Balder is Odin’s and Frigga’s son and is very wise. Known for his eloquence, friendliness, and handsomeness, he is also renowned as a great victor on the battlefield. For all these great attributes, the story of Balder is a sad one for his death shocks the Gods and he is greatly grieved by all creatures.
Baldur's name means "warrior" and he seems to have epitomized the best aspects of the warrior class. He is the most fair of aspect, the most beautiful god. He is one of the wisest and most eloquent, and none are able to pervert his judgements. He is friendly in nature, and no impure thing is able to enter his realm of Breidhablik. He is married to Nanna. He was killed by a plot of Loki's (as part of a deeper plot of Odin's to ensure the continuity of the world past Ragnarok) who guided the hand of a blind god to hurl at him the one weapon that could kill him. He was then forced to remain in Hel by another trick of Loki's. It is notable that Baldur goes to Hel and is then forced to remain there, for it is the one place that will be safe from the ravages of Ragnarok. Indeed, because of this the Voluspa tells us that after Ragnarok Baldur will return and take the dead Odin's place. Every treachery of Loki's ends up ultimately to the benefit of men and gods both, for this is Loki's nature. Because of this, and because Baldur goes to Hel rather than to his father's own realm of Valhalla, which would seem much more natural, most Asatruar see it as part of Odin's eternal struggle to stave off Ragnarok, and to preserve something through it, by sacrificing his own son for the benefit of all the worlds. (Some scholars thus try to see Baldur in a very Christ-like light, but this is error. The sacrifice is coincidental and has more to do with reincarnation doctrine than redemption.) And note: BALDUR IS NOT A SOLAR DEITY. There is a lot of misinformation floating around out there about this point, perpetrated mostly by scholars overly influenced by Frazer and his like who got "solar deity happy" and tried to see every male deity as a sun god. But Baldur's death and eventual return is clearly spoken of as part of a world-cycle, not a year-cycle.
Balder, attaining his full growth with marvelous rapidity, was admitted to the council of the Gods, and married Nanna (blossom), the daughter of Nip (bud), a beautiful and charming young goddess, with whom he lived in perfect unity and peace. He took up his abode in the palace of Breidablik, whose silver roof rested upon golden pillars, and whose purity was such that nothing common or unclean was ever allowed within its precincts.
The God of light was well versed in the science of runes which were carved on his tongue; he knew the various virtues of the simples, one of which, the camomile, was always called “Balder’s brow,” because its flower was just as immaculately pure as his forehead. The only thing hidden from Balder’s radiant eyes, at first, was the perception of his own ultimate fate.
“His own house
Breidablik, on whose columns Balder graved
The enchantments that recall the dead to life.
For wise he was, and many curious arts,
Postures of runes, and healing herbs he knew;
Unhappy! but that art he did not know,
To keep his own life safe, and see the sun.” - BALDER DEAD (Matthew Arnold)
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Vidar is Silent God. Also the god of the really big shoe. He is the son of Odin and the giantess Grid. He never speaks, and has a giant thick-soled shoe he got from his mother. This is made from the scraps that are discarded when humans make shoes and is continually being added to. The shoe is so that when Odin is killed by the Fenris wolf at Ragnarok Vidar can avenge his father by tearing the wolf's jaw off by bracing against it with the shoe. Thus all who love the Aesir must take care to discard scraps from shoe-making, rather than saving them for future use.
Odin once saw and fell in love with the beautiful Grid, who dwelt in a cave in the desert, and, wooing her, prevailed upon her to become his wife. The offspring of this union between Odin (mind) and Grid (matter) was a son as strong as taciturn, named Vidar, whom the ancients considered a personification of the primeval forest or of the imperishable forces of Nature.
As the Gods, through Heimdall, were intimately connected with the sea, they were also bound by close ties to the forests and Nature in general by Vidar, surnamed “The Silent,” who was destined to survive their destruction and rule over the regenerated earth. This God has his home in Landvidi (the wide land), a palace decorated with green boughs and fresh flowers, situated in the midst of an impenetrable primeval forest where reigns the deep silence and solitude which he loves.
