an odinist anthology

8/15/2019 An Odinist Anthology

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1IH

ODINIST

INTHOLOGY


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AN ODINIST ANTHOLOGY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

......................................

hy ASatr;? -

..................

ow Chr is t ian i t y Come to Northern Europe

6

Sme od in is t Va lu e s ............................ . . 1 3

..............................

ietzsche and Odlnim 14

...................................

n I n di v id u a li t y 8

..................................

n Human Eff ort 19

....................................

etageneti~s 21

'Fate i n Asatru by Edred Thorsson

. . * -2

i s a t r i : One Man's Reason by A J Dll lon-Davis . . . . . . . . 2 9

.............................

din: God i n Cr is is 33

...............................

he Ho ne r of Thor 36

The Vanir Hi st or ic al Background

. - 3

Frey

...........................................

41

Freya .......................................... 3

....................................

erthus/NJord 44

S c a n d i n ~ ~ i a l ~unes

...............................

4 6

.....................

unecast by Jeffrey

R e

Redmnd

eligion and Relevance ..... 54

TheNewNoose .................................... 6

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Womans Place by Al i ce Rhoades

-5

Totalltarianlsm by George Saunders

..

. . 0.61

...........................

he

i s a t r i ~ r e e s s e m b ~ ~ -6

.....................

ecomnended Reading fo r Od in is ts 66

m p g e s t o n e ....................................

7


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PREFACE

PRELU E

WHY

ASATRU

T h i s anthology represents some of the contents of THE

RUNESTONE

over a span of more than ten Years, from issu e

number two almost to the Prese nt. During th is decade-long

his tory of pub1 1cat ion, THE

RUNESTONE

and the organization

which 1

t

represents underwent a mu1

t i

tude of changes, becom-

ing more so~histicated,broader i n perspective, and more

pol ished

i n

Presentation

w i t h

the Passage of

time,

Hopefully

the reader will be able to trace this evolution.

This c o l l ~ c t i o ~s designed to Provide the Person new

to Odinisml, or Asatru, w ith something beyond the s i n l e

lea fle ts which may have been his or her introduction to the

re1 igion. I t i s by vo means comprehensive, b u t

i t

will give

the st ude nt of Asatru a wealth of information which w i l l make

i t

ea si er to Proceed on to oth er source s of g rea ter depth and

c o m l e x i t ~ . I n

this

respect

It

f i l l s a gap which has long

been an irritant to new asat ruarar2,

The articles have been edited for gramnotical and

typogra~hicalerrors, and i n some cases they have been

tightened upn

by

deletion of irrelevancies, b u t the flavor

of the orig inal has been kept blemishes and a l l . Our be-

ginnings were humle, to say the lea st, and the fi r s t funb-

l i n g a t t w t s to Present our world-view seem a li t t le p i t i -

able from today's standpoint,

B u t every venture has to begin

somewhere, and we have come a long, long way from those ea rl y

a t t emt s t o p u t thoughts to Paper, T h i s slim volume

is

pre-

sented

i n

the firm be1 ief tha t

gut

Jgurney has barely begun,

and that THE RUNESTONE and the Asatru Free Assembly w i l l

attain heights which today cannot even be seen because of

the clouds which obscure the s m i t of a cc on l ishment.

I would like to thank the authors of these selections

for th eir support, along w i t h Prudence, flo dd~, and Ari el.

I t cou ldn' t have been done without

them.

S

e ~ h e n McNal

1

en

Denaic California 1982

This i s a reworked vers ion of the or i g ina l f ly er we wrote to promote Asatru .

in one form or another since the early 1970s. and st i l l con stitute s a good ov

subject hence i t s choice as the f i rs t se lect ion i n our anthology.

For thousands of years our ancestors surged across land and sea i

conquest, trad e, and explor atio n t ha t has come down in sto ry and i

s t i r our imaginations even today. The Vikings took Part

i n

this

the relat ed Germanic tri bes on the European continent. We the ir

whether Scandinavian, Engl

ish

German, Dutch, Frank1sh, or relate

draw upon these

mighty

forefathers for our inspiration today.

Courage, vi tal ity , and love of freedom are our sp iri tua l b

US

examine tpat iqherl tance, as e x m l f led i n our an ces tra l re1 i

Odinism;

or esat ru.

Asatru places an exceptionally h igh value on hunan freedom

viduality, This applies b o t h i n worldly and i n spiritual matters

strong that we honor our deiti es, b u t do not grovel before them.

gods and goddesses ar e models, inspi rdt ions, self-aware person if

forc es of Nature and even frie nds , but never are they our maste

slaves, W do not b o w bef ore them when we cal l on them, nor do w

human sovere ignty to them, W do not beg from them, sa cr if ic in g

handout, I t i s t rue that Odin, our h i g h god, is called All Fat

does not imply inferiority or submissiveness on our part.

Among

ples3 and i n Germanic society generally, defiance and strength of

sidered favorable traits i n children, for they indicated a C O P

responsibili t y and independence. So 1

t

is petwep us and our go

The family

is

one of the pil la rs of Asatru, BY tradition

always been devoted to their family, clan or extended

family,

an

organic social forms are as imortant as ever.

This is not mere

is a guarantee of lib er ty, Where the family and its natural ext

functio ning Properly, the power of competing en ti ti es , such as th

be limited. Where they are nonexistent or crippled, al l wwer g

State

by

default,

and freedom dies.

W beli eve

i n

the efficac y of

human

action,

By

heroic ac

take your life i n your hands and be the master of your sou l. Yo

pawn

of hi st or ic al for ces , condermed to whine about being barn i

never made . Fate, t he

momentum

of past events, is something YO


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Courage i s one of the more cons~ icuou sNorthern v i tues. We of isatrl ;

are taught to tr ai n ourselves i n courage - the courage to face an enemy i n bat-

tle, to ri sk a1 1 to do what i s right , to defend our be1 efs, and to be uncomro-

mising with ourselves.

Freedom, family, and tri be would not lon g ex is t without

courage. I t is a Part of a str inge nt code of conduct, o f honor, perm it t ing no

sh irk ing of one's duties, no oathbreaking, and no ignoble acts,

Needless to say, a l l these values are under ass aul t today. The economic

slave masters, the beha viori sts, the gene tic engineers who would remove our

asgressiveness, the follower 8 o f slave sods, a l l who preach the grey glo bal

monoculture these cannot tole ra te the existe nce of the fr ee man and woman, the

unchained ones, because the comparison shows th e i r weakness. There i s a con-

certed effo rt underway to p ul l

down

the fre e ways o f our ancestors and replace

them wit h a combination of the sheep fl oc k and the an th il l, Now more than ever,

we need a return to our natural fai th, the rel j9i onl of our ancestors,

So much for the socia l

im li ca t i on s o f Asatru. What do Odinists believe

about the supernatural,

an a ft er 1 fe, and othe r usual re1 giou s concerns? We

are supported by modem physics and by ~a r a ~ sy ch o lo g ~hen we sta te tha t the re

are oth er worlds o f bei ng than our own, and our gods J , as surely as you,

o r

I

Our dei tie s are several, each concerned wit h a di ff er en t aspect of the

univers e. Odin i s Father of the Gods, god o f wisdom and poe try and magic, Thor

i s the stalwart f r i end of the farmer, the freeholder, the warrior, and to i l er .

Frey governs growth,

JOY,

and Pros~ er iy Balde r ep i omizes courage tempered

wi th goodness.

But a rel igi on without a goddess i s halfway to atheism, Frigga i s the

wi fe of Odin and mother of the gods.

Freya is the beaut i fu l l i fe-g iver , the

eternal feminine,

Nerthu s i s our be loved Mother Earth, whom we seek to he al of

he r wounds,

The Germanic concept of an af te rl i f e i s fu l l y consistent with our other

beli efs. Those who l i v e worthy li ve s go to the realm o f the gods, Asgard, af te r

death, Evild oers and oathbreakers are sent to a Place of et er na l gloom, cold,

and fog. There'is also a persi stent tra dit io n of reincarnat ion with in the

family l in e i n Asatru,

Tragic al y, the forced conversion o f the Germanic Qeoples to Ch ris tia ni

y

resul ted in the loss of much of the anc ient re l ig ious be l iefs and ~ra c t i ce s ,

What survived, however, was su ff ic ie nt to ensure that the sp lr i ual essence o f

Odinism would be ava i ab le t o modern man, For those who Dossess the necessa ry

courage, devotion, and

w

11, the ?o ss igi l i

y

of achiev ing di r ec t contac t

w

h

the sp ir it ua l forces inherent i n Asatru remains viable . For others, a genuine

but lesser degree of conta ct wit h these wellspring s o f wisdom and

possible.

Our fa it h i s Practiced i n numerous ways. We celeb rate the

equinoxes5 as par t of the endless cycle o f the year, and we observ

phases of the noon. There are other sp ecial days i n which we hono

goddesses or remember gre at pe rsonages now gone on to the Othe r W

us must pra ctic e alone, but where possib le we organize to ca rry ou

monies and to promote fe l lowshi p among our b roth ers and sis te rs no

the i r r igh t fu l t r ib e, Our organizat ional s t ruc ture cons ists of a

archy, wit h each congregation or "kindred" lar ge ly autonomous. Th

tem i s designed to maximize those values of freedom and sel f-r eli an

hold so dear.

Basically, though, our rel i gi on Is a matter of everyday l i f

i nco rmra t e

i t

in to everyt hing we do. Every time w dis pla y coura

against tyranny and bureaucracy, are h os ~l ta bl e o guests, o r help

environment, we are performing a rel i gio us act. Our grow a ct iv it

exp lora tion and adventure, ind ivi dua l expression, and comnunion w

sp ir i tu al forces, Loyalty and brotherhood m n g members i s recog

supreme virtue. W st ri ve always to lmld our characters so as to

our ki n6 and our gods,

The pre ser vat ion of our freedoms, and the continuance of ou

mands a retur n to our nat ive re1 sio n. We cannot offer you a 1 fe

ease, W do of fe r you a chance to grow in courage, se lf -r el lance,

W do of fe r an opportunity t o grow closer to nature i n the pract ic

ol d ri tu al s of our ancestors, to celebrate the progress of the se

take of th e essence of our people. We of fe r you a chance to f ig h

na l str ug gl e between the fr ee and the slave, between those

who

w

1 fe on t hi s pl ane t and those who would destroy

i t

I f t h i s s t r i k

siv e chord i n your soul,

i f

th is i s more im orta nt than haying J

gion as a crutch

-

jo in us i n the freedom and adventure of Asatru

Want t o l ea rn yore?# Subscribe to THE RUNESTONE a qua rte r

Odinlsm.

