#Scandinavian Children's Books

[melisaguce]

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[blackcrowing]

Book Review of 'A History of the Vikings: Children of Ash and Elm' by Neil Price

This is probably singlehandedly one of the best academic books I've read as a pagan addressing the Viking era and its people's.

The author did a PHENOMENAL job of using academic sources (archaeology, literature, historical linguistics, etc) to really paint a living picture of the peoples being discussed in their entirety. The author left room for the peoples spiritual/supernatural believes that I don't often see done by writers who are not writing specifically for a pagan audience.

It was deeply refreshing and I sincerely hope to see more academic authors following in their footsteps in the years to come

[cursecuelebre]

Top Recommendations for Norse Pagans that aren’t Problematic.

There is a lot of books by people who are racist and part of far right side of Heathenry and I’m going to try my best and list the books I have that helped me on my path that isn’t problematic and have questionable intentions. Books and YouTube channels.

Anglo Saxon Socerery and Magic by Alaric Albertson. He is very knowledgeable in his work and path especially on runes which includes the rune poem to make your own interpretation and witchcraft side of things. He even talks about the Elves which I appreciate because not a lot of Norse authors talk about them. It’s more Germanic than Norse but I can’t see any problem adopting certain aspects since they are very similar. I will say he does take himself a bit serious at times but his information is so good and worthwhile. I have not read his first book on Travels through middle earth but it focus on more the pagan side.

Poetic Edda and Prose Edda: it’s what every Norse pagan needs. It’s the foundation of Norse paganism not bibles but myths and tales that can help along our journey. There is tons of translations, but my favorites are Dr. Jackson Crawford Poetic Edda and Anthony Fawkes Prose Edda. But look into other sagas as well like Volsung which Dr Jackson Crawford also wrote about.

Beowulf. More of a Germanic tale but again includes it has roots of Germanic sorcery, traditions, religion like the concept of Wyrd (Fate), the runes, and values within his society like loyalty and mythical creatures. Again there is many translations even Jrr Tolkien did a incompleted version of Beowulf but I think Tom Shippey finished that version I could be wrong. Nonetheless explore more than one, the oneI have is by Seamus Heaney.

Grimm Fairy Tales this mostly German Folklore but it’s still quite important to learn about in German folk magic, creatures and entities in German folklore tends to be very real to the practitioner in their spellwork.

The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith a very progressive outlook in Norse paganism, he talks about creating communities in Norse paganism and calling out and denouncing Nazis in the community how Norse Paganism is inclusive and how to be open to all types of people. But he has a beginner approach to the deities, beliefs, values within Norse paganism.

Look into a lot of academic sources that’s where you will find a lot of information on Norse paganism and religions.

Tacitus Germania - A Roman historian talking about the Germanic tribes their culture and customs.

Saxo Grammaticus history of the Danes

The Viking Way by Neil Price it goes good in depths about magic in Scandinavia like Seidh

Dictionary of Norse Mythology a quick guide to northern myths, if you are trying to find a specific god and you don’t have time to look up in a book it’s in there with great information to each one.

Children of Ask and Elm: History of Vikings by Neil Price on Scandinavian culture during the Viking age

Some YouTube Channels

The Norse Witch: Bente lives in Germany and their channel encompasses all of Norse paganism more around magic. They do interviews with other Norse witches of folk magic like Icelandic and Danish. Even gives good book recommendations and advice on general spellwork as well!.

Dr Jackson Crawford he is an author but he also has a YouTube channel. He was a professor in Colorado on Norse culture, mythology, and language and now is a full time YouTuber. He did a series of videos on the runes which are more historically accurate. Discusses the myths and the language and what do they mean. Jackson Crawford isn’t a Norse pagan nor he doesn’t care if you are one but just letting you know he isn’t coming from a pagan perspective.

The Welsh Viking also like Jackson Crawford but still has really great knowledge on Viking culture.

De Spökenkyker who is a channel that focus on German Folk magic living in Germany who is a practicing German Folk Witch.

Please feel free to add on any recommendations that are helpful and useful to the Norse pagan Community!

[broomsick]

List of interesting ressources pertaining to norse paganism, scandinavian folklore and history, and nordic religions in general

These are sources I have personally used in the context of my research, and which I've enjoyed and found useful. Please don’t mind if I missed this or that ressource, as for this post, I focused solely on my own preferences when it comes to research. I may add on to this list via reblog if other interesting sources come to my mind after this has been posted. Good luck on your research! And as always, my question box is open if you have any questions pertaining to my experiences and thoughts on paganism.

