Dagfin Werenskiold (1892-1977) was a painter and sculptor. Exhibits of his work are to be found in the National Gallery and other public collections. He may be best known for the giant friezes — inspired by norse mythology — exhibited in the court yard of Oslo's city hall.
Dagfin Werenskiold (Unknown) CC BY-SA 3.0
Dagfin Werenskiold's artistic expressions span painting, friezes, sculpture, graphics, ceramics and glass painting. Most distinctive are his painted wooden friezes, where he continues an old Nordic tradition established in ecclesiastical and rural art.
He grew up on Lysaker, just outside Oslo, the son of the painter Erik Werenskiold, who many of you might know as the man who gave Norway its visual image of trolls through his illustrations for the folk tale collections of Asbjørnsen and Moe. The father drew the trolls. The son carved the gods.
Dagfin studied sculpture in Paris under Antoine Bourdelle, one of the great successors to Rodin. But his deepest instinct was for an older craft — wood carving, rooted in Norwegian folk art and medieval church tradition. He had already made the bronze doors of Oslo Cathedral and altarpieces that stunned their viewers before he was given this commission.
He began work during the occupation and continued into the 1950s. Each relief measures roughly 2.3 by 2.2 metres, weighs a full tonne, and is carved from laminated pine deck timber — then painted in vivid colours and finished with gold and silver leaf. Sixteen panels in total fill this courtyard, eight on each wall, and they are known collectively as the Yggdrasil Frieze.
16 wooden friezes
In addition to the marble frieze above the fountain inside the Grand Hall, Dagfin Werenskiold has completed 16 wooden friezes on the walls of the courtyard. Werenskiold's motifs are from Norse mythology. Here we find ancient myths about creation, the life of gods, the sources of wisdom, about love, hate, war, destiny, revenge, the demise of old worlds and powers, and magnificent visions of the future.
There are two main historic sources: The Older Edda, which consists of divine and heroic poems, first recorded in the 13th century after having survived many hundreds of years as a lively oral tradition, and Snorre Sturlason's (circa 1178-1241) textbook for young poets (skalder), written in prose circa 1220, often referred to as the Younger Edda. The text to the friezes are from Voluspå, Vegtamskvadet, Skirnismål, Grimnesmål, Volundkvad, Vavtrudnesmål, Loketretta, Fåvnesmål and Snorre Sturlason's Gylvaginning.
Each frieze is made by pine deck timber which is glued together into blocks weighing approximately 1000 kg (2200 lbs). The friezes are impregnated with a triple application of linseed oil, then painted and gilded with gold or silver. Werenskiold himself has said that his friezes "are based upon the rhythm, the principle of balance, upon a totally natural and free foundation, without the golden mean and geometrics".
FRIGG: Frigg (love) is one of Odin's wives and the mother of Balder (lord, prince), the god of innocence and piety. Balder is haunted by evil dreams, and Odin rides to Nivlheim (the underworld, kingdom of the dead), where he awakens a dead mystic. Through her he gets to know that Balder is going to die, the halls of Nivlheim are adorned and await him. As a result Frigg makes all elements swear on oath that they will not hurt Balder: fire and water, iron and iron-ore, rocks, earth, trees, animals and plants - except the mistletoe, "because she felt it was too young".THE DEATH OF BALDER: The giants are constantly battling with the gods. Loke is of giant descent and is Odin's foster brother. He is evil and cunning, and the one who indirectly causes the death of the god Balder. The other gods amuse themselves by shooting at Balder, safe in the belief that nothing can hurt him. Balder's half brother, the blind and strong Hód (battle), is deluded by Loke into "showing Balder the same honour". Loke gives Hód an arrow of mistletoe and assists him in aiming at Balder. Thus Hód becomes his brother's killer.NIDHOGG: Nidhogg (the one who cuts with malice or evil) is a dragon-like, serpent beast who gnaws and tears at the third root of the ash Yggdrasil, the world tree. Yggdrasil has roots that spread in three directions: One leads to the