Write to: Asatru Free A s s ~ ~ ~ ~ Y J,O.Box

1832,

Grass V


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HOW CHRISTIANITY CAME TO NORTHERN EUROPE

To understand the re-emergence o f Asatru we should f ir st know how C hris tina i ty came to rep lace

Our ancestra l be l ie fs .

Host peop le do not rea l iz e the,b loodshed , po l i t i cs , and incred ib le

fnvestment of ef fo rt tha t was needed to supplant Aratru in the Northlands.

Inposing the

ar t i f i c i a l over the natura l is never easy.

Th is ar t i c l e is an ear ly one , appearing In Issue nunbcr s ix o f

THE

RUNESTONE

-

he

manner of the conversion perversion?) to Chr ist ian ity has long been a matter of importance

to the Odinist movement.

Few myths about Ch ris tia nit y are as a1 1-pervading as the myth tha t Ch ris tia nit y

has spread i t s Gospel around the world by peaceful conversion and the use of

love and reason, and few l ie s have served the C hri sti an cause more fa1 th ful ly e

M i 11 ons o f people throughout the e arth have been taught from ch 11dhood that 1

was peaceful conquest, not force, tha t brought Ch rls tla ni

y

to the pagan Peoples

of the world,

Ulr ist ia nltY D on both

i t g

munpne and i t s mystical levels, i s the anti -

thesis of h u m freedom and of Asotru.

I t

has always been the tradl ional

opponent o f the Vikin g ethic, and

i t

was Chri st ia nity that set the old re lig ion

o f the Norsemen in to decl ine, Thus

i t

behooves us to set hi st or y straig ht, and

to examine more closely the process by which Northern Europe became converted

to the Christian cam.

O ff ic ia l history, i n one of many monunental oversights, to ta ll y ignores

that there were people

whO

dled

defending

thelr heathen7 beliefs

-

pagan martyrs.

I n

NO~WQY

i t

was Olaf Tryggvason and Ol af t he Ho ly who gain ed fame as propa-

gat ors o f the new re1 glo n, As one source put s 1 These two waged unceasing

ba tt le against the heathen gods, smashing th el r idols , burnin g the lr temples,

and e i t h e r d r i v in g o ut t h e l r f o ll o wers o r ~ u t t l n ghem to a painful death in the

name of Chrls t . I n

Ha lo g a la n d , e s~e c ia l l~ ,en clung with tenacity to Odin

and Thor, One Eyvlnd K ln n rl fl was tor tur ed with red-hot embers u n t il he die d -

s t i l l a heathen.

b u d the Powerful, another infl uen tla1 follower of the ol d

ways, was also to rtu re d to death, Tryggvason then had the ga ll to approp riate

Raud's sh ip fo r hi s own use, renamed Long Serpen tw, Th orl i e f th e Wise was

another man who coul d not be threatened from h is be1 efs, and he Presen ted the

Chr lstla ns w lth something of a s ~ e c i a l roblem; because of h is grea t wisdom and

amtable Perso nality, no one could be found to murder him. Klng Olaf en1 ls te d

the ai d of Hallfr ed the Icelander to put him to death or, fa i l ins that, to at

lea st bl nd hlm. The would-be assasln succeeded i n taking one of T ho rl le f's

eyes, bu t was moved by shane o r

pity

and could not find i t In hlmself to take

the oth er. Thus was Thor lle f, l i k e the god Odin to whom he was true, l e f t wlt h

but one eve,

6

Even in Iceland, where Olaf Tryggvason hlmse lf di d not le

sion and where scholar Lee

M

Hol lander remarks on the absence

fanat ic ism on the part o f the Chr is tians, we f i nd the usua l ha

t i an missionary ac t i vi ty , The evangelic al band led by the pr ie

descrlbed i n flJalls Saga as going

on

to F l o ts h l i d and preach i

The strong est opp osit ion come from Ver tr l d i the Poet and h i s s

k i 1 ed Ve rt rl d l . DesPi te Thangbrand's considerable successes

leas t nominal Chri st ians out o f the Icelanders, he st i l l went t

p l a l n l n g o f

ll

reatment,

The great Chr ist ia n King o f Norway

Icelan ders i n hi s count ry rounded up and cast in to the dungeon,

the order to have them put to death, The only reason thls grisl

not c ar ri ed out was because two Icelander s, Gizur the White and

Jason, offe red t o sai 1 to th ei r homeland and preach Chrl st i anl t

t a n t s o f t h e i s la n d (N la l ' s

m

Chapter

104 .

I t

was thes e t

t he A lt hi ng , I ce la nd 's g re at l e s l s l a t iv e ond J u d ic i a l ~ ~ ~ e m

get Chr ls t lan i ty accepted as the s ta te

religion.

The man who m

declslon (which was, as the saga relates, a w l l t i c a l one desig

spread ci v i 1 war from ren ding the countr y) was a heathen, one T

Pr ies t, Despite hls de cision whlch made Iceland a Chrls t lan no

ta in a1 owonces fo r re1 glo us freedom. His words were, The pe

ing on these prac t ices openly sha ll be outlawry, but they sha l

able

i f

they are done In priva te . Imnedlately af te r th ls sent

continues pare nthetlc ally, Within a few years al l these heathe

absolutely forbidden,

in p r iv a te as we l l as in pub lic . Thus d

sure o f the t rad i t iona l Ice land i$ f reedom d ie .

Ch r l s t l a n

persecution

of ~s at r ; was not 1 mi ted to Ice la

Scandinavlo; other G em nl c heathens elsewhere were subject to

s ion . In Ho l lander 's in t roduc t ion t o po et ic he rema

f i r e and sword wrought more conve rsions i n the Herov inelan king

and England than did peaceful missionary ac t iv ity , so too i n th

t l e would have been heard of sagas, Eddic lays, and skal dic Do

been fo r the fortun ate existence of the pol ic al refuge of rem

Despl te the ho rri ble deeds of the Ch rist ians i n Icelond, the re

out the Te utonic wo rld was even more severe. The Church aimed

than th e ex t in ct i on of heathens and the ir be1 efS,

I f

murder and the pr eJ ud i~ ia 1 xerci se of the law were

men accept the Chr is tia n' s f ai th , the re were always economlc p


7/39

King o f Norway had on esPecially t ight stranglehold on the isolated Greenland

colony which, because of the sever1 y o f i t s c l m t e and the dangers o f i t s long

and hazardous trade routes wit the nations of Europe, found it s e l f perpe tuall y

f ight ing for mere surv iva l .

Er ic the Red and other prominent pagans i n th is

outpost o f Norse c iv i l iz a t io n were threatened wi th a cessat ion of t rade wi th

Nomay unless the Greenlanders adopted Chr ist ian 1 y (The

V i

kin g Sett lements

North Ameriu, by Frederick o Pohl, page

21 .

I n other words, th is colony of

men, women, and ch il dr en was threat ened wi th im nediate s uf fe ri ng and eventua l

death,

The story o f the extremes to which Chris t ians have ty ~ i c a l l y one i n

order to spread the i r r e l i g io n i s not l im i te d to Norse Peoples, or even to

Europe. Indians o f the American Southwest were ki l le d fo r enter ing th ei r cere-

monlal klvos, and cousins far th er south saw th ei r in fan ts ' sk ul ls smashed by

Spanlsh soldiers who,

having Just baptised the babes, fu l f i l le d the ir b loody

duty i n the

f i n

belief that the children were being dispatched to heaven.

But surely, YOU

w i l l

ask,

i s not th is in to lerance a un iversa l th ing?

Have not non-CLristions practiced i t as res olu tely as the Christ ia ns? While in-

tolerance i s admittedly no new thing, hi st or ic al examination shows that the

Judeo-Christ ian r e l i g io n i s one of the few to teach in to lerance as an i n t r i ns ic

and esto bl shed pa rt o f ts do ctri ne. Most heathens have shown themselves re-

markably uninterest ed i n forci ng t he ir re li gi on on others o r condemning them fo r

following other gods,

though o f course ther e are exceptlons, Herodotus was only

one of m ny prominent pagans who tra vel ed t o fo re ign

lands and comnented not un-

favorably on the gods o f the peoples he vl si ed, He nos not i n the sl ght est

anxious t o conver t them or to condemn them to e ter nal torment j us t because they

were not followers of his particular rel igi on. The Judeo-Christ ian rel igio n, on

the other hand, has from the very beginning taught tha t no other rel igi ons a re

to be tole rate d. Consider those heathens who were ki l l e d or dr ive n from the1

r

ancest ral lands because Jehovah had declared t ha t they must belong to hi s

Chosen People - no matter who was ther e fi rs t, or who had se tt le d

i t,

or what

means must be used to tak e i t fr om t h e m , t r m e r J

i t wasn't re al ly murder ).

The Norsemen were not a t f i r s t openly h os ti le to Chr isti an clergymen.

I t

was only when Christian missionaries began abusing customs and using coercion

and otherwise making a nuisance o f themselves th at the ant i-C hri sti an backlash

occurr ed, The much pub1 ci ze d raid s on churches and mIna ste rie s were ca rr ie d

out not

wit

any thought o f opposing Chrlst iani tY, but s i m l ~ecause that was

where the lo ot was to be found. The toler anc e of th e Wgan Scandinavians can

be discerned from reading these words from the journal

kept by Archbishop

R im

bert, who traveled to the North in the 800s: "With great dif fi cu lt y they (the

8

missionaries) continued the1

r

journey on foot, tr av el 1 ng whenever

boat across the waters tha t crossed th ei r route, and arr ive d fi na l

town in the land of the sveag, cal led B i ka. Here they were welco

king, whose name was Bjor n. The delegate s to l d the ki ng the purpo

jou rney. When he knew and had discussed

1

with h is fa1 hful f

gave them permission to stay

-

wi th the former's approval and to p

gospel of God. He also gave freely in th is i nstruction ."

