EDIT: I will be re-coloring this and I will be editing the mane and tail to be longer and with a better animation to match how she moves. Re-doing the BG and the island of Asgard and going to loop the BG and animate the island and bring what I envisioned to full effect. <3

Ok, so first off, this has been a wild ride. I've never animated anything more than an eye blink or some special effects, like rain, snow, or falling leaves. I never thought I'd ever have enough inspiration to try a full body run cycle. Granted, I've been more interested in it these past months due to the amazing animations done by toteczious, and have looked at some tuts and run cycles by others, but I wasn't sure I'd ever have the patience nor the skill to ever pull it off. But when I saw this mare, the perfect story fit in my mind, and I had to animate it. Granted, originally I was going to have more elements, like a looped BG, and her running on the Bifrost itself (technically she still is; I found that the rainbow is actually made of the color white; I just didn't have time to do the full spectrum) with the spray from her hooves hitting the Bifrost spraying up and settling into her coat; that is why her markings fade in and out like that; it shows how a Bifrost becomes...well...a Bifrost. I used the mutation sheet's information on this and just ran with it. I will eventually update this image to the full glory of my imagining; winner or no. All the details and shading killed me; also, her eye blinks, so that was an animation within the first ones (the run cycle, the mane/tail, the markings fading in and out). Also, I use a trackpad and my finger to draw this. I had to take pain reliever pills to alleviate the pain in my finger joints and wrist joints; I have no tablet as of yet (though I want one SO BAD). Without further adieu, please read on for the story I have for this lovely lady; Featuring True Norse Mythology With A Twist.

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Mother Jord, Great Goddess of Earth,
Goddess of seasons, of life, and of birth.
Goddess of planting, of growing, and reaping,
Always evolving, and changing, never sleeping.  

Jord, Great Goddess, and mother of Thor,
Passionately written of in our ancestors lore.
Plant in our hearts the right things to do,
So we can be gentle, and caring, in our love for you!

  - Glenn Bergen

Featured Overall Song: Breath Of Life By Florence & The Machine

-To get a dream of life again;
A little vision of the start and the end;
But all the choirs in my head sang no oh oh oh~! 

  - Breath Of Life By Florence & The Machine
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The Story: ~ An Undetermined Amount Of Years Ago~

 

  

        ~~ Once, long ago, long before humans populated the Earth, or Midgard as it was known then, there lived a superior race...of gods. The Æsir were the most powerful race. They were naturally stronger, faster, and lived longer lives than humans; sometimes stretching into millennia. They would each eat one golden apple per year to maintain their immortality and youth. As they aged, oftentimes their sense of right and wrong would become skewed in their age. Such was the story of Jord, Odin, & Frigg.

     When Asgard and Midgard were still young, a young Æsir goddess by the name of Fjörgyn, or Jörð (Jord) as she preferred to be called, was bestowed the power of the Earth, the plants, and it's waters. She was tasked with keeping Midgard healthy and well tended. Jord took her task seriously, and spent many days traveling back and forth over the Bifrost between the worlds. At one point, Jord fell in love with a poor Æsir soldier; a humble palace guard. She did not marry him, but she was with child and was going to tell him the good news when she found out her husband was dead; in a skirmish with an assassin trying to kill King Odin. Jord's heart broke into many pieces, so when her daughter Frigg was born, she raised her child alone in solidarity; not ever sure she would be able to pick up the pieces of her broken heart. King Odin, having heard about the the terrible tragedy, offered his condolences, and offered to help raise the child in the memory of the man who saved Odin's life. And so, Jord and Odin raised Frigg together, and a few years later, Jord gave birth to a son by Odin; Thor. Time passed and Jord and Odin drifted apart, but Jord still adored and loved Odin.

    One trip to Midgard lasted far longer than any before; it lasted 4 full years. By this time, Frigg was now a full grown woman, and Thor was a young man. So when Jord came back, she was surprised to see something she never thought would have existed; much less have happened. Her daughter, Frigg, had married Odin in her mother's absence. Jord was heartbroken. She felt betrayed by not only her one love, but it hurt even more from her own daughter. Thor himself had no idea of the arrangement; having been sent on an adventure with his men well before the ceremony and subsequent celebration. Jord confronted her daughter and her former lover; it would be the last time she would ever speak to them.

   "How could you Frigg? Your own mother! You did this to your own mother!," Jord cried in anguish, as tears streamed freely down her face, making dirt tracks in the face she had yet to wash after her trip to Midgard.

    Frigg looked at her mother, strangely cold and unresponsive to her mother's questioning cries. She shook her head and replied.

   "Mother, I am no longer a young girl; I grew into a woman, and as a woman, I wanted the man that I trusted the most to be my husband. You were gone for four years! FOUR! What was I supposed to do?! Wait for you to come back and get your blessing! He made his choice and I made mine!," Frigg stated, a hard edge of steel to her voice that warned of coming rage.

