Freyja
Runes & Seidr -
2
- first edition March 1999
Imbloc
Lo there do I see my father
Lo there do I see my mother and my
sisters and my brothers
Lo there do I see the line of my
people back to the beginning
Lo they do call to me, they bid
me take my place among them
In the halls of Valhalla, where the
brave may live forever!
Buliwyf
The Nine Noble Virtues aspired to in Asatru
Outside the politics, the modern practice known as Asatru
is a warrior's way of life to me. If you believe yourself to be a
warrior, then you must also acknowledge Othinn as a war god. Our faith
is to be found in our hearts and minds of belonging to a code of being
that once was which we call today the Northern way. It is not a
racially inclined religion, nor political with a view to control
others but ascribes to the unwritten Nine Noble Virtues which are:
COURAGE.........We face life's struggles with courage. Without
courage as was in olden times, nothing else can be achieved for the
Old Man said:
16. The sluggard believes he shall live forever, If the
fight he faces not; But age shall not grant him the gift of peace,
Though spears may spare his life.
48. The lives of the brave and noble are best, Sorrows
they seldom feed; But the coward fear of all things feels, And not
gladly the niggard gives.
Havamol
TRUTH..........We do not follow blindly our faith but dare
question all things. This is unlike many blind following religions
today that follow parrot fashion the beliefs of their religious
hierarchy. In earnests truth is a willingness to listen, to be honest
and always speak or act with what one knows to be true.
HONOUR.....We must be honourable both in actions and our deeds as
to what we are by our example. Should we fail or fall short in our
deeds, it is not through a lack of honour for trying to do what is
right by us and our gods.
FIDELITY.....We stand loyal to our faith and our values. Loyalty is
the basis for all enduring human activity, and we hold it in the
highest esteem.
HOSPITALITY........We
are all willing to share what one has with our kindred, especially
travelling guests and this is a vital part of our way of life. We do
not disrespect other folk's faith either as long as they honour ours
in return
DISCIPLINE.............We maintain and hold to the discipline
necessary to fulfill our purpose. We stand willing to exercise the
self-control and steadfastness necessary in these difficult times.
INDUSTRIOUSNESS.....We believe in keeping busy and taking an active
approach to life. We make things happen and are ready always to take
necessary risks, watching and wondering what happened we leave to
others.
SELF-RELIANCE.......... We depend on our own strength and character to
achieve our goals. We seek only the freedom where possible within the
laws of the land necessary to achieve our goals or aims whatever it
may be.
PERSEVERANCE...........We hold to our path until its completion and are
not ashamed to be strong. The cult of the anti-hero will find no
support in us, and the gods we follow are not for the weak. This is no
religion for quitters or cowards.
78. Cattle die, and kinsmen die, And so one dies one's
self; One thing now that never dies, The fame of a dead man's deeds.
Havamol
Followers of Asatru value a high code of honour similar
to that of chivalry. Asatru believe that each and every one of us is
accountable for their actions. Asatru believe that blame should rest
upon one's own shoulders, because knowledge of right and wrong is
still known by the offender. The chief codes of honour are held
within what is called the Nine Noble Virtues, and a book of the Poetic Edda called the
Havamal
or The Sayings of Har better known as Odin.
These are pretty straightforward values even by today’s
modern religious standards and every Asatru follower is expected to
live by these great virtues. Asatru welcomes anyone to their faith
who is sincerely interested in pursuing the old ways. An offshoot
from Asatru has also developed into the form of Vanatru, which
basically is a Vanir Gods focused variant of Asatru.
However we must not lose sight of the fact that these
religious systems are modern reconstructions of a perceived view of
what was generally called Odinism and not its fast and furious
original form. As an illustration of the reality of Odinism’s
original form, let us consider a famous eyewitness account written by
Ibn Fadlan, secretary of an embassy sent by the Caliph of Baghdad who
was assigned to the Middle Volga in what is now Russia or the Ukraine
in 921 Christian era.
Some elements of this account were incorporated in the
recent Viking based fantasy adventure movie, “The 13th
Warrior” which was rewritten from the story “Eaters of the Dead” by
Michael Crichton (author Jurassic Park) to make the movie.
The 13th
Warrior purports to be a de-construction of the legend of Beowulf.
