A bit about me
I'm Connor – the owner of Einarr's Journey – a simple man who finds immense joy in creativity. Specifically, I find a lot of joy in taking on large and (often unrealistically) ambitious projects, of which you'll find many on this website. I'm nobody special, I just found a passion for Norse Mythology & runic art in my early 20s and I've been deep in that rabbit hole since.
My Business & Goals
Einarr’s Journey is a creative project dedicated to Norse mythology, wisdom, Viking themes, and rune symbolism. Through art, tattoo designs, treasures, and learning tools, I aim to bring the stories and tales of wisdom to life in modern time.
This whole project is best described as a passion project that became a full time job. Still to this day though – even after 5 years of doing what I do – this still feels like a passion project. Despite the often overwhelming amount of responsibility on my shoulders, I still wake up every day with excitement for the projects ahead of me.
My work is split across two main areas:
1. Products & Services
My store is a creative playground in which I work alongside my ADHD – not against it. It's in my nature to be both creative and impulsive. My shop is my space to abandon all creative limitations and simply have fun doing what I love.
My creative services include things like custom tattoo designs, business consultancy and literally anything relevant to my skillset in graphic design. Primarily I work as an artist – creating tattoo designs that you can take to your artist and have tattooed.
That being said, I do have a bachelors degree in graphic communication and a masters degree in design management (fancy way of saying creative business management). Despite the switch from graphic design to art, I'll never abandon my roots and I'm always seeking to improve my overall creative skillset as a graphic designer, artist and branding consultant.
2. Educational Content
I can't even begin to explain to you just how deeply I love the norse myths and the mythological world of the poetry. Many of the projects – especially my books and ebooks – are where I explore the myths, runes, and overall world of Norse Mythology.
My long term goal with this website is to present as much informative content about everything relevant to Nordic Mythology. I'll never paywall anything, and over time I hope to truly transform this website into 'The Home of Nordic Mythology'
Phase 1 – Fafnir's Hoard
I've had a few names over the years. When I first started this project almost 5 years ago, the name was Fafnir's Hoard. This reflected my work a lot better at the time – as I began my journey making products which I would sell through Redbubble – a print on demand platform.
Phase 2 – A Shaman Called Connor
The first name change came after I finished my masters degree. I dedicated my final dissertation to rebranding the project and really figuring out what I wanted to do in order to transform what was a creative side project into my full time job. Coming up with a name at the time was by far the hardest part of the rebranding process. I ultimately landed on 'A Shaman Called Connor' – and it still makes me cringe to this day.
That being said, it did reflect a much needed shift in direction from products to services and the overall goal to position myself in the community as a guide as opposed to a shop. Eveerything then changed when I started working on my first book – Hávamál: The Wisdom of Óðinn.
Phase 3 – Einarr's Journey
Einarr is a character that I created alongside my Illustrator Igor Lukyan. Igor, who has always just been 'Lukyan' to me, is a huge driving force behind the visual depictions of the Norse myths that I've been building up over the past years. We've been working together for a long time now, with our most ambitious endeavor being the Hávamál book.
That project started out as a content series on Instagram, in which we'd illustrate each of the 164 stanzas of the poem. We knew very early on that we wanted to follow one character on a journey through the wisdom of Odin – and thus Einarr was born.
The Journey of Einarr
So who is Einarr?
Einarr is the 'character' of my brand. He's a self insert for myself. When Lukyan & I started the havamal project, he loosely based the look of the character on myself (I had long hair at the time). He's the primary character in the Hávamál book, primarly shown in the art.
Einarr's 'Journey' in that book is one of him learning the wisdom of Odin through a series of trials and tribulations. I don't talk much about the art in the text, as each page is an analysis of the wisdom being presented – but with the addition of personal commentary based on my own life experiences.
The Journey of Me
Einarr's story is a reflection of my own journey in life – both as an artist and as a person – one in which I slowly build up my own wisdom and skills as I walk through life and develop my creative business.
The day that finally broke me
The origin of this whole business and the reason I started it can be traced back to a very bad day I had at my job at the time. At the time I was finishing my masters degree whilst working in a retail store.
I can't remember all of the details, but I do remember being incredibly stressed about the combined workload of both, and then something happened that just pushed me over the edge. It wasn't nescessarily the thing that happened, rather that was the cherry on the cake of what already was a miserable form of employment for me.
I was done. 7 years in retail broke me.
I absolutely hated the working world and all of the bullshit that came with it. I didn't know how I was going to figure out a plan to become self imployed, but I also didn't stop to think about it – I just started doing stuff.
Where I found my Inspiration
My inspiration for all of this actually comes from video games – 2 to be precise. The first is For Honor, and the second is the first of the Norse God of War games.
Primarily For Honor though 😬
For those of you who are familiar with For Honour, I'll give you a minute to come back from the dissociative state you're no doubt in. Yes – I am that flavour of degenerate – and it shames me even more to say that I probably have about 2,000 hours clocked in that game.