    Jord blinked in shocked surprise, the betrayal eating at her heart as she stared at her own daughter sitting as Queen next to her former lover. She shook her head in denial and turned to look at Odin; the King, sitting next to her daughter. This was the man she trusted; was he really just after her daughter all along from the beginning? Did he ever really love her? Or was he just waiting until her daughter was "ripe for the picking"? Jord would never know; she was too cowardly to ask all of those questions, so she settled for the most simple and yet more forthcoming question to her former lover.

   "Why...?," whispered Jord in a broken voice, as she reached a pleading hand out to Odin.

   "Why would you ever take my daughter over me? Please...why?," she whispered one last time. Odin gazed at Jord, his former lover, with no emotion in his blue eyes.

   "Because...She's everything you are not. She is beautiful; you are not. She is the perfect lady; you are not. You go traipsing about Midgard like it's a playground instead of staying home and satisfying your lover. For that, your daughter was the better replacement," Odin stated, as he leaned back in his chair and gazed stonily at Jord.

    Jord choked, as she began to sob. He never loved her, and her daughter betrayed her. she could no longer trust anyone ever again. Jord broke away sobbing, as she ran down the corridors of the Asgard palace, tears blinding her vision. That was then when Jord realized she could never be happy in Asgard. Her home was Midgard. No longer could she bear to see her daughter with her lover as husband and wife. No longer could she look upon these walls and not see some bad memory of heartbreak. Twice her heart has been broken. No more.

   Midgard had no bad memories for her; only the good. Determined, yet with tears still streaming down her face, she headed for the Bifrost, with Midgard in mind. Little did she know, she was being watched by the Asgardian deviant, Loki.

    Loki chuckled to himself as he watched Jord run sluggishly towards the Bifrost. Oh, so she didn't like her daughter's union did she? Well, now was a perfect time for some Loki michief. Loki slunk along the shadows as he followed her towards the Bifrost. He thought long and hard a fitting act of trouble to make for the Earth goddess, and he came to an amazing conclusion: why not transform her into a mare? He himself could transform into a mare (or stallion, but he preferred the mare; he wouldn't say why) As a mare, her powers would be limited, if not completely gone. No one but other horses would be able to understand her, and even as a normal horse, she would never age. So even with horses she could never become close. It was the ultimate punishment for one who had done nothing wrong. Loki liked this idea more than any other plan he has yet concocted. No one would care that he transformed her; in fact, Odin and Frigg would be almost happy to practically erase her from history. No one would ever know the true story of Jord.

    Finally, Loki caught up to Jord just as she was about to cross the Bifrost. He spoke a few low words in Norse, and watched as Jord glowed briefly before suddenly becoming a horse. There was no elaborate change; just one minute she was human, and the next a horse. Jord looked baffled at first, but when she spotted him, she gave a loud neigh of despair and fled across the Bifrost to Midgard. As she ran, she kicked up sprays of blue, yellow, and green as she galloped over the median with those colors. The colored water sprinkled up onto her coat and slowly blue, yellow, and green bright markings appeared over her body where the most of the spray touched them. Jord kept galloping to Midgard and once she exited off of the Bifrost, the bridge suddenly disappeared. She could no longer use the Bifrost as a horse. Jord stood for a moment and stared sadly at the spot where the Bifrost had been. Shaking the droplets of Bifrost spray from her coat, Jord turned away and began to wander the Earth that was more of her home than her own birthplace. Several years later, Jord was rounded up with a large band of horses and kept in special magical corrals that were Seidr-proof. Jord had an idea of what was about to happen; they were to be "sold" to humans who would try and use them for their own gains. In her experience of Midgard, humans in general were greedy. Jord was less than thrilled at the prospect of being someone's "pet".

   But suddenly, a strange human with cat ears and a tail approached her. Jord was cautious; this being smelled part cat and part human; a combination Jord knew was not naturally possible. Suddenly, she heard a voice in her mind.

   "Hello there. I can tell you are a wise mare. You shouldn't be here," said the voice. It was the soft voice of a young woman, and the cat human woman was looking her dead in the eye as she heard the voice.

   "Um...Are you...the cat woman?," Jord asked, sounding extremely uncomfortable with the description. The woman with orange hair and green eyes nodded, as her tail flicked back and forth.

   "Yes! Haha! But no, I am not cat woman; that's the villain in Batman. I am a cat demon; a special race of humanoids," the cat woman said.

   "Well, why are you speaking with me human?," Jord asked curiously. The woman nodded.

   "I am debating on buying you. At least with me, you will get to live as free as you like, with a few exceptions. You would have to work for your food, room and board.  When I say 'work', I mean like letting me ride you. But trust me; at least with me, you would be able to talk to me. Any other human will just force you to submit with no care for your feelings. With my telepathic abilities, we can communicate regularly," the cat woman stated.

