THE TABLE IS SET: GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?
Visiting Gods at the Yuletide Table In old heathen times, the purpose of the Hearth Cult was not to invoke the wild nature spirits, but to welcome the gods who commanded such creatures. After a thorough study of her legends and her related forms, both Jacob Grimm and Erica Timm identified Frau Holla, Perchta, Berhte
ELVES ON THE SHELVES: GNOMES and MISNOMERS
The Nature and Purpose of the Germanic Hearth Cult Recently I have had opportunity to examine the primary evidence for the Germanic Hearth Cult, loosely defined as the regular rituals heathens of old practiced in their homes. The modern pagan concept of the Hearth Cult in recent years is based on the scholarship of Claude
SEIþR: JOTUN WITCHCRAFT AMONG THE GODS.
Our sources do not record how seiðr was practiced, so any modern book of seiðr practices is going to be the modern UPG of its author, regardless of who writes it. What we know of seiðr must be gleaned from the sources. In the Saga of Erik the Red, seiðr is accompanied by women singing
SKIDBLADNIR: WHEN YOUR SHIP COMES IN
Along with Thor’s hammer Mjöllnir, one of the magical artifacts created in the contest between the Sons of Ivaldi and the dwarf Sindri, was the ship Skidbladnir, given to Freyr. A ship may seem like an odd gift for the harvest god, until we remember that Freyr is the son of the wealthy sea god
It’s Elementary!
It’s Elementary! Know the difference between the Poetic Edda and Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda. The former is our primary source of information about the Norse gods and their mythology, the later is a secondary work of scholarship on the old heathen poems, written from and advocating the Roman Catholic Worldview and World History. Tacitus tells
The Creation of the World and The Primeval Age of Peace, our Epic Reconstructed – Part 1
I. THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. 1. Chaos. The World-Tree. Ginnungagap. This world had a beginning. There was a time when none of its elements existed. However in the empty abyss, three forces were at work: Cold, Heat, and Creative Power. These rose up out of three springs of unknown origin which, after Creation, took
EVIDENCE THAT DIETERICH “OF BERN” IS HADDING
EVIDENCE THAT DIETERICH “OF BERN” IS HADDING. THE DIETERICH SAGA THUS HAS ITS ORIGIN IN THE MYTH CONCERNING THE WAR BETWEEN MANNUS-HALFDAN’S SONS. The appearance of Hamal and the Amalians on Hadding’s side in the great world war becomes a certainty from the fact that we discover among the descendants of the continental Teutons
Odin’s Wife: Mother Earth
Odin’s wife Frigg, in her role as Baldur’s mother, clearly possesses characteristics of an earth goddess. She commands all earthly things do do her son no harm, and has their vættir swear oaths to that effect. She makes her home in Fensalir, the marsh-halls. And she lives on in German folklore as Frau Holle, a
The Face of The Earth
In Germanic sources, Mother Earth holds a prominent position. The evidence (as compiled in the previous chapters) is overwhelming. She is present from the beginning of the record. In Germania, chapter 2, Tacitus informs us that the Germanic tribes in common claim descent from an earth-born god. In chapter 40, he says that no less
SORCERY THE REVERSE OF THE SACRED RUNES. GULLVEIG-HEID, THE SOURCE OF SORCERY. THE MORAL DETERIORATION OF THE ORIGINAL MAN. ( Part 2 )
But already in the beginning of time, evil powers appear for the purpose of opposing and ruining the good influences from the world of gods upon mankind. Just as Heimdall, “the fast traveler,” proceeds from house to house, forming new ties in society and giving instruction in what is good and useful, thus we soon