“Grown over with shrubs
And with high grass
Is Vidar’s wide land.” - NORSE MYTHOLOGY (R. B. Anderson)
This old Scandinavian conception of the silent Vidar is very grand and poetical indeed, and was inspired by the rugged Northern scenery. “Who has ever wandered through such forests, in a length of many miles, in a boundless expanse, without a path, without a goal, amid their monstrous shadows, their sacred gloom, without being filled with deep reverence for the sublime greatness of Nature above all human agency, without feeling the grandeur of the idea which forms the basis of Vidar’s essence?”
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You know, it seems to us that people--especially those in the Wiccan/pagan community--don't understand the term that serves as the title of these thoughts. Religious freedom means that you have the one and only right and true path... for you. And it means that you are allowed to pursue the path of your choice without let or hindrance--so long as you obey the secular laws of the land.
It means as well (here's the corollary) that you do not have the right to criticize anyone else's path or to try to amend it. You've got freedom? They've got freedom. Yet we witness such leaning-on behavior ad nauseam; it seems to be a pervasive culturally-inflicted trait in luckless individuals whose minds have been twisted into knots. Leaning on other people is not a duty and it is not a right. Such a mindset is an intrinsic part of the duality attitude of ethnic monotheism. Black and white, good and evil, either/or, no gray scales, and (god forbid) no color. Yvonne sometimes wishes (vainly, of course) that freedom of religion could also mean freedom from religion.
In India there are literally thousands, if not millions, of gods and goddesses. A famous sage once said there are 330 million gods and goddesses in India because, given 1 billion Hindus, you can imagine that a few of them have overlapping ideas of "god". In other words, throughout the length, width, breadth, height of India there may be three people who share the same or a similar idea of what a god or a goddess is.
You can contrast this with Pakistan, where a Christian woman is due to be hanged next week for "insulting" the memory of Mohammed. She stepped out of bounds by criticizing someone else's high mucky-muck. Granted, hanging is a little severe; such an offense normally earns only a public whipping. In a state where true religious freedom reigns, she would not criticize somebody else's sacred icon but instead just follow her own path in perfect freedom. Of course her sentence of hanging offends our American standards and we decry such severity. By the way, in Pakistan there are almost ten percent Hindus and two percent Christians.
These thoughts apply to Wiccan/pagans because every day we hear of some new attack by one group on another group. God(ess) damn it, good people! Follow your own path. Take pleasure in it. Know it and know its natural follow-ons well enough to know why you follow it. Look at other paths and see whether there is anything you like--even if they do it differently. Whatever you do, don't criticize them. After all, they may be right... Another famous Hindu belief teaches, Everyone is right.
Regrettably India itself has been polluted by the disease of monotheism, so now you can find Shivites who criticize followers of Vishnu. In classical times this would never have happened because Shivites are polytheists. (Shiva has many varied aspects.) So if I say "Shiva is not the dancing god of creation and destruction..." in a presentation, and someone in the audience says, "Oh, no! He is." My response should be "That's right." Then there can be no argument.
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Another rune to add to the list of magical occult symbols is Tiwaz. This rune is the rune of the norse god Tyr and its main meaning is of Victory, conquest or battle.
"Image - As you can see from the image to the left the rune Tiwaz much represents a spear pointing up.."
It is said for magical use, people would carve the symbol on weapons such as swords, axes or spears. It is believed that it would improve accuracy, fighting ability and increase chance of victory.
HOW TO USE TIWAZ FOR MAGICAL USE?
As like with all runes, if used properly they bestow magical benefits on to the user. Using Tiwaz in jewely or in a tattoo's is a common way of drawing its power. Commonly in Modern Usage, the Tyr rune, Tiwaz is commonly used to symbolize veneration of the god Tyr.