Mythology

The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion

Dictionnary of Northern Mythology

The Prose and Poetic Eddas (online)

Grottasöngr: The Song of Grotti (online)

The Poetic Edda: Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes

The Wanderer's Hávamál

The Song of Beowulf

Rauðúlfs Þáttr

The Penguin Book of Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings (Kevin Crossley-Holland's are my favorite retellings)

Myths of the Norsemen From the Eddas and the Sagas (online) A source that's as old as the world, but still very complete and an interesting read.

The Elder Eddas of Saemung Sigfusson

Pocket Hávamál

Myths of the Pagan North: Gods of the Norsemen

Lore of the Vanir: A Brief Overview of the Vanir Gods

Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems

Gods of the Ancient Northmen

Gods of the Ancient Northmen (online)

Two Icelandic Stories: Hreiðars Þáttr and Orms Þáttr

Two Icelandic Stories: Hreiðars Þáttr and Orms Þáttr (online)

Sagas

Two Sagas of Mythical Heroes: Hervor and Heidrek & Hrólf Kraki and His Champions (compiling the Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks and the Hrólfs saga kraka)

Icelandic Saga Database (website)

The Saga of the Jómsvíkings

The Heimskringla or the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway (online)

Stories and Ballads of the Far Past: Icelandic and Faroese

Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway

The Saga of the Volsungs: With the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok

The Saga of the Volsungs (online) Interesting analysis, but this is another pretty old source.

The Story of the Volsungs (online) Morris and Magnusson translation

The Vinland Sagas

Hákon the Good's Saga (online)

History of religious practices

The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia

Nordic Religions in the Viking Age

Agricola and Germania Tacitus' account of religion in nordic countries

Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions

Tacitus on Germany (online)

Scandinavia and the Viking Age

Viking Age Iceland

Landnámabók: Book of the Settlement of Iceland (online)

The Age of the Vikings

Gesta Danorum: The Danish History (Books I-IX)

The Sea Wolves: a History of the Vikings

The Viking World

Guta Lag: The Law of the Gotlanders (online)

The Pre-Christian Religions of the North This is a four-volume series I haven't read yet, but that I wish to acquire soon! It's the next research read I have planned.

Old Norse Folklore: Tradition, Innovation, and Performance in Medieval Scandinavia

Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings

The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings by John Haywood

Landnámabók: Viking Settlers and Their Customs in Iceland

Nordic Tales: Folktales from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark For a little literary break from all the serious research! The stories are told in a way that can sometimes get repetitive, but it makes it easier to notice recurring patterns and themes within Scandinavian oral tradition.

Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Short Introduction

Saga Form, Oral Prehistory, and the Icelandic Social Context

An Early Meal: A Viking Age Cookbook and Culinary Oddyssey

Runes & Old Norse language

Uppland region runestones and their translations

Viking Language 1: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas and Viking Language 2: The Old Norse Reader

Catalogue of the Manks Crosses with Runic Inscriptions

Old Norse - Old Icelandic: Concise Introduction to the Language of the Sagas

A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture

Nordic Runes: Understanding, Casting, and Interpreting the Ancient Viking Oracle 

YouTube channels

Ocean Keltoi

Arith Härger

Old Halfdan

Jackson Crawford

Wolf the Red

Sigurboði Grétarsson

Grimfrost

(Reminder! The channel "The Wisdom of Odin", aka Jacob Toddson, is a known supporter of pseudo scientific theories and of the AFA, a folkist and white-supremacist organization, and he's been known to hold cult-like, dangerous rituals, as well as to use his UPG as truth and to ask for his followers to provide money for his building some kind of "real life viking hall", as supposedly asked to him by Óðinn himself. A source to avoid. But more on that here.)

Websites

The Troth

Norse Mythology for Smart People

Voluspa.org

Icelandic Saga Database

Skaldic Project

Life in Norway This is more of a tourist's ressources, but I find they publish loads of fascinating articles pertaining to Norway's history and its traditions.

