Muspelheim @muspelheim71 - Tumblr Blog

On our way back home from Denmark we visited Haithabu (Danish: Hedeby). An important settlement of Danish and Swedish Vikings. The city is considered the early medieval city in northern Europe and was an important hub for long-distance trade between the Baltic states, Scandinavia and Western Europe. It was founded around 770 and last destroyed in 1066.

#denmark #vikings #hedeby #haithabu #germany

Today we visited the in Ribe. Ribe is not only the oldest town in Denmark, but also the oldest in all of Scandinavia. Ribe was founded in 710 AD as a marketplace of Frisians and Normans.

Ribe Vikingecenter is located 2km further south and is an open-air museum. It has a large number of volunteers, who live in complex as Vikings.

#odin #wodan #netherlands #óðinn #wōden #asatru #ribe #denmark

Today we visited the city of Odense. Odense is one of the oldest cities in Denmark; it celebrated its 1000th anniversary in 1988. The name Odense comes from the Old Norse Óðins vé, which means Odinstempel. Óðins vé does not necessarily refer to a building, but to a sacred place or cult area.

We don’t know exactly where it was.

The oldest settlement of Odense was around the river Odense Å. The sanctuary was probably located in or near that early center

It is therefore thought that the place was near the current cathedral of Knud, as was often the case at that time; the new religion built its churches on or next to existing places of worship.

In the Middle Ages, the cathedral of Sint-Knud was a frequented place for pilgrims. Four kings are buried in the church, including the church’s namesake.

Knud was king of Denmark from 1080 until 1086. He was slain during a revolt before the altar.

Because of this and his advocacy of the Church, Knud quickly began to be considered a saint. Under the reign of Olaf, Denmark suffered from crop failure, which was seen as divine retribution for the sacrilegious killing Knud. Miracles were soon reported as taking place at his grave and his canonization was already being sought during the reign of Olaf. He was the first Dane to be canonized.

Interesting connections between Odin and Knud you will find in this video:

https://youtu.be/ZHz1XmmmIbY?

#odin #wodan #asatru #óðinn #wōden #knud #canute #Odense

Today I visited the Glavendrup stone on the island of Funen in Denmark with friends. The runestone dates from the early 10th century and it contains Denmark's longest runic inscription and ends in a curse.

The runestone forms the end of a stone ship. The text on it refers to a gothi, who was the priest of a vé here. When we arrived at the vé, I asked permission to enter the sacred space. A raven answered and flew above our heads. We took it as a favorable sign. We walked three times around the stone and scattered some dried flowers from our homeland (The Netherlands) as offerings.

I asked the gods present at this vé to bless my mjölnir for protection and I will wear it as a constant reminder of this day.

#odin #wodan #asatru #netherlands #nornir #wōden #þórr #runestone #denmark #funen #fyn

Winter solstice was coming and Sunna is going to be ours again!

when-november-ends

"i asked ChatGPT", "i asked Grok", well i asked Odin and he raised an eyebrow at me and told me to figure it out myself

Made a Madhubani style drawing of a certain one-eyed god and his wife.

A bit of me and a bit of AI

#odin #wodan #wōden

A small burial mound and a flock of sheep near Midlaren, The Netherlands

I visited Zweel today. There is an old church there that was build on the foundation of a pagan temple or place of sacrifice (source: zweelerkerk.nl). The church was built on the foundations of its predecessor, a wooden church from the 12th century, which was built on its predecessor from probably the 8 or 9th century. According to historiography, the existance of a few farms and a church were recorded in the 10th century.

At the entrance is a devil's grid; an iron grid that was used to guide, count or deter game or cattle, and sometimes also to prevent people or the supernatural from entering certain sacred or delimited areas in pre-Christian times.

In pagan cultures, such grids could also have a symbolic or ritual function. For example, they marked the transition to a sacred place, such as a place of worship, a cemetery or an area where gods or nature spirits were worshipped. Due to their unusual shape or placement, they could also serve as a boundary between the world of the living and that of the spirits or gods. Sometimes they were associated with magical practices, such as warding off evil forces or protecting livestock and crops.

With the advent of Christianity, these grids received a new, Christian explanation: they were meant to stop or catch the devil. (see also: Heidense Heiligdommen, Judith Schuyf, p. 278).

The use of such a grid is another indication for the existance of an older sacred temple.

The stone in front of the entrance of the church served as a sacrificial stone in earlier times, so the church explains. A local guide explained: “At the time the church was built, it was mandatory to build the church on foundations of pagan temples or places of sacrifice”. Originally, the sacrificial stone was under the choir, but when it was restored in 1929, it was deposited at its current location.

King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands

#koning #king willem alexander #frankish #latin #manuscript #the netherlands

Roman goddesses Ceres and Diana in the garden of Château Nijenhuis in Heino, the Netherlands

#castle #château #manor #netherlands #roman goddess #ceres #diana

Yesterday I visited the Externsteine near Detmold in Germany. A distinctive sandstone rock formation located in the Teutoburg forest. A very long drive from our home.

The Externsteine are by some identified as a sacred site of Germanic tribes, and the possible location of the Irminsul reportedly destroyed by Charlemagne. There is a round hole on top of the most upper stone, that maybe supports the idea of an inserted pillar on top; the Axis Mundi.

At the east of the Höhenkammer is an apse with a circular window and an altar. It has been noted that the sun shines directly through this window at sunrise at summer solstice (Wolfhard Schlosser / Jan Cierny. Sterne und Steine. Eine praktische Astronomie der Vorzeit (German). Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. Darmstadt. 1996. p.93-95).

Archaeological excavations have yielded some Paleolithic stone tools dating to about 10,700 BC from 9,600 BC. Beneath a rock overhang arrow heads and blades were found. Evidence of fire sites was also found.

Nearby is also the "Hermann Memorial" or Hermannsdenkmal to commemorate the Cherusci war chief Arminius (in German: Hermann) and his victory over the Romans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD. Experts say the battle itself took place many kilometers to the north-west. The statue is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Germany with over half a million visitors a year.

During thunderstorms the prominence of the statue causes it to be frequently struck by lightning. The Blitzortungnetwork of lightning detectors recorded 234 strikes per year on or near the statue.

#irminsul #externsteine #germany #pagan #germanic #saxon #odin #arminius #roman empire #teutoburger wald #yggdrasil

Today I visited three small prehistoric burial mounds near Gieten. I have no idea whether these have been investigated, but similar mounds in the area were investigated in 1948; one mound even appeared to have been thrown up three times during the Bronze Age (three times between 2000-1200 BC).

They are located in a forest that you can reach via an unnamed dirt road from Varik. A little further is a larger mound.

#netherlands #tumulus #Gieten #bronze age

Visited Hunebed D16 today between Balloo and Loon. D16 is one of the larger hunebeds. It stands a few hundred metres to the north of a nature reserve.

The hunebed can be reached by a sandy path. It is more or less complete and has a portal and ringstones.

In the vicinity of this dolmen a probable settlement of the Funnel Beaker Culture has been found. The finds can be seen in the Drents Museum in Assen. Celtic fields (raatakkers) have been found on nearby nature reserve and there are several burial mounds.

A Celtic field is a small, more or less rectangular, contiguous field that was used from the Late Bronze Age to Roman times as an agricultural system for growing primitive grains such as emmer and spelt. The fields themselves are not related to the Celtic culture.

#dolmen #netherlands #hunebed #D16 #funnel beaker