Viking "Shrine"

[SoldierPalmer]

Hi Gary fantastic work yet again.

Abit cheeky but have you got a closer image of each carving so I could replicate for my own pleasure?

 

[Robson Valley]

Thank you. Illuminating. Can you recommend some reading I might do this winter?
Do I see carved runic calligraphy?

There has been a long period of relative stability, perhaps 5,000 - 12,000 years in the native populations in the Pacific Northwest.
However a concerted effort towards "cultural genocide" (a quote for the gov't report, not my words),
in the 19th and 20th centuries has made reconstruction and reconciliation very slow to obtain results.

 

[edjuh]

How lovely,

Pitty you were not in the Archeon (?)
Fancy Teylingen, just across the pond.
Hope to get the same quality one day.

 

[Tengu]

There was a man once, he wanted to honour the Old Gods.

So they sent him to a land where they were still worshipped.

But that is another story.

 

[Wayland]

Thank you. Illuminating. Can you recommend some reading I might do this winter?
Do I see carved runic calligraphy?

There has been a long period of relative stability, perhaps 5,000 - 12,000 years in the native populations in the Pacific Northwest.
However a concerted effort towards "cultural genocide" (a quote for the gov't report, not my words),
in the 19th and 20th centuries has made reconstruction and reconciliation very slow to obtain results.

Gods and Myths of Northern Europe by H.R. Ellis Davidson is the best single book I have read on the subject. Bits and peices can be picked up elsewhere but although it is a relatively old text now I've yet to see that one bettered.

I think Cultural Genocide is a good description of what happened in many parts of the world. Most ancient religions had no real interest in conversion so inevitably they were vulnerable to religions that saw conversion as a sacred duty. Sadly, many atrocities were committed in the name of that "duty"

 

[Wayland]

How lovely,

Pitty you were not in the Archeon (?)
Fancy Teylingen, just across the pond.
Hope to get the same quality one day.

Over the years I have visited many sites like Archeon, It used to be a realistic dream to get to all of them but as time has progressed, there are now far more of these cultural history type museums than there used to be.

That might be yet another to add to my now very long list of places to see.

 

[Wayland]

Hi Gary fantastic work yet again.

Abit cheeky but have you got a closer image of each carving so I could replicate for my own pleasure?

Mine are poor copies or adaptations of original material where possible.

It's best not to copy the copies but go to the sources. I'll see if I can link up a few pictures for you.

 

[Wayland]

OK I've pinned a few here for you.

Should keep you inspired for a while.

 

[SoldierPalmer]

Thanks Gary all sorts of stuff on that pin site I could look at it for weeks.

 

[Wayland]

You are welcome. I look forward to seeing anything it inspires.

 

[Wayland]

Some one asked me for more information about the Hnefatafl set on FaceBook so I might as well post it here as well.

It's a project I've been working on for a while. As already mentioned, the pieces were made by Mike at Tillerman Beads and they were based on Scandinavian finds from Birka but adapted to account for "British" production methods of the period. For example, the Greener pieces are Roman formula glass which was widely recycled in this country.

The board is based upon a number of examples made from multiple parts with carving that is inspired by the Ballinderry board from Ireland. Again that makes it consistent with finds in the North West.

It is double sided with the side visible being an 11x11 board which is the game most commonly played today. Original boards varied from 7x7 up to 15x15 found at York and 15x15 described in manuscripts.

The other side of this one is 9x9 which is the board size described by Carl Linnaeus which he found still being used by the Saami in the North and the set of rules he originally recorded upon which our whole understanding of the game is based.

There is of course a wider border on that side which I have not yet carved but the extra space gives me some interesting possibilities.

 

[John Fenna]

It all looks very good!
I like the flint and steel set and dice as well...

 

[Wayland]

The steel is loosely based on an example from Kaupang which I made with couple of strap ends and a bit of ingenuity. Not strictly accurate as the original bronzework would have been tailor made. Close enough for my needs though.

It was made ultra reliable and very sturdy because it is used almost daily in schools. ( I allocate no more than five minutes to that whole part of the demonstration, from introduction and explanation to flame. The actual ignition sequence only gets about thirty seconds.) Even as sturdy as it is, I would estimate that it is now worn through about half of it's useful life in ten years.

The dice are based upon a range of examples in bone (cattle and whale), antler and even Amber. I particularly like the oblong versions which make good sense of the old dice game "Mia" or "Meyer" which is still very popular in parts of Scandinavia today. The highest score in Mia is a 2 and a 1 which are on the ends of the oblong dice and the way we play it, double 1 and double 2 are the next highest scores, although people playing with modern cubic dice often play that part differently.