Welcome back :D
I have some news to share about this upcoming week: I’ll be revising all my posts and giving them a bit of a makeover. This is due to some minor things I felt were left out, mainly in the “extras” stuff with more art I hadn’t discovered yet and some songs I wanted to add to the Spotify playlists no one listens to. Very minimal in the way of changing any of the stories themselves though, with a few words added here and there and those ever-present spelling/grammatical errors I keep finding… I view this sort of like when Todd McFarlane and Image Comics changed Spawn’s costume, going through an upgrade himself in issue 32. So stay tuned!
This week’s story was a little harder to get done. A lot of “schedule conflicts” and whatnot, but here it is written right up until the last minute. So please read and enjoy!
*Special thanks to my awesome wife, who again read over my story to make sure it didn’t suck.
Until next time, Skal!
#SteveOnSub
The Albatross
The sea was calm tonight, with its waves glistening in the moonlight. A gentle breeze occasionally filled the mast and gave momentary life to the banner flying above as they floated peacefully across the water. Johan and his small crew were not new to the task, having fished several seasons together and more so before joining as a crew aboard the Albatross. Johan had saved his earnings wisely in seafaring and raiding alike to purchase the ship, and now he and his party were finally enjoying the fruits of their labor. It was an old ship, but a good one honestly bought by the sweat of his brow and blood of more battles than any cared to remember. Its oars were strong against the waves of the ocean, and she moved steadily against any storm that dared challenge her while sailing the men toward distant shores on more peaceful adventures.
No more would they serve under someone else’s banner for scraps from another man’s table, earning a fraction of what was rightfully theirs while risking everything for what amounted to near nothing. Now they split their earnings evenly, in three ways no matter how generous or poor the spoils.
It was well into the evening and Johan was on watch, ensuring the lines remained intact while keeping a watchful eye over the waters for unexpected rocks. He kept the lanterns burning while his companions, Olavi and Nico, took turns resting before they would man the Albatross for a few hours themselves. Johan was an imperfect leader of his ship only in that he was too kind. Always remaining awake longer than his friends for their sake, he felt he would be abusing his position if he acted more like the types of men they had all served under before. His men respected him more than he knew, though, and never took advantage of Johan’s kindness. It was refreshing to feel as equals and there was never an inclination toward change. Their arrangement was perfect in their eyes.
After too many hours past his night's end, Johan’s eyes began to weigh on him, as did his mind. He heard faint splashing in the distance, the kind more accustomed to fish playing about while jumping around the water. Shaking his head and rubbing his eyes, he struggled to stay awake. Ignoring the disturbance, he decided he would wake Nico for his turn at the helm soon. But the sounds persisted.
Grabbing a lantern, he walked over to the side of the ship and peered into the dark waters below, expecting to see nothing in return. Leaning forward over the rails he held his lantern out; it was just as he thought, nothing more than mere waves slapping the wooden side of the ship. Sighing in relief and a little frustration, Johan turned to wake Nico and finally end his watch. Before he could step away he heard the splashing again, only this time it was accompanied by a laugh. And a woman’s laugh once more. Johan turned around swiftly, nearly losing his grip on the lantern, and tossing it over the railing to see what he knew was not possible.
Below, a woman was playfully swimming along the Albatross. Her long hair flowed down her chest, decorated in seashells matching those around her neck. “Hello?!” He stuttered softly, careful to not wake the others out of embarrassment at what he determined to be a mere figment of his tired imagination. But the reply was as real as his own voice.
“Hello!” she whispered back.
“What are you doing down there?! Are you alright? Johan questioned the strange woman, still distrustful of his own eyes and ears.
“Why yes, I’m fine.” She replied, giggling in amusement as if the questions were as strange as she.
“God’s sake, woman! What are you doing then? I’ll toss you a line to climb out, you must be freezing in these waters!”
Before Johan could turn to fetch a rope to save his new maiden fare, she interrupted, “No no, don’t be silly. I’m perfectly fine. Please, stay with me a while.”
Hesitantly, Johan thought of his strange luck. He had heard stories of gorgeous women greeting men sailing the ocean but never had he believed them until now. Margyge they called them. They were said to be the most beautiful women any man had ever laid eyes upon and would sing even more elegantly than a man’s ears could possibly deserve to enjoy. “Are… are you a water spirit? A Margyge?” He finally asked.
“I have been called many things for many years, there’s no need to worry about my name. Besides, you couldn’t pronounce it if I told you. But I can speak your language just fine. So tell me, what is your name?” She asked.
“Johan. My name’s Johan. I’m the leader of this ship.”
“And what a fine ship she is. What do you call her?”
“Albatross”
“What a wonderful name, Albatross.”
“Thank you, my wife named her. Before she…” Johan began to explain.
“I’m sorry, I did not mean to bring up painful memories.” She interrupted with condolence in her voice.
“No, it’s quite alright. It’s been many years now…” Johan continued. “Truth be told, I haven’t spoken of her in ages.”
“How very sad, I mourn your loss.”
“And I thank you for the kind words,” Johan replied, feeling more comfortable.
