Scorpion Men - Pop Culture [toys]

"Scorponok" from the Beast Wars/ Transformers series

Monster in my Pocket figure (taken almost directly from the stone tablet depiction)

Scorpion Men - Ancient Art

The most famous depiction of Scorpion men comes from this tablet from the Epic of Gilgamesh. Images above are the original tablet and a line art representation.

Scorpion Men [Introduction]

Scorpion Men are an Akkadian concoction/ hybrid, and appear in the Epic of Gilgamesh [the oldest recorded narrative] as guardians to Kurnugi, the land of darkness.

*I'm going to revisit greek mythology after covering Scorpion Men to get some more fine art back on the site....

Umibozu - Pop Culture

If anyone can help identify these, especially the first one (probably from a film?) let me know-

Umibozu - Contemporary Art [Drawing/Painting]

Unidentified [awesome] painting

Unidentified Painting

Unidentified drawing [probably from a comic book]

Print by "The Stray" [available as a Tshirt, apparently]

by Satojiman

Mizuki Shigeru - Bronze

Matthew Meyer

Eriko - Silkscreen Print

Umibozu - Fine Art [Drawing]

Kinda sad, the only 2 traditional representations of the Umibozu I could find after extensive Google Image searching (in both English and Japanese) are the two images linked from Wikipedia....

Utagawi Kuniyoshi - 19th Century Print

Image from an Obake Karuta card [Edo Period]

Umibozu [Introduction]

I'm gonna cross continents but keep with the sea-monsters theme. The Umibozu is a well-known Yokai (spirit) in Japanese mythology that is said to be a large, man-like figure with a bald/ buhhda type head [part of the etymology of "Umibozu" includes the word for priest] and serpentine arms. Sometimes it's said to be the spirit of a drowned priest. It drowns any ships/ sailors passing by. Apparently it does this by asking for something, like a barrel, which it then promptly uses to flood the ship with water. Or it just flips your ship over. The only way to dodge the thing is by giving it a botom-less barrel. I guess? Are Umibozus really that dumb?

Anyways, more info on Wikipedia, and images coming throughout the week.

Midgard Serpent - Fine Art [Sculpture]

Just one piece - a bronze sculpture by Wissler c.1900, which is a fountain in Sweden

Midgard Serpent - Modern Art

These are all cool, but the Alice Alex painting wins for me.

Mark Rosenthal - 1989

Ragnarok by "harrybuddhapalm"

Michael Heilemann - Horn of the Midgard Serpent

Alice Alex - Midgard Serpent

Midgard Serpent - Fine Art [Ancient Art]

Date Unknown [possibly a resoration?]

"Altuna Runestone" - Sweden - c.1000AD

Midgard Serpent - Fine Art [Illuminated Manuscripts]

Thor and Hymir go fishing - from an Icelandic manuscript c. 1700

Midgard Serpent - unknown manuscript - unknown date

Midgard Serpent - Fine Art [Drawing]

William Pogany - Children of Loki [Midgard Serpent with Fenrir and Hel] - 1920

Thor and the Giant Hymir fish for the Midgard Serpent [artist/ date unknown]

Heine - Scene from Ragnarok [Midgard Serpent and Fenrir] - 1882

Midgard Serpent - Fine Art [Painting]

Henry Fuseli - 1788

Emil Doepler - 1905

Midgard Serpent - Introduction [Norse Cosmology]

The Midgard Serpent, like the Cetus, is another leviathan, but on a titanic scale. In Norse Mythology, the Midgard Serpent - "Jörmungandr" - was a massive sea snake who swam in the outer sea. His body was so large that he encircled the earth, grasping his tail in his mouth.

The Norse have a multi-tiered structure of the universe, with the Earth (or Midgard) at the center. The world tree Yggdrasil (a common motif in ancient cosmologies, especially Indo-European myths) connects the different worlds like a giant pillar, from the home of the gods (Asgard) above to Nilfeim and other lands below (home of the Trolls, the dead, etc.)

When Jörmungandr releases his tail from his mouth, it will initiate Rägnarok (the end of the world).

More info on Wikipedia:

Midgard Serpent

Norse Cosmology

Of course, you can always head to the more or less primary source, the Eddas (prose and poetic), recorded by an Icelandic monk [Snorri Sturluson], though it's been influenced by Christian thought and doesn't preserve the exact identity of the Norse myths.