Old Norse Religion

Mitchell, Stephen A. 2017. "Óðinn, Charms and Necromancy: Hávamál 157 in its Nordic and European Contexts." In Old Norse Mythology—Comparative Perspectives. Ed. Pernille Hermann, Stephen A. Mitchell and Jens Peter Schjødt. Publications of the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature,    3. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Pp. 289-321.

This paper argues that seiðr was about spinning a mind emissary, sending forth such a spun emissary, or attracting things or doing other things with such a mind emissary. Further arguments for this view can be read in my dissertation on gand(r). (Gand, seid og åndevind.)

Chapter 4 of Eiríks saga rauða has long drawn the attention of scholars due to its detailed description of a seiðr, a rare occurrence in Íslendinga sǫgur as well as in sagas of other genres. The protagonist of the scene, a Greenlandic seiðkona named Þorbjǫrg, is depicted as a social functionary who creates a relationship with the supernatural world and acquires a deeper knowledge and foreknowledge concerning the surrounding area, for the benefit of the local community. The performance takes place during a great famine at the beginning of the eleventh century, and the semi-public ritual had the purpose of predicting when the dearth would come to an end. It consisted – among other things-of a ritual meal: a porridge of kid's milk and of the cooked hearts of all the living creatures that inhabited the area. The present paper aims at casting light on this specific aspect of Þorbjǫrg's seiðr, and at contextualizing it within a wider literary and historical landscape. The intention is to integrate traditional interpretations with observations on the importance of sympathetic magic in ancient and medieval Europe, and particularly in medieval Scandinavia.

This unfunded translation of the 1903 treatise by Ólafur Davíðsson, written and published in the German annual journal: Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde under the title “Isländische Zauberzeichen und Zauberbücher”. 

This important work follows on from Jón Árnason’s Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri, discussing this significant aspect of Icelandic culture most prominent in the 17th century.

Many months in the making, mostly checking through original source material in antiquarian Icelandic manuscripts and publications, it is provided free here. However financial contributions towards this and future research can be made on my website https://users.on.net/~starbase/galdrastafir/galdrastafir.htm

The present volume responds to the rising boom of interest in folklore and folklore research in the study of Old Norse mythology. The twenty-two authors of this volume reveal the dynamism of this lively dialogue, which is characterized by a diversity of perspectives linking to different fields and national scholarships.

The chapters open with a general overview of how the concepts of “folklore” and “mythology” have been understood and related across the history of Old Norse studies, which is followed by a group of chapters that discuss and present different approaches and types of source materials, with methodological and theoretical concerns. The interest in folklore is bound up with interests in practice and lived religion, which are brought into focus in a series of chapters relating to magic and ritual. Attention then turns to images that link to mythology and different mythic agents in studies that explore a variety of usage in meaning-making in different forms of cultural expression. The next group of studies spotlights motifs, with perspectives on synchronic usage across genres and different media, cross-cultural exchange, and long-term continuities. The volume culminates in discussions of complex stories, variously in oral traditions behind medieval sources and relationships between accounts found in medieval sources and those recorded from more recent traditions.

Individually, the chapters variously offer reflexive and historical research criticism, new research frameworks, illustrative studies, and exploratory investigations. Collectively, they illustrate the rapidly evolving multidisciplinary discussion at the intersections of folklore and Old Norse mythology, where the transformative impacts were recently described as a paradigm shift. They open new paths for scholarly discussion with the potential to inspire future research.

The Icelandic manuscript called “Huld”, meaning secrecy, was made by Geir Vigfússon in 1860.  It features a collection of runic alphabets in the first half and a small set of 30 "galdrastafir", magic symbols and sigils, in the second.

This presentation focuses only on the second and aims to provide a more complete and accurate English translation of the Icelandic text and secret codes, and which hopefully will be a platform from which further exploration can be embarked.