The contrast between Bjorn at Birka and the prohibitions wh

the conquest of Christiandom i n Icel and i s obvious.

Can you imagine what would have happened

i f

a boatload of V

sai led UP the Thames in to London and asked perm issi on t o e sta bl s h

con ver t people to Odin? They would have been massacred on the spo

m

sure, dispatching a nurber of C hrist ians t o th ei r Heaven or He

Such re1 gi ou s i nto ler anc e seems rampant among monotheists.

i s easier for polytheis ts to conceive of the existence and the va

gods, having as they do a pl ur al is ti c conception of de ity.

Those who brought C hri st ian ity to the Norse peoples were sk

use o f propaganda and di st or ti on , Two pr in ci pa l ruses were used.

depict ing of Christ and the awstles as a young warrior and his b

fol low ers , something which any Norseman co uld unders tand because

i

cept which entered in to his dai ly l ivi ng. Needless to

SOY,

th i s i

accurate representation of Chr ist ianity , ond is in fa ct di ametr ic

the basic values and philosophy of the Chri stia n reli gion , which i

and anti -he roi c, This was glossed over to make the re1 gi on palat

Norsemen, who would never have accep ted had they been aware of

an1 y re al ly was, o r to what degree would enslave the1

r

descen

fa r f u ture .

Another t r ic k used by the bearers of the new re li gi on wa

ing the ol d Pagan tem le, to ere ct the l oc al church on the sane

idea was that since people were i n the hab it o f coming to one

a

conduct th ei r rel ig io us ceremonies, they would more re ad il y om

place to worsh ip the Chri s t ian god. L ikewise Chrls t ion re l ig i o

arranged to be held a t the some t ime of the year as the o ld Pag

vals.

BY u t i l i z in g such s ino le behavioral tactics, the Chri st i

"outf lank" the Heathen relig ion, pouring Chri st ia n substance i n

i f

not Pagan, were at l eas t si mi la r i n some respects t o the for

re1 g ion. Inst ruc t ions i n great deta i 1 were g iven to the miss

them exactly how to

9

about this technique.

Unfortunately,

i t

worked.

Due t o nunerous

reasons he

ti an missionaries, lack o f cohesion among the followers o f the


8/39

the lack of wr i t t en l i te ra ry ar t s as f lex ib le as the ones used in the lands

occupie d by the Chri st ons and the use o f bribe s violence and economic coer-

cion Ch ri st ia ni ty became the predominant re li gi on i n those lands where Odln and

Thor had reign ed f o r so long As cou ld be

expected Paganism went in to decli ne

once the re1 glo n at taln ed s tate Power.

The world i s lmneasurably worse o f f f o r

tha t fac t

But le t there be no more tal k o f the k ind-hear ted Ulr is t ians holy and

lovi~g who

cane

to ste er the savage barbari an from hi s misguided way Let

ther e be no more heard o f Pagans who rushed in t o th e errbrace o f the Church. t

never happened th at way and the e th at

t did occur in th i s manner is a e

tha t has served the Chr ist ian cause too long. Let the tr ut h be known and we

w i l l have stru ck a blow against tyranny and fo r those brothers of ours who lon g

ago d ied fa i th fu l

to t he ol d gods the gods o f freedom.

P H I LOSOPHY OF ASATRU


9/39

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Asatr; i s not a ph il os o~ hi ca l e1 gio n i n the sense that someone sat down and

lo gi ca ll y devised a system o f thought based on a couple of axioms, then clothe d

t ha t i n t e l l e c t ua l s t ruc t u re w i t h mv t ho log~ , r j ual and the other things that

make UP a

1 v ing be1 e f .

Rather, 0dinism or Asatru emerged from the group

soul

o

o f our woole, and our philosophiz ing i s merely a means o f describing

what that innate r el ig io n is. In other words, we didn' t make up ~s at r; out of

phi osoohlcal materia ls, because

i t

i s a D ? r t of us and has ex is te d as lo ng as

we have,

We can on l y ana lyze and d iscuss Asa tru i n Ph i1 0 ~ 0 ~ h i~ a lerms as we

perceive more and more of

i t .

The a r t i c le s i n th is sec t ion give some not ion o f the Phi losophical world-

view of Odinism, They cover an assortment of top ics i n a rt ic le s publish ed over

an eig ht Year span. While they are in dic at i ve o f Odin ist thought they are not

meant

to

be

by any means de fin it iv e. Some are thought Pi ec e~ ~d es iq ne do st imu-

la te e~p lOr at iO n nd SDeculat ion on the Part o f the reader. Asatru has not been

s ub je ct ed t o t he l e a rn e d ~ h i l o s o ~ h i c a lnalys is i t deserves.

SOME ODINIST VALUES

STRENGTH I S BETTER THAN WEAKNESS

Le t o t hers reve l i n t h e i r vu lnerob i l

i t y

We are no t ashamed to

cul t of the ant i -hero

w i l l

f i n d no support i n us, and the gods w

not for the weak,

COURAGE I S BETTER THAN COWARDICE

BY fac ing l i fe 's s t ruggles wi th courage, we constantly ex tend ou

Without courage, noth ing el se can be done

JOY

I S

BETTER THAN GUILT

.

Let us take pleas ure i n our humanity, rat he r than being ashamed

Misplaced g u il t because o f our sexuality, or our strength, or

has enslaved us long enough

HONOR

I S

BETTER THAN DISHONOR

.

We must be true to what we are, and we must in si st on act i ng wit

rath er than baseness, Our in te ri or standards must

be

banners he

our hearts.

FREEDOM I S BETTER THAN SLAVERY

We hove no maste r Those who would ensla ve us, whatever t h e ir e

enemies. The t o t a l i t a r i an ant nes t i s repugnant t o us who dema

bracing wind of the Northlands.

KINSHIP I S BETTER THAN ALIENATION

.

The iso lat i on and lonel iness of modern l i f e is fore ign to us, no

sary ev i l . We ca l l our Folk to return to k i t h and k in, to famil

t r i b e .

REALISM I S BETTER THAN DOGMATISM

Bl nd fa i th has no Place i n Odinism. Our ancestors may have bee

myst ical, but they were a t the same t lme severely prac t ic al. No

sky; we must act i n thi s world rath er than calmly wait f or the n

V I G O R I S BETTER THAN LIFELESSNESS

Let us dare to be a1 1

tha t we can be Let us take risk s and tas

o f l i f e , P a s s l v i t ~ s f o r she ep. We refuse to be mere spectato

ANCESTRY I S BETTER THAN UNIVERSALISM

Odini sm i s no t f o r a l l .

I t i s a product of the soul of the Nor

and i s sui ed by i t s very nature to our needs.


10/39

NIETZSCHE ND ODINISM

a1 the modern phi losophers. Frie dric h Nietzsche Is perhaps the one closest to the sp i r i t of

Bsat ru. Unfortm ately, he i s also posslbly the lea st understood phi losopher of our age. For

those in tereste d i n such mat ters, Nietzsche is ment ioned in Carl Jung's Wotan , where the emi -

nent psyc hologist t el ls how the young Nietzsch e was gripped by the Wotan archetype.

This com-

plex and pro l i f i c think er has much to say to those of us who would retur n to the s pi r i t of our

f o re f a t h ers .

The phi oso ~h y f Odlnism or isa tr; as we know i today cannot and must not be

id en ti fi ed wit h the teachings o f any one in di vi dw l. To do so would be more

than incorrect, i would be dangerous.

Yet, the re i s much to benef

i

by a study

o f the v ario us p hi osophers who have expressed be1 e fs which impinge upon Norse

thought . The ~h l l osop hy f F r l ed r i c h~ ie t zsc h& ~s su rel y one such ex0mPle.

Nietzsche has been exploi ted by var ious pol t i c a l ideologies, es ~e c i al ly

the fascis t. But Nietzsche opposed the State rather than gl or i f yi ng

it

refer-

r i n g t o

i t

as a "cold monster" and fig ht in g i t s stead i ly growing wwer over the

1 ves of men. The cha rac ter isti cs of Nietzsche, the mn, are con trary t o the

be1 efs of any col l ec t iv is t ty rant ,

One chief ch ara cte risti c of Nietzschian thought i s i t s stress on what the

phi osopher ca l l ed the n i l - to -1 ive, the of f 1mot i on o f the

1 f e force and the

t o t a l r eJ ec ti on o f i t s o p w s lt e . He c ele br at es th e ~ i o n ~ s i a n ' ~an, whose dy-

namic, creative, ecs tat lc fre nzy gives him an over wwe rins and over flowin g ex-

uberance and a spi r i t of v i ta l t ~ he Dionysian man, Nietzsche write s, i s "a

formula of hishest pf f i rm at ion ( w h a s is i n the or igina l ) , born of fu l lne ss and

overfu l ness,

a yea-saying

w i

hout reserve to suf fer ing's sel f , to gul l 's sel f ,

to a l l tha t i s Questionable and s trange in ex is tence i tse l fn , He speaks of

Dionysian pessimism, a trag ic,

real s t ic approach to 1 fe, The Dionysian hero

i s so f u l l o f confidence and so stro ng th at he welcomes the chal lenges and the

buffet ing s of l i f e rather than avoiding them or dreading them as

lesser men

wou ld do, He

i s a m n who would seek them out, loo king for a challenge to h is

courage and ab i l i ty , did they not come to him of th ei r own accord i n the natu ral

course of fe . Nietzsche ogain and again exwunds th is idea of a vi ta l

t y

and

exuberence which is so stron g and so insis ten t, so very l i f e affirming, tha t i t

expresses it se lf under the most try in g and unfavorable c i cumstances.