POEM REFERENCING THE RUNE TIWAZ IN THE POETIC EDDA..
Winning-runes learn,
if thou longest to win,
And the runes on thy sword-hilt write,
Some on the furrow,
and some on the flat,
And twice shalt thou call on Tyr..
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"HEL" IS THE NORSE GODDESS OF THE DEAD AND THE UNDERWORLD. SHE IS THE YOUNGEST CHILD OF THE TRICKSTER, "LOKI", AND THE GIANTESS, "ANGRBODA". SHE CONTROLS THE SOULS OF THE WICKED AND THOSE WHO DIE OF SICKNESS OR OLD AGE. SHE IS USUALLY DESCRIBED AS A HORRIBLE HAG, WHO WALKS THE LINE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. HER FACE AND BODY ARE THOSE OF A LIVING WOMAN, BUT HER THIGHS AND LEGS ARE THOSE OF A CORPSE, MOTTLED AND MOLDERING.
THE GODS HAD ABDUCTED HEL AND HER BROTHERS FROM "ANGRBODA'S" HALL aND CAST HER IN THE UNDERWORLD. " ODIN," THE KING OF THE GODS, APPOINTED HER TO THE POSITION OF QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD. HER JOB IS TO NOT ONLY TO RULE THE UNDERWORLD, BUT ALSO TO JUDGE THE SOULS THAT COME TO HER. SHE RULES OVER LARGE MANSIONS AND OVER THE MANY SERVANTS IN HER REALM WHICH IS ALSO CALLED "HEL". THE GATES OF "HEL" ARE MASSIVE, AND THEY OPEN AND CLOSE AS THE DEAD APPROACH...SHUTTING BEHIND THOSE WHO PASS IT AND THOSE WHO WILL NOT OPEN TO LET THEM OUT AGAIN.
AS THE GODDESS OF DEATH AND QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD, SHE IS A CONSTANT FORCE IN OUR LIVES, LIFE-CHANGING AND NEVER-ENDING. HEL IS THE LEAVES THAT FALL FROM THE TREES IN AUTUMN.... THE GRANDMOTHER WHO GOES TO SLEEP AND NEVER WAKES UP. SHE OPENS HER ARMS TO US AT THE MOST CRUCIAL TIME IN OUR LIVES...SHE, THE FORCE BEHIND THE LIFE ALTERATIONS THAT SHIFT OUR WORLDVIEW. "HEL" ALLOWS US TO MOVE FORWARD IN OUR LIVES, LEAVING OLD, OUTWORN IDEAS AND CUSTOMS BEHIND. SHE IS THE IMPETUS AND THE REASON FOR TRANSFORMATION. IT IS HEL WHO THINS THE VEIL BETWEEN THE WORLDS.
"HEL" IS PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD AND MISINTERPRETED GODDESS ASPECTS IN HISTORY. SHE HAS BEEN GREATLY PERVERTED THROUGH THE YEARS BY PATRIARCHAL DOMINATION AND ULTIMATELY USED BY THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH AS A SCARE TACTIC TO FRIGHTEN THE MASSES INTO RIGHTEOUS ACTS. TO GET THE REAL STORY, WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE EARLY NORDIC PEOPLE AND LOOK THIS DEATH GODDESS IN THE FACE.
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You don't run into a lot of Asatruarar in the Pagan community these days. Well, actually you don't run into much here in the North East except shamanic Wiccans, but we'll let that stand for now. Asatru is the modern revival of the ancient German, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, and Icelandic Pagan religion. It's been around for almost as long as public Wicca, but it has grown at a much slower rate and is rarely seen interacting with the "normal" Pagan community.
The word Asatru comes from the roots "As" a God who is a member of the Aesir, and "tru" which is from the same root as true or troth and means loyalty. We are those persons who are loyal to the Aesir or more likely to the entire Norse pantheon. Some Norse Pagans will use the word "Odinist" to describe themselves, but in America the largest group using this term is a white supremacist front. The Asatru Free Assembly and now the Asatru Alliance have used Asatru to indicate that their members are those Norse Pagans who concentrate on the religious aspects of Norse Paganism rather than those who use it as a political tool.
