Going Viking is frowned upon in modern society One of the problems with practicing a “reconstructed” religion like Ásatrú is that its beliefs and practices, by definition, have been kept in a fossilized state until relatively recently. Because of this, they have not undergone the sort of slow, society-driven changes that religions with an unbroken… Continue reading Reconstructionism and social change
The lame can ride horse, the handless drive cattle, the deaf one can fight and prevail, ’tis happier for the blind than for him on the bale-fire, but no man hath care for a corpse. (Hávamál 71, Olive Bray translation) I’m sure there are some who would look at this passage and see it as… Continue reading Hávamál 71
When I first saw Christopher Abram’s Myths of the Pagan North, I figured it was yet another retelling of the myths, maybe with a little analysis thrown in. Boy, was I wrong. This is a wonderful textual analysis of the various sources of northern lore, from runic inscriptions to skaldic poetry to the more familiar… Continue reading Book Review: Myths of the Pagan North
One of the things that I lament most about the state of current Asatru is the seemingly self-imposed limitation to look at written sources such as the Sagas of Icelanders, the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, and a handful of other sources (Beowulf, usually, and maybe Saxo and a few others), and then stop. This… Continue reading Beyond the Eddas and Sagas
Over at Son of Hel, one of his correspondents quoted something which I’d like to riff off of (but by all means, please read Helsson’s response as well; he replies to the whole email, and I’m going to focus on a single sentence). The line is thus: Hela is not a Goddess at all because… Continue reading Gods and Giants / Æsir ok Jötnar
Easter/ Paschal/ Eostre/etc. etc. etc. is proving a tough nut to crack. The problem is that it’s not tied to any specific date; it can occur anytime between March 22 and April 25. When one adds Lent into the calculation, the start potentially goes back as far as February 10. Add Carnival/ Cwarmê/ Fastelavn/ Shrovetide/ Fasching/… Continue reading Easter Woes
In parts of Sweden, February 2nd is called “moving day” because it was traditionally the day when contracts for domestic servants were up, and they could move to another situation (there was a similar day six months later in October). In addition to the obvious weather-magic divination traditions associated with today, there’s also a wonderful… Continue reading A Swedish custom for February 2