[rotzaprachim]

some smaller bookstores, presses, and museum shops to browse and know about! Most support smaller presses, diverse authors and authors in translation, or fund museums and arts research)

(disclaimer: the only three I’ve personally used are the Yiddish book center, native books, and izzun books! Reccomend all three. Also roughly *U.S. centric & anglophone if people have others from around the world please feel free to add on

birchbark books - Louise Erdrich’s book shop, many indigenous and First Nations books of a wide variety of genres including children’s books, literature, nonfiction, sustainability and foodways, language revitalization, Great Lakes area focus (https://birchbarkbooks.com/)

American Swedish institute museum store - range of Scandinavian and Scandinavian-American/midwestern literature, including modern literature in translation, historical documents, knitters guides, cookbooks, children’s books https://shop.asimn.org/collections/books-1

Native books - Hawai’i based bookstore with a focus on native Hawaiian literature, scholarly works about Hawai’i, the pacific, and decolonial theory, ‘ōlelo Hawai’i, and children’s books Collections | Native Books (nativebookshawaii.org)

the Yiddish book center - sales arm of the national Yiddish book center, books on Yiddish learning, books translated from Yiddish, as well as broader selection of books on Jewish history, literature, culture, and coooking https://shop.yiddishbookcenter.org/

ayin press - independent press with a small but growing selection of modern judaica https://shop.ayinpress.org/collections/all?_gl=1kkj2oo_gaMTk4NDI3Mzc1Mi4xNzE1Mzk5ODk3_ga_VSERRBBT6X*MTcxNTM5OTg5Ny4xLjEuMTcxNTM5OTk0NC4wLjAuMA..

Izzun books - printers of modern progressive AND masorti/trad-egal leaning siddurim including a gorgeous egalitarian Sephardic siddur with full Hebrew, English translation, and transliteration

tenement center museum -https://shop.tenement.org/product-category/books/page/11/ range of books on a dizzying range of subjects mostly united by New York City, including the history literature cookbooks and cultures of Black, Jewish, Italian, Puerto Rican, First Nations, and Irish communities

restless books - nonprofit, independent small press focused on books on translation, inter and multicultural exchange, and books by immigrant writers from around the world. Particularly excellent range of translated Latin American literature https://restlessbooks.org/

olniansky press - modern Yiddish language press based in Sweden, translators and publishers esp of modern Yiddish children’s literature https://www.etsy.com/shop/OlnianskyBooks

https://yiddishchildrensbooks.com/ - kinder lokshen, Yiddish children’s books (not so many at the moment but a very cute one about a puffin from faroese!)

inhabit books - Inuit-owned publishing company in Nunavut with an “aim to preserve and promote the stories, knowledge, and talent of Inuit and Northern Canada.” Particularly gorgeous range of children’s books, many available in Inuktitut, English, French, or bilingual editions https://inhabitbooks.com/collections/inhabit-media-books-1

rust belt books - for your Midwest and rust belt bookish needs! Leaning towards academic and progressive political tomes but there are some cookbooks devoted to the art of the Midwest cookie table as well https://beltpublishing.com/

[oneofthosebells]

Thinking about ordinary.

Particularly in the context of 'Wille will never be able to lead an ordinary/normal life' (true) 'and therefore the ending doesn't work because abdicating doesn't actually solve his problems' (oof...I see where you're coming from but I've got to strongly disagree).

[Yes, I know it's not technically abdication, it's just a convenient shorthand!]

Wille will never be able to lead an ordinary life if by ordinary you mean a life like Simon would have led if they'd never met. He'll always be the son of a monarch, he'll always have been famous since birth, he'll always be ridiculously wealthy and privileged. But would he eventually be able to lead an 'ordinary' life by the standards of any privileged trust fund baby whose parent is a major public figure? Yeah, I think so.

There's a world of difference between being famous/wealthy/privileged but able to choose how to live your life - including the ability to choose a very private life if you want one - and being the literal head of state with absolutely no choice in the matter.

And yeah, I'm thinking about this because of all the footage of Harry and Meghan and their slightly odd pseudo-royal tour on the news. Which isn't a dig at H&M, I have no strong feelings about them one way or the other, but I've seen them used as a stick to beat the YR ending with ('it'll never work, look at Harry and Meghan'!). But Wille and Simon aren't Harry and Meghan.