Race is the one item which you will hear come up most in discussing Norse Paganism. The Nazi party was very strongly pagan oriented, not only using Germanic magickal symbols such as the swastika, but also using folk festivals and other items of pagan Germanic culture to unify their population. Some groups have continued this practice and use our religion as a front for political action. In addition "real" Asatru has largely been adopted by working class people in conservative areas of the country such as the south and southwest.
Just as many Wiccans, well educated and brought up in liberal areas, espouse progressive political ideas, many Asatruarar espouse conservative political ideas including a latent racism. (You might also want to note that a lot of Wiccans from similar backgrounds are also racist. The educated probably are as well, but they're good at hiding it.) At this point in the development of Asatru, race is an issue which sits in a very tightly lidded pot on the back of the stove. It's influence seems to be slowly lessening. As one person put it
"Adolf is out and the Eddas are in." The religion is the main focus and many Asatruarar, including myself, simply ignore the racists knowing where our own hearts are.
Race is hardly the only difference between the Wiccan community and the Asatruarar. The entire range of values is extremely different. I suppose I should apologize for lumping all the beliefs of the Wiccan community into one, but the fact that I would need to apologize says a lot about the differences between the two religions. Asatru has a certain set of values and beliefs and establishing and discussing what values are appropriate for Asatruarar is a common practice. This is not to say that there are rules to Asatru. Quite to the contrary, Asatru, like Wicca, believes in total human freedom. However, Asatru feels that freedom must be checked from within by a strong sense of values and personal honor. Wicca espouses a lack of beliefs and reliance on personal conscience. It is, in fact, taboo to discuss "Wiccan values." In practice Wiccans tend to mirror the values of the hippie counterculture. However, these values are social rather than theological. Asatru goes back to the Sagas and the Eddas to seek its values. What emerges is a philosophy very close to right wing libertarianism. Asatru posits strong men and women with a hard and fast code of honor who are free to affect the world around them without outside restrictions. Like the political philosophy of libertarianism this has the downside of abandoning those who are for one reason or another less able. The particular issue of where one persons freedom ends is one that has yet to be addressed by Wicca because the personal philosophies and liberal conscience of most Wiccanshave made the issue academic.
Theologically there are extreme differences between Asatru and Wicca. Most importantly Asatru is a form of classical age Indo-European votive religion, where Wicca is a private religion based on the shamanic and ecstatic practices of the pre-Indo-European peoples such as the Picts. It's not just Wicca done with Norse deities and a different form of circle. The entire method of "doing religion" is different. For example, a great deal has been written about "Pagan" religious practices such as trance, magick, etc. However, these are more appropriately the functions of a mystery religion. The original forms of Pagan religion had these aspects, but they existed within a greater system of religion, just as modern religions have inner orders such as monastic paths within an open Christian church. For example, the basic Asatru ritual involves pouring a "blot" as an offering to a God or Goddess. In essence it's not a real "exciting" ritual. There is little or no chanting or consciousness alteration. In many ways there is very little difference between the ritual and a mass in a mainstream church. You believe in this God or Goddess and you need their favor, so you pour some mead in their name.
That is not to say that there are not mystery religions or magickal practices within Asatru, but these are more properly paths within the whole of a religion rather than the main focus of a religion. Rune magick is a common practice in Asatru as is Seidhr, a Norse shamanic practice. However, these paths occur within the greater whole of Asatru and there are many people who merely attend the regular blots as they would attend church services in other religions. In fact, there are many people within Asatru who are distrustful and made nervous by the whole idea of magick!
