#the saga of grettir the strong

[oceankeltoi]

This gif of me exists, and it's a direct quote from me. Yes, I did say this, and I damn well meant it.

[violetrose-art]

Legends Summarized: The Saga of Grettir

[atticanalysis]

New video. Come slurp it up.

[kitchen-light]

A tale is but half told when only one person tells it.

The Saga of Grettir the Strong, Chapter 46

[300iqprower]

Mad thinking about Eric Bloodaxe........

Like one quick read through his Wikipedia page (its long) and you can clearly tell that he could be on par with Pretender Hephastion because there was TWO Eric's at one point due to people misreading and/or misinterpreting the text one historian denounced that fact not too much how obscure his history was DESPITE having legendary sagas

He even has a "brother" depending on one of them!!! Pretender Eric????

He was larger than life (from what how his stories treat him) powerful, violent, hated as a ruler! Hell when you read how the Heimskringla describes Eric– "a large and handsome man, strong and of great prowess, a great and victorious warrior", but also "violent of disposition, cruel, gruff, and taciturn"

You'd probably assume we were talking about Type Moon's depiction of Iskander! And he uses fucking runes—kills the king's son, Ragnald, and made a spite post out of a horse's head on a pike before cursing England! Fucking metal as shit!

"Here I set up a pole of insult against King Eirik and Queen Gunnhild" – then, turning the horse head towards the mainland – "and I direct this insult against the guardian spirits of this land, so that every one of them shall go astray, neither to figure nor find their dwelling places until they have King Eirik and Queen Gunnhild from this country."

Eric could've been something and I suspect it's because his legend is based off of cursing England that he gets the short end.

I studied old norse culture and Viking Sagas in college so believe me I am aware and in pain. Actually one of my favorite stories we studied in depth had Erik as a minor character, Egil's Saga (who as detailed here ended up having to Max-Charisma Bard his way out of death by Bloodaxe). AND YET I CANT BELIEVE I NEVER REALIZED THAT OF COURSE ERIK WAS ANOTHER CASE OF NASU BEING A FUCKING RACIST TEABOO

God that Pretender Erik idea sounds amazing though. I might have to add that to my list of fanservant ideas alongside Assassin Grettir and Saber Egil...

[linglanglit]

28.05.20 | 44/50 days of productivity

Spent pretty much the whole day rewriting the last chapter of my thesis with feedback from my supervisor. I also made a few small changes to my introduction. I'm super close to finishing my thesis, but somehow it doesn't feel that way ...

[scarletarosa]

Odin

Norse god of wisdom, knowledge, poetry, war, victory, sovereignty, divination, and magick

One of Odin’s countless titles is “All-father” (Old Norse: Alfaðir), since he is essentially the father of all of the Norse gods and was believed to be the divine ancestor of countless families from all over northern Europe. He is simultaneously an Aesir god, a Vanir god (the Vanir god Odr is only an extension or transposition of Odin), and a jötunn (ancient giant). Odin’s mother, Bestla, was one of the first frost-giants. One Old Norse poem even identifies him with önd, the breath of life. Furthermore, Odin is also the discoverer of the Runic alphabet and is married to the mother-goddess Frigg. 

Appearance and Roles: Old Norse texts portray Odin as one-eyed and long-bearded, frequently wielding a spear named Gungnir and wearing a cloak and a broad hat. One of the most striking attributes of his appearance is his single, piercing eye. His other eye socket is empty – the eye it once held was sacrificed by himself in order to gain wisdom. Odin is often accompanied by his animal companions and familiars—the wolves Geri and Freki and the ravens Huginn and Muninn, who bring him information from all over Midgard—and rides the flying, eight-legged steed Sleipnir across the sky and into the Underworld. Odin is the son of Bestla and Borr and has two brothers, Vili and Vé. Odin is attested as having many sons, most famously the gods Thor (with Jörð) and Baldr (with Frigg), and is known by hundreds of names. In these texts he frequently seeks greater knowledge, at times in disguise (most famously by obtaining the Mead of Poetry), makes wagers with his wife Frigg over the outcome of exploits, and takes part both in the creation of the world by way of slaying the primordial being Ymir and in giving the gift of life to the first two humans, Ask and Embla. Odin has a particular association with the festival of Yule, and mankind's knowledge of both the runes and poetry is also attributed to him. 