I t

forms

one o f the keystone be l ie fs i n the phi losophy of Nietzsche, In fact, the Diony-

sian man gave Nietzsche an answer to f a t a l l ~ m ' ~ , Nietzsche taught what he

cal led the Eternal

Recurrence, by which he meant th at a1 1 thin gs o ccur ov er and

over again,

in a vast and unbreakoble cycle of re ~e t i t io n . Wha

now has happened before, and w i l l happen many more times . Th is

ever, does not take i nt o conside rat on Dionysian man, who by hl

suers the circunstances before him, exe rcisi ng hi s w i l l Thus

o ff 1 med despite the tendency o f the universe to fa ta l sm,

Here we see a pa ral l e l . to our own Odinis t bel ief s . Our re

n i ely 1 f e affi rming; not f or us are the meek and the modest i

in our h m n i t y and in our "naturalnessn. We be1 eve in indulg

natural and heal thy ins t inc ts , Ascetic ism is foreign to us, O

l fe, our energy, our restl ess desire to experience new things

great thing s takes us out o f th e morass that i s the masses, an

element of the Dionysian to i t The gre ate st heroes o f th e No

ni te ly Dionysian types such as Nietzsche seems t o be ref err ing

ings. They were strong, self-con fident, self-in dulg ent, and ex

w i l l to achieve th ei r desires and to shape the ir world, i n defi

who would bow to any inexorable fate,

A second bas is o f Nietzschian ~h i loso phy s the

W i l l t o

to Power i s the basis o f Nietzschia n mo ralit y. Since the "dea

necessary to fi nd a new standard by which to live , a standard f

truth . Nietzsche found in Darwin the suw ort he needed fo r h is

W i l l s ince Darwin's theory of evolut ion saw the s truggle to e

tio n of l i f e i n i t s most basic and primeval form, as the Proces

log ica l evolution. Nietzsche, however, car r ied Darwin a step

was concerned not merely wi th the w i l l to exist, but the w l l t

v i a l

i

y, energy, self- ass ert ion power The basis o f mor alit

declared, must be th is

W i l l

to Power, Thi s means, n ot th at "go

mined simply by asking what i s conducive to the gaining of wwe

tha t the m n who ives i n accordance w i h the W i l l t o Power, wh

self-assertive, w i l l have wit hin him the inherent standards de

noble or what i s ignoble,

This moral

1 y

i s a mora l i t y o f t he e l i t e ,

I t

i s t h e r a r

accept these sta ndards o r pra ct ce them, and such people elev at

above the le vel of the masses. According to Nietzsche, onl y th

whom more la te r) was tr u ly capable of re al izi ng the

W i l l

t o Po

even the weaklings, the comnon herd, experienced a need f o r the

the

W i

11 t o Power, though, because of the1

r

very weakness, such

must be a c c o n ~ lshed by

in di ect means, They are unable to tr u


11/39

so they dev ise a mor al i t y whlch is ant i - l l fe , but whlch s t i l l enables them to

surv ive and to gain wwer.

The1r mora l 1 y pr al se s weakness, defeat, hum1 11 ~

and res t ra int ,

and p reaches t he "v i r t uesN o f p i t y and an a t t i f l c l a l l ove of

everyone, to i nclu de one's enemies. These tr a l s are an attem pt to evade con-

f l i c t and t o dodge t he rea l

issues o f 1 f e .

They proclaim as ev i l such things

as exa l t the except ional man, and set h im apart f rom the res t of h un an i t ~

"voluptuousness, wwer of passion, and selfishnes s". The followe rs of these

phil oso phie s of weakness are incap able of these th ing s and, because they cannot

compete w i h the strong and vi ta l persons at whose hands they stand to loser

they seek to p u ll down th is non-conforming and li f e aff irm in g mino rity , Demo-

cracy promotes the be1 ef th at a1 1 men are equal, and i n the process destro ys

the d is ti nc ti on between the noble and the base. Social ism would abol ish those

who had proven th ei r sw er io ri ty by succeeding, Ch ris t ia nit y fosters those

~ r i n c i ~ l e shlch would fet ter the eli e, and breeds ega li arianism,

There i s l i t t l e here wi th which we can argue. L i fe is based on s t ruggle,

and only through st r u w le can man

f

nd v i r tue and the devel omn t of noble

charac ter is t ics

-

ndependence, individual

i

y, courage, pe rsi s ence, and

strength.

There can be no doubt that the philosophies o f weakness, such as

to ta l democracy, s ocialism, and Ch ri st ia ni ty mentioned by Nietzsche, do ac t as

ant i - ar is tocra t ic and ant i - indi v idu al is t forces designed to emasculate the el t e

or the nonconformist. Our Norse be lie fs

require the utmost efforts from us;

they demand th at we at le as t attempt t o r is e above the herd, to make ourse lves

l i v e i n accordance whth a her oic creed. Submissiveness, hum ility, and the

avoidance o f l i fe rs con f l lc tsa re the ant i thes is o f our way,

I s a tru e no bi li ty t o be found i n the Superman, i n those who pra ctic e

the i l l to Power? Does the cul t iv at io n of th is exuberance, th is streng th and

sel f -conf idence, invar iabl~m a rt a knowledge of the di st n ct on between the

noble and the base?

A

skept ic w l l Point to the bu l l i es of the wor ld, Surely

these seem to be Possessed of the

i l l

to Power, and even more sur ely a re they

lack ing in even the rudiments of n obi l i t y , Is N ietzsche therefore i n error?

Not necessari y . Far from having the strong, dominant ego of th e Superman o r

the Dionysian, these personal 1 ie s have p i t i fu ll~ndernourished egos which

must be const antly sustained by excess, They are, i n psycholo gical t en s,

com~ens atino or unhealthy egos. The healthy person, wi th a t ru ly secure ego,

does not need cruelty, fo r he is not constant ly try in g to reassure himself of

an ythi ng. The man who exe rcis es h i s i l l to Power, who i s tr u ly s trong and

self-confident,

w l l l

know the base from the noble,

The Niet zsch ian ideal, as

E L

Allen puts it i s "realiz ed in the man

who r ais es hi mse lf above h is f el low s by hi s powers of body and mind, making no

1 6

apology for h is

i n t r i n s i c s u p e r io r i t y b ut b o l dl y l i v i n g i t out, H

hard,

p i t i l ess ,

and stern wit h himsel f and wi th others, since the

health-giving qua1 t iesu,

The Superman w i l l be the strong, a ler

dent but sel f -d isc ip l ined indiv idual ,

sel f -c reat ing and l i f te d hi

nameless multi tude" , Such a concept i s i n keeping wi th the Norse

an el i te, an aristocracy, based not on b ir th or social posit ion,

vidual ef f or t and indiv idua l at tainment. The free indiv idua l w l l

himself what he can,

and no

1 mi tat ions

w i l l

be placed on . those w

succeed or to excel.

Nietzsc he's statements on war have earned him great calumn

hi s most controv ersial ut terances. I n mU

S ake

Zarathustrq he

Ye sh al l lo ve peace as a means to new wars

-

and short pea

better than long . o ye say that a good cause hallo

even war? I ay to

YOU,

a good war ha1 oweth any cause,

and courage have done greater things than charity,

Some argue th at t h i s was meant in a sheerly me tapho rical v

Nietzsche was

tal kin g about "warriors o f knowledge" rather than l

Though our philosophy on war i s deserving of an art ic le to i ts el f ,

say th at our b el ie fs on war are a far cry from the Chr ist ian and

be1 efs on the subJect.

Nietzsche

w i l l

provide valuable food for thought for anyon

t he Od in is t re l i g ion , He o f f e rs an a l t e rna t i ve t o t he Chr i st i an

i s based on strength and self-assert ion rather than the predigest

c o l l e c t i v i s t 1 5 ~ h l l o s o ~ h i e s , e deserves careful

-

and discrimin


12/39

ON INDIVIDU LITY

ON

HUM N

EFFORT

Finding the balance between the individual and the crowd i s no t a new problem, but the pressures

o f mass soci ety have made i t a l l the harder for the ind iv idual to surv ive as anyth ing other than

an interchangeable. faceless economic uni t.

Ye

who deplore such dehumnization must find a

philosophical

basis to uphold our instin ctu al feel ing that the ind ividua l does indeed matter.

The idea i s often encountered, when readin g books on Eastern o r occ ult ph ilo -

sophy, tha t the concept of ind ivid ual 1

y

1s lnval d, The opinion is offered

that the I s ever changlng and fluld ; that, fo r ex wl e, we have nothing in

comnon wit h the ent i t y tha t we were a t the m e of seven except con tl nu lt ~, more

o r less, o f memory.

The venr substance of our ~hysical

ody

has cycled i n that

inter venin g perio d due to t he death and reolacement o f ind ivid ual body ce lls ,

we are, by thi s way of l ookin g at

mon,

se ria l crea tures t o whom the labe l of a

permanent l nd iv id uo l 1 y cannot be a ~ ~ led

Comlete ly aside from any idea of a non-materia l Ind iv idual s ~ l r i t u a l

essence, I wish to challenge such an idea, I maintain that the genetlc pattern

of each individwl provides that essence whlch establ shes the unisueness and

ln dl vi du al i y of each person, What a person does wi th t ha t genotype determines

how he uses his "destiny", I n fact, mlght we not here have a workable defi ni -

t i on of des ti ny as the g e n o t ~ ~ lcs s i b i l i t ~ h ich the Ind i vidua l can e i the r

fu l f l l l o r no t? There i s no su~erna tu ra lpunishment fo r fa l l i ng to fu l f i l l

th i s

dest lny, no bad karma. Free w l l l

i s supreme with in the o utl ine s of one's poten-

t i a l . However, one who b l a t a n t l ~ oes against his own dis ws it io ns tread: f a i l s

to f u l fu l l h i s o r he r des t i ny ) m lght tu rn ou t a b i t neurot l c .

This vlew of man, based on biology rather than abstract ~ h i l o s o ~ h i c a l

speculation a1 ows man the ind ivi du al1 y t ha t some othe r systems o f thought

would deny him,

I t

i s a view whlch should be used to oppose the a nt i-i nd l-

v idual is ts, for

i f

we can be convinced th at we have no ind iv idual i ty , we can

be persuaded to embrace slavery,

t i s no t enough to say with Descartes that, I think, there fore am.

W

to assert that ,

''I

12;

therefore O - and what do. matters .

This a rt

di ferences between

atr u and Chr ist ian i ty i n th is respect .

