In an earlier article I wrote about what I called “bindrunes“, but I was actually quite mistaken. In the mentioned article I have a few examples of the strange cross-marks that I named “bindrunes”, notably of the famous Rökstenen. Actually, these are the simplest and most boring of the “cryptic runes”. On the right you can see a few examples from the Bergen runestone. Page speaks of isrúnar or icerunes formed with vertical strikes, lagorunár which are similar, but made with the lagu rune, stoprúnar which “employ dots set in horizontal line”, hahalrúnar in which reminds of the Týr rune, fiskrúnar or fish runes, svínrúnar or swine runes, skiprúnar or ship runes, skialdrúnar “where the decorate stem and stern of a ship”, knífrúnar “on the blades and hafts of knives and so on” (An Introduction To English Runes pages 82 and 83). There are a lot more forms. Only the fish-runes are on the right, the other forms are not mentioned.

How fancy all these drawings look, the code is relatively simple. There are usually two sets of lines to be counted, left of the fish and right of the fish. The left side never has more than three lines (occasionally four), the reason for which is simple. The code uses a Futhark divided in aetir. In most cases, the number of lines or dots refer to the aet of the rune we are looking for, the number of the right to the place of the rune in that aet, an “F”, the first rune of a Futhark is 1/1, a “U” 1/2, etc. Of course it matters a great deal that Futhark is used. Some have 16 runes, some have 24 (the latter are sometimes divided in four aetir) and the order of the runes is not always the same, especially not between Scandinavian and continental or English runes. In any case, in a nutshell, this is the mystery.

The runecarvers had a few more means of coding such as replacing vowels by consonents “so that lusaþ, ‘goes astray’, becomes lxsbþ” (p. 86) or by replacing a vowel by the next or previous vowel or by using Roman numbering to refer to runes or repeat a rune to make a number to refer to another one. Page names a few more. This in combination with the fact that the rune-masters of course did not write modern English using runes (who of us masters old-Norse for example?) and the fact that many rune monuments and manuscripts are heavily worn-out, makes these texts close to impossible to decipher. For a scholar even, so let alone an amateur.

But you have to admit, as relatively simple as the system is, so fascinating it is to see a line of pigs and fish running through a manuscript. I just found out that Page’s book about the Icelandic Rune-Poem can be found online, so see that for more information and an image of the more fancy “cryptic runes”. The scan that I made is from the larger book about the English runes.

The individual

Nowdays we speak of an individualistic society, people are atoms in a society and hardly connected to anybody. This was different in times past. In fact, it is not entirely true nowadays either. When you think of who a person is, you think how that person relates to other people to ‘define’ that person. Han Nijdam says: “a person [is] dividable because it is defined in terms of the relationships that he and other members of the society maintains” (Nijdam 50). He continues with a simple example refering to a short film in Sesame Street in which a boy is the newspaper boy for one person, the grandchild of the next and the little brother of the third. The boy is ‘defined’ by the people he relates to. Or the other way around, who he is, depends on the person who describes him.

“If we could abstract a person’s movements and graph them into a network, we would find that the greatest predictor of the identity of the various households in which he or she gained entry, either as visitor or lodger, would be the presence of kin within that household.” William Miller writes (Miller 139), meaning that the visitor would define the persons in the houses he visits by looking at the other people present. Since it still works that way, one can hardly speak of an individual.

So if an individual is defined by his or her surroundings, what are these surroundings? “Family”, “kin”, “sib” , “tribe” perhaps? Just as with an individual, these terms are not so easy to describe, because they too are dependent on the situation. “The oldest Germanic societies that can be reconstructed using historical sources possessed, according to the most widely held opinion, a relatively stable order that was based on the natural principle of blood-relationship. Relationships of descent, whether fictional or not, gave each person a place within the tribal collective.” (Bazelmans 13) On a smaller scale Miller does not only speak of “regional variation[s] in householding practices” (Miller 113), but he continues with saying “that the precise sense of household might change depending on the context in which it is invoked. A household unit as identified for recruitment to the feud is not the same as the household unit used to determine whether someone qualifies for service on a jury or is required to attach himself to a chieftain for the purposes of Thing attendence.” (Miller 114). “Ego-focused kin groupings of shifting composition [...] were quite important in Iceland in a multitude of social and legal settings, even if these groupings were variously constituted depending on a number of personal, social, and other contextual factors and did not include all eligible members. Kinship mattered, even if not all people related to a person felt obliged to assist him or her.” (Miller 140) Or in the words of Jos Bazelmans: “The tribe consisted of a large number of relatively autonomous elements. These were not descent groups in the sense of lineages or clans, but name-bearing groups of disparate size which recruited their members on the basis of kinship and residence in the same geographical area. Each person was not only a member of such corporate, regional groups, but also of an open network of persons related on the father’s or the mother’s side along with dependents (the kindred). Such networks played an important rold especially in the resolution of feuds.” (Bazelmans 3)

“The extend of the kindred, that is, how genealogically distant two people can be and still count each other kin, is formally set in some provisions in the laws at fourth cousins.” (Miller 145) (addition: a fourth cousin is a person of my own generation with whom I share great-great-great-grandparents, in our reckoning that is an 8th grade kinship! Some texts speak of seventh cousins!!)

“Kinship mattered”. But what is a person’s kin? The people he is related to by blood of course, but both in the old and in the current view of things, blood-relations go in two directions, the father’s and the mother’s side. “Bilateralism, the tracing of relationship through links of both sexes, meant that not all a person’s relatives were related to each other. [...] An important feature of bilateral kinship reckoning is that your kin will not entirely coincide with your cousin’s kin; or, from another perspective, you are by virtue of kinship eligible for membership in several different kin groups with different overlap. [...] The kin group, in other words, was not a closed corporation of determinate membership; it did not constitude itself automatically. It always fell to someone to recruit his of her kin for the particular enterprise at hand.” (Miller 155)

You have family on both your father’s and your mother’s side, but the uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces of either side are probably not related to eachother, their kin is different from yours. Therefor the situation exists in which an uncle of both your father’s and mother’s side are called upon, but when one of these uncles invites (or whatever) his kin, he will most likely not ask your other uncle. With that in mind you can only conclude that kinship differs in different situations.

A similar situation goes for “households”, a group of people living in the same house or on the same piece of land under guard of a “householder”. A household is something quite different from kin, since aunts and nieces do not often live in your house and the servants that do, are usually not related by blood. A household surely is a unit of society to take a look at, especially because often it is said that in governmentless society such as in Medieval times there first were separate households:
“Inevitably the attempt was made to add early Iceland to the number of regions that socialized people in nuclear families within simple households. As we shall see, what the sources tell us about the shape of Icelandic householding must compel a different conclusion. The sources, both sagas and laws, are not without their own special problems in this particular topic. For one thing, the laws take an explicit interest in households and even define what constitudes a household unit. But the “juridical” household does not seem to correspond with what archeological evidence there is, nor with saga descriptions of how the main economic unit, the farm, was populated and managed. Outside passages in the laws directly dealing with the legal household, information on householding must be culled from passing comments in the laws and sagas and inferred from contexts devoted explicitly to other matters. The fact that most of our information is acquired incidentally is in its way quite reassuring. Even the most committed member of the Icelandic school of saga scholarschip would have a hard time giving any reason as to why a thirteenth-century saga writer would want to situate his characters in households that had no basis in reality.” (Miller 112/3)

“While the laws formally imposed kinship out to fourth cousins, kinship in the practical or world depended on more than just biological or affinal connections. Just who would be counted kin was clearly subject to much situational variation and was quite context-specific. A second, even a third cousin with whom one shared common interests and with whom one consequently acted or consulted would be counted kin, while a first cousin with whom one was less involved might cease, for practical purposes, to be counted kin at all. Nor might the people with whom one claimed kinship for the purpose of invitations to feasts and weddings be the same people one counted as kin when it came time to assist in a lawsuit or help pay compensation for their wrongdoings.” (Miller 156) Miller calls this “recruitable kin” (Miller 156) and of course the situation is not different nowadays. I suppose the “common interest” could also be with a non-kin version but a friend.

Earlier we saw Jos Bazelmans speaking of “fictional relationships of descent”. This can refer to the famous, but in the used books little described subject of blood-brothership. “Blood-brothership was a formalized relation undertaken between two or more men in which each vowed to avenge the death of the other, just as if he were his own brother.” (Miller 173) And thus a new member of the kin was a fact.

What might sound strange in our logic is that “[i]n various places in the law a sister’s husband is considered an especially close relation. “He is disqualified for interest from sitting on juries and from judging his affine’s cases just as if he were a blood relative.” (Miller 162) This does not count for a wife’s brother!