Old Norse texts also state that female entities connected with the battlefield—the valkyries—were led by Odin, since he oversees Valhalla, where he receives half of those who die in battle, the einherjar, the honourable warriors. The other half are then claimed by the goddess Freyja for her afterlife location, Fólkvangr. Odin also is said to consult the disembodied, herb-embalmed head of the wise being Mímir for advice, and during the foretold events of Ragnarök Odin is told to lead the einherjar into battle before being consumed by the monstrous wolf Fenrir. In later folklore Odin appears as a leader of the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession of the dead through the winter sky. He is also associated with charms and other forms of magic, particularly in Old English and Old Norse texts. 

As a god of sovereignty, Odin is paradoxically also the favourite god and helper of outlaws, those who have been banished from society for some especially heinous crime, as well. Like Odin, many such men were exceptionally strong-willed warrior-poets who were apathetic to established societal norms – Egill Skallagrímsson (Egil’s Saga) and Grettir Ásmundarson (The Saga of Grettir the Strong) are two examples. The late twelfth/early thirteenth-century Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus even relates a tale of Odin being outlawed from Asgard for ten years so that the other gods and goddesses wouldn’t be tarnished by the vile reputation he had acquired amongst many humans. Whatever their social stature, the humans favored by Odin are distinguished by their intelligence, creativity, and competence in the proverbial “war of all against all”. For Odin, any kind of limitation is something to be overcome by any means necessary, and his actions are carried out within the context of a relentless and ruthless quest for more wisdom, knowledge, and power, usually of a magical sort. 

Odin’s competitive side once drove him to challenge the wisest of the jǫtnar (giants) to a contest to see who was more knowledgeable. The reward was to be the head of the loser, and Odin won this challenge by asking his opponent something that only he himself could know. Odin then claimed his prize and returned to Asgard. Along with Freyja, he is one of the two greatest practitioners of shamanism amongst the gods. The Ynglinga Saga records that Odin often “travels to distant lands on his own errands or those of others” while he appears to others to be asleep or dead. Another instance is recorded in the Eddic poem “Baldur’s Dreams,” where Odin rode Sleipnir, an eight-legged horse, to the Underworld in order to consult a dead seeress on behalf of his son. Odin’s mastery of necromancy, the magical art of communicating with and raising the dead, is frequently noted. While there are several reasons Odin maintains this commerce with the dead, including his desire to learn what knowledge and wisdom they possess, the most significant reason is his dread-driven desire to have as many of the best warriors as possible on his side when he must face the wolf Fenrir during Ragnarok – even though he knows that he’s doomed to die in the battle. 

Myths: In myth, Odin needed to make a sacrifice of himself in order to obtain great wisdom. This myth displays the great desire for knowledge and wisdom Odin holds, as well as his unstoppable will-power. Odin All-Father was troubled deeply for the whisperings of the Yggdrasil tree had told him the prophecies of the end, of Ragnarök. He had listened and knew of how Surtr the Black would join the giants in their war against the gods, how he would arise out of the flames of Muspell and drown the earth in fire. Odin’s wisdom told him that he could not prevent this end, but he hoped that perhaps, with wisdom, something could be done to have some gods and humans to survive. Odin travelled the Bifrost to Midgard and began to search for the well of Mimir. The well lay beneath the root of Yggdrasil that grew out of Jotunheim. It was kept my Mimir, the man who drank its wisdom each morning and who kept watch over the Gjallar-horn that Heimdallr, the white watcher, will blow on the day of Ragnarök. 

After many days of travel, Odin came to the edge of the well deep in Jotunheim. Mimir approached him and took up the horn Gjallar and filled it with good water from the well and gave the horn to Odin to drink. As he drank, his eyes opened and saw visions of great and terrible sufferings that would befall both men and gods. He drank again and saw the ways that gods and men might, in great noble courage, fight and defeat the evils that would surely arise, though at great cost for he saw also his death and the death of the Aesir that lived in Asgard by his side. How mighty Thor would succumb to the venom of the great serpent, and how Loki would come against Heimdallr and would kill one another, he saw his own defeat at the jaws of Fenrir, and many more deaths and failings that would come of Ragnarök. 

