snowdeal.org > ex machina: the eric update - day 382: odin's magnificently metaphorical birthday box!

ex machina

the eric update - day 382: odin's magnificently metaphorical birthday box!

well before odin's first birthday kris decided that she'd like to give him a special box as a gift. she didn't have any grand plans and initially thought that she might make him a simple box that he could use to store whatever special things he might chose to store as he got older. but when his grandma and grandpa salmi heard of the plan, they thought a local wood carver in the upper peninsula of michigan with an interest in traditional norwegian wood carving might be amenable to taking on the challenge of creating a one of a kind gift.

as it happens their friend had studied under phillip odden a renound professional wood carver who has taken it upon himself to revive the dragon or stave church style of carving; he was so enamored with our own odin's story that he decided to create a fantastically detailed mythological scene of the norse god odin slaying a dragon in the traditional dragon style!

of course, the metaphorical significance of all the dragons that odin has slain and has yet to slay does not escape us :-)

the detail and craftmanship is astounding and it completely and totally surpasses anything we could have imagined.

many many thanks to grandma and grandpa salmi for commissioning the work of art and to steve lindahl for spending what must have been countless hours carving the box.

it's absolutely perfect and we'll keep it the family for generations to come.

bookmark: del.icio.us ::digg it ::furl ::reddit ::yahoo ::

7/21/2005 10:14:00 PM 4 comments

4 Comments:

That is such a wonderful and precious gift!! I have spent much time admiring the stave churches in Norway. There is a particularly fascinating one in Lom, Norway. The style is magical. I do hope Odin one day gets to visit the lands of his namesake.

toodles

HeatherM

By Anonymous, at 10:33 PM

Okay, this post made me cry. I love the idea of Odin growing up and keeping all sorts of different things in his box as his interests change.... and I'm so, so very happy he's alive and well to enjoy all that is precious in the world.

Rae

By Anonymous, at 9:13 AM

Wow! I'm simply in awe of the design and craftsmanship on Odin's box. What a great gift and heirloom. I followed the link to Phillip Odden's Stave Church reproduction in Minnesota and was even more blown away. I have a little Scandinavian ancestry, but I wasn't familiar with this type of carving until now. Very, very cool.

By Anonymous, at 7:24 PM

this post is very usefull thx!

By Anonymous, at 5:37 AM

Post a Comment

[ rhetoric ]

“"it is hard to be brave," said piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal." rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said: "it is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us."”

the complete tales & poems of winnie the pooh

[ about ]

this site chronicles the continuing adventures of my son, odin, who was unexpectedly born on the fourth of july at 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound 7 ounces.

he's quite a fighter and you can always send him a postcard to the most current address listed here if you're inspired by his adventures. see the postcard project/google maps mashup to see a map of the postcards.

if you're new, you can browse the archives to catch up. and don't forget to watch a few movies that i made while we were in the neonatal intensive care unit. or if you want the abridged version and you can find a copy, you can read about his adventures in the november 2005 issue of parents magazine.

[ search ]

[ outbound ]