The Challenge Of Thor
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882)
I am the God Thor,
I am the War God,
I am the Thunderer!
Here in my Northland,
My fastness and fortress,
Reign I forever!
Here amid icebergs
Rule I the nations;
This is my hammer,
Miölner the mighty;
Giants and sorcerers
Cannot withstand it!
These are the gauntlets
Wherewith I wield it,
And hurl it afar off;
This is my girdle;
Whenever I brace it,
Strength is redoubled!
The light thou beholdest
Stream through the heavens,
In flashes of crimson,
Is but my red beard
Blown by the night-wind,
Affrighting the nations!
Jove is my brother;
Mine eyes are the lightning;
The wheels of my chariot
Roll in the thunder,
The blows of my hammer
Ring in the earthquake!
Force rules the world still,
Has ruled it, shall rule it;
Meekness is weakness,
Strength is triumphant,
Over the whole earth
Still is it Thor's Day!
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882)
I am the God Thor,
I am the War God,
I am the Thunderer!
Here in my Northland,
My fastness and fortress,
Reign I forever!
Here amid icebergs
Rule I the nations;
This is my hammer,
Miölner the mighty;
Giants and sorcerers
Cannot withstand it!
These are the gauntlets
Wherewith I wield it,
And hurl it afar off;
This is my girdle;
Whenever I brace it,
Strength is redoubled!
The light thou beholdest
Stream through the heavens,
In flashes of crimson,
Is but my red beard
Blown by the night-wind,
Affrighting the nations!
Jove is my brother;
Mine eyes are the lightning;
The wheels of my chariot
Roll in the thunder,
The blows of my hammer
Ring in the earthquake!
Force rules the world still,
Has ruled it, shall rule it;
Meekness is weakness,
Strength is triumphant,
Over the whole earth
Still is it Thor's Day!
Forwarded from ᛉ Sagnamaðr Stark ᛉ
The Hákonardrápa, a poem by Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld, refers to the earth as Odin’s wife, when describing Hákon Sigurðarson ruling over the land; a recurring theme in skaldic poetry.
It contains a few evocative kennings for Frigg/Jörð; the foliage-haired waiting wife of Þriði, and the broad-faced bride of Báleygr. Beautiful imagery.
6. “The swift receiver of the horse of the breeze draws under himself the foliage-haired waiting wife of Þriði by means of true words of swords.”
“Sannyrðum spenr sverða
snarr þiggjandi viggjar
barrhaddaða byrjar
biðkvôn und sik Þriðja.”
8. “The steerer of the Hrafnar of the harbour managed to allure to himself the broad-faced bride of Báleygr with sovereign speeches of swords.”
“Breiðleita gat brúði
Báleygs at sér teygja
stefnir stǫðvar Hrafna
stála ríkismôlum.”
Painting by Josephine Wall. 𐃏
It contains a few evocative kennings for Frigg/Jörð; the foliage-haired waiting wife of Þriði, and the broad-faced bride of Báleygr. Beautiful imagery.
6. “The swift receiver of the horse of the breeze draws under himself the foliage-haired waiting wife of Þriði by means of true words of swords.”
“Sannyrðum spenr sverða
snarr þiggjandi viggjar
barrhaddaða byrjar
biðkvôn und sik Þriðja.”
8. “The steerer of the Hrafnar of the harbour managed to allure to himself the broad-faced bride of Báleygr with sovereign speeches of swords.”
“Breiðleita gat brúði
Báleygs at sér teygja
stefnir stǫðvar Hrafna
stála ríkismôlum.”
Painting by Josephine Wall. 𐃏
Forwarded from The Wessex Nomad
New video.
In a very rural part of Essex is a church tucked away in a small village. Within this church there are several treasures with much mystery and myth behind them, including a face carving and several swastikas! Join me as I get special access to this church to film this special video.
https://youtu.be/s9GuBYYEbTs
In a very rural part of Essex is a church tucked away in a small village. Within this church there are several treasures with much mystery and myth behind them, including a face carving and several swastikas! Join me as I get special access to this church to film this special video.
https://youtu.be/s9GuBYYEbTs
YouTube
Investigating the Mysterious Wodan Carving in Great Canfield
In a very rural part of Essex is a church tucked away in a small village. Within this church there are several treasures with much mystery and myth behind them, including a face carving and several swastikas! Join me as I get special access to this church…
Some images to accompany Wessex Nomad's video on the Great Canfield church, Essex. The first shows a face along with two birds - likely to be Woden and his ravens. The second picture is a clearer view of the fylfots, again a symbol we associate with Woden. The last image shows a face and what appear to be two linked serpents. The serpent is once again a symbol we can associate with Woden.
Forwarded from ᛉ Sagnamaðr Stark ᛉ
A remnant of Ostara worship in Germany, recorded by Helene Guerber in 1895…
“In various parts of Germany, stone altars can still be seen, which are known as Easter-stones, because they were dedicated to the fair goddess Ostara. They were crowned with flowers by the young people, who danced gaily around them by the light of great bonfires, a species of popular games kept up until the middle of the present century, in spite of the priests' denunciations and of the repeatedly published edicts against them.”