There was an o ld s u ~ e r s t i t i o n mong the Norsemen th at a perso

na l l s c l i pped

i f

he wan ted to he lp the ~ e s 1 t - l ~n t hei r strug

The redson fo r t hi s was t hat the ghast ly Ship on whlch ~ o k i "

panions were to set forth to attack the realm of the gods was m

nails of dead men - thus, i f one kept hi s nai ls well tr imned a

would not be l i ke ly t o contr ibute bui ld i ng mater ia l to the sh

s i l l y and p r im i t i ve supers t i t ion?

Perhaps so. But

i

thin g very i m r t a n t about the Norse peoples and relig ion, nam

f e l t that human ef fo rt and endeavor mt te re d. well-informed

man could make decis ions and perform acti ons i n the re al wo rld

rea l e f fec t

-

even on a scale of cosmic inpo rtonce such as Ra

seem li k e a ve ri ty which needs no w ha si s, but i f i t seems th

because we take i t fo r granted i n our world-view, In othe r sy

Chr ist ian i ty, i t does not ex is t, While some Christ ians may no

the i r fa i t h denies the eff lcacy o f h m n act ion in the wor ld,

themselves from a fi er y et er nl ty i n Hell, only Jesus can

do

i t

done, not th eir s Their fa te and destiny i s out of th ei r own

the hands o f God him sel f. Thus, they are to ld to proy and hav

to the

w l l

o f God, and to "re si st not ev il M . Since the cosm

been su~wsedlyworked ou t i n advance, and sin ce they were no

active Part but are merely reduced to pawns which are being fou

sup erna tura l powers, what need have they of e ffi ca cy ? Even w

to save souls for Christ, i t i s not with the idea of cont ribu

of Satan, fo r hi s defeat i s already certain, Rather, the idea

a l l

those souls int o the rig ht camp fo r comfort's sake. H m n

denied as an illusion (as the predestination crowd believes),

relegated to relatively minor matters - c e rt a in ly h m n

w i l l

n

have anyt hing t o do wi th t he cosmic events of the Universe.


13/39

To us pagan Norsemen, though, human

w i l l

and power are rea l. W

make

a differenc e i n the scheme o f thin gs, Even i f the end result of events

was

pre-

determined and unalterable,

i t would s t i l l behoove us to f ight , to exert our

w i l l

and ef fo rt . Each o f us can add our own ef fo rt s to those o f the mighty gods

at Ragnarok, as i s i m l ie d i n the swer st it io n mentioned a t the beginning of

t h i s a r t i c l e .

W are far from being the helpless creature that the Christ ian

pictures himself;

we

know that e v i l can and must be res ist ed, Natura lly, we

define that e vi l a bi t diff ere ntl y than do the Christ ians, since we see them as

part of the problem

A

log ical cor o l l aw t o a l l th is should be considered thought full^ by us

al l . The fo lk bel ie f described at the beginning of t h is ar t i c l e im l i es that we

each can and should do what we can (not neces sarily t rimni ng our na il s ) to a id

our gods i n the impending stru ggle .

I f we be1 eve i n human effect ivene ss, then

let's begin exercising some of i t against our foes. I t is pret ty obvious that

events of me tah ist ori cal dimensions are shaping up, and whether you ca l l

i t

Ragnarok or rabbi t ears i s irre lev ant. What relevant i s tha t these events

can destroy US, our values, our rel ig io n forever,

unless we win, So, let 's

begin working fo r vi ct or y now The hour is much, much la te r than most o f us

think . Your ef for ts don't have to be spectacular or even large (though th is i s

an age req uiri ng such eff ort s ), but at lea st make

i t

regular, Write that

let ter , ca l l that f riend, mai l that l i terature. Every day of our l ives i s a

skirmish leading that much closer to Ragnarok.

METAGENET

S

This

is the most important ar ti cl e ever to appear i n THE

RUNESTONE

One o f the most controversia l tenets of isat r ; i s our insistenc

matters - t ha t the re a re sp i r i ua l and metaphys ica l i m l ic a t ion

and that we are thus a re l ig ion not f or a l l o f humanity, but ra

ca ll s only i t s own, This be li ef o f ours has led to much misun

os a res ul t some have attempted to lab el us as "racis t", o r ha

f r on t i n g f o r t o t a l i t a r i a n ml t i ca l f onns ,

I n t h i s a r t i c l e we

w i l l

discuss, f u l l y and a t length, a

next century which we have named "metagenetics", For wh il e th

w l

h genetics, i t als o transcends th e present boundaries of th

touches on re1 gion, metaph~sics, and ( m n g other th ings) the

o f ~ u n g i a n ' ~rchetypes.

The foundations o f m et ag en et ic s l i e

tar i an dogma of the 19th and 20th centuries, but rather i n in t

ol d as our people.

I t

i s only i n the l as t decades that experim

has begun to verify these as$-old,beliefs.

Anyone famil iar wi th Asatru knows that the clan or fami

specia l p lace in ou r r e l ig ion . K insh ip is p r ized fo r bo th p ra

tu al reasons, and the cha in of generat ions i s seen as a time-tr

something not l i mi te d by our narrow perceptions of past, prese

Whot fin di ng s of modern science make t h is more than a pious co

there anyth ing special about the genet ic bond f rom a psychic o

standpoint?

Consider fo r a moment the curio us connection between tw

twins, o f course, have id en ti ca l gen eti c endowment. Hence

i t

pr ise to f in d tha t pa t te rns o f b ra in cur ren t ac t i v i t y a re r em

twins, nor is i t unexpected tha t Danish sci ent ist , Dr. N Jule-

found t hat twins ra ised separately have simi ar apt 1 udes and

One step beyond these fin ding s we run across the fact th at i n

twins are cre di ted wi th ext ra-sensory percept ion i n regard to

fact, Dr. J B Rhine, famous ESP researcher at Duke UnlverSitY

st at in g that, "Cases have been reported t o us from time t o tim

appear to be exceptional telepathic rapport between identical


14/39

A study o f ESP cases w i l l

show that other family members are k e l ~o

have thi s ra ppo rt as wel l. How many mothers du rin g wartime have known wi th

uncanny accuracy the exact instant that the1 r sons have been inju red or ki l le d?

Countless other anecdotes can be co lle cte d which might be int erp ret ed as having

a genetic ba sis, Such a psychic resonance could be explained by other hypo-

theses, to be sure bu t when placed in the context of othe r infor mati on that we

have,

they tend to buttress the heredity connect ion. And a bio log ica l ( or

partly biological) rationale for psychic phenomena should make the subject more

palata ble to hard-headed rat i on al sts .

Going a step further, le t ' s look at rein carnat i on memories.

One does not

have to be1 ieve i n rein car nat ion as i s comnonly Presented to accept the

real

y

o f th e phenomenon; th er e seems to be eviden ce t ha t peo ple sometimes have

memories tha t don't belong t o them - or at least not to the them that they

norm all^ consider themselves to be. One i s free t o accept or to r eje ct the

l i t e ra l em lana tions f o r re incarna t ion as i t i s vulgarly expressed, b ut there

are other exPlanat ions fo r the repor ts , There i s the ~ o s s i b i l i t y hat these

memories, o r mony of them, ar e ge ne tic memories. Timothy Lea w - who, whether

o r no t one agrees w i t h h i s d rw ~ h i l os op h~ ,s no small

i n t e l l e c t - is only one

person who suspects th is t o be the case. Leary wrote

that whether one called i t

the akashic recordsz0, the col le ct iv e unconscious, o r the Phvlogenetic uncon-

scious , i t could a1 1 be ascribed to the neurogenet ic c i cu i , or what he

ca ll s sign als from the DNA-RNA dialo gue. I n oth er words,

these memories are

car r i ed i n t he DNA i t s e l f .

I t 's inte res t ing to note tha t in many culture s i n our own Norse tra di-

t io n and in the TI ng it Indian lore, among others

-

rebi r th is seen occurr ing

s ~ e c i f i c a l l ~n the f an f l y l i n e .

A

person di d no t come back as a bug o r a

rabbit, or as a Person o f another race or tr ibe , but as a member of t he ir own

clan. Olaf the Holy, the Norwegian king largel y resw nsi ble for Chris t iani zing

that country, was named aft er hi s ancestor Olaf ~ ei rs ta da il f r , and was believed

to be the ancient king reborn. Natura l ly the Chri st ian Olaf could not tole rate

such a suggestion, and the sagas re la te how he har shly disco uraged th is be1 e f ,

The TI ngi ts , though, have preserved thei r na t ive re1 gious be1 ef s in to

our own t ime, and thus they are su bject to s cho lar ly examinat ion at a much

clo ser range than are our own ancestors,

Dr. Ian Stevenson i s the alu m1 pro-

fessor of psychia t ry at the Univers i ty of V i rg ln i a Medical School , and he also

has an in te re st i n rein carn at ion phenomena. n fact, he authore d a volune

t i t l e d , wentv Cases Suciqestive o Reincarnat ion , t he conserva t ive t i t l e o f

which indicates h is sc ie nt i f ic approach to the sublec t . One o f the cases he

invest igated deal t w i th a modern-day occurrence of wparent rebi r th into the

c lan l i ne i n a modern T l i n g i t f an i l y . Wh il e the s t o ry i s t oo l ong t o be i n -

2 2

c luded here, su f f i ce t o say t ha t the ev idence , wh i l e c i r cuns t an

i m r e s s i v e , I t may no t be poss ib le t o prove, i n s t r i c t l y s c ie n

that a T l in gi t was l i t e r a l ly reborn as hi s own grandson nor d

The po in t i s s i m l y t ha t t he re a re metaphys ica l im l i c a t i on s t o

genet ic k inship.

One wonders, as an asid e,

i f

r e b i r t h ( wh et he r l i t e r a l r e

indiv id ual personal i ty , or the r eb i r t h o f some sp i r i tu al essenc

merely biological) might not be some sor t of evolut ionanr bon

and t r ibe, whereby the best , w ises t, most sp i r i t ua l l y in tune

a re conserved i n t he f a n i l y l i ne .

So far we've worked on the idea tho t the re i s a l i n k betw

the clan concept on one hand, and psychism and re bi rt h on the o

a dif fe re nt ta ck now, and look at Dr. Ca rl Jung's archetypes.