And I don't just mean because they're fictional and H&M aren't, though actually you know what, that's important - it means that if I want to headcanon they can lead a fairly normal life once Wille's out of the line of succession then I can, nothing's stopping me. But also I cannot see Wilmon ever choosing to stay in the limelight by doing a tell-all Oprah interview, or a book or a podcast or a documentary, and I definitely can't see them doing a semi-royal tour where cameras follow them everywhere and where they sit in chairs(/thrones) and look awkward while people perform traditional dances for them. (Again, no shade! The circumstances and the people are very different, that's my point.)

I could see Wille going into academia or writing books about poetry, or maybe he owns a horse sanctuary and gets Sara to run it, or he co-owns a restaurant with Felice. Or all of the above, why not. He probably can't ever go and get a 'normal' job, but he won't need one - he'd have plenty of money to live on if he's living a fairly humble, non-extravagant lifestyle, and again, he's fictional, I can believe he'd happily do that with Simon if I want to.

Maybe they'd live abroad for a while to escape the attention - because with the best will in the world, the Scandinavian monarchies aren't worldwide famous in the way Diana and her children are, and Wille's video/speech/abdication would be a five minute wonder and probably quickly forgotten outside Sweden.

This is getting longer than I meant it to so I'll leave it there without going into Simon and how he fits into it all, because that's another three thousand words lol. Maybe I'll do a part 2. 😂

[yuurei20]

Hey! Could you explain to me why Vil is so insistent on correcting Epel's accent? I haven't gotten to chapter 5 yet but I'd like to understand this, like, why does epel's accent bother him so much?

Hello hello!! ^^ Thank you for this question!

The short, spoiler-free answer is: the way that Epel is used to speaking back home includes something that is particular to the Japanese language, and it might be impossible to translate into English!

Aniplex USA is doing their best with the localization, but a lot is getting lost in translation just because the Japanese language and the English language are so different.

If you don't mind seeing screenshots from Book 5, this also came up back in 2023, and a user from a Scandinavian country (and Epel's hometown can come across as fairly Scandinavia-coded, even borrowing words from the Finnish language) mentioned a similar experience in their own life, which is amazing! (And possibly an influence on the creation of Epel's character and his head-butting with Vil.)

1st: I see some people saying Vil is just correcting Epel because he's swearing a lot?

2nd: I also recall seeing someone say that apparently Epel speaks Tsugaru dialect in Japanese...

3rd: ...Vil trying to teach Epel that it's not about hiding your dialect/culture, it's about being considerate to those around you...

I also recently combined all of the information above into a video ^^

If you'd prefer a spoiler-free explanation, I think it might be summed up best as:

Epel's accent itself is much heavier in the original game than the English-language adaptation, to the point that even JP users are sometimes unable to understand him, because we're not actually supposed to! That is part of Vil's issue: a member of his dorm is essentially speaking in code. Not maliciously, but this is Epel's first time outside the tight-knit community of a small village, and he is experiencing culture shock as a result.

Epel's accent aside, he is using forms of speech that are inappropriate to use with teachers and upperclassmen (and that don't exist in English). Since everyone back in his village treated him like family (there were no other children his age), he is used to speaking very casually with older people as though they are his equals. Vil cannot have a member of Pomefiore obliviously insulting the students of not only his own dorm but those of other dorms and the school's faculty. But Epel isn't intentionally being rude--it's just all he knows! So he is rankling at Vil instituting what he sees as frivolous rules, but it is Vil's responsibility as Epel's housewarden to guide him in this new territory. It is not a personal vendetta: it is Vil doing his job! (An anon in one of the posts listed above mentions how odd it is that Epel's grandmother/parents did not properly prepare him for life outside the village before NRC, which is true! And now the responsibility has fallen to Vil, instead, which neither character is very happy about.)

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

Have you played VAESEN ?

By Free League Publishing

Vaesen is a horror game that takes place in 19th century Scandinavia, and is inspired by Scandinavian folklore. You are part of the Society, and organisation who solve mysteries around conflict between human an vaesen. These vaesen are creatures of stories, who either help or hinder human, but are unseen by most. There are those that can see them though, Thursday's Children who are blessed (or cursed) with The Sight. With time more and more conflicts appear between vaesen and the humans who live nearby, as industrialisation pushes civilisation further and further into nature and the supernatural seems to grow stronger.

Vaesen is based on the book "Vaesen: Spirits and Monsters of Scandinavian Folklore" by Johan Egerkrans, and uses the Year Zero Engine. The game alternates between solving mysteries and dealing with whatever problems appear at your base, Castle Gyllencreutz in Upsala, Sweden.

