The Three Norns, drawing by Amalie Schoppe, 1832

Radical Joy for Hard Times is dedicated to healing the relationship between people and wounded places through simple acts of beauty. Devotion to beauty in the moment is the work of the Norns, three women of Norse mythology who stand at the Well of Destiny in the upper level of Yggdrasil, the World Tree.

Yggdrasil is under constant attack. A dragon gnaws the roots, stags nibble the bark, and a malicious squirrel named Ratatosk dashes up and down the trunk, spreading gossip. The mission of the Norns is to care for the World Tree. They draw water from the well, mix it with clay, and apply it to the wounds of the tree.

The Norns know they can't prevent damage. They also know that the world's cataclysmic end is foretold, when the wolf Sleipnir will rise up out of his long sleep and start devouring all creation. Still they continue their sacred, ceaseless act of healing. They dedicate themselves to the tree without hope of changing the future. They don't pray to the gods to make things different. They don't destroy those who cause problems. They know the future, yet they work lovingly to heal and sooth the present.