Jung spoke of the co l le c t i ve unconscious a level o f th

dependent upon personal exoerlence

,

The col ec t ve uncansc ious

of pr imo rdia l images cal led archetypes. They are not exact l y m

rathe r pre disp osi t ion s and po te nt ia l i t i es , As Jung said, Ther

a rche types as t he re a re t yp i ca l s i t ua t i ons i n l i f e . Endless re

engraved these experiences i nt o our psychic const i tut ion, not i

images f i l l e d w i t h cont en t, bu t a t f i r s t on l y as

i n t he o r i g i n a l 1 rep resen t ing mere l y t he poss ib i l t y o f a ce r t

percept ion and act ion.

Most modern s tudents of Jung miss a very key fac t , Jung

ly t ha t t he a rchet ypes were no t cu l t u ra l l y t ransm i tt ed bu t were

i t e d - tho t i s to say, genet ic . He l inked them wi th the phys io

ins t i nc t s and wen t so f a r as t o say t hat , Because t he b ra in i s

organ of the mind, the co ll ec t i ve unconscious depends d l e ct ly

t i o n o f t h e b r ai n . A more prec ise statement o f the mind/b odv

o f t he re1 g ious im l i c a t i on s o f b io log i ca l k inship , would be h

But Jung was not sa ti sf ie d to imke thi s connection. He w

that because of th is b io logic al fac tor there were di f ferences i n

U ~ C O ~ S C ~ O U S

f the races of mankind, Bo ldl y he asse rted that, T

quite unpardonable mistake to accept the conclusions of a Jewish

oeneral ly val id.

(This statement must be taken i n context.

I t

i

irr el ev an t anti-Jew ish remark, but in stead stems from the growing

Jung and his Jewish teacher, Freud.) Nobody would dream o f ta kin

Indian ~ s ~ c h a l o g ~s bind ing upon ourselves. The cheap accusatio

Semi t ism that has been leve lled a t me on the ground of th is cr i t i

as intel l igent as accusing

me

o f an anti-Chinese prejudic e, No d


15/39

e ar li er and deeper lev el o f psych ic development, where i t i s s t i l l i m o s s ib l e t o

di st in gu is h between an Aryan, Semi ti c, Hami ti c, o r Mongolian mental y, a l l

human races have a comnon co ll ec ti ve psyche, But wit h the beginning of ra ci al

d i f fe rent ia t ion , essent ia l d i f fe renc es are deve loped in the co l l ect ive psyche as

wel l . For th i s reason, we cannot t ransp lant the sp i r i t o f a fo re ign re l ig i on

'i n globo' int o our own ment al i ty w h o u t se n s ib l e i n j u r y to th e l a t te r .

Thus the l in k between rel igion , which expresses i t s e lf i n terms of arche-

types i n the col l ec tiv e unconscious, and biology - and hence race i s complete.

Jm g i s su bst antia ted by more recent research as we1 1. Perhaps the most

important such study was conducted by Dr. Daniel

G.

Freedman, pro fes sor of

behavioral sciences at the Univers i ty of Chicago, His resu lts were publ ished in

an ar t ic le in the January, 1979 i s su e o f l i m n Na tu re e n t i t l e d , E thn ic D i f fe r -

ences i n Babies. Freedman and h is assoc iates sub ject ed Caucasian, Asian,

Black, and Nativ e American newborn inf an ts to i de nt ic al st im uli , and consis-

ten ly re ceived di ff er en t responses from babies o f each race. Furthermore,

these differences matched the tra di ion al y-ascribed ch arac teris tics o f each

race

-

the Asian babies were i n fa ct less e xcit able and more passive, etc,

Nativ e American and Mongolian babies behaved sim ila rly , appar ently due to th ei r

r e l a t i ve l y c l ose b i o l o g i ca l k i n sh ip , I t i s only a small step from inborn

tempera men t to i nb o rn a t t i t u d e s to i n bo rn r e l i g i o u s ~ r e d i s ~o s i t i o n s ,h ich is

on ly a resta t ing i n d i f fe re nt words o f

Dr.

Jung's theory.

Let' s look again a t how the clan mystique, the expression of which in the

~h ys ic a l o r ld is a 'genef ic one, re la tes to the vani rz l i n par t icu lar , and the

ancient be l ie fs o f Asatru in genera l .

The goddess Freya i s str ongly l ink ed to the clan concept f or she i s the

leader o f the female tu te l ary sP i r i ts ca l le d the d1si r nw f the d f s i r we read,

i n Jhe Vik inq Achievement

P I G.

Foote and D. fl. Wilson) that:

I t

i s sometimes d i f f i cu l t to keep th e d l s i r d i s t i n c t f r om

v a l k ~ r i e s ~ ~r harsh ~ o r n s * ~n the one hand, and sp ir i t s cal led

'f ~l gj ur , ' 'accomanlers,' on the other; and i t i s p robable tha t

the Norsemen themselves had notions about these beings that varied

from t i m e to t ime and p lace to P lace. F ~l sJ ur ere a t tached to

fami l ies or ind iv idua ls, bu t had no loca l hab i ta t io n or ind iv idua l

name. They appear to have represented the inh erent f ac ul ty f or

achievement that exis ted i n a family's offs prin g. Everyday obser-

vation of consonant or discrepant facts of heredity would conf irm

t h a t i t was Possib le fo r a f ~ l g J a o deser t an ind iv idua l o r to

be

rejected by him,

Anclent wisdom meets modem science.

The

idea of metagenetics may be thr ea ten ing t o many who h

that there are no differe nces between the branches of humanity,

ing, i t is pl ai n th at metagenetlcs i s i n keeping with the most mo

seeing the world, A ho l i s ti c view of the human en ti ty requires th

matter, and sp ir i t are not separate things but represent a spectr

nuum, I t should not be surprising, then, tha t genetics i s seen a

sp i r i t u a l o r p sych ic ma t te rs ,

And the ideas pu t f o rt h by those w

sciousness as a produc t o f chemistry f i t

in to m etagenetics, as we1

chemistry i s a functio n of organic st ruct ure which i n turn depend

bio log ica l he ri ag:.

We of Asatru are concerned about our ancestral heri tage, a

our re l ig io n to be an expression of the whole of what we are, not

we ar b i t r a r i l y assume from wi thout ,

I t al so e xp lai ns why those w

understand us accuse us of extreme ethnoce ntrism or even racism

-

clear from metagenetics that i f we as a people, cease to exist,

a lso ,dies, fo rever . We are in t imate ly t i ed U with the fate of our

for Asatru

is an expression of the soul o f our race,

This does not mean tha t we are t o behave neg ativ ely toward

who have n o t harmed us,

On the contrary, only by understanding w

by coming from our racial

center, can we int era ct Jus tl y and wi

oth er peoples on th is pl ane t, We must know ourselves before we c

Our difference s are great, but we who lov e human dive rsi ty and va

learn

to see these differenc es as a bless ing to be treasured, not

be dissolved.


16/39

FATE

I N ASATRU

BY

EDRED

THORSSON

Importa thqughts on an oft en misunderstood subj ect Our thanks to one of the tr ul y wise men

i n t h e Es a t r u F r ee ~ s r e m b l y o r t h i s s p i r i t u a l i n r f g h t .

In reading about G em ni c mythology and re1 gion, how of ten have we Asatrharar

come across statements concerning the fatalism of the heroes, or of the r e l i -

gious world-view of th e anci ent Ny se I n general? Nany times, no doubt,

But

ju st what di d fate mean to the asatruarar of old? There have grown

UP

many

misconceptions surrounding th is word and concevt, s? centra l t o our fa it h,

An

analysi s of th is idea from the perspective of Asatru may shed considerable li gh t

on this sacred subject.

I n Engl sh,

the word fate i s loaded wi th a semantic Qua1 it^ of predes-

t

na t on, e,, a trans cende ntal for ce has alrea dy pre-determined tha t such and

such happen to a Person, folk , etc . The two Germanic words most of te n

tran slate dby fate are the Old Norse 8ri6gM and the Old English wyrd,

A

close study o f these two words i s su it e revealing . 0rl'bg i s a compound of the

pr ef ix 0r-: primal, oldest, outermost, etc.,' and the ro ot j ig, which i s a

plu ral construct ion meaning lawts) but origin all^ and l i t e r a l l y l a ye rs.

0 r i6 g i s t h e ~ r lma l- la w, o r ~ r im a l - la ye rswhich a Person lays down by hi s or

her past act ion, This i s also true of cosmic processes, but that is another

saga. The word wyrd contains a sim il ar sua lit y, Wyrd i s a feminine noun devel-

oped from the ws t tense of the Old Engl sh verb weordanw: to become, or more

basica l ly to tu rn ,

Thus, wvrd i s th at which has become (tho se lav ers alre ady

la id ) whlch affe ct the present and the future. In Old Norse thi s word is

urdr, the name of the fi r s t Norn.

This

i s the metaphysic behind the Germanic system of law, such as Engli sh

C o m n Law, based upon Precedent (Past layers of act on) which determine what

should be done Present and future,

This i s i n sharp co ntra st to the Judeo-Roman

form of law based upon decree from a transcendental source t ea s, god or kin g)

a sit uat ion in which we

increas ingly f in d ourselves today.

So f a r

i t

i s obvious tha t the Germanic concept of fate

i s c lo se ly

connected w i th concepts of tlme and causality.

That which has beyome {the past)

con diti ons the Present and the futur e, This, as so much els e i n Asatru, i s a

c o m n sense aDProach to the matter , The mystery of the Three Norns provides

fur the r keys to the understanding of wyrd, The names of the Norns are Urdr

(wyrd), Verdandi ( th at which i s becoming, from the same ro ot as urdr ), and

Skuld (* th at whlch should become ). The fi r s t two condi tion, but do not dete r-

6

m the th ir d, These cond itio ns are Produced by the deeds of

receives the fr u i t s of those deeds, The Norns are not causal

the n ~ n i n o u s ~ ~rganisms through whlch the energies o f actl ons

transformed, and red1 ected back to t he i r source,

With in the psychosomat ic comlex o f the ind iv idua l th is

the fy lgja, o r fetch, This psychic organism, whlch i s atta

vidual, and receives the energies of ind ivi dua l and environmen

formulates them in to a repr ojec tabl e form, and then pr oj ec ts th

l i f e o f t h e in d iv id u a l whe re th ey h ave t h e i r e f f e c t , Th is i s

process, and pure ly organic i n stru ctur e.

