Viking mythology and all that goes with it

[Larsson]

He's an Asa god and his name is Tor...

 

[Knarfi]

Other word for thor yeah, was asked before

 

[Knarfi]

must be a thing with Irish guys, a roommate of mine used to pull that all the time...he'd wake up in my bed, the other roommates beds...never quite sure how he got there.

alcohol?
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ANYWAY, to get this thread back to life, in marduk's song Bloodtide theres a line

...abomination of Nod....

Well i dont think this Nod guy is nordic, im not even sure he's mythical, maybe hes just a random name (but Nod? not a regular name right?) so does anyone know ANYthing about it?

 

[Tyra]

Well, it has to do with ancient Mesopotamian religion, where Marduk was the patron deity of Babylon. Some ancient tablets with this cuneiform writing exist that supposedly tell part of the story of the Book of Nod. I am not very familiar with this whole thing other than that the characters were used for a video game. You can read more at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Nod

 

[Knarfi]

ah thanks! at least now i know where to search.. The Book of Nod is a game, and therefore not very accurated i think, i mean there are tons of games with loki etc in it wich arent correct

 

[Thrymfal]

it's also in the bible, i believe when cast out of eden, adam and eve were sent to nod, but fuck if i know for sure.

 

[Knarfi]

Yeah thats a good posibilty.. he also sings about Judas, so biblical sheiße is very possible

heres the part of the song im talking about:

Three crosses breaks her skin
A soul for Satan to win
Three crosses for the price of blood
That so triumphantly brought death to the son of god
Three crosses for the breed of Cain
That throughout time in blood will reign
Three crosses for the abomination from Nod
Who so fiercly drank his brothers blood
Three crosses for the breathren of Judas

Wich brings me on the question who "cain" is.. is it the same cain as "Deckard cain" from the diablo series? lol

 

[Tyra]

Well, Cain is a biblical figure. Abel's brother. Cain and Abel were Adam and Eves' first children. Cain killed Abel, committing the first murder.
I don't know if it's the same dude that's in the song, though, as there is a lot of stories about a character called Caine (different spelling) relating to the mythology of how the first vampires were created. Like I said, I am not good at Mesopotamian mythology, especially not when it's been messed about with to make up other stories, like vampires and video games... I am not sure where the line goes between their religion and what is "modern fantasy" type stuff, you know?

 

[Knarfi]

Yeah, well, i was more concerned about the Nod figure since i think ive heared it before somewhere..

About the biblican cain in the song, it probably is him, since "the breed of cain" would then be murderers, right? fits pretty good in the rest of the lyrics

 

[Tyra]

Well, Caine as in the first of the vampire breed fits well, too, considering the lyrics say he drank his brother's blood, too, though. The last time I listened to Marduk was at an AA gig, when they were also on the bill, and I really don't know whether their lyrics are more vampre than mythology, you know? I also don't know much about Nod, but my understanding is that it's not a person, but a place, like Thrymfal said. Google Book of Nod, and I bet it'll tell you.

 

[Pessimism]

Nod is where cain was suppossed to be sent to I believe; its been quite a long time since I've thought about that - I'll try and find something if you still care (I know the history channel has done something on this too....that doesn't mean it was done well though )

 

[Pessimism]

Yeah, Nod translated basically means "to wander", so cain was sent to wander east of eden for a very very very long time.

Here is a site I found, don't know if you guys will find it interesting:
http://www.indo-european.nl/cgi-bin/main.cgi?root=leiden


edit: so technically speaking, Nod is not a place or a person - but a state.

 

[Tyra]

Oh, f***! I wish I'd have had that when I had to write that humongous damn paper on the spread of the Indo-Europeans earlier this year!!!

Does anyone care to venture whence the connection between vampires and Cain came from then? Because he has to wander around like he's dead but he's not really dead? Guess I could Google it - just thought someone might know.

