God Post: Forseti

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Getting around to doing this post. Here's some information about Forseti and I get it from Norse Mythology for Smart People.



Forseti (pronounced “for-SET-ee;” Old Norse Forseti, “Chairman”^[1]) is an obscure pre-Christian Norse god. He is mentioned only twice in Old Norse literature. The first mention comes from the 15th stanza of the Grímnismál, one of the poems in the Poetic Edda. There, it’s said that Forseti’s dwelling-place, Glitnir, is a resplendent hall made of gold and silver, and that he settles disputes.^[1] He thus seems to be the divine equivalent of and model for the human “lawspeaker” (lögsögumaðr), the ceremonial head of the þing, the Scandinavian legal assembly. The lawspeaker often acted as a judge who decided the outcome of disputes in accordance with the law.

That’s the extent of reliable, relatively unambiguous information concerning Forseti that we have from any primary source. The sole other mention of him in Old Norse literature comes from the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson. The passage reads like a flippant embellishment on the Grímnismál. Snorri, ever concerned with tidiness at the expense of accuracy, claims, with no apparent basis, that Forseti is the son of Baldr and Baldr’s wife, Nanna.^[2] As I’ve discussed in numerous other articles on this site (do a search if you’re interested), Snorri can’t be taken at face value, and there’s no reason to assume that his remarks on Forseti’s parentage are anything but his own invention.

Other possible references to Forseti from other kinds of sources are also ambiguous and problematic.
According to Alcuin’s eighth-century Life of St. Willibrord, Willibrord once visited an island between Denmark and Frisia. There was a holy spring on the island from which people obtained water, and they did so in silence due to the holiness of the place. The Life records that the island was named Fositesland after the god who was worshipped there. This Fosite could be Forseti, but this is far from certain, and if it were the case, it would raise additional problems with the meaning and etymology of Forseti’s name.^[3][4]

In one medieval account of the origin of Frisian law, twelve lawmakers were set adrift at sea as a punishment by Charles the Great. They prayed to the Christian god for assistance, and their prayers were answered when a thirteenth man carrying a golden axe mysteriously appeared among them. He used his axe to row the ship to land, and when they reached land, he threw the axe on the ground, and a spring gushed forth from the spot where it landed. This thirteenth man taught them the laws they needed to know, then vanished.^[5]

While the element of the holy (or at least mysterious) spring in both texts could point to a common tradition linking Forseti and holy springs, and the golden axe of the second text could be connected to Forseti’s golden hall, these correspondences are highly tenuous and demonstrate nothing conclusively. It’s possible that the thirteenth man was the god Forseti, but it’s more likely that he was Christ, since he came in answer to Christian prayers, and was the thirteenth man among twelve followers, like Jesus and his apostles.

Unfortunately, then, the one passing reference to Forseti in the Grímnismál provides the only reasonably trustworthy information we have about Forseti as he was understood in heathen times.

Heathen Holiday: Midsummer

Hail!

Today is Midsummer, when the sun is at it's height. We honor the gods and give them offering. Here's some information about this holiday.

This is the longest day and the shortest night of the year: Now Sunna begins its ling decline, sliding into the darkness which will culminate six months from now at Yule. Identifying the sun with the brightness of Baldur, we celebrate in honor of both. Hold blot to Baldur and High Feast. This was the traditional time for holding the AlThing in ancient times.


I hope that you all have a good one.

God Post: Vili and Ve

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Time for another one. And this is from the same site, Norse Mythology for Smart People.







Vili and Ve are the two brothers of the god Odin, with whom they shared a decisive role in the original shaping of the cosmos.
The medieval Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson tells us that Odin, Vili, and Ve were the first true Aesir gods to exist. Their parents were the proto-god Borr and the giantess Bestla. The three brothers slew the giant Ymir, the first being who had come into existence, and fashioned the cosmos from his corpse.^[1] While Snorri is not generally a particularly reliable source, there are good reasons to accept this particular information as an authentic account of pre-Christian Norse views, given how well it accords with other evidence that we’ll consider below.
Vili and Ve also feature in one other tale that has come down to us: when Odin was temporarily exiled from Asgard, the Aesir deities’ celestial stronghold, for practicing “unmanly” magic, Vili and Ve slept with his wife, Frigg.^[2][3] Unfortunately, no more is known about their role in this series of events.
Other explicit references to Vili and Ve in Old Norse literature are limited to passing mentions of Vili as the brother of Odin.^[4] The characters Hárr (“High”), Jafnhárr (“Just as High”), and Þriði (“Third”) in Snorri’s Prose Edda, whose roles in the nominal narrative are purely didactic, could be Odin, Vili, and Ve,^[5] but it’s just as likely that they’re Odin under three different forms, since all three names are applied to Odin elsewhere in Old Norse poetry.^[6]
The most compelling information about Vili and Ve may be found in their names. In Old Norse, Vili means “Will,”^[7] and Vé means “Temple”^[8] and is etymologically closely related to other words that have to do with the sacred, and hallowing in particular.
Intriguingly, the Proto-Germanic names of Odin, Vili, and Ve would have been, respectively, *Woðanaz, *Weljon,^[9] and *Wixan.^[10] This alliteration can hardly be coincidental, and suggests that the triad dates back to the time when the Proto-Germanic language was spoken – well before the Viking Age began in approximately 800 AD, and quite possibly no less than a millennium or two prior to that date.^[11]
Although they are only mentioned sporadically in literature from the Viking Age and shortly thereafter, Vili and Ve must have been deities of prime importance to the Norse and other Germanic peoples, at least during the time of the Germanic tribes, and possibly later as well. No mythological figure of only minor importance would have been retained throughout such a large proportion of the thousands of years the Germanic myths were in active use, during which they underwent numerous significant changes. The fact that Vili and Ve are cast as the brothers of Odin, perhaps the highest Germanic god throughout much of this time, is a further suggestion of their lofty stature.
Indeed, Odin, Vili, and Ve – respectively, Inspiration, Conscious Intention, and the Sacred – are the three most basic forces or characteristics that distinguish any cosmos from chaos. Hence it was these three gods who originally fashioned the cosmos, and surely remained three of the most necessary pillars of its continued upkeep and prosperity.