“People looked to kin and affines for aid in law and life. They avenged each other’s wrongs; they invited each other to weddings and funerals; they gave each other gifts. They stood surety for each other hired on their poorer cousins as servants.” (Miller 178) This had the result that “[o]ne of the chief activities kin undertook with eachother was mutual consultation. Since the target of a vengeance killing might not be the wrongdoer himself, but one of his kin, there was every reason why kin would want to have some say in actions for which others might hold them to account. [...] Uncounseled deeds were considered reckless deeds.” (Miller 164)

The consulting of kin is very different from how things go today. When I do something to somebody, that somebody in most cases will not know my family and if (s)he does,

Compensation systems, of which the Old Frisian penalty lists are an example, appear in many societies. [...] The meganism flourishes in a society without a strong (central) authority – in which the government has the monopoly of violence – and where free men form a constitutional state. Such a society is often typified as being a feuding society. In a feuding society an insult or physical violence (sometimes) leads to revenge and revenge (sometimes) to a feud. The state of enmity that rises between two groups of people can be reconciled, compensation plays an important part.

p. 53 (my translation from Dutch to English)

Honour is brused, the dishonoured person is the same as the group (s)he is part of, so anyone of this group can restore the balance by taking revenge of anyone of the group of the offender. This can again lead to counter-action and to avoid that things run out of hand, the initial offence can be compensated with money (or valueble goods). This system is hard to imagine for us individualised Westerners without any notion of honour and we take offence when in other cultures (within our own) (Muslim for example) a system like this starts to operate. So what is that “honour”?

The idea of ‘an eye for an eye’ means that when somebody hits you and you do nothing back, people will say you are a pussy, so you hit back. In the Middle Ages only the people who fought could have honour, so honour came with status. Therefor honour did not have to be defended against anyone, some people simply are not important enough to take offence of. The people whose opinions did count are called honour group and this usually implies family and the small society that a person is member of. A person’s honour therefor is the same as the honour of his group or family and since honour is the highest of goods, it must be defended at every cost.

The author continues with describing honour economy. In the most simple explanation this means that there is a certain ‘amount’ of honour in a certain society, so when somebody’s honour rises, somebody else’s honour deminishes.

The amount of honor in the Icelandic universe was perceived to be constant at best, and over the long run, it seemed to be diminishing. [...] Honor was thus, as a matter of social mathemetics, acquired at someone else’s expense. When yours went up, someone else’s went down.

(a quote from William Miller’s Bloodtaking and Peacemaking.)

This goes very far, another quote from Miller:

The game was a laborious one because it demanded the greatest sensitivity to insult and challenge and because there were no intermissions once it started in earnest at the onset of physical maturity. And old man could no relax, nor even the corpse that had suffered violent death, for the final assessment of the victim’s honor depended on how much compensation or how great a vengeance his kin could exact on his behalf. The interminability of the enterprice is but one reason why this ‘game’ needs quotes. It was a game only in the sense that honor necessarily meant competition. There was nothing trivial about the ‘game’; it was, for people of self-respect, coterminous with social existence itself.

There being one ‘amount of honour’ did not mean that ever member had the same sized piece of the pie. The social position resulted in a larger or smaller piece and somebody ‘stealing somebody’s honour’ resulted in a need to put things back the way they were.

The book as a whole speaks mostly about the financial ways of balancing, but that is not the subject of this short article. Also more at length the writer speaks about the feuds, justice and the rules around those which are also far from the Westerner’s bed. Strange how rapidly our society (contrary to most other societies worldwide) have lost these values and systems. It speaks about texts upto the 17th century.

Lichaam , Eer en Recht in Middeleeuws Friesland – een studie naar de Oudfriese boeteregisters (Body, Honour and Right in Medieval Frisia – a study of Ancient Frisian compensation tariff registers) by Han Nijdam will be reviewed in the book reviews section when I finished it.

Sources

Even though the primary investigations of the old religion in Europe are called Deutsche Mythologie (Grimm) or Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte (Meyer, De Vries) the Deutsche/Germanische part is not as big as the titles suggest. The reason for this is, of course, that the first sources are mostly Scandinavian. Both Eddas are from Iceland, most sagas are from Iceland, books such as the Landnámabók and the Flateyjarbók are from Iceland, the famous Gesta Danorum of Saxo Grammaticus (ca. 1150-1208) is from Denmark. So what do we really have outside Scandinavia? Well, Adam of Bremen’s (ca. 1050-1081) Gesta Hammaburgensis is not unlike Saxo’s book, but since Adam was a German, his book also speaks a bit about the German part of his diocese. And of course we have the often-quoted Roman sources such as Julius Caesar’s (ca. 100-44) Commentarii de Bello Gallico or Tacitus’s (ca. 55-120) De Origine et Situ Germanorum (better known as Germania) and Historiae (in which we find the story of the Batavian revolt). Since the Romans did not really come more Northern than the river Rhine that splits what is nowadays the Netherlands, you can imagine that what they describe completely excludes Scandinavia and speak only about the Celts and Germans (which are hard to tell apart).

Outside these, I have not yet been able to find much information, but your heavy commenting will definitely give me some clues.

What do we know?

Tacitus writes that the most popular gods in our parts were “Mercurius”, “Mars” and “Herculus” and at another point he says that “Mercurius” is the most popular of the gods. Calling local gods by their ‘Roman names’ is called interpretatio Romana. Romans thought that the gods were the same everywhere, just under different names. Of course there have been many theories as to which these three names refer to. Most often the conclusion is respectively Wodan/Odin, Tiwaz/Tyr and Donar/Thor, but especially in the last two cases, things are not that simple as we will see.

This double naming (“Wodan/Odin”) already implies that we take it for granted that the religions of Northern Europe was (virtually) the same everywhere and that the different names are simply caused by difference in language. All names for Wodan/Odin would stem from the same source *Wōdanaz (the * means that this word is reconstructed). Are things that simple? Jacob Grimm (1785-1863) seems to think so. Capital VII (“Wuotan”) of his Deutsche Mythologie starts by saying that Wuotan was the highest and leading god, that he was worshipped by all German tribes and that he was known under the names Vôdans (Goths), Wôdan or Guôdan (Longobards), Wuotan or Wôdan (ancient Saxons), Guôdan and Gudan (Westphallia), Vôden (Anglo-Saxons), Wêda (Frisians) and further North Oðinn, Othinus (Saxo) and Ouvin (Faerao Islands). Similar lists Grimm compiled for other gods.

So if Wodan was such a universal god, Grimm failed to find written sources of the many other continental tribes to see what their names were. Too bad. Also I would love to know the sources of the names that he did find.

History

I do not have a big interest in history in the normal sense of the word. Therefor I have never really tried to find out what tribe lived where in what period. I have not even tried to find out to what tribe I can possibly trace back my ancestry. The easy way is to see if somebody else took the effort of answering the first question. Things are not really simple, which is one of the reasons why I never put too much effort in it. The earliest period that we have to look at is about the period called as the “migration period”. In those years (300-700) tribes and families wandered across the area of what is nowadays called Europe, splitting up tribes, forming new ones, aligning with other families, but mostly: moving around. It is impossible to say what tribe inhabited what area. It is even impossible to tell the history and give the composition of a tribe. As a matter of fact, it is even often impossible to say which tribes were “Celtic” and which “German” (words used by the Romans). Both cultures are a lot alike and different tribes have inhabited the same areas, perhaps tribes even mixed and formed another tribe. It is only much later in time that two relatively distinct cultures came into existence. What I mean to say is this: to what tribe you should look if you want to know about the religion of your ancestors is (virtually) impossible to answer. When you come from a region like myself (southern Netherlands) it is even hard to say if you should look at Celtic or German sources. What tribe inhabited the region where I live now? I cannot really give a definate answer.

Batavians

Some maps of what are now the Netherlands with the tribes of old in it, place the Batavians (“Batavii”) in my area. It is certain that the Batavians have lived in this area, since in Sint-Michielsgestel (nowadays 20 minutes by car) a votive stone was found that can only be interpretated as Batavian (about which more later). In the same area the famous “temple of Empel” was found. A roman-style, but pagan temple of about 10×10 meters.

The Batavians are actually a very famous tribe, since Tacitus has spent a substantial part of his Historien on them. The Batavians supposedly came floating down the Rhine from somewhere in nowadays Germany, but settled in the ‘big river area’ in the middle of the current Netherlands, but also went more to the south. The Batavians have first helped the Roman invaders, but later turned against them. The latter has resulted in all kinds of Romantic and heroic images that live in the Dutch minds to this day. “The Batavian Republic” was even the name of the larger part of what nowadays are the Netherlands from 1795 to 1801. What do we really know about this tribe?

Contrary to the often-thought idea that *Wōdanaz was the first and highest god of the German tribes, the Batavians seem to have had a liking for another god that they themselves called Herculus-Magusanus (or Magusanus-Herculus on the stone found in Sint-Michielsgestel). “Magusanus” supposedly is a composition of the Latin words for “young” and “old”. “Herculus”, that is an easy one: Donar/Thor, right? Adam of Bremen says that in the temple of Uppsala there were three statues of gods with Thor in the middle, so a similar idea might have lived under the Batavians.
As I said the Batavians have worked both with and against the Roman invaders. Some of them were kidnapped by the Romans as children and raised in Italy. They spoke Latin, were very well informed in the Roman world of gods. Some where Roman elite troop soldiers. When these Batavians decided that they had been suppressed enough, escaped and went back to their tribes, they know almost anything about Roman culture and warfare (one of the reasons that they have made things difficult for the Romans). I cannot imagine that they picked the name of “Herculus” for their prime god by accident. The name can impossibly have referred to a Wodan-like god. According to Joris van Eijnatten and Fred van Lieburg (see sources below) Herculus was chosen not only because of his connection with warfare and heroism, but also because of his pastoral/sacred role in Roman thinking. Furthermore Herculus was connected to cattle and heroism, since he killed a sea-monster that stole his cows. Herculus is a more complex god than just a heroic figure and his name was used to refer most likely to a similar gods of the Batavians. This can still be a Thor-like god, by the way, since Thor consecrates marriages with his hammer and has initiatory aspects.