One of the features of the classical age temple religions in contrast to Wicca is that we have a written mythology. There are a few pieces of written lore in Wicca such as the "Descent of the Goddess" and "The Charge" but they are few and far between. Asatru, thanks to the tolerant people of Iceland (which became a Christian country largely for trade reasons), has the most complete body of Pagan mythology outside of the Greco-Roman. This has both good and bad sides. A set of lore to look to can provide a great comfort. It gives you something to do on those long cold nights i.e. read it. However, there is also the temptation towards ossification and even Asatru has a few "Eddic Fundamentalists" who insist if it isn't in the Eddas, it isn't "correct." The differences in a path with a written mythology cannot be overestimated. It lends an entirely different flavor to the religion and has many effects which are not immediately noticeable.
Asatru is a religion which concentrates very strongly on a single path. Wicca has been applied to every pantheon and culture under the sun from Celtic to Santerian and many groups mix and match favorite deities from different mythos into a "pantheon" specific to their coven. On a purely utilitarian level, I would argue that if you work with a specific pantheon and cultural mythos you will get greater results because the symbol set matches completely. When using say Celtic and Greek deities together you need to make the choice as to whether you will use the three Celtic worlds of land, sea, and sky or whether to use the mediterranean four element system. In Asatru, you don't need to make these choices. It is a singular religion backed up by many written sources. The adherence to a singular cultural metaphor is very important to Asatruarar. There are boundaries on where our religion extends. This is one of the reasons that you don't find many Norse Pagans at mainstream gatherings. Many do not think that the Wiccan community has much to offer them. (Another large reason is hostility based on the assumption that all Norse types are automatically racist.)
There is a movement within Asatru to bring the movement closer to the mainstream Pagan community. One part of this is that there are now a sizeable number of Asatruarar who were once Wiccans and we have roots in the mainstream Pagan culture. Another important reason is the rapidly growing volume of poor quality "literature" being released by the mainstream occult press about Norse Paganism. Many of us would like to correct some of the stereotypes of Norse Pagans and make people aware that there is an alternative to Wicca with Norse deities. Right now the Pagan community is extremely mono-cultural. As Norse Pagans become more involved it will be a true test of "diversity" as many cherished but flawed stereotypes get smashed against the huge hodgepodge that is Paganism.
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Modern Heathens take great pride in personal independence, refusing to bow before distant authorities or divine masters. This is not surprising, many who follow Heathen practices do so out of personal choice full well knowing their decision will push them to the fringes of modern Western society. The choice to follow any polytheistic practice, in an age when monotheism is the norm, is a small yet fundamental act of rebellion. For whatever reason the initial decision is made those who continue on a path that guarantees social marginalization at best do so because their existential needs are not served by modern, conventional spirituality. This same spirit of defiance sounds out strongly in Heathen lore. The duty to resist oppressive circumstances is a powerful theme in Germanic Lore.To first understand the importance of resistance and rebellion one must first examine the cyclical nature of Germanic cosmology as presented in the Eddas. In the beginning of the sagas there was nothing but fire, ice, and a great void. One day the fire and ice boiled out into the gap, collided, and from the primordial void and chaos a new order emerged centered on Ymir. When Odin and His two brothers, Vili and Ve, struck down Ymir They used his body to create a new order where the Gods and humanity would flourish. Throughout the sagas They do battle with destructive giants and monsters like Fenris and the Midgard Serpent to keep Midgard and the Nine Worlds safe. In the Final Battle of Ragnarok the Gods take the field against their old foes one last time in spite of their pre-ordained doom. From the destruction of Ragnarok, as it was when fire and ice collided and Ymir fell, a new bright world will come from the ashes of the old.In each cycle of destruction and rebirth new, more prosperous worlds are built from the bones of the old ended in chaos and destruction. The new worlds are born because of an upset of the existing status quo. The great yawning void, which had existed for time unknown between the realms of fire and ice, had been the center of the existing order until the great elemental forces poured in and filled it. Ymir and the frost giants had lived in relative prosperity unchallenged until Buri's grandsons Odin, Vili, and Ve struck him down and used the body to create a new world(1). Ragnarok begins with a three year ice age ending with Surtr's immolation of the World Tree. Every great cosmic change is catalyzed by disruption of the existing order. These changes are used as the means to initiate greater, more meaningful transformation.Cosmic change does not come about for its own sake in the lore. While the lore is silent on the Gods' motives for slaying Ymir we can make some inferences from the lore. The primordial world in which the sons of Buri lived is described as extremely bleak. All that existed was Ymir, the cow Audumla who fed the giant, and a lot of salty ice(2). The new order built from Ymir's body is lush, fertile, and full of promise for the Gods, humans, and wights(3). Whatever the motive the end result was replacing the old, stagnant order with a new, more beneficial one for the Gods and the inhabitants of the Nine Worlds.
