My tentative first ideas for the Year of Aun #Aun2023

First of all, what is the Year of Aun? To find out, visit the Nordic Animism Youtube channel.

When I was young, I lived in Lincolnshire. A very rural county, not really known too well outside of its borders for anything other than farming. Mostly arable farming, though I did live near many fields of (dairy) cows, a piggery and a turkey farm. Back then, I felt a really strong connection to the land. I appreciate my mature mind might well be embellishing this a little. After all, what did I know back then of spirituality or, indeed, the mundane world at large? I was a socially-awkward teenage boy who'd rarely ventured further than perhaps the 20 miles to the nearest market towns.

Back then, however, I did feel a certain connection to the land as something more than just "the area in which I lived". I felt a connection to the earth, where a good portion of the food I ate was grown. When I fell over and scraped my knees (as kids are wont to do), it was that same earth that my blood fell upon and soaked into. When my elder relatives died, it was the earth into which they were buried. Or, in some cases, it was the air around us into which their ashes scattered. As the descendant of farmers and farm workers, it was that same land that my ancestors had worked for generations. It felt like it was a part of my DNA.

Fast forwarding to the present day, I'm sitting in the spare bedroom of my house before a laptop, working from home. "The new normal", apparently. In my youth. I've tried re-engaging with some of the hobbies I used to enjoy. I've renewed my contact with old friends. But nothing quite seems to quell that feeling of something missing. Perhaps it is that connection to the land that I miss?

For my Year of Aun plans, I think I will focus upon rebuilding that connection to place that I felt as a boy. Albeit this time across the Pennines in the northwest. Lancashire is very similar to Lincolnshire it a lot of ways. Lots of hills and large city-sprawls notwithstanding.

#AUN2023

Caveat Emptor 2: The Revenge

Okay, so part one mentioned how it can be tempting for new heathens to invent some heathen credentials to help them assimilate into their chosen heathen group. We all can sometimes be a little too eager to join in and show our commitment to the cause. After a little rant, we got down to some more helpful advice for new heathens.

Anyhow, on with part two of the post.

The Havamal

26.
The unwise man thinks all to know,
while he sits in a sheltered nook;
but he knows not one thing, what he shall answer,
if men shall put him to proof.


27.
For the unwise man 'tis best to be mute
when he come amid the crowd,
for none is aware of his lack of wit
if he wastes not too many words;
for he who lacks wit shall never learn
though his words flow ne'er so fast.


28.
Wise he is deemed who can question well,
and also answer back:
the sons of men can no secret make
of the tidings told in their midst.


29.
Too many unstable words are spoken
by him who ne'er holds his peace;
the hasty tongue sings its own mishap
if it be not bridled in.


The Havamal has a lot to say about not running your mouth off in public fora. Best advice I can give to new heathens is to join a good heathen online group, introduce yourself and then simply listen (or, more correctly, read). The best online groups have several active members how have been heathen a long time and know a lot about the faith, history, archaelogy, the lore and many other subjects. These are the wise elders of whom young heathens would have been encouraged to take heed in the past. Listening to them and adapting their wisdom to suit your path is the best action, short of studying the eddas, that someone new to heathenry can undertake.

This applies to engineering/relating suspicious "divine intervention" stories as well. You don't need to prove to anyone how viking you are to have them respect you. Everyone starts from the same place. We all start with very little knowledge and then gradually, over time and with some study, we learn about heathenry and teutonic mythology (as well as dozens of other disciplines to a greater or lesser extent). In fact, broadcasting an obviously-invented supernatural story can often have the opposite to the intended effect. Heathens, for whom reputation is a very important trait, will find that being known as someone who makes up some spurious bullshit story to get attention is far from desirable. In fact, it is the kind of thing that may end up haunting you in a way you really come to resent. Five years down the line when you're trying to make a name for yourself as a gothi or skald, do you think it will help for people to remember you as the person who made up a story about Thor giving you a cuddle to help you feel better when you'd broken up with your partner?

The annoying thing about such posts is, it essentially is a little arrogant and/or self-centred for the new poster to think that no-one in the group will have the wisdom to see through the bullshit. That, somehow, a fresh faced newbie with only minimal knowledge of heathenry and teutonic mythology will someone find it easy to pull the wool over the collective eyes of heathens who have university degrees in appropriate subjects and decades of experience in heathenry. Even more annoying to me, as they seem to put so little thought into the stories of divine contact - most involving actions quite out of character for all the gods involved. Hence this anger-infused blog post.

