Capturing the past

These are some beautiful images of wood-carving I took when we were in Norway last June. The one above is from the door of the stave church at Holmenkollen (near Oslo) and below is one of the stunning doors at the stave church at the Norsk Folkmuseum (Oslo). This is a 13th century church which was incorporated into the Museum in 1907. Inside, it was so dark and mystical, and yet inviting too.

I still only have a couple of our holiday photos actually printed and framed! There's so many that I love and which bring back such happy memories but shoving them into a photo album as I have done after so many trips before seems kind of pointless and boring. What do you usually do with your holiday snaps?

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I have just borrowed from our local library The Silbury Treasure: The Great Goddess Rediscovered by Michael Dames and The Living Goddesses by Marija Gimbutas. Flicking through the former before bed last night, they both promise to be very interesting. Have you read them? Do you have any favourite books on the Neolithic period or Goddess worship?

Erik Werenskiold

I saw so much beautiful art while we were in Scandinavia - modern right back to very ancient objects from pre-Christian Scandinavia, which were so very special to see. Amongst the many, many interesting works I saw was that of nineteenth century Norwegian artist Erik Werenskiold. As well as beautiful rural scenes, he also drew a number of illustrations under the title of "Olav Trygvesøns Saga". The National Museum of Oslo is certainly worth a visit.

Hello

Beautiful dappled sunlight and mysterious shadows combine in the forests behind Bergen, Norway.

Hello! What a long time it is since I have wandered through the Dark Wood. Most recently, I have been wandering in the Norwegian woods which were so very beautiful. The horrific happenings late last week in Norway compelled me to post a little about the ancient and mystic natural beauty of the country, as an antidote of sorts to the bleak ugliness of the hatred expressed by one poisonous individual.

Blogger is not being very helpful about posting clips at the moment, so instead I would encourage you to follow these links to the wonderful music of Wardruna, whose music I discovered in Norway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKMDcTnezvU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMV78a-G5xY