Hey there! My name is Ingvard and I'm a Scandinavian illustrator and graphic designer living in the U.S. With all the hype around "Thor: Ragnorak," I thought it would be fun to imagine how some of the Nordic gods probably would have actually looked like based on the styles of the viking age.
For example, Thor's hair and beard were actually red, not blonde, from which, in moments of anger, sparks fell in showers. And in addition to his famous hammer, Mjölnir, he also required a pair of special iron gloves, Járngreipr, to even handle it.
Plus, as many of you may already know, vikings never wore horns or wings on their helmets, a notion popularized by Wagner in his 1870s opera cycle “Der Ring des Nibelungen.”
And while MCU characters like Loki and Valkyrie have dark hair, in viking culture blonde hair was highly prized, to the point of both men and women often bleached theirs with a strongly basic soap. Hope you enjoy!
More info: ingvardtheterrible.com
Thor
Loki
Odin
Valkyrie