This is the original version. I have since added a few notes and a couple of corrections. That can be purchased for a very modest price on my website https://users.on.net/~starbase/galdrastafir/galdrastafir.htm

Socio-Historical Examination of Religion and Ministry (SHERM) is a biannual, not-for-profit, peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes the latest social scientific, historiographic, and ecclesiastic research on religious institutions and their practices. SHERM is dedicated to the critical and scholarly inquiry of historical and contemporary religious phenomena, both from within particular religious traditions and across cultural boundaries, so as to inform the broader socio-historical analysis of religion and its related fields of study.

In partnership with the FaithX Project, SHERM is a full, no-fee, open access academic journal, which means it publishes and publicly makes available your research without charging subscription dues or publishing fees. Whereas other open access journals still require authors to pay for making their publications available, SHERM believes in making high-quality scholarship accessible to the public while promoting the wide dissemination and visibility of your published article. Our goal is to increase the opportunity for erudite academicians to publish their work, gain a larger readership outside the confines of conventional journals, and receive citations from future researchers.

This paper outlines an approach to mythology in terms of a 'symbolic matrix'.  The approach is intended to accommodate variation in mythology both locally and regionally (dialects of mythology) and also according to genre or social practice within a single community or social environment (registers of mythology). Approaching mythology in terms of systems of symbols and conventions for their combination and interpretation allows the use and manipulation of these symbols in social practice to be considered as viewed from different 'perspectives' within the matrix. The acknowledgement of multiple perspectives within a matrix constituted of all available mythic resources in a social environment provides a platform for considering the coexistence and manipulations of mythology in environments where Christian and vernacular religions are in interaction - e.g. where Odin may be viewed as a symbol from different perspectives by Christians and non-Christians in a single encounter. A structural typology of symbolic elements in mythology (not intended to be exhaustive) is introduced as a methodological tool for approaching variation and mythic discourse more generally.

In this article it is argued that Odin's discovery of the runes when hanging on the tree, as related in the Icelandic Hávamál, is not an indigenous attribute of that god. Nor should the attribution of the invention of letters to Mercury in the Old English  Prose Solomon and Saturn be linked to the Hávamál, as is generally done. Instead I demonstrate that Odin's invention is an adaptation of Roman Classical mythology in which the invention of letters is ascribed to Mercury. The Romans in their turn borrowed this myth from the Greeks, with Hermes Trismagistos playing that role, while the Greeks and borrowed it from the Egyptians, equating their god Thoth with Hermes.

This paper examines the obscure concluding sequence in the Old Norse eddic poem Baldrs draumar. In the poem, the god Odin travels in disguise to the realm of the dead in order to raise a dead sorceress; he interrogates her about the bad dreams of his son Baldr; the sorceress prophesies Baldr's death and the revenge sequence that Odin will orchestrate to follow it.  In the final sequence of the poem, Odin asks a peculiar question identifiable as a riddle for 'waves'; rather than answering the question, the sorceress reveals the identity of Odin as the figure interrogating her, and in response, Odin appears to reveal the identity of the sorceress, who then takes the last word with reference to Ragnarök - the end of the world at which Odin will die.

Building on the premises that the final sequence of stanzas would have reasonable sense to a vernacular audience and engage concepts conventional to the mythology (rather than simply being accepted as obscure or disconnected from broader discourses), this paper proposes the following interpretation: Odin's final question is relevant and engages a mythic image as a means of asking whether Ragnarök will follow from the revenge-cycle of the previous questions; this question enables the other figure to identify him unambiguously as Odin; this identification allows Odin to identify the other figure as someone other than expected, in which case the most probable recognizable figure would probably be Loki; the final response of this figure then both responds to Odin's question as a threat with direct reference to the release of Loki, relevant to the situation.

