#ulfheðnar

[illustratus]

Sorcerers by Nicholas Roerich

[hedendom]

Vargöld is a graphic novel by Thor Arnors, Jon Pall and Andri which features Norse Mythology, Vikings and the old customs.

Featured artwork includes the murder of Ymir by Odin, Vili and Ve, Yggdrasil and the nine realms, gungnir, Thor, the hall of the einherjar, an ulfhedinn and a ship burial tradition.

Ragnarök, the end of the gods, is approaching and knowing this Odinn sets out to change their destiny, at any cost, bringing about an age of terror and conflict – the wolf age.

[hedendom]

I'll bite—what other animal cults were involved in hamask? And if the boars were to Freyr and the wolves to Odin, to whom went the bears, do we know?

Hello queenofswords and thank you for the question. If you bite then please not too hard.

The evolution of Germanic warrior cults is sparsely documented and there is much conflicted or unclear information. There has been much lengthy academic debate on some aspects also but I will do my best to present the options here. Some of the concepts are simply that and should not be taken as facts.

The first generation of Germanic warriors of which we have concrete evidence are the Harii, who were mentioned by Tacitus in the 1st Century CE. His description gives us many connections to what we know of other religious warrior cults:“As for the Harii, quite apart from their strength, which exceeds that of the other tribes I have just listed, they pander to their innate savagery by skill and timing: with black shields and painted bodies, they choose dark nights to fight, and by means of terror and shadow of a ghostly army they cause panic, since no enemy can bear a sight so unexpected and hellish; in every battle the eyes are the first to be conquered.”Lindlow states of the Harii that "many scholars think there may be basis for the myth in an ancient Odin cult, which would be centered on young warriors who entered into an ecstatic relationship with Odin". Scholars have also proposed that the Harii would become the archetype of the Viking concept of the einherjar that are discussed in Norse Mythology and also that the Harii are the early embodiment of The Wild Hunt. You must remember that the Harii predate their possible berserker descendants by roughly 800 years.

Tacitus wrote of the Aestii (on the Baltic) who spoke a language more like British than Suebic, and who worshipped the Mother of the gods (Freyja?), that their warriorswear, “as an emblem of this cult, the device of a wild boar, which stands them instead of armour or human protection and gives the worshipper a sense of securityeven among his enemies”. 

Also mentioned by Tacitus where a Germanic tribe known as the Chatii who lived in what is now Germany. They were documented as late as 723 by St. Boniface. It has been suggested that the Chatii warriors wore the skins of European big cats such as the Eurasian Lynx although nothing exists to connect that to a religious cult or any specific deity.

The Suebi are the first Germanic tribe with links to the (relatively) more modern Old Norse sources and runestones. Sváfa (whose name means “Suebian”) was a Valkyrie who appears in the eddic poem Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar. The kingdom Sváfaland also appears in this poem and in the Þiðrekssaga. Scholars have linked the Suebi warriors to birds and the connection holds with the imagery of Valkyrie as birds too.

Finally we arrive at the Viking Age and the berserkers, which etymologically consists of ber (bear) and serker (skinor cloth). However, Snorri, and his successors well into the nineteenth century,confused ‘ber’ with ‘berr’, that is, naked. From this they concluded wrongly thatthe warriors went to battle without chainmail. Instead, they should have been perceived as warriors, whose fylgja were bears, fightingin its guise, but not necessarily wearing bear fur/coats. In Old Norse literature theberserker is described as the most feared of all warriors, and they are mentioned alongwith ulfheðnar as Odin’s warriors. It is often seen as being an animal more connected to the Saami and Finland, but also very closely associated to shamanism, including animal transformations. Bear claws in Norwegian graves from the MigrationPeriod are interpreted as symbolic expressions of ‘hamskifte’ (shedding or moulting your body like an animal) related to shamanistic characteristics of an Odin cult. Scholar Hilda Ellis-Davidson draws a parallel between berserkers and the mention by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII (AD 905–959) in his book De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae (“Book of Ceremonies of the Byzantine court”) of a “Gothic Dance” performed by members of his Varangian Guard (Norse warriors working in the service of the Byzantine Empire), who took part wearing animal skins and masks: she believes this may have been connected with berserker rites.

The Úlfhéðnar are fairly well documented, with strong archeological evidence and also seem to be rather well attested throughout the historic sources as warriors dedicated to Odin. Úlfhéðnar actually translates as “wolf hood” rather than “shirt” or similar, which is interesting.

Lotte Hedeagar has a great book called “Iron Age Myth and Materiality” with several chapters dedicated to themes of human/animal merging in Viking Age people and specifically warrior cults. Mentioned and documented there are wolf, wild boar, stag and raven/eagle being attached to military gear. Several archeological finds depict warriors as half-man, half-boar such as the one below from Vendel, Sweden:

In that book she goes into great detail about the links between Boar warriors and Freyr/Freyja. There is also a very interesting paragraph where she discusses the way in which the animal invoked would define the manner in which a warrior fights:

The wolf warrior, bear warrior and wild boar warrior represent three differentforms of combat, symbolised by the three animal species. The bear represents thesolitary, independent and majestic figure with huge power and noble conduct thatnevertheless can in a fury destroy everything and everybody in its surroundings.The wolf, however, always fights as part of a pack with strong solidarity. It is sly andbloodthirsty. Thus berserk and ulfheðnar represent two different ways of fighting inthe Viking Age and Late Iron Age. The berserk is the individualistic warrior whosereputation was created through his impressive courage and ability to fight. At thesame time he should never attack an un-armed or powerless enemy. Thus theberserk is seen in contrast to the ulfheðnar, the Viking warrior group par excellence who attacked in force to plunder and destroy. Whereas the bear was a nobleenemy, the wolf was cruel and sly. In addition there was the wild boar, associatedwith devastating power and savagery. Svínfylking is the name for warriors in awedge formation with one person in front, after that two, then three, etc… whichmeans in a formation corresponding to the shape of a boar’s snout. In Old Norseliterature the wild boar hamr seems mostly attached to the act of protection.

Finally, we reach the most recent example, the “trollaukin” which means to be possessed by trolls or spirits. It was a state that was mentioned as recently as the 19th Century in rulebooks for wrestling as a banned practice. It is not fully known what it meant to be “possessed by trolls/spirits”. It could be that after Christianisation that the Norse pantheon were considered demons, devils or other supernatural spirits/trolls and that invoking those deities might be considered as invoking trolls or spirits. Maybe it is a more modern update where those trolls or spirits still hold religious status (such as in folk belief) and the invocation was used to become augmented by these trolls, often seen as forces of nature by this time and descendants of the ancient Jotnar of Norse Mythology.

While my answer is far from exhaustive, I am aware that it has gotten quite lengthy so I hope that answers your question satisfactorily.Til års og fred.

Bibliography

Lindow, John (2001). Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs.

Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend.

Simek, Rudolf (2007). Dictionary of Northern Mythology.

Peterson, Lena. (2002). Nordiskt runnamnslexikon, at Institutet för språk och folkminnen.

Hedeager, Lotte. (2012) Iron Age Myth and Materiality

Ellis-Davidson, Hilda R. (1967) Pagan Scandinavia