After witnessing these things, Odin put his hand to his face and plucked out his right eye. The pain was great and searing, but he made no sound nor showed his great suffering. Mimir took the eye and threw it into the well where it sunk deep but glistened like glass, a sign to any who might pass of the price Odin All-Father paid for his wisdom. And Odin returned to Asgard and sat upon his throne and considered the things he had seen. 

In another myth, Odin underwent a ritual death and rebirth in order to discover the runes. At the centre of the Norse cosmos stands the great tree Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil’s upper branches cradle Asgard, the home and fortress of the Aesir gods and goddesses, of whom Odin is the chief. Yggdrasil grows out of the Well of Urd, a pool whose fathomless depths hold many of the most powerful forces and beings in the cosmos. Among these beings are the Norns, three sagacious maidens who create the fate of all beings. One of the foremost techniques they use to shape fate is carving runes into Yggdrasil’s trunk. The symbols then carry these intentions throughout the tree, affecting everything in the Nine Worlds. Since the runes’ native home is in the Well of Urd with the Norns, and since the runes do not reveal themselves to any but those who prove themselves worthy of such fearful insights and abilities, Odin hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil, pierced himself with his spear, and peered downward into the shadowy waters below. He forbade any of the other gods to grant him the slightest aid, not even a sip of water. 

And he stared downward, downward, and called to the runes. He survived in this state, teetering on the precipice that separates the living from the dead, for no less than nine days and nights. At the end of the ninth night, he at last perceived shapes in the depths: the runes. They had accepted his sacrifice and shown themselves to him, revealing to him not only their forms, but also the secrets that lie within them. Having fixed this knowledge in his formidable memory, Odin ended his ordeal with a scream of exultation. Having been initiated into the mysteries of the runes, Odin recounted:

“Then I was fertilized and became wise; I truly grew and thrived. From a word to a word I was led to a word, From a work to a work I was led to a work.”

Equipped with the knowledge of how to wield the runes, he became one of the mightiest and most accomplished beings in the cosmos. He learned chants that enabled him to heal emotional and bodily wounds, to bind his enemies and render their weapons worthless, to free himself from constraints, to put out fires, to expose and banish practitioners of malevolent magic, to protect his friends in battle, to wake the dead, to win and keep a lover, and to perform many other feats like these.

Personality: In my personal experiences with Odin, he is withdrawn, reclusive, analytical, methodical, studious, very serious, loves riddles and numbers, is a physiomancer (can divine the future through many methods), and takes oaths very seriously, rarely forgiving anyone who breaks them. He can help with many things, including gaining wisdom and knowledge, magickal prowess, divination, shamanism, spiritual rebirths, cunning, and discovering what truly matters in life so we can move past lesser things. Odin says that he can also assist in protecting against the malicious god Loki, who tricks others into trusting him and then harms them unsuspectingly, or disguises himself as their loved ones in order to hurt them or get his way.  

Offerings: beer (all types but prefers dark/stout), meat (pork, all game animals and birds), eggs, courgettis, oak, ash wood, runes, amber, lightning bolt imagery, any form of fortune telling tools (tarot, pendulum, etc.), crow/raven skulls or feathers, black silk, aubergine, wooden bowls, white sandalwood, black peppercorns, cedar, white daisies, cosmic tree imagery, crow/raven statuettes.

[dwollsadventures]

I couldn't decide between uploading the one with the two-shades or not, so I did both. The line-art alone looks good to me, but it might look a bit boring for others. Coloring sucks. Welp, while I'm here I guess I can talk about the drawings of the trolls. The main submission went into the theory behind trolls and didn't leave me too much room. Starting from the top the bjergfolk is represented by a character from a particular story, where a rider stumbles across a party and a woman offers him a poisoned goblet. Swedish trolls are the most varied, but I thought this particular story was a good representation for some of them: pretty on the outside, dangerous on the inside. 

