Gullinkambi

2021, Digital. Gullinkambi was one of three roosters that lived in Valhalla sitting ontop of the Yggdrasil tree in Norse mythology. When it crowed, it foretold the beginning of the events of Ragnarok.

After seeing the wildfires burning near Greece along with unstable weather all around the world last year, the clear signals of a rapidly changing environment reminded me of Gullinkambi’s crow, signalling the beginning of a change to this world.

The illustration started to look like a cheesy tattoo design, but I knew if I started picking it apart I’d never get this finished, and I’m glad I perceived with it. Some of the visual inspiration came from an early depiction of Gullinkambi on a silver Viking axe from the hoard of Mammen from the 900s as well as a carving of a Cockerel carved on a pew in Lincoln Cathedral.