Woen

So the Batavians were an exception to the rule that Wodan-like gods were regarded the highest? I do not know. The day wednesday is in Dutch still called “woensdag” and everybody agrees that the name of the day in most languages refers to Wodan. It is said that the constellation of Great Bear (Ursa Major) was called “woenswagen” (woen’s wagon) in the southern Netherlands. Further we have toponymes such as Woensel (a village that is now part of the city of Eindhoven) and Woensdrecht (in the far southwest of the provice of Noord-Brabant) which are both connected with Wodan (also in ancient times, Grimm has some nice quotes). Did this god have the name “Woen” in my parts perhaps? Did his name develop towards this word? Little details like this (especially the toponymes, even though there are not that many of them) suggest that besides Herculus-Magusanus also a Wodan-like god was known. How did he compare to Herculus Magusanus and what about the Mars/Tiwaz god that Tacitus suggests was here too?

Forsachistu Diobolæ

The famous “Utrechtse Doopgelofte” (baptism vow from Utrecht) has in an old tongue pagans who become Christian promise to “forsake the devil” by saying: “end ec forsacho allum dioboles uuercum and uuordum, Thunaer ende Uoden ende Saxnote ende allum them unholdum, the hira genotas sint.” which means: “and I abondon all words and works of the devil, “Thunaer” (Donar) and “Uoden” (“Wodan”) and “Saxnote” and all idols that are their companions.

“Saxnote”? That is an interesting name in this Dutch text. This name is connected to Ziu/Tiwaz/Tyr and could very well be the “Mars” of Tacitus. The man seems to not have been so badly informed!

So where are we now?

So where does all this leave us? We have a few names, we have some archeological evidence, but it cannot all be tied to one tribe; to an area perhaps. Does all this learn us much of the religion of these parts? Not really, there are hardly written sources with what this religion was like. The “Indiculus superstitionum et paganiarum” (“list of superstitious and pagan practices”) compiled by missionary Bonifatius (saint Boniface) gives us a few hints, but what we lack are proper texts, myths, that sort of material. Things can be found in folklore, but those sources are much more watered-down than the Scandinavian sources. We have material from later periods, for example Beowulf, but by then the Saxons have spent some time on the British isles. Fortunately the little information that we have seems to indicate that things were not all that different from Scandinavia, so I guess until we find something continental to work with, those Scandinavian sources are not that bad. Should we replace the popular Scandinavian names with our own? “Woen” for “Odin”, “Saxnote” for “Tyr”? Perhaps, but I do not really see it as a necessity. So what about subjects such as Ragnarok that have never been found in any continental source? I find it hard to say something about that. Personally I can find myself in the ideas of the four cycles, destruction and reconstruction and Ragnarok fits it that scheme perfectly. Besides, this idea is Indo-European and widely spread, so perhaps it just happened to not reach us through continental sources (or the tribes were more Celtic than we think in some regards, since this idea does not seem to have survived in Celtic texts either).

The subject remains difficult and also a little frustrating, but until some ancient text with all answers is found, nothing much will change about that. Besides, I am not one of those who want to reconstruct or revive the tribes of the past. I live today in another time. Still it would have been nice to have a firmer foundation for the ancient beliefs of my own area. Fortunately there are those who do their utmost to find as much information about a certain tribe they try to revive as possible. Perhaps these “Þheods” will one day publish their findings, so we have a nice overview of the available material of different tribes of old.

Until then, feel free to enlighten me with your comments. Should the commenting-function be down again, click “website news and contact” above and just send me an email.

Sources
Joris van Eijnatten and Fred van Lieburg;
Jacob Grimm (not yet reviewed);
Jan de Vries;
Julius Caesar;
Tacitus Germania and Batavian revolt;
Adam of Bremen;
Wikipedia.

A couple of things made me want to have a look at the explanations that I was offered of the terms “Ørlögr” and “heilagr” and this book was suggested. I got a copy through my library, so I had only 3 weeks to study the book. The Germanic Belief In Fate is a very interesting work, offering tons of information about the subject. Gehl does not really work towards the explanations that I was after, but there are things to work with. I want to introduce you to this book and because this text is too lengthy for a book review, this turned out to be an ‘article’. Of course I read the book with a certain idea in mind, so this review may turn out to be a bit onesided.

Ørlög

Gehl has found a staggering amount of terms to describe “Schicksal” (“Fate”), but most of them do not really have the meaning that we give to that term today. How could it be, with so many words? On page 16 (in the introduction) Gehl writes that words like “sköp” and “ørlög” were used to describe “fate”. Both terms are written with a “.” below the “o”, but I cannot reproduce that character, so I use the nowadays more common way of writing with “ö”. There we have the term that I was looking for, but in another meaning.

On page 19 Gehl writes: “Die gleichmäßigste Verbreitung under den germanischen Worten für “Schicksal’ zeigen die Ableitungen zu den germanischen Stämmen *laga, *gaskapa und *wurði (“the orderly spreading of the Germanic word “Fate” show deductions of the Germanic stems *laga, *gaskapa and *wurði“). Then follow terms from different Germanic languages such as gilagu, aldrlagu, ealdorlegu, feorhlegu, lög, forlög and urlac. The line of terms is interesting since the term “ørlög” seems to be present in most (all?) of the Germanic languages. An interesting remark is made on p.21: “Während as. orlag, ags. orlæg stark zurücktreten, scheint im Ahd. urlac das weitaus verbreiteste Word für “Schicksal” gewesen zu sein. old Norse ørlög is, im Gegensatz zu aldrlag, sköp usw., typisch für die mythologische Dichtung, wird aber auch von der Heldendichtung verwendet, wenn eine Steigerung ins Mythische beabsichted ist”. (“As old Saxon orlag, Anglo-Saxon orlæg are hardly present, it seems as if in old High German urlac is by far the most widely spread word for “Fate”. An. ørlög, contrary to aldrlag, sköp, etc., is typical for the mythological poetry; it is also used in the heroic poetry, but only when when it appears in a mythological context.”) A little further (p.22) Gehl writes that “sköp” is more ‘active’ and “ørlög” more ‘passive’. Later (p.37) Gehl makes that into “Weltlich” (“wordly” for “sköp”) and “mythogisch” (for “ørlög”). Towards the end of the book, the writer speaks about personal and impersonal fate and heroic versus organic.

In another article I have given my ideas about the terms “ørlögr” and “heilagr” and it is in that context that I use these terms. The reason that I started to look into the subject is that the major works about Germanic mythology such as De Vries’ or Meyer’s Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte or Simek’s Dictionary of Northern Mythology hardly (or not at all) speak about “ørlögr” and some of the modern books that I read give other explanations. Gehl seems to do the same. When he quotes texts such as the Eddas or the Gautreksaga, the term seems to use simply “fate” and not “primal law”. Ask and Embla are ørlöglausa (“without fate”) before before the three Gods visit them. Starkadr is given ørlög during a þhing. This seems to be ‘very personal’, even when there is another term for ‘personal ørlög’ being førlög.

On the other hand, “Snorri erzählt in seiner Edda, daß Alföðr (Allvater) zu Anfang stjórnarmenn, “Regenten”, eingesetzt habe mit dem Auftrag, at doema með sér ørlög manna (“das Schicksal der Menschen under sich durch Urteilsspruch zu bestimmen”)”, which means that Odin gave mankind “ørlög” and appointed regents to bestow judgements on it. That would mean that “ørlög” is Divine and further ‘handed down’ to mankind and that is the meaning that I give to the term.
On page 175 Gehl says that Odin knows “Seiðr” and “ørlög manna” (the “ørlög” of man) and when quoting Friedrich Kauffmann on p.225 Gehl speaks about “Urgesetz” and “Urprinzip” and “die tiefe Hintergründe alles Geschehens”, which lives up to my ideas a lot better, since “Urgesetz” is best translated by “primal law” in my opinion, “primal principle” says enough and especially the sentence “the deep background of everything that happens” does not miss much clarity. I would love to read this book by Kauffmann, but I have not been able to track down a copy, it seems unavailable from any Dutch library… But since Gehl also speaks about “überpersönliche schicksalhaften Urgesetse”, maybe in the end he presents what I was looking for anyway.

The rest of the book

Like I said, I was preoccupied when I read this book, but I made a lot more notes than those I gave above. So that you also learn a bit of other things that Gehl describes, here comes ‘the rest of the book’.

