Asgard - Home Of The Aesir - 3rd Part ( Valhalla )

Following the previous post, I will continue with the sites of greatest importance in Asgard.

Let's start with Valhalla.

Valhalla is the most famous place of all the Nine worlds and the Norse history, everyone has heard about it at least once, nowadays it became even more famous with movies, music and games. But do people really know what Valhalla really is?

Valhalla is the home of the Einherjar, the warriors who fall in battles and are chosen by Odin. Valhalla is both the fortified town and the great hall. The hall is made of giant wooden spear-shafts and the roof covered with many colored battle shields. Near the western entrance a carved figure of a wolf is "guarding" the door, and the eastern side it is the figure of an eagle.
Inside the Hall there are at least five hundred and forty doors (this is one of the biggest halls of all of Asgard) and of course, behind each of these doors are rooms for eight hundred warriors. Strangely enough, Valhalla (the hall) isn't full, but it has enough people to form a small city.

Valhalla isn't just a place for warriors, not is it just a place to fight and learn how to fight, and prepare for battles and such things. Valhalla is also a place of learning, it also has a great library, places for spiritual purposes, leisure, the inner chamber for the feasts etc. thing of it as a great university.

Valhalla is not for the faint hearted, for the lazy or for the weak minded and are used to have an easy life, however, even those might enter to become better individuals, expand knowledge, grow spiritually and mentally, but this does not mean that they are able to remain there for a long time, or in some cases, by the time they are set to stay. All those who enter there are chosen by Odin.

It is true that on the roof of Valhalla an enormous goat and a great stag wander around grazing on the thatched roof. The goats name is Heidrun and she is milked twice daily. The stag is named Eikthrynir, as the name suggests, it is old norse for "Oak thorn", along with his companion, the goat, they nibble the bark of the enormous tree that grows beside the roof. This tree also has a name, Laerad they call it, and it is a sapling of the world tree Yggdrasil.

The main route into the hall is through the great double doors, but they are heavily guarded of course. There is a back way into Valhalla an it is through the kitchen, where the cook Andhrimmer works.
 Andhrimmer has a giant magical kettle,  named Eldhrimmer, in which he cooks the stew for the million starving warriors upstairs. The myth tells us of one enormous resurrecting boar, Saehrimmer, which is slaughtered every night for the feast and revived again the next morning with no memory of what happened.

Odin's Valkyries work in the hall. All of them are tall and strong, fierce, they are referred to as shield-maidens. They can change into various birds such as ravens and swans, usually dressed in armor when on duty, being one of their first duties the picking up of anyone fallen in battle that Odin feels that it may be the appropriate character to enter Valhalla, a person worthy to be part of his troops. The Valkyries may have a human appearance, but they aren't humans, far from it.

The Valkyries who are in charge of making sure that the Einherjar get fed are named Herfjotur, Goll, Geirahod, Geirdriful, Geirolu, Geirromul, Geirrondul, Geirskigull, Geiravor, and Skeggjold. Two more, Hrist and Mist, are Odin's personal dinner-servants and serve only him. The three most important Valkyries are Gondul, Hildr, and Skogul, who are in charge of deciding which warriors is taken on to the battlefield. The three of them tend not to ride straight onto the field, they are generals who watch from the sky. They are mistresses of war and magic, and can be invoked for aid and to teach battle-galdr. They will only teach those who are sworn to Odin, unless he instructs them to teach someone else. One may also encounter human women who are claimed by Odin as his Valkyries and who occasionally visit Valhalla as well.

 There are other Valkyries that we know of , they are so called Halmthrimull, Herja, Hervor, Hildeberg, Hjorthrimul, Holukk, Hrund, Kara, Kreimhildr, Olrun, Ragridr, Rangnid, Reginleif, Sanngridr, Sigrdrifa, Sigrun, Skamold, Svava, Svanhvit, Sveid, Svipull, Tanngnidr, Thogn, and Thrima. Eir occasionally rides with the valkyries as well, though her function seems to be that of a battlefield healer, she may bring a merciful death to some of the fallen.