 

[Mauler]

Vampire: The Masquerade bases the first and most powerful vampire to be Cain who slew his brother and was cast out as an abomination as punishment. Despite it being a game, a lot of people have picked this up and run with it (I'm not sure if that's where the story originated from though) as it seems to fit in well with wampires being shunned by god, etc so the 'Caine' that's being mentioned is most likely the biblical one.

EDIT - I'm not too sure if it's just a few British people that use the term but in modern slang to be in the land of Nod is to be asleep. Which is also where the term 'nodding off' comes from - "Sorry, I nodded off at the keyboard". So if you equate being asleep as to be removed from creation or god's sight then it makes a bit of sense...and also when people fall asleep their head often nods forward if they're not lying down.

 

[Knarfi]

Nodded of could have been wandered off, figurely speaking.. yeah, so, Nod is a state most of you think? but the lyrics say "..Nod, WHO so fiercly drank..." .. but even artists make mistakes, hrhr.. Thanks for the help all!!!

 

[L33ch]

Nodded of could have been wandered off, figurely speaking.. yeah, so, Nod is a state most of you think? but the lyrics say "..Nod, WHO so fiercly drank..." .. but even artists make mistakes, hrhr.. Thanks for the help all!!!

The entire line is:
"Three crosses for the abomination from Nod
Who so fiercely drank his brothers blood"

So "Who so fiercely drank.." refers to the abomination from Nod, not Nod itself.

 

[Pessimism]

EDIT - I'm not too sure if it's just a few British people that use the term but in modern slang to be in the land of Nod is to be asleep. Which is also where the term 'nodding off' comes from - "Sorry, I nodded off at the keyboard". So if you equate being asleep as to be removed from creation or god's sight then it makes a bit of sense...and also when people fall asleep their head often nods forward if they're not lying down.

Yeah, that's a modern interpretation ; and a pretty cool one imo!

 

[DragonKeeper]

You sound like someone I know....me! I don't like religion and I certainly wasn't searching for one, so it had to take something a bit more than "hey, Im gonna start believing in the gods, yeah that sounds about right" to get me here, too. I still really don't think of it as religion - that's only 'cause I lack a better word for it. It's more like some funky mix of ancestor worship, philosophy, lifestyle and some thing I have no idea what the hell it is because I can't explain it scientifically. Meeting up with Odin is one of the latter.
I have to tell you though, Krigly Bigly, that Ran "put the fear of God" into me. Probably because I didn't recognize her and I was not expecting her (as in I did not see her coming). I half expected to be faced with another Odin episode at some point, but Ran came right out of left field. That was sort of like dude walking down the street suddenly gets hit with a bottle over the head from behind - kind of hard to defend yourself. Odin has only ever stared me in the face, but she came from behind, and litterally physically knocked me down and dragged me, right in front of a whole bunch of people, all of whom - except for my gythia, who saw what was happening - were wondering what the hell was happening to me... So, that part I can't explain rationally, even with all sorts of psychology and all that, because it's never just happening to "just me". Other people who are there, who are not believers, complete strangers, see it and feel it happening to me, too. The first time I "saw" Odin there were three of us who saw him, only they lost it and ran!
I recently got an e-mail from a girl who doesn't actually know me or my religious stance. She wrote to tell me she'd had a dream about a woman who she described to me, and that she'd been told by another woman in the dream to contact me and tell me that "she" (the first woman) would be fine, actually better than ever, but not the same ever again. The first woman she described looked like my gythia when she's wearing ritual garb, down to the colour of the cloak she wears, and the pattern on the trim on it and all (how many people walk around in Norse ritual garb, anyhow??). I confirmed that it was my gythia by sending her a picture with more than one person to see if she could pick anyone out of it that looked like the woman in her dream. My gythia has recently had two terribly bad accidents and has been very debilitated. By the sounds of it, she will get better, even better than before, as they've found out about, and fixed, some as of before undiagnosed health issues. The second woman she described sounds an awful lot like one of the disir. My gythia is dedicated to Tyr, but she is very fond of the disir. The day after I got that mail, before I had a chance to tell anyone, my gythia, who'd never called here before, calls me out of the blue and asks me if I know anyone in Uppsala, because she had the feeling that someone in Uppsala was trying to reach her repeatedly. The girl that e-mailed me lives in Uppsala. All this could all be coinsidence, but you've got to admit it's a bit weird, huh? I mean, I'm sure you could explain it all if you tried, but it's just plain weird.