Technically the mound-man and trold are both Danish trolls, but they represent two different aspects. Danish trolls are often smaller and less evil, sometimes even helpful. A gnomish troll stands as representative of them. The mound-man stands as representative for the others, the more human-like and less amiable. These trolls are very hard to distinguish from Norwegian huldre-folk and even Danish ellefolk. The one key difference being ellefolk are always called elves, have an uneven gender split in favor of females, and often have hollow backs. The one story that stood out to me about Danish trolls is where one sits invisibly in a home until it sees something remarkable, exclaiming something and giving away its position. More often than not "goblin" is used to translate them into English, which I thought was interesting. 

The witch here has a proper inspiration. I probably should have drawn a more "witchy" witch, since the lady here is a volva. Usually they're called a seeress in English and are usually not evil. But I wanted to draw her because of a very detailed description I read in Eirik the Red's saga, of a woman decked out from head to toe. She even had catskin gloves, a possible allusion to Freyja and her sacred animal. This völva carries a staff with her and is yawning. Eldar Heide makes an interesting point in that people who conjure up spirits often yawn or breath in a certain manner, suggesting they are literally "breathing in" a spirit. Related to that, spirits will take the form of flies or other insects when near their sorcerous masters. 

Our draugr here is Glam. He was an evil being who Grettir the Strong had to battle. Even though they were even in strength (if not a little favored towards Glam) Grettir eventually won and was killed for the second and last time. Before he died though, he cursed Grettir mightily. One aspect of his curse was that Grettir would forever be scared of the dark; that he would always see Glam's eyes within every shadow. Grisly. Glam is also a good indicator of how the undead can toe the line between traditional ghost and troll in Scandinavia. In the bottom left is the basic troll, the creature who lives in the mountains and eats people. I didn't want to exactly copy my previous troll (from the Hobbit Genetic Diversity drawing), but I really nailed it on the head with that one. In an effort to distinguish it, this troll is a little more of an edgy-Bauer troll. Greedily looking at the contents of its cauldron. 

Finally, the giant is a shape that I've drawn quite a few times, usually in the form of a troll with tusks though. The Norse had a few words for giant, including "Thurs", which is related to the thurs-rune and Thor himself. That giant is the quintessential thurs, at least in my head. The ragged hair, the animal-like ears, the huge lumbering body, and the fur cloak all add up to something that just screams it in my head. Anyways, there is a reason he's carrying and near a rock. See, in Norse mythology giants are pretty well-rounded and present. However, in Scandinavian folklore they are generally absent (except in a few stories). To the descendants of the Norse, giants were a prehistoric race who was gone long before anyone alive could remember. Only evidence of their existence was around. Usually this included stones tossed near churches, sometimes with distinct hand-prints on them. This is a very popular motif, often associated with heroes as well. Back in ancient Italy, people assumed dinosaur footprints were that of Heracles and his cattle, and an enormous shoulder blade was in reality Pelops'. Giants and heroes overlap quite a bit, in a weird way... Aside from continuing writing, I don't have anything else planned after this. I don't feel like diving deep into another research project after this one. The only ideas I have written down currently are talking a bit about basilisks/cockatrices, or redrawing all the enemies from Zelda 1 in my style. If you have any input, or suggestions, I would love to hear them.

[seabunnii]

8 people I’d like to know better meme

Tagged by @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪ ♡💫 thank youuuuu☆

Name: eve

Birthday: november 9

Height: 5’3”/160cm

Hobbies:

Writing (...which i should do more often...)

Drawing (trying to)

Podcasts

Reading

Vidya games

Crying while i listen to Bastille’s entire discography and am draped across my chaise lounge

Baking

Tabletop RPGs

Favorite colors:

Pink

Blue

Dark reds

Favorite books:

The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchert

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

The Saga of Grettir the strong

Coriolanus - Shakespeare

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Tom Stoppard

The Night Circus - Emily Morgenstern

Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant

Last song listened to: Laughter Lines - Bastille

Last film watched: Train to Busan

Meaning behind your URL: i am a sea slug

(❁ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)✧‧˚ and I’ll tag @syrinfin @frozenabattoir @blm1997 @lost-inthyme @sinclairsolutions @shimmersing @claudela @villainship @fluffyjd c: (only if you want to of course~ and i don’t know who has been tagged/who has done this since i am more off of tumblr _(:3 」∠)_ )

[godsofterror]

Land Draugr Mythology

Draugr, much like the Kraken, is a legendary Norse creature. As discussed in part one, the name Drogo derives from the Old Norse word draugr. I've surmised that Hugor (of the Hill) is siimilarly derived from hugr, and that the original Hugor, who lead the Andals during the fight against the evil of the Long Night

To frame the discussion about draugrs, Hugor/hugr, barrows, and the boundaries between the living and the dead, we need to better understand Norse draugr myths. In the essays to follow, I'll discuss how they have been interpreted by fantasy writers, including Tolkien.

