June 2025 - 4 Harts

June 2025 - 4 Harts

Design notes from the artist:  Chris Mackey

High in the boughs of Yggdrasill, the great world tree of life, the four harts eat amongst the branches, forever pruning her limbs.  The morning dew gathers in their horns and coats before dripping in a growing rush of cascading waters to become the streams and rivers of the world.  These magical creatures are attuned to the passage and renewal of seasons, the primal elements of life with water as its source, and the phases of the moon forever dying and being reborn.  

Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór, the four harts' names actually refer to the winds of the seasons as well.  Dáinn, "The Dead One" represents days of absolute stillness when winds slumber.  Dvalinn, "The Unconscious One" is the soothing calm winds that bring comfort and rest.  Duneyrr, "Thundering in the Ear" is the heavy wind that makes the limbs of trees crash in a resounding thunder across the forest.  Duraþrór, "Thriving Slumber" is the grumbling wind of great storms arriving.  The stags in their pruning sometimes reveal sunshine below and times of peace as well as tearing loose great limbs that fall destructively in their wake.  

While hiking and caching along the trail, we often reflect on the feeling of waterways and forest winds feeling "magical" if not always understanding why.  As we travel by water, with wind in our hair, we feel exhilarated to our core, but don't always contemplate where this feeling is coming from.  The ancient Norse people, great travelers of forests and uncharted waters, understood this feeling and wrote of it in their Poetic Edda, a great collection of passed down legends, myths, stories, and beliefs to their children.  

Hirtir ero ok fiórir, þeirs af hæfingar á, gaghálsir gnaga. Dáinn ok Dvalinn, Dúneyrr ok Duraþrór.

Harts there are also four, which from its summits, arch-necked, gnaw. Dâin and Dvalin, Duneyr and Durathrôr.

When we gaze at the moon while night caching, feel the caress of wind under the forest canopy, or the rush of exhilaration at the rushing waters of cascading falls and roaring rivers, we're feeling the effect of the 4 Harts, feeding our world with life giving water and winds and fueling our exhilaration to be out exploring.