#hedendom

[hedendom]

Kulturhistorisk museum in Oslo hosted an exhibit named “Fabulous Animals”, exploring the connection between humans and animals in the period from the Iron Age to the Viking Age, through archaeological finds.

I hope you will enjoy some photographs of some of the exhibits.

Til års og fred

[thorsvinur]

I was asked in response to my earlier post about my focus on Þórr, in this case vs Óðinn but I imagine it can apply to most any comparison.

It's partially based on history and partially based on personal experiences. Starting with history, Þórr was very much popular amongst the general population, and in a lot of ways it seems that while the political and military elite favored Óðinn for obvious reasons, outside of that it was Þórr (and Freyr) who tended to occupy the high spot in worship. In Adam of Bremen's description of the Temple of Uppsala, it's Þórr whose statue occupies the central and most prominent position with Óðinn and Freyr flanking him.

Using theonymic place names (I don't remember if that's the totally correct term) to help fill in the gaps, Þórr also seems to be widely popular in terms of places named after him while Óðinn is more popular in certain areas, especially in Denmark iirc, but that kinda makes sense as well since the martial aspect of the culture was more prominent and a lot of power consolidation was occurring there. Same with spots in Norway. Meanwhile, Iceland has a total or near total absence of place names containing Óðinn as an element, but they were also more conservative and resistant to the sort of power consolidation that was going on in the mainland areas, and remained more democratic. This also lends credence to Óðinn's increased popularity amongst nobility and military elite.

Beyond that, runic inscriptions such as ᚦᚢᚱ᛫ᚢᛁᚴᛁ (Þórr vigi, Thor bless/protect) in a number of places and his function as a consecrator, hallower, etc suggest that he was pretty well regarded as a protector and guardian figure. Terry Gunnell's Pantheon? What Pantheon? article also shows how he may have been worshiped as a sort of all-purpose god. It also suggests that the average person may have only really had one or a small handful of gods whom they normally worshiped, and that worship of a larger pantheon or family of gods was likely reserved for major gatherings where people from a variety of backgrounds were in attendance, such as the blót at Uppsala described by Adam of Bremen.

On a personal level, I simply feel a lot closer to Þórr than I ever really have to Óðinn. My hobbies and interests, while sometimes venturing into Óðinn's territory such as poetry, galdr, etc.; tend to be more in line with what feels like Þórr's area such as smithing (I feel no connection at all to Völundr), brewing, etc. Plus he's always had more of a "highly respected friend" feel to him, at least to me personally. I don't really know that I'd call my self a henotheist, there are a couple of other deities with whom I feel a closeness and to whom I do give offerings and prayers on occasion, but I'm not far off from it. At least for major deities; I do give offerings to my house and land spirits as well, but that's on a separate level.

And this isn't to say that I straight up don't like Óðinn or that I feel it stupid or incorrect to worship him (although I won't say that he isn't often a dick); absolutely not. It's just not what I've come to feel is really right for me. But that's also kind of the beauty here. While there are certain things that are pretty solidly central and important to Old Norse religion or religious systems, there's no real mandate on whom one has to worship, and as more research is done there's more evidence suggesting that this sort of variety was more commonplace historically than has previously been thought.

Okay, I can kinda see why Tumblr was cutting me off there.

[thorraborinn]

Hello my friend. Might I pick your brain if you do not mind? I have read several theories regarding stanza 24 of Lokasenna when Loke says of Odin: “draptu á vétt sem vǫlor” “You struck/beat on vétt like a sorceress” In your own opinion, do you consider it likely that vétt refers to a drum

Sorry for taking long to respond, I wanted to make sure I had time to read this paper by Clive Tolley in its entirety: https://www.academia.edu/26659214/The_hunting_of_the_v%C3%A9tt_in_search_of_the_Old_Norse_shamanic_drum

I highly recommend this paper for anyone interested in the subject, and I find myself in agreement with Tolley that definitive conclusions are impossible but that we can balance probabilities. It seems to me that, of all the speculations, the most likely (or perhaps, least unlikely) is that the vétt was a term for an object that in some ways resembled a drum but which was otherwise used primarily for some other mundane purpose, especially one which was expected to be performed by a woman.

For anyone who doesn’t click through (I recommend at least skimming it, it is a very dense paper but organized well), Tolley describes and compares a Scottish folk tradition of using the wecht, a winnowing drum, an implement for separating grain from chaff. Importantly, winnowing drums have in fact been used as drums to make music (see: riddle drum), but folk traditions that incorporate them into divination do not make use of them as musical instruments, and based on the examples cited in the article are pertinent especially to young women.

I got an ask a few weeks ago about drumming in Old Norse culture which I still haven’t responded to, because there is surprisingly little evidence for it in general and I have had little material to create a response from. They do have some terminology for drums which suggests familiarity with it, but most sources that refer to drums or drumming are translations and/or are set in distant places. Exceptions to this, like one mention in Göngu-Hrólfs saga, are written very late, and is mentioned specifically to magnify the opulence of the affair in which they appear along with many explicitly foreign objects.

I do think it’s possible that the word refers specifically to a Sámi drum, and I think it’s more likely that, in that case, the foreignness of the object is an important part of Loki’s characterization of Óðinn in this stanza. One reason I hold out this possibility is that I have found no mention of Sámi drums in all the instances of bumba or trumba, the normal Norse words for drums. While it’s reasonable to believe that Norse authors might not have mentioned Sámi drums, it seems impossible to me that they would have been unaware of their existence. However, I do not think that the use of the word in the poem is evidence that Norse people had their own tradition of using drums for ritual purposes like the Sámi.

I hope this rather noncommittal answer is helpful.

[incorrectedda]

*record scratch* *freeze frame* Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.

Þórr, arriving to marry Þrymr, probably.

[titibaka-artist]

Valkyrie amulet.

[treesaremygods]

Somewhere in Denmark, April 2018 | Jægerspris, Sjælland | No wolves in these wannabe woods. Denmark now has an officially registered movement called “Wolf-free Denmark”. We live in sad, sad times where there’s less and less space for wilderness -- both in our shrinking forests and in people’s minds. Does human hubris and egoism know any limit?

[hedendom]

Whispers Of Yggdrasil

Robin Hoods Bay, England (5/2/21)

[thorsvinur]

🔥To those starting Yule celebrations tonight or tomorrow, gleðilig jól!🔥

I tend to celebrate personally starting at this time and then with my living history group in mid-January going by the Old Norse time reckoning (around the full moon after the first new moon following the solstice). Having two rounds of Yule isn't the worst thing. 😉