Viking mythology and all that goes with it

I'm not sure... trying to remember where to find Volundarkvida in ON, must now look for meself. I know they did things slightly differently, but yeah, I can't think of any reason he would be dumping the water under his bellows.
 
Hmm...I have never heard of a mucky puddle under the bellows either. The only thing I could come up with (besides Bates' conclusion) is either: 1. Perhaps the puddle of muddy icky water, ashes, etc. was dumped around and under the bellows to prevent anything falling out of the furnace/bellows area, like embers or pieces of metal, from catching something on fire. 2. Maybe the muddy puddle was kept there to ward off bad luck or some sort of evil or evil spirit that could prevent someone from doing their work such as your things do not turn out well or you have injured yourself either at the smithy or outside of it. I can't think of why else someone would put bones in there besides to make an offering of some sort (perhaps even to make sure that person's spirit cannot enter the afterlife or come back to take their revenge upon you), or someone really was worthless enough that a person would not waste their time giving them a proper burial and had no use for the legs. (throwing the legs in an insignificant pool of yuckiness really makes a statement on how pathetic and worthless someone is, right?)
3. Someone was too lazy to walk a few feet to dump their crap outside the smithy.


What I think of when I hear quagmire is a marshy pool or bog. If it wasn't actually a bog then it certainly resembled a smelly mucky bog. I doubt it has anything to do with using peat from a marshy boggy area for fuel for the fire or furnace heated to high temperatures with the help of the bellows, and quenching it with leftover stuff from the smithy and the quench bucket to put it out after you were done with it. Just a thought :)
 
i have 2 questions.
one concerning aa song : why in Where Silent Gods Stand Guard the 'wolf in human shape' character says 'now their souls belongs to me as well as their eyes'? why their eyes? it bugged me for soon to be a year :p

also. ihave a friend here that will go on a trip in guatemala in 3 weeks or so to perfect her spanish. she will be staying in a host familly. its a class that is given there so she wil come back with some sort of diploma. A few years ago when i was in high school, a student from Sweden joined our class for the whole year to learn french. it was a friend of mine ive lost now that was hosting her. i was wondering if someone knew an organism that organize that kind of exchange to learn language. would be for Sweden of course, since theres no way im gonna learn properly svenska here. theres no class given, very limited material, and i have no swedish friend to to talk to on a regular basis... help please? :)


And i also want to update on my ongoing painting. Its about Siv and its almost done. but still the most important part remain undone.... her hair, of course. as i work on the painting, i think i gave it strong energy, as ive never done before. i have 3 friends very sensitive of energies and they all feel something when looking at it. and me too... i started with the background which is mountainous, with a river and a grassy ledge where Siv is standing. The sky is wide and cloudy, its a storm and Thor thunders. when all the back ground was done and Siv shape was still white blank of canevas, i felt deeply blank as well and the feeling was so strong it faded only when i started painting her dress, appron, hand, face... her hair are still unshaped, theres none just yet, only blank where they will take place and invading background until they are painted....
yesterday i had this strong urge of wanting to go, to be in Iceland... and the same night, i had this dream where i felt i was there... but it was mixed with others things in my dream, like if my father and i were the sole remaining of my familly... anyway it was very very wierd... i think its closely linked to the painting. it is soon to be finished, really. and im scared of finishing it and eager of doing so... and i think Siv in it is growing impatient...
am i speaking crazyness? maybe, maybe not...
This painting i will never sell nor part with...
 
For the "Where Silent Gods Stand Guard" question, i read an interview of AA, and if i remember correctly they were saying that the story was just an invention of theirs, in which a guy believes that if he eats the eyes of his enemies their souls will be his slaves in the afterlife. Its just the fictional character's beliefs. Don't miss your sleep on that.
 
lol thanks :) i thought something similar, like those 'primitive' warriors eating the heart of their enemies to gain their strength...
anyway, in the song, it wouldnt have been the same if the eyes part wasnt there when Johan yell it ^^ its sound very great lol
 
Alright, I got a question dealing with the "Sons of Odin": Yngvi-Frey was a king of Sweden, but in many texts Frey is also credited with being Odin's son instead of Njords; now, is the whole yngling line based on Frey or Odin? Furthermore, was the first king actually Freyr? Or is his name merely used as a title (ex. Lord)?

Clarifications? Anyone?
 
Hi Belial!

I can just answer your last question and tell you that the king or name Frey(r) has not to be the god Freyr. In old Norse culture it was no rarity that people got the names of gods. The people believed that the name would give the child his characteristics. My sister's name for excample is Gudrun, which means "the fierce and secret" but Gudrun is also a female hero in the Niflung-saga. It's more that the name is given to the god because of his characteristics then the other way around. So the name is "bigger" than the god especially because in germanicmythology the gods are far from being allmyihty ;) Another excample is the name "Guntar" which just means "fighter" (from old german gunt = fight). Even today names like "Thore" or "Freyr" are often found in the germanic countries. In lower Saxony "Thore" is one of the most common names at all!



Hope I could help you and didn't answer besides your question :loco:
 
T might be able to shed some more light on this one, but, well, I haven't had a good opportunity to opinionate on anything recently, so..
We'll start with the "Yngvi Freyr" bit. My understanding is that his name is actually Yngvi and Freyr is, like you said, more of a title. He was definitely more along the lines of what I think of as a lord, one who provides for his people. So Freyr is, to my mind, likely an affectionate title given by the general population as a measure of thanks for his provisions (Fertile lands, animals, and most importantly, women!).
As for his paternity, in most of the stories, it seems pretty clear that he is of the Van by birth, being the son of Njord and Nerthus, and of the Aesir by adoption/choice/whatever. I'm having trouble recalling what sagas in particular named him as the son of Odin, apart from the general idea of Odin being the Allfather. But I am pretty sure he is called so, and that bit of confusion, plus the closeness of Freyja and Odin do make me wonder if, perhaps in some tale now lost, the twins were fostered by Odinn and Frigg.
 
Wenn it would be good to read a book about Karl the Great who fought against the saxons (who in fact just conquered and not strongly settled to britain) and drove them into christianity. Its a nice historical Story but the only books I can recommend are german and I don't think you want to read a whole book in the bad guy's language ;)


Just search Amazon for Karl the Great or Saxons. They have MANY historical books!
 
I cant speak german, but they are not the bad guys imo(Pesky franks are another thing!). But i will look into that!

I am actually trying to move away from the vikings and stuff, because my town was a big saxon town and i want that to be my insperation. The problem is that there is very little info about the saxons before the britain days.

I think every germanic country has a very rich history altough most of them arent as cool as the vikings haha!