Viking mythology and all that goes with it

[Tyra]

Tyra what are the diferences between odinists and the asatru members?

Well, I don't want to do the Odinists a disservice by speaking on their behalf, as I am not as intimately familiar with the faith as with my own, so consider the source:
The main diference is that in asatru, we worship all the gods and goddesses of the Norse pantheon, whereas Odinists see Odin as the Allfather and only worship him. This can be done because one views Odin as a god, but not his family and the Vanir, or because one would consider Odin a symbol for all the other deities - sort of like all the other deities are contained within him, or rather, like they represent different aspects of Odin himself - and therefore it is not necessary to worship all of them individually. I could have explained that so much better in Swedish! Sorry - I hope I am making sense anyhow...

Anyhow, there are other differences, but that's the stickingpoint that makes asatru and Odinism two different religions rather than Odinism yet another "denomination" under the asatru umbrella. Then there are political viwes that often (but not necessarily) come associated with Odinism, but I really don't know how much of that is caused by the religion itself vs by its followers. I think they base that particular view on "Odin is my ancestor and so therefore I am a better human and you cannot be this faith if he is not your ancestor", but, like I said, I cannot speak to that, because I am not Odinist./ T

 

[Knarfi]

yeah, but, the dude's new here and this threat wasnt on the 1st page on the list, so he prolly didnt see it..

 

[Tyra]

Yeah, but the mods can move stuff if they want and/or if someone asks.

 

[Golden Hall]

Here's a shot of a bronze plaque of Egil Skallagrimson at the site of his pagan burial mound, before he got dug up the first time

 

[Thrymfal]

merge-alicious kids...merge-alicious

 

[Knarfi]

Wauw! New words, fresh from Cocoa Beach!

 

[Thrymfal]

nothing new or fresh ever came out of Cocoa Beach...

 

[Tyra]

Thanks Mr Mod!

 

[Pessimism]

That bronze plaque is beautiful...

 

[Trashhead]

quick and brief, which ones are the twelve that sat in Gladsheim?

 

[Tyra]

The gods hang out in Gladsheimr, the goddesses in Vingolf. Gladsheim is supposed to have twelve seats for the gods, besides the throne occupied by Odin. In Gylfaginning, Snorri says that there are twelve gods from the family of gods, and then he recounts Odin, Balder, Thor, Tyr, Njord, Frey, Bragi, Heimdall, Hodur, Vidar, Vali, Ullr, Loki and Forseti. The whole thing is ambiguous, but it's probably one of those things that Snorri kind of messed up on. It doesn't actually say anywhere speciffically who is included in the twelve at Gladsheimr (at least not that I can think of), and there are many more gods than the ones listed here.

 

[Trashhead]

hmmm; okay, thx for the reply

 

[Tyra]

hmmm; okay, thx for the reply

Hmmm, okay? Re the ambiguity or something else?

 

[Trashhead]

yeah, thing is I'm playing around with the neverwinter nights toolset a bit in wait of neverwinter nights 2. And was fumbling around with a little Norse based module, trying to recreate some places. Gladsheim being one of them. Guess the ambiguity means I get to pick who sits there myself

 

[Tyra]

If you were to take a vote among Swedish scholars, I don't think Loki would get a seat. Not because he is a troublemaker, but because he also isn't mentioned as belonging to a specific hall. He seems to have lived wherever, wandering around from hall to hall, realm to realm. That is just pure speculation, though. The numbers nine and twelve are important numbers in asatru, so it may just be that the number was more important in this case than the actual number of gods. Mind you, as I said, Snorri is more or less famous for inadvertedly changing facts a bit, so that they would make sense to the "modern" reader of his time. There are a few places where you can see that he's written one thing in one book, then changed it in the next, almost as if he were correcting a mistake.

 

[Mauler]

Where is it possible to get a list of what gods were gods of what?

Like Tyr is one of the gods of war (with Thor and Odin?) but is there a god for travellers, etc? Who would that be anyway? Hermod? Odin? I'd imagine that it would be quite important for a seafaring people like the Vikings to have a deity to watch over them while travelling to trade & raid...

 

[Tyra]

Depends on how you're traveling. Njord is good if you're traveling by sea, but if you're on skis and on land it'd be Skade and so on. There are lists on the net, som quite simple, and some more intricate with more information. Your friendly Wikipedia has one that is on the plain and simple side but that works fine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Norse_gods
You'll find the most comprehensive answers by reading Gylfaginning. It is available on-line, here:
http://www.northvegr.org/lore/prose/index.php
On pg 34, there is a recounting of the main gods and goddesses (as mentioned above), each one explaining what he or she does, the name of their abode and some other such things./ T.

 

[Mauler]

Depends on how you're traveling. Njord is good if you're traveling by sea, but if you're on skis and on land it'd be Skade and so on. There are lists on the net, som quite simple, and some more intricate with more information. Your friendly Wikipedia has one that is on the plain and simple side but that works fine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Norse_gods
You'll find the most comprehensive answers by reading Gylfaginning. It is available on-line, here:
http://www.northvegr.org/lore/prose/index.php
On pg 34, there is a recounting of the main gods and goddesses (as mentioned above), each one explaining what he or she does, the name of their abode and some other such things./ T.

Cheers m'dear!

 

[AMERICAN NORSEMAN]

Who do you guys think is the greatest hero in the Germanic tales? No gods allowed.
Personally, I think either Ragnar Lodbrok, Beowulf or Sigurd Fafnersbane.

BEOWULF all the way, he knows no fear!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Belgar]

Just for info ... read it in the news today ...

Mon Oct 30, 4:07 PM ET

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Swedish experts have confirmed the finding of over 1,000 Viking-era silver coins after their chance discovery by two brothers on the Swedish island of Gotland.

The treasure was believed to have been buried in the 10th century and weighed about 3 kilos (7 pounds), local curator Majvor Ostergren told the TT news agency.

Edvin Sandborg, 20, and his 17-year-old brother Arvid dug up more than 100 coins on Monday last week, while helping their neighbour with his garden.

"Completely by accident I found an Arabic silver coin that's about 1,100 years old," Edvin Sandborg told TT.

The brothers contacted the local council and archaeologists are now close to completing their excavation of the site, TT said.

Most of the coins were recovered in relatively good condition.

The two brothers were in line for a finder's fee from the government, although the precise amount of the reward was not yet known, officials said.

Over 700 Viking treasure troves have been found on the island of Gotland, which lies off Sweden's east coast.

The world's largest known Viking hoard was found on the island in 1997. The find included coins and jewelry, amounting to about 65 kilos (143 pounds) of silver and 20 kilos (44 pounds) of bronze. The government awarded the finder 2.1 million kronor (290,00 dollars, 228,000 euros), TT said.