(Poll Runner note : There is a french translation, and as a bonus, the translators did a bestiary book dedicated to my region. Nice touch)

[centeris2]

New article about SSE

haven't seen anyone talk about it yet, but seems SSE has made yet another licensing deal...?

Whether anything comes from this of course is "ehh, who knows", because there have been several articles about SSE making licensing and branding deals with nothing to show for it. But apparently SSE is now at 26+ million players.

Article under the read more

Rights & Brands saddles up to rep Star Stable worldwide

The Scandinavian licensing agency with The Smurfs and Popeye in its portfolio is on the hunt for consumer products and publishing partners for the popular horse-centric brand for tween girls.

By Cole Watson

February 16, 2024

Hoping to shift from trot to gallop in the consumer products market, Star Stable Entertainment has signed Stockholm-based licensing agency Rights & Brands to represent the global merch and publishing rights of its flagship same-name tween franchise. 

The Star Stable brand currently features a 2D-animated series (Star Stable: Mistfall), mobile games, books, music and a role-playing game called Star Stable Online (pictured) that has attracted more than 26 million registered users since launching in 2011—more than half a million of which actively play it each month. This rich digital experience is built around riding, racing and caring for different breeds of horses on the enchanted island of Jorvik. 

Rights & Brands already represents the licensing interests of Scandinavian kids brands such as The Smurfs, Popeye and Rune Andréasson’s iconic ’60s teddy bear Bamse. And last month, the agency also inked a deal with Finnish children’s book publisher Etana Editions to manage more than 80 picture books, including The Magic Flower (Marika Maijala) and Oh Vivian! (Sari Airola).

[ferretteeth]

Swedish references in Disco Elysium and A Sacred and Terrible Air

There's a couple of things I keep thinking about in the Elysium universe from a Scandinavian or specfically swedish POV and I need to put them somewhere. It makes sense a lot of the game is both Slavic and Scandi inspired since the author is Estonian (and many of the people working on it also are from North Europe).

To start off: racism and white nationalism. This starts in Disco Elysium with, for example, the Hjelmdallarmann comic which is clearly an in universe viking fiction. Vikings, Celtics and similar have in real life unfortunately been co-opted by white nationalists wanting to return to anarchist values. The same goes for the fictional ancient civilizations in Elysium. We know what types are into the Hjelmdall fiction

In Terrible Air this is shown in Vidkun Hird, the imprisoned white nationalist who once led a nationalist party called Hjelmdall. He also shares a name with Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian nazi collaborator.

Vikard similarly resembles IRL white nationalists interested in these aesthetics by talking at length about how beautiful the missing Lund girls are, focus on racial purity and innocent women as soon as they're old enough to have children.

In summary, Elysium’s worldbuilding is so extensive there’s in-canon white nationalists with a hard on for vikings.

On a lighter note: Vaasa and Katla are both very clear analogs for Northernmost Europe. Vaasa is likely named after the Swedish royal lineage Vasa, often considered to be our “great” kings since they successfully created a Swedish empire which contained much of Northern Europe and a few isles in the Atlantic. There even is a Finnish town named Vaasa after Swedish occupation.

They speak Swedish a few times in the books (song lyrics, Skål!) also there is just Östermalm which exists in real life. I was there two days ago.

Northern Katla is definitely Finland. It shares a border with Grad (Russia) and also Cunoesse is from there.

(Näkki is a necken or nix, water-living faefolk who play the fiddle)

Here's Cunoesse just calling you a "cop motherfucker" in Finnish (more or less. Vittu is a transcendental curse and hard to translate)

Katla could be named either after the Icelandic volcano or after the dragon in Bröderna Lejonhjärta (The Brothers Lionheart) by Astrid Lindgren, same author who did Pippi Longstocking. Or maybe something entirely different but those are the things that come to mind. Here is Katla from the movie, haunting Scandinavian children since 1977.

