Category: Mythology

The Winning of the Mead

Myths are like dreams; they fascinate us but their ultimate meaning eludes us.  Different theories and interpretations can shed light on parts of a myth, or even cast a diffuse, faint glow over it all but a myth can never be fully illumined.  It always retains some of its mystery, a mystery that is not lessened by examination but rather makes it the more intriguing by seeing the depth and complexity of its spiritual, psychological and cultural facets.  Let us look at one of the most important of the Norse myths; Othinn’s taking of the Mead of Inspiration.

The knowledge-wisdom contained in the mead undergoes three births: firstly, when Kvasir arises from the cauldron into which all the gods have spat; he then dies, at the hands of the dwarves Fjalar and Galar and the knowledge is reborn as the mead. … Read more

The Wild Hunt

One of the most awesome and terrifying images in Germanic legend is the Wild Hunt. Known throughout Germany, England, Switzerland and in Scandinavia, where they were known as Oskoreia or Juleskreia, this troop of riders, galloping through the night sky, is traditionally led by Wodan or Woden (although some Hunts are led by ancient heroes and even by female entities such as Frau Hulda and Perchta). The Hunt is usually seen at the time of important festivals, most noticeably Yule, where the Hunt is conflated with the wild winter winds. I think that part of the enduring, and now legendary, power of the Wild Hunt lies in it originally being enacted at festivals like Yule by troops of masked young men riding through the country lanes to villages, where they would race down the streets.… Read more

Ragnarök

The Norse mythological cycle is brought to a close with the Ragnarök, a cataclysmic and catastrophic narrative where a host of frost giants, fire ogres, troll wives, monsters and legions of the dead invade Asgarð and close battle with the gods and einherjar in what will be the latter’s heroic last stand.

The greatest treatment of these themes is given in the Eddic poem Völuspá. Its treatment is allusive, assuming the knowledge of its audience, kaleidoscoping events, giving greater pace and allowing time to speak of the causes of the gods’ day of reckoning.

The consequences of two events, actions laid down long ago, which cause the disaster, bringing it to pass, the gods have brought upon themselves: Oðinn, Vili and Ve’s slaying of their matrilineal kinsman Ymir, and the breaking of the gods’ vow to the giant builder of Asgarð’s wall; as Völuspá.… Read more

Alfar ok Dvergar

In Heathen Germanic culture, are elves and dwarves one and the same race of beings? They are clearly closely associated. Many dwarves have an ‘elf’ element to their names; Voluspa’s verse 12 lists Gandalfr (Wand-elf) and Vindalfr (Wind-elf) and in verse 16, one dwarf is simply named Alfr. Elves and dwarves are also seen together as the bearers of illness, as evidenced by the third and seventh Anglo-Saxon verse charms, ‘Against a Dwarf’ and ‘For the Water-elf Disease’ (as to what a ‘water-elf’ actually was, I will return to this later). – Anglo-Saxon Verse Charms, Maxims and Heroic Legends, Louis J.… Read more

Groagaldr

The text of Grougaldr, ‘Groa’s Incantation’, and its partner text, Fjolvinnsmal, ‘Fjolvinn’s Speech’ (together known as Svipdagsmal), has come down to us in texts dating from the C17th. 

Bridal Quest romances became popular in Scandinavia in the early Middle Ages and it seems to me that here an older myth has been reworked in a more fashionable guise.  (This can be compared to the sagas of the warrior poets, such as The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue, where the older themes of heroism met the new, European themes of romantic love.)  A clear indication of this is seen when Menglath, in her penultimate stanza, says ‘ath thu ert aftr kominn mogr til minna sala’ – ‘that you are returned to my hall’, implying he has already been there before. … Read more

An Odian Cosmogony

The question of the origin of the Universe can be approached analytically or empirically, but in constructing an Odian cosmogony we need to consider how an individual who works within the Northern Tradition understands the emergence of the manifest Universe.

The process of the Universe coming into being as traditionally understood is described in chapters 4 to 19 of the Eddic text, ‘Gylfaginning’. The latent order suggested by the origin myth of the Universe within the traditional sources is one in which polar extremes determine the limits of being and acts of creation occur when the two extremes encounter each other.… Read more

Working with Wights

Wights is an umbrella term for the many kinds of spirits and supernatural entities that populate Norse Mythology, traditionally known as “Vaettir”. In the basic Gild work, we focus mainly on the Svartalfar and the Ljossalfar, which later on become the dwarves and elves of the medieval folk tales also often called “the hidden folk”. The importance of these entities cannot be overstated, as the largest part of religious practice at the time was concerned with the veneration of the Ancestors (link to essay “Ancestors) and the Wights. The Svartalfar are very well represented in the sources and were thought to be living underground, mining precious metals and creating priceless artifacts.… Read more

Ancestor Worship

The veneration of the Ancestors was a central element of the Norse religion as we can see in the Edda’s and Sagas. Ancestor worship is and always has been an essential part of animistic practices all around the world and while the Norse system was not a purely animistic one anymore at the time when most of the available sources were recorded it retained this aspect of its original roots. For the Germanic Peoples in general, the past was something of great importance. The actions of your Ancestors determined your starting point in life as well as your actions would determine from where your offspring and later generations would start off.… Read more