunder and lightning with his great anvil and hammer. Because the tree attracted lightning, it was sacred to Thor. Thus they believed that the Acorn, the fruit of the oak tree, was always spared the God’s wrath, and so they began putting a lone Acorn on their windowsills to protect their homes from lightning’s wrath.

They used to carry around acorns in their pockets, too. That practice of acorns being equivalent to luck and safety still exists in some places.

The fact that I’ve just always liked to carry around acorns and put them on my windowsill without knowing all this is kind of unnerving…

Dragon Sickness, part 2

The Hobbit Appendices GIFs

(These GIFs are free for use, re-editing, reposting, etc., credit unnecessary.)

SOO… this is what Finland does to fascists

From the Official Soldiers of Odin™ instagram

And the text means approximately “fuck off nazis”

The trademarked Soldiers of Odin™ clothing line will include at least t-shirts and underwear; canvas bags and other assorted Official products can also be expected for those times one is feeling SOO fabulous!

normally I am not a Unicorns Human

but Sleipnicorn is pretty!

anyway, congrats to your Trademark Friends, you are completely hilarious and adorable and yay you

EDIT: also stealing magic spider unicorns from fascists is pretty cool

Oh, also, will you guys sell stickers or put up [SVG/full resolution if you don’t have an SVG version] files? This looks like it would look good on a laptop.

annoying Nazis is a terminal value for me

WITNESS ME, BLOOD BAG!

this little rhyme always feels like a punch in the stomach because the warboys felt the need to make one specifically to those who willingly burn to death to get to Valhalla

“grabs the sun”.. what does this mean if not “lighting himself on fire” ?

so many of them died this way they needed a rhyme

Why you make me cry??

waIT BUT HEAR ME OUT. So according to Norse mythology, the end of time is called Ragnarok. In Ragnarok Loki’s children (a serpent and a giant wolf named Fenrir) are going to devour the Earth and kill Odin. Also during this  apocalyptic final battle, Fenrir’s two sons, Skoll and Hati, are going to eat the Sun and Moon. Personally I think Nux and the War Boys are relating themselves to Skoll, the son of the one who killed the world. He will literally “grab the sun” between his jaws to help complete his father’s mission.