Valhalla is the home of Odin, however he isn't there all the time but visits it often. When he enters Valhalla, his spear, Gungnir, is hung over the outside doorway as a sign that he is within.

During the Yule, it is from Asgard that the Asgardsreia beings and people who visit Valhalla during this time might get the chance to see it or even participate in it. This festival is the wild hunt, various deities also participate in it, wights, some of the Einherjar, other spirits and so on.

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Experimental Archaeology and the Russian Hermit

There is this new type of archaeology which is called, Experimental Archaeology which I would very much like to bring into the country where I'm living, Portugal, because it is a country filled with history and different cultures in a 5000years time frame. Anyway, Experimental Archaeology is what the name says it is, studying a period in history and reconstruct it, it can either be in the place of the archaeological findings, it might be reconstruct an already existing structure or recreate it in a different part. Reconstructing old buildings and settlements using the tools and materials of that time placing everything it was needed to survive and live to better understand how the human being lived life, it helps us to understand the social behavior, the connections they had with other cultures, where did the materials come from, what did they do in the different periods of the year, the type of food they were eating and so on.. This would be very interesting to make in Portugal with the Celtic and Lusitanian settlements, or the Germanic structures to the North or even the similar type of Norse settlements along the northern and central coast of Portugal, not even to mention the thousands of megalithic structures all over the country. But I'm getting off the topic now.

So speaking of Experimental Archaeology, in Russia a 24 year old man is spending eight months living completely alone in thr harsh freezing Russian wilderness, in an attempt to reconstruct the life of a 10th century hermit, it is part of a social experiment as well as Archaeological one. The project started in September and it is expected to run until the end of May. The man is caled Pavel Sapozhnikov, from Moscow, and he can only abandon the project if his mental or physical health is at serious risk, or if by any way his life is under threat. The dangerous thing is, even if contracts an illness, for example, lung infection, he is expected to carry the project on as his ancestors would have done a 1,000 years ago.

This isn't an easy task, Sapozhnikov is living in the replica of a 10th century farm house placing in a forest clearing around 50 miles north of Moscow. With the help of the expert archaeologist, Alexander Fetisov, the farm was built using only materials and techniques that would have been used by ancient Russians. Obviously this includes fire lights that burn on linseed oil, wooden beds, animal fur clothes and bedding and calendar scratched into the wall of the house. Sapozhnikov is only allowed to leave the fenced-off area of the farm to hunt and gather food. His is banned from any kind of communication and he can only use authentic tools that were used in ancient Russia.

He is already been living there for six months but the real challenge is during the cold harsh Russian winter season, a time when temperatures in the region can drop as low as minus 30ºC. This period of the year was deliberately chosen to highlight exacly how difficult Russian ancestors would have been living and hunting in these conditions.

The experiment is part of a project called ‘Hero’ and was set up by events manager Alexei Ovcharenko from agency Ratobor.  The theory behind the experiment is ‘to trace the social and psychological changes in personality and learn how important the support of others is to modern humans.’  Ovcharenko added that eight months is long enough for the experiment to yield results, but not too long that it will 'pathologically endanger' Sapozhnikov.  However, a medical expert and project leader does visit him once a month to check on his progress.

Sapozhnikov starts his morning by milking his goats, collecting eggs, butchering chickens for food and eating breakfast, follwing by chopping wood and collecting water from the well, and when the season calls for it, gathering mushrooms from the near by forest. The rest of the day is spent either hunting for food or carrying out manual labour on the farm. This also includes insulating the house with manure, maintaining his house and outbuildings, and other tasks around the farm.