On the subject of made up vs believable divine contact stories, here is some of my own, personal UPG to illustrate how transparent some of the tales of new heathens can be to older heathens such as myself. This isn't really intended to be "this is how you should see the gods", but instead an example of how many heathens see the gods and how these stories don't correllate with that view.

Odin
I have heard lots of tales about Odin. Understandably, he is a favourite - especially among new heathens. The thing to remember, though, is that Odin is not Yahweh. He is as different to the christian god as Lemmy is to Justin Bieber. With that in mind, try not to ascribe christian feelings and motivations to the Allfather. I have heard stories about him saving someone from a potentially fatal accident and even giving someone a cuddle when they were feeling down!

The thing to remember with Ol' One Eye is that he is a god of death and is renowned as being "a bit of a bastard". He regularly seduces unsuspecting women to get what he wants, he steals, betrays and even breaks oaths. As a god of death and a necromancer, he is not gonna save your life - he is more likely to be the god that put you in the life-threatening situation in the first place - just to see how you handle it. He definitely isn't gonna give you a hug - he is not the christian god and he certainly isn't the White Christ. Anyone who takes on Odin as a patron should be ready to see their life become much harder with many more obstacles. That is kinda his thing - he likes to test the mettle of heathens who are brave enough to accept him as a patron.

A good thing to bear in mind is his character in the book "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman, and its tv adaptation. In it, Odin is respected for his wisdom and power, but no one really trusts him. Everyone knows he has his own agenda and that he considers everyone else to be little more than pawns in his plot to get his own way. Does this sound like a loving, compassionate god figure?

Now, in recent years, there has been some pushback to this view of Grimnir. The general gist of which is the argument that there is no point in creating or worshipping a god that won't help you and will even make things harder for you. To me, though, that argument smacks of carrying a little christian baggage along with it. People pray to Christ/Yahweh to be bailed out of whatever situation is plaguing them. They submit utterly to the god and he protects them. That is the deal. I can't think of a single heathen god who would be happy to save you from your trials and problems without any work from you. To my mind, heathen gods aren't quite like that - and especially not Odin. He was originally a kind of Wild Huntsman archetype who gradually evolved into a god of nobles and kings. What this means is, he is not a god of the people - at least, not the common man. That is more the realm of his son. Odin does give boons to his followers - but they aren't touchy feely hugs, kisses and pleasant feelings. Additionally, they are all temporal. They don't last forever. Many are the tales of the chosen of Odin being betrayed and abandoned to die on the battlefield. What's more, Odin is pretty damn busy at the moment, what with impending Ragnarok - he's not really got the time, inclination, or the crayons to send messages to every Tom, Dick or Harry who wants to impress their new heathen buddies.

Thor
Okay, so Thor helped you in your dispute with your neighbour, did he? The one who borrowed your secateurs and didn't give them back? Again, Thor is a quite busy god. He is more concerned with common people and especially their protection. But he isn't gonna intercede on your domestic dispute with your neighbour. To my mind, he would only take sides in cases of actual oppression, where blame could be attributed 100% to one side or the other. Let's face it, most of the spats that we mortals get involved with are, at best, 30% our own fault. He may get involved if your neighbour happens to be a frost giant. But in that case it would be for his own reasons, and not really because he had any particular affection for you. He's got better things to do - like smash Hel out of those aforementioned frost giants.

Tyr
Tyr is conspicuous by his very absence. Likely to have been chief god of the pantheon originally before being usurped in popularity by other gods, he is very rarely chosen by new heathens as a source of inspiration, strength or justice. Admittedly, we don't know as much about him as we do about Odin and his son, but that shouldn't prevent him from trying to get in on the divine manifestation party, should it?

I could go on all day talking about my UPG regarding Tyr and how he often goes misrepresented amongst heathens, but I think I will leave that for another post.

Another thing to watch out for in disreputable stories is how the gods involved tend to be reduced to two dimensional, flimsy characters based around the popular conception of the god in question. Odin is essentially the christian god, Thor is big and strong, Loki is a fool/trickster, Freyja is a slut, Frigg is a housewife. That also kinda goes hand in hand with movie/tv tie-ins. Recently, Loki has begun to be seen as more of an attractive god. Due, in no small part, to his portrayal by Tom Hiddleston at the cinema in recent years. Any reference to how these gods look is now polluted by Marvel movies and tv adaptations of books.

