#north east iceland

[iamapolarbear]

Hverir: geothermal area or another planet?

I said at the beginning of the year that I was going to work through some gaps and one particularly egregious gap is Hverir, the geothermal area at Mývatn. I love Mývatn. You can never run out of interesting geothermal or volcanic things to see and do, and one particularly popular spot is Hverir. Hverir literally means the hot springs. Icelandic doesn’t differentiate between exploding hot pools,…

[nimblermortal]

Priests, Priestlings, and Commitment to the Church

A priest can go into contract with a boy for him to become an apprentice priest, in which case he is called a priestling, priestling is a word, isn't that great! (If the boy is a minor, it has to be an agreement with his legal administrator.)

If the boy goes, "This sucks, I'm not doing it" then he has to be put to other work without being, ah, "chastised such that he suffers illness or lasting injury." He is then allowed to change his mind and go back to studying for the priesthood. The priest has to provide him with all the tools of the trade (go apprenticeships!).

If a priest decides to just skive off, he gets full outlawry, anyone who shelters him gets full outlawry, and he is to be "claimed in the same way as slaves." I am fairly confident this is not the punishment for people skiving off other work.

[girlactionfigure]

HERE is the list of the 134 countries that are NOT supporting South Africa's 🇿🇦 claims of genocide against Israel 🇮🇱:

🇦🇩 Andorra 

🇦🇴 Angola 

🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda 

🇦🇷 Argentina 

🇦🇲 Armenia 

🇦🇺 Australia 

🇦🇹 Austria 

🇧🇸 Bahamas 

🇧🇧 Barbados 

🇧🇾 Belarus 

🇧🇿 Belize 

🇧🇹 Bhutan 

🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 

🇧🇼 Botswana 

🇧🇬 Bulgaria 

🇧🇮 Burundi 

🇨🇻 Cabo Verde 

🇰🇭 Cambodia 

🇨🇦 Canada 

🇨🇫 Central African Republic 

🇨🇱 Chile 

🇨🇳 China 

🇰🇲 Comoros 

🇨🇬 Congo 

🇨🇷 Costa Rica 

🇭🇷 Croatia 

🇨🇺 Cuba 

🇨🇾 Cyprus 

🇨🇿 Czech Republic 

🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo 

🇩🇰 Denmark 

🇩🇲 Dominica 

🇩🇴 Dominican Republic 

🇹🇱 East Timor (Timor-Leste) 

🇪🇨 Ecuador 

🇸🇻 El Salvador 

🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea 

🇪🇷 Eritrea 

🇪🇪 Estonia 

🇸🇿 Eswatini 

🇪🇹 Ethiopia 

🇫🇯 Fiji 

🇫🇮 Finland 

🇫🇷 France 

🇬🇪 Georgia 

🇩🇪 Germany 

🇬🇭 Ghana 

🇬🇷 Greece 

🇬🇩 Grenada 

🇬🇹 Guatemala 

🇭🇹 Haiti 

🇭🇳 Honduras 

🇭🇺 Hungary 

🇮🇸 Iceland 

🇮🇳 India 

🇮🇪 Ireland 

🇮🇹 Italy 

🇯🇲 Jamaica 

🇯🇵 Japan 

🇰🇪 Kenya 

🇰🇮 Kiribati 

🇰🇵 Korea, North (North Korea) 

🇰🇷 Korea, South (South Korea) 

🇽🇰 Kosovo 

🇱🇦 Laos 

🇱🇻 Latvia 

🇱🇸 Lesotho 

🇱🇷 Liberia 

🇱🇮 Liechtenstein 

🇱🇹 Lithuania 

🇱🇺 Luxembourg 

🇲🇬 Madagascar 

🇲🇼 Malawi

🇲🇹 Malta 

🇲🇭 Marshall Islands 

🇲🇺 Mauritius 

🇲🇽 Mexico 

🇫🇲 Micronesia 

🇲🇩 Moldova 

🇲🇨 Monaco 

🇲🇳 Mongolia 

🇲🇪 Montenegro 

🇲🇲 Myanmar (Burma) 

🇳🇷 Nauru 

🇳🇵 Nepal 

🇳🇱 Netherlands 

🇳🇿 New Zealand 

🇳🇮 Nicaragua 

🇲🇰 North Macedonia (Macedonia) 

🇳🇴 Norway 

🇵🇼 Palau 

🇵🇦 Panama 

🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea 

🇵🇾 Paraguay 

🇵🇪 Peru 

🇵🇭 Philippines 

🇵🇱 Poland 

🇵🇹 Portugal 

🇷🇴 Romania 

🇷🇺 Russia 

🇷🇼 Rwanda 

🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis 

🇱🇨 Saint Lucia 

🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 

🇼🇸 Samoa 

🇸🇲 San Marino 

🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe 

🇷🇸 Serbia 

🇸🇨 Seychelles 

🇸🇱 Sierra Leone 

🇸🇬 Singapore 

🇸🇰 Slovakia 

🇸🇮 Slovenia 

🇸🇧 Solomon Islands 

🇪🇸 Spain 

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 

🇸🇪 Sweden

🇨🇭 Switzerland 

🇹🇼 Taiwan 

🇹🇿 Tanzania 

🇹🇭 Thailand 

🇹🇴 Tonga 

🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 

🇹🇲 Turkmenistan 

🇹🇻 Tuvalu 

🇺🇦 Ukraine 

🇬🇧 United Kingdom (UK) 

🇺🇸 United States of America (USA) 

🇺🇾 Uruguay 

🇻🇺 Vanuatu 

🇻🇦 Vatican City 

🇻🇳 Vietnam 

🇿🇲 Zambia 

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe

[physics-of-one-piece]

Timezones in One Piece World

I am back with a physics post! Well, more meteorology/geography post!

