The Cult of Odin in the North

Watch the previous video here: [The Cult of Odin]

Watch the video about this post here: [The Cult of Odin in the North]

When we talk about Norse mythology the first name that comes to mind is Odin. It’s inevitable.

Since the 13th century Odin was transformed into a figure closely related to the Christian god, because that was the religious reality in Europe at that time, and people are prone to create patterns that are related to the social reality they live in. Also, in an Era very much influenced by Christianity in every field, if you wanted to talk about pagan stuff you had better include Christian values and morals, or having a very Christian speech in the pagan tales so people would better understand the religious sense behind the mythological accounts, so they could compare it with their religious reality.

Since then, Odin was completely transformed into a Christian figure with some old pagan traits. People became familiarized with Odin because the main religion of medieval Europe was Christianity and Odin resembled the Christian god. This went on until nowadays and even now most pagans, who follow the northern European pagan traditions, can’t detach themselves from this Christian comprehension of the god Odin. People are not to be blamed because in a society so deeply rooted in Christianity, unconsciously people end up absorbing Christian values and become Christians, and when jumping into a pagan spirituality, they hold on to something spiritual that it’s still familiar to them.

I want to show you that Odin wasn’t always the Alfather, the wisest of all gods, not even the king of the gods and the cosmos itself did not turn around the pure will of Odin. He was not the central figure.

The cult of Odin was not indigenous in the North. The time when this deity was introduced in Scandinavia is difficult to say. It was obviously before the Viking Age, probably the closest date is somewhere around the late 5th century and the beginning of the 6th, arriving in Britain with the Saxons and reaching what is now Norway and Sweden by way of Denmark.

However, when the cult of Odin arrived in Scandinavia, this god wasn’t the central point of Norse mythology before the Viking Age. Only during the Viking Age Odin became one of the most, if not the most, important deity of Norse mythology, and from that moment on the Norse tradition started to change greatly and focusing and turning around Odin.

If we take a look at the oldest poems referring Odin, like Beowulf for instance, dating between the 8th and the 11th centuries, and also the Volsunga Saga, which is a late 13th century Icelandic prose work but there are representations of the story in stone dating to the 11th century… well, in these stories we see Odin is indeed the major deity and the heroes in such stories are closely connected with Odin. So based on such accounts, Odin only became an important deity during the 8th century. Which makes Odin’s importance in Scandinavian society quite new in Scandinavian history. The god that everyone speaks about, everyone thinks about when talking about Scandinavian mythology, is actually not that old. But obviously we have to be aware that all these sagas and poems before being put to parchment or even carved in stone, belonged to the oral tradition, and therefore are much older. This deity is much older.

So if we turn to archaeology and historical records to support the findings, we may come to the conclusion that perhaps Odin in the North and in the religious context, is much older that the 8th century.

The customs associated with Odin might give us some answers.

Sacrificial hanging was practiced in Sweden about the end of the 5th century, and even though Scandinavia was never romanised, people were aware of each other. There are historical references that the practice of hanging as a distinctly sacrificial act, was attributed to Scandinavians. Human victims were sacrificed in this way to the god of war. The roman historical references do not speak about the name of the deity, it is compared to the Greek god of war Ares, and so it could mean Tyr, the Norse god of war. But there are little evidences about that. Tyr in archaeological terms is an unimportant figure in the Norse mythology. There are no archaeological evidences of sacrifices to Tyr. Human sacrifices at least. Human sacrifices by hanging and offered to the god of war, can only be to Odin.

This shows us that the Cult of Odin was already practiced in the north at the beginning of the 6th century, and that is perhaps the date when he was introduced in the north. But mind that I’m talking about the Cult of Odin and not the deity itself.

What I’m saying here is not that Odin is a young deity, younger than the Christian god even. No. Odin, or Wodanaz, was a Germanic deity, a god of war and death, but he did not exist in a Scandinavian religious concept before the invading Germanic tribes.

Obviously throughout history people came and went from place t place and there is a possibility that Odin was known in Scandinavia during the Nordic Bronze Age, between 1500 – 500 BCE. Which was an age when the Nordics imported lots of gold and bronze from central Europe, and the Scandinavians adopted many central European and Mediterranean religious symbol, and also objects, technology and artistic styles.

The Bronze Age was also an age of war and all over Europe the cultures and traditions were around war. So the concept of Odin as a god of war ONLY, might have been introduced in Scandinavia since the Bronze Age, but the Scandinavians, especially the Swedes, maintained Freyr as their most important and highly worshiped deity.

