#NathGeo: The Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship - Day 1

Today is a travel day. I was not expecting it to be fun, and so far, it’s worrisome. After watching a storm system rolling in all morning, I thought we’d beat it. So after already boarding my flight in Baton Rouge around 2, I was surprised to hear an announcement that they were deboarding us. The storm is coming through now - lots of wind, lightning, and rain. Typical summer storm here in Louisiana. 

The thunder reminds me of my mjölnir, or Thor’s hammer. I got interested in the symbol after watching the popular Netflix series THE LAST KINGDOM, about the 9th-century Danish invasion of what would one day become the unified kingdoms of England. The main character, born a Christian Saxon, gets captured and held as a slave by a Dane (or Viking). Loved by his captors, the Saxon boy, named Osbert, lives his teen and adult years as the Dane Uhtred. Throughout the series, Uhtred wears a mjölnir as a symbol of his belief in the Norse gods. He is known as a man who gets things done no matter what. Now, those things are not always good and righteous things - he serves as a mercenary for King Alfred the Great, but when something needs doing, they call Uhtred, his mjölnir hanging from his neck to protect him. The Norse mythological figure of Thor, god of thunder, uses his mjolnir to strike others down but also to offer blessings. Thus, the symbol seems particularly appropriate for such a conflicted character as Uhtred.

My favorite Greco-Roman god is Hephaestus, the maker, the craftsman, the metal forger, and hammer user. His mallet looks different from the mjolnir, and its purpose is different too. He hammers out beautiful and useful things for the other gods: thrones for the Olympians, jewelry for his wife Aphrodite, armor for the famous warrior Achilles, and even his own robots to assist him. His hammer is a creative tool. Years ago, when I first started teaching Roman Technology, I had to pull a nail out of a wooden form that I had for setting ancient concrete. One of my students saw me turn a hammer around and use its claw to pull out the nail. She was amazed at what she saw, "You're such a badass, Mrs. Roy!" I laughed at her ignorance of how a hammer works and at my newly-bestowed label. Shortly after this incident, I went to visit a dear old friend of mine who had just taken on a new job as the maker space coordinator at her local library. When I jokingly told her this story, she promptly walked across the room and pulled out a tiny purple 3-D printed hammer. Shortly after I received my special little hammer, I lost a job that I had had for 24 years. I connected these things in my mind and decided that the hammer was my new way of thinking through life. Just be creative and get things done. I moved onto a new job that allowed me to be creative and get things done.

Years later, I still love my hammer and wear it all the time. Whenever I have a special task to do, I wear my hammer. Whenever I have a presentation to give that I'm nervous about, I wear my hammer. Whenever I have a paper, article, or grant to write, I wear my hammer. With my new interest in the Danish world, I figured it made sense to get a mjolnir. This one is based on a famous one found in Denmark from the 9th century. It makes me think of all the cool things I'll be studying on this trip. I think of Uhtred getting it done. Here's my last picture waiting to board a flight in Atlanta to Edinburgh getting things done.