Norse Mythology has been the subject of many of my sculptures which I created in Denmark. It is quite a popular theme because of it's fantasy and heroic subject matter. For me I enjoy learning more about it.
My second name 'Doyle' has a certain Viking lineage, it means Dark foreigner and it is derived from the more dark haired Vikings. They were called Dubgaill in the Irish language and this then became Doyle because the English anglicised all our difficult names. Anyway I am a Viking and maybe that's the reason for my Nordic interest.
Irish invasion
This piece was made in Roskilde, Denmark beside a Viking museum on the banks of a picturesque Fjord (You can find it on my @Steemitworldmap at the end of the post). I was on a team of 6, mostly Irish carvers and we were given this strange compaction of two piles beside each other. Rather than split up and make two pieces we thought it would be more interesting to join them together into one composition.
Two men in a boat
The story goes that Thor convinced the giant Hymir to bring him to sea in his small boat. He tricked him to go far out into the ocean where he baited a hook with an oxens head and cast it overboard. The Midgard serpent took the bait and a big battle ensued with Thor while the Giant sat shitting himself at the back of the boat. Just as Thor was about to give the serpent a whack of his hammer the Giant grabbed his knife and cut the bait-line letting the monster escape. Thor threw his hammer after the Midgard but it isn't sure if he hit or missed him. Thor then turned and beat the crap out of Hymir for letting him go. (This is an abridged version)
Bow and stern
Niall Magee and Killian Van Der Velden worked on Thor and the serpent and I worked on the Giant. It was quite a big figure to do and trying to fit him in the block of sand had its challenges. When you have such a big human form there are often times when you will encounter areas which need massive undercuts but after part of his arm fell off I made the decision to be more careful and use lots of robes to support his weight. You can see the collapse in his arm in the last picture. The others did what they could but to be honest they were just there for a good time.
Wood works
Roskilde was a beautiful place to work. I love the laid back Danish attitude and it was nice to be in an area with so much history. Interestingly the Museum had a viking longboat that they had discovered was made from Irish oak and outside men were working with hand tools to create a replica. I enjoyed watching them hack out straight beams from round tree trunks. Years later I would see this boat make its way up the river Liffey in Dublin and inspect their handwork.
Ps
It's been another crazy week trying to get organised for a job that a client wants yesterday. Next week I will have to work every hour I can to make it happen. I will post some updates over the week to show you what I'm at. For now you can look back at some recent posts below
European art - sand sculpture
Buzz Lightyear - sand sculpture
Hope to see you soon and bring a friend
@ammonite