This paper engages possibilities of variation in the underlying ideas of the mythology found in different sources.  It introduces the observation that the cycle of material associated with the revenge prophesies in this and other sources seems to be rooted in different basic concepts than narrative material associated with Baldr's mother and her attempts to prevent Baldr's death (developed further in _Baldr and Lemminkäinen_).  If the interpretation is correct that the sorceress addressed by Odin is Loki in disguise, the circumstances present the possibility that this poem is engaging models of the mythology somewhat different from what is found in Snorri Sturluson's Edda.

Gísli Súrsson’s Saga is one of the most popular outlaw sagas in the corpus of Icelandic literature. In this story, Gísli experiences a series of prophetic dreams where two mysterious female figures appear to foretell his fate. Although the identities of these figures are not revealed, they do contain some of the same qualities that parallel other sources that might identify them as the Norns of fate of Norse mythology. This short paper will summarize Gísli’s dreams, and then compare them with a few other sources in order to investigate this potential connection. Finally, a short critique will be provided on this correlation that might help us lend some insight into the purpose behind these mythical beings, as well as to provide a basis for later inquiry on the subject.

Author: Noel Braucher

The (unedited and error-ridden) manuscript for the paper I gave at the 2016 Nordic Mythology Conference at Berkeley, October 29-30, "Paganism Past". The paper addresses Paganism Past and Ideas of Authenticity, and argues that any ideas of authenticity in the representation of Nordic mythology in Snorri's texts should be abandoned for another approach. My suggestion for an alternative approach is the concept of cultural complexity, in the sense that all sources available to the student of Nordic mythology, be they textual or part of the material culture, should be approached as expressions of the cultural phenomenon 'Nordic mythology', and variation should be addressed through the lens of social or cognitive differences and variations. With this perspective, we can abandon ideas of an authentic version of Nordic mythology; chronological and geographical variation become less essential, and distortions of the material brought about by the conversion process must be considered less interesting than the possibility of the available sources to Nordic mythology representing a plausible and viable system of thought and culture.

Guido von List (1848-1919) è stato uno studioso, poeta, giornalista, scrittore e alpinista tedesco. Il suo lavoro di ricerca sulle origini delle religioni pagane dell'antica Europa, e in particolar modo le sue intuizioni volte a decifrare i significati più esoterici dell'intero complesso mitico degli antichi popoli germanici, costituisce tuttora un'occasione imprescindibile per chiunque volesse approfondire l'argomento, al punto che  Marcello De Martino lo definisce "l'antesignano della teoria duméziliana" della tripartizione indoeuropea, nonché "l'esatto omologo di George Dumézil in ambito occultistico".

The author argues that tales in the Old English poem Beowulf have been passed down orally before being written down, and that the poem blends pagan and Christian elements. Some motifs from a pre-Christian past are still possible to identify. It is argued that certain motifs in Beowulf can be compared with analogous motifs in Old Norse Mythology. The main focus is the descriptions of Grendel and his mother, both referred to with terms for giants such as Old English þyrs and eoten, related to Old Norse þurs and jǫtunn. The author compares general descriptions of giants in the poem and concludes that the poet makes sure to differ between Biblical giants and traditional giants. The latter group is not described as monsters; they have many elements in common with mythological giants known from Old Norse mythology, giants are also used as poetical metaphors in descriptions of enemies.

(Updated Feb. 14, 2021) The first in-depth survey of English language translations of the Prose Edda, intended for seasoned researchers, future translators, and enthusiasts searching for an 'ideal' translation to consult. This PDF edition is based on an ongoing web-based resource, a part of the Mimisbrunnr.info project and is updated alongside the site. Readers can find it at the following URL: https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/edda-to-english

The study of Old Norse religion is a truly multidisciplinary and international field of research. The rituals, myths, and narratives of pre-Christian Scandinavia have been studied and interpreted in detail by a vast number of scholars. They have long relied on the rich and varied Christian Icelandic literature from the Middle Ages, but a growing body of material culture from pagan Scandinavia has recently started to have an impact on current research.

