Icelandic Poetry Or The Edda Of Saemund

Book: Icelandic Poetry Or The Edda Of Saemund by Loptsson

The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse Mythology and Germanic heroic legends.

Codex Regius was written in the 13th century but nothing is known of its whereabouts until 1643 when it came into the possession of Brynjolfur Sveinsson, then Bishop of Skalholt. At that time versions of the Prose Edda were well known in Iceland but scholars speculated that there once was another Edda—an Elder Edda—which contained the pagan poems which Snorri quotes in his Prose Edda. When Codex Regius was discovered, it seemed that this speculation had proven correct. Brynjolfur attributed the manuscript to Semundr the Learned, a larger-than-life 12th century Icelandic priest. While this attribution is rejected by modern scholars, the name Semundar Edda is still sometimes encountered.

Bishop Brynjolfur sent Codex Regius as a present to the Danish king, hence the name. For centuries it was stored in the Royal Library in Copenhagen but in 1971 it was returned to Iceland.

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Asatru And Racialism

Kaplan (1996) documents the growth of Odinism in the United States and its link with the American Neo-Nazi scene. He notes that there is a division between Odinists embracing Nazi ideology and others without racist motivations responding to "childhood memories". The tensions between racist and non-racist Odinists are cast into the "folkish" ("traditional Asatru") vs. "universalist" ("New Age Asatru") debate. It was these tensions that led to the demise of the Asatru Free Assembly in 1986 and the emergence of two separate movements, the Asatru Alliance and The Troth in the following year.

Odalism (a philosophy of Social Darwinism) and Wotanism (a racialist / neo-Nazi position held by e.g. David Lane) are two terms primarily focused on politics rather than religion. On his homepage, Varg Vikernes, one proponent of Odalism, explains his Understanding of 'Paganism' with explicit racist referencing.

When the FBI identified threats towards the domestic security of the USA related to the turn of the Millennium in 2000 in the Project Megiddo report, it stated that: "Without question, this initiative has revealed indicators of potential violent activity on the part of extremists in this country. Militias, adherents of racist belief systems such as Christian Identity and Odinism, and other radical domestic extremists are clearly focusing on the millennium as a time of action." Among other, the FBI lists Robert Jay Mathews as an Odinist in this report.

In the 2002 white supremacist terror plot Leo V. Felton and Erica Chase, a couple who claimed to belong to the Odinist White Order of Thule, were convicted of plotting to blow up landmarks associated with Jews and African-Americans.

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Goddess Hel

Hel is the Goddess of the underworld and death. She rules over the place of shadows, also called Hel, where the souls of common folk go upon death. Hel is daughter of Loki, queen of one of the realms of the dead, also called Hel. Hel (the goddess) is half livng flesh, fair to behold, and half decaying corpse. This is because she wears the two faces death has for humans, the fair and the terrifying. Hel (the realm) is the polar opposite of Valhalla in many ways. As Valhalla is the height of activity, Hel is the height of inertia, a dark, still, resting.

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Magical And Psychological Considerations Of The Oath

When we are professed in the Odinic Rite we take an oath. Let us just reflect for a minute or two on the inner implications of this.

As we all know, we can come a cross the kind of situation when we might make a promise that we cannot keep. This is part of the human condition. But an oath such as we take in the OR as a professed member is quite a different matter.

Although the OR as such is not a 'magical' organisation in the same sense as a coven or lodge it nevertheless does use a magical principle in oath taking. When, as sometimes happens, we don't get on with the people in the community we have joined and taken an oath with we are always at perfect liberty to leave. I have myself changed my religious affiliations mere than once.

What one just does not do after leaving is to stab former comrades in the back and seek to bring the community of which one was a member into disrepute by making accusations in the hope of gaining favour With Other people who hold different views or with the intent to gain financially. It seems obvious to me that if a person leaves a group and breaks an oath given then the next group which will have the privilege of admitting him to fellowship would be well advised to consider the likelihood that any oaths taken there will also be broken. Unless one 'takes a measure'

Even if the person to whom the oath was given has no malicious intent the mere fact that the oath has been taken on a magical level, and at that moment being meant sincerely (even supposing one has been drunk the first time round and the oath was therefore retaken), the breaking of the oath will automatically initiate an equal and opposite reaction that will result in the penalties which were invoked when the oath was taken. On a common psychological level the disastrous effect is that an oathbreaker will never be able to trust himself again.

Individuals should consider very carefully whether they really wish to be oath-bound. And perhaps a community such as the Odinic Rite should examine people more carefully before considering them for Profession.

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Yule Celebrations In Sweden

Yule or Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the Historical Germanic Peoples as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar. The festival was placed on December 25 when the Christian calendar (Julian calendar) was adopted. Some historians claim that the celebration is connected to the Wild Hunt or was influenced by Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival.

