Musings on Heathen Art
(left) Brooch. 9th Century. Revninge, Denmark. (center) Silver Pendant from between 800 – 1050 CE. Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm. (right) Freyr Statue. Södermanland, Sweden. I had the unique experience of making a Heathen themed work of art to share with my tribe, and it allowed me to reflect on Heathen art as a whole. There are some interesting trends worth noting. If we look at historical Heathen art it is difficult to know what the intent of the maker was. Was their art solely a devotional act, or was it also a way to make a profit? And are some of the things we would think of today as historical Heathen art even meant to be that at all? A good example are some of the images that we speculate are Freyja but may just have been a depiction of a woman. Moving forward to modern Heathen art, I would say most of it is of one of two types: (left) Runestone in Täby. 1100CE. (middle) The Tjängvide stone. 8th-9th Century. (right) Modern depiction of the Allfather by Lør...