giant Mime's (memory's) well, the source of recollection. Here everything that has ever happened is reflected, and Mime's well is therefore full of wisdom. There rests Odin's eye pawned so that he may drink of the fountain of Mime. Another root leads to the Well of Urd, whilst the third goes down to Kvergjelmir in Nivlheim (the underworld, kingdom of the dead), where Nidhogg commits his fearful deed.FRØY AND GERD MEET: Frøy is a popular god who rules over the fruits of the earth and protects domestic animals. One day he sits on Lidskjalv, Odin's throne in Valhall. From there he contemplates the view of the world and sees the female giant Gerd (of the earth) in Jotunheimen. Frøy is so moved by this love of her that he can neither eat, drink nor sleep. He uses his servant Skirne to woo Gerd, and finally meets her in the Barre (barley) grove.THE NORNS POUR WATER ON YGGDRASIL: The norns Urd (the past), Verdande (the present) and Skuld (the future) are three powerful goddesses of destiny. They live by the Well of Urd where one of the roots of Yggdrasil ends. Here the gods ride over Bifrost (the bridge that connects heaven and earth, the rainbow bridge) on their way to council. The norns water the world tree's leaves each day with spray water from the flood. From this comes the dew that falls in the valleys, and this is why the holy tree remains evergreen above the Well of Urd.FRØY AND SKIRNE: Frøy confides his powerful love of Gerd to his household servant Skirne, and asks him to travel to Jotunheimen to woo her on his behalf. Skirne does so on one condition; that he may take Frøy's magical sword - the one that can strike of its own volition - with him on the dangerous journey. Gerd refuses all fair promises of gifts, but when Skirne employs conjurations and threatens to carve out magical runes, Gerd is forced to submit and meet Frøy "in nine night's time in the Barre grove".TOR IS DRIVEN BY HIS GOATS: After Odin, Tor is the next most distinguished god. He is the god of strength and often battles with the giants. The chariot he drives is drawn by the two goats Tanngnjost and Tanngrisne. Tor owns three valuable things: The hammer Mjollne that always strikes when thrown and returns of own volition, a pair of magnificent iron gloves, and a belt which increases his strength. The little farm rests under threatening skies. When Tor travels his chariot across the sky and strikes his hammer, thunder crashes and lightning blazes. And when the storm clears, Tor's beautiful hall Bilskirne (fair weather) is revealed.EMBLA: The gods Odin, Høne and Lodur are out wandering. At the beach they find two trees "without destiny". Fate is granted by the gods who empower them: Odin gives them spirit, Høne gives the gift of vitality and Lodur gives them blood and colour. Ask (ash) and Embla (elm) step forward through the myth of creation as the two first human beings.
Odin on Sleipnir
Odin does not ride to be seen. He rides to know. Every day his two ravens, Huginn — thought — and Muninn — memory — leave his shoulders at dawn and return at dusk with everything that has happened across the nine worlds. Odin is the god of wisdom, but wisdom is never free: he gave one of his eyes to drink from the well of knowledge. He carries his spear Gungnir, his ring Draupnir that generates wealth, and the weight of knowing that even he cannot stop what is coming.
Sleipnir, his eight-legged horse, is the fastest creature in existence and can travel between worlds. That combination — the seeker of knowledge mounted on an instrument of boundless reach — is not so far from how we imagine our own relationship with information today. We race across every network and database, accumulating more than we can hold. The question Odin never quite answers is whether knowing everything actually helps.
ODIN ON SLEIPNER: Odin, the most powerful of gods, is riding his eightlegged Sleipner, the fastest stallion in the world. Odin's spear Gungne strikes everything he hurls it at. On his arm he has the valuable ring Draupne, which drips eight equally beautiful rings every ninth night. Odin's two ravens Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory) fly out every day into the wide world and bring news back to their master. Here they guide Odin in the twilight of the forest.