[melisaguce]

During the peak of migration, most Scandinavian immigrants found their first homes in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, later venturing westward with the expansion of railroads. Read on.. https://theuffdasisters.com/blogs/our-journal/tracing-our-roots-scandinavian-immigration

[spectraling]

Hi-- just an anon here with a small thought! A bit of context-- A friend of mine brought up the idea of men not knowing about the eating habits of hobbits, and conversely, hobbits not knowing about the eating habits of men. Thus, to a man, a hobbit's appetite must be bountiful and to a hobbit, a man's appetite must seem rather meager. I bring this up to you specifically because this made me think of Merry and Eowyn sharing meal together, yet having vastly different ideas of what a 'meal' is

It's just a constant misunderstanding lmao. Merry having to remind himself that Éowyn didn't hate that entire chicken he made for her just bc she didn't finish it, it's just that men eat like hobbit children. They're enormous but they eat hardly anything to maintain themselves...... This must seem as magical to hobbits as their ability to disappear seems to men.

Éowyn making a meal and Merry's like "ah you brought a refreshing snack". This is fucking dinner??? If she ever went to the Shire she'd have a minor heart attack when she gets to witness a true hobbit feast. Where do they keep everything? Like not even the stuff they put into their bellies, but all of the food at all times?? Half of their houses must be dedicated to the preservation of it (and probably is).

It's a funny idea, but I actually don't remember if it's ever specified that hobbits eat in as big or even surpassing the quantities of men (someone please remind me it's been a hot minute since I read the books) or if it's one of those things that got feet of its own, kinda like well. The idea that hobbits have huge feet, which doesn't seem to be part of Tolkien's canon lol. It says that hobbits love to indulge in the pleasures of life, such as food, and that they would have six meals as often as they could. But that doesn't mean that those meals were equally big or that each meal were the size of what men had (or that they had them all the time).

But again it's ofc funnier to imagine them being able to hoover up insane amounts of food and having some crazy hobbit metabolism, just like their anatomy is distinctly different from (and quite perplexing to) men in some other ways. No wonder they spend most of their time growing, preparing and eating food lmao.

I read a theory that said that since hobbits are so small they have to eat more often to regulate their temperature, similar to what smaller animals do compared to larger ones, and it's adorable and makes me think of Merry loving to snuggle up to Éowyn bc she's like a furnace to him.

Speaking of food I also love the common fanon idea that hobbits - being canonically way more resilient than men - can eat pretty much anything, and this meaning that Merry wouldn't even be phased by Rohirric cuisine, which in my head includes things that are....foul to other cultures, based on Scandinavian cuisine which I don't think is too far off from what the Rohirric equivalent might've looked like. The PJ movies made a nod towards this?? (I made a post about it here), although maybe it's just a jab at Éowyn herself, but anyway I love the idea of Éowyn being stoked about Merry enjoying their strange and off-putting ways. Maybe this means Éowyn has a strong stomach herself.

And now I'm hungry

[fembot-y2k]

WOAGH I got tagged by @elliegoose to do a thingy!

now the tag game was to introduce yourself with:

one tv show

one movie

one album

one video game

I, however, liked that they did two and I am ALSO cute and get to do whatever I want so im gonna do two, too.

TV shows: The Venture Bros. and Hilda

talk about opposite ends of the spectrum, eh? Now Venture Bros. will always come with an asterisk, that being that it's an Adult Swim show that was created in the early 2000s by two white guys. Its comedy, especially in earlier seasons, can be unsavory. I'm a big believer in things being imperfect though. Not every show can live up to every standard, and sometimes you just need to roll your eyes at jokes that were made 10-20 years ago. If you can get past that what you get is an excellent and genuinely fun world full of Spyfi and Superhero parodies with a good story to boot.

Hilda, on the other hand, is a show for younger audiences based on a kids book series that largely has to do with various pieces of Scandinavian folklore. I've watched Hilda all the way through twice, once on my own as it was coming out and then once with my wife, and its just so so so lovely. The colour tones of red blue yellow and white, the delightful music, the adorable cast of characters and creatures, its such a good time. One of the best cozy up and just vibe it out shows imo. In my top 5 for sure.

Movies: Everything, Everywhere, All at once and Wolf Children.

What hasn't been said about EEAAO? It won awards that it damn well deserved, its got a perfect cast, it makes me cry every time I watch it. A compelling story about family and change, and the monumental difficulties that can come with them, as well as how different people survive hardships in their life, all wrapped up in the most batshit thing you've ever seen. Clair De Lune, THE SONG I GOT MY NAME FROM, is the main theme and it makes me tear up every time. In every universe, I would love to do laundry and taxes with you, and watch this movie.