Definition of draugrs

Draugrs are the Norse undead. The soul (hugr), upon death, refuses to leave the material plane, and instead reoccupies its former body. There are two types of draugrs: land (or barrow) draugrs, and sea draugrs. This section will focus on land draugrs.

The will appears to be strong, strong enough to draw the hugr [animate will] back to one's body. These reanimated individuals were known as draugar (or draugr). However, though the dead might live again, they could also die again. Draugar die a "second death" as Chester Gould calls it, when their bodies decay, are burned, dismembered or otherwise destroyed.

Barrows

Draugrs are inextricably linked with barrows in Norse mythology. Barrows, also known as "howes" or "tumuluses", are artificial low mounds (or hills) where people are buried. They are often assoicated with kings or royal families, and offer both the living and the dead a home. For the living, the descendents of those buried in barrows are able to point at the barrows as proof of their long-term [ownership of the land][dragur2]. For the dead, the barrows are home.

Because of this association, draugrs have often been called barrow-wights. This translation of draugr is from the mid-19th century.

Within these Old Norse myths, Draugrs lived in barrows, guarding their burial treasures. While they are not contained by the barrow (they will leave to raid sheep or humans) the artificial mounds are their homes. Even in more modern times, archeological excavations of Viking barrows caused locals to worry about draugrs attacking their livestock- or their loved ones.

The barrows represent a "liminal space", a place of crossover between the worlds of the living and the dead. Draugrs, living when and where they should not, represent beings between the living and the dead. They are the undead, whose hugr would not leave the body, returning by sheer will to continue to live.

A draugr's presence might be shown by a great light that glowed from the mound like foxfire.[15] This fire would form a barrier between the land of the living and the land of the dead.[16] The draugr could also move magically through the earth, swimming through solid stone as does Killer-Hrapp:

Then Olaf tried to rush Hrapp, but Hrapp sank into the ground where he had been standing and that was the end of their encounter.[6]

Hvammr, the Shadow Valley

Another liminal space of crossover between the living and the dead, the "Hvammr" is a geographic feature we might call a dell or valley. These valleys are surrounded by tall mountains, which cast shadows enough to keep the hvammr dark for weeks or months at a time:

Scandinavian draugar are further associated with certain types of landscapes, notably the "hvammr," "a short valley or dell, surrounded by mountains, but open on one side in one direction". Certain traditions record a tradition of the dead "dying into a mountain," equating this sort of mountain with a burial mound. The hvammr represented a boundary area between valley and mountain, between farm and burial mound, between the living and the dead. The hvammr, surrounded by tall mountains, would receive little direct sunlight, and none at all for several weeks in midwinter. Forsaeludale (literally, "Shadow Valley"), the site of Glamr's hauntings in Grettirs saga, was such a place.

Draugrs and Iron

A strange relationship between draugrs and iron is related in the Norse myths. Apparently the dead can be prevented from becoming draugrs if iron scissors (or swords?) were placed on the body after death. This prevented the hugr from returning to the body. Iron was also threatening to the draugr, as it could injure them:

Iron could injure a draugr, as is the case with many supernatural creatures, although it would not be sufficient to stop it. Sometimes the hero is required to dispose of the body in unconventional ways. The preferred method is to cut off the draugr's head, burn the body, and dump the ashes in the sea—the emphasis being on making absolutely sure that the draugr was dead and gone.

Iron was to be placed on the deceased body because draug, like other undead, vættir, and fea folk, hate iron. Iron was often used as a means of keeping the undead away by placing iron somewhere at the threshold.

