Vor Siður - Ásatrú

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(via fuckyeahnorsemythology, syxx)

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Bræður munu berjast og að bönum verðast, munu systrungar sifjum spilla. Hart er í heimi, hórdómur mikill, skeggjöld, skálmöld, skildir klofnar, vindöld, vargöld áður veröld steypist Mun enginn maður öðrum þyrma.

Brother shall strike brother and both fall, Parents shall defile their kin; Evil be on earth, an age of adultery, Axe time, sword time, Of split shields,  A wind-age, a wolf-age till the world caves in; No man shall show mercy to another. The first sign of Ragnarök appears in Gylfaginning in Prose Edda where it tells from a winter called Fimbulvetur. Then snow appears from all directions, biting frost and windy and next three winters stay this way so many battles are fought.  Giants and demons approaching from all points of the compass will attack the gods, who will meet them and face death like heroes. The sun will be darkened, the stars will vanish, and the earth will sink into the sea. Afterward, the earth will rise again, the innocent Baldur will return from the dead, and the hosts of the just will live in a hall roofed with gold.

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Ragnarök

Ragnarök is end of the world in norse mythology and means “the gods fate”  The main sources for Ragnarök is the Poetic Edda, Völuspá and Vafþrúðnismál.  The word Ragnarök means literally judgment of the gods, or the gods fate. The word Ragnarök is related to the words Rögn which means God(pagan god), and rök which means an end, or something to be decided (to end).  Bræður munu berjast og að bönum verðast, munu systrungar sifjum spilla. Hart er í heimi, hórdómur mikill, skeggjöld, skálmöld, skildir klofnar, vindöld, vargöld áður veröld steypist Mun enginn maður öðrum þyrma. Brother shall strike brother and both fall, Parents shall defile their kin; Evil be on earth, an age of adultery, Axe time, sword time, Of split shields,  A wind-age, a wolf-age till the world caves in; No man shall show mercy to another. The first sign of Ragnarök appears in Gylfaginning in Prose Edda where it tells from a winter called Fimbulvetur. Then snow appears from all directions, biting frost and windy and next three winters stay this way so many battles are fought.  Giants and demons approaching from all points of the compass will attack the gods, who will meet them and face death like heroes. The sun will be darkened, the stars will vanish, and the earth will sink into the sea. Afterward, the earth will rise again, the innocent Baldur will return from the dead, and the hosts of the just will live in a hall roofed with gold. The photo is of Fortíð’s album number three. A good fellow of mine wrote three albums with all the poems from Völuspá, and this album is about the fall of the ages. This song contains the lyrics above 

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Sleipnir - Odin's horse.  The name Sleipnir means the one who run's fast or simply the runner. In Old icelandic/norse Gammvakur. That means the horse is powerful and even hard for the rider to make the horse relax. Interesting is, the name Sleipnir is still used today for many horses. I bought this horse couple of years ago from a farmer and its name was Sleipnir. Of course I didn't change his name. His name quite suits his personality. He is really fast and powerful. More photos here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/ulfynja/

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Northern lights are so beautiful. This photo is taken in Jökulsárlón, Iceland.  Freyja had a lot of responsibility. She helped with childbirth, the seasons, cats, Seers, war, death, magic, prophecy and love, holding a Venus like quality. As much as Freyja had a softer quality, loving beautiful flower arrangements and romantic music, she also was the Goddess of War and Death. When she rode into battle with the Valkyries, their armor would flicker with light, which became known as the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights.

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Idun by Arthur Rackham

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“Then they all laughed except for Tyr,” Snorri writes. “He lost his hand.”

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Odin saying his last goodbyes at Baldurs funeral

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Freyja and her cats

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Torfbær The Icelandic turf houses were the product of a difficult climate, offering superior insulation compared to buildings solely made of wood or stone, and the relative difficulty in obtaining other construction materials in sufficient quantities. It was the main house architecture  in Iceland from the 9th century to the 19th century. Some of them were still in use well into the 20th century, and today there are still Icelanders that were born and raised in turf houses, my grandfather being one of them.

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Ölur eg varð, varð ofurölvi að ins fróða Fjalars. Því er öldur best að aftur um heimtir hver sitt geð gumi.

Hávamál poem nr 14 Drunk was I then, I was over drunk in that crafty Jötun's court. But best is an ale feast when man is able to call back his wits at once. I think this is quite funny poem. It is about when Óðinn got drunk at Fjalar’s place and probably got hung over as hell. Hávamál teach you to drink responsibly, but the positive about beer/mead is that you will get sober eventually. 

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Snorralaug (Snorri's pond) This is Snorri Sturluson's personal hot tub. It is kinda possible to say that this were the hot tub in the viking time. Snorri probably went there bathing and relaxing in between when he wrote Poetic edda and other amazing sagas.  It is absolutely forbidden to go into this pond today, but I must admit I did it one drunken night with friends.

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Ásbyrgi It have been living in the Icelandic folklore that this canyon was formed when Odin's eight-legged horse, Sleipnir touched one of its feet to the ground here, as you can see the horseshoe shape. Legend also relates that the canyon is the capital city of the "hidden people" (huldufólk), who live in cracks within the surrounding cliffs. This place is in north of Iceland and is one of most beautiful places here. Evertime I go there I feel so strong pagan nature feeling. More pictures here : http://www.extremeiceland.is/en/photoalbum/category/6-asbyrgi

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Hávamál

Hávamál means the "words of the high" and is a name for total 164 poems. All of these poems are supposed to be told from Óðinn (Hávi : Óðinn.) These poems have probably been made by many men over some period, but those poems have only survived as whole in one book written in Iceland, Konungsbók (Codex Regius.) Hávamál is noticable for being a guideline in life. The first part is called Gestaþáttur (guest part). It is about a man who arrives at a unnamed farm. He have travelled far away and is cold and hungry and knocks on the door. In a return for their hospitality he tells the farmers wisdom. He teaches them how to react in many situations in life, how they should behave around friends and foes and at home and away from home. He recommends disciplinarity with drinking, and that you should be aware of themselves, be careful what they say to others and to not believe everything that other says. The poems are often set up for have the wisdom in the first part and then in the second part is the explanation for that, but sometimes it is the other way around. Even though Hávamál is supposed to be told from Óðinn it does not contain religious rules. Never it is told of any punishments or a better afterlife if you follow those guidelines. It is only for this world, cause the moral of the poems are that your life is precious to you and you dont want to screw up. Every man should be happy and enjoy life till he dies. Your life should never be so bad that it is not worth living it. Number 71. Haltur ríður hrossi, hjörð rekur handarvanur, daufur vegur og dugir. Blindur er betri en brenndur sé: Nýtur manngi nás. The lame can ride horse, the handless drive cattle, the deaf one can fight and prevail, 'tis happier for the blind than for him on the bale-fire, but no man hath care for a corpse. The moral of this poem is that even if you are badly handicapped, you can always be for use for others and your life is always worth living it and you can always be happy if you know how to live it right. What I find specially interesting with this poem is that this is the first Icelandic reference for handicapped person.

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This is the opening poem of the Poetic Edda, chanted in a style influenced by rímur tradition by Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, allsherjargoði (very roughly translated as "high priest") of Iceland's Ásatrúarfélagið (Æsir Faith Fellowship) from 1972-1993. Völuspá (Prophecy of the Seeress) is one of the major sources for Norse mythology. It tells of the creation of the world, of the wars of the Norse gods, of the creation of humanity and the destruction of the world at Ragnarök (Doom of the Powers).

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Óðinn sitting on his throne Hliðskjálf, with his two ravens; Huginn and Muninn, and his two wolfs; Geri and Freki.