Blog of an Independent Astaruer Up for Seven Months

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Today marks seven months that my blog has been up. I want to thank everyone that has come on here and read my posts, it's means the world to me. Thanks, again.

The Future of Heathenism

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I've been thinking over this during the past several months, and with what happened on the train a couple of weeks ago it has really been on my mind. The man that killed two men, and almost a third, claimed to be a practicing heathen. He spoke about the gods and giving them glory, which isn't a bad thing as long as blood isn't shed. I've come to the conclusion that Heathenism will have nuts and we have to defend our religion against them and prove, by our actions, that we aren't like them.

It's sad that we have to do this but I don't see any other choice. Racism will be part of our religion and there's nothing that can be done to stop that. But we can work on changing people's minds.

The Problem with SPLC

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A couple of days ago I was on Facebook, yeah I'm still on there, and it seems that the SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center) is back to the original terminology of Heathen and Asatru. They called Asatru a racist Neo-pagan religion. After being called out by even African American followers of the religion there's little doubt that the term will change. The problem is that this affects those that practice the religion, it makes them hide their religion, which is in violation of the First Amendment. Later on they sort of changed it to it's not fundamentally racist.

This will continue to lead to problems. The problem with SPLC is that they will look for any reason to put something on their list. It makes them feel so good about themselves that they don't care who they hurt. Add to the rise in white morons that use our gods to attack and kill and the SPLC has gone back to what it said about the religion. Now anyone wearing Thor's hammer is a target by the FBI and local law enforcement. What needs to be done is that SPLC needs to be sued and sued big time.

I'm a follower of the Norse Gods, I have my views, however I don't attack people that are different, I don't make them feel excluded, I don't attack them in public. My views are private and will remain so. My views don't have any affect on how I treat others and that's the only thing that matters.

God Post: Bragi

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I'm finally getting back to doing these posts. Here's the new one and this is from Norse Mythology for Smart People.









Bragi (pronounced “BRAG-ee;” Old Norse Bragi, “Poet”) is the wise and learned bard (Old Norse þulr, pronounced “THOOL-ur”) of Valhalla, the magnificent hall of the god Odin. Old Norse poetry from the Viking Age frequently features him regaling the einherjar, the dead who dwell in Valhalla, and welcoming recently deceased heroes into their midst.^[1] One Eddic poem depicts him as having runes carved on his tongue.^[2]
Bragi was originally the historical ninth-century bard Bragi Boddason. His poems were so outstandingly artful and moving that subsequent generations imagined that, upon his death, Odin had appointed him the court poet of Valhalla. After all, a troop of elite warriors, kings, and others favored by Odin needed an elite bard to sing of their countless exploits.^[3]
The Old Norse writers of the Christian Middle Ages took this a step further and portrayed Bragi as having been nothing less than a god of poetry. One such author even claimed that one of the Old Norse words for “poetry,” bragr, was derived from Bragi’s name.^[4] He was said to be the husband of the goddess Idun, whose fruits guarantee the continued immortality of the gods.
However, this seems to have been a misunderstanding on the part of such late authors, and there’s no evidence that Bragi was ever actually worshiped as a god while the pre-Christian Norse religion was still a living tradition. ^[5][6]

Heathen Holiday: Day of Remembrance for Sigurd of Volsung

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Today we raise our horns to Sigurd of Volsung, a legendary figure in Norse myth. Who had a ring that would curse whoever owned it. His saga is called the Völsunga saga and it's something that I would love to read on my own. Hail to him and his saga.

Heathen Holiday: Lindesfarne Day

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Today is Lindesfarne Day, the day that marks the beginning of the Viking Age. They raided the monastery at Lindesfarne in reaction to Charlemagne killing over a hundred thousand Anglo-Saxon that were caught sacrificing to Odin. Hail to them, brave warriors.