Many legends and myths have been used as themes for tarot decks; now the turn has come for Norse mythology.
This new deck by Clive Barrett has the subtitle "Gods, Sagas and Runes from the lives of the Vikings".
Since no other names are listed on the package, I assume that Clive Barrett is both the artist and the author
of the accompanying 160 page book.
Barrett begins with describing the background for his deck. He gives a short survey of the history of
the Norse people and the Vikings' conquest of the surrounding countries and in particular of the British
Isles. He tell us about the background of the harsh life of the Vikings and their beliefs in a world of
Gods, who are not even immortal.
Since runes are an integral part of the symbolism of The Norse Tarot a chapter is devoted to a description
of their function, as tools for writing, making talismans etc. Barrett points out that even though runes
undoubtedly were used for divinatory purposes in early times, many modern writers describe runic methods,
which were invented in the Germanic countries around the turn of the 19th Century.
The major arcana of the deck is arranged to show us the spiritual unfolding or initiation of the handsome
Balder, the Norse God of youth, purity and innocence. The 22 descriptions of the major arcana of the deck
are descriptions of the mythic world of gods in which Balder lives, the gods that inhabit this world and
the legends connected to them. We meet Odin and Thor, Freya and Frigga, Heimdal and The Norns. We
experience the binding of the Fenris Wolf, Odin's sacrifice, Balders death, Loke's punishment and
finally Ragnarok and the rebirth of Balder. For each card Clive Barrett gives both an upright and a
reversed divinatory meaning, which is quite close the traditional interpretations you can find in most
books. He also gives the divinatory meaning of the runic character rendered on each major arcana card.
The major arcana is illustrated and elemental correspondences are clearly shown in the court cards.
The number cards illustrate scenes from the life of the Norse people, scenery, that definitely
is taken right out of Pamela Colman Smith's illustrations for the Waite-Smith tarot deck.
Are there really so few illustrators or conceptualists of tarot decks, that have an imagination of their
own, so we could see other and varied scenes? This deck is not the worst, but still the spirit
of Pamela is behind each scene.
The artwork is strange. To me it looks like an advanced computer drawing program has played a considerable
role in its creation. If this is right, it is probably the first computer produced commercial tarot deck.
The result is a rather attractive and different deck as long as there is only this one; we can only hope
that this in not the beginning of a new trend.
The Norse Tarot with book is packed in a plastic cassette box, also a current trend. In general it is an
interesting pack and the accompanying book is reasonable. I find it is worth the money, £14,95 or
US $19,95. Actually the US-price is considerably lower than the UK-price.
Many legends and myths have been used as themes for tarot decks; now the turn has come for Norse mythology.
This new deck by Clive Barrett has the subtitle "Gods, Sagas and Runes from the lives of the Vikings".
Since no other names are listed on the package, I assume that Clive Barrett is both the artist and the author
of the accompanying 160 page book.
Since runes are an integral part of the symbolism of The Norse Tarot a chapter is devoted to a description
of their function, as tools for writing, making talismans etc. Barrett points out that even though runes
undoubtedly were used for divinatory purposes in early times, many modern writers describe runic methods,
which were invented in the Germanic countries around the turn of the 19th Century.
The major arcana of the deck is arranged to show us the spiritual unfolding or initiation of the handsome
Balder, the Norse God of youth, purity and innocence. The 22 descriptions of the major arcana of the deck
are descriptions of the mythic world of gods in which Balder lives, the gods that inhabit this world and
the legends connected to them. We meet Odin and Thor, Freya and Frigga, Heimdal and The Norns. We
experience the binding of the Fenris Wolf, Odin's sacrifice, Balders death, Loke's punishment and
finally Ragnarok and the rebirth of Balder. For each card Clive Barrett gives both an upright and a
reversed divinatory meaning, which is quite close the traditional interpretations you can find in most
books. He also gives the divinatory meaning of the runic character rendered on each major arcana card.
The major arcana is illustrated and elemental correspondences are clearly shown in the court cards.
The number cards illustrate scenes from the life of the Norse people, scenery, that definitely
is taken right out of Pamela Colman Smith's illustrations for the Waite-Smith tarot deck.
Are there really so few illustrators or conceptualists of tarot decks, that have an imagination of their
own, so we could see other and varied scenes? This deck is not the worst, but still the spirit
of Pamela is behind each scene.