As I said before, it is okay to start a heathen path without having had any kind of contact (real or imagined) with any gods or goddesses. Far more important are the following:

- Study. There isn't a central church that we can all go to for guidance. All us heathens each have to find our own path. This means studying what others do or have done in relation to their path or religion. There are a lot of books on the subject. Some are very good and some are very bad. The one recommendation that all heathens agree upon is to read the eddas. The Poetic Edda and The Prose Edda are easily found in online bookshops. Read them, then read them again as, while most heathens don't consider them canon or "the word of the gods", most do agree they are the groundwork upon which most heathen paths are and should be built.

- Beware fakers. There are plenty of heathens out there at all levels who talk the talk but can't or don't walk the walk. No matter what other heathens say, you are responsible for your own actions and beliefs. As such, you should cast a critical eye on everything you learn from whatever source (including the eddas) and decide whether it is true, relevant and/or appropriate. This also extends to books and websites. Just cos something has been published (I'm looking at you, Llewellyn!) or appears on a professional-looking website, that doesn't mean it's true.

- Unverified Personal Gnosis. UPG is fine, but don't blow it out of proportion. You can use whatever hunches or feelings you like to inform your heathenry. But remember two things. First, your UPG is yours and yours alone. No-one else is likely to understand it quite the way you do. More than that, they don't even have to respect it. Just cos it is important to you, doesn't give it any value to anyone else. Secondly, our minds have a tendency to play tricks on us. Nothing says that the gods have to be trying to communicate with you. Not every thing you observe has to be "a message". Now you're on your path, you will likely take notice of ravens a lot more. Odin kept ravens and they were very important and significant animals to the heathens of a thousand years ago. That said, ravens are a common sighting across the UK. Seeing one or more ravens in your daily travels doesn't mean the gods are trying to contact you. That's not to say that ravens are never a sign. But seeing them in their natural habitat behaving naturally isn't it. If you're in a library and one flies into the building to sit near you, that's a more unusual circumstance. But ravens outside in the UK? That's not enough of an event, frankly. The same goes for any sign. Kirk Douglas starring in "The Vikings" on UKTV Gold isn't a sign, either. It just boils down to using common sense. It is similar to the old adage, "If something seems too good to be true, it probably is...". Perhaps that should be in the Havamal? "If something lends itself to a mundane explanation - well, that's probably it."

- Desire to contribute. As I said, sometimes the excitement of having newly joined a heathen group and/or recently joined the faith can be overwhelming. The strong urge to commit ourselves and show how we belong can motivate us but also cause us to act questionably (e.g. the aforementioned divine contact stories). If you really are frothing at the mouth with enthusiasm, why not volunteer to work for whatever groups, kindreds or hearths you have decided to join? Not all tasks require in depth knowledge or experience and many organisers would really appreciate some of the day to day admin being taken off their hands. It's all important work and might even help you to make new friends, interact with fellow heathens and learn more about the faith while "on the job".

Start the day with some positivity!

"Hail, day!

Hail, sons of day!
And night and her daughter now!
Look on us here
with loving eyes,
That waiting we victory win.

Hail to the gods!
Ye goddesses, hail,
And all the generous earth!
Give to us wisdom
and goodly speech,
And healing hands, life-long."

~Sigrdrífumál (Bellows translation, 1936)

Living Gods - redux

A few posts prior to this one, I linked to an old blog post which explained my theories regarding heathen beliefs and the myth cycle. Back then, I fancied myself a skald in the making - things have changed since then and I'm content with a much more modest role for myself within contemporary heathenry. However, I am reposting the article here as it covers a topic I want to use as a springboard to further discussions of the heathen path.

(images not part of original article)



Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:35 pm Post subject: Living gods

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think one thing that is often a neglected part of our faith is one key difference between modern heathenry and its original form.

In times gone past, the stories of our faith were living things, evolving and growing with each progressive telling. Breeding, if you will, as new stories were created to join the old. Dying as less popular or lesser known stories were forgotten and blew away in the smoke of the campfire. When skalds told new tales of the gods and heroes, if those tales didn't sit right or were somehow wrong, then they simply would not be enjoyed and not remembered and retold. Good stories that added something to the fame of the god or hero or that simply entertained would be appreciated, remembered and retold.