Wolf Children isn't far off from that vein. I consider it to be Studio Chizu's magnum opus and I don't say that lightly. From the presentation and voice cast to the music and gorgeous art used in the movie, not even to MENTION how good the story about family, change, growing up, and letting go is, if you don't cry in the first 30 mins you should evaluate your emotional status. This movie means so much to me, its such a gorgeous story, and more people should know about it. Studio Chizu doesn't have a single miss in my opinion, just lesser and greater movies. Wolf Children is hands down the greatest.

Albums: Get Lonely by The Mountain Goats and No Dogs Allowed by Sidney Gish

What??? Clair's top two isn't DnB or something techno related???? Nah dog, I get sad a lot and have a thing for poetry. Get lonely was an album I listened to in some of the worst years of my adult life. I was 20 living with my family who made me miserable in a state that was (and still is) trying to get rid of people like me, and I had very little things that were mine. Walking around downtown Bartow, Florida, in the two weeks of winter that hell state gets while listening to John Darniel sing about soft agonies while watching my breath dissipate into the air? That was mine, and it always will be. TMG in general is I think my favourite band. The poetry on display in every one of their songs is just, too beautiful for my dumb ass to put in any meaningful way.

No Dogs Allowed was an album I listened to while working a midnight shift job I hated while also living with my family. Its an upbeat, quirky, kind of melancholy romp with songs that bring me back to driving from Bartow to Lakeland hoping I could stop myself from either killing myself or fucking up my friendships, whichever came first. Spoiler alert, I'm still alive. It also reminds me of the last big thing I ever did with my sibling before I left Florida for good, which was go to the Tampa Bay Aquarium with them. Several songs from the album were on the playlist I made for us, and hearing them always makes me want to shoot them a message to see if they're doing okay.

Video Games: Night in the woods and Final Fantasy XIV Online

Night in the woods is very, very near and dear to my heart. I honestly don't know what to say. If you've played it you know how good it is. How well written the story of Mae and her mental health crisis is. How it goes over things like poverty and trying to get by/make a better life. Family struggles that they don't talk to you about, small hometown decay that seeps into your every memory until the place you grew up in looks like a collection of distorted rotting shapes. I play it once a year in the fall, and each time I do its like seeing an old friend again. At the end of everything, hold onto everything.

Final Fantasy XIV Online is a game you can play with your friends. I could go on and on and on about how I have 1300 hours in this game and how I met some good friends on it, and how important it is to me as a piece of writing and a community and an experience. But we'd be here all day. FFXIV was there for me in some very tough times. I met new people, I grew distant from others, I have regrets and joys that I still carry with me. If you can get into it with the right people, the game really is something special. Its something to be shared, its a bustling community with all the edges that come with that, its a world where you can be a 7ft. tall elf with green eyes and white hair, and its a part of me.

As for who I wanna tag: @problematicmilf , @ninefoldrin , @baphomets-hairy-bonkhonagahoogs , @mobileleprechaun , and anyone who sees this and wants to do it too. This was fun! Hope I don't seem too lame lol.

[queermediaismypassion]

it makes me feel like some old grumpy grandpa but i'm honeslty so pissed about the live-action HTTYD

disclaimer:

i don't care that astrid isn't a white blonde scandinavian girl. the vikings have scottish accents and dragons, who gives a shit if they're not "historically accurate" with their casting ?

i don't care that ruffnut isn't a stick figure. her actress looks fine and they're obviously gonna cast for talent over looking exactly like an animated character. these are NOT the things i take issue with.

the first thing that bothers me is that this is just another fucking remake. i want NEW STORIES god damnit. the original is not that old and holds up really well to this day. yeah, the human characters in the first movie look a little rough by today's animation standards, but it's not bad enough to warrant a remake.

the second thing ? i saw toothless' design yesterday and i was wondering why they just inserted animated toothless in a live action environment. i legit thought it was a joke at first. he looks like those "RGX on" memes and it drives me crazy that people are saying it looks good cause it just doesn't ?? it throws the entire aesthetic of the movie off and it straight up just looks visually unappealing.

(i'm not saying they should drastically change the dragon designs, that would obviously be a dumb idea, but you gotta do more than just re-texture the animated dragon if you want it to look realistic at all. it's giving maxis match vs. alpha CC blended terribly with the environment for my fellow sims players)

third and final point is i'm sick of watching great stories be adapted into a worse medium for the story. if a story is a huge success in a less-popular medium i understand the urge to adapt it into a more popular one, but it can't always be done. at least not well. some books simply can't be adapted while doing the story justice and that's okay. just leave it be.

i'm also sick of seeing adaptation treated as "lesser" because that's the vibe i'm getting from this. "httyd FINALLY adapted in live action" SHUT UPPP. there's loads of live action stuff i watch and wish was animated instead but you'll never see it done that way because people constantly look down on it as a medium for children's stories when it's so much more than that ! did we learn nothing from spider-verse and arcane ??