I was inspired to create a timezone map after reading the newest chapter of Doflamingo's Marine by @moonbaby26 where a timezone difference was mentioned, which was a great detail! I remember thinking about timezones in OP world but never got around to it but I did now. So it made me wonder just what timezone is Dressrosa (my fav island 🤗) in, what timezone are the other islands in?

SO!

I pulled a grid of irl timezones, simplified it, and put it over the One Piece World Map! (You can see some parts where I was like, no keep it simple, simplify it).

HERE IT IS!

UTC is coordinated universal time, aka time in the center of the world. Anyway, here are the islands + locations and I'll put some ANs for some cus some are interesting.

Paradise:

Reverse Mountain [UTC -1]

Red Line Center [UTC -1]

Twin Cape [UTC 0] Greenwhich Mean Time,

📍Iceland

I find it PERFECT the exit from Reverse Mountain into Grand Line are the ones in the center of the One Piece World, not the Red Line Itself.

Cactus Island [UTC 0] Western European Time (WET)

📍irl ex: Reykyavik, Iceland

Little Garden [UTC +1] Central European Time (CET)

📍 Italy, Spain

Drum Island [UTC +2] Eastern European Summer Time (EEST)

Alabasta [UTC +3] irl ex:

📍

Jaya [UTC +4]

Skypiea [UTC +4]

Long Ring Rong Island [UTC +5]

Water 7 [UTC +6]

Amazon Lily [UTC +7]

Enies Lobby [UTC +6]

Florian Triangle [UTC +9] Japan Standard Time

Sabaody Archipelago [UTC +10]

Impel Down [UTC +8]

Marineford [UTC +9] Japan Standard Time (JST)

Holy Land of Mariejois [UTC +9] New Zealand Standard Time

Fishman Island [UTC +10]

New World

New Marineford [UTC -8] Baker Island Time (BIT)

Punk Hazard [UTC -8] Samoa Standard Time (SST)

Dressrosa [UTC -7] Pacific Daylight Time

📍 Los Angeles

It used to be in Hawaii, it fit so much, whyyyy 😭😭

Totto Land [UTC -5] Eastern Standard Time

📍irl ex: Florida, U.S.

Wano Country [UTC -4]

📍irl ex:

Uf, I think that's all the big locations. I recommend using just the UTC and then you go minus or plus just so you don't have to go converting everything. The One Piece world most likely just says "Universal Time + (number)" or sth.

So, for example, if it's 17:00 (5 pm) in Marineford (UTC +9) on a Monday, it will then be 1 am on Monday in Dressrosa.

17 - 9 (to get UTC 0) = 8 am Monday (UTC 0)

Then another -7 hours, you get Monday 1 am (UTC -7) in Dressrosa. So Dressrosa is 16 HOURS behind Original Marineford.

Interesting how Doflamingo settled in Dressrosa, which is the entire 22 hours behind Holy Land by time, symbolising how his family abandoned the privileges of Celestial Dragons. Nice.

Also, for the Blues, regarding seasons:

North Blue & East Blue = North Hemisphere such as Europe & U.S. (winter months - December, January, February)

West Blue & South Blue - South Hemisphere (like Australia & New Zealand) so the winter months are June, July, August.

The seasons are interchangable in the Grand Line depending on the islands!

Taglist: @fanaticsnail

[ghilliedubh]

Loki: Child of the Wind and the Witch

Finding aspects of Loki in Finno-Ugric myth

(This is from an article I wrote on my blog in 2022, I have more thoughts on this now that I may write about later such as Loki's connection with traps, rivers and fishing!)

I noticed in the poem Haustlöng that Loki is both referred to as “Fárbauta mög”, son of Fárbauti, and as “barn Öglis”, child of the eagle in stanza 12. We know that he is the son of Fárbauti, a giant who many see as connected to lightning, but let’s look at Hræsvelgur for a bit. Hræsvelgur is “a giant in the shape of an eagle”, the source of all wind and, according to Snorri, is located at the northernmost point of the world. His wing beats send winds over mankind.

Then said Hárr: "That I am well able to tell thee. At the northward end of heaven sits the giant called Hræsvelgr: he has the plumes of an eagle, and when he stretches his wings for flight, then the wind rises from under his wings, as is here said:

Hræsvelgr hight he | who sits at heaven's ending,

Giant in eagle's coat;

From his wings, they say, | the wind cometh

All men-folk over."

- Prose Edda, chapter 18

In stanza 50 of the Völuspá there is mentioned a tawny eagle who screeches and tears up corpses, "...ari hlakkar; slítr nái niðfölur...". To me this sounds like Hræsvelgr, it fits one interpretation of his name at least (corpse-gobbler) .