When the term “ørlög” is mentioned in the poetic Edda, somewhere near you will also see the term “leggia”, which I myself linked to the Norns (also present in each quote) and which Gehl translates as “schicksalhaft bestimmen”, or “‘fately’ determine”. This usually refers to the personal level. “þær lög lögðu, þær líf kuru, alda börnum, örlög seggja” (Völuspa 21) which is translated: “Laws they established, life allotted, to the sons of men; destinies pronounced” (Thorpe verse 20), “destiny”, a translation that I do not really like personally, but perhaps it says what it should in a way. “Law” for “lög” is more like it and the “ør” part I take for “Ur” or “primal”.

Gehl concludes that “der germanische Schicksalsglaube” is “gemeingermanisch” (pan-Germanic) since he has found terms referring to fate in every text that he studied. As appendix he gives a gigantic list with terms with their sources! This is extremely usefull for other people who want to have a look into the subject. Like I said, “Schicksal”, or better said, the terms that Gehl collected, do not always mean what we do with the term “fate”. A fairly large part of the book is about “Glück”, or “luck”. Terms such as Hamingja, goefa, gipt(a) refer to luck in connection with fate. That first term I would have explained in another way, but on page 67 Gehl writes: “Auch die hamingja is the Summe der körperlichen und geistlichen Vorzüge einer Menschen, oder vielmehr ihre sichtbare Wirkung in then Außenwelt. Auch Character und geistlichen Anlagen einer Menschen kann man auf seine hamingja schließen”. (“Also the hamingja is the sum of the physical and mental parts of men, or perhaps more even it is the visible result in the outer world. Also character and spirit of a man can be seen as his hamingja.”) (p.67)

“Hamingja” is often seen as (a part of) the soul, just as “fylgja”. About the latter Gehl says that the term is to be linked to the idea of heritable luck (p.68). Luck again, but then again: “[...] das Glück [ist] eine selbständig wirkende Macht” (“luck is an independently working force”) (p.67). This is shown when Gehl names terms that seem to refer to both luck and fate. “Heill” (“magisches Glück”) and “goefa”, “gipt(a)”, “hamingja” (“personsgebundenes Glück”) (p. 78).

The writer has a complete chapter about “fylgja”, which he even equates with the “hamingja” on page 145. 15 Pages earlier, Gehl speaks about “fyljur” in animal form and “fylgjur” in the form of a woman. The first appear in dreams and do not live longer than its carrier, man, because it is only the “Doppelgänger” of man. Another word for animal form “fylgja” according to Gehl, is “Hamr”. The “fylgja” in the form of a woman is connected to a person’s death, but this fylgja does survive its carrier, its goes over to “Sippengenossenen”.

Besides all this, but writer also touches upon subject such as magic (Spá, Seiðr, Útiseti / sitjar a haugi, etc.), ideas such as Sipp-/clan-luck and even “aldar rok” (“Welten Schicksal”) and “Weltenglück”, of course about the Norns, “Wurd”, etc., concepts of the soul, such as önd, hugr (“animus nie anima”), etc. and all that with many quotes in the original languages and, as said, a list with all terms and their sources. A wonderfull book with a much wider subject than I was looking for and inspite of the fact that there are more books dealing with this subject, Der Germanische Schicksalsglaube supposedly is the standard work on the subject to the present day.

I do not intend to display a complete system. I only want to present a hypothesis (or a few if you like), a line of thought so to say and in the process introduce the English speaking world to a couple of books that are only appreciated by a few and completely unknown to many which is truly a shame. The reasons for this I will get to later on.

The term

The sole reason I use this term is to give you an idea of what I am going to talk about. I don’t particularly like the term “Asatru” myself, but it became quite well known and most people get an idea of what the subject will be. “Traditionalistic” refers to the ideas that you can read more about in these pages: the ideas of René Guénon (1886-1951), Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) and the like. Julius Evola (1898-1974) only in a way. As you will learn “Traditionalistic Asatru” is not simply Asatru in a Guénonian cloth, like I said, the term is only meant to be a pointer.

Dutch writers

As you undoubtedly know, the scholarly investigation of pre-Christian religions of Northern Europe started around the beginning of the 19th century, mostly in Germany. This went calmly for about a hundred years and in the early 20th century and after, a great number of highly interesting works saw the light of day. There were massive works on “Germanic mythology” as a whole, but also works about interesting aspects of Teutonic religion and living. One of the recognised standard works on the larger subject is the massive Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte (‘history of the old-German religion’) by Jan de Vries (1890-1964). However De Vries was Dutch, this work is written in German. It was first published in 1935 (part I) and 1937 (part II), but when he learned about the theories of Georges Dumézil (1898-1986), he felt the need to rewrite the work with those ideas and the most recent scholarly and archeological findings and the book was republished in 1956/7. Inspite of the fact that this book is regarded as the ultimate reference work about the wide variety of subjects within the scope of the title, the book is pretty hard to get and very expensive when you find it. The reason for this is that is has not been reprinted since 1970 and that must have been a small edition, since I have never seen a 1970 copy for sale.

It were difficult times in Europe in the first half of the 20th century. De Vries kept working during both world wars, but since he also started working with the enemy, he fell out of grace in his own country and his works are still controversial for the sole fact that he had a controversial period in his life. As far as I know De Vries has never written anything political and his works on Northern mythology have nothing political in them, but since he got “spoilt” (or “burned” as we call it), his books will not be reprinted and the sole mentioning of the name and/or the works of De Vries practically makes you burned yourself. Also the copyright will only expire in 2034, so until then the heirs will have to agree with republication.

Another Dutch writer has a similar history: Frans Farwerck (1889-1978) who had a high rank in the Dutch nazi party NSB during WWII. I will come back to him later.

Traditionalism

According to Guénon, a tradition is only truly Traditionalistic if there is an unbroken link to the Divine Source. Guénon was particularly this radical when he says that an initiative order is only such, if there is an unbroken link with that “Philosophia Perennis” (Örløgr (‘Divine Law’) in our own tradition). Since especially in the West, these links have been broken in almost all occasions, there remain only two genuinely initiatic orders in the West: Freemasonry and Le Compagonnage. The latter is a similar organisation (in many ways) to Freemasonry, but it has its own peculiarities and can be found almost exclusively in France and some parts of Germany. Having said that, it is only through Freemasonry that an initiatic order can be “regular” (to use the Masonic term) nowadays.

As far as I know he was no Traditionalist, but Farwerck has written at length about how elements of the Northern mysteries found their way into Freemasonry. His amazing work Noordeuropese Mysteriën en hun sporen tot heden (‘Northern European Mysteries and their traces to the present’) (1970, second print 1978) deals with that very subject entirely and that means: for about 630 pages. Farwerck says that we know quite a lot about the mysteries of Northern Europe and he dug through myths and sagas, but also a lot through folklore and habits with forgotten meanings, symbolism in and on buildings, rune stones, etc., etc.

Let me try to give you an idea of what could become putting all that together.

Männerbunden

The ancient North had its initiations, not just the famous ‘rites of passage’, but also of a deeper and more esoteric nature. Towards the end of part I of his Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte (483 and on), De Vries writes about “Kultverbände” (‘cultic unions’) in a variety of forms. There were trading unions for which the old German word “hansa” is used (remember the German term “Hansestadt”) which De Vries says: “originally meant an offering-society or cultic-society” (p. 487). Later such groups would be called “Gilden” (‘guilds’), like we know from the Middle Ages. Many professions were organised in a guild. According to De Vries there already were guilds in Scandinavia in the 11th century, they even had written regulations. Even some runestones refer to guilds. Again the term refers to offerings and cults, since the Old-Norwegian term “gildi” “also actually meant offering-society” (p. 490).

Both De Vries and Farwerck heavily used the book Kultische Geheimbunde der Germanen (‘cultic secret societies of the Germans’) (1934) of Otto Höfler (1901-1987). Indeed a very promising title. Unfortunately I have not read the book myself yet (not easy to get either).

There have been several cultic groups in the North in these days, such as the “Chatten” and the “Hariern”, but more famous are groups such as the “Einherjar”, the “Ulfhednar” and the “Berzerkr”. “The most important feasts of these men-bonds are connected to the death-cult” (p. 494), meaning: the ancestors. As a matter of fact “acceptance to the men-bonds insures eternal life in the community of the ancestors. The nature of these Germanic men-bonds – thus demonstrates Höfler – were esoteric secrets cults.” (p. 495).

On page 499 De Vries describes death-and-resurrection rituals that we know from virtually every mystery-cult and other “initiation practices” are described. Now let me turn to Farwerck who has written an entire book about these “Northern European mysteries”.

Northern initiation

Farwerck makes a flying start with giving information about initiations into Indo-European mysteries. He describes practices around death, ideas about the afterlife and burial practices. In the next part of his book, Farwerck investigates applicants for the vacancy of initiation God. Wodan/Odin of course has a good curriculum vitae, but he is not the only one. Still a large part of the book is dedicated to Wodan and ‘surrounding subjects’. Offering feasts, ‘army of the dead’, the Einherjar and Valkeries, the “Wilde Heir” (‘wild army’, not a very good translation, but I need to keep it separate from…), the wild hunt, horses and horse-offerings, Yule and fertility feasts, name it, Farwerck has investigated and described it. Of course he also wrote at length about the men-bonds and he attends to a while lot of them. Farwerck would not be Farwerck if he did not scratch off the surface of folkloristic practices and investigate remnants of ancient beliefs in Christianity and used a load of visuals. He even takes about 80 pages to find remnants of the practices of men-bonds in folkloristic habits that were still practiced in his own time. Shooting-guilds, Saint Nicholas celebrations, Yule feats, Morris dancers, steal-right of youth-groups, etc., etc.

