Kay Nielsen: The Enchanting Illustrator of Fairy Tales

Kay Nielsen: The Enchanting Illustrator of Fairy Tales

In the rich tapestry of the art world, there are a select few artists whose works have the magical ability to transport viewers into a realm of wonder, where reality and fantasy coalesce. One such artist is Kay Nielsen, celebrated for his enchanting illustrations of fairy tales. Nielsen’s unique and mesmerizing style…
Mothers of might - The victorious feminine

Mothers of might - The victorious feminine

An exploration of the sacred feminine and its initiatory function in Germanic paganism There are several ways we can distill the mythic wisdom in the myths examined in this series of articles and use it as nourishment for our own spiritual growth. One such level of analysis is to see the different…
Mothers of might - The female initiator

Mothers of might - The female initiator

An exploration of the sacred feminine and its initiatory function in Germanic paganism Much has been written about the quest and the initiatic journey of the hero, but little attention has been paid to the feminine figures who often function as guides and initiators on those adventures. In Odin’s case, he retrieves…
Mothers of might - The sacred mead

Mothers of might - The sacred mead

An exploration of the sacred feminine and its initiatory function in Germanic paganism The next natural object of this essay is the nature of the sacred mead, and the spiritual meaning thereof. Depicting spiritual knowledge as a liquid is a central indoeruopean theme, from India to Ireland. The Vedas referred to the…
Mothers of might - The Germanic hero's journey

Mothers of might - The Germanic hero's journey

An exploration of the sacred feminine and its initiatory function in Germanic paganism Rites of initiation fascinate us: ceremonies wherein mysterious workings of another world alter the spiritual being of man, and in turn how he relates to the world, by exposing him to a glimpse of the sacred reality before which…
Spring and the Goddess of Dawn


Spring and the Goddess of Dawn


While in many places the frost still crouches deep in the ground and the mountains sleep under a thick blanket of snow, the first harbingers of spring are already appearing in sheltered corners and sunny places: snowdrops and crocuses greet the first warming rays of sun, the young trees begin to bud…
Myth, fairy tales and the power of crisis

Myth, fairy tales and the power of crisis

In myths and fairy tales, the heroes and heroines are pushed towards change through crisis that most often manifest as an adventure they will live on their own, and which will ultimately lead them towards a state of completeness and self-knowledge they would not have been able to acquire without enduring a…
Trolls, dwarves and elves: magical creatures of the north

Trolls, dwarves and elves: magical creatures of the north

Norse paganism and folklore is filled to the brim with otherworldly beings, many of which are still alive and kicking in Scandinavian popular belief! In this article we will discover the magical creatures of the North, such as trolls, nisser, nøkk, elves and dwarves.  trolls The trolls are a well known race…
John Bauer, Swedish illustrator of Scandinavian folklore, mythology and fairy tales

John Bauer, Swedish illustrator of Scandinavian folklore, mythology and fairy tales

Discover the secrets of the dark gloomy forests of Sweden, meet the nasty trolls, the gnomes and travel alongside young princesses able to tame even the biggest bears. Plunge with us in the mythic world of John Bauer and discover the magic hidden behind mountains and rocks with the fantastic illustrations of…
The Age of the Wolf and Ragnarök - The end of the world in Norse mythology

The Age of the Wolf and Ragnarök - The end of the world in Norse mythology

Brothers shall fight and fell each other,And sisters’ sons shall kinship stain;  Hard is it on earth, with mighty whoredom; Axe-time, sword-time, shields are sundered,  Wind-time, wolf-time, ere the world falls; Nor ever shall men each other spare. – Völuspá Just as Indian mythology knows the Kali Yuga and Hesiod and Ovid write…
Women of the North: Honor and power in Viking society

Women of the North: Honor and power in Viking society

Honor Women in the Viking age were, like men, concerned with honor. An insult to the housewife was just as bad as an insult to the man of the home. Insults in the Viking ages were no negligible matter. An attack on a person’s honor was an attack on the whole bloodline,…
The Winter solstice: The Sun is caught by the wolf to be reborn

The Winter solstice: The Sun is caught by the wolf to be reborn

“The night is dark and full of terrors” may be a quote from a fantasy show but it echoes deeply with the Baltic mythology. The night is a magical and powerful but terrifying time when witches and wizards have more power, and various sorts of critters come scurrying out from the deep…
The winter solstice

The winter solstice

It is quite easy during the dark days of the Christmas season to go deep, to get closer. In the summer, on the other hand, one tends to become more ecstatic, drawn out into the open in the dance of the blossoming nature. In the winter nights though one would rather experience…
Art-ificial Intelligence

Art-ificial Intelligence

If an algorithm creates an illustration, why should it be called anything else than a tool creating an image? If an image is aesthetic, does it make it a work of art? If someone would use a program and click on a button to generate a picture, would that person be an…
The Wild Hunt, the ancient ghosts ride across Europe

The Wild Hunt, the ancient ghosts ride across Europe

The months between the autumn and spring equinoxes have been since ancient times populated by dark creatures, myths and lore linking to the otherworld. Different kinds of festivities in celebrating the ancestors, rituals involving the honourable dead or tales of ghosts and demons are being celebrated to this day in some regions…
Women of the North: feminine ideals in the Viking Age

Women of the North: feminine ideals in the Viking Age

The feminine beauty ideal in the Viking Age What was the beauty ideal in the Viking age, and how did women dress for beauty in this time? The last question is best answered by grave-finds. It is likely that Viking women were buried in their finest garments. Two of the most common…
The Origins of Halloween: Samhain and the European Feasts of the Dead

The Origins of Halloween: Samhain and the European Feasts of the Dead

Nowadays, Halloween is in many places wrongly considered an American invention. While it is true that the way we celebrate Halloween today hardly has anything to do with the traditions of our forebears, the roots of these customs reach back into prehistory. The name “Halloween” (“all hallows even”, the eve of All…
Women of the North: The Viking housewife and mother

Women of the North: The Viking housewife and mother

This is the first post in a series on the role of women in the Viking age. As this year’s summer blot is dedicated to Freya, the most radiant of the goddesses, we wish to start this series with a post on her representative on earth, namely the housewife (husfrue). The Viking…
The energy of an object

The energy of an object

Once upon a time, people had few but were surrounded by meaningful belongings. Their possessions had their own stories, their own energies, and were manufactured: they were created from nature by skilful hands. They were unique. It’s time to find meaning again, welcome on Mythopoetic.  Once upon a time, people had few…
The autumnal equinox, threshold to Fall

The autumnal equinox, threshold to Fall

The autumnal equinox responds to the spring equinox. The sowing of seeds, the working of the earth, the blossoming and fertilisation of flowers in the orchards, and the celebration of nature’s resurrection are followed by a time of harvesting, thanksgiving and rituals related to death and the fear of the other world’s…

Contributors

Anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wolf-Dieter Storl on Mythopoetic
Wolf-Dieter Storl
Norse Tradition
Norse Tradition
Ingmar Hagedorn blog redactor about traditions and pagan celebrations on Mythopoetic
Ingmar Hagedorn
Alexandra Caillaud founder of Mythopoetic
Alexandra Caillaud
Cyril Flautat
Cyril Flautat
Pekle on Mythopoetic
Pekle