The subject of the portrait is Aslaug, the reported daughter
of Sigurd and the shieldmaiden Brynhildr, from Norse Mythology. The shadow of a
wing falls across her visage to imply her moniker, Kråka (‘Crow’), given to her
by a pair of peasants who discovered her orphaned and stolen away in a harp. They hid her beauty--a trait of nobility--by rubbing her in tar and adorning her shoulders in a long cape.
Aslaug's dress of layered netting and shells refers to her battle of wits with the
legendary Viking Ragnar Lodbrok, in which he challenges her to meet him “neither
dressed nor undressed, hungry nor full and alone nor in company.” She arrives
dressed in a net, biting an onion and with only a dog as a companion. Impressed
by her ingenuity, Ragnar proposes marriage to her.
Available as a print at Canzine: Festival of Zines and Underground Culture--Sunday, October 20, 2013