Painting by Josephine Wall.
❁ᛉ❁
“In various parts of Germany, stone altars can still be seen, which are known as Easter-stones, because they were dedicated to the fair goddess Ostara. They were crowned with flowers by the young people, who danced gaily around them by the light of great bonfires, a species of popular games kept up until the middle of the present century, in spite of the priests' denunciations and of the repeatedly published edicts against them.”
Painting by Josephine Wall.
❁ᛉ❁
Einhard, in his book Vita Karoli Magni described that when Charlemagne defeated the heathen Saxons and converted them to Christianity, he gave new Germanic names to the Latin months of the year, including Ostarmanoth for April, which means the same as Eosturmōnaþ. This is where the German word Ostern is said to come from. Ostern is the plural of Ostara and means Easter. In 1835, Jacob Grimm proposed that the word Ostern must have derived from the goddess name Ostara, or as we call her Eostre.
There are Ostern customs which are likely to have pagan origins – the Osterrad and the Osterfeuer (Easter wheel and Easter fires) for example, but more famous is the rolling of burning wheels down the Osterberg at Lügde. The custom was witnessed by Charlemagne in 784, who according to legend approved the christianisation of the ritual.
Images - Osterrad from Dechenheim and a burning Easter wheel from Osterberg.
There are Ostern customs which are likely to have pagan origins – the Osterrad and the Osterfeuer (Easter wheel and Easter fires) for example, but more famous is the rolling of burning wheels down the Osterberg at Lügde. The custom was witnessed by Charlemagne in 784, who according to legend approved the christianisation of the ritual.
Images - Osterrad from Dechenheim and a burning Easter wheel from Osterberg.
This is the Coat of Arms of the Lower Saxony village of Woltershausen, Germany. The figure is clearly Woden and legend claims he haunted an ancient road between Winzenburg and Hildesheim called the Rennstieg which run just north of the village Woltershausen. Locals called him the Wodansreiter (Woden rider) and he was known to be able to change his form into a raven and a ghost who inhabited the nearby castle of Hödecken.
Forwarded from ᛉ Sagnamaðr Stark ᛉ
The 7th Century Reiterstein stone from Hornhausen, Saxony-Anhalt, appears to depict the rider wearing a mask-or perhaps a full-face helmet, like unto the Sutton Hoo helmet and Broa helmet. It may have been a more widespread style.
The Reiterstein is dated to the 7th century and was found in a field which contained over sixty graves. These are thought to be the burials of heathen Saxons who fought the christian Franks around 531.
This widely recognised Anglo-Saxon pendant shows the face of Woden, but is formed from the shapes of two ravens. It was found in Ousden (OE for Valley of the Owls) West Suffolk in England. The impressive embroidery of the same design is by Alva Weaves.
J M Kemble, in his 1876 book The Saxons in England suggests the name Hacleberend for Woden. Hacle from the word Hackle was a style of cloak and Hacleberend means the cloak-bearer. In the Story of Norna-Gest (Nornagests þáttr) a man with a spear and green cloak is described as a heklumaðrinn (the cloaked man). This heklumaðr (man in the cloak) is later revealed to be Woden himself.
Art - Odin, Huginn and Muninn by Loïc Canavaggia
Art - Odin, Huginn and Muninn by Loïc Canavaggia
The goddess Freya is married to Óðr (perhaps a name used by Odin) who himself is a wanderer. In Óðr’s absence Freya cries tears of amber. Her necklace Brísingamen (OE Brosings-men) is also said to be made from amber, itself symbolic of ‘fire made solid’. Freya and Óðr have two daughters, Hnoss and Gersemi and their names link back to Freya’s tears and the jewels she collects as Hnoss means ‘ornament’ and Gersemi means ‘treasure’ (OE gærsum).
A Saxon Song
-Victoria Sackville-West (9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962)
Tools with the comely names,
Mattock and scythe and spade,
Couth and bitter as flames,
Clean, and bowed in the blade,--
A man and his tools make a man and his trade.
Breadth of the English shires,
Hummock and kame and mead,
Tang of the reeking byres,
Land of the English breed,--
A man and his land make a man and his creed.
Leisurely flocks and herds,
Cool-eyed cattle that come
Mildly to wonted words,
Swine that in orchards roam,--
A man and his beasts make a man and his home.
Children sturdy and flaxen
Shouting in brotherly strife,
Like the land they are Saxon,
Sons of a man and his wife,--
For a man and his loves make a man and his life.
-Victoria Sackville-West (9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962)
Tools with the comely names,
Mattock and scythe and spade,
Couth and bitter as flames,
Clean, and bowed in the blade,--
A man and his tools make a man and his trade.
Breadth of the English shires,
Hummock and kame and mead,
Tang of the reeking byres,
Land of the English breed,--
A man and his land make a man and his creed.
Leisurely flocks and herds,
Cool-eyed cattle that come
Mildly to wonted words,
Swine that in orchards roam,--
A man and his beasts make a man and his home.
Children sturdy and flaxen
Shouting in brotherly strife,
Like the land they are Saxon,
Sons of a man and his wife,--
For a man and his loves make a man and his life.