After a dazzling amount of information, the writer continues with the “reconstruction of ancient initiation rites”. The places of the initiations (still recognisable by the names of places in the landscape), strange figures in churches, “trojan forts”, the hanging rite, wounding with the spear, mead, dances and singing; Farwerck works towards a comprehensive picture of cultic bonds.

Of course having passed the “Männerbunden”, we continue with the guilds and their rites and habits and their current descendants. The building-guilds bring us close to the dawn of modern Freemasonry and indeed, the last part of the book investigates the rites and habits of Freemasonry and their relation to what we have seen earlier in the book. The dimensions of the lodge, the small and large lights, the three “gems of Donar” (his hammer, also used by the Grand Master; his iron gloves became white; his power-girdle became the apron (and of course it is also a reference to animal disguises). Another 100 pages with that subject.

Farwerck frequently jumps conclusions when there are holes to fill, but when you read his book, you can not deny his vast knowledge and deep esoteric insight. He had reached the top of Dutch Freemasonry, but his persistence in the ideas as described above, costed him his membership.

Summery

As a branch from the Divine Source the Northern-European mysteries were not totally unlike the mystery-cults from around the Mediterranean Sea that we know quite a lot about, but they had their own peculiarities. Parts of the rites, habbits and dress-codes survived in folklore, but also in the present-day mysteries of Freemasonry. However this will be denied by many lodges, there are also lodges (especially in France) that do not mainly focus on Jewish or Egyptian symbolism, but also that of Northern Europe.

The larger branch that the pre-Christian faith of Northern Europe belongs to, is the so called Indo-European one. In particular Georges Dumézil had made a convincing point in showing similarities between the different Indo-European religions with its tripartite division. This fact also makes us able to fill gaps in that very pre-Christian faith of Northern Europe. Other sources are “folkish Christianity”, folklore in general and the great many (half-)secret societies that preserved ancient practices without even knowing that. Shooting-guilds, students organisations, workers-guilds, there still are plenty of forms of very old traditions.

The person convinced that there one Divine Source (transcending the Gods), an esoteric continuous (and unbroken) passing on of a Divine Spark but also a continuous exotericism and seeing (and finding) that in his/her native religion, could be regarded as a “Traditionalistic Asatruar”.

Do I mean to say that every (Traditionalistic) Asatruar has to become Freemason? I am not one myself and I do not think that in many lodges I would feel myself at home. On the other hand, it is a comforting thought that perhaps not ALL is lost, even when I personally do not yet take part in the ‘esoteric preservation’.

we should not be allowing the voices we hear in this publication to be the only voices pushing the edge of philosophy in this age. They are, by our silence, representing us. I repeat this to make it clear: they are, by our silence, representing us…

Óðinssen seems to think that Tyr stands for a radical traditionalist form of “Asatru”, while in my own idea, Tyr is a “radical traditionalist” publication (as an umbrella term) with here and there a ‘pagan edge’. Óðinssen fears that Tyr tries to make some kind of extremist system of the ancestral faith. I doubt that this is the aim of the authors and I personally never saw the publication that way. The interest of the editors in controversial writers who either or not have had dealings with aspects of the Northern faith, combined with Dumézilian theories of a New Right thinker and all that under the monicker of the Norse god of Justice could indeed come on fiercely on some followers of the ancestral path. Again, in my eyes Tyr is a “radical traditionalist” publication and not a pagan one.

The review did make me wonder what this Northvegr Foundation actually stands for. I have known them for a long time because of their flood of texts, time to have a closer look.

Northvegr has a “statement of purpose” with a list of interesting points.

1. The Northvegr Foundation strives to bring knowledge and understanding of Northern European pre-Christian history, culture and spiritual values (i.e. world-view and ethic).

Good, so do I!

2. We state that the Northern European pre-Christian spiritual tradition, known as Heithni, is a full and rich tradition that has no need of an infusion of foreign ideals or practices, such as ceremonial magic, New Age thought, or any other occult ideals. It is classified as a “world-accepting folk-religion” in scholarly circles.
3. We state that Heithni has a well-developed world-view and ethic which is in evidence in many primary sources and well documented in many secondary sources. We believe that through a combination of scholarly research and spiritual experience, this world-view and ethic has been revived and can be presented without infusion of foreign ideals. We believe that without a proper understanding of this world-view and ethic, it is not possible to either live the tradition of Heithni, nor for the layperson to understand it properly. One of the Northvegr Foundation’s primary goals is to bring knowledge and understanding of this world-view and ethic.

Good point! I think many readers of Gangleri.nl will agree with this statement. On the other hand, my traditionalistic ideas (not the “radical” of Tyr) could be regarded as a modern addition, my Dumézilian theories and idea that any religion, including the ancestral faith, has an esoteric counterpart, too. The last point I can relatively simply do away with by pointing towards “Männerbunden”, Berzerkr, Ulfhednar, etc. The second point could be seen as traditional (in an Indo-European sense even) if you believe Dumézil.

4. We support any group or organization, (religious and/or secular) that works to promote its own history, culture and spiritual values, as long as it does so without demonizing another organization or people. Different does not mean that it is worse or better. It simply means different. We strongly support any genuine tribal/folk-religion and believe that unity through diversity can be achieved.

Amen!

5. We oppose all forms of tyranny. Irrational hatred and oppression of a people are not Northern Virtues. We reject those who would follow such paths. We state unequivocally that the Heithinn spiritual tradition has no connection at all with extremists, white supremacists, or racists (or the more “PC” term ‘racialists’).

Agree, undoubtely, but I doubt the editors of Tyr would not; it depends on where the extremism is to be found I guess (rejection of the modern world, just to name one).

7. While we are an organization that places a high emphasis on the accurate revival of Northern European pre-Christian spiritual values and culture, we also realize that we live in a modern age and that our tradition is a growing, living tradition. We support the use of technology for the furtherance of our aims and its use in maintaining a healthy environment. We also support innovation within our tradition, but that innovation must be soundly based on our world-view and ethic.

Right again.

8. Heithni, being a world-accepting folk religion, strongly supports environmental causes and the preservation of land, animals and plant-life for all people, in the present as well as for future generations.

Actually I like the term “Heithni” better than the term “Asatru”, but would the people of Northvegr see me as one of their own after reading some of my scribblings, especially the one that I am working on now (“Traditionalistic Asatru”)?

The statement of Northvegr can only have my full approval. Yet there are points not discussed. Let me quote Wikipedia on Heithni:

Heathens are polytheists, believing in a number of gods and goddesses.

Yes and no. I believe in “a number of gods and goddesses”, but I am not polytheistic, since these “gods and goddesses” are all but a part (or an expression) of God. Divinity is One, all the rest is part of it. Is that a modern interpretation? It can hardly be different with a Traditionalistic approach.
The rest of the Wikipedia article does not speak of the Northvegr form of paganism, it deals with some forms such as Asatru, Odinism, Theodism, etc. Too bad, I would love to hear a bit more of “Heithni”. Perhaps I will scan Northvegr.org a bit more, or I will try to find kindred groups to see what they have to say.

The story

The story in short goes that Thor and Loki (for an unknown reason), decide to travel to Utgarda Loki, which is both the name of a kingdom, as the name of its ruler. In the beginning of the story, Thor and Loki need a place to sleep and they find a farm with a family that is willing to let them spend the night. For dinner, Thor slays his two goats and tells the farmer to throw the bones on the skins that Thor laid on the floor. The son breaks a bone to eat out the marrow though. In the morning, Thor takes his hammer, consecrates the goats and they come back alive, one with a limping rear leg. Thor immediately realises what has happened, breaks a fury and threatens to slay the family. Naturally the farmer got scared, offered his excuses and his children as compensation. Thor agrees and he, Loki, Thialfi (the son) and Roskva (the daughter) leave behind the goats and use a boat to cross the ocean.
After coming on the other shore, they start to walk through a big forest and at the end of the day they search for food in vein, but do find a place to sleep: a large hall with a portal as big as the hall itself. When trying to get some sleep, an enormous earthquake and ear-shattering sound wakes our friends in fear and they find a smaller side-hall in which they take shelter. In the morning they find out that both phenomena were caused by a gigantic man sleeping a little ahead and Thor walks towards him with his hammer in his hand. The man awakes and Thor asks for his name, which is Skrymir and Skrymir immediately recognises Thor of the Ases. The party decides to travel together, but our four friends have a hard time to keep up with the giant. As evening falls the giant finds a tree to sleep under and tells Thor to get some from from the knapsack in which everybody put their food together. Thor proves to be unable to open the giants bag though; annoyed and hungry, they also go to sleep. As soon as the giant falls asleep, the loud snoring is back and Thor runs over to him, hitting him with his hammer. The giant awakes and asks if leaves fell on his head. The second time Thor takes his change, he walks towards the giant and hits him again, but again the giant just asks if a bird dropped something on his head. The last time Thor is sure that he will succeed, he takes one step, hits the giant, but again he wakes up with a silly question.
When morning breaks, the parties part, the giant continues North, our friends towards the East. Soon they find a gigantic castle, but are not let in. Fortunately they can squeeze themselves between the bars and they immediately walk towards the drinking hall where king Utgarda Loki has a feast with his subjects. Instead of being greeted and invited to join the meal, our friends are asked which feats they can perform. After this follow three tests. First, Loki has an eating contest again a man named Logi, but Loki looses. After this Thialfi runs three races against a man named Hugi, but loses all three. Then Thor fails to empty a drinking horn, doesn’tmanaged to raise the cat of the king and is forced on a knee when wrestling against an old lady. After this they receive a warm welcome with dinner, sleeping places and breakfast in the morning.
When walking outside, Utgarda Loki tells Thor that he has tricked him. Utgarda Loki was Skrymir and every time Thor tried to kill him, he put a mountain between his head and Thor’s hammer. The man that Loki had his contest with was called “Wildfire” (“Logi”) who not only ate the meat from the bones, but also consumed the bones and the trough on which the food laid. No wonder Loki was no competition here. A similar trick Utgarda Loki has with Thialfi, because “Hugi” as his “thought” and nothing is faster than thought. The horn that Thor tried to empty had it’s tip in the ocean, the cat was actually the Midgard serpent that encircles the entire earth and the old woman was called “old age” (“Elli”) and even Thor can’t fight that. After hearing this, Thor got angry, raised his hammer to smash Utgarda Loki and his men, but suddenly the castle and its inhabitents are gone and Thor, Loki and Thialfi find themselves in an open field.