Beowulf's saga shows the same theme of liberation from oppressive circumstances. Following Grendel's first attack on the hall of Hereot the Ring-Danes did whatever they could to fight back and repel new attacks4. Conditions became quite grim:
"All were endangered; young and oldwere hunted down by that dark death-shadowwho lurked and swooped in the long nightson the misty moors; nobody knowswhere these reavers from hell roam on their errands."(5)In spite of all this they never stopped their war with Grendel, who "ruled in defiance of right"(6).When Beowulf left Geatland he did not come seeking wealth or riches but to volunteer for the battle with Grendel(7). He came with the blessing of the Geats(8) only requesting of Hrothgar that he do it himself with his men(9). The same theme re-asserts itself at the end of the saga when Beowulf, in the twilight of his years, personally seeks out and slays a dangerous dragon menacing his people at the cost of his own life.
The history of the people of the Old North is rich with stories of resistance and defiance of the mighty. The first and best examples come from the days when Rome ruled the world. In the first century AD Hermann of the Cherusci organized a coalition of tribes in defiance of Roman colonization of their lands. At Teutoburg Forest they destroyed the Roman army ending the first and only serious attempt by the Empire to conquer Germania. In the centuries that followed the Germanic tribes refused to let Rome rest fighting a series of bloody wars with the Empire. These were wars fought not by wealthy warrior-aristocrats or professional mercenaries but farmers, artisans, and merchants defending their homes and families. It is doubtful they had any serious hopes of destroying the Empire, a monolithic entity that cast a long shadow over the Rhine and Danube for centuries. What is clear is the fallout of the Empire's presence in the form of forced tribute, slave raids, punitive expeditions, and Rome's proxy wars reached a point where they could not be tolerated. In the face of deprivation, war, and slavery the Germanics consistently chose the risks of resistance over the certainty of submission.
The same defiance of oppression stands strong from the Empire's fall to the final Christianization of Scandinavia. Germanic tribes, facing conversion by force and coercion, refused to give up the old ways. With the exception of Iceland's conversion in 1000 AD every attempt to impose the Cross on the people was met with dogged, bloody resistance. From the Saxons' defiance of Charlemagne's invasion to Svolder when a coalition of Danes, Swedes, and Norse brought down the Christian tyrant Olaf Tryggvason and Stiklestad when an army of free common folk ambushed and slew the Christian king Olaf II the folk never gave up without a fight. When "conquered" they rebelled fiercely and often.
The message of resistance and rebellion is a powerful theme in the lore of the Northern world. When faced with oppressive conditions heroes, Gods, and ancestors alike pushed back, refusing to submit in the face of near-certain defeat. Many times when they made this fateful choice it was not with the certainty of victory behind them but as a challenge of impossible odds. Whether it is the Gods at Ragnarok, Beowulf facing the dragon, or the Cherusci at Teutoberg they chose defiance over submission and surrender.Also published at Ryan's Desk
1. Gylfaginning V, trans. by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur2. Gylfaginning VI3. Gylfaginning VIII-IX4. Beowulf 170-178, trans. by Seamus Heaney5. Beowulf 159-1636. Beowulf 1447. Beowful 194-2018. Beowulf 415-4189. Beowulf 431-432
