Metafiction, Myth and Language: A World in Words (and Pictures)

 In a work that is devoted to deconstruction , it seems ironic to be writing of a structuralist underpinning to one significant part of the Saga , but it is a framework so obscure that it needs some elucidation, and was written into the narrative as a direct reference to Old Norse and Old English scholarship itself. I came across the theory of the “Valkyrie-diptych narrative structure” in the 2013 paper on the alleged presence of Valkyrie-figures in Old English literature , by Philip A. Purser, which I studied at length last summer and which influenced greatly the writing of the early form of the Saga at that time. Whilst I later took much issue with Purser's interpretations , I was intrigued enough by this narrative framework that it's worth quoting Purser's paper in full:           "In 1984, Helen Damico forwards the notion that a type of narrative structure, which gained great currency in twelfth- and thirteenth-century Icelandic and Scandinavian literature, was re

   Continuing on from yesterday's post and thinking about land art and installing these images in landscape, yesterday evening I made an impromptu visit to one of the Carerthun hill forts near Edzell. I clambered up to the top of the White Caterthun with camera gear and the 7kg 'spear-maid' (stone #2) on my back - not an easy climb, but worth it for the view alone! The site has some personal significance as it was one of the main locations for my 2020 film 'The Wanderer and the Wish-maid' - itself based upon and inspired by the valkyrie figures of Norse mythology, forming a very tangible link from last year's undergrad work to this year's Master's work. The ready-made cairn was a gift for installing the stone - creating a natural axis point between sky and earth, the perfect embodiment for a character who inhabits that liminal space, whether as one who takes the spirits of the dead to the otherworld, or if the stone specifically represents Gerthild, Wo

  This slab is one of the smaller ones - about 30cm wide by 40cm high, weight about 7 kg. I tested all the earmarked stones with my old luggage trolley and it (just) managed to transport them all (one at a time) to the car - good to know for when these finally have to get installed in less than 2 months. As the sandstone is not strong, dropping and knocking these finished works will have to be avoided at all costs. Following on from the earlier 'scratch' work, I spent several hours outside today finishing it off  (the design looks better in reality but I had to compensate for strong and very bright lighting conditions). The sandstone is soft enough that no actual chisel work was required - in fact that's convenient, as any hammer work tends to chip away from the determined groove, causing flaking and diminishing the design. The only tools used were a small awl, a toothbrush (for cleaning out the dust) and a steel ruler for defining the spear lines (plus, of course, a face m

 Following on from the abortive attempt at carving the spear-maid/Gerthild design in wood earlier this week, I decided to try it on one of the smaller slabs of sandstone instead. About an hour or so later, I had a rough, usable outline to follow and chisel out deeper: The main problem was getting the image transferred onto the stone. For the first effort , black carbon paper did the trick - but not here. I had to redraw from scratch the loose design, in a 4H pencil, then carefully gouge the line with a small sharpened bradawl. No actual chiselling involved as the lines are too fine and fragile. This will be a problem for the more complex designs, such as the double portrait of Hretha and Maegtha , so I'll need to plan well in advance. The relentless gouging work, whilst saving my joints from impact, will cause a different range of pains and issues to my working hand so I need to limit my time spent on this over the coming weekend. As well as, I assume, consider how much of this kin