Níðstöng
My mormor was from Norway, and I have been fascinated by Viking history since I was a child. As an adult, that early interest deepened into hyperfixated research into the magickal and ritual practices of the Old Norse world. This work grows out of that lineage of curiosity and study, and respect for the traditions of my distant ancestors.
Historically, a níðing pole is a major curse. It is an act of deliberate spiritual hostility intended to mark its target with shame, ill repute, and lasting dishonor. It is raised when injury is severe, sustained, and unresolved, and when other responses are either unavailable or meaningless. In antiquity, a níðstöng consisted of a horse’s skull mounted on a wooden pole carved with runes and raised to curse and dishonor its target. From the 1990s onward, some Heathen groups in the United States have adapted this practice into virtual níðstöngs, directed at those declared outlawed or “wolf-headed” and expelled from the community.
I do not raise a níðstöng lightly, nor do I do so often. As of February 2026, I have done it exactly three times in my life. Each níðstöng presented here was made with full awareness of its purpose and weight.
The first níðing pole was raised in January 2021 and directed at Spiced Wine and her closest associates within Silmarillion fandom. The harassment began in 2020 and continued through 2024. It consisted of a coordinated smear campaign that included semi-doxxing, repeated postings about me on a few large snark forums that included people spying on the blog I had at the time and feeding my personal business in locked entries to said forums, and ongoing harassment on AO3 carried out through multiple sockpuppet accounts. During this period, others were actively encouraged to shun me and not interact with my work. As a result, engagement with my writing within Tolkien fandom was deliberately constrained; the kudos visible on my AO3 works from 2020 through 2023 are disproportionately guest kudos, and among the named accounts, most are not individuals known or active within Tolkien fandom but readers arriving from outside it, likely drawn by the controversy.
The second níðing pole was raised in November 2025 and directed at art thieves operating on DeviantArt, who copied my work blatantly. Their actions directly undermined my livelihood at a time when that income was materially necessary. Theft enabled and encouraged by cliques, combined with whisper campaigns, caused my earnings to collapse and was a significant factor in my husband Andy and I ultimately leaving DeviantArt. One of the art thieves is a practicing witch and "shot first" with explicit curses directed at me and Andy in the descriptions of some of her art appropriating our style and themes, and after trying to ignore it and take the high road, this was finally how I responded.
The third níðing pole was made on February 1st, 2026 and is directed at the current leadership of the United States government and also at ICE. This pole is not aimed at abstract disagreement or ideology, and is not aimed at innocent state and federal employees, but at those who directly initiate policies and actions that cause physical and material harm to the poor, the systemically oppressed and marginalized, and to children.
These níðstöngs are curses. They were raised deliberately, and they stand as long as they stand.
Historically, a níðing pole is a major curse. It is an act of deliberate spiritual hostility intended to mark its target with shame, ill repute, and lasting dishonor. It is raised when injury is severe, sustained, and unresolved, and when other responses are either unavailable or meaningless. In antiquity, a níðstöng consisted of a horse’s skull mounted on a wooden pole carved with runes and raised to curse and dishonor its target. From the 1990s onward, some Heathen groups in the United States have adapted this practice into virtual níðstöngs, directed at those declared outlawed or “wolf-headed” and expelled from the community.
I do not raise a níðstöng lightly, nor do I do so often. As of February 2026, I have done it exactly three times in my life. Each níðstöng presented here was made with full awareness of its purpose and weight.
The first níðing pole was raised in January 2021 and directed at Spiced Wine and her closest associates within Silmarillion fandom. The harassment began in 2020 and continued through 2024. It consisted of a coordinated smear campaign that included semi-doxxing, repeated postings about me on a few large snark forums that included people spying on the blog I had at the time and feeding my personal business in locked entries to said forums, and ongoing harassment on AO3 carried out through multiple sockpuppet accounts. During this period, others were actively encouraged to shun me and not interact with my work. As a result, engagement with my writing within Tolkien fandom was deliberately constrained; the kudos visible on my AO3 works from 2020 through 2023 are disproportionately guest kudos, and among the named accounts, most are not individuals known or active within Tolkien fandom but readers arriving from outside it, likely drawn by the controversy.
The second níðing pole was raised in November 2025 and directed at art thieves operating on DeviantArt, who copied my work blatantly. Their actions directly undermined my livelihood at a time when that income was materially necessary. Theft enabled and encouraged by cliques, combined with whisper campaigns, caused my earnings to collapse and was a significant factor in my husband Andy and I ultimately leaving DeviantArt. One of the art thieves is a practicing witch and "shot first" with explicit curses directed at me and Andy in the descriptions of some of her art appropriating our style and themes, and after trying to ignore it and take the high road, this was finally how I responded.
The third níðing pole was made on February 1st, 2026 and is directed at the current leadership of the United States government and also at ICE. This pole is not aimed at abstract disagreement or ideology, and is not aimed at innocent state and federal employees, but at those who directly initiate policies and actions that cause physical and material harm to the poor, the systemically oppressed and marginalized, and to children.
These níðstöngs are curses. They were raised deliberately, and they stand as long as they stand.