Just like you, I hate it, but I also love it so much. I never really played the Viking characters at the start, but I loved all of the symbolism and artistic decorations within their maps – even if Ubisoft absolutely butchered some of it. The characters themselves also had an incredibly look about them (albeit a fantasy approach over a historical one) and it triggered a spark in me that wanted to know a bit more about the Norse Myths & lore.
Then came God of War
I absolutely love how the new God of War games present Norse Mythology. Again – not necessarily historically accurate across the board – but the developers did a fantastic job bringing the gods, goddesses & mythological beings to the gaming world.
Following the Rabbit Hole
As I took more of an interest in the Norse Myths, I started gathering anything I could which would help me learn. Books, youtube videos, online articles – I just wanted to know more. As I delved deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole, I never found myself stopping to question if this was really something I wanted to get into. I made an Instagram page and started conveying what I was learning through instagram posts, dipping my toes into what would eventually become a vast sea of opportunity.
A Generational Gamble
I quickly realised that this was what I wanted to do with myself after Uni. I had no clear direction, no solid foundations for a business, no idea what I was doing, and the deadline for my final masters dissertation staring me in the face.
The final project came with the freedom to choose your own topic. I told my tutors that my plan was to completely rebrand what I was working with into a solid foundation to build on after finishing Uni. They didn't want that – rather what they expected was a similar premise, but as a more generic guide for starting a business. Something that others could use to start their own. documenting the research and process of me actually doing the work on my brand was more of a creative project then an academic dissertation.
I didn't know what to do, so I just said fuck it and doubled down on my plan.
I failed.
I then failed the first resubmission.
And then I passed.
Lowest possible grade that could be awarded, but a win is a win baby. It was a huge gamble, one that set me up to start this business but would have really hurt my chances of landing a job if it didn't work out.
Never looking back
I still remember the day I submitted the final resubmission. I was burned out to shit, but so relieved at the same time. I booked a week off of work in advance, gave myself a day off to process it all, and then I got straight to work.
I didn't care what I did, I just followed the rabbit hole and jumped at whatever stood out to me.
5 years later & I'm still down here, working on all kinds of creative shenanigans, and I absolutely love it. It's not easy, but I love it regardless. Working on my own terms, conducting myself as myself and absolutely devoting myself to a lifelong creative project. If fate is real, I'm glad it steered me in this direction. And I hope for as long as I love that I'll never take that for granted.
Where this is all headed
This Website
The Home of Nordic Mythology – or at least it will be. This website is both an online store and a content platform, and the latter will be filled with everything I can possibly give you in terms of value-driven Norse Mythology content.
Every project listed underneath this one will, in some way or another, funnel back into the content of this website. The books especially, as I tend to work on the content for the book alongside the corresponding section of this platform.
The Norse Myths
An artistically driven yet historically faithful retelling of the entire poetic edda and mythological stories – all presented on this website for all to read, with a stunning hardbound book to tie a nice bow on the project.
Between myself, Jonas, Svein and Lukyan – this will be a massive undertaking. Lukyan & I have already been working on the art for the tales, but this is very much a background project for now, as the time needed to get it right just isn't available to me with everything else i'm working on.
The Nordic Mythology Codex
An absolute behemoth of a project that I started years ago. It's currently titled The Norse Mythology Encyclopedia, and is effectively a compendium of everything in the Norse Myths. It's currently an eBook in my shop, but it's far from finished – as many of my eBooks are.
All updates are free when you buy into one of my projects, and The Nordic Mythology Codex is the end game vision for that project. Jonas is now working with me on that, and I have no idea how it's gonna turn out – but I know it's going to be huge.
Viking Tattoos Vol. 1,2 & 3
1000 Tattoo designs from countless real artists, split across 3 books – that's the plan for this project. No AI, no bullshit, just good tattoo designs made by people who give a shit.
Volumes 1 & 2 are currently available as unfinished eBooks in my store – and the plan has always been for them to be something you buy into as they're being made. I pay all of the artists and I do so out of my own pocket.
The final vision is for each volume to hold 333 designs, with the 1000th being a full bodysuit designed by Jonas & myself which will be released into the world for free after the release of the 3rd volume.
Runes & Runic Art
I'm very passionate about Runic art – it's the foundation of my commission work and the Journey I'm on as an artist. I'm working on a book which will be an exploration of runic art, and I'm slowly working on the foundations for a separate book that delves into the history, mythology and uses of the runes.
Jonas Lau Markussen – Business Partner
Jonas is my Business Partner, and by far the largest collaborator to my business. Together we own Gelmir – our Viking Art business serving as the historical Yin to Einarr's Journey's more whimsical and fantasy Yang.
Jonas is a fellow graphic designer and expert in Viking art and history. He wrote the Anatomy and Compendium books on Viking & Germanic art, the latter including some help from me, which is where our partnership first started. Nowadays we work very closely on both businesses, with the two becoming more and more intertwined with each project.
