#jenna barton

[replaye]

Darker Rooms (2019), Jenna Barton

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[thecollectibles]

Art by @dappermouth

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Shape on the Stairs by Jenna Barton

[theliteralbear]

The curiously ivocative Jenna Barton @dappermouth

You can support her work by following and making purchases at her store :

Home from DAPPERMOUTH

Hello! I'm Jenna Barton, and I'm an American illustrator who likes to draw strange animals and places. This shop offers high-quality prints

[ghilliedubh]

Water-Wolf; Thoughts on Fenrir and Floods

"On the day when the rain fell and flooded the ground, the sign of the wolf appeared, outside of town." - text and art by Jenna Barton

I wanted to share some thoughts I have had.

In short, I believe Fenrir is (among other things) a metaphore for a great flood. Three obvious things first:

1. The name Fenrir most likely means "fen dweller" or "of the fen", fens are frequently flooded areas or marshes.

2. From his mouth runs a river, Ván.

3. He and the Ragnarök crew arrive on a wave.

If we look into context, probably THE most destructive natural disaster that people would encounter in europe would be a great flood. A volcano burns and covers areas in lava, but moss can grow over. An earthquake drastically changes landscapes but the land can recover. A real, big flood, even ones that take a long time to be obvious, EATS the land.

Take Doggerland for example. A populated area of land that connected Great Britain to Europe, now is submerged. I want to also add here that Doggerland's final submergence was very likely due to the Storegga Slide, a submarine landslide that caused a tsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean around 6000 BC.

There is also an interesting Dutch zoomorphic term, Waterwolf.

From wikipedia: "Dutch word that comes from the Netherlands, which refers to the tendency of lakes in low lying peaty land, sometimes previously worn-down by men digging peat for fuel, to enlarge or expand by flooding, thus eroding the lake shores, and potentially causing harm to infrastructure, or death. [...] The traits of a wolf most commonly given to lakes include “something to be feared”, “quick and relentless”,” an enemy of man”."

The Netherlands are very prone to flooding, it would be no surprise if the ancient people of Europe were well aquainted with the destructive powers of water and viewed it as a great beast.

Völuspá:

49.

Now Garm howls loud

before Gnipahellir,

The fetters will burst,

and the wolf run free

Much do I know,

and more can see

Of the fate of the gods,

the mighty in fight.

Sources:

Waterwolf - Wikipedia

Doggerland - Wikipedia

Storegga Slide - Wikipedia

According to Gylfaginning, the river that is formed from the saliva that dribbles out of the mouth of the bound Fenrir.

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starting to forget

the lost house •  jenna barton

[heronbrew]

My new sweatshirt I got from @dappermouth, it's my third one from their store, I highly recommend checking them out