Thor's Journey to Utgard

It is Thursday, which mean's the Norse god Thor's Day, which is a good excuse as any to upload on Vraie Fiction another image from Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, another beautiful drawing by Giovanni Caselli. I really wonder how an Italian artist can draw Viking mythology so well. This is one of the bookmark-like image that are at the beginning of every chapter/story of the book. The story in question was titled Thor in the giants' stronghold and was about Thor's journey to Utgard, a giants's fortress where Utgard-Loki reigned (not to be mixed with the God Loki, also featured in the story). You can read an version of the adventure here. There are others you can easily find if you Google. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say that in this story, the great Thor seems that he may have met his match. it is a rare thing to see Thor struggling against his sworn enemies the giants and here he struggles to the point of defeat. But nothing is as it seems in mythology. In the image, you can see Thor and his companion journeying into Jotunheim, the land of the giants, surrounded by "typical plants of the northern woods". You can see at the back the mortal Thialfi, his sister Roskva, then Loki the Mischief Maker (gotta love those nicknames) and of course opening the way Thor the Thunder God, holding Mjolnir. Somehow, it reminds me of a players characters party in Dungeons & Dragons, when they venture in a forest.