Nancy and Tyja and Odin's Grace

Photo used with permission of C.L. Cloutier

Here is my friend Nancy and her lovely mare Tyja participating in a trail ride.  Tyja is sporting a saddle pad that I made for Nancy.  The design is  based on old embroidered saddle pad dated 1879 from Iceland.  Nancy and Tyja look great together!  They are the perfect models.

The flower is Geranium sylvaticum or wood cranesbill which grows all over Finland and Iceland.  It is known as the Midsummer flower because of when it blooms.  It tends to grow in swamps and bogs. Traditionally it is used in folk medicine to treat inflammation, intestinal ulcers, and arthritis.















The flowers can produce a blue-gray dye that was used in to dye war cloaks.  It was believed that such cloaks would protect the wearer in battle.  Therefore, wood cranesbill is also known as Odin's Grace.