    Jord mulled over the facts. This cat woman was correct. If she was to go with anyone else...she would not understand them, and they would most likely force her to do her bidding. Jord looked back at the woman.

    "My name is Jord. I am please to make your acquaintance. What is your name cat woman?," Jord asked politely. The cat woman laughed out loud and replied.

   "Your accent is strange, haha! My name is Kera; and please; don't call me cat woman again. I may burst out laughing!," the cat woman, now known as Kera laughed, "Now, it is not guaranteed that I will be able to win you, but I will try my absolute hardest. You have my honor that I will try," she stated, smiling. Jord smiled a horsey smile back.

   "May the odds be in your favor, Kera," Jord stated, bowing her head a little. The mare moved off into the corral, further away from the human.




And thus, the untold story of Jord has be revealed...What happened next? Stay tuned to find out...




~.............................WORDS: 1,802 / CHARACTERS: 9,824.................................~

Closing Song: I'm Coming Home By Skylar Grey

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 ~Devil's In the Details:~ 

WORK IN PROGRESSES:

Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 1
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 2
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 3
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 4
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 5
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 6
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 7
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 8
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 9
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 10
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 11
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 12
Bifrost-Mare-Animation-WIP 13

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TIME, MATERIALS, LAYERS/FRAMES, & PROGRAMS:

 


Time Spent On Whole Project: 136 Hours Total; 8 Hours Per Day
Programs Used: Paint Tool SAI (Sketch, Lines, Color, & Shading), Photoshop: CC (Animation & Background)
Tools Used: Finger, Laptop Trackpad, & Advil
Total Amount Of Layers: 135 Layers Before Being Merged
Total Amount Of Frames: 22 Run Cycle Frames, 22 Mane/Tail Frames, 10 Eye Blink Frames, 19 Frames Of Bifrost Markings Fading In/Out

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FUN FACTS!

 


1. This story is written using actual Norse Mythology on the Norse Goddess of the Earth, Jord. There is so little known about her or her interactions with the other gods that this story immediately came to mind when I found the perfect character for this mare and her design. She IS the actual mother of Thor by Odin, and she also gave birth to Frigg who did marry Odin. Frigg is seen as older than Thor, but no actual writings on her age or her father are found. So little evidence survived about Jord, who is usually referred to as generally the "Mother of Thor". More information about her can be found here: norse-mythology.org/jord/

2. Her markings were the key reason I chose the Norse Earth Goddess to be based off of her. When I see her base coat, I see normal light brown earth. When I see her dark markings on her muzzle, eyes, and legs, I think of dark earthen rock. When I see the green in her Bifrost markings, I see the green forests of Earth. When I see the blue in her Bifrost markings, I see the rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans of this Earth. And when I see the gold of her Bifrost markings, I see the large deserts on this Earth. She just...fit.

3. Did you know that Jord is a Giantess? Basically, she's a female Giant! Makes you wonder how her and Odin got together...


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HER INFORMATION:

 


Name: TKS Grœnn Fjörgyn Jörð   (Groenn Fjorgyn Jord)

Name Meaning: "Green Earth Land" In Old Norse; Also The Name Of The Godess Of Earth

Barn Name: Jörð (Jord; Pronounced YORD)

Gender: Mare

Age: Unknown (Immortal)

Height: 22 HH (Seidr)

Breed: Pure Drakehest

Theme Song: Stars By Skillet

Personality/Temperament: Jord is a very cautious mare and is rather guarded. After all the heartbreak she's been through, she's reluctant and almost completely against finding another love for fear of being hurt a third time. But once you earn her trust, she is the most loyal friend and comrade you could ever have. She is very dependable once she trusts you, but if not, she will buck you off before galloping you to safety. She enjoys nature in all it's forms, whether it's animals, the earth, plants, or water. She is the Goddess of the Earth still, and though her powers are now severely limited, she does her best to keep the Earth healthy despite all the pollution and global warming. She enjoys learning war games and other dragon related games and disciplines, but is strongly against any killing of any kind.


History: Jord fled from Asgard due to her daughter marrying her lover during her absence. Before crossing the Bifrost, Loki took his chance at mischief and transformed Jord into a mare, never to become human again. Panicked and in shock, she ran across the Bifrost to Midgard, her world she is the goddess of, and gained her Bifrost markings from the rainbow droplets from the Bifrost Bridge. Several years after landing in Midgard, the Bifrost Bridge closed to her forever, she was rounded up with several wild horses and penned for auction. She is still awaiting her official owner at this time.

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END CREDITS:

Will be Re-colored; Until then, no credits.

References: Various Tutorials On YouTube, deviantART, Run Cycles By Others, Actual Video Footage Of Horses Galloping