So in conclusion, Odin was a god of war in Germanic societies, especially in central Europe, during the Bronze Age. The cult of Odin in Scandinavia, seems to only have been introduced during the 6th century of our era, but this doesn’t mean that his cult was something new at this time, but started to be introduced in the major religious events during the end of the 5th century and the beginning of the 6th. Odin only became a major deity during the Viking Age, and during the 13th century and with the influence of Christianity, Odin became the Alfather, associated with creation. So there seems to have been an increasing in the importance this deity had in the old Scandinavian societies.

Heathenism and Wicca - Differences

Before i start this post, i would like to clarify this, i'm not a Wiccan nor can i call my self an Asatrú, because the meaning of Asatrú as the name indicates ( Asa = Aesir the Sky gods of the Norse Pantheon and Trú = Norse word for Faith / Religion ) it is the neo-pagan religion involving the faith to the Norse/Germanic Sky gods, and i am a practitioner of Norse shamanism and of the Northern-Tradition paganism which involves all the gods, spirits and wights.

When people start to look for or study other kinds of religions or spiritual paths as an alternative to the monotheism religions we are used to, in search for a pagan European belief, often they find Wicca as the first pagan tradition. Wicca so far is the best known form of European polytheism in its bases, so it isn't hard to find it and actually working in that field, most kids are on to it, because it is easy to perform and it has an all romanized version of the real European paganism, especially when it comes to the Celtic paganism. It seems good to make a comparison of both neo-pagan religions, but first of all, we need to know that both have a variety of spiritual strands, so for now instead of talking about Asatrú, lets give it the name of Heathenism, for the Norse/Germanic beliefs are separated in Asatrú, Vanatrú ( having the faith placed with the Vanir gods ), Odinism/Wotanism, the cult of Odin the supreme sky god of the Aesir, Irminism, Forn Sidhr, Theodism, Germanic Reconstructionism and so on. This also happens with Wicca, but more divided and yet every pagan religion known is placed "inside" of Wicca, making it a cocktail of both pagan religions all over the world and also abrahamic religions which are exactly the opposite of being pagan and actually goes agaisnt that.

The major difference between being a Wiccan or a Heathen, is that in the Wiccan rites, they invoke deities from several other cultures as i have stated before, while the heathens stick to the gods and goddesses from the Norse/Germanic beliefs. Wicca also sees all goddesses and other female deities as aspects of the great goddess divided into the archetypes of Maiden, Mother and Crone in a very Celtic way, and all male deities as the Horned god ( most of the times the male principles don't exist or are completely forgotten ) this makes wicca religion almost monotheistic-like, the worship of the great goddess in the three fases of life and of nature. While heathenry is more polytheistic-like, worshiping a range of gods and goddesses from the same culture and beliefs, equal in statues and each of them can stay alone without the need for a male or female complement.
Now this tiny paragraph shows us why Wicca is the most popular neo-pagan religion, it is the tiny step that people make while leaving the other abrahamic based religions such as Christianity, the worshiping of one deity, into a religion of the same sort but with pagan themes and rituals, making it look like something very familiar not to seem so shocking, and different, and very often Wiccans see Jesus Christ as the Male god and Virgin Mary as the archetype of the great goddess. The previous paragraph also shows us why in Wiccan, 90% of its followers are female, because the great goddess most of the time is the only deity with great importance and all the faith goes around her, leaving the male completely apart, it isn't strange to see that most wiccans are lonely women who can't have a love relationship and eventually are conform with the fact that they do not need a man. 
I like to think that religions have strong beliefs when they are practiced by strong people, we shape those with our strong personalities, but with the lack of personality one religion can be very hollow, and women shouldn't be the kind of women who need men, but rather the kind of women that men need, this is why we see a lot of Wiccans who have no idea what paganism is and actually give it a bad name and the reason for laughter because strong personalities always end up following the best virtues and people without personality end up confused, sad, frustrated and dig deep their own mud holes.

