Pause For The Solar Eclipse
Norse mythology
In honour of today's solar eclipse, which if you're in the west of the UK and Ireland, you may just be able to see, here's the first page of the December chapter of 'Stories Of The Sun', which features my lino print of Sköll, the wolf who, in Norse mythology, chases Sol in her chariot as she pulls the sun across the sky each day.
On this day Sköll will catch her up and swallow the sun. We must hope she can break free and reappear, for the only time she does not, is Ragnarok - the day to end all days.
A solar eclipse is not as rare as you might think. In fact they happen at least two times a year, somewhere in the world, but we can’t often see them here in the UK. I take a brief look at Solar Eclipse’ in Episode 3 of ‘Stories Of The Sun’, the podcast that accompanies my book by the same name. You can listen here:
There are many, many stories associated with the sun and you will find some of them in the book, however the most pertinent for today’s events is the Norse creation story, which tells, among other things, of the two wolves that chase the sun and moon.
You can listen to that story in Season 1 Episode 4 of ‘Stories From Lore’:
As you enjoy this little offering of lore and stories for the Solar Eclipse, perhaps you are living in a part of the world that will give you a glimpse of this phenomena. If you are, don’t forget to bang your pots and pans to make sure the sun reappears! We’re counting on you.