Let’s now think about the name Fárbauti. Fár means danger or destruction, and in Icelandic a common use of the word is in “Fárviðri” meaning dangerous weather. “Bauti” comes from “bauta”, which means to strike/hit and has the same origin as the word “beat”. As said before, many people interpret his name to mean “dangerous striker” and connect him to lightning, but what if these “dangerous beats” were wing beats that sent forth dangerous weather? If Fárbauti is a kenning for Hræsvelgur, this would explain why Loki is referred to as “the child of the eagle”.

But what about Loki’s mother? Laufey is often translated as “leafy island”, but the Icelandic etymological dictionary suggests a connection to the Finnish underworld goddess Louhi, sometimes conflated with Loviatar.

Her name Nál is also translated as “needle” but the Icelandic Etymological Dictionary suggests it may also be related to the obscure goddess Nehalennia, as well as being connected to the latin word necāre which means "to kill", especially by methods such as poisoning or starvation. The dictionary also makes a suggests a connection to the dwarven names Náli, Náinn and Nár which are likely related to the word nár meaning "corpse" or "dead". If Laufey is related to Loviatar then this origin would definitely be very fitting.

In Finnish mythology Loviatar is impregnated by the wind, which would tie her to Laufey if Fárbauti is indeed Hræsvelgur, the source of wind/stormy weather.

On the fields of sin and sorrow;

Turned her back upon the East-wind,

To the source of stormy weather,

To the chilling winds of morning.

— Kalevala, Rune XLV, from the translation by John Martin Crawford

I also read in this article that a part of Mari (a Finno-Ugric people in Russia) spiritual practices is a ritual where young women make love to the wind. This is all I know and haven't yet found more information on it but it is interesting to see making love to the wind as a positive thing in one Finno-Ugric culture but further West it is something that an "evil underworld witch" does.

Loviatar is also referred to as the mistress of Pohjola, which is “the extreme north”, a dark, terrible place. In Mythologia Fennica she is referred to as the emuu or “ancestor spirit” of wolves, connecting her to Loki’s association with wolves as the father of Fenrir. Impregnated by the wind, Loviatar gives birth to nine children, associated with diseases but one son stood out:

One remained without getting a name, a boy at the bottom of the batch, a mouthless, eyeless brat; afterwards she ordered him away, to the tremendous Rutja rapids, into the fiery foaming surge. From him sharp frosts were bred, from him arose the Syöjätärs, from him the other destroying ones, he begat the sorcerers on lakes, the wizards in every dell, the jealous persons in every place, in the tremendous Rutja rapids, in the fiery foaming surge. - John Abercromby, The pre-and proto-historic Finns : both Eastern and Western, with the magic songs of the West Finns

Syöjätärs are kind of Baba Yaga-like troll women.This myth has a resemblance to the last part of the 12th stanza in Völuspá hin Skamma, where it is said that Loki is the origin of all monsters or “troll women”.

Varð Loftr kviðugr

af konu illri;

þaðan er á foldu

flagð hvert komit.

Translation:

(With child from the woman | Lopt soon was,

There hence on earth | came the monsters all.)

Flagð here is translated as “monsters” but it is more commonly used as a word for witches or troll women.

Norse mythology is a shamble of many different tales and myths from different cultures, it wouldn't surprise me if aspects of Loki can be found in Finnish myths and folklore.

I want to preface this next part by saying that I have not studied etymology on an academic level, but I do know that Norse and Finnic people borrowed words from each other (f.x. the Norther-Sámi word siedi, which means "sacred offering site/offering stone" is borrowed from Norse seiðr).

If Loki is actually Lóðurr, and there is some evidence he is (Haukur Þorgeirsson of the University of Iceland writes about it here), then Loki is also responsible for the creation of man according to Norse myth. The Finnish luoda (“to create”, from Proto-Finnic *loodak which means "to create" or "cast/throw") sounds like it could be connected to Lóður, however Lóður is thought possiby derive from Icelandic lóð meaning "growth or product/yield". I still find it interesting that another Icelandic verb, afkasta ("profit, yield") has connections to throwing, clearly throwing and creating are sometimes linked concepts.

I also found out that from *loodak comes the word luopa "renounce/abandone" and luopio which means “traitor”. These words are likely derived from the "casting" definition of *loodak and to me sound eerily like Loptur but could be a bit of a stretch as well.

The word I find most interesting though is the Finnish word loukko. The general consensus regarding the name Loki is that it is most likely from "loka" which means to shut or open, also “lok” which is "ending" (same root as the english word “lock”). However, loukko (hole, hollow, inside corner, pit) from Proto-Uralic *lowkke (“hole, opening, cavity, hollow”) attracts my attention because of the aforementioned meaning of Loviatar's name which is made up of lovi ("cleft" or "hole") and -tar (feminine suffix). The Finnish way of saying "falling into a trance" is "langeta loveen, literally "falling into lovi, falling into a cleft".