In Wicca the spirits of nature and everything that surrounds us are organized and divided into the four elements, which are earth, fire, water and air. Heathen cosmology is focused in the elements of fire and ice as opposing principles, chaos and order, the constant struggle for peace and maintain everything in harmony such as nature is, with the clear idea that one can't live without the other, and we also can't live in a magical eternal paradise where everything is good, we can't be always happy, we have to experience sadness and other negative feelings so we may give the proper value to things, because if all was good, we would become lazy, ignoble, ignorant, and there is always the need of constant evolution of our personalities, of our own being, to become better. Go ask a wiccan about the meaning of the four elements, 86% or more will not be able to give you an exact answer, and this is due to the fact that people do not study deep their beliefs, they do not question it, they just stay with what is givin to them and they accept it how it is, they are like sheep, blindly following what was told to them, in a constant need to be guided because of the lack of personality, they can't do things for themselves, they are not self reliant enough, they lack of a strong will and spirit.

In Wicca as a spiritual belief of community, covens are made, groups of people start to gather with the purpose of develp their members spiritually and magically in several initiations, everyone will become a priestess or a priest eventually and it will turn out to be a very lonely spiritual path because people will perform all the rituals are their homes, in a more intimate environment, in contrast most heathens form a kinship, and the rituals/blót and celebrations are formed within a family or household, each of the people have their own place in the group according to their choosing and skills, some may work in a shamanic way, other with other kinds of Germanic magic, some will specialize in brewing, woodcarving, other crafts for the community and other skills that are needed into the group or family, but the main purpose is to provide spiritual community. There are also rites of passa within the kindred, but these tend to mark life changes rather than magical achievments. In terms of rituals, wicca practice is often decended from medieval ceremonial magic, for heathens and practitioners of Norse/Germanic beliefs, rituals and modeled on folk practice, less formal, but also in a very much Seidhr form, in the old ways, in the shamanic performances of the Norse people as far back as memory and history allows us.

It isn't hard to see the rituals in Wicca being so closely similar to medieval times or with a great connection to the Arthurian legends which was believed  that Arthur was a great king in medieval times because his legends gave inspiration to a lot of medieval writers, in a time where politics were very hard and harder was to have the society in order and peace, so the stories of Arthur gave the perfect political order to be followed, stories that date back to the roman times which we can read the stories and legands of Wales and Irland, of a great king and his warriors, all their deeds throughout the land, all of these stories were romanticized in France in later centuries in a tipical medieval way, full of splendor, magnificence, glamour, the perfect political order and harmony on the land, heaven on earth, where common men would become nobles and nobles would become knights, and a king od such power and purity that god himself would light his path. At the time the romanticized version was written, it was also the time when christianity was already the main religion of Europe, and so to the Arthur stories and legends it was added the search for the holy grail, as in ancient legends the search was for magic and the realms of the other world, the spiritual world and items of power. The mixture of celtic paganism with the romantic times of medieval Europe and the Arthurian legends, gave the perfect flavour and combination to the Wiccan religion and people tend to fantasize a lot, they are blind and they can't see the truth of it because the wondrous tale is more appealing to the heart and soul. I have read the real Arthutian legends from Irland and Wales in the real time where they occurred, the story is fantastic and it is actually a more accurate part of history, less romanticized, and more precise, people should also read it, i might talk about it one of these days. This leads me to what i have said before, people don't question their beliefs, they do not study, they don't try to comprehend it, in heathenism people tend to be much more formal and precise than wicca in the relationship with the lore, because we have a lot of lore to work with and Wicca is essentially a modern tradition with the lack of lore even being a great mixture of cultures, they do not search for it. Those who practice Norse/Germanic pagan traditions are encouraged to read the primary sources as well as scholarly works discussing them and debating their meanings rather than accepting the interpretations made by others with less contact with the themes, it is a religion/spiritual path always in constant evolution as we human beings also are, adapting to the new needs of the society and of the individual. Many of those who practice the Norse/Germanic paganism, study Old Norse or Anglo-Saxon so they may examine the sources in their original languages.

Another difference between wiccans and heathens is the way taht ethical principles are articulated. In Wicca has a single advice, not harming anyone and doing what we will and also the law of whatever someone might do it will come back to the person tripled, heathens mostly hold to the Nine Noble Virtues ( for that you might want to read my post about them --> [Link] ). While Wicca has a simple statement of what not to do, much like christianity and the 10 commandments, the Norse/Germanic pagan tradition offers a more elaborate statement of what we should do, there is also the great importance of our ancestors and family values such as the friendship and its important bonds.

Note:  If you have any questions for me or if you want to see my artistic works, check out my Facebook page and make a Like if you can by following this link --> http://www.facebook.com/ArithHarger