Powers

The draugr have many magical powers, including incredible strength, shapeshifting, and more:

Draugar are noted for having numerous magical abilities (referred to as trollskap) resembling those of living witches and wizards, such as shape-shifting, controlling the weather, and seeing into the future. A draugr can change into a seal, a great flayed bull, a grey horse with a broken back but no ears or tail, and a cat that would sit upon a sleeper's chest and grow steadily heavier until the victim suffocated. The draugr Þráinn (Thrain) shape-shifted into a cat-like creature (kattakyn) in Hrómundar saga Gripssonar.

Draugar have the ability to enter into the dreams of the living, and they will frequently leave a gift behind so that "the living person may be assured of the tangible nature of the visit".[14] Draugar also have the ability to curse a victim, as shown in the Grettis saga, where Grettir is cursed to be unable to become any stronger. Draugar also brought disease to a village and could create temporary darkness in daylight hours. They preferred to be active during the night, although it did not appear to be vulnerable to sunlight like some other revenants. Draugr can also kill people with bad luck.

Some draugar are immune to weapons, and only a hero has the strength and courage needed to stand up to so formidable an opponent. In legends, the hero would often have to wrestle the draugr back to his grave, thereby defeating him, since weapons would do no good. A good example of this is found in Hrómundar saga Gripssonar.

The Draugr are even ascribed motivations:

The dead budy was a vehicle of plague and illness, such as that ofthe sorceror Mithothyn of Saxo Grammaticus, but in a day and age in which germ theory was unknown, the causative agent was perceived to be the evil intent of the draugr. Thus it followed that the dead might also make physical attacks against the living. The draugr was believed to feel a longing for the things of life, and even envy of those yet alive.

Blue

Famously, the draugr of myth were blue corpses:

The draugar were said to be either hel-blár ("death-blue") or nár-fölr ("corpse-pale").[7] The death-blue color was not actually grey but was a dark blue or maroon hue which covered the entire body. Glámr, the undead shepherd of Grettis saga, was reported to be dark blue,[19] and Laxdæla saga describes how bones were dug up belonging to a dead sorceress who had appeared in dreams, and they were "blue and evil looking."

In part III, I'll examine some famous draugrs in fiction from ancient epic sagas to modern fantasy writing.

[hoffdogg]