Th is fy lg ja 1s pass

to the next along fami ly l ine s, or sometimes

i t

I s t ra n s fe r re d

1 m i ot ions, thus, i n e i t her case, ws sln g the accumula ted pas

from one 1 f e to another.

I t

seems clea r th at the ol d German

fa te i s i n no way s imi la r t o the Chr is t ian concept o f p redes

rather q ui te ak in t o the San skrit concept of karma, a term whi

fe red a t the hands o f Chr is t ian mis in terpre ta t ion ,

The ancien

that they shaped their own dest inies as a result of their own

I t

i s a hero ic v i r t ue to s t r ugg le aga inst b r f6gJ a lways

greatness of i t s power w i l l overcome the force of the personal

however, an other path - tha t of the vl tk i (th e wise one, ma

great heroes, such as Sigurdr and Starkadr, are also v ltk ar ,

f i r s t knows h is o r he r d r lo g , and t he n in te n t io n a l l y an d w l l l

f o l l o w

it

or in ra re cases to a1 er i t through magical means.

w l l

invest iga te dr lo g to f in d ou t how bet te r to fo l low I t s in

The v i tk i -her o may inv est iga te d r l b i n th ree rea lms o f

persona l , c lan lc , and metapersona l, The f i r s t i s past act ion

the perimeters of the present l i f e time, whi le the la tt er two

cons1dered as past 1 ves, one geneologl ca l y determined, and

clanic. The f s t

realm can be

invest ga ted th rough personal

past deeds in one's l i f e .

The clan ic realm i s inv est igat ed th

history, whlch

i n olden tim es was an imp orta nt type of nuninou

metapersonal, which

i s drawn from the co ll ec ti ve unconscious,

should not be understood as a reincarnation o f the in dl vi dw

v e s ti g at e d th ro ug h s el f -r e g re s si o n t e c h n i ~ u e s ~ ~ ,h is la t te r s

undertaken under sel f -gu idance, o r w i th the a id o f fe l low isa t

techn ique i s ram ant anong the s to re f ron t occu l t is ts , and i s o

the most shoddy o f cosmologies. si m il ar technique nay als o

1 0 g i ~a l e se arch .

I n a l l t he se f o m o f w v rd l n v es t ig a tl on , t

runic divinat ion can become an invaluable aid,


17/39

m e concept o f br l og, and the knowledge of t PI~ e d c e n tr a l r o l e i n

the rel igi ou s world of the ancient Germanic tr lbesyan, pnd i t should again

occupy an important place i n the hea rts of modern asatru arar, 0r l ' ig must, how-

ever, be approached i n the o ld way o f the Nor th , f ree f rom thy Judp -Chr is t ian

concepts o f p rede st ina t ion and transcendenta l fa ta l lsm. The asatruar i i s no t

m n i p u l a t e d

by

f ate, b u t r a th e r i s r e swn s lb l e fo r h i s o r he r own 0 r i i g .

ASATRU: ONE MAN S REASON

BY

A ,

J

Mr.

Di l lon -D av is a r t i c l e has won more acc la im than any o ther s i ng le p iece we

w i l l l e t

i t

s p e a k f o r i t s e l f .

J t gefs downright disc once rting , Whenever I e l l anyone am a

Asatru, get one of two responses: dis be lie f, then laughte r an

the head; or, but th at' s a l l myth, i t ' s untrue , And then a

the business of explaining myself.

Disconcerting i t i s indeed, but valuab le, For i t ? thelproc

ing, edis cov er why I have always been a follo we r o f Asatru, s

ing o f the re l ig ion o f the Nor thmen,

Why me? Why do be1 eve ?

The simplest reason is that the monotheism of my upbringin

ph ic al ly and mor ally bankrupt, The Problem of ev il remains a p

theolog ian has adequately explaine d why the one god who created a

a l l , i s al l -power ful , e tc . so devised the un iverse so tha t a por

sentient beinas

i s condemned t o damnation a ft er death, and error

before.

The whole monotheist world-view makes

the universe into a

s ol it a ir e Played by a cap ricio us e nt i v who changes the ru les a t

demns not only those who cannot accept the changes,

but those wh

then?. An odd and vengef ul bein a he is, t h i s God, and

I

ee l tha

ception of hi s mal ice, ould not submit to Him, even i f e l i e

would be so undignified.

stand dumbfounded as ear hi s fol low ers t e l l me he cre

verse out of nothin g, They are astonished when suggest th at th

univ ers e is made of no thi ng, They cannot comDrehend th at th e m

bla the r about i s much more a myth, by th ei r des cri ptio n of things

they may see as myth i n what elie ve . How can th at which i s

that which is ess enti al ly jus t a dream o f a deity,

have meaning

I

on th e ot he r hand, know th at

i t

was not the gods who m

of nothing, but the i nte rac tio n of the universe's pr imeval eleme

ated the cads who then went on to sha?e thy wor ld i n th e ir imag

The universe, to a fol low er of Asatru, i s a work of a rt a

gods stand for l i fe, in ete rnal strugg le against the forces of c

When man stands for li fe , he stands wi th th e gods. When he cre a

he i s one with them,

But the fo l lower of isa tr; knows tragedy, He knows tha t

universe, and the gods themselves, sha l l fa l l , sha l l die i n glor

defeat,

A

new wo rld may ris e, bu t the dragon 's shadow w l l f a l l


18/39

There ar e no Sunday sch ool /kin de rga rte n haopv endings. Odin, Thor, Frey,

a1 1 our brave heroes and comrades among th e A es lr and Vani r

w

11 face that which

we face, death. And i n thi s, our gods become heroic, as no oth er gods are , No

other pods face doom,

A t which point

my

monotheist f r iend gapes,

Yes, ay, my gods face death, and you ask "why fo ll o w them"? Because

death and l i f e are intermixed. Because my gods are cl ose enough to my own

nat u re f o r m to admire them in the i r ceaseless joy , courme, fe r t i l i t y , and

c re a t i v i t y i n t he i r l i f e . And, o f course, t o t r y t o emulat e them in t he i r

fac ing of th ei r own doom. Because, t o di e well, as they shal l,

w i l l

give the

next wor ld a c lean s tar t ,

NO

o not beg anything of my gods. They gave me i n t he ve ry c rea t i on

of man and woman, a l l eed . . . life, mind, w i l l emotion, What el se cou ld

want? \ hen I address them i t i s i n adm ira ti on, i t i s to acknowledae my p a r t i n

what they have made, i t i s t o ca l l upon t ha t wh ich i s o f t hem in me, A f t e r a l l ,

the gods di d not make man to wors hip them, they have no need o f t ha t, They made

man as a work of art . as a re f le ct io n of l theml in Plidgardz6.

Ref lec t ion i s the key, I ollow Asatru because

i t

ref lec ts the wor ld,

The "mvthosuz7 of the Nor then , a t once jov fu l and bi tt er , cosmic and homey,

comic and t ragic , unbel ievable and fu l l of t ruth, i s I hink a genuine paradigm

of Rea l i t y . . impersonal, personal, and transper sonal . . i does no t t e l l

me what to do, b ut I t shows

me

how to ve,

Last ly , isat r ; does not c la im to be the only t ruth, but a t ruth, d is -

covered by,a P q ~ l e . For others , there are other t ruth s ,

So Asatru, l i k e a l l "paFann religions i s t o l er a n t - d i s r e s ~ e c t f u la t

t imes Perhaps, but tolerant. I t does not, therefore, t r y to press People int o

molds,

hat rticul r

hor ror i s the Pastime of the monotheists, each of whom

be1 eves tha t h is i s the only way.

H i t l e r d i d n o t l e a r n h i s te ch ni qu es of o ~ ~ r e s s i o nrom i sa t r i , bu t f ron :

more than one thousand years of Chr ist a n i ; ~ an i s fe roc iou s churchmen,

Here tand. Panan, Follo wer o f ASatru. Mi st ru st fu l of churches and

s t ruc t u res i n genera l .

The gods made me a fre e man, not the servant of a do m ,

or a nat ion, or a god. They made me o f the substance of t he universe,

o f u l i

mately, th e ir substance, So i f wish to care fo r mysel f, must tend th is

Midgard as bes t an, and guard

i t

Hai l Odin Hai l Thor Ha il Frey and lo vel y Freya, my love and every-

one's,

i f

they but knew it; ha i l to a l l mv f r ien ds among the Aes ir and Vani r

GO S AND MYTHS


19/39

I N T R O D U C T I O N

ODIN GOD IN CRISIS

In th is sec t ion we deal w i th gods and goddesses, w i th m~ tho lo gic al andscapes

and cosmologies far removed from our everyday existence,

What ar e we, as ch i

l

dren of the Age of Science, to make o f these fantas t c re ports ? For those of us

who have cast Jehovah from hi s thron e and spurned the f a1 h o f our childhood,

i t

i s d i f f i cu l t t o en t e r t a in hopes o f any o t her dei t y ; eas ie r by f a r t o s l i p com-

for ta bl y in to atheism or,a vague, i l l - de f i ne d agnost ic ism, Then along comes a

b el ie f system l i k e Asatru which says so much tha t we admire - i f on ly

i t

wasn't

fo r these awkward supe rnatu ral Ideas o f gods, goddesses, and myths

So what i s a myth, anyway?

A

century or so ago i t was fashionable to

be1 eve thot myths were to11 tol es inve nted by ignorant, superst

1

t

ous savages

t o exp la in na t u ra l

phenomena l i k e l ig htn in g and earthquakes. This ra the r snob-

bi sh theo ry for got, or refuse d to note, th at our ance stors were men and women of

keen intel l l?ence and an acutely pragmatic bent.

