Viking mythology and all that goes with it

[Tyra]

Yes, they were. The necklaces mostly before the Viking Age proper, in the Vendel period, but there are still some pretty spectacular finds from the V.A itself. The bracelets were used both as decoration and as currency. The latter kind is very common, and many of those are torc styled. Run a google images search for Spillings hoard, and you should be able to find some good pictures of the various styles. Or you can look up the Cuerdale hoard - I think there were some torc style bracelets in it, too, but the research I'm doing with my research partner atm is about the Spillings bracelets. They were quite stylized in terms of patterns and shape, as you'll be able to see from the pics.

 

[Sleipnir]

Yes, they were. The necklaces mostly before the Viking Age proper, in the Vendel period, but there are still some pretty spectacular finds from the V.A itself. The bracelets were used both as decoration and as currency. The latter kind is very common, and many of those are torc styled. Run a google images search for Spillings hoard, and you should be able to find some good pictures of the various styles. Or you can look up the Cuerdale hoard - I think there were some torc style bracelets in it, too, but the research I'm doing with my research partner atm is about the Spillings bracelets. They were quite stylized in terms of patterns and shape, as you'll be able to see from the pics.

::cough::wheres my update::cough::

 

[Tyra]

Hey! It's-a coming, dude... Just gor back, and caught something right in time for the flight back. Been sick ever since, so you're not the only one who's received no updates. I've so much stuff to tell you about the trip, which was awesome beyond belief. Good to be home for a bit, but it was neat to be able to bring the kids. I'll get you an update this weekend.

 

[Tyra]

OK, sent you something in the forum e-mail.

Lassie, were you able to find any pics?

 

[Spanish_Lass]

Run a google images search for Spillings hoard, and you should be able to find some good pictures of the various styles. Or you can look up the Cuerdale hoard - I think there were some torc style bracelets in it, too, but the research I'm doing with my research partner atm is about the Spillings bracelets. They were quite stylized in terms of patterns and shape, as you'll be able to see from the pics.

Yes, I found one website on Spillings, thanks! Pictures are not too detailed... I am a bit of a nutter for "rigid" bracelets (torc and open bangle ones) and got a couple of celtic torcs (or a modern jeweller's idea of what a torc looks like) both with "knobs" at the end. Been looking to see if there were any viking replica designs with different ends, such as animal heads or plain ends in any online shops.

Wish list long, funds short. bad combination.

 

[amon666]

can i trust wikipedia to start learning the mythology?

 

[Celtik Militia]

can i trust wikipedia to start learning the mythology?

More or less, but taking the possible mistakes aside, I think it would be difficult to learn a mythology through a dictionary/encyclopedia. You should buy a book, not the edda, but something which resumes the mythology in an easy way to grasp. Its always a little hard at first, memorizing some weird names is too.

 

[Spanish_Lass]

More or less, but taking the possible mistakes aside, I think it would be difficult to learn a mythology through a dictionary/encyclopedia. You should buy a book, not the edda, but something which resumes the mythology in an easy way to grasp. Its always a little hard at first, memorizing some weird names is too.

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias are good for presenting stuff in bite-sized chunks. Wikipedia is a bit of hit and miss since it is user-generated, but I guess if there is a whole Asatru portal, the articles have been peer-reviewed... of sorts, it is an "informal" approach, but valid.

I have a dictionary of mythologies, but I agree with Celtik, its a bit tedious to go from A to Z, you get a bit of "dismembered" knowledge, but it is a handy thing to have for a quick reminder of who's who in mythological stories, if you are reading a story and someone's fallen off your radar... and most have a pronunciation guide in the back, and a bibliography, both useful. But for example, mine is a bit basic as it will not list kennings and alternative names, and mixes characters belonging to different "cycles" (anything from the sagas to the Kalevala is in the "nordic" section) so that's a bit guff.

Would not know what else to recommend for viking and Norse mythologies though! Depends on how academic you want to go.

Edit: Amon, you are in college, are you not? That's good because you can go to the library and check your catalog, and borrow a load of books for free. Take advantage, it will not last forever.

 

[Tyra]

Amon, may I recommend a text that I think will teach you it better than Wikipedia while providing you with some enjoyment? Look here:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ice/coo/index.htm
Part 1 gives you the basic gist of what the Eddas tell you, but in easier English. Then you can draw your own conclusions as to how to interpret it all. It's difficult to find anything on any religion without some kind of agenda or personal interpretation (deliberate or not) of things. This one slants a bit to the Christian side, but it's actually quite good. The art is inspiring, too.

 

[Shadow77]

Something I found pretty cool...I have a book thats a natural history on dragons,and it has the story of the Midgard serpent in it.

 

[Joshnir]

Wow you guys make me feel like much less of a nerd, I have tons of antiquarian and newer books about Norse mythology. This board is great.

