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Jane Davis - Andvari’s Treasure
Category: Sculpture.
The cover of the box is couching and embroidery on silk. The top is a stranded technique of my own stitched on ultra suede. The front is peyote stitch appliqued on silk and the interior is netting appliqued onto silk. In addition to Miyuki Delicas I used a fossilized shark’s tooth, antique steel cut beads, silver and gold filled wire and beads, a variety of semi-precious stones, several findings, trim, etc.
This entry is inspired by the Norse myth titled Otter’s Ransom and the Volsung Saga from the Icelandic Eddas of the 12th century. The Volsung Saga in turn comes from the Germanic story of Sigfried from the 5th century. In the story, Odin, king of the gods, and Loki, God of mischief, are held hostage by a dwarf king, because they mistakenly killed his son, Otter, while he was in the shape of an otter. They must pay a ransom to be set free, so Loki is sent to retrieve the greatest treasure in all the world, guarded by the dwarf Andvari, who is in the shape of a fish to watch over his horde. Loki borrows a magic net of the sea witch Ran and catches Andvari, forcing him to give his horde to Loki. Andvari tries to hide a magic ring from Loki, but Loki makes him give up the ring too. Andvari angrily puts a curse on the horde, that whoever owns it shall be doomed. Loki returns to the dwarf king with the horde and the king is entranced with greed for the gold, as are his two sons, Fafnir and Regin. Loki and Odin are freed, but the sons want the father to share the gold and he refuses. Fafnir kills his father that night and threatens Regin, who runs away to the land of man and spends many years plotting his brother's death, waiting for the right human who can kill his brother for him, while Fafnir takes the form of a dragon and guards his treasure horde.
Fafnir is on the cover of the box, guarding his horde. The heart on the front of the box refers to the story yet to come, in which the heart of the dragon carries all the knowledge of the dwarfs to him who eats it (the Volsung Saga). The inside of the box is Ran’s net with Andvari's magic ring in the center. I used Celtic type twists which were also a part of the Viking age and Norse art.
[Jane's work is also featured on the cover and on pages 90-91 of The Sea. bk]