Viking wisdom

[bosse_s]

Loke (Loki) is the "dark side" of Asgard. He is the one that lives among the Gods, but who himself is not a god. He is the "bad boy" of Asgard, and his past - as well as the reason why Odin lets him stay there - is dark and mysterious. The sagas tell that Odin and Loke are bloodbrothers (or even real brothers).

Loke was cunning, and he did many wicked deeds (such as steeling Thor's hammer), yet Odin let him stay with the gods... until the day that he tricked the blind God Blider to shoot a poisoned arrow at the "immortal" God Balder (the Gods of Norse mythology were mortal, just like man), who dies. That is the beginning of the end for Loke, as the Gods punish him by letting him being tied up in his sons
intestines underneath the earth. Above him, a poison snake is being placed. Loki's wife Sigyn is standing next to him with a bowl, collecting the poison from the snake. But sometimes she most empty the bowl, and drops of poison hits Loki - his body shivers, causing earthquakes on earth. Loki will be held a prisoner until Ragnarök (the end of the worlds), when he is let loose and joins Hel (the Death warrior) in her struggle against the Gods.

Thor, on the other side, is popular probably because is strength and symbolizes the ever ongoing struggle between good and bad, as he fights evil (the Giants) and protects the "common man". In the sagas, he is also a very kind and funny person.

[Northswede]

Guess why a transport ship for radioactive waste was named Sigyn.

Aayway Ragnarök is not really the end of the world, it is the beginning of the new world that will come when the old one is cleansed.

[bosse_s]

Well, philsophically you are right Northswede! But tell that to the people who was scared of that three year long winter that would be the sign of Ragnarök!

[Northswede]

No...I think I would not do that...maby to the two who were destined to survive, but not the others...

[bosse_s]

So, what's this long winter all about - the non-believers ask themselves!

Then the day finally came when Odin decided to let the others now and he called for all the gods and told them that Yggdrasil started to get old. He told them that Hel's ship Naglfar soon was ready which would lead to Fimbulwinter, three winters in a row without any summer inbetween. And after that Ragnarok. Then a couple of hundred years passed by and the spring came later and later. The autumn came earlier and earlier. The summer became shorter and shorter. And then there was two winters in a row and the gods understood that this was the time. The humans were freezing. The blackalves were freezing. Even the aesirs were freezing. In June the mead froze in Valhalla. In July Saehrimnir got deepfreezed. The Urdawell freezed to the bottom and the fates were shivering. In September the weather suddenly changed. Storm and rain was allaround the exhausted worldtree. The ship Naglfar got visible in the mist. The wolves Skoll and Manegarm got closer and closer to Sun and Moon, who they had been chasing for so long. Suddenly one of Yggdrasil's branches broke and fell down over the Jormungand serpent's back. It immediately let go of it's tail. The Fenrir wolf and Garm broke their chains. All giants helps to let Loki free from the mountain where he is tied. Nidhoggr starts to run with clumsy steps straight towards Asgard. Behind him marches all the giants. Heimdall, who sees all this, takes up the Gjallarhorn and starts to blow.

(I copied this text fromhttp://www.ginnungagap.info/ggeindex.html)

[Northswede]

This is the twilight of the gods...

[thule]

...Ragnarök

[Nolvinge]

Originally posted by thule
Should I read something into that, Nolvinge?

By all means please do Alex It would sorely disappoint me if u think it was always easy to figure me out

About the killing of Baldur (and my apologies to those who claim to be descendents of his family) the deed was a stroke of planning genius because the arrow was made from mutating a seemingly harmless species of plant into a deadly weapon. Of course, nowadays, rulers use Bogeymen as weapons of wars..Nej ?