According to the classic heroic poem (composed around 1000 A.D.),
Beowulf is a great Scandinavian warrior who answers King Hrothgar's
pleas for help to kill the man-eating monster Grendel. Later, after
slaying the creature, Beowulf enters Grendel's lair to destroy his
mother. The 13th Warrior argues that "Grendel" is not actually
one creature, but a host of costumed men who assault under cover of
darkness, pretending to be fearsome, demonic apparitions. Buifwyf/Beowulf
earns his reputation by driving them back then leading a small party
of warriors on a search-and-destroy mission for the female leader of
the attacking tribe. You want an
adventurer's prayer, well this Norsemen's prayer before battle in the
movie did it for me. Where's my sword?
Beowulf
Long ago in Hrothgar's Danish kingdom lived a gruesome
monster-giant named Grendel, who nightly roamed the countryside.
Rising from his marshy home, he would stalk to the King's high hall,
and there devour fifteen of Hrothgar's sleeping warriors. Then,
before departing, the monster would seize fifteen more men with his
huge arms and bear them back to his watery lair. For twelve years
the slaughter continued. Word of this terror spread across the sea
to the land of the Geats, ruled by Hygelac. Beowulf, Hygelac's
principal advisor and warrior and a man of great strength and
courage, heard the tale of Grendel's murderous attacks. Straightway,
he set sail to free the Danes from the demon's depredations.
In Denmark, a
coast-watcher met the weary company of fifteen seafarers. Learning of
Beowulf's intended mission, he permitted the Danes to pass.
They started out then - the spacious ship
remained behind, riding on its rope,
... Figures of boars, bright
and fire-hardened, gleamed gold-adorned
above the cheek-guards; in war the boar
helped guard those fierce men's lives ...
To Hrothgar's high
hall they marched. There the King spread a banquet feast in Beowulf's
honour; the mead cup was passed around, and the boasting began. But
the Danish warrior Unferth, "drunken with wine," taunted the Geat,
reminding him of a five-day swimming contest in which Beowulf was said
to have been bested. The Geat answered boldly, however, that he had
not only emerged victorious in the race, but had been forced to kill
nine deadly sea-monsters during the course.
After the feast,
Hrothgar and his warriors went to their rest, leaving Beowulf and his
men in the hall. Then came the fiendish Grendel, "with an unlovely
light, like a hellish flame in his eyes." The ironbound door burst
open at the touch of his fingers, and he rejoiced at the rich feast of
human flesh awaiting him. He seized one sleeping warrior, tore him up
furiously, bit through muscles and sinews, and drank the blood in
streams. Then he quickly consumed the entire corpse "as a wolf might
eat a rabbit." He reached toward another victim, but the beast was
destined to dine no more that night. Without shield or spear, Beowulf
took hold of the dreaded monster, wrenching off his right arm; and the
maimed Grendel fled back to his home...... The wise and brave warrior
from afar/ had cleansed Hrothgar's hall, reclaiming it from woe." As a
sign of victory, Beowulf hung his bloody trophy on the wall above the
door inside the hall. The brave hero was honoured once more with a
sumptuous feast and magnificent priceless gifts.
But on the next
night, Grendel's brooding and miserable mother made "a sorry journey
to avenge her son." Rushing into the great hall, she seized Aeschere,
Hrothgar's dearest counsellor and a famed and heroic warrior, snatched
Grendel's severed arm from the wall, and fled into the darkness.
Asleep in a house at some distance from the hall, Beowulf did not
learn of the she-monster's visit until the next morning. After vowing
to rid the people of this second, even more wretched demon, Beowulf
turned to comfort the King with his sage philosophy of life and death:
Grieve not, wise warrior. It is better
to avenge one's friend than mourn too much.
Each of us must one day reach the end
Of worldly life, let him who can win
glory before he dies: that lives on
after him, when he lifeless lies.
With Hrothgar
leading the way, the Danes cautiously approached the dreaded
marsh-lair. Arriving at the moor's edge, the soldiers came upon the
head of the ill-fated Aeschere and sighted a stain of blood on the
water. Beowulf prepared to descend to the home of the foe. Unferth
nobly offered the Geat his own blood-hardened sword - the finest in
the kingdom - thus forfeiting a chance to win for himself immortal
glory and fame.
