Völk❤️ 🇩🇪🇳🇴🇺🇸

dms open to kultur und politikgespräch

[fraucherylthestrange]

Þessi Ek segja til þú

Þat mælti mín móðir,

at mér skyldi kaupafley ok fagrar árar,

fara á brott með víkingum,

standa upp í stafni,

stýra dýrum knerri,

halda svá til hafnar,

hǫggva mann ok annan,

hǫggva mann ok annan.

[vintagegermany]

Dortmund 1910/20

[norseminuteman]

Shieldmaiden. 

[fraucherylthestrange]

I had a student ask me about shieldmaidens recently and argue with me when I explained that it's unlikely they existed as we know them.

To be clear, "shieldmaidens" as a concept only exists in stories and myths, most of which come centuries after the age of Vikings. These stories, like that of Hervör or Lathgertha, were written through a Christian perspective of women, which often serve as cautionary tales for why women shouldn't go to battle or challenge traditional gender roles.

We have little to no archaeological evidence, barring some rare exceptions, that Viking women went into battle with the army. But I think, the concept of the "shieldmaiden" overshadows the fact that Viking women were leaders and landowners in the absence of the men. It's not unlikely that some, or even many, were skilled in fighting, perhaps inspired by the many warrior women that are found in Old Norse myths.

Strength, bravery, and honour were major values for these cultures, but those values can present themselves in many ways, which we see throughout the story cycles in the Poetic Edda and Codex Regius.

I could go on, I have a whole rant in me, but I just needed to get this off my chest.

[vintagegermany]

Bamberg, Germany 1900/20

[dungeonhunter1963-deactivated20]

[fraucherylthestrange]

Winteranfang

As Jul season approaches, I become very nostalgic. I often remember an exerpt from an early Welsh poem:

Mis Rhagfyr, byrddydd, hirnos,

brain yn egin, brwyn yn rhos,

tawel gwenyn ac eos,

trin yn niwedd kyfeddnos;

December, short days, long nights,

ravens amongst young plants, rushes on heathland,

Even bees and nightingales are silent,

the end to the night's celebration;

-Englynion y Misoedd

[fraucherylthestrange]

I know the Norse wedding post is months old, but I do want you to talk about Norse wedding traditions, actually :)

YES THANK YOU!

Traditional Norse wedding traditions are actually not terribly different from more modern wedding traditions!

They typically featured an exchange ceremony and a feast. Marriage was seen a little more practically at the time, being a coming together of two different families or tribes. That's not to say vikings didn't marry for love, but historically marriage was as much a sociopolitical move as it was a romantic ceremony (sometimes it still is today, to be fair).

Before the wedding there would be a bachelor/bachelorette party-like event, where the bride and groom spend time away from each other with their family and friends. Guys with the groom, ladies with thr bride. By the end, the bride was to remove her kransen, which is like a small wreath, and save it for her future daughter.

The ring ceremonies were typically accompanied by an exchanging of swords, the husbands sword was symbolic of their future son who would take up the sword while the wife's represented the protection and strength of her father in this new union.

Traditionally, weddings took place on Friday, or Frigg's Day. I think it makes sense to want your wedding on Freya's day, if you want your marriage to be successful.

During the ceremony, the gods would be evoked to give blessing and protection to the newly wed and their families. Thor and Odin are referenced a lot in wedding ceremony texts.

After the exchanging ceremony, it's time to eat!

Everyone would have come together to make this feast as bountiful as possible for the celebration. The feast wasn't just celebratory but also symbolic. Resource scarcity was a common threat to the viking way of life, so the bounty served as a true honor to the bride and groom.

Now there are some traditions that are NOT like modern weddings, like the small council who are elected to escort the couple to their marital bed and confirm the consumation of the marriage. That was an important rite of confirmation, but definitely a little discomforting to me 😅.

There's also a sacrifice made to the gods during the ceremony, typically a goat. I don't know about you, at least, but my wedding didn't feature a goat sacrifice. Modern pagans who practice this tradition, usually sacrifice something symbolic and spiritually meaningful.

A braclet, of sorts, fashined from silver or other metals is created to replace the bride's kransen and represents her commitment to her husband. This is kind of what a ring represents in modern marriage, but in the nordic tradition this was in addition to the ring.

This was a very quick rundown of some basic traditions, and there was a lot I left out, but I'm SO happy someone wanted to know more. I'm happy to get into more specifics, or talk about differences in Norse pagan tribe rituals if you want me to get VERY nerdy 🥰

[geoazie]

Aesthetic of the languages on earth : Dutch

Dutch is a Germanic language spoken by 30 million people over Netherlands and the Flanders. It is an official language in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname.

[fraucherylthestrange]

Hwǣr cwōm mearg? 

Hwǣr cwōm mago?     

Hwǣr cwōm māþþumgyfa?

Hwǣr cwōm symbla gesetu?     

Hwǣr sindon seledrēamas?

- The Wanderer

[fraucherylthestrange]

Heathen Goals

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Important qualifier

[fraucherylthestrange]

The European Capital of Culture, Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren

[fraucherylthestrange]

Assorted Collection of Some Adorable Human Beings in Love

[that-bluesybitch]

[fraucherylthestrange]

Fun Fact: The invading Danes settled a part of the British Isles, referred to as Danelaw. It's called that because the Danes established a set of laws that kept peace between the Anglo-Saxons and their Viking neighbors. Many modern day Brits in the Danelaw region can trace their bloodline back to the Danes 🤣

[thefugitivesaint]

Carl Huth, ‘Die Walpurgisnacht’, “Über Land und Meer”, Vol. 31, #29, 1874 Source

[my-minor-heaven]

[fraucherylthestrange]

Less than a week til Walpurgisnacht

[hasdrubal-gisco]

Stealing this from twitter but I liked the concept: put in the tags where were your 8 great-grandparents from (given modern borders) ?

[fraucherylthestrange]

An den anonymen Depp, der diese dumme Nachricht in meinem Posteingang hinterlassen hat: Vielleicht sollten Sie lernen mit wem Sie sprechen bevor Sie Scheiße erzählen.