These, however, were not the static, codified stories written in books like those we pore over today. They had no one true version so that each word of the story could be pored over, examined and argued over. They were tales told around the campfire. They'd be embellished and exaggerated with each telling. Altered at the whim of the storyteller or at the behest of his audience. Truly a living tale and, with the potential for other tales to be created in the future, they were tales that imbued the protagonist with life. What would Thor do upon the next telling? Or the next?

When I read the Eddas, they can feel like an obituary. A recounting of the deeds of someone from the past. Great and glorious deeds, for certain. Deeds providing us with something to aspire to and lessons to be learnt, but deeds which are a fait accompli. Over. Something that was done in a world of the past, involving the people and events of the past and something I need to reassess for application in my own, contemporary world.

This is why I am beginning to feel that we have lost something very important by relying on the same, almost canonical stories from our mythology. A great mythology it is with much to benefit those who study it. But it is not as vibrant as it was when it came in the form of an oral tradition.

However the stories came about, whether the work of one or more skalds with an incredible imagination, the codified knowledge of a venerable gothi, the chronicles of ancient kings, gods, or whatever - that all seems to be of secondary importance to me. I enjoy the great mysteries as much as anyone. Philosophy and theology provide manna for my intellect that I would hate to have to do without. But I feel the stories themselves are so much more to so many more people. Accessible and of value to all, they encapsulate all that is good about heathenry and tell a damn good tale to boot.

I feel the stories need to be told again. Need to breathe and evolve. To escape from their current bondage within the written word and roam free as evolving, breeding entities.

Now, one problem, I foresee is that any skald brave enough to create his own Lay would doubtless come under an immense amount of flak from those for whom his portrayal of the gods and heroes in question didn't ring true. That is the way of contemporary heathenry, it seems - 'what I don't like shouldn't be...'. I can't imagine this happened all those moons ago. As I stated earlier, I feel that those stories that were less popular would simply fade away through natural selection.

This would also help to reinterpret heathenry in a modern context by creating stories of the gods and heroes at large in the modern world. It also might help heathenry reach a wider audience, too.

Obviously, I am biased, fancying myself as something of a Skald, but what I'd like to know is what kinds of stories about the gods and heroes would people want to hear around the campfire?

To quote Bladerunner, "How can it not know what it is?"

I had lived a healthy portion of my life before I started to self identify as heathen. In my youth, my friends and I were aware of paganism and actually referred to ourselves as heathen, feeling some affinity to the norse gods. However, as I left my teens behind, I began to consider myself more of a nihilist than anything. Famously engaging in good natured competition with a fellow nihilist as to who believed in less while out one night in Grimsby. I won by virtue of the fact that the guy believed in believing in nothing, while I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Such sophistry appealed to me back then, I guess.

But, in my early thirties, the quest for romance took me to Sweden. I moved in with my then-girlfriend in Boras, Sweden. It was only fated to last a year, but that was a year that taught me a lot about myself. During that time, we made a trip together to some woodland, just outside of Svaneholm. It was there that I had my spiritual awakening. A feeling of awe overcame me and felt in some ways divine. It was the first time I felt divinity to be something outside of (but connected to) myself. It was also connected to the land around me at that time and linked me and the land to my ancestors and, what I later came to refer to as wights.

That didn't exactly set me on a new path, but it caused me to think more deeply about the path I was already on and how it could be considered to be a pagan one - and, more specifically, a norse heathen path.

Now, I find myself still on that path - and travelling as often as I can to Sweden where the landscape is as awe-inspiring as ever. The train from Stockholm to Kiruna, for example, took me and my (English) wife through some amazing countryside. Forests, mountains and lakes all call to mind faerie tales, sagas and myths that have been knocking around in my brain since my childhood.

Not just a warrior cult? No, but...

The nation that will insist upon drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking by cowards.
~ William Francis ButlerWhen I first started upon my heathen path, I would respond aggressively to anyone who wrote off norse paganism as merely a warrior cult. Understandable, as there is so much more to the eddas, sagas and lays than that. It was these things in which I was more interested back then.

Now, however, having spent some time as a practicing heathen and having interacted with other heathens (mostly online, I will concede), I find my view changing in one very important respect.

The importance of the role of warrior, of battling one's enemies, of physical confrontation cannot and should not be ignored. The mythology is rife with references to battle and combat-related metaphors. The necessity of fighting to defend one's family or property was very real and pervasive back then.