An interpretation

If the Northern Gods are taken as aspects in the constitution of man, it would not be too strange to say that Loki represents our ego, Thor our will and Odin our higher Self. In this story only the two lower parts take a journey, pretty much as in ‘real life’. Just think about it, how many people live purely by ego and lower desire and how many genuinely spiritual people do you know? The story seems to represent the state that most of us live in. We live our lives by our lower aspects and forgot to bring our Odin.
In the beginning of the story Thor and Loki come from somewhere, but it isn’t stated from where. A quick assumption could lead to the conclusion that they came from Asgard, but that wouldn’t fit too well with the interpretation that I pose here. They do seem to travel to (or through) the world of man, the world of the farmer and his family, but also this is questionable. A strange thing takes place, because the death-and-resurrection ritual of the goats reminds of initiation rites, but why would Thor initiate his own goats? I am not totally sure, but my interpretation is that Thialfi and Roskva receive some kind of ‘indirect initiation’ or perhaps, the lower part of man trades ‘something higher’ (the goats of the Gods) for ‘something lower’ (men). In any case, the scene with the goats seems to have the reason that Thialfi and Roskva become able to travel with the Gods.
After this two very obvious initiation themes occur. The group travels over the waters and a thick forest, so they obviously go to another world. This becomes clear as soon as they meet Skrymir and even more so when they arrive in Utgarda Loki. My first idea when I read this story, was that the lower part of man travels to a world of illusion, of Maya as the Eastern term goes. They are obviously blinded by something, because it is pretty obvious that they are in a world of illusion, Loki tries to eat faster than a man who is named “Wildfire”, but not for a second he realises that “Logi” may actually by wildfire. The same goes for Thialfi and “Hugi” (“memory” remember Odin’s raven) and Thor with “Elli” (“old age”). It is so obvious that there is something fishy going on, but they don’t see it.
I think this very much applies to our own situation. We don’t see how often we are smacked around the ears with ‘something higher’ without seeing it. We no longer realise that there is more than what we can see, feel, smell, touch, etc. We live in a world of illusion, and take it for being reality. As soon as we would realise the truth, all illusion would disappear and something beautiful would be left (a green field with flowers!).

This is –of course- a rather simple explanation of a story with many layers and themes. Maybe another time I will go a bit more in depth, peel off some layers, dissect some scenes or names, but here you have your first proof that the stories from the Eddas are not just enjoying stories, but much more can be found in them. Myths can be examples or explanations or even guides. Perhaps it is nice to use this one story for different approaches to show you how to work with these texts.

In the article that I mentioned I wrote a few things about the Externsteine. Please go there for the starting information.

The Externsteine are strange natural rockformations which were obviously regarded sacred by the ancient inhabitents of the area. There are several very interesting elements to them.

“Felsenschiff” or “rock ship”

Apparently a natural form in the rocks in which people see (or have seen?) a ship. I don’t have further information about it.

“Torbogengrab” or “arch-gate-grave”.

On the ground you can see this grave with noone in it. Too small for a person of today too. Note the Odal rune on the left top of the photo. If you take the Externsteine to be a mystery place, this is the ideal place for the symbolic death part of the rituals.

This is the temple or altar on top of one of the stones. At midsummer the sun shines through the hole when it rises. Just like Stonehenge and other ancient sites, this is specifically built for midsummer celebrations.

The previous photos are taken from the internet, now I’m going to steal from the book that I mentioned in the beginning. The writer gives a drawing of the stones on which is marked what can be found where. “Rots” is simply “rock” in Dutch. A is the rock-grave, B the “sacristy”, C and D a worked out cave, E the famous carving of the crucifix, F the “podest” (??), E the “sacrellum”, G the bridge between two rocks, I the “hanging Odin” and J the “Wackelstein” (I don’t recall that one).

Here we have a figure in which people see a hanged God, Odin (who would have been named Wodan at the place!) for some. I guess it is a natural wearing in which you could see a figure.

This is of course the most famous part of the Externsteine. It is said that the bottom part is an ancient carving and that the crucifixion scene is carved on top of it to Christianise the heathen sacred place.

The little known “runic sign” from the inside of the cave that is called the “cathedral”. It looks like an inverted Egyptian Ka-symbol. If it were runes, it would be a combination of two Elhaz/Man runes. Interesting nonetheless!

Last but not least, a photo of the inside of the sactuary, where you can see which the writer called “the kettle”. When you visit the Externsteine you cannot go into that part, nor even see the inside through the fences that are placed (because the interesting part is around the corner). This is probably not without reason, but a disappointment if you expected otherwise.

In any case, here are some seldom seen parts of the Externsteine. If you have the change to go there yourself sometimes, I can promise you it is worth the effort! The surroundings justify a longer stay as well with interesting sites.

