The Waking of Angantýr
For the 3rd of August Chills, I bring you a segment from the saga of the cursed sword Tyrfing, with the courageous Hervǫr waking the ghost of her father to gain the sword that damned him...
(scroll down for giveaway instructions)
I ran across this story during my search for this year’s tales and it was love at first read, I mean - vikings, ghost, a cursed sword and a fierce heroine, what more could a girl ask for?
I have to thank Eleanor Parker, whose translation I used for the video, and on whose blog I encountered the story (right here). A double thanks Eleanor, both for introducing me to Hervǫr and for letting me use your beautiful translation!
For me, the story was very visual, I could easily imagine Hervǫr running off to the woods and rubbing travelers for fun and greed, could see her fight with the slave and eyes light up when her grandfather tells her of her father’s tomb and she imagined all the treasures buried with him. And that’s all before she steps on the shore of Sámsey and meets Angantýr’s spirit. I think that it was because I could see her so clearly that I wanted to make the photo more abstract and surreal, drawing on the atmosphere of the scene, instead of recreating it.
I was happily surprised by the effect the lighting created, I love the mysterious shadows created by the purple-blue grave fires (don’t ask me why this color, guess that’s just how I imagine ghost lights…). A lot of the details I worked on get lost in the darkness of the final photo, but I think the atmosphere is worth it.
You can compare it to this preparatory shot taken with the room light on:
I do like seeing the details, but the mystery is lost, and hey - it was a night encounter after all! I am very happy with the details though, and may use this diorama for other shots with different lighting. I built the background so it can be easily removed and replaced, what the point of a 3D work if you can’t turn it around? ;)
To build the tomb, I used polyurethane sculpting foam again. You can’t get too fiddly with it, but its basic texture is great for rocks. Plus it takes impressions very well, so I was able to use another one of Green Stuff World’s pins to add the remnant of a design on the stone at the entrance. I was tempted to add more designs, but the story specifies that Angantýr was buried by his enemies, and while they might have invested some in the tomb to keep his spirit pacified, I don’t think they would go that far.
The sword, Tyrfing, is the main object of the photo (though it’s well balanced by the grave-lights). I wanted it to look like it glows from within, so I used a clear resin to cast the sword and added silver color to the blade in just the amount to have that metallic shine without blocking the red back-light. It took some time to get the lighting right so that the sword shine in both silver in red - befitting a magical blade that dooms both its victims and its owners, that is said to be so bloodthirsty it has to be sheathed while still covered in warm blood.
This story is a segment of a saga called Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, translated as The Saga of Hervǫr and Heidrek, a legendary saga that follows the family of Hervǫr over several generations and, among other things, tells of the triumphs and falls caused by their ownership of Tyrfing. Hervǫr’s visit to her father’s tomb a poetic eddas called Hervararkviða in Old Norse. The saga is known to have inspired J. R. R. Tolkien, while Hervǫr herself was one of the inspirations for the character of Éowyn. Clearly I couldn’t skip including her in this project ;)
I hope you enjoyed Hervǫr’s story, and the video. Check out the details for the giveaway bellow, and I’ll see you next week for our final story of August Chills 2021!
xx
Naama
Giveaway!
For full details visit the August Chills 2021 main page
3 lucky winners will get one signed art print of the story their choice!
The giveaway will be on my YouTube, Instagram and Facebook and follow the instructions there. I collected the links to this week’s posts here, visit them all for a better chance to win!
like the video, subscribe to my channel & leave a comment
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The giveaway will close August 31, winners will be announced and contacted on the first week of September.
Good luck!