Tyra
Member
Hello all!
Wow what a read! I have spent the last 3 days completely gaffing off my work and just reading every word of this thread. :zombie: I even followed along with most the links and read much of the Poetic Edda, which Id never even heard of until 3 days ago. This has been quite possibly the most interesting read I have ever come across on the net.
OK, so that post, right there, made all of the umpteen posts I've made so far totally worth while. Damn, that makes me happy that you found the Edda!Somebody else has read about me and mine, and I have maybe helped in keeping the memory of Them alive. That's the objective - to do honour to the warriors that came before us. What a good post to read on Remebrance Day! I know I yak at y'all about this stuff incessantly, and most of you get it, but most of you also have some idea what I'm on about. I just think it makes it worth while when you can introduce someone to something new that's actually good and that leads to a better understanding between us.
I think I'm with ER in regards to chaos, balance and all that. You know the symbol for Yin and Yang? One half is black, the other one is white, but in each there is a drop of the other colour. That's because there is a bit of both in all of us. Loki may be the black part, but he still has some white in him. There is a bit of good in every bad, a bit of male in everything female and so on, it's just that most of us don't want to own that part. Oden had a feminine side (for which Loki gave him so much crap in Lokasenna...), and Loki did a lot of really dumb and even meanspirited things, but then again, if he hadn't done them, the world would be at a standstill (and he did try to fix most of them once he realized how stupid he'd acted). I know Runesinger, for example, doesn't like Loki at all, partly because she's devoted to Balder. But I think you don't have to like someone to understand the necessity of him or her being there. Personally, I don't mind Loki, but then I've spent the better part of two decades working with two-year-olds. I know how they tick, so it's not too hard for me to figure out how Loki ticks... I try to treat him much the same way I treat the toddlers (patience and respect). In any case, he is the sworn blood-brother of Oden, so even if I hated him, I'd have to treat him like that, based on the fact that I would not wish to disrespect my man Oden. There's a reason why things are set up that way, and it's only when we fuck up and stray off the path that we end up in conflict that cannot be solved with patience and respect. Everybody in this world is somebody's kin, so everybody deserves respect based on that (kind of like Original Sin in reverse).
Only those that die in battle go to Valhall. This is true, but then my people are known for their kennings, which really are metaphors for things. So really, how do you define battle? Nobody said it had to be a physical battle against, let's say, the Taliban. Nobody said it couldn't be psychological warfare or a battle for the faith or something like that. And I strongly feel that those who wish to go to the Christian God go to that God, but those that want to be with the Aesir and Vanir go with them. That's a very western world sort of question, actually. That's not to say it's a bad one, just that people who are no judeo-christian generally understand the concept of different gods for different people, and that there is no conflict. In the judeo-christian religions, one is supposed to convert people of other faiths, but the rest of us don't feel the need. We just let people hear whomever is speaking to them. That's where you'll go. Simple, huh?
Celtic, I did not think they were stupid questions (still don't). Everyone has to start somewhere, and at least you were smart enough to ask, rather than remaining ignorant because you were afraid to! -T