As Beowulf sank
beneath the murky waters, he was immediately encircled by enormous and
vicious creatures. After an immense struggle, he came to the cave of
Grendel's mother and began to do battle. Beowulf, never lucky with
weapons, failed in his first attempt to wound the she-monster with
Unferth's sword and turned to his mighty handgrip, strong enough to
"match the strength of thirty men." Though he was able to grasp the
monster by the shoulder and throw her to the ground, still, in the
grim hand-to-hand battle that ensued, Beowulf was almost overcome. But
fate intervened. On the floor of the lair, in the midst of other
weapons pried from the hands of fallen warriors, Beowulf spied a
legendary sword that had once belonged to a race of ancient giants.
Stretching with all his might, he managed to reach and take hold of
the "invincible and strong-edged blade" and plunge it into the heart
of Grendel's mother. She rose, then fell in a helpless heap of death.
Beowulf turned and saw Grendel himself, lying crippled on the ground
nearby. Swiftly, he swung the sword again, and smote Grendel's
loathsome head from its body.
Then, as the hero
swam to the surface of the marsh, the wondrous sword melted, leaving
only the head and hilt intact. Upon seeing Beowulf alive and
undefeated, the Danes rejoiced and feasted him anew. The Geat warrior
presented Hrothgar with the sword hilt and returned Unferth's weapon
to him without revealing its failure. Now the time had come for
Beowulf to sail back to his Geat homeland. He left Denmark in great
glory. Upon his return to the court of Lord Hygelac, he was revered
and rewarded with riches and high position. And after several years,
Beowulf himself became King among the Geats.
One day, after
Beowulf had reigned wisely and courageously for some fifty years, a
servant, troubled by his lack of prestige in Beowulf's court, stumbled
upon an ancient treasure. While its guardian dragon slept, he stole
away a golden goblet which he presented to his King, hoping to gain
favour. But the dragon, discovering that the goblet was missing, rose
up in fury and began to ravage the Geat villages with fire. Beowulf
was now an old man. Nevertheless, he determined to rid his kingdom of
this scourge and to win the dragon's rich hoard for his people.
Sensing that this might be his final battle, he paused to gather
strength, bid farewell to his faithful subjects, and to reflect on his
long life of valiant deeds. The moment of confrontation came. Beowulf
advanced toward the dragon's cave, ordering his warriors to withdraw
so that he alone might engage the beast in battle.
... It is not your venture ...
to match [Your] might with the fearful foe's,
to do this heroic deed. By daring
shall I gain the gold, or dire battle,
ending life, will take your lord away!
Finding his shield
less protection than he had hoped against the dragon's fiery breath,
he still plunged on through the flames and struck the dragon's side
with his famed and ancient sword - to no effect. His foil shattered
oil the creatures bony plate, and the infuriated dragon only belched
forth more intense fire. Once again Beowulf was forced to rely on his
iniquity grip. In the savage exchange, of all the Geat-King's warrior
companions, only Wiglaf, a younger kinsman, stood by to defend his
ruler. All others had fled. The dragon rushed and sank its terrible
teeth into Beowulf's neck. But Wiglaf fearlessly smote the beast on
its underside with his sword, and, with his war-kilife, Beowulf gave
it the death blow.
Weak from loss of
blood, the old hero was dying. As his last act, Beowulf gave loyal
Wiglaf, the last of his family line, kingly jewels and armour. He
rejoiced that he had succeeded ill winning the treasure for his
subjects, but mourned the fact that he must now leave them. The Geat
troops honoured their fallen lord with magnificent funeral rites. The
body of their hero was burned on a pyre, according to pagan custom;
then the precious hoard was taken from the dragon's lair and buried in
the great mound covering the King's ashes.
Thus his hearth-companions in the host
of the Geats mourned the going of their, lord:
they said that of worldly kings he was,
the mildest of men and the gentlest,
most kind to his people, most eager for fame.
And so, with due
ceremony, the Geats mourned the passing of the dauntless Beowulf, who
had crowned a heroic life with an equally heroic death.
Commentary
Beowulf,
the great masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon literature, was orally passed
from generation to generation by North European peoples. The highly
artistic, action-filled narrative is replete with Christian theology
entangled with pagan mythology, testifying to the great upheavals that
occurred in northern civilizations as the poem took form during the
early middle ages. Continuously, the principal narrative is
interrupted by speeches, pronouncements, songs, chants, and
remembrances of battles past - excellent mnemonic devices for
transmitting oral history.
The poem
contains a valuable record of customs and values from a harsh and
heroic time. It embodies the message: "Do your utmost. A good name, a
glorified example, and fame after death are all you can win in this
world. It is the courage to strive - not success which ultimately
reveals and ennobles the true hero."
