Norse Myth

Ben Hellman

Her Undying Love; Gothic Viking Zombie Mayhem

Hild, unable to bear the deaths of her lover and father, raises their bodies with the bodies of their warriors, leading to an endless...

Ben Hellman

Immortal Queer; LGBTQ+ Narratives in Mythology

Loki consumes the female Gullveig’s heart, and is impregnated, an illustration of lines from Hyndluljóð, or Song of Hyndla, by John...

Ben Hellman

Beyond Beowulf: Curses, Shapechangers, and Doomed Love

The Saga of King Hrólf Kraki features two warriors, man and son, who fight as bears. The father is cursed to roam as a bear by day. The...

Ben Hellman

Toying with Ancient Stories; Uncovering the Tales of the Old English Poem “Widsith”

Danish King Hrothgar with his nephew Hrothulf, cutting down the Heathobards as Heorot Hall burns, following the failed wedding union...

Ben Hellman

Seldom Told Tales; Unraveling Viktor Rydberg’s Norse Mythos

Freya and Svipdag, by the illustrator John Bauer. This is one of several stories I had never read about before reading Viktor Rydberg's...

Ben Hellman

Noodling through Norse Myths; Folklorist's Notebook

Some of the books I've been moving to and from various end tables, usually not as neat as this. It has been a week of Norse myth study...

Ben Hellman

A Roundup of Mythology News; Folklorist's Notebook

An avenging Medusa, Abenaki Folklore, a new Beowulf, a fascinating take on Norse Mythos, and the 2020 winner of the Nobel Prize for...

PRACTICAL MYTHOLOGY

Benjamin Hellman's Blog