VIDAR CONQUERS THE WOLF FENRIS: Vidar (the silent god), son of Odin, takes revenge for the entire family of gods by conquering the wolf Fenris. On his foot he wears an amazing shoe made from the leather cobblers cut off at the toe and heel. Vidar puts his foot in the wolf's lower jaw and takes hold of the upper jaw in his hand. The wolf is unable to bite through, and Vidar thrusts his sword into its heart.DEER GRAZING ON YGGDRASIL: Four deer are grazing on the world tree Yggdrasil's green shoots: Dáin, Dvalin, Duney and Duratro. Three of them are here portrayed as symbols of "peace, cautiousness and timidity".WARNING OF RAGNAROK: The formidable dog Garm guards the entrance to the underworld (kingdom of the dead) and warns of the destruction of the old world — Ragnarok (supremacy's destiny, the twilight of the gods). Three cocks crow and warn of the pending battle: the Aesir's golden crested cock Gullinkambi who wakes Odin's heroes, the soot-red cock down in the underworld, and the red cock Fjalar in the world of the giants. A flock of gods, giants and evil spirits are to fill the entire battlefield Vigrid (the largest in the world) or Oskopne (the one which is not yet created). The sun will be extinguished, the wolf Fenris is to devour Odin, and Tor and Froy will die in battle.THE EAGLE IN YGGDRASIL: High up in Yggdrasil's branches a powerful eagle is sitting looking far around him and flapping his large wings. The small squirrel Ratatosk is running down the trunk carrying the eagle's words to the beast Nidhogg (the one who cuts with malice or evil), who is gnawing at the world tree's root.
Volund the Smith
Let me focus on the story I think stays with you longest: Volund the Smith.
It begins as a love story. Three brothers make camp by a lake and discover three swan maidens — valkyries who have shed their feathered cloaks to bathe as human women. The brothers fall in love and marry them. Volund marries Alvit. For seven years, they are happy.
Then one morning, the swan maidens are gone. Back to Asgard. Back to their nature.
Volund doesn’t go looking. He is a smith — he stays, and he makes rings. One ring after another, each identical to the one Alvit wore, placed on a cord by the fire. Waiting.
The greedy King Níðuðr finds him sleeping, takes the rings, and has Volund captured. Then comes the punishment that makes this story unforgettable: the king has Volund’s hamstrings severed. He cannot walk. He cannot run. He can never cross water. He is marooned on an island and forced to forge treasures for the king — strong enough to work, too broken to flee. His craft is kept. He is discarded.
What follows is methodical. The king’s two sons are lured to the island by the glittering gold. Volund kills them, fashions their skulls into drinking vessels for the king, their eyes into jewels for the queen, their teeth into a brooch for the king’s daughter. Finally he forges himself wings — and flies away.
This is not a villain’s story. Volund is a man who lost everything he loved, was stripped of his freedom, and was left with nothing but his skill. He uses that skill to answer what was done to him. The wings matter because they restore the one thing the king took: movement, agency, the ability to leave.
The story is twelve hundred years old. It still happens. The creative person made to produce for a power that owns them. The humiliated who finds a way out through the only thing no one could take.
SWAN MAIDENS: Three valkyries (those who choose the warriors destined to die in battle), half spiritual, half earthly, come flying as swans and change into three beautiful maidens Alrund, Svankit and Alvit. Three brothers discover them at the beach, carry them off and marry them. The smith Volund marries Alvit. After seven years the swan maidens depart again. Volund remains at home awaiting his wife's return, whilst his brothers leave to search for theirs.VOLUND THE SMITH HAS VENGEFUL THOUGHTS: The evil and greedy King Nidud (envy) captures Volund, severs his hamstrings and orders him to forge costly jewellery on a deserted island. The King has stolen a ring from Volund and given it to his own daughter Bodvil. Now the ring is broken in two, and Bodvil secretly travels to meet Volund in order to have it forged into one whole ring again. The King's two sons are tempted to the island by all the gold the smith has. Volund cuts off the boys' heads, mounts their skulls in silver and sends them to King Nidud as drinking vessels. From their teeth he makes a brooch to Bodvil, and he mounts their eyeballs as precious stones in a piece of jewellery for the Queen. Finally he rapes Bodvil and she becomes pregnant with his child.