This shaped our heathen forefathers, both physically and mentally. In a way that I feel many contemporary heathens don't appreciate. To call oneself a 'warrior' because you 'fight high insurance prices' in your daily work (or similar weak metaphor) betrays a complete lack of awareness of the huge effect that regular combat (or even intense training) can have upon a person's personality and values.

There is an argument for ignoring the warrior motif within heathen sources. After all, contemporary society doesn't require all of us to literally fight for our livelihoods. Some of us may become police or soldiers who will act on the front lines in a manner very similar to our viking ancestors, but most of us will spend our lives doing something much more pedestrian, likely in complete safety. Thankfully, very few of us will ever be required to fight at all, never mind literally fight for our lives.

However, the warrior mindset gained through training for and taking part in combat clearly informs a great portion of the beliefs and values expressed in the heathen sources, such as the eddas, sagas and heroic lays.

So, as part of my heathen path, I am taking time to investigate and, where possible, experience, what it is like to actually be a warrior. Even if that is simply some 'alive' training for my internal martial arts - my class, for example, also has a full contact sparring class on Tuesdays. Tentative exploration of this will inform my faith as well as any time spend poring over various texts.

Combatting Christian influence upon pagan children

While on holiday last week, my family were staying with my sister in law and her two kids (daughter and son). My daughter near idolises her two cousins. She loves it when they are around and likes nothing better than to play with them (just like I was with my cousins). Nothing could be more natural really.

We were taking a break at the flat where we were staying, resting before heading out again in the evening for a meal. My four year old daughter had a conversation with her cousins (who were at least around twice her age) that went something like this:

Cousin 2: "Freyja, do you believe in Jesus?"

Freyja: "Sheldon does..." (Sheldon is her tortoise hand puppet)

Cousin 2: "Do you believe in god?"

Freyja: "Sheldon does..."

Cousin 2: "But, do you believe in god, Freyja?"

Freyja: "No."

Cousin 2: "How can you not believe in god? He made you..."

Freyja: "I have a god book, that Daddy gave me..."



And there the conversation ended. The books she is referring to is D'Aulaires' Book Of Norse Myths - a book I bought her when she was born so I could read her some stories from Norse mythology and, hopefully, get her interested in Vikings and, by extension, heathenry. The book is really a little too old for her, being better suited for kids say 8 - 12 years in age - but the illustrations alone make it a valuable purchase.

I really am very proud of my daughter for being able to stand up against the (unintentionally) evangelical logic of a child twice her age. I am also touched that she seems to have taken the stories I have read her to heart and that she seems to use them as a reference source for the subject of gods.

I am concerned, though, that this kinda thing might happen again. If I witness a similar scene in future, I might feel the need to mention to my sister in law that I am not comfortable with her kids passing the christian perspective they learn from the faith school they attend onto my daughter.

In turn, though, I don't want to proselytise too much about heathenry in turn. Her kids being brought up christian really is no skin off my nose. Heathenry is really the kind thing that you need to seek out for yourself, if you feel it might be right for you.

Something occurs to me: Odin, Loki , Beer and Wine

Question originally asked on the UK Pagan forum.

If, as Loki says in the Lokasenna, Odin has said he will refuse any ale not also served to Loki, is that part of the reason why Odin is said to drink wine? I.E. To avoid having to share the offering with Loki?

Or is there something more to it?

Just a thought.




Answers on a postcard, please! (Or maybe the comments section on this site would be easier?)

Gullveig: Thrice burned, thrice reborn - A Viking Phoenix or something more?

Taken from an earlier post on my blog at The Valley (www.ukpagan.com)

I've been spending some time thinking about Gullveig.

For some reason, the Aesir pierce her with spears and burn her three times...

This alone got me thinking of how those actions alone are reminiscent of a shamanic ordeal to reach altered states of consciousness. She is, after all, thought by some to become a great seer, a volva, after this ordeal. Three times reborn could be descriptive of her being reborn to take on another role. Of course, "piercing with spears" can also be a euphemism for something else... ;)

And the name, Gullveig. I am not sure precisely what 'veig' means, but Gull, iirc, means 'gold'.

Now, doesn't the norwegian rune poem contain the line:
"Fee (wealth) is a source of strife among kinsmen..."

Could Gullveig have been attacked precisely because she was (perhaps maliciously) causing strife amongst the Aesir?

I need to meditate upon this a little more, I think. Twenty minutes thought on the tram home last night maybe isn't quite enough to solve this particular mystery... ;)



Despite the further meditation I attempted, no further insights were forthcoming. Alas...