De Avonturen van Thor
uit de proza Edda

45. […] Het begin van dit avontuur is dat Oku-Thor op reis ging met zijn geiten en blokkenwagen en met hem ging ase die Loki wordt genoemd. In de avond kwamen zij bij een boerderij en daar werden kamers voor de nacht geregeld. In de avond nam Thor zijn geiten en doodde hen allebei, waarna hij hen vilde en in een ketel deed. Toen het vlees was gekookt, gingen Thor en zijn metgezel aan het avondmaal. Thor nodigde boer, zijn vrouw en hun kinderen, een zoon genaamd Thialfi en een dochter met de naam Roskva uit, om met hen te eten. Daarna legde Thor de geitevellen bij de open haard en verzocht boer en zijn huishouden om de beenderen op de huiden te leggen. Thialfi, de zoon van boer, nam de dij van één van de geiten, brak deze en haalde het merg eruit met zijn mes. Thor overnachtte bij het gezin. ‘s Morgens vroeg, vlak voor zonsopkomst, stond Thor op, kleedde zich aan, nam de hamer Mjölnir, hief het op en wijdde de geitevellen. De geiten stonden op, maar één van hen was mank aan één van zijn achterste poten. Toen Thor dit zag zei hij dat de boer of van één van de zijnen niet goed met de beenderen van de geit was omgegaan, want hij zag dat de dij van één van hen gebroken was. Het is niet nodig om bij dit deel van het verhaal lang stil te blijven staan. Iedereen zal begrijpen hoe bang de boer werd toen hij zag dat Thor zijn wenkbrouwen over zijn ogen liet zakken. Toen hij zijn ogen zag moet de boer gedacht hebben alleen daardoor al tegen de grond te slaan. Thor greep het handvat van zijn hamer zo hard vast dat zijn gewrichten wit werden. Zoals je kunt verwachten, schreeuwden de boer en zijn gezin het uit en smeekten voor vrede, als genoegdoening boden zij hem alles aan wat zij bezaten. Toen hij hun vrees zag, zakte zijn toorn. Hij werd kalmer en nam als losgeld de kinderen, Thialfi en Roskva mee. Zij werden zijn bedienden, en hebben altijd hem sinds die tijd begeleid.
46. Hij liet zijn geiten achter en ging op weg naar Jotunheim richting het oosten, over de zee. Toen stak hij de diepe oceaan over en ging aan de andere kant, samen met Loki en Thialfi en Roskva aan land. Toen zij een korte afstand hadden afgelegd, bevond er zich voor hen een groot woud, waar zij de gehele dag door liepen tot het donker werd. Thialfi, die van alle mensen het hardste kon lopen, droeg de zak van Thor, maar het woud bleek geen goede plaats om proviand te vinden. Toen het donker was geworden zochten zij een plaats voor de nacht en vonden een zeer grote zaal. Aan het eind ervan was een deur zo breed zoals de zaal. Hier bleven zij voor de nacht. Rond middernacht was er een flinke aardbeving; de grond beefde onder hen en het huis schudde. Thor stond op en riep zijn metgezellen. Zij keken om zich heen en vonden een aangrenzende ruimte rechts in het midden van de zaal en zij gingen naar binnen. Thor stelde zich op in de deur; de anderen gingen naar binnen en ze waren erg bang. Thor hield zijn hamer bij het handvat, klaar om zich te verdedigen. Opeens hoorden zij een enorm gekreun en gebrul. Toen het begon te dagen ging Thor naar buiten en zag een man niet ver van hem in het woud liggen. Hij was zeer groot, lag te slapen, en snurkte luid. Thor wist nu waar het lawaai vandaag was gekomen dat zij in de nacht hadden gehoord. Hij omgorde zich met zijn Megingjarder, waardoor zijn azen-kracht nog groter werd. Ondertussen werd de man wakker en stond onmiddellijk op. Men zegt dat Thor voor eens afzag van hem met de hamer te slaan en vroeg hem om zijn naam. Hij noemde zich Skrymir; hij zei: jouw naam hoef ik niet te vragen, ik weet dat je asa-Thor bent. Maar wat heb je met mijn handschoen gedaan? Hij strekte zijn hand uit en nam de handschoen op. Toen zag Thor dat de handschoen de zaal was waarin hij de nacht had doorgebracht en dat de aangrenzende ruimte de duim van de handschoen was. Skrymir vroeg of zij zijn gezelschap zouden goedkeuren. Thor zei ja. Skrymir nam zijn voorraad tas, maakte deze open en begon te ontbijten; maar Thor en zijn kameraden deden het zelfde ergens anders. Skrymir stelde voor dat zij hun proviand samen zouden verpakken, waarmee Thor toestemde. Dan bond Skrymir al hun proviand in één zak, legde het op zijn rug, en leidde de weg de hele dag, gigantische passen nemend. Laat in de avond vond hij een plaats voor hun overnachting onder een grote eik. Toen zei Skrymir tegen Thor dat hij wilde gaan slapen; zij zouden de voorraad tas kunnen nemen en hun avondmaal klaar maken. Skrymir viel in slaap en snurkte enorm. Toen Thor de voorraad tas nam en het probeerde open te maken, gebeurde er iets wat ongelofelijk lijkt, maar toch moet het worden verteld: hij kon niet één knoop los krijgen, noch kon hij één enkel eind van de koorden bewegen zodat het los zou komen. Toen hij zag dat al zijn inspanningen vergeefs waren werd hij kwaad, greep zijn hamer Mjölnir met beide handen, zette één stap in de richting van waar Skrymir lag en ramde de hamer in zijn hoofd. Skrymir werd wakker en vroeg of er een blad op zijn hoofd was gevallen; en of zij hun avondmaal inmiddels hadden gehad, en of ze klaar waren om te gaan slapen. Thor zei dat zij gewoon zouden gaan slapen. Ze gingen onder een andere eik liggen. Maar er moet worden verteld, dat er het onverschrokken slaap was. Rond middernacht hoorde Thor dat Skrymir snurkte en zo vast sliep dat het hele woud beefde. Hij stond op en liep in zijn richting, greep de hamer stevig vast en gaf hem een klap midden op zijn kruin en de kop van de hamer zonk diep in het hoofd van de reus. Skrymir werd wakker en vroeg: Wat is dat? Viel een eikel op mijn hoofd? Hoe is het met jou, Thor? Thor snelde terug en antwoordde dat hij wakker was geworden maar dat het pas middernacht was en nog tijd om te slapen. Dan besliste Thor dat als hij nog een kans zou krijgen om hem de derde slag te geven, hij hem nooit meer zou zien en hij bleef opletten tot voor Skrymir vast sliep. Vlak voor zonsopkomst hoorde hij dat Skrymir in slaap was gevallen. Hij stond op en rende naar hem. Hij greep de hamer zo stevig hij kon en ramde hem in de slaap die boven lag. De hamer zonk naar binnen tot het handvat. Skrymir ging zitten, streek over zijn slaap en zei: Zitten er misschien vogels in de boom boven me? Toen ik wakker werd dacht ik dat er wat mos van de takken op mijn hoofd viel. Wat! Ben je al wakker, Thor? Het is tijd om op te staan en ons aan te kleden; maar het is niet ver meer naar de burcht die Utgard wordt genoemd. Ik heb gehoord dat u onderling hebt gefluisterd dat ik niet klein van gestalte ben, maar u zult grotere mensen aantreffen wanneer u bij Utgard komt. Ik zal u goed advies geven. Schep niet teveel over uzelf op, want de onderdanen van Utgarda-Loki zullen niet onder de indruk zijn van het opscheppen van onbelangrijke kleine figuren als u; draai om, dat is eigenlijk het beste wat jullie kunnen doen. Maar als u er zeker van bent dat u uw reis wil voortzetten, ga dan recht naar het Oosten; mijn weg ligt naar het noorden, richting de bergen die u daar ziet. Skrymir nam de proviand tas, wierp hem op zijn rug draaide zich om liep het bos in en het is bekend of de azen hem opnieuw ontmoetten in goede gezondheid.
47. Thor en zijn metgezellen gingen hun weg en zetten hun reis voort tot de middag. Toen zagen zij een burcht die zich op een vlakte bevond, deze was zo hoog dat zij hun hoofden in hun nek moesten leggen om er overheen te kunnen kijken. Toen ze naar de burcht liepen, kwamen ze bij de poort die gesloten was. Thor kreeg de poort niet open, maar ze wilden zo graag naar binnen dat ze zich tussen de pijlen door wurmde. Zij ontdekten een grote zaal en gingen naar binnen. Ze openden de deur en zagen veel mensen binnen, de meesten gigantisch groot, zittend op twee banken. Ze liepen naar de koning, Utgarda-Loki en begroetten hem. Hij boog naar voren om hen te bekijken, glimlachte geringschattend en toonde zijn tanden, en zei: Het is laat om naar jullie lange reis te vragen, maar volgens mij is deze puber Oku-Thor, is het niet? Ik geloof dat u in werkelijkheid groter bent dan u lijkt. Op welke proeven zijn u en uw metgezellen voorbereid? Niemand kan hier bij ons blijven, tenzij hij in één of andere ambacht of kunst beter is dan de meesten. Toen antwoordde degene die als laatste binnen kwam, namelijk Loki: Ik weet een proef waarvoor ik bereid ben om bewijs te leveren: er is niemand die sneller kan eten dan ik. Utgarda-Loki antwoordde: Dat is inderdaad een prestatie, als u uw woord kunt houden, u kunt het onmiddellijk proberen. Hij riep een man van de bank genaamd Loge en verzocht hem om te komen en het op te nemen tegen Loki. Zij namen een trog vol vlees en zetten het op de vloer, waarna Loki aan de ene kant ging zitten en Loge aan de andere kant. Allebei aten zo snel als ze konden en ze kwamen tegelijk aan in het midden van de trog. Loki had al het vlees van de beenderen gegeten, maar Loge had zowel het vlees als de beenderen als de trog ook op. Iedereen was het erover eens dat Loki webstrijd had verloren. Toen vroeg Utgarda-Loki welke wedstrijd de jonge mens wist? Thialfi beantwoordde dat hij zou een race lopen tegen iedereen die Utgarda-Loki zou aanwijzen. Utgarda-Loki zei dit een goed voorstel was en voegde eraan toe dat Thialfi moest hopen dat hij in snelheid uitblonk als hij dit spel dacht te winnen, de uitslag zou spoedig bekend zijn. Hij stond op en ging naar buiten. Er was een uitstekende