Work Text:
Joyce Byers
Dæmon Name: Sindri Byers
Dæmon Status: Settled (Male)
Dæmon Form: Red Ruffed Lemur (Varecia Rubra)
Notable Features: A black handprint appeared on his right flank where Lonnie once smacked him. Joyce kicked him out right after.
Sindri means ‘Sparkle’ and was one of the dwarves who helped to forge Thor’s Hammer. Joyce is a mother who instills strength and values into those around her, the way Sindri forged metal into objects of great power.
Jim ‘Hop’ Hopper
Dæmon Name: Arduinna Hopper
Dæmon Status: Settled (Female)
Dæmon Form: Grizzly Bear (Ursus Arctos Horribilis)
Notable Features: Various scars across chest and shoulders from pining unruly Dæmons
Arduinna was a Gaulish Forest goddess, often associate with Diana or Artemis. Both Goddesses were protector Spirits of children and young or abused women. Hopper has always had a soft spot for kids, and we can infer from his early relationship with Joyce that he took particular offense to Lonnie’s behavior. The Celtic gods represent a certain mystery and otherness to them. Hopper is good at putting up a front and playing a part when he doesn’t want to be known.
Murray Bauman
Dæmon Name: Fulla Bauman
Dæmon Status: Settled (Female)
Dæmon Form: Western Screech Owl
Notable Features: Not-Applicable
Fulla was the Handmaiden of Frigg and is widely considered to be the goddess of secrets in Norse mythology. Murray is a man who looks for the truth behind the secrets of the world, but when confronted with the biggest government coverup in the world (El), he keeps the secret and Joyce and Hopper’s confidence. Just as Fulla kept Frigg’s secrets.
Mrs. Wheeler and Janus (Border Collie): Janus was the roman god of doorways, and often represents the choice between two paths. Mrs. Wheeler seems to offer two options to those around her (advising Nancy, telling Billy where to find Max, Billy’s eventual encounter with the Mindflayer)
Mr. Wheeler and Mary (English Mastiff): Mary was the #1 baby girl name in 1938 (year of Ted’s Birth). Mary is also conventionally the ‘mother’ archetype in the bible. Ted is the basic ‘Father’ of the nuclear family, without much more characterization.
Neil Hargrove and Angrboða (Rottweiler): Angrboða is the Jotun Goddess in Norse Mythology. Her name means ‘The-One-Who-Brings-Grief’, or ‘Harm-Bidder’. She is most famously known as the Mother of Monsters. Neil is a figure who causes grief and fear in those around him, especially Billy. In a more figurative sense, Neil is Billy’s father, and Billy is the Mindflayer’s host. Even more metaphorically, Jotuns are one of Thor’s principal enemies.
Susan Hargrove and Drystan (Common Cuckoo): Drystan is the Welsh version of Tristian. It means ‘sorrow’.
‘Papa’ and ‘Snake’ (King Cobra): Dr. Brenner and Hera
*the ‘ð’ is usually pronounced as a ‘th’ in most modern Scandinavian Languages