In Tracing Old Norse Cosmology, Anders Andrén argues that the fundamental ideas of an ordered universe and notions of time and space in Old Norse religion can be studied in a dialogue between archaeology and the Icelandic narrative tradition. Ideas about the world tree, middle earth, and the sun can be traced in images and material culture from different parts of Scandinavian prehistory.

By combining these prehistoric representations with the later written record, Andrén offers a long view on Old Norse cosmology, including the periods of fundamental change. This fascinating and nuanced study is essential reading for all researchers in the field - archaeologists, art historians, and scholars of literature and religion - as well as anyone with an interest in Old Norse history.

Inspired by later medieval sagas and Viking Age historical sources, but underpinned and enriched by archaeological evidence and themes, the History channel's Vikings (2013-) is a unique drama series exploring the late eighth/early ninth century conflicts and culture of the Northmen, aimed at a global television audience. This chapter introduces the series and its varied portrayals of mortuary practice. From the portrayal of the deaths of chieftains and those slain in battle to family members and children, I identify key archaeological themes behind the depiction of death. This prompts discussion of mortuary archaeology's influence on popular perceptions of the Early Middle Ages, the programme operating as education, entertainment but also reflecting on present-day anxieties over the nature of human mortality.

Þingeyrar Abbey was founded in 1133 and dissolved in the wake of the Lutheran Reformation (1550), to virtually disappear with time from the face of the earth. Although highly promising archeological excavations are under way, our material points of access to this important monastic foundation are still only a handful of medieval artifacts. However, throughout its medieval existence Þingeyrar Abbey was an inordinately large producer of Latin and Icelandic literature. We have the names of monastic authors, poets, translators, compilators, and scribes, who engaged creatively with such diverse subjects as Christian hagiography, contemporary history, and Norse mythology, skillfully amalgamating all of this into a coherent, imaginative whole. Thus, Þingeyrar Abbey has a prominent place in the creation and preservation of the Icelandic Eddas and Sagas that have shaped the Northern European cultural memory. Despite the dissolution of monastic libraries and wholesale destruction of Icelandic-Latin manuscripts through a mixture of Protestant zealotry and parchment reuse, philologists have been able to trace a number of surviving codices and fragments back to Þingeyrar Abbey. Ultimately, however, our primary points of access to the fascinating world of this remote Benedictine community remain immaterial, a vast corpus of medieval texts edited on the basis of manuscript copies at unknown degrees of separation from the lost originals.

