Heimdall – Skef ( Sceaf )
When the primordial worlds have been formed, the Gods have sprung into existence, and mankind has been created. Midgard becomes populated and the destiny of our people is firmly established by the powerful Norns. However, there is still a somewhat savage state of existence, when our ancestors lived as nomads and hunter-gatherers, used stone tools, and did not have fixed communities or a proper means of recording the lore.
They only worshipped the Gods that had created them: namely Odin, Hoenir, and Lodur, and were thus needing a full education on the entire family of divinities that are connected to us as a folk.
For this reason Heimdall, God of the sacred fire (which would become the hearth-fire, for his name means ‘Home-Light’), was chosen to travel to Skandia (modern day Skåne) and teach the mortals how to build a culture. So, he was given a drink from each of the sacred fountains to empower him with the creative elements and inspire him for his task.
Heimdall then traveled across the sea in a self-propelled boat to bring the Odinic faith and spirituality to our lands (Fire/Water/Spirit). The people of Aurvangaland (another name of Skåne) found him in the form of a child surrounded by the implements he would use to teach them the many skills he came to offer, sleeping on a sheaf of grain that would be the first to produce agriculture. Because of this, they gave the child the name Skef.
Heimdall-Skef grew up among the people of Aurvangaland and taught them all manner of arts and skills. He taught them how “to plow and bake, to craft and forge, spin and weave” (XX. 8).
He showed them how to domesticate animals for their labors and to establish fixed homes and communities, and within their homes the hearth fires would always burn in honor of Heimdall’s contribution to our folk. He also instructed them in the art of the runes, which would be utilized in reading, writing, and recording histories and stories of the Gods. These sacred symbols would also be used as spiritual devices in prayer, meditation, chanting, and soothsaying.
“He instructed the humans in the decrees of the Norns for an honest life, taught them what true freedom is, and how the people ought to live in love, in order to win blessings from the Gods” (XX. 11).
From these lessons came the law, the establishment of the Thing, and the philosophy on living as an Odinist/Asatruar, which the lore calls Aefinrunes ‘Runes of Eternity’ and Aldrunes ‘Runes of Earthly Life.’ From this came the doctrine that makes our faith what it is today, even though it has certainly evolved over the centuries, and rightly so. However, no matter how the face of traditions may change over time, the core inner-wisdom, the ‘Eternal Runes,’ will always remain the same.
Odisbook: The Book of Odr
