Atonement - The Norroena Society

With any form of legal structure, transgression must have some form of redemption. When one makes mistakes there must be some way to make up for what you have done. In our religion this involves direct action, and thus we must make amends to those we have harmed, including the Gods. This comes in the form of atonement, which typically involves some form of sacrifice. We see the greatest form of atonement in the slaying of Óðr in the Gesta Danorum of Saxo Grammaticus:

So, when Haddingr went back, he suffered all things after this one fashion, and his coming brought disquiet upon all peaceful places. For when he was at sea a mighty storm arose and destroyed his fleet in a great tempest: and when, a shipwrecked man, he sought entertainment, he found a sudden downfall of that house. Nor was there any cure for his trouble, ere he atoned by sacrifice for his crime, and was able to return into favor with heaven. For, in order to appease the deities, he sacrificed dusky victims to the god Freyr. This manner of propitiation by sacrifice he repeated as an annual feast, and left posterity to follow. This rite the Swedes call Frøblod (Freysblót, a part of the Vetrnætr).

Here, he has slain the Goddess Freyja’s husband and, therefore, must make amends. This becomes a sacred festival that we celebrate to this day, a part of the Vetrnætr. Atonement was such an important concept in our faith that Mímisbrunnr, one of the holy fountains of creation, is called Sónar Dreyri “Blood of Atonement.” Then Thietmar of Merseberg in his Chronicon bk. 1, ch. 17, states:

Eit unus in his partibus locus, caput istius regni, Ledenin nomine, in pago qui Selon dicitur, ubi poft VIIII, annos mense Ianuario pofi hoc tempus quo theophaniam domini celebramus, omnes convenerunt et ibi diis suismet LXXXX et VIIII homines et totidem equos, cum canibus et gallis pro accipitribus oblatis immolant, pro certo, ut praedixi, putantes, hos eisdem apud inferos fervituros et commissa crimina apud eosdem placaturos.

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There is a place in those regions which is the capital of the realm, called Lederun, in that part of the country which is called Selon where, every ninth year, in the month of January, somewhat later than our Christian Jóltide, they assemble together and sacrifice to their Gods 99 men and as many horses, dogs, and cocks or hawks, believing that these will be of service to them in the realm of the dead and atone for their misdeeds.

In the Hervarar Saga ch. 10 it states “And they would sacrifice a boar in the Sónarblót. On Jól Eve the Sónargǫltr (Atonement-Boar) was led into the hall before the king; then people laid their hands on its bristles and made vows.” This is reinforced in the Helgakviða Hjǫrvarðssonar where we see the same thing.

Dagr konungr varð illa við, er spǫrrinn kom eigi heim; gékk hann þá til sónarblóts til fréttar, ok fékk þau svǫr, at spǫrr hans var drepinn á Vǫrva. Síðan bauð hann út her miklum ok fór til Gotlands; en er hann kom á Vǫrva, gékk hann upp með her sinn ok herjaði: fólkit flýði víðs vegar undan.

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King Dagr was ill-pleased that the sparrow did not come home; and as he, in a Sónarblót (Atonement-Blót), inquired after the sparrow, he got the answer that it was killed at Varva. Thereupon he ordered a great army, and went to Gotland; and when he came to Varva he landed with his men and plundered, and the people fled away before him.

We are also told of the Sónargǫltr, or Atonement-Boar, which likely has some connection to the Sónarblót. We are told in Helgakviða Hjǫrvarðssonar that this boar was led through the host at Jól and that people laid hands upon it, perhaps as some form of blessing. In Hervarar Saga ch. 10 hands are placed upon the boar while making the oaths (heitstregningar). It may also be possible that the boar acted as some form of augury as well, such as with the dogs of the Risāla. Helgakviða Hjǫrvarðssonar prose 30-1:

Heðinn var heima með fǫður sínum, Hjǫrvarði konungi, í Nóregi. Heðinn fór einn saman heim ór skógi jólaaftan ok fann trollkonu. Sú reið vargi ok hafði orma at taumum ok bauð fylgð sína Heðni. “Nei,” sagði hann. Hon sagði: “Þess skaltu gjalda at bragarfulli.” Um kveldit óru heitstrengingar. Var fram leiddr sónargǫltr. Lǫgðu menn þar á hendr sínar ok strengðu menn þá heit at bragarfulli.