Scandinavia consists of the low-lying Danish Island and the peninsula of Just land and the great Scandinavian peninsula. Norway, Island, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, as Scandinavian countries are famous for their Norse Mythology is about cultural resonance. Stone Age began from ca.  10,000 – ca. to 1,800 B.C.E. In the Mesolithic period, ice was melted, reindeer migrated, there were humans in Denmark ca. 10,000 B.C.E., the earliest settlement was in Sweden ca. 9000 B.C.E., first known stone was implemented ca. 9,500 B.C.E. and was heavily forested. Shamanism was a ritualistic society where relations were established between hunters and gatherers. Animal hunting fishing was their profession while they were also a worshiper of a bear. There was a priest-doctor for maintaining rituals and religious activities, they believed in soul and spirit, and their souls travelled to another world. They used bone, horn, stone as their tools and weapons. In the Neolithic period agricultural system was settled ca. 2,500 B.C.E. There was a mounded grave as sacred spaces where people sacrificed by giving their life for mother earth goddess. In the comparable period of the stone age, Boat-Axe culture was inaugurated ca. 2000 B.C.E., where single grave and corded ware culture was found. The bronze age began from ca.  1,800 B.C.E. to ca. 500 B.C.E. In this age, Scandinavia connected with Europe, refined upper class by single grave and mound, believed in the afterlife by grave good and bog finds, lurs were instruments used in war and were more used in connection with rituals. People figured with axes and spears, gave importance on sun and sky, horses, chariot, wagon by numerous spectacular rock carvings of sun symbol in Leirfall, central  Norway, a wagon with wheels in Kiviksgraven, south Sweden, early war god in Tanum, southern  Sweden, deer in Bardal, central Norway, phallic symbols in Leirfall, central Norway, farming in  Tanum, Western Sweden, sacred animals in Tanum, western Sweden, divine marriage in Tanum, west Sweden,  fertility gods in  Fardal,  Jut land,  Denmark,  ship setting as clues of their religious belief. Bronze age indicated warrior cult but primarily was fertility cult. Iron age began from ca. 500 B.C.E to ca. 800 C.E. Pre-Iron age began from ca. 500 B.C.E. to 50 C.E was the first phase where there was no bronze, no religious objects. In this period, trade began with Roman Empire, Germanic language was discovered, and human sacrifices continued through bog bodies of Tulland man and Graubelle man in Denmark. Iron age began from ca. 50 C.E. to 400 C.E. continued to trade with roman empire on the North Sea, Scandinavian went to Rome as enslaved people, soldiers, indicated fertility goddess and war goddess as religious belief. Old Germanic Iron age began from 400 C.E. to 550 C.E.; migration was in full swing by Germanic tribes to Europe and the emergence of warrior cult (bog bodies). The younger Germanic Iron age was the last phase of the Iron age began from 600 C.E. to 800 C.E., where political unification of Scandinavia, Scandinavian languages started. Viking age-related to the Historical ages by similar circumstances, religious practices, forestry, harvest, technology development, shipbuilding, socializing, culture changes, spiritual changes, population migration, violence, heroism by dying heroically. Thus, Scandinavia was proceeding into the Viking Age, and the rest of Europe was transforming into Christianity.
The objective and outcome of the paper are to explore the Norse community in the Nordic region, and their relationship with continental Europe (E.U.), through documentary analysis of its methodological process. The feature question is, how does mythology affect the human mind to create genuine spirituality?

Il XVII secolo incorpora forse il nucleo più significativo nel processo di sfruttamento in senso patriottico delle Antichità germaniche e nella conseguente riscoperta del mito del “Nord” scandinavo a opera dell’Uma-nesimo protestante. Inaugurata dalla fioritura del Goticismo – fenomeno eterogeneo talora equivocato con la rivolu¬zione estetica che fa capo a Th. Warton e H. Walpole –, quella riscoperta concorreva in realtà alla costru-zione di immagini identitarie, messe in moto, oltre un secolo prima, dalle riflessioni di Biondo Flavio. Ciò fu possibile grazie alla presenza di un movimento europeo di eruditi-antiquari e alla fusione di due discipline (la filologia e l’archeologia) fondate su dati concreti – il documento scritto (o inciso) e il reperto –, attraverso i quali le diverse spinte “nazionalistiche” alimentarono l’equivoco di una translatio studiorum a Nord delle Alpi e di un anacronistico “restauro” del passato di natura eminentemente ideologica.

In which some passages of the Historia Langobardorum are examined, with the purpose of evidentiating the existence of a "trickster" or shapeshifting figure in the Lombard culture of the VII century.
Parallels among this character and the Norse character of Loki (or rather Loptr) are made.
Original Latin text included.
Emglish translation soon to follow.

The Fenris Wolf myth from Norse mythology is explained and a new interpretation of the myth is offered indicating that the story contains a mnemonic device for luni-solar intercalation of the Octaeteris, 8 year calendar.  In addition to this, the myth is also describing the end of an astronomical age and the beginning of a new one as well as the beginning of a new year.

The religion of the ancient Germanic people is largely unknown to modern historians. It exerts signs of being the predecessor to the later Norse religion, as well as the successor to the proto-Indo-European religion. Using ancient sources, etymology, and archaeology this paper seeks to uncover what is known of the early Germanic religion during the Pre-Roman Iron Age, roughly from 500 B.C - 100 A.D.