[thedisabilitybookarchive]

Lis Hartel- Disabled Olympian, Equestrian Champion

Olympic season is in full swing, so it seems only appropriate to give a little love to some of history's most notable disabled Olympians as the games get underway. What better place to start than with the story of Lis Hartel and the impact she had upon equstrian sport.

[ID: A book cover. The cover art shows a brown horse being led by a woman in a black dressage suit. The background is light blue. A beam of light is shining on the woman and horse. Text above them reads: The title “Jubilee” in large red writing, “The First Therapy and an Olympic Dream” below in smaller black writing. “By KT Johnson” and “Illustrated by Anabella Ortiz” below in smaller, black capitals. /end]

🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎 [22 horse emojis]

Hartel was trained in the art of equestrian sport from a fairly young age, regularly competing in showjumping and dressage competitions by her teens, and, eventually becoming the Danish dressage champions in 1943 and 1944. In September of the latter year, at the age of 23 and whilst pregnant with her second daughter, Hartel contracted polio.

The disease left her paralysed below the knees, though she decided to continue her equestrian career against medical advice.

In 1947, then, Hartel finished second at the Scandinavian championships. She would then win a silver medal in individual dressage at the 1952 Olympics, becoming one of the first four women to compete in Olympic equestrian sport against men, and only losing out on the gold by 20 points, coming second to Swedish rider Henri Saint Cyr. At the 1956 Olympics, she would go on to be awarded another silver medal in individual dressage, again only coming second to Henri Saint Cyr.

Hartel was also the Danish dressage champion from 1952-54, securing the title again in both 1956 and 1959.

She eventually retired from competitive riding sometime later but continued to coach, give demonstrations, and raise money for polio survivors and therapy riding for disabled people.

In 1992, Hartel was inducted into Denmark's Hall of Fame. Two years later, in 1994, she became the first Scandinavian to be inducted into the International Women's Hall of Fame, and, in 2005, she was named one of Denmark's top ten all-time athletes, an honour she still holds today.

Hartel would pass away in 2009, at the age of 87, but her legacy as a decorated Olympian, equestrian, and great disabled athlete continues to live on.

The Lis Hartel Foundation in the Netherlands continued her work in the disabled community, by creating and providing riding opportunities for disabled riders.

Her Olympic success and position as a disabled athlete was greatly admired at the time and inspired many other "fledgling" movements, including the momentum that would eventually lead to the formation of the Riding for Disabled People's Association in the UK.

She has been written about countless times, with her story even being transformed into a children's educational picture book by KT Johnson (information for which can be found in the archive).

Yes, Hartel's impact on both equestrian sport and sporting history as a whole can never be denied. And so let us close out this Disability Pride Month by honouring a great disabled champion:

[ID: Black and white photograph of Lis Hartel riding a horse. /end]

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

[l-u-c-i-i-e]

Idolatry.

In addition to certain practices such as the dedication of children to a god in Scandinavian countries, pagans honor their gods in temples, worship the deities of trees, springs and stones. (…)

That pagan worship was accompanied by human sacrifices incompatible with Christianity is undeniable : the finds made in the peat bogs of Scandinavia prove it, and the Vatnsdoela Saga says of a man named Thorolfr "he had sacrificial pits, because it was thought that he offered both human beings and animals in sacrifice."

In the 9th century, the Vita Wulframni indicates that the Frisians sacrificed children to their gods : they hanged them.

Adam of Bremen refers to a well where a living man was thrown during festivals.

In Ireland, the Book of Leinster (c. 1156) speaks of the idol of Cromm crûach which stood at the Cham of Adoration : "Here was a great idol…which was called Bloody Curve or Bloody Crescent, Cromm crûach; it gave, in every province, power and peace… The brave GôÏdels worshipped it; they asked it for good weather… For it, without glory, they killed their first-born children… It was milk and wheat that they asked of it in exchange for their children."

-

in [Paganism, Christianity, The Marveillous, by C. Lecouteux in persee.fr]