Once the experts realized that

everyone born before 1800 wasn't a gu l l ib le s impleton, other e x~ l an at i on s ad to

be found. The Freudia ns had th e ir chance, o f course, but coul dn' t ca rry the

day. Among ot he r thin gs, ooddesses do n't f 1 Freud's cate goric al statement that

the or ig in of the God image

is t he p ro jec ted f a t her f i gu re

Then along came Carl

Jung, who t o l d us tha t gods and goddesses ar e Power-

f u l symbols i n our unconscious minds and can behave very much 11ke gods and

goddesses are supposed to do. Most Od ini sts seem to th in k th ot Jung comes

close st t o the mark, and hi s essay t i t l e d Wotan i s high ly discussed i n some

c i r c l e s .

Myths are "true," but not i n the most I l te r a l sense. Myths are a

language by which that p ar t of our mlnd that i s connected to the ra cia l mlnd

attempts to speak to us,

I t

i s an a t t m t t o c om nu ni ca te s p i r i t u a l t r u t h s t h a t

cannot be expressed i n mere words: i t i s a t ra ns l at na o f non-1 inear , non-

logica l , ins t inc tua l re al i t y in to a form that the human consc iousness can at

lea st t r y to capture, Myths express what we are on a deep, lnv is i b l e level ,

And the gods and goddesses? "Mere" symbols?

I

an only state, w h many

othe rs who have f irs t-h an d experience, tha t the re are forces i n theluniv:rse

which Possess the att r i bu te s ascribed to these powerful de it ie s of Asatru, and

th at when one c a ll s upon them In the ri ah t way, thi ng s happen. So wh ile I can

not t e l l you that there i s a one-eyed being i n a b lue mantle who ca l l s h imself

Odln

-

th is Precise knowledge being beyond my ken, and Posslbly irr ele van t i n

any case

-

I

an say th at some force/being /ent i t y responds when

I

a l l upon him.

A t the very least, the unive rse behaves as though Odin exis ts

Come to th in k o f

it

t h a t ' s a l l I can really say about y wife, the

P ~ O C ~

where I work, or t he paper on which these words ar e wrl t e n .

3

Odin known as Wotan or Woden,to oth er branches of th e Germanic peoples -

gods i n the mytho logy o f Asat ru .

O f a l l t h e N o r t h e r n d e i t i e s h e i s t h e m os

faceted.

H is domain in c ludes many and var ied func t io ns . f rom war and magic

i n s p i r a t i on i n a l l i t s f or ms .

O d i n i s a g o d f o r t h e w a r r i o r a n d t h e p o e t a nd t h e m y s t i c - a l l o f

o r f r e n z y i n t h e i r own way , som e i n t h e c l a m o r o f b a t t l e an d o t h e r s i n t h e

The comnon denominator i s the a l te ra t io n o f consc iousness wh ich g ives knowl

unleashes the powers demanded by one's circumstance.

Hi s name appears to m

d i v i n e i n s p i r a t i o n , " o r Od.

As l o r d o f V a l K O l l, h e s i t s o n h i s s e a t H l i d s k j a l f , f r o m w h ic h h e c

t h e w o rl d s i n t h e m u l t i v e r s e .

A t

h i s f e e t l i e t wo w ol ve s , G e r i a nd F r e k i .

perch hi s two ravens named Hugin and Munin.

Od in r ides be tween the wor lds

horse , S le ipn i r . on m iss ions re la t ed to h is ro le as commander - in -ch ie f o f th

the coming c lash o f Ragnarok .

I t

i s a g r im aspec t he presents -somber , d is t an t , a loo f , one eye m

plucked

i t

o u t t o d r i n k o f w is do m a t ~ i m i r ' s 2 9 e l l .

No l i g h t - h e a r t e d d e i t

hear ted comfor te r o f men, bu t ra the r a purposefu l f i gu re g iven to cunning ,

o f a n a rm y o f h e r o es t o s t a n d by h i s s i d e a t t h e d ay o f t e s t i n g .

Father o f V ic to ry , S t i r re r o f S t r i f e , Spear Thrus ter , Helmed God, H

the many names he uses as he wanders, disgu ised , on hi s errands i n defense

mankind.

For no smal l res po ns i b i l i t y i s h is , and o f te n he must adopt an am

but he seeks to w in f o r the good, and fo r us .

Which br ing s us to the beg in

s e l e c t i o n .

Our ch ie f del ty, the one-eyed Odin, has come under severe ~ r i

sources outside our

re1 g lon f o r h i s apparen t

f

ickle nes s, lawle

o f

e v i l .

I t

i s time th at we, who fol lo w Odin and the oth er Ae

examined these charges and effect ively refuted them,

f o r we ca n

convert the Western world to our side whil e suchobject ions, i l l -

may be, e xi st .

Perhaps the ch ief charge brought against Odin I s tha t he

champions a t moments of c ri s i s on the ba tt l ef ie ld , cousins the

su lt i n? i n the vi ct or y o f lesser men who di d not deserve to win

not have tr iumphed without the

in t e rven t i on o f Od in , Here t he

Choosers o f t he S la in, t ra d i t i on a l l y p lay t he i r v i t a l ro le , and

la t i na t he o rder o f Odin i n t h i s regard t ha t t he va l ky r i e B r~ n

hers el f the god's wrath. The apparent c ru el ty of v io len t de

age, exp ecia l v when the s la in one was a hero showing

so

much

had so many reasons to liv e, must have weighed he av ily on our a

i s f o r t h i s reason t ho t t he h igh god ob ta ined a repu t a t i on f o r

What answer do we have?

The answer ex1 sts, and i t i s perhaps bes t expressed i n

Ska*dlc poem wr it t en o t the request of Gunnhlld, the wi fe of


20/39

a f t e r h i s deat h a t

the ba t t le of Stainmore in the year 954 C.E.

I n t h is poem,

the gods are Prepar ing Valhal la, Odin's h al l , to receive the f a l le n heroes f rom

the batt l e, inclu ding Erik, and the god Brag1 asks of Odin the eter nal qu est ion:

Why rob of v ic to ry so val ia nt a man?

The wise god replies

-

Who knows what aw ai ts us? Even now he Peers,

The Gray Wolf, in to the gods' dwe ll ng,

The meaning of th is cr yp t i c statement i s s i m ~ l y ha t Ragnarok approaches,

t he f i na l b a t t l e i n wh ich t he gods s trugg le agains t t he ev i l g ian t s , I n t ime,

the gods and heroes w i l l b e f i g h t i n g f o r t h e i r v er y s u r v iv a l

aga ins t ho r r i b le

odds, and the y w i 1 need at the1

r

si de a1 1 the brave heroes who can be muster ed,

I t

i s f o r t h i s reason , t o f i l l the benches of Valh al la i n Preparat ion for the

coming catacl~sms, that Odin must f e l l the hero who deserves ra the r t o have

v i c t o r y .

A

stu dy o f t he ~ d d a ~ 'eveals more and more thot Odln I s a god operat ing

under a perpetual and extreme cr is i s, tho t of th e impen ing Ragnarok, His i s

the resPon s ib i l i t y , as the father o f the gods,

o f p reparing f o r t ha t aw f u l

event.

l l

of Odin's a ct io ns must be seen i n that co ntext.

Bes ides the tak ina of brave warr iors to

f i l l

hi s ranks i n Valhal la, Odin

has come under c r l t l c ls m f or h l s seduct ion of theafantessGunnlod Inorde r to w in

the skaldic meod,

and for h is use of necromancy and the black ar ts , Cr i t ic s

ofte n forg et tho t the meod of the skalds, so int i ma tel y associated wlth wisdom

and in sp i a t on, was a powe rful weapon i n the hands of t he gods, a weapon which

cou ld

e

used In the i r s t ruu gle wi th the forces of ev i l . L ikewise, Odin's use

o f necromancy (as i n " ~ o l u s ~ a " ~ ~was done for the Purpose of gain ing v i t a l l y

needed knowledge concern ing the fa te o f th e world, o f th e gods, and of men, tho t

the gods might be better prepared to deal with these events as they occurred,

I t

would be foo l is h to say, as the Chr is t ian Ignat iu s Loyola put

i t

t ha t

the end Ju st if ie s the means, More accurately, som

ends Justify somemeans.

Surely no one w l l

be l i eve t ha t

the f at e o f the cosmos should be decided against

the forces of good and fn favor of the forces of ev i l ju s t becouse the v lc t0rY

of the good forc es may req ul r e seductio n of maidens and use of necromancy The

argument th at I n usin g such means the good guys become "les s goodn does not seem

pe rt ne nt, Odin may appear le ss perfe ct becouse of these deeds, but sever al

poin ts are apparent:

the amount of e v i l contained i n these ac ts i s i nf in i t e~ lm al ompared-

t o t h e p e r f i d i t y o f t he e v i l g i a nt s,

these acts were not done sel f is hly , or fo r small Purpos

t h e o ~ p o s ie, and

we have never demanded of our gods tha t they be pe rf ec

not ide nt i fy w i th them), but only that they , l i ke us, s

Odin sets a great example fo r us i n th is regard. He asse

t on and does what needs to be done, even a t grea t sa cr if ce. F

not le t the e v i l which he must touch corrupt h im.

So ends our d efen se of o ur H igh God, so ma1 ign ed by th os e

be tte r, Let us emulate him.

these ac ts may br ing v ic tory , or a t lea s t a i d i n the s truggle of

the gods,


21/39

THE HAMMER OF THOR

If

din is a lo of and unapproachable, h i s son Thor i s the very opposi te.

Red bearded, b lus ter y,

and f i e r y , he i s a f i gu re o f r aw s t reng th and sheer phys i ca l p rowess.

S t rongest o f t he gods i s

he, and quick o f temper.

Luck i l y he i s a f r i end l y god , f avo rab l y d i sposed to humani ty ; he i s

t h e av er ag e v i k i n g w a r r i o r / f a n e r w r i t l a r ge .

Thor r ide s surrounded by the thunder created by his cha r io t wheels as he ro l l s through

the heavens.

T hu s h i s c o n ne c ti o n w i t h t h e r a l n s a n d w i t h g r o wi n g t hi n g s , a nd w i t h f e r t i l i t y i n

a more genera l ized sense.

But , mainly , he is a god of s eng

an odinist anthology

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