A handout for our April 2013 meeting:
Theories, Speculation, UPG, and Modern Worship
Alternate Versions of Baldr’s Death:
Though Snorri’s account with blind Hoðr being tricked by Loki into hurling the fatal mistletoe at Baldr is the most widely-known version of the death of Baldr, Saxo Grammaticus tells a different story in Book 3 of the Gesta Danorum. Continue reading
A handout for our March 2013 meeting:
The poem appears in its entirety in Codex Regius, and most of it (1-27) can also be found in AM 748 I 4to (a fragmentary manuscript from ca. 1300 best known for having the only extant text of Baldrs draumar). It is in the second manuscript that the poem is called Skirnismal; in Codex Regius, it is called For Skirnis (Skirnir’s Journey).
The handout for our January 2013 discussion:
Literature:
(Compiled primarily from Arlea Anshutz’s Skadhi Page at http://www.wyrdwords.vispa.com/goddesses/skadhi/index.html
Skaldskaparmal 3
Skadi, daughter of giant Thiassi, took helmet and mail-coat and all weapons of war and went to Asgard to avenge her father. But the Æsir offered her atonement and compensation, the first item of which was to choose herself a husband out of the Æsir and choose by the feet and see nothing else of them. Then she saw one person’s feet that were exceptionally beautiful and said: Continue reading
A handout for our October 2012 meeting
The Norse Valkyrie
Etymology and Function:
The word valkyrie (or valkyrja) has a relatively simple meaning: chooser of the slain, from valr, “battlefield slain/corpses” and kjosa, “to choose or select.” The Old English wælkyrce can also mean “raven,” and in East Frisia walruderske means “nightmare or witch” (Nasstrom 112). Because of the etymology of the word, scholars like Simek and Nasstrom believe the valkyries were probably originally very dark figures (Simek calls them “demons of the dead” 349) who represented the horrors and cruelty of warfare; they may have been seen as ravens or birds of prey not unlike the Irish Morrigan and Badb. Hrafnsmal (attributed to Thorbjorn Hornklofi ca. 900, likely the oldest surviving skaldic poem mentioning valkyries) features a dialog between a valkyrie and a raven in which the raven describes in graphic terms the battle it witnessed; though there is a contrast created in the poem between the appearance of the fair, white-necked valkyrie and the black, gore-covered raven, the poet also establishes a strong connection in nature and shared interest between the two figures. The dark, horrible nature of valkyries may be seen later in poems such as Darraðarljoð, in which valkyries weave a tapestry using weapons and human body parts, and Voluspa and Hrafnagaldr Oðins, in which the valkyries seem to appear in advance of, and perhaps yearn for, the great slaughter at the Ragnarok. Continue reading
Darraðarljoð
Darraðarljoð is a skaldic poem preserved in Brennu-Njals saga. The name given the poem is derived from the repeated phrase “vefr darraðar,” which means “web of spears (or banners).” Though the saga connects the poem to the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, scholars such as Russell Poole have pointed out that there are some discrepancies between the poem and what is known of the battle and have suggested that the poem was originally tied to the Battle of Confey in 917. Nasstrom suggests that Dorruð’s looking through the window into the dyngja may parallel other instances of looking through special portals to have a supernatural vision, as in the slave girl’s vision in Ibn Fadlan’s funeral account. She also believes that the poem may have been intended as a battle hymn with the last stanza a signal to attack. Continue reading
The handout for our discussion of the norns, September 2012
Three From the Hall Beneath the Tree?
While the norns do not appear as characters in the sagas, they are mentioned a number of times in poetry. Some verses that may be helpful to understanding them include the following:
Hallfreðar saga vandræðaskalds (The Saga of Hallfred Troublesome-poet) 6
Hallfred Ottarson, following his conversion, composes a number of verses, including this one:
Continue reading
The handout for our May 2012 discussion.
Some Interpretations of Hyndluljoð
The Manuscript:
The earliest form of Hyndluljoð is found in the Flateyjarbok (“Flat-island book”), a medieval Icelandic manuscript written near the end of the 14th century. The Flateyjarbok was given to Bishop Brynjolfur Sveinsson by Jon Finnsson of Flatey in the middle of the 17th century; the bishop gave it to the king of Denmark, and the book became part of the Royal Library of Copenhagen until it was returned to Iceland in 1971 along with Codex Regius. In addition to Hyndluljoð, the book contains many other sagas and tales, including some not found elsewhere, such as the Groenlendinga Saga (Saga of the Greenlanders) and Sorla Thattr, best known as the source for the ever-popular story of Freyja’s acquisition of the Brisingamen. Continue reading
The handout for our March 2012 meeting.
Celebrating Eostre
Literature:
Bede (The Reckoning of Time 15, Wallis trans.): “Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated “Paschal month”, and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.” Continue reading
Recommended Heathen Reading
(borrowing heavily from Gróa’s Top Nine Heathen Books)
The handout for our discussion of Ullr, November 2011
Updated May, 2013, with thanks to Niklas of Enkoping, Sweden for suggestions about the Lunda figurines and Ullr’s wife.
Approaching Ullr
Literature:
Grimnismal (Dronke translation): Continue reading