ODIN’S DISCOVERY OF THE RUNES The Codex Runicus, a law code written in runes (c. 1300 CE) The Norse god Odin is a relentless seeker after knowledge and wisdom, and is willing to sacrifice almost anything for this pursuit. The most outstanding feature of his appearance, his one eye, attests to this; he sacrificed his other eye for more wisdom. The tale of how he discovered the runes is another example of his unquenchable thirst for understanding the mysteries of life, not to mention his unstoppable will. The runes are the written letters that were used by the Norse and other Germanic peoples before the adoption of the Latin alphabet in the later Middle Ages. Unlike the Latin alphabet, which is an essentially utilitarian script, the runes are symbols of some of the most powerful forces in the cosmos. In fact, the word “rune” and its cognates across past and present Germanic languages mean both “letter” and “secret/mystery.” The letters called “runes” allow one to access, interact with, and influence the world-shaping forces they symbolize. Thus, when Odin sought the runes, he wasn’t merely attempting to acquire a set of arbitrary representations of human vocal sounds. Rather, he was uncovering an extraordinarily potent system of magic. Odin’s Discovery of the Runes At the center of the Norse cosmos stands the great tree Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil’s upper branches cradle Asgard, the home and fortress of the Aesir gods and goddesses, of whom Odin is the chief. Yggdrasil grows out of the Well of Urd, a pool whose fathomless depths hold many of the most powerful forces and beings in the cosmos. Among these beings are the Norns, three sagacious maidens who create the fates of all beings. One of the foremost techniques they use to shape fate is carving runes into Yggdrasil’s trunk. The symbols then carry these intentions throughout the tree, affecting everything in the Nine Worlds. Odin watched the Norns from his seat in Asgard and envied their powers and their wisdom. And he bent his will toward the task of coming to know the runes. Since the runes’ native home is in the Well of Urd with the Norns, and since the runes do not reveal themselves to any but those who prove themselves worthy of such fearful insights and abilities, Odin hung himself from a branch of Yggdrasil, pierced himself with his spear, and peered downward into the shadowy waters below. He forbade any of the other gods to grant him the slightest aid, not even a sip of water. And he stared downward, and stared downward, and called to the runes. He survived in this state, teetering on the precipice that separates the living from the dead, for no less than nine days and nights. At the end of the ninth night, he at last perceived shapes in the depths: the runes! They had accepted his sacrifice and shown themselves to him, revealing to him not only their forms, but also the secrets that lie within them. Having fixed this knowledge in his formidable memory, Odin ended his ordeal with a scream of exultation. Having been initiated into the mysteries of the runes, Odin recounted: Then I was fertilized and became wise; I truly grew and thrived. From a word to a word I was led to a word, From a work to a work I was led to a work. Equipped with the knowledge of how to wield the runes, he became one of the mightiest and most accomplished beings in the cosmos. He learned chants that enabled him to heal emotional and bodily wounds, to bind his enemies and render their weapons worthless, to free himself from constraints, to put out fires, to expose and banish practitioners of malevolent magic, to protect his friends in battle, to wake the dead, to win and keep a lover, and to perform many other feats like these.[1] “Sacrificing Myself to Myself” Our source for the above tale is the Hávamál, an Old Norse poem that comprises part of the Poetic Edda. In the first of the two verses that describe Odin’s shamanic initiatory ordeal itself (written from Odin’s perspective), the god says that he was “given to Odin, myself to myself.” The Old Norse phrase that translates to English as “given to Odin” is gefinn Óðni, a phrase that occurs many times throughout the Eddas and sagas in the context of human sacrifices to Odin. And, in fact, the form these sacrifices take mirrors Odin’s ordeal in the Hávamál; the victim, invariably of noble birth, was stabbed, hung, or, more commonly, both at the same time.[2] Odin’s ordeal is therefore a sacrifice of himself to himself, and is the ultimate Odinnic sacrifice – for who could be a nobler offering to the god than the god himself? So, it seems that a statement above is in need of qualification. Part of Odin survived the sacrifice in order to be the recipient of the sacrifice – in addition to the runes themselves – and another part of him did indeed die. This is suggested, not just by the imagery of death in these verses, but also by the imagery of rebirth and fecundity in the following verses that speak of his being “fertilized,” and, like a seedling, “growing,” and “thriving.” Even a casual browsing of the Eddas and sagas alerts the reader to how accomplished, self-possessed, and inwardly strong many of their central figures are, especially the most Odinnic of them (such as Egill Skallagrimsson, Starkad, Sigurd, and Grettir Asmundarson). Perhaps their strength of character was largely due to the example set by their divine patron, with the songs sung in his honor telling of how he wasn’t afraid to sacrifice what we might call his “lower self” to his “higher self,” to live according to his highest will unconditionally, accepting whatever hardships arise from that pursuit, and allowing nothing, not even death, to stand between him and the attainment of his goals. https://norse-mythology.org/tales/odins-discovery-of-the-runes/

[kkintle]

The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings by Lars Brownworth

“Wake early if you want another man’s life or land. No land for the lazy wolf. No battle’s won in bed.”  – Edda of Sæmund the Wise, a collection of the sayings of Odin

“One’s home is best, small though it may be…”  -Edda of Sæmund the Wise

“Braver are many in word than in deed.”  - The Saga of Grettir the Strong

“A cleaved head no longer plots”  - Edda of Sæmund the Wise

“One who sees his friend roasted on a spit tells all he knows.”  - Edda of Sæmund the Wise

“When ill seed has been sown, so an ill crop will spring from it.” -  Njáls Saga

“I desired to live worthily as long as I lived, and to leave after my life, to the men who should come after me, the memory of me in good works.” - Alfred the Great

“The overpraised are the worst deceivers.”  - The Saga of Grettir the Strong

“Many have been brought to death by overconfidence.”  - The Saga of Grettir the Strong

“He has need of his wits who wanders wide.”  - Edda of Sæmund the Wise

“They raised the standards, spread the sails before the wind, and like agile wolves set out to rip apart the Lord’s sheep, pouring out human blood to their god Thor.”  - William of Jumieges

“It is a still and silent sea that drowns a man.”  - Edda of Sæmund the Wise

‘I want only the shrewdest one to decide‘, he said, ‘because in my opinion, the council of fools is all the more dangerous the more of them there are.’