renbaan over een vlak stuk land. Utgarda-Loki riep toen een jonge man, wiens naam Huge was, en vroeg hem een race tegen Thialfi te lopen. Toen begonnen ze aan de eerste ronde en Huge was zo ver vooruit dat toen hij Thialfi ontmoette toen hij aan het einde omdraaide. Utgarda-Loki zei: je moet wat beter je best doen, Thialfi, als je de race wilt winnen; maar dit ik beken, dat er nooit iemand hier is gekomen die vlugger te voet was was dan jij. Zo begonnen ze aan de twee ronde en toen Huge aankwam bij het doel en zich omdraaide, was er een nog een heel tijd voor Thialfi kwam. Utgarda-Loki zei: Thialfi lijkt aan me goed in lopen; toch denk ik nog nauwelijks dat hij de race kan winnen, maar dit zal worden bewezen wanneer zij de derde ronde begint. Hierna volgende nog één ronde. Huge liep aan het doel en keerde terug, maar Thialfi was nog niet halverwege het parcours gekomen. Toen zei iedereen dat dit voldoende pogingen waren. Utgarda-Loki vroeg nu aan Thor welke toer hij bereid was om voor hen tentoon te stellen om de verhalen beantwoorden die de mensen over zijn grote werken weten te vertellen. Thor antwoordde dat hij met iemand verkoos te wedijveren in het drinken. Utgarda-Loki zei er geen bezwaar tegen dit de wedstrijd zou zijn. Hij liep de zaal in, riep zijn bediende en vroeg hem de hoorn nemen waaruit zijn onderdanen gewoon waren te drinken. De bediende kwam onmiddellijk naar voren, bracht de hoorn en gaf die aan Thor. Utgarda-Loki zei : als deze hoorn in één teug wordt geleegd, dan is er goed gedronken, sommige mensen hebben twee teugen nodig, maar niemand is zo’n slechte drinker dat hij drie teugen nodig heeft om hem leeg te drinken. Thor bekeek de hoorn en dacht niet het zo groot was, hoewel hij er wel vrij lang uit zag, maar hij had veel dorst. Hij zette hem aan zijn mond en dronk met al zijn kunnen en dacht dat hij niet nog eens naar de hoorn zou hoeven te kijken. Maar toen zijn adem op was en hij de hoorn bekeek om te zien hoe het met zijn het drinken was gegaan, was het moeilijk te zeggen of er minder drank in de hoorn zat dan voorheen. Utgarda-Loki zei: Dat is goed gedronken, maar er veel was het niet. Ik zou het nooit geloofd hebben als iemand me had verteld dat asa-Thor niet veel kon drinken, maar ik weet dat je de hoorn met de tweede teug wel zult legen. Thor zei niets, maar plaatste de hoorn weer aan zijn mond met de bedoeling nu een grotere teug te nemen. Hij dronk zo lang en diep als hij kon, maar hij kreeg het uiteinde van de hoorn niet zo ver omhoog als hij zou willen. Toen hij de hoorn wegzette en hem bekeek, leek het wel of hij nog minder had gedronken dan de eerste keer; maar de hoorn kon nu gedragen worden zonder te morsen. Utgarda-Loki zei: Wat nu, Thor! Je gaat me toch niet vertellen dat je voor de derde teug meer overlaat dan je kunnen toelaat? Het lijkt me dat als je de hoorn met de derde teug leeg bent, dit het beste is. Je zult echter niet zo hoog geacht worden als de azen over je spreken, als je je niet in andere wedstrijden beter onderscheidt schijnt dan je tot nu toe gedaan hebt. Daarop werd Thor kwaad, plaatste de hoorn aan zijn mond en dronk met al zijn kunnen en zolang hij kon en toen hij de hoorn bekeek, zag hij dat de inhoud inderdaad zichtbaar was verminderd, maar hij gaf de hoorn terug en zei dat hij niet meer zou drinken. Hierop zei Utgarda-Loki: Het is duidelijk dat uw kunnen niet zo groot is als wij dachten. Zou u andere spelen willen proberen? Het is duidelijk dat je bij de eerste niets bereikte. Thor antwoordde: Ik wil andere spelen te proberen, maar ik zou me verbazen als een dergelijke drinken thuis onder azen minderwaardig zou worden genoemd. Welk spel wilt u me nu aanbieden? Utgarda-Loki antwoord: Jonge mannen vinden het hier speels vermaak om mijn kat van de grond op te tillen en ik zou zoiets nooit aan asa-Thor hebben aan durven te bieden als ik niet eerder had gezien dat je een stuk minder man bent dan ik had gedacht. Toen sprong er een grijze kat op de vloer en het was een flinke. Thor liep er heen, zette zijn hand onder het midden van de kat en probeerde om het op te heffen, maar de rug van de kat boog net zo ver als Thor hem oppakte; en toen hij hem zo ver omhoog had uitgerekt als hij kon, kwam er maar één poot van de kat van de grond en Thor hield het voor gezien. Hierop zei Utgarda-Loki: Dit spel ging zoals ik had verwacht. De kat is groot en Thor is klein en maar weinig vergeleken met de grote mensen die hier met ons zijn. Thor zei: Je kunt me klein vinden, liet iemand die wil hier komen en met me worstelen, want nu ik ben woedend. Utgarda-Loki antwoordde, over de banken kijkend: Ik zie hier hier niemand die niet denkt dat het een kleinigheid om met jou te worstelen. En daarna zei hij: Laat me even zien! Roep die oude vrouw, Elli, mijn pleegmoeder en laat Thor met haar worstelen als hij wil. Zij heeft mensen tegen de grond gesmeten die me niet minder sterk leken dan Thor. Toen kwam er een oude vrouw de zaal binnen. Utgarda-Loki vroeg haar met asa-Thor te worstelen. Het verhaal is niet lang. Het resultaat van de partij was dat hoe harder Thor kneep, hoe vaster zij stond. Toen begon de vrouw los te komen en Thor verloor zijn grip. Er waren wat stevige duwpartijen, maar al snel zakte Thor door één knie. Toen stapte Utgarda-Loki naar voren, vroeg hen op te houden met worstelen en voegde eraan toe dat Thor niemand anders in de zaal hoefde uit te dagen om met hem te worstelen, bovendien werd het laat. Hij bood Thor en zijn metgezellen zitplaatsen aan en zij vermaakten zich die avond in de beste van gastvrijheid.
48. Bij het ochtendgloren de volgende dag stonden Thor en zijn metgezellen op, kleedden zich aan en waren klaar te vertrekken. Toen kwam Utgarda-Loki lied de tafel voor hen dekken en er was geen gebrek aan feest, eten en drinken. Toen zij hadden ontbeten, vertrokken zij onmiddellijk van de burcht. Utgarda-Loki ging met hen mee, maar voor ze afscheid namen sprak hij tot Thor en vroeg hem hoe hij dacht dat zijn reis was gelopen en of hij ooit een machtigere man dan hemzelf heeft ontmoed. Thor antwoordde dat hij niet kon ontkennen dat hij zeer te schande was gemaakt tijdens deze ontmoeting; en ik weet wel, voegde hij toe, dat jij me een mens van weinig waarde zult achten en daar gruw ik van. Toen zei Utgarda-Loki: Nu zal ik je de waarheid vertellen, aangezien u uit burcht bent gekomen, waar ik woon en waar ik alles op mijn manier kan hebben, en welke jij nooit opnieuw zult betreden; en ik weet dat ik je nooit binnen had gelaten als ik had geweten dat je zo sterk bent en dat je zo dichtbij bij het onheil zou brengen. Weet, dan, dat ik je met illusies heb bedrogen. Toen ik je eerst in het woud vond kwam ik je ontmoeten en toen je de provisie zak moest losmaken die ik had dichtgebonden met ijzerdraad, maar je wist niet waar je het los moest maken. In de volgende plaats, sloeg je me drie keer met de hamer. De eerste slag was de minste en nog was deze zo hard dat het mijn dood zou geweest zijn als het me had geraakt. Dichtbij mijn burcht zag je een berg die gespleten aan de bovenkant in drie vierkante dalen, waarvan één het diepst was, deze deuken zijn gemaakt door jouw hamer. De berg zette ik tussen de slagen zonder dat jij het zag. Op gelijkaardige wijze bedroog ik je in de wedstrijden met mijn onderdanen. Wat de eerste betreft, waaraan Loki deelnam, waren de feiten als volgt: Hij was zeer hongerig en at snel; maar hij wiens naam Loge was, was wild vuur en hij verbrandde de trog net zo snel als het vlees. Toen Thialfi een race rende met hem wiens naam Huge was, was dat mijn gedachte, en het was voor hem onmogelijk haar snelheid bij te houden. Toen je van de hoorn dronk en vond dat deze zo weinig leger werd, op mijn woord, was dit grote wonder, dat ik nooit kon voor mogelijk gehouden zou hebben. Één eind van de hoorn stak in de zee, maar dat zag je niet. Als je aan kust komt, zul je ontdekken hoeveel de zee gezakt is door je drinken; dat wordt nu eb genoemd. Verder zei hij: Noch scheen het minder wonderlijk dat je de kat oppakte; en, om je de waarheid te vertellen, iedereen die het zag, werden bang toen toen de kat een poot van de grond ophief, want het was geen kat zoals je dacht. In werkelijkheid was het Midgard-slang, die alle landen omringt. Het was nauwelijks lang genoeg om de aarde met zijn staart en hoofd te raken en u hief hem zo hoog dat uw hand bijna aan hemel bereikte. Het was ook een verbazingwekkende prestatie toen u met Elle worstelde, want niemand was ooit of zal ooit in staat zijn, om Elle (eld, oude dag) hem er niet onder zal krijgen, hoewel hij oud genoeg zal worden om haar te verwelkomen als ze komt. En nu is de waarheid dat wij moeten scheiden; en het zal voor ons allebei beter zijn dat je me niet opnieuw bezoekt. Ik zal mijn burcht opnieuw met gelijkaardige of andere illusies verdedigen, zodat u geen macht over me zult krijgen. Toen Thor dit verhaal hoorde, greep hij zijn hamer en hief het in de lucht op, maar toen hij op het punt stond toe te slaan zag hij Utgarda-Loki nergens meer; en toen hij terug naar burcht draaide en om dat aan stukken te meppen, zag hij een mooie, grote vlakte, maar geen burcht. Daarom draaide hij zich maar op en ging terug naar Thrudvang. Men beweert dat hij toen heeft besloten om om de Midgard-Slang te zoeken, wat later ook gebeurde. En nu denk ik dat niemand u meer correcte versie van deze reis van Thor kan vertellen.