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Heðinn was at home with his father, King Hjǫrvarð, in Norway. Heðin was coming home alone from the forest one Jól-eve, and found a troll-woman; she rode on a wolf, and had snakes in place of a bridle. She asked Heðinn for his company. “Nay,” said he. She said, “Thou shalt pay for this at the Bragarfull.” That evening the heitstrengingar were taken; the Sónargǫltr was brought in, the men laid their hands thereon, and took their vows at the Bragarfull.

Then again in Vatnsdæla Saga ch. 17:

Ingimundur gekk inn í hofið fyrir og eigi finnur hann fyrr en Hrafn hleypur inn í hofið með sverðið. Ingimundur snerist við honum og mælti: “Eigi er það siður að bera vopn í hofið og muntu verða fyrir goða reiði og er slíkt ófært nema bætur komi fram.”

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Ingimundr went into the hof, and before he was aware of it Hrafn ran in with a sword. Ingimundr turned towards him and said, ‘ It is not the custom to bring weapons into the hof, and you will turn the wrath of the Gods against you; such a thing is impossible unless it is atoned for.

In Hávamál 144, Óðinn asks us the following:

Veistu, hvé rísta skal?

Veistu, hvé ráða skal?

Veistu, hvé fáa skal?

Veistu, hvé freista skal?

Veistu, hvé biðja skal?

Veistu, hvé blóta skal?

Veistu, hvé senda skal?

Veistu, hvé sóa skal?

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Do you know how to rist?

Do you know how to rede?

Do you know how to tint?

Do you know how to try?

Do you know how to pray?

Do you know how to Blót?

Do you know how to send?

Do you know how to atone?

Even the Gods are asked to offer atonement when they kill Gullveig, for at the time of her slaying she had married her daughter, Gerð, to Freyr and thus had bound herself to the Vanir through familial ties. Because of this, the Æsir are asked to atone for her death, which they refused to do because they were justified in her slaying. Even so, the idea that they would then be given charge to do so explains how important of a concept this is (Vǫluspá 23):

Þá gengu regin ǫll

á rǫkstóla,

ginnheilǫg goð,

ok um þat gættusk,

hvárt skyldu æsir

afráð gjalda

eða skyldu goðin ǫll

gildi eiga.

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Then all the Regin went

to judgment seats,

the high holy Gods,

and considered that,

whether the Æsir should

pay compensation

or all the Gods should

have pay.

From what we have seen above, the act of seeking atonement would entail performing sacrifice to the Gods, while at the same time physically making up for what you have done. You must right the balance of the social order, as well as the divine order. Failure to do so will work against you when you face the Helþing in the afterlife. This is a concept that spans throughout polytheist religions all over the world, and has been proven to be the cornerstone of our morality.

When one fails to seek atonement, or when one has gravely harmed another, public declarations of their infamy should be made, as our ancestors did. This would take place in the raising of the níðstǫng, which is called níðreisning:

He took in his hand a hazel-pole and went to a rocky eminence that looked inward to the mainland. Then he took a horse’s head and fixed it on the pole. After that, in solemn form of a curse, he thus spake: ’Here set I up a curse-pole, and this curse I turn on King Erikr and Queen Gunnhilda. (Here he turned the horse’s head landwards.) This curse I turn also on the guardian-spirits who dwell in this land, that they may all wander astray, nor reach or find their home till they have driven out of the land King Erikr and Gunnhilda.’ This spoken, he planted the pole down in a rift of the rock, and let it stand there. The horse’s head he turned inwards to the mainland; but on the pole he cut runes, expressing the whole form of curse.

It may be possible that this curse was thought to invoke certain deities that may exact revenge on one who has committed harm. In Greek lore these deities were the Erinyes or Furies, said in the Iliad to exact revenge on men for breaking their oaths, or pursue murderers and other criminals on Earth. Viktor Rydberg postulated a similar group of vengeful Goddesses, known as the Heiptir, who beat the heels of the damned along the paths towards the plains of punishment.1 Perhaps the notion is that to bring attention to the misdeed one could invoke the wrath of the Gods and either strip their protections, or send the lesser deities of vengeance and justice after them. In any case, rasing a níð-pole is a method of proclaiming dishonor towards one deserving of such.