Review: Helrunar by Jan Fries

Jan Fries' book 'Helrunar' is in my estimation one of the better books on the subject. The author lays the foundation for the futhark by examining the history of the runes. This is split into the early history of runic markings and annotated language, as well as more recent history relating to the Third Reich's misuse of the futhark and how that might affect those who wish to utilise the runes today.

What I especially like about this book is that Fries mostly keeps himself to the more factual and referenced information about each rune - relating each to the various rune poems - rather than listing the runes and connecting them to a list of rather arbitrary associations (such as "Fehu is linked to the cow as its animal, the colour yellow, the smell of ammonia and the taste of garlic and the I-Phone 4S...") as some other authors have done. Instead, he encourages the reader to research each rune and meditate upon it for themselves for insights.

Despite the depth of information within, I found the book surprisingly easy to read and by the end of the book I was wanting to purchase more of the authors works so that I could enjoy his writing style some more. Additionally, there is no attempt by the author to tie in a myriad of unnecessary viking references to help secure a stronger market.

Some readers might like to note, however, that the author approaches the subject viewed from his own grounding in chaos magic - some might prefer the author to be a follower of one of the northern traditions. Myself, I did not find this a problem, however, actually appreciating minimal references to the gods, goddesses and heroes of the norse/anglo saxon pantheon.

All in all, an excellent text on the runes. Definitely worth buying for any serious runeworker.

Buy 'Helrunar' by Jan Fries from Amazon

More quotes

“The Norse ideal was a man of open, generous disposition, a man imbued with qualities of compassion and kindness, not ruthless but firm and fair, even-tempered but capable of passion, physically accomplished and strong in [a] fight, but not a bully.”
--Magnus Magnusson

“To do what lay before him openly and like a man, without fear of either foes, friends, nor fate… to be free and daring in all his deeds; to be gentle and generous to his friends and kinsmen, to be stern and grim to his foes, but even towards them to fulfill all bounden duties… to be no truce-breaker, nor tale-bearer, nor back-biter. To utter nothing against any man that he would not dare tell him to his face. To turn no man from his door who sought food or shelter, even though he were a foe.”
--George Dasent

Living Gods

I came across this post while reading back in my livejournal (http://5threplicant.livejournal.com) and thought it would be good to post here.


Here is something I posted to the Kith of Yggdrasil's member's forum about the nature of storytelling, mythology and the divine.

A theory I am developing to this day and which makes for great pub-pint conversation with anyone sharing a similar paganesque interest.



Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:35 pm Post subject: Living gods

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think one thing that is often a neglected part of our faith is one key difference between modern heathenry and its original form.

In times gone past, the stories of our faith were living things, evolving and growing with each progressive telling. Breeding, if you will, as new stories were created to join the old. Dying as less popular or lesser known stories were forgotten and blew away in the smoke of the campfire. When skalds told new tales of the gods and heroes, if those tales didn't sit right or were somehow wrong, then they simply would not be enjoyed and not remembered and retold. Good stories that added something to the fame of the god or hero or that simply entertained would be appreciated, remembered and retold.

These, however, were not the static, codified stories written in books like those we pore over today. They had no one true version so that each word of the story could be pored over, examined and argued over. They were tales told around the campfire. They'd be embellished and exaggerated with each telling. Altered at the whim of the storyteller or at the behest of his audience. Truly a living tale and, with the potential for other tales to be created in the future, they were tales that imbued the protagonist with life. What would Thor do upon the next telling? Or the next?

When I read the Eddas, they can feel like an obituary. A recounting of the deeds of someone from the past. Great and glorious deeds, for certain. Deeds providing us with something to aspire to and lessons to be learnt, but deeds which are a fait accompli. Over. Something that was done in a world of the past, involving the people and events of the past and something I need to reassess for application in my own, contemporary world.

This is why I am beginning to feel that we have lost something very important by relying on the same, almost canonical stories from our mythology. A great mythology it is with much to benefit those who study it. But it is not as vibrant as it was when it came in the form of an oral tradition.

However the stories came about, whether the work of one or more skalds with an incredible imagination, the codified knowledge of a venerable gothi, the chronicles of ancient kings, gods, or whatever - that all seems to be of secondary importance to me. I enjoy the great mysteries as much as anyone. Philosophy and theology provide manna for my intellect that I would hate to have to do without. But I feel the stories themselves are so much more to so many more people. Accessible and of value to all, they encapsulate all that is good about heathenry and tell a damn good tale to boot.