This phrase, falling into a cleft, refers to cracks in stone being gateways to the underworld in Finnish-Karerlian shamanistic folklore. Antti Lahelma writes about cracks in painted/carved rock faces being gateways to the Underworld as a phenomenon attested cross-culturally. On the rocks by the lake Onega in northwestern Russia there are images of swans entering or emerging from cracks in the rock, Lehman writes that this could represent the soul of a shaman or dead person passing between this world and the Underworld. In their article Liminality, Rock Art and the Sami Sacred Landscape, Inga-Maria Mulk and Tim Bayliss-Smith suggest that Badjelánnda rock art site in northern Sweden should be seen as a Sámi gateway to the Underworld. They also write that water seeping out of cracks in these smooth, south-facing black rocks represented new souls returning to the Middle World. According to Russian scholar Vladimir Napolskikh's constructed ‘map’ of Proto-Uralic cosmology (see image below), the Underworld or Lower World is associated with North, the river mouth, cold sea and subterranea.

(Vladimir Napolskikh 1992)

Photo of a plaster cast of a swan carving in Besov Nos.

Migratory water-birds such as swans, geese and ducks were birds of the Upper World, but the birds of the Lower World were loons. These birds often feature in Earth-Diver myths and Napolskikh writes that in some versions it is the loon (or someone who transforms into a loon) that dives to the bottom of the sea and fetches the earth that land shall be made of. However, in some myths the loon is the unsuccessful rival of another creature (often a duck) which does manage to fetch earth, sometimes the loon is even a form of the Devil.

An interesting theme that can be found in some versions is the Devil/loon/second bird using part of the earth to create the land as well. This is sometimes a team effort between the two creators but sometimes the Devil/loon/second bird deceitfully conceals a part of the earth in it's beak/hands and either deliberately or accidentally creates it's own parts of the world. One myth I find particularly interesting features the Devil demanding a small piece of earth and from the resulting hole emerge all kinds of vermin. Here we see some familiar concepts; A creator, a hole or gap, a traitor, an originator of undesirable creatures. Lóðurr, Loki, Loptur?

Probably the most compelling evidence that suggests that Loki is connected to loons can be found in An Account of the Sámi by Johan Turi. He writes about the loon being a noaidi bird (i.e. associated with Sámi shamanic workers) and being able to foretell changes in the weather. Most remarkable however, is that the beaks of the red-throated loon were used "in the olden times" to make weapons like arrows and it was believed that such weapons are the only things that can kill people that have been enchanted to resist arrows. This reminds me of the mistletoe that kills Baldur as well as Loki’s weapon Lævateinn/Hævateinn which is the only weapon that can kill the rooster Viðófnir.

Thinking of all of his names and these words fills my head with repeating sounds, Lou Lo Ló Low Loo. This reminds me of the sound of the Sámi joik or luohti, a kind of singing which is sometimes done in a shamanic context. Not necessarily related, I just wanted to add this in.

This whole thing might be me just grasping for straws, but I strongly believe that the myth of Loki is tied to something deep. Is Loki the howling sound of the wind passing through cracks and clefts in stone? A being that dives into the Underworld? A cunning magician with loon-beak arrows?

[mapsontheweb]

The pronoun "I" in North Germanic languages.

by jkvatterholm

The Proto Norse form was "ek" and "eka".

In the form "eka" the e split into "ja", making the pronouns in the norse period be "jak" and "ek" in standardised spelling. "Jak" was common in the east, as seen on the map. In Icelandic as well it was "ek". The change to "jeg" there is newer, also appearing in words like "fé" being /fjɛː/ and not /fɛː/.

The "je" form has also expanded a lot westwards. In Jämtland forms like "ek" seems to have been in use in the 18th century, while gone now. In urban dialects in western Norway it is expanding even today.

"Ek/eg" has not remained unchanged in Norway either. Some places have had a diphthongizationit into "eig" while others have turned into an "æg". With or without the g. Some even just say "I".

Dalarne in Sweden are worth mentioning, especially because of the Elfdalian dialect there using "ig".

In Jutland as well the breaking into "ja" never took place. In the middle ages forms like "æk" and "ak" existed, now being "a" and some places "æ".

Some examples of the word in use:

"Je" - Jämtland, Sweden.

"Je" - Ringerike, Norway.

"Eg" - Hordaland, Norway.

Various, Nothern Sweden.

"Ig" - Älvdalen, Sweden.

"Æ" - South Jutland, Denmark.

"Ei" - Sunnmøre, Norway.

"Æ" - Trøndelag, Norway.

"Jeg/ég" - Iceland

"Eg" - Faroe Islands

[gamerbeta]

Pokémon Legends Arceus: Dimension Collapse- Part 15!

Oh! If it isn’t the oh so friendly merchant that everyone loves and cherishes! Good thing he sent them north towards Alabaster Icelands (and not East towards Jubilife Village :(

(Also was gonna post this yesterday but had no service, sorry!)

<< Part 14 || Part 16 >> (soon!)

