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🦋 Odense Harbor
It is a leap backward that we take from 1830 to
1810. We are in Odense, that old city, which takes its name from Odin.
The common people there have still a legend about the origin of the name of the city. Upon Næsbyhoved's Hill there once stood a castle; here lived King Odin and his wife:
Odense city was not then in existence, but the first building of it was then begun. The court was undecided as to the name which
should be given to the city. After long indecision it was at last agreed that the first word which either King or Queen should speak the next morning should be the name given to it. In the early morning the Queen awoke and looked out from her window over the wood. The first house in the city was erected to the roof, and the  builders had hung up a great garland, glittering with tinsel, upon the rooftree. "Odin, see!" exclaimed the Queen; and thenceforward the city was called Odensee, which name, since then, has been changed by daily speech to Odense. O.T.: A Danish Romance
Hans Christian Andersen Jens Galschiøt will today be sinking his statue of Hans Christian Andersen into the harbor at Odense, Andersen's home town, to become covered with barnacles and seaweed, to watch the ships come and go and to "keep an eye on the mermaids." If you're in Denmark, it sounds like a great time -- go drink some funeral beer with Galschiøt and watch his creation disappear beneath the waves.
posted morning of Saturday, October 8th, 2011
➳ More posts about Readings
At Art in Defense of Humanism, an interview with Galschiøt from last month.
posted afternoon of October 9th, 2011 by Jeremy
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