I feel the stories need to be told again. Need to breathe and evolve. To escape from their current bondage within the written word and roam free as evolving, breeding entities.

Now, one problem, I foresee is that any skald brave enough to create his own Lay would doubtless come under an immense amount of flak from those for whom his portrayal of the gods and heroes in question didn't ring true. That is the way of contemporary heathenry, it seems - 'what I don't like shouldn't be...'. I can't imagine this happened all those moons ago. As I stated earlier, I feel that those stories that were less popular would simply fade away through natural selection.

This would also help to reinterpret heathenry in a modern context by creating stories of the gods and heroes at large in the modern world. It also might help heathenry reach a wider audience, too.

Obviously, I am biased, fancying myself as something of a Skald, but what I'd like to know is what kinds of stories about the gods and heroes would people want to hear around the campfire?
_________________
D.

Pondering Tyr

I decided some time ago to crosspost (read: steal) this from my post on the Kith of Yggdrasil members' forum and post it onto my blog at UKPagan. Now, in turn, I repost it again here, hoping to bring it to a wider audience.  I've been pondering Tyr ever since I wrote this and gradually feel myself being drawn toward him (mentally, spiritually, theologically - however your worldview prefers to describe it).

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 2:04 pm Post subject: Tyr I've allowed Tyr to occupy my mind somewhat, perhaps in an effort to get to grips with him and any way that he might help in my Baguazhang training.

I've read the usual factoids regarding him, available from several sources. Perhaps once the chief deity until he was usurped by Odin in some areas. Sky god. Patron of combat. Lost his hand while binding Loki's troublesome canine offspring... yada... yada... yada...

At first I found him completely inscrutible. Very little information available regarding him and there seem to be very few authors willing to pontificate too much as to his nature, either.

Then I started to really think about what we know of him. He lost his hand when binding the wolf. Offered as a pledge of faith. Tyr must have known that the hand would be lost once the binding was complete. To look that giant, ravenous animal in the eye and to offer your hand without a solitary quiver of doubt crossing your face...? Any sign of unease would surely have warned Fenrir of the gods' true intent. To keep that calm under such immense pressure in spite of what pain and loss was to come. Now that calls for ice in your veins.

Similarly, Tyr is described as the only god brave enough to feed the bound Fenrir. When you consider the nature of the other gods, that is quite a claim to fame. Perhaps the statement is not meant to be literally true - Odin and Thor, for example, do not strike me as cowards - but to be hailed as the bravest of the gods is an incredible accolade.

The feeding of Fenrir also raises another interesting point. This wolf has just bitten your hand off, what kind of fairness of judgment must you show not to bear a grudge and to feed the animal? Hel, why not just let Fenrir starve, chained up helpless as he is? Obviously, Tyr's honour precludes him from such base flaws.

Indeed, Tyr's honour would have to be renowned for his hand to make sufficient a pledge for the wolf to allow himself to be bound. Let's face it, Odin or Thor would be likely to eschew honour in order to get the job done. Only Tyr, it seems, had enough honour, bravery, determination, pragmatism and foresight to offer his hand for the greater good and to secure the future - allowing the gods a chance to secure a better post-Ragnarok world...

What will I attempt to learn from him, then? It seems he has a lot of value to teach me, even from the superficial insights I have drawn for myself so far. I am looking forward to getting to know him even better, so that I can learn some of those traits of which, I must confess, I could use more.

Obviously, at the time I didn't feel the need to reference any of my claims within the little passage - but it is through plain, simple consideration and musing like this that I have come to feel myself closer to Tyr than before. No mystical mumbo-jumbo required. No chanting bollock-naked in my garden (good job, too, I only have a small balcony that is overlooked by the apartment block across the street). Nothing but a little time and thought.

Wonder if I could get closer to other aesir and asynior in this way? Might be worth thinking about...

Silence I ask of all the sacred folk,
high and low ones,
Silence of the kin of Heimdall:
At your will, Valföðr,
I shall relate
The songs of men,
the oldest I remember.

This blog is intended to be a source of discussion, news and outright blathering on the subject of neopaganism.  Specifically heathenry as practiced by myself here in the UK.  Despite being a muggle, I will also cover magic and related occult matters, just to help broaden the subject base and to try to ensure that I keep a fairly healthy post count to keep the readership logging on.