[gracheeez]

EDIT 14/10/2024: ADDED MALTA THIS IS MY MAP OF EUROPE, I am so proud of it actually, I LOVE IT SO MUCH, The amount of designs here have literally taken years to finally have all together, so yeah… NAMES: Albania- Erion Hoxha Andorra- Laia Font Austria- Francizka Schwarz Belarus- Tatsiana Romachuk Belgium (Brussels)- Monique de Smet Belgium (Flanders)- Noah Mertens Belgium (Wallonia)- Genevieve Lambert Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia)- Damir Galijašević Bosnia and Herzegovina (Herzegovina)- Zlata Hodžić Bulgaria- Boris Dimitrov Croatia- Darko Perković Cyprus- Androula Christodoulos Czechia (Bohemia)- Matouš Černý Czechia (Moravia)- František Novák Denmark (Denmark)- Helga Christiansen Denmark (Kingdom)- Kirsten Christiansen Finland- Mikko Hakanpää France- Léo Toussaint Estonia- Merike Haavik Germany (east)- Klaus Schmidt Germany (West)- Hanz Schmidt (NOT IN THE MAP) Greece- Leonidas Kostopoulos Hungary- Istvan Erdei Iceland- Arnkatla Einarsdóttir Ireland- Séamus O'Connell North Italy- Nicoletta Bianchi South Italy- Francesco Bianchi Kosovo- Luljeta KrasniqI Latvia- Liene Liepiņa Liechtenstein- Karin Schädle Lithuania- Paulius Dambrauskas Luxembourg- Tom Hoffman Malta- Tessie Abela Moldova- Vasile Stratulat Monaco- Leonardo Crovetto Montenegro- Milica Vujović The Netherlands (The Netherlands)- Daan Van Dijk The Netherlands (Kingdom)- Marjolein Hendriks (NOT IN THE MAP) North Macedonia- Zivka Nikolovska Norway- Magnar Eriksen Poland- Anastazja Kowalska Portugal- Guilherme Mendonça Romania- Ecaterina Popescu Russia- Yuri Ivanov San Marino- Ing Gasperoni Serbia- Zoran Damjanić Slovakia- Viera Lukáčová Slovenia- Alenka Krajnc North Spain- Gaspar de León Serrano South Spain- Ester Sánchez Garcia Sweden- Herbert Ekenberg Switzerland- Rudolph Gerber Ukraine- Nadiya Bondarenko United Kingdom (England)- Annabeth Wright United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)- Finn Doherty United Kingdom (Scotland)- Alistair Douglas United Kingdom (UK)- Olivia Brown (NOT IN THE MAP) United Kingdom (Wales)- Harriet Griffiths The Vatican- Giuseppe Esposito Edit- 02/11/2024... CHANGED SLOVAKIA'S NAME FROM DARINA TO VIERA

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

DISCLAIMER: I know this is not the best way to split up the world!! This is not an exact science. I chopped up the regions arbitrarily and am aware that many of them overlap. This is an armchair survey. Please don't overthink it - just vote on whatever feels right!

[iamapolarbear]

New video: The Forest Lagoon - is this the best geothermal pool in Iceland?

It’s the penultimate episode of my ten-part series, Is This The Best Geothermal Pool in Iceland? and I think by now we might have an idea of which is indeed the best geothermal pool in Iceland. But we’ve got two late contenders for the title and this one is the Forest Lagoon in Akureyri. A few spoilers: it’s set among the trees, it has two in-water bars and it uses the Blue Lagoon’s old…

[thewrothode-if]

Just so you know your page is giving racist. Not only are you proud of how little research you have done but you also have decided that no black people existed in the Scandinavia... I understand that Google is hard but putting in academic journals or looking at peer reviewed articles could really help you. Ps I'm not doing the leg work for you. I hate when people need to be spoon fed so they aren't racist. White supremacy is on the rise and many fascists have used "viking culture" as a blanket to hide under. Many well read readers will be majorly turned off by how... let's just say indelicately you are handling this. I'm hoping that you are just young. I saw your wip and enjoyed it but will unfortunately be dropping this due to your followers and your own take on race. I hope you learn from this. Don't let your followers make you complacent, you have been racist. Not allowing diverse skin tone, racist. Not capable of doing any research on the topic knowing damn well that many people of African descent were all over Europe in general. Literally Icelandic and Nordic peoples travelled all the way to North America but pop off with your dog whistles. This was overall extremely disappointing hope you get better or hope you stop writing either would be great 👍

I’m so sad that I have to address this once more but here I go.

“Literally Icelandic and Nordic peoples travelled all the way to North America but pop off with your dog whistles.”

First things first, this tells me that you didn’t quite read through all that I have written on race on my blog because I did talk about that right here.

I’ll add it down here as well:

“It is interesting to note that Vikings found their way to North Africa (more specifically Morocco) at some point because they really were such vast travelers. So it was more so the Vikings coming to Africa rather than the other way around.”

2. “…you also have decided that no black people existed in the Scandinavia..”

No, I did not decide that no black people existed in Scandinavia. Maybe the way I talked about people of color being in Scandinavia made it seem like that, especially here when I said, “so it was more so the Vikings coming to Africa rather than the other way around.” But that doesn’t translate to, “there were absolutely no black people in Scandinavia.”

3. “Not allowing diverse skin tone, racist.”

Not allowing diverse skin tone is not racist, especially for this IF because as I said, you are playing as a Viking in Denmark. You are not a Viking from China or South Africa or Brazil or Italy, but Denmark.

I want to write a story where the main character is a white viking. I don’t see why that is a big problem. As many people have told me, A Tale of Crown has a lack of white skin tone options because the story is based in the Middle East. That is not a problem and what I’m doing here shouldn’t be a problem either.

4. “Ps I'm not doing the leg work for you.”

Then if you won’t do the leg work and I won’t do the leg work, why are we both fighting about something we have no clue over? I think that if you are going to start an argument about this, maybe you should research a little more so you can factually tell me why I’m wrong instead of just saying I’m racist.