[Nolvinge]

*Stares at Bosses_s in awe unblinkingly*

Wow...u sure read your sagas well huh ? I read them when I was only 12 (even then I read them way into the night. Good for knowledge bad for eyesight sighh ). By the way, one of the first few pictures I kept of the Norse Gods is that of Loke bound with a snake (looking much like the cobra) above him. He was tied to a huge boulder and his black hair was whipped about by strong winds, there was a look of pain and anguish yet...anger on his face and there were also water crashing against the huge boulder. The imagery was really vivid and spellbinding. The artist was very good. Uhh btw, I also read up stories on Thor

All in all, I have this to say. Just gimme the magic mushrooms lol

[bosse_s]

It is not uncommon to become "attracted" to dark, mystical men after all

The story of Loki's death holds a quite interesting similarity to the death of Prometeus in the Greek mythology - did anyone notice that?

[bosse_s]

Inbetween fearing Fimbulwinter to arrive, the vikings also had some great adventures:

A Viking Age settlement with evidence of Norse artifacts has been uncovered on the northernmost peninsula of Newfoundland at L'Anse aux Meadows located at about 52 degrees north latitude. (See Map) Facing Epaves Bay on Black Duck Brook, Dr. Helge Ingstad and his archaeologist wife Anne discovered a small group of stone and turf buildings similar in style to those used in Iceland and Greenland. This location fits the "Promontorium Winlandiae" of some medieval maps.

In the first season, six house sites were identified, the largest appeared to be about 60 feet long and contained several rooms. Ember pits similar to those in Greenland were found in some of the houses. Radiocarbon analysis of samples from the site dated 1080 +/- 70 AD. A ring-headed bronze pin, commonly used as a cloths fastener by Norse men, was found in one of the houses. Native American stone implements and other artifacts were not found on this site. In general, very few artifacts were found, but the loose, acid soil made for poor preservation conditions.

In the 1962 season, a fragment of bone needle of the type used by Norsemen was found along with a piece of copper that turned out to have been formed by a primitive smelting process unknown to Native Americans at the time. Carbon 14 dating of charcoal from the hearth were these pieces were found indicated a date of 900 +/- 70 AD. Since charcoal would likely have been made from drift wood, a date well before the settlement period is not inconsistent.

Several lumps of iron slag were found in one of the houses that was excavated in the first seasons. This indicated to the Ingstads that the people who occupied this site were extracting bog iron. This is an intricate process which had been developed in Europe as far back as 2000 BC and was known in Norway by 400 BC. It was widely used during the Viking age and in the later middle ages in Norway. It required very close temperature control during smelting as well as knowlege of tempering to obtain useable tools. A source of bog iron nodules was discovered close to the brook, near the house site and the smithy was found across the brook from the houses. Carbon 14 dates from the hearth in the smithy ranged between 890 +/- 70 AD to 1090 +/- 90 AD.

The large house site was further excavated in 1963. This dwelling turned out to have been 70 feet long and 56 feet wide at its largest. It had five or six rooms. The biggest room was 26 feet long and about 14 feet wide. Two smaller rooms at each end make this structure look like a typical long-house. Lumps of slag, rusty nails, a needle whetstone and a stone lamp were found inside this house. A test trench in the large house in the 1964 season revealed a small stone ring which proved to be a Norse spindle-whorl.

After seven excavation seasons, Helge Ingstad concluded:

" An evaluation of the archaeological material can hardly lead to any other conclusion than that the site at L'Anse aux Meadows must be Norse and pre-Columbian. "

source: http://members.aol.com/bakken1/viking/viknfl.htm

[ilikeswedishsummer]

It would been funny if catholism werent spread here

[bosse_s]

more from Havamal

Cattle die, kindred die,
Every man is mortal:
But the good name never dies
Of one who has done well

Cattle die, kindred die,
Every man is mortal:
But I know one thing that never dies,
The glory of the great dead

[bosse_s]

Great, Niquie! So, if you know Greek mythology and like it -you'll find a lot of similarities in Nordic mythology... Isn't it great how everything connects... like a net you cannot see!

Now where have all the Norse missionaries gone?
I was eagerly awaiting the next saga so I could decide if I truly want to be converted. Now i'm uncertain. I need you oh wise Norse Pagans!