“It is best to search while the trail is new.”  - Edda of Sæmund the Wise

“Be warned by another’s woe.”  - Njáls Saga

“…the terror and darkness robbed you of your reason…”  - Patriarch Photius

“If a wolf comes among the sheep, he will take away the whole flock unless he is killed”  - Russian Primary Chronicle

“Our ravens croak to have their fill… the wolf howls from the distant hill”  - King Harald’s Saga

“Whim rules the child, the weather, and the field.”  - Edda of Sæmund the Wise

“No man lives till eve, Whom the fates doom at dawning.”  - Edda of Sæmund the Wise

They claimed that Odin himself had advised that “No better burden can a man carry on the road than a store of common sense.”

“All men are mortal“, they were fond of saying, “only a noble name can live forever.”

[hornedhelm]

Yea, seest thou thy wide wounds bleed? What of shrinking didst thou heed In the one-foot sling of gold? What scratch here dost thou behold? And in e'en such wise as this Many an axe-breaker there is Strong of tongue and weak of hand: Tried thou wert, and might'st not stand.

Grettir's Saga

[medievalpilled]

A tale is but half told when only one person tells it.

- The Saga of Grettir the Strong (Icelandic, c. late 1300s)

I am dedicating this blog to dismantling the misunderstandings of our past, specifically the medieval era, and appreciating the culture and societies of this facet of history.

I am no expert-- I'm only doing my undergrad in anthropology at the moment so I can't guarantee the validity of my claims, but I will do my best. If any experts in the field would ever like to correct me, I would greatly appreciate it.

To clarify, this blog does not condone traditionalism or white supremacy. It is unfortunate that these ideologies so often use the medieval past to justify their beliefs, and I will be looking into and explaining how this came to be in the first place. (spoiler, it was the Victorians, of course...)

I doubt that my posting here will be consistent. My interest into this topic comes and goes but I certainly do have a lot I want to say about it.

I want to make this blog accessible to anyone, regardless if they are interested in history or not, and therefore my posts probably will include a lot of summaries and generalizations, and not really be written formally (I don't have the writing skills to do that anyways).

Overall, I hope to make more people see the beauty in the middle ages and stray away from the false perceptions of it that pop culture ingrains into us.

[swordofthewargod]

The saga of grettir the strong is about Grettir Ásmundarson, an Icelandic outlaw. . Again, there are many similarities with this saga to the Hervarasaga. A reason for this, I believe, is that there was once an older, more solid truth that the more contemporary tales have borrowed from. Often, the older the source, the more accurate the root of it's truth is. . Just like in the #Hervarasaga .. . Grettir, is rebellious, bad-tempered, and mischievous. His brother Atli is quiet and mild mannered. . Their father preffered Atli and their mother, Grettir. . He is temporarily banished from iceland after killing someone, asks his father for his sword, is denied and his mother gives him their family heirloom sword! #Jökulsnautr . (Ring any bells?) . Grettir goes on many adventures and later is cursed, his poor luck causes him further banishment when he returns to Iceland. He must live iut his days on a cliff. He is repeatedly beyrayed by outlaws and it's there his enemies succeed in defeating him. . (Just like the thralls killing Heidrek in the #tyrfingcycle for the sword.) . #SWORDOFTHEWARGOD #norse #mythology #norsemythology #bookseries #writer #book #books #tyrfing #sword #mythologies . Bjarg memorial stone in west iceland. The memorial displays a relief from Grettis Saga made by Icelandic artist Halldór Pétursson. https://www.instagram.com/p/CMje-AUneUB/?igshid=2wr4mnij27hs

[sagaofgunnlaugserpenttonguedr]

Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue (Penguin Little Black Classics)

'In two I'll slice the hair-seat / of Helga's kiss-gulper' In this epic tale from the Viking Age that ranges across Scandinavia and Viking Britain, two poets compete for the love of Helga the Fair - with fatal consequences. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. The Icelandic Sagas were oral in origin and written down in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Other Icelandic Sagas available in Penguin Classics include Njal's Saga, Egil's Saga, Sagas of Warrior-Poets, Gisli Sursson's Saga and the Saga of the People of Eyri, The Saga of Grettir the Strong, The Saga of the People of Laxardal and Bolli Bollason's Tale, The Vinland Sagas and Comic Sagas from Iceland.