 

[Erzebeth.Rouge]

Hi! its been ages ive wrote in this thread!
I finally have a question needing answer, for i finally come around to be more seriously inspired for a new painting. Theres an important element i would like to add which i lack knowledge about : the Tyrfing sword. Is there any detailed descriptions? runic carvings or any carvings at all? what is the story of its fateful bearers or where could i read them?
anything could be helpful, thank you

 

[Spanish_Lass]

A random question- is Thor ever described in the written sagas as red-haired? I remember having read it somewhere, but most artists' impressions I've seen of Thor are either in black and white (useful) or show him as blond.
If he is, it kind of matches with the consistent stereotype of redheads...

Apologies if this has been answered already- It seems search terms must be longer than three letters so "red" is not a valid term.

 

[NewWorld]

actually for some reason I've always thought of Thor as a red-head.....not sure whether I just get that from my imagination or not though...

on another note I recently read a book that seemed fairly decent to get a rough idea of the mythology: Myths of the Norsemen, by Roger Lancelyn Green
not sure how accurate the whole thing is but it was a fairly easy read so it seemed like a good starting place

 

[Tyra]

Wish I could remember where it came from, but there is a place in one of the Eddas where it says he is "red" or "ruddy", but the way I recall it, the original manuscript does not say that he is red haired. That's been questioned lately, because one can have a "red" personality, too, as in someone who gets angry easily (sees red, we say today). Translating these things requires a vasy knowledge of the context, so this may have been something that just got lost in translation. Or, it could be that it really meant that he really had red hair. (I don't always see him with red hair myself, but that's another story...Either way, if one is a God and can shape shift, who says you can't change the colour of your hair? Don't get too caught up with how things look - it's what the person stands for that's the important part when you're dealing with mythology. That goes for swords and spears etc. The context back then was different from now, so a fabcy sword to them may not be so fancy to us. The idea is that the sword was fancy.)

 

[amon666]

Thor (Old Norse: Þōrr, Þunarr; Old English: Þunor, Þūr; Old Saxon: Þunær;[1] Frisian Tonger Old Dutch: Donar; Old High German: Donar; Proto-Germanic: *Thunaraz) is the red-haired and bearded[2][3] god of thunder in Germanic mythology and Germanic paganism, and its subsets: Norse paganism, Anglo-Saxon paganism and Continental Germanic paganism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor

 

[Spanish_Lass]

Wish I could remember where it came from, but there is a place in one of the Eddas where it says he is "red" or "ruddy", but the way I recall it, the original manuscript does not say that he is red haired. That's been questioned lately, because one can have a "red" personality, too, as in someone who gets angry easily (sees red, we say today). Translating these things requires a vasy knowledge of the context, so this may have been something that just got lost in translation. Or, it could be that it really meant that he really had red hair. (I don't always see him with red hair myself, but that's another story...Either way, if one is a God and can shape shift, who says you can't change the colour of your hair? Don't get too caught up with how things look - it's what the person stands for that's the important part when you're dealing with mythology. That goes for swords and spears etc. The context back then was different from now, so a fabcy sword to them may not be so fancy to us. The idea is that the sword was fancy.)

It's often the conflicting descriptions in different sources that complicate the matter...at least in the myths I have read. Cu Chulainn is a shapeshifter alright- and in one translation seems like the scholar who transcribed the text made some big mistranslations or was on acid at the time. (OT, I know, can't help it)

Thing is iconographic descriptions end up adding up in the collective mind- suppose that's why I thought of Thor as blonde myself. Christian iconogrphy being a case in point- at what point did someone decide on the dark hair and beard?- in Cyprus all the artists decided on red hair to be used in icons, or else they used pigments that degraded into another colour as they aged... Anyway they still consider redheads lucky. (rambling again, sorry )

 

[Erzebeth.Rouge]

Hi! its been ages ive wrote in this thread!
I finally have a question needing answer, for i finally come around to be more seriously inspired for a new painting. Theres an important element i would like to add which i lack knowledge about : the Tyrfing sword. Is there any detailed descriptions? runic carvings or any carvings at all? what is the story of its fateful bearers or where could i read them?
anything could be helpful, thank you

Well, i made some reseaches and found out something that would fit very well with what i already sketched : Hervor, daughter of Argantyr?

She claimed the sword to her father at his burial mound and took on the life of a viking.

Now i am curious to which aesir or vanir she would feel closer to. Would it be a Valkyrie? Could it be Oden?

And for the carvings on Tyrfing, i still have no idea. I am tempted to etche in it a single rune, but so far the only one seeming the most appropriate to me would be Naudhiz, since the sword requieres blood to be sheathed. But im not 100% sure it fits.
any ideas..?

 

[NewWorld]

make a new rune and call it erzebeth.rouge's awesome rune of death and healing

 

[Erzebeth.Rouge]

make a new rune and call it erzebeth.rouge's awesome rune of death and healing

im sure it would hold that kind of power indeed....






bonne fete québécois(e?)