5. “… hope you get better or hope you stop writing either would be great.”

I won’t stop writing, but I will probably take a small little break to calm down so I don’t let this affect me too much.

[broomsick]

As attested in the Landnámabók - The Book of Settlements, the Helgafell mountain (Snæfellsnes Peninsula, Iceland) was declared a holy site of Thórr by the very first man to settle in the area. Thórólfr Mostrarskegg, whose biography is detailed in the Eyrbyggja saga, had a shrine built to his God on the site. According to the Laxdæla saga, the hero Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir was buried at the foot of the Helgafell mountain.

Folk tradition has it if one climbs the mountain without saying a word or looking back once, one will be granted three wishes.

“You can make three wishes at the top of the mountain if you follow these exact rules:

First, find the grave of Guðrún. It is north of the church and the cemetery.

Make sure that your mind is free of bad thoughts.

Make a cross over Guðrún´s grave with your right hand.

It is important that you climb the mountain with good thoughts.

Make sure that you are not dirty and that you have washed your face.

Do not talk at all on the way to the wishing place.

Do not look to the right or to the left – just look straight ahead.

Go into the small enclosure (maybe this was once a chapel of the monastery and they prayed from here. A part of the wall has been dated at 1184).

Face to the east. (The town of Stykkishólmur can be seen to the north).

When you make your wishes, they must be only for the good.

Make three wishes.”

Source

[noneedtofearorhope]

Death to Afghanistan Death to Albania Death to Algeria Death to Andorra Death to Angola Death to Antigua and Barbuda Death to Argentina Death to Armenia Death to Australia Death to Austria Death to Azerbaijan Death to Bahrain Death to Bangladesh Death to Barbados Death to Belarus Death to Belgium Death to Belize Death to Benin Death to Bhutan Death to Bolivia Death to Bosnia and Herzegovina Death to Botswana Death to Brazil Death to Brunei Death to Bulgaria Death to Burkina Faso Death to Burundi Death to Cabo Verde Death to Cambodia Death to Cameroon Death to Canada Death to Central African Republic Death to Chad Death to Chile Death to China Death to Colombia Death to Comoros Death to Congo, Democratic Republic of the Death to Congo, Republic of the Death to Costa Rica Death to Croatia Death to Cuba Death to Cyprus Death to Czech Republic Death to Côte d’Ivoire Death to Denmark Death to Djibouti Death to Dominica Death to Dominican Republic Death to East Timor (Timor-Leste) Death to Ecuador Death to Egypt Death to El Salvador Death to Equatorial Guinea Death to Eritrea Death to Estonia Death to Eswatini Death to Ethiopia Death to Fiji Death to Finland Death to France Death to Gabon Death to Georgia Death to Germany Death to Ghana Death to Greece Death to Grenada Death to Guatemala Death to Guinea Death to Guinea-Bissau Death to Guyana Death to Haiti Death to Honduras Death to Hungary Death to Iceland Death to India Death to Indonesia Death to Iran Death to Iraq Death to Ireland Death to Israel Death to Italy Death to Jamaica Death to Japan Death to Jordan Death to Kazakhstan Death to Kenya Death to Kiribati Death to Korea, North Death to Korea, South Death to Kosovo Death to Kuwait Death to Kyrgyzstan Death to Laos Death to Latvia Death to Lebanon Death to Lesotho Death to Liberia Death to Libya Death to Liechtenstein Death to Lithuania Death to Luxembourg Death to Madagascar Death to Malawi Death to Malaysia Death to Maldives Death to Mali Death to Malta Death to Marshall Islands Death to Mauritania Death to Mauritius Death to Mexico Death to Micronesia, Federated States of Death to Moldova Death to Monaco Death to Mongolia Death to Montenegro Death to Morocco Death to Mozambique Death to Myanmar (Burma) Death to Namibia Death to Nauru Death to Nepal Death to Netherlands Death to New Zealand Death to Nicaragua Death to Niger Death to Nigeria Death to North Macedonia Death to Norway Death to Oman Death to Pakistan Death to Palau Death to Panama Death to Papua New Guinea Death to Paraguay Death to Peru Death to Philippines Death to Poland Death to Portugal Death to Qatar Death to Romania Death to Russia Death to Rwanda Death to Saint Kitts and Nevis Death to Saint Lucia Death to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Death to Samoa Death to San Marino Death to Sao Tome and Principe Death to Saudi Arabia Death to Senegal Death to Serbia Death to Seychelles Death to Sierra Leone Death to Singapore Death to Slovakia Death to Slovenia Death to Solomon Islands Death to Somalia Death to South Africa Death to Spain Death to Sri Lanka Death to Sudan Death to Sudan, South Death to Suriname Death to Sweden Death to Switzerland Death to Syria Death to Taiwan Death to Tajikistan Death to Tanzania Death to Thailand Death to The Bahamas Death to The Gambia Death to Togo Death to Tonga Death to Trinidad and Tobago Death to Tunisia Death to Turkey Death to Turkmenistan Death to Tuvalu Death to Uganda Death to Ukraine Death to United Arab Emirates Death to United Kingdom Death to United States Death to Uruguay Death to Uzbekistan Death to Vanuatu Death to Vatican City Death to Venezuela Death to Vietnam Death to Yemen Death to Zambia Death to Zimbabwe

[niuniente]

Question, do you find it funny or do you find it annoying, when people who know very little about Finland, tell you what they know about Finland?

