Dump Blog for Harrowing

thoughts, scenes & memes for my Norse/Christian crossover fic

[harrowing-dump]

BALDR: I'm here for a good time, not a long time

HEL: I'm here for a long time, not a good time

YESHUA: I'm here for neither a good time nor a long time

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After all this time .... it's actually finished!!!

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Harrowing: A Combined Retelling of Tales from Norse-Pagan and Christian Tradition

Hel, daughter of of the trickster Loki, has been ruling the inglorious dead for millennia after being sent to Niflheim by Odin. She’s the half-living, half-dead queen of humans, giants, dwarves, elves, werewolves, and even a frightening species of horned trolls with a taste for wicked souls. With help from them, the terrible serpent Nidhogg, her witch mother Angrboda, and the murdered god Baldr, she tries to ensure that her subjects continue their afterlife in relative peace. 

That peace is upended by the arrival of a human named Yeshua. Not only does he claim to be a god - one that Hel had a terrifying encounter with long ago - but he tells the humans that he can set them free not just from Hel but death itself. No one can do that, certainly not without Hel’s say-so.

What should be a simple story of enemies, power, and opposing ideologies quickly becomes complicated. The fates of humans and other races hang in the balance, and the most surprising fate awaits Hel herself.

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I started posting on AO3! Check it out here.

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It's the yearly reblog!

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If you paid attention to my posts from last April, you're aware that I have custom-made Funko pops of Hel (as imagined for my story Harrowing) and Jesus (as portrayed on The Chosen). Well, I'm planning another pair of Funko pops, only this time inspired by the Book of Revelation.

One will be of Jesus in his glorified form from John's vision:

... in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. (Revelation 1:13-16)

Unlike the previous Funkos, I'm going to combine the head and body of two figurines. For glorified!Jesus, I finally decided on Viego (League of Legends) for the head and Momoshiki (Boruto) for the body.

I love the idea of the triple-pronged crown, even though it's not mentioned in Scripture. Yes, I will add a beard cuz my brain won't process a clean-shaven Jesus, and I'll tweak the outfit (add sash and maybe an "under tunic" to cover the pants) and do an overall repaint.

The other Funko will be The Woman/The Bride:

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. (Revelation 12:1)

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. (Revelation 21:9-11)

I know they aren't necessarily the same figure - especially since the Bride is a city. But the Woman is often identified as Israel or the Church (and yes, the Virgin Mary); she parallels the New Jerusalem with the repeated use of 12 items (stars, jewels, foundations, etc). My thinking is that, if I anthropomorphize the Bride with elements from the Woman, she can have a celestial quality.

Originally, I considered using the body of Queen Amaya (Wish), but then I came across Wanda Maximoff (Marvel) and I love the potential of that celestial presence. For the head, I have Thena (The Eternals).

This reasoning probably sounds arbitrary or convoluted. And it is 😂 That said, I couldn't help noticing how well the vibes of the Jesus and Bride components go together!

So yeah, this is my Valentine's Day project. I'll keep you posted!

[harrowing-dump]

Update!

Well, this will take even longer than I thought.....

I was optimistic about getting this done in a day, but I hit a major setback with the Bride. Both Funkos are bobbleheads, and this is my first time trying to swap bobbles. Guess what? Yeah, the coils are not so easy to reattach to the neck once they're off. I ended up ordering a new (better) pair of wire cutters, and I'm praying that picture wire will make this thing happen.

The good news is that glorified!Jesus is making progress!

I might start painting him tonight or wait till tomorrow. Thank you Lord for the 3-day weekend!

[harrowing-dump]

If you paid attention to my posts from last April, you're aware that I have custom-made Funko pops of Hel (as imagined for my story Harrowing) and Jesus (as portrayed on The Chosen). Well, I'm planning another pair of Funko pops, only this time inspired by the Book of Revelation.

One will be of Jesus in his glorified form from John's vision:

... in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. (Revelation 1:13-16)

Unlike the previous Funkos, I'm going to combine the head and body of two figurines. For glorified!Jesus, I finally decided on Viego (League of Legends) for the head and Momoshiki (Boruto) for the body.

I love the idea of the triple-pronged crown, even though it's not mentioned in Scripture. Yes, I will add a beard cuz my brain won't process a clean-shaven Jesus, and I'll tweak the outfit (add sash and maybe an "under tunic" to cover the pants) and do an overall repaint.

The other Funko will be The Woman/The Bride:

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. (Revelation 12:1)

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. (Revelation 21:9-11)

I know they aren't necessarily the same figure - especially since the Bride is a city. But the Woman is often identified as Israel or the Church (and yes, the Virgin Mary); she parallels the New Jerusalem with the repeated use of 12 items (stars, jewels, foundations, etc). My thinking is that, if I anthropomorphize the Bride with elements from the Woman, she can have a celestial quality.

