I commissioned @chaoticallywickedart on Instagram to draw Weland the Smith for me. Despite doing some terrible things, I felt a connection to the god and have grown attached to him. This is how he appears in my mind.
The setting is in the winter because in Anglo-Saxon literature, winter was often used as an analogy for depression. When people were at their worst, when they were sad, or lost, scenes of winter were often described. I wanted that idea and theme to carry here. Weland was permanently disabled and held captive. He was in a dark place.
But when he gains his wings (the manner he does so varies from the sources. Since he's a smith, I like the idea that he built them), he finds hope in escape. In here, he's just finished his wings and he's looking up to the sky, ready to reclaim his freedom and leave this part of his life behind.
The detailed designs are influenced and taken from existing Anglo-Saxon historical art.