Not really. I understand that we're a small nation out there somewhere, the same way as I don't know much anything about Croatia or Papua New Guinea or how Tasmania is different from Australia except that it is in island.

I guess the only thing bothering me on English spoken online spaces, which are American dominated, is the "americazation" of everything; if it happens or has happened in USA, then it must (have) happen(ed) all around the world. If it hasn't happened in USA, then it hasn't happened anywhere else either. Every country has had the same problems and blessings as USA, and every country has faced the same challenges as USA. If not, (some) American people will call you a liar.

The biggest example from an European point of view of this americazation is slave markets and oppression. Try to explain that in the Europe, white people oppress other white people (ask Irish and Estonians about this!), white people are racists towards other white people (ask Finnish about Sweden's eugenicist views of Finns!), and how for example Finnish and Icelanders have been kidnapped and dragged to slave markets to Middle-East for hundreds of years. Here's a very fascinating saved recording of an Icelander man from 17th century of such an event. He and his villagers were captured by pirates and taken to Middle-East as slaves. He did well but not everyone else in his group did.

Enslaved Icelander Describes Horror of Barbary Pirate Raid (1627) // Diary of Ólafur Egilsson

Finnish people hate Russians, especially in the East, but are OK with Germans because during WW2, when Soviet Union tried to invade us, Nazi Germany was the only country who wanted to help us (and we reluctantly accepted the help because the other option was to be invaded by Soviet Union). Trust me, we asked other countries, but no one else answered.

How this is present in nowadays is that if I told my East-Finnish parents that "Hey! I married a Russian man!" they would be really concerned about me and my safety due WW2 events. Just because he's a Russian. But if I told my parents I married a German man, they would be happy and no one would suspect that he must be an evil Nazi like in WW2.

This kind of oppression, racism, hate and so one are present in Europe (and in Asia and Africa) among people who look the same but happen to be from a wrong country or from a wrong religion. IRA and England being a really, really sad story about the topic of a wrong religion...

OH! One thing! One thing which bothers me is that people think Santa Claus lives in North Pole. No! Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi in Lapland, Finland. There are no Santas on North Pole. Only polar bears which we don't have except in zoos.

You can visit Santa Claus in his village in Rovaniemi: https://www.visitrovaniemi.fi/attraction/santa-claus-village/

[fornasedensgudar]

Hello! I have a questions but i'm not sure if there's even an answer: do you know whether there is a norse or continental germanic god/goddess that is associated with wind??

Oh Im so glad you asked because I love wind gods and spirits and I got two that I feel like almost no one outside of Scandinavia seemes to know about.

One is norse but not really germanic. The other, is not even norse just swedish af lol.

First I like to tell you about Kåre.

I bet most of you have never heard of him, but I also bet you heard of Ran, or Logi och Ägir.

As some may know, Ran is married to Ägir, a sea jötun. And I bet you know Logi, the jötun who is wild fire personified.

What does this have to do with Ägir? Well Ägir is listed as the brother of Logi and Ägir. Whos father Fornjot, is know in one saga to be the King of the swedish island of Gotland. (Perhaps a hint to an old cult or god of the island.)

These three sons of Fornjot personified the elements or the three most brutal aspects of nature, the wild deep seas, the every hungry wild fires and the ever harsh and cold northen wind. (With a father who rule over an island in the baltic sea that makes rather sense)

The name Kåre is also a swedish word describing a special form of wind or storm.

Kåre is also mentiond in Flatöboken and in one story in Fundinn Nóergr Kåre is the father of Frosti of the frost. But in Hversu the son is named Jökull wish means ice feald. This Jökull is in folklore (mostly in norway) said to be the father of old man winter.

So a lot of maybes here and things that hint he was more well known from Gotland to iceland and norway back in the day but a lot been lost.

But we do know he was a winter and wind jötun and one of the three elemental brothers.

My local group do offerings to him during winter and autum rituals but I know some pepole up north do as well. But overall hes rather forgotten compared to his brothers.

Here is a drawing of him by me:

THEN we get to the fun local part.

Ysätters-Kajsa!

Now who the heck is this and whats her deal?

Well Im from a Village called Asker, In Närke.

And back in the day, the farmers spoke about a troll by some, a Huldra by others and by some a spirit/creature who did not fitt any of the molds. Manny famous writers also wrote about her. Most famous of them all is Selma Lagerlöf.

Ysätters-Kajsas name came from the old Moss/lake in Ysätters thats said to be her home or birthplace, but she ruled the weather (but mainly wind) all over Närke but mostly Asker and the sorounding flat plains and fealds.

Ysätterskällan was likely an old offering place to what once was an old goddess or for spirits witch hints to her older roots before she was said to be an evil troll or forest spirit.

The Kajsa in her name is explained in a intervju with an old farmer from Asker in the start of the 1900s dokumentet in the book "Asker, Sant å sånt"

"that was just wat they named them trolls and giants back in the day"

That might seeme weird but tbh in the 1700s there are stories how pepole would toss coins to Kajsa of the sea while fishing.