“I should be going now, my sisters will be suspicious of my absence. We aren’t supposed to visit with those from the surface. It was lovely speaking with you, Johan of the Albatross”
“Wait! I mean, please, wait a moment longer. I still have so many questions…” Johan pleaded.
Pausing for a moment, she replied, “Very well then, you may ask three questions. Upon your third, I will depart, but you may ask anything of me and I promise I will answer truthfully. Do we have an agreement?” She said sternly and with a smile.
“Yes, agreed. How many of you are there?” Johan began his questioning.
“Why, how many live up above? Do you truly know how many inhabit Midgard, let alone your own village? I suspect you do not, and neither do I. But I will say this, I have a family and many friends with families of their own. I am never without good company for long, tonight included.” She answered with a smirk, flirting with Johan now.
“Fair enough. Alright then, tell me this. Why is it you don’t visit with us more? We hear stories here and there, usually from a drunkard with too many seasons at sea but nothing more than tall tales. Why do you hide?” Johan asked for his second question.
“We did once, long ago. Much longer than you or I have lived. But your kind were not hospitable in the end. Thus, we parted ways and retreated to our waters.” You may ask me one more question and then I must be going. Are you ready?”
“I am,” Johan said skittishly. He contemplated his final question once more for good measure. Did he really have the courage to ask?
“I would only ask for a kiss if you would allow it. I haven’t seen such beauty since I lost my wife so many years ago, nor felt the soft touch of a woman’s kiss in ages. Would you grant me this final request?”
Smiling, she nodded. Reaching upward toward Johan she placed her hands on the sides of his bearded cheeks, looking him in his eyes…”
“Johan, STOP! Get back!” Nico shouted, having woken from his extended sleep wondering where his friend had been. “Olavi, get up! Grab the spears!” He continued to shout.
Olavi rose to action from his slumber without questioning the command, grabbing several spears and tossing one to Olavi as he ran across the deck. “What is it?!” He shouted back.
Catching the spear, Nico aimed at the woman in the water still holding his leader and old friend, Johan.
“No! Stop!” Johan shouted, but it was too late. Nico let loose his spear in his perceived act of bravery.
Before his spear could find its mark, the woman pulled Johan in front of her. Nico’s spear drew unintended blood, piercing Johan’s back.
Fading to the afterlife, Johan looked into the woman’s eyes once more. Perplexed at what had just transpired and held firmly in her arms, her features began to change. He noticed the hands that held him were connected between the fingers and tipped with sharp points. He could see her skin pale and large eyes blacken in the moonlight; where once he saw a pretty smile now gave way to long, jagged teeth and equally sharp tongue. Her hair was entangled with seaweed and her jewelry was no longer an arrangement of colorful seashells but old bones dangling from her pointed ears and fashioned around her neck. Screeching into the night, she pulled Johan into the blackened waters, never to rise to the surface again.
Silence fell over the deck of the Albatross; the two men stood still in shock, only regaining their senses after several moments passed. The mysterious woman along with their friend and leader had disappeared before their eyes, bearing witness to a death they knew would never be accepted as truth. Only the ravens that accompanied them to aid in navigating the seas would believe them, now making their escape and flying off into the night.
“What in the Hel, Nico! You killed him! You killed Johan!” snapped Olavi in shock at the ordeal that had just unfolded.
“She was going to take him, it’s not my fault! He was already fated for the waters,” Nico retorted.
Above, clouds began to form. Crashing into each other, the God of Thunder began his work as the sky roared and drops of rain started to fall over the ocean. Distant flashes of light let the surviving men know a storm was gathering.
“Hurry, it’s beginning to rain. Help me set up the tarp before we get soaked. Mourning will have to wait.” Ordered Olavi, as if he were now in command. “And don’t forget the spears!”
The storm arrived mere moments after Olavi and Nico had crawled under their shelter for the night, nearly getting caught in the hastening wind that threatened their meager lantern flame and rain now pouring down from the thundering sky. Streaks of lightning shot across the heavens like sparks from a dwarf’s anvil. Below, a storm of a different kind had begun as well.
Boom.
Boom.
BOOM.
The wooden side of the Albatross was met with crashing waves upon the return of the accursed woman from the ocean. Under the hull she scratched her claws and banged her fists against the old boards, cracking it here and there before finally breaking through. The ship tilted as it took on water. Its side finally splintered apart into a thousand pieces across the waves, causing the Albatross to capsize and toss the men into the icy abyss to join their companion once more.
The End
Northern Inspiration
The Albatross Explained (SPOILER ALERT)
Stop reading now if you haven’t actually read The Albatross. Murmaider murmaider murmaider murmaider!! IYKYK… Anyway, this week’s story is indeed about a Nordic mermaid, or Margyge/Margygr. I won’t go into a ton of detail on this mythological creature as I’m sure anyone reading this knows all about little mermaids and her ocean friends. I’ll bring up a few points specific to the Norse take on them, though. They have several variants in their mythos, ranging from kind and helpful water spirits to monstrous enemies of mankind. Mine is actually a bit of both as I’ve noticed theirs a lot of shape-shifting and changing in Nordic folklore, so I took the artistic liberty of making mine start off as a kind “woman of the ocean,” as they were sometimes referred to as, and had her take a turn for the worst. However, it’s only after her newfound friend, Johan, is killed while his friends are attempting to kill her. So it’s up to the reader to decide if this mermaid, or Margyge, was a kind and gentle water spirit or a monster hell-bent on murder. Murmaider, if you will.