Whoa that is freaky....
I can't say I have had an experience like that, but I'm sure if I did then I would believe in something too! Not that I want Perun or something knocking on my door and scaring the wits out of me either...that would just be too weird for my liking.

I do have a question for you Tyra, what is a gythia exactly and what does Norse ritual garb look like?

I hope all is going well after the flooding and I hope your gythia gets well soon!

 

[Tyra]

A gythia is the female version of a gothi, that is, a priestess and a priest.
There isn't really such a thing as ritual garb for us, but many feel more comfortable performing rituals in Norse type clothing. Then you'd wear whatever is the fanciest "viking style" garb you can muster up, I guess. Most people would just show up wearing their regular clothes, I guess. I know my gythia has spent a lot of time researching what a seith kona would have worn (as she is both gyhia and seithkona - both titles apply to her, so she can really dress as either), and sometimes she wears things similar to that when she performs rituals. That has nothing to do with playing dress-up or whatever, but it is something some people do to pay respect to their ancestors. Sometimes I think it also makes you feel closer to the gods and godesses, because when we think of them, we think of them in that shape (the formidable Norseman or Norsewoman, you know? As for myself, I have not seen any of them like that - Odin, for example, has only ever come to me as a large , black wolf, Ran as water, Loki and Frey only as faces etc. Well, no, that's not true! Thor was a whole person once, but I don't remember what he was wearing...).
Thinking about this, I now realize that I myself have not worn garb to a ritual for years and years, but then again, when I do don garb for other events, like demos at schools, public events or fight practise etc to do with Norse history, it does remind me where I come from and how I was shaped through my cultural heritage. I suppose that can make you feel closer to whomever you worship.
As to your question itself, I know that a seith kona's garb is very specific as it is so carefully described in the lore. Every detail is important and I have not researched it very well, and so cannot do it justice here. so I will not speak to it. I can most certainly find out for you from my gythia, if you want. When she dresses as a gythia for ritual, she wears a floor-length trimmed tunic, sometimes with an apron dress with Norse-style brooches, a belt and the apropriate bling bling. If it's cold, there's a cloak and cloak pin. I have seen her garb often enough to know the colours and textures etc by now (I've even help make some of it). Actually, here: (pics from an Althing I did not attend, but that at least has some pics of Susan in garb - wish I couyld figure out how to upload pic onto this thing, cuz I actually have close-up pics on myself and my whole family in proper garb...)
http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgu...=/images?q=susan+granquist&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=
Susan is the woman in the blue outfit, top pic on right. My gothi would wear the baggy Rus style pants with leg bindings, a red, trimmed tunic, bling bling, a wide belt with the required scrama seax attached, and, if it's cold, a cloak with cloak pin. My gothi takes pride in doing his very long hair and beard before a ceremony. Both may have some sort of binding, braiding or whatever in it.
As for myself, if I were to wear garb, it'd be the typical white creased underdress, a dusty rose or blue tunic, a linnen apron dress with large brooches a hand-wowen belt with my keys, sewing kit, knife and other women's gear attached to it, amber and silver bling bling galore ( I am Norse, you know...), and I would probably do my hair up in a braid or a bun or something.

 

[Tyra]

Not that it has anything to do with religion and such, but the previous post reminded me that there are actually pics on the web...
Some pics of the non-SCA demo group:
http://www.angelfire.com/de/scot/frames.html
Some of my crazy friends doing the SCA thing:
(fight practise)
http://www.blathaanoir.org/photopages/fprphoto1.htm
(general goofing around stuff)
http://www.geocities.com/ravensteadhousehold/