Together we cover the formal, ground-roots research on viking art and Norse Mythology, and through Einarr's Journey comes a more simplistic and fantasy-inspired presentation. Both paying respect to the history, but where Gelmir is rooted in historical accuracy, Einarr's Journey presents it with more of a whimsical, art-driven approach.
Our partnership shouldn't work, but somehow it just does. I am a creature of impulse – specifically a lack of control over it – whereas Jonas is very grounded and contemplative.
I'm like a raccoon, jumping from one shiny object to the next, starting side projects left right and centre, but leaving many of them unfinished. Jonas is a lot slower and more detail oriented in his work, but he doesn't enjoy looking at a blank page. Similarly, Jonas doesn't enjoy the client-communication side of the business as much as I do. I'm incredibly social and I have no issue talking to people, discussing commissions, giving project updates etc.
Over the past 2 years of working together as business partners, we've found a fantastic middle ground that plays to both of our strengths. First and foremost, Jonas has never sought to suppress the creative madness that comes with my disoriented brain. Rather, he'll allow me to ramble away to an extent, before starting to reel in the ideas we have into something realistic & workable.
Working with Jonas couldn't be more enjoyable, and thats mostly down to just how well we naturally manage the business together. I'm very excited to see what kind of shananigans we get up to in the coming years.
Igor Lukyan – Illustrations & Worldbuilding
Lukyan is someone i've been working with for years now – an incredible illustrator who has had a massive impact on the growth of Einarr's Journey. He has drawn hundreds of artworks depicting the norse myths, with his biggest endeavor being the Hávamál book – which alone contains over 150+ full page artworks.
His illustrative style is a fantastic contrast to the runic art of myself and the Viking-style ornamental art of Jonas. Over the years he has become a good friend of mine, and I have no idea what direction my work would have went in if i hadn't met him.
He introduced me to some friends of his in Ukraine who work with leather, and I'm very excited to see what other shenanigans we get up to together in the future.
Svein Ekers – The Scholar
Svein is the scholar, and you might be noticing a pattern with all of my collaborators – each of them cover a skill or area of expertise in which I don't have. Not for lack of trying of course, but I spread myself so thin with everything I manage that I will always be a jack of all trades, yet a master of none.
So I seek out the masters. And for Svein – it's medieval languages and runes. He works with me on anything related to norse poetry, and together we're working through the norse myths to present them as close to their original form as possible. He helps with interpretations, runic transliterations, and carries a vast amount of knowledge that will never cease to amaze me.
Savannah & Rohan – The Photographers
I'm currently working with two photographers for my store: Savannah Nixon & Rohan Davis.
Savannah
Savannah is a photographer in the Norse & Viking community. She's been working with me for a little while now and is responsible for most of the product photography on my store. I dabble in photography, but she's the real deal.
She's based in Germany and always looking for new work, you can find her on Instagram as @savannah_nixon_photography, and her website is savannahnixonphotography.de
Rohan
I met rohan at an MCM Comic Con – his brother took interest in my 40K inspired clothing, and when they pulled up to the stall, I noticed the camera and immediately gave him a side quest. I offered him a copy of my Hávamál book if he'd be happy to snap some photos, and the same evening he sent me a folder with over 400 incredible shots of the stall and all of the loot.
I offered him a big box of loot for a photoshoot and he loved the idea. He's responsible for shooting the entire grimdark collection, with a few other bits and bobs throughout my shop.
A Growing Community of Artists
One of my larger projects is Viking Tattoos – an active project working towards the goal of 3 books filled to the brim with tattoo designs gathered from within this community.
The project is far from finished, but you'll find all of the current artists that were commissioned by me for the first volume on the product page.
Honourable Mentions
Petra – My absolute sweetheart of a Girlfriend
I absolutely love this woman to death. She accepts me for the little ADHD freak I am, and never tries to stand in the way of whatever shenanigans I'm currently drowning in, no matter how stupid it may be.
I'm the kind of person that thrives on failure. I've become very comfortable with it, and it's the driving force behind my curiosity to always learn and develop new skills. If it looks fun to do, I'm going to try it. I'll fail, fail again, fail some more, and then I'll get it.
That wouldn't be possible if I were with someone who saw that as a flaw in eitehr my character or approach to business. She gives me space and helps where it matters. She has a huge impact on my business, especially when it comes to the boring things that I struggle to stay focussed on.
She's always down to help and accepts the creative gremlin that I am. I couldn't have asked for a better partner in life.
Louis Webb – Owner of Undead Saga.
someone I've worked very closely with over the past few years. Louis introduced me to apparel printing and taught me everything I know today. He opened the door for events with me and introduced me to an entire world of selling in person.
In return, I've offered all of the advice I could on building business from the ground up. Much like Einarr's Journey, he's following the path of slowly refining his idea into something that works. I've watched him grow his business for almost 2 years now, and if I were to offer my objective opinion – I think he's slowly stumbling onto something that's really going to work out for him.
My friends and family, who support me both in spirit, and sometimes financially.