Originally, I considered using the body of Queen Amaya (Wish), but then I came across Wanda Maximoff (Marvel) and I love the potential of that celestial presence. For the head, I have Thena (The Eternals).

This reasoning probably sounds arbitrary or convoluted. And it is 😂 That said, I couldn't help noticing how well the vibes of the Jesus and Bride components go together!

So yeah, this is my Valentine's Day project. I'll keep you posted!

[gratefulturbot]

i DON'T need them to kiss i need them to come to the sobering realisation that their souls are merged and no part of them is extricable from the other anymore

[thechloris]

Yes this. But I also need them to kiss

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I still think it's kind of nuts that Hel is described as half-dead, half-alive in one of the few surviving texts on Norse mythology. Let's consider a few things:

The Prose Edda, the only text to describe her this way, was written by a Christian, although he was undoubtedly drawing on stories from pagan traditions passed down orally.

Most European underworld gods or death gods don't look dead. They're just grim to show they deserve to be feared and respected.

Even death gods in other religions (e.g. Egyptian, Aztec, Maya) that look dead are entirely skeletal or discolored, not partially.

European myth traditions where creatures are half-something are usually about chimeras (mashups of creatures). This idea only makes sense of why Hel has monstrous siblings.

No other mythical figure truly parallels this trait. The closest examples that come to mind are Persephone (leaves and returns to the underworld, so connected to both life and death) and the Triple Goddess archetype (maiden & crone). But Hel is one person and never leaves her realm in the earliest stories we still have about her.

So ... where did this portrayal of Hel come from??

Maybe it's weird I'm fixated on this, but here's the TRULY weird thing ... that it doesn't seem weird, not when you consider what she represents: the connection and transition between life and death. I rather wonder that we don't see more underworld/death gods with this split appearance.

This split identity for a grim, deathly figure is more common in modern pop culture with Two Face and the Phantom of the Opera. Even Jekyll and Hyde loosely fits the idea. How did this duality come to be represented in Hel in the story that Snorri wrote down? How long did it exist before being written? What was going on in the culture to give rise to it?

Maybe it has to do with how pagan Scandinavians up to the Viking Age viewed death. There are lots of stories in the sagas where the dead are still doing stuff. Maybe Hel's appearance was a way to personify the physical reality of death (decay) and the culture's spiritual belief about it (the dead could interact with the living). The dead are quite accessible in Nordic culture, according to their surviving stories.

And maybe the reason this picture of Hel survived Christianity's influence (or maybe crystalized due to Christianity's influence) is that Christian belief also sees death as permeable and impermanent. The saintly dead can intercede for the living. Jesus died, then returned to life. The dead will one day experience bodily resurrection. Maybe Hel endured in the Scandinavian imagination as half-alive, half-dead because she's a dark reflection of this belief.

Just some thoughts.

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Hel Underworld Goddess Art Painting | Hela Norse Death Garmr | Watercolor Spirit Print

Look what I found on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1319197265/hel-underworld-goddess-art-painting-hela?ref=share_v4_lx

✯ Open edition art print titled "Hel, Caretaker of the Dead" This listing is for one high quality, full color archival giclee print of this

Love this painting. Also, do I see a crown of thorns? 👀

[warmedbycoffee]

My heart has become a graveyard

Graveyard of all the people I've loved and never stopped loving

- Asma

[beginnerblueglass]

“If I’m gonna jump off the cliff, and you’re gonna get pushed off the cliff, why don’t we hold hands on the way down?”

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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Start of Act 2. Lots of OCs in this chapter as we jump ahead and meet the souls residing in Helheim.

Chapter 12: Helsfolk

Excerpt -

One werewolf youth, Landulf, pokes his way through the market. He looks like a man, but he’s known by the locals, certainly by those who have long been dead and have put up with his intrusive swagger and sticky fingers, or sticky teeth. He can’t rule by fear; if he did, he’d have someone else to be afraid of, and no one wants that in Hel. Instead, he smiles and relishes the scowls from the folk who are protective of their goods. There are a few men and women of different races who either sympathize with his incorrigible attitude or are attracted to it. This number is small.

When he sees a human named Romilda setting up her stall of finely woven fabric, he sidles right over to her. She sees him, and a smile breaks over her lips. It’s shortly smothered by consternation. He doesn’t let it deter him.

“There’s the fairest lady in the nine worlds.” He presses on the table, dips forward, and takes a sniff, as if he wants to sample the fabric’s fragrance as he would flowers or cutlets. Or maybe he’s sampling Romilda’s aroma. “Got anything for me today?”

Romilda raises an eyebrow. “Not unless you’re interested in damask.”