Terms with an etymological equivalent to “Yule” are still used in the Nordic Countries for the Christian Christmas, but also for other religious holidays of the season. In modern times this has gradually led to a more secular tradition under the same name as Christmas. Yule is also used to a lesser extent in English-speaking countries to refer to Christmas. Customs such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others stem from Yule. In modern times, Yule is observed as a cultural festival and also with religious rites by some Christians and by some Neopagans.

As in many other countries in northern Europe Jultomten brings presents on julafton (“Yule Eve”), December 24, the day generally thought of as the main jul day. Many Swedes watch Kalle Anka och hans vanner (lit. Donald Duck and his friends), a compilation of Disney shorts broadcast at 3pm.

Almost all Swedish families celebrate with a julbord, which traditionally includes julskinka (baked ham), sill (pickled herring), janssons frestelse, and a Collection of meatballs, sausages, meats and pates. The julbord is traditionally served with beer, julmust, mumma (a mix of beer, liquor and svagdricka) and snaps. The dishes vary throughout the country. Businesses invite staff to a julbord dinner or lunch in preceding weeks, and people go privately to restaurants offering julbord during December. Swedes also enjoy glogg (mulled wine with raisins and almonds). Gifts are distributed either by Jultomten (usually from a sack) or from under the Christmas tree. In older days a julbock (yule goat, still used in Finland called Joulupukki) was an alternative to Jultomten; now it is used as an ornament, ranging in size from 10 cm to huge constructions like the Gavle goat. The following day some people attend a julotta and even more venture to the movies, as December 25 is a day of big premieres.

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The Gods And Us

We weighed monotheism against polytheism, and found the arguments for a multitude of deities more convincing than the support for a single God such as that proposed in the Bible. We focused on one particular pantheon, that of ancient Europe, and considered the idea that these deities might have a reality outside of mythological lore and the human imagination.

But if we are going to assume that these divine powers are real, another question quickly becomes important: What is the Relationship between them and us?

With Bible-based religions, there is no doubt where you stand...or kneel, as the case may be. The Abrahamic religions, as we call Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, decree that humans are utterly nothing in the face of The Almighty. Human beings have rights and dignity only because God has given it to them; they have no innate worth aside from this gift. Nor can they earn such right or dignity - these are gifts given unconditionally to those who could never, ever actually deserve them.

The Bible makes an attempt to portray its God as a father, and humans as his sons and daughters, but what really comes through is the idea of God as a patriarchal and arbitrary dictator of the kind popular in the Middle East. Yahweh wipes out cities, slays the first born of Egypt, urges his chosen tribe to commit genocide against their neighbors, and annihilates all who will not give him his due. In the New Testament, this harsh picture is somewhat softened, and we are given the image of Jesus as a shepherd looking over his flock of sheep. This is not much better, since sheep are herded to and fro, sheared, sold and slaughtered as the shepherd wishes. When we want to portray passivity and submissiveness, what animal do we choose? The sheep, of course.

The Germanic peoples, on the other hand, looked to their Gods as their kin. The kings of the ancient tribes listed Wotan or Freyr, two of our Gods, as their forebears. In one myth, the God named Heimdal travels among humans, impregnating women and establishing the social order. The Holy Powers are thought of as the Elder Kin, and we men and women as the corresponding Younger Kin.

The idea that Gods and humans are two parts of a single family is one that carries implications. Most obviously, it means there is a reciprocation of loyalty and duty. This stands in stark contrast to the Biblical religions, where only one party - God - is owed anything at all.

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Yule Celebrations In Finland

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On the eve of the Finnish Joulu, children are visited by Joulupukki, a character similar to Santa Claus. The word Joulupukki means “Yule Goat” and probably derives from an old Finnish tradition where people called nuuttipukkis dressed in goat hides circulated in homes after Joulu, eating leftover food. Joulupukki visits people’s homes and rides a sleigh pulled by a number of reindeer. He knocks on the front door during Jouluaatto, rather than sneaking in through the chimney at night. When he comes in, his first words are usually “Onkos taalla kiltteja lapsia?“, “Are there (any) good (well-behaved) children here?”. Presents are given and opened immediately. He usually wears red, warm clothes and often carries a wooden walking stick. His workshop is in Korvatunturi, Lapland, Finland, rather than at the North Pole like Santa Claus, or in Greenland. He is married to Joulumuori (tr. Mother Yule).

Typical Finnish yule dishes include ham, various root vegetable casseroles, beetroot salad, gingerbread and star-shaped plum-filled pastries. Other traditions with a non-Christian yule background include joulukuusi (“Yule spruce”) and joulusauna (“yule sauna”).

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