Or in the 1800s when some in the Mountains and forest called forest and Mountain spirits for Kajsa as well.

It almost seemed as a form of a so called "noa-name" or maybe as the old man said: "it was just what them trolls was named back in the day."

(Im sure there is someone smarter here who can explain this weird Kajsa thing)

But ok, her wind aspect then?

Well first of all, its windy in East Närke.

Like the start of this old poem said

"Den ljuva Närke slätten, där enbart stormen består."

"The lovely Närke plains, where only the storm remains."

Also in manny stories she is said to controll wind and to travel by air.

In one story its said Ysätters-Kajsa looking down on Närke and was like "man this place is pretty, pepole have it good here, we cant have it like that."

And pretty much just made sure its always a bit windy and would play trick on the humans, making them get lost in forest, stealing laundry that hanged out to dry and in general just make the pepole of Närke just a little less comfy in their home.

But she is also a protector or the land!

In one myth, back in the day when a wild fire almost brought an end to the village of Asked she came to save the pepole, because even if she liked to play tricks on them she also deeply loved the pepole and needed them just as much as she they needed her.

So its said when the fire got to the center of the village, a woman was seen dancing up on the church towers roof and as she did storm clouds started to form and with wind and rain the fires was put out and the Village was saved.

Ysätters-Kajsa drawing by me:

This is also why my group call to her and giver her offerings for protection. Shes our local trickster and protector spirit of the wind.

But being a very Asker and Närke spirit. This is one I have to say I would think would be very weird and not really ok if like, pagans in america for some reason started to make offeings to. Because this is not just any big ol god or goddess. This is a local myth and spirit and part of my childhood and culture. I added a lot here from books just to get the facts right but I also just str8 up heared stories about her as a kid. She is just the protector of Asker and the bringer of wind in Närke.

Like if you dont live here, dont.

Go with Kåre then instead whos more wind in general.

But I had to share this about her becouse I just love her and wind spirits and gods in general.

Also, this is a good reminder to check what you have local, you might have myths and stories about old spirits and gods of the land you grow up and live in.

As I often say. The best way to do polytheism and anmism is to know and work with your local land and the spiritits and gods within said land. Because thats the best tools you got right here, right now. The land it self.

[toastedcinnamonflakes]

Books around the world

A while ago, I made a post that I want to make a list of books from every country of the earth. The qualifications are rather simple: The author needs to be from that country and the novel needs to take place in that country. The books themselves don't need to be the best from that country, just something I've read. They need to exist in a language that I can understand (which, for me, are German, English, Norwegian and Swedish).

If you have any suggestions, please send them to me 😊 So, without further ado, here is the list! (Books that I've already read are bold, books I have picked out for the country but haven't read yet are not)

Abkhazia:

Afghanistan:

Albania

Algeria

Andorra

Angola

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia: The Gray House, Marjam Petrosyan

Austria: Liebelei, Arthur Schnitzler

Australia: Picnic at Hanging Rock, Joan Lindsay

Azerbaijan

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

Brunei

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile: The House of Spirits, Isabella Allende

China: Beijng Comrades, Bei Tong

Colombia

Congo

Costa Rica

Croatia: Marble Skin, Slavenka Draculic

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic: Valerie and her world of wonders, Vitêzslav Nezval

Denmark: Vintereventyr, Karen Blixen

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

East Timor

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Estonia

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland

France: The End of Eddy, Eduard Louis

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany: Krabbat, Otfried Preußler

Ghana

Greece: Medea, Euripides (I would love to read a contemporary greek novel tbh, please recommend me one!)

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hungary

Iceland: Moonstone - The Boy Who Never Was, Sjón

India: The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga

Indonesia

Iran: Reading Lolita in Teheran, Azar Nafisi

Iraq

Ireland: Skulduggery Pleasent, Derek Landy

Israel

Italy: Swimming to Elba, Silvia Avallone

Ivory Coast

Jamaica

Japan: Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kiribati

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Laos

Latvia

Lebanon

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mexico

Moldova

Monaco

Mongolia

Montenegro

Morocco

Mozambique

Myanmar

Namibia

Nauru

Nepal

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

North Korea

North Macedonia

Norway: Vildskudd, Gudmund Vindland

Oman

Pakistan

Palestina

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland:

Portugal

Quatar

Romania

Russia: Demons, Fyodor Dostoevsky

Rwanda

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Serbia

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

Somalia

South Africa

South Korea: The Vegetarian, Han Kang

South Sudan

Spain

Sri Lanka: Die sieben Monde des Maali Almeida, Sheban Karunatilaka

Sudan

Suriname

Sweden: Herrn Arnes Penningar, Selma Lagerlöf

Switzerland: Homo Faber, Max Frisch

Syria

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Thailand

Togo

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Uganda

Ukraine: Kult, Ljubko Deresch

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

USA: The little Friend, Donna Tartt

Uruguay

Uzbekistan

Vanuatu

Venezuela

Vietnam

Yemen

Zambia

Zimbabwe

I am also including some parts of the world that are not independent countries, but that I want to have in this list:

Faroese Islands

Greenland: Blomsterdalen, Niviaq Korneliussen

Scotland: The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, James Hogg

Wales: Fire and Hemlock, Dianna Wynne Jones