“Hmm.” He studies her face. “All right, what’s gotten in your nethers this time?”

She scoffs. “I can tell you what won’t get into my nethers today.”

“Aww. You know I love the chase.”

Romilda squints and leans toward him. “Do you like having your hide skinned?”

Landulf grins. “Ooh, frisky.”

“I’m being serious.” 

“I know. It’s one of your finer faults.” 

“And it’s the only thing saving you from getting into worse trouble than you already are.”

Landulf presses his lips together. For a moment, he can be serious, too. “Are you pregnant?”

Romilda gasps and bursts into laughter. He laughs, too.

“I almost wish I could be,” she says, “just to scare some sense into you!”

His eyes soften. “You know what? I wish you could be, too.”

Romilda gives him a firm look. He’s nearly worse when he’s sentimental than when rakish. She shakes her head and plucks up a blanket to fold, which was already perfectly folded.

[dimsilver]

do you ever get emotional about how the writer of Psalm 88 almost certainly meant these verses as rhetorical questions:

“Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise You? Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction? Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?”

and Jesus said yes.

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You know the Harrowing brain rot is bad when I look at any piece of media and think "how can I make this about Yeshua and Hel?"

Like watching The Sound of Music yesterday, I literally spent minutes of my life creating a scenario where Yeshua is told by God to minister to a family, and it's Hel, her daughter Hulda (based on Frau Holle) and 6 other kids who Hel adopted bc they're quasi-canonical children/relatives of Fenrir (Garmr, Sköll, Hati) and made-up children of Jormungandr based on sea beasts of Norse myth (Hafgufa, Lyngbakr, Kraken) who are at least partly anthropomorphized but strongly come across as werewolves and Lovecraftian abominations.

And Yeshua teaches them God's love and becomes their surrogate dad while He and Hel figure out their feelings for each other.

And maybe there are Nazis???

Anyway.

[elizamaru]

A little study in ectoplasm in the interestingly eerie style of ‘verdaccio’, or the terre verte + white ‘dead layer’ some like to use as underpainting. I thought it might be a nice gentle chill for this diabolical heat.

Oh and there’s some very subtle gore that I enjoyed painting a lot :D

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Hagalaz

The thunder howls, The hail falls down, All the earth cries out. Flesh and heart are split apart, Bone and sinew unbound. Howl, howl, the hail comes down And wrecks this wretched land. Thunder, ground, they shake around Beneath your mighty hand. Yet in the stillness In the quiet In the land of death Something stirs with just a word, By just your saving breath. Raise up our eyes to brand new skies So the dead might rise again. The dead will rise again.

We expend so much time deciphering the signs Begging for more to appease our doubts. Will we finally lie upon the line When all that time runs out? You open wide the way, And all I long to say Instead I hide away, Keep buried just another day. But the gate is standing there Broken beyond repair. Why should I wait? How can I stay? You walked through death to come and say, “Beloved, don’t be afraid.”

Hail falls down, Splinters the ground, It tears my flesh and breaks my bones. The world has cracked upon itself From evils it’s done unto its own.

Why should it be reborn? Why should it find a home?

But the air is moving by your call— It dances across this valley of death— It laughs inside my gloomy hall. It steals and gives me breath.

The chaos comes, then peace, shalom, Sweeps in to bind the wounds. Why must this story wind this thread That any grace should follow doom? This cold world is all I’ve known, The only power I’ve held in hand. Faces and voices speak out in need. They cry and cajole, a child’s demand: “Where is my comfort? Where is my hope? Where is my head to rest and my sustenance found? There’s never enough, so give it to me, That’s all I care about!” I pour out strength until it’s dry and done And still, and still, what else am I to do? Bound to this desert of ice and snow, Let me dole out this duty I owe. Let me break and buckle and flow until my time is through.

The sky is dark. The air stands still. Until an answer tramples in for the kill.

The thunder howls, The hail falls down, The gate screams off its hinge. That blood that breaks the hardest chains And makes the darkness cringe, It calls to me, my time has come, And there’s nowhere to hide. I want to stand and stay as strong As I’ve always done to survive.

That will not do. I see now it’s true. The hail all melts away. The water refuses to stay. It runs from the hill to the welcoming sea. But surely that pathway is not for me.

Yet you proclaim forever and a day, “My Dearest, Beloved, don’t be afraid.”

In the quiet land of death, The soul is beckoned by your breath, And the dead shall rise again. The dead shall rise again.

[harrowing-dump]

Wow ok I thought I had already posted this alternate cover idea, but apparently not?? Anyway, yeah, this is another version of Harrowing's nonexistent book cover. You can view the first one here.

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Uh oh. Look out, Hel.

Looks like someone is coming . . .

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AH! There he is!!

Happy Holy Saturday