Some other key distinctions with Margyge/Margygr are that they can be horribly ugly, with all the details I described (teeth, eyes, webbed fingers, etc.), and are said to attack entire ships either during storms or actually conjuring storms themselves via magic. again, I incorporated this in my story but knowing this magical aspect it’s up to the reader to decide if the storm is coincidence or magic. I also used the three questions sometimes mentioned in the Margyge’s folklore, I didn’t make that up on my own. The Margyge is known for granting three questions to inquisitive humans, sort of like a genies “three wishes” type of thing (coincidence?) As for my creative process with this one, I was all over the place. I figured I should probably do a mermaid story since it’s so huge in many folk tales and mythology, and I wanted to be different from my other stories. To accomplish this I tried to make the reader empathize with basically everyone, having no real “bad guy” - the two men are just trying to save their friend after all, and, upon having someone attempt to murder you, who among us wouldn’t want revenge? I also wanted to break my norm with a rise, climax, fall, and conclusion writing pattern. To do this I doubled the conclusion, having the Margyge come back for revenge and sinking the Albatross, thus sticking with some of the other aspects of its folklore with sinking ships and being an enemy of man (when pissed?).
I also want to point out that the ship’s name, the Albatross, is actually taken from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner poem as well as a piece by Theodor Kittelsen, whom you are all now familiar with, and oddly enough a US Navy research vessel. And perhaps most importantly, a badass song by Iron Maiden! The mythos here is best explained by BirdLife International’s article, Albatrosses: Inspiring Legends & Myths:
“Many once believed that albatrosses embodied the souls of lost sailors and possess magical qualities that can be harnessed to aid in healing. To harm an albatross was a harbinger of the sea’s wrath. In Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798), the protagonist uses his crossbow to kill an albatross, causing fear that the incident will bring misfortune to the crew. As the story progresses, their misgivings are confirmed, and his fellow sailors force him to wear the bird remains around his neck as a form of penance. The deceased albatross then served for centuries as an expression of regret for past mistakes and sins.”1
YouTube FTW
PBS had another educationally delightful video for us all to learn from, because knowledge is power :) Monstrum has an episode on their Storied YouTube channel called The Fatal Song of the Sirens, which is not specifically the same as our antagonist, the Nordic Margyge, but I thought I’d include it for clarification and distinction between the different mythologies. Check it out below:
No surprise here, Anna Bridgland's collection of Folklore, Mythology & Fairy Tales YouTube channel had another video for this week’s story. Her video for Mermaids and Mermen in Scandinavian Folklore and Myths is below, as well as her TLDR clip The Margyge: Evil Norse Mermaids | The Mythology Minute!
Art & Its Influence on My Writing:
Kim Diaz Holm’s Artwork & Influence
I was excited to see Kim had some boats to use this week, and a mermaid!
Kim believes that art should be free and offers his work as free to use and share.
”I make art and release it under Creative Commons licences, so you can use it exactly as you see fit. While doing so, I also release merchandise, prints and originals for those who would like to support me on my way.”2 - Kim Diaz Holm
Theodor Kittelsen’s Artwork & Influence
Kittelsen has some original work for Mermaids and Mermen, and a lot of ships in rough seas. In fact, that’s where the name of the ship & story itself comes from. Check out Kittelsen’s Albatross art below!
As per the Norwegian National Museum, Theodore Kittelsen’s art is in the public domain and free to use with no known copyright restrictions as per Creative Commons.3
Check out more at the Norwegian National Museum’s Theodor Kittelsen
Collection.4
Northern Hymns on Spotify
I’ve started using songs from the video game soundtrack, which I think I’ll go back and add to each story as many of them fit the mood and are about the same Nordic folk material. Did anyone wonder about the character names this week? The three doomed souls are named after the vocalist/frontman, lead guitarist, and drummer in Amon Amarth. \m/
Artists include music from Peyton Parrish, Skar Productions, Nightwish, Amon Amarth, Dethklok, Thyrfing, Iron Maiden, Tyr, and Unforgiving: A Northern Hymn Original Video Game Soundtrack.
& more metal vids below!
That’s all, folks!
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"Albatrosses: Inspiring Legends & Myths." BirdLife International. https://www.birdlife.org/news/2023/06/19/albatrosses-inspiring-legends-myths/#:~:text=Many%20once%20believed%20that%20albatrosses,harbinger%20of%20the%20sea's%20wrath.
Holm, Kim. https://denungeherrholm.com/pages/about-kim.
The National Museum. https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/collection/producer/56283/theodor-kittelsen.
Kittelsen, Theodor. "Theodor Kittelsen Collection." National Museum, 1904, www.nasjonalmuseet.no/en/collection/producer/56283/theodor-kittelsen.