Description: Trish Baer based this needle felting on an illustration by an unknown
artist in a retelling of Old Norse mythology, Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology (1901),
by Mary H.
Foster and Mabel H.
Cummings. The illustration is for the
chapter "Thor's Wonderful Journey," a retelling of the "Þórr´s Trip to the Court of Útgarða-Loki"
myth. The illustration depicts Þórr and Loki riding
in Þórr's chariot drawn by his two goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. The illustration is signed
with the initials H.L.M., but these are not necessarily the initials of
the illustrator. See Research Notes below for information relevant to the
needle felting. See the original illustration here.
Source: Trish Baer's needle felted rendering of Þórr´s Trip to the
Court of Útgarða-Loki
Folio or Page: Inspired by an unknown artist's
illustration on page 41 in Mabel
H.
Cummings's 1901 edition of Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology.
Medium: Needle felted
with wool and silk on a piece of material from a woolen
blanket.
Date: 2021-08-31
Dimensions (mm): 180 x 300
Provenance:
This needle felting piece is from the Collection of P. A. Baer.
Rights:
All Rights Reserved
Research notes, early print reviews, etc.:
Based on their clothing, I think that this illustration relates to the myth
concerning the Theft of Þórr´s Hammer rather than Þórr´s Trip to the Court of Útgarða-Loki. I choose to make
Þórr´s garments white because he was dressed as a bride when he and Loki set out for
Jötunheimr. It is unlikely that Viking brides wore white, but this illustration was
created during the Victorian era when white was appropriate for brides.
Bibliography:
Editions
Foster,
Mary, and
Mabel
Cummings. Asgard
Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology. New
York: Silver, Burdett and Co,
1901.
Baer,
Trish (en.)
b. 25th January 1952
Occupation: Adjunct Professor in Medieval Studies; Digital Scholarship
Fellow in the Electronic Texts and Culture Lab; editor and MyNDIR-IDG
(Insight Development Grant) Team Leader
In Norse mythology, Loki is counted among the gods but he is a
giant by birth.
InThe Ring of the Nibelung, Richard Wagner
created Loge by combining the figure of Loki, who is counted to be among
the gods in the Prose Edda, with the giant
Logi,who is the presonification of fire in the myth concerning Þórr´s
Journey to the Court of Útgarða-Loki.
Creatures: animals, birds, monsters etc.
Tanngnjóstr (non.)
Tanngnjostr (en.)
One of the two goats who pull Þórr's chariot...
Tanngrisnir (non.)
One of the two goats who pull Þórr's chariot.
In the Prose Edda, Þórr is the son of
Óðinn and the giantess Jörð. However, in Heimskringla, he is a mortal.
Richard Wagner
based Donner in The Ring Cycle on
Þórr.
Myths
Þórr´s Journey to the Court of Útgarða-LokiThor's Journey to the Court of Utgarda-Loki
This myth relates the story of Þórr's Trip to the Court of
Útgarða-Loki and the tricks that giants play on him and his companions
Loki and Þjálfi.
Nouns
Edwardian (en.)The
Edwardian era began with the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910
(January 22, 1901 - 28 July, 1914). However, the era's end date is
sometimes extended to the beginning of World War 1 (28 July
1914).
needle felted (en.)
A 2D or 3D felted item produced with a barbed needle and unspun
fibre.
Source Materials:
Asgard Stories (en.)
Children's book by Mabel Cummings and Mary Foster published in
1901.
Source Persons
Cummings,
Mabel (en.)
Nationality: English
b. 28 Mar 1872
d. 24 August 1962
Occupation: Childrens book writer.
Nationality: American
Mabel Homer Cummings lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, as well as
Boston and Cambridge. She was born on the 28th of March, 1872 in
Cambridge, and died on the 24th of August, 1962 in Brookline. She lived
with her sister, the horticulturalist and ornithologist Emma G.
Cummings. She was a school teacher and the headmistress and co-founder
of the high school Brimmer and May, where Cummings Hall is named after
her. She graduated from Smith College in 1895. She was almost certainly
a founding member of the College Club of Boston, the first women’s
college club in the United States, and bought the building at 76
Marlborough in 1893.
Foster,
Mary (en.)
Nationality: American
Occupation: Childrens book writer and schoolteacher.
b. 19 Dec 1848
d. 27 Oct 1914