Of course Sapozhnikov wasn't sent to this mission with lack of information, he spent months learning how to prepare animals and how to live in these conditions. He also became skilled in using ancient tools and familiarised himself with ancient fire-building and washing techniques with the help from the archaeologists.
For example, to produce hot water he must place stones in his fire stove until they are glowing, before putting these stones into a bucket of cold water, he then uses this water to wash his clothes, cooking utensils, his home, and his own body, although, because water is scarce there, clothes and body washing is carried out infrequently.

Asgard - Home Of The Aesir 2nd part

As the other day I have been writing about Asgard, here it is the second part of it. Let's start with the inhabitants of that realm.

In Asgard it is obvious that all that reside there aren't just the Aesir deities, of course there are others. As I have written in the other post about Asgard (Part 1) there are many halls, and most of the main ones have been listed in the lay of Grímnismál, apart from those main halls, there are others, smaller but with great importance as well. For example, there are deities who have their handmaidens who work along side the deity in his/her own hall, but even the handmaidens have their own hall scattered around the main hall, this often happens when the deities in question are healing deities. But this isn't a pattern, it so happens that smaller halls of specific handmaidens of a deity might not be near the main hall, in some cases they can be far off in a completely different rigion within the realm.

There are a few places of great importance, which I'm about to mention. Let us start with Bifrost, the very beginning of this "trip".

The only way into Asgard is Bifrost, unless of course the spirit-worker might come from Vanaheim to the West and land on Njörd's harbor. Bifrost as you might well guessed, is the famous rainbow bridge, which is well guarded, it isn't a permanent structure. After crossing the rainbow bridge the first thing that stands on the other side is Heimdall's great hall called Himinbjorg.

Heimdall is Odin's son, and there he stands at the end of the bridge to welcome people in or drive them away. Himinbjorg is a beautiful hall, painted in light blue, the same color of the summer unclouded sky which is natural to Asgard most of the year, and the roof is painted in white which actually is brighter when the sun shines upon it.

Beside the doorstep lies Gjallarhorn, the great horn of Heimdall. Its size is huge and it isn't there just to announce the comming of Ragnarök, it is there to announce the coming of a visitor also.

Norse Rune code cracked

Interesting news, a scholar from the University of Oslo has cracked one of the rune codes used by the Vikings that has been found along these last years. This reveals that they have been sending messages to each other, messages as simple as a "Kiss me".

It was K. Jonas Nordby, a runologist, that was able to discover the secret behind the jötunvillur code while doing his PhD research. This specific code can be found in over 80 Norse inscriptions. On a stick from the 13th century he found that two men, by the names of Sigurd and Lavrans, carved their own names both in the code and also standard runes. The jötunvillur code consists in replacing the original runic character with the last sound of the rune name. Lets make an example out of it, the rune for "F", pronounced "fe", would be turned into an "E", while the rune for "K", pronounced Kaun, became an "N".

Nordby says that it is like solving a puzzle, he started to see gradually a pattern in what was apparently a meaningless combination of runes.

For those who thought that these coded runes would reveal any kind of a deep secret from the Norse people, will be largely disappointed. The messages that were found so far seem to be either used in learning or having some kind of a playful tone. In one of the cases the message was "Kiss me". Nordby explains that there is little reason to believe that the rune codes should hide sensitive messages, people often wrote short everyday messages apparently.

In many of the cases for instance, those who wrote the coded runes also left comments urging the readers to try to figure it out. Sometimes they would also boast of their abilities at writing the codes.

There are several kinds of Norse rune codes, some of which have been solved, while others remain a mystery. In article published last year in Futhark: International Journal of Runic Studies, Nordby writes that  in some cases there is not enough information to piece together what the code could be.

But equally often an inscription may be complete and as clear as day, and yet make no sense. In many examples of the latter type the trained eye will spot the hand of a total illiterate scribbling rune-like symbols, or an unsteady and untrained writer trying to copy a runic text without any understanding of what it says. The most difficult cases to give up on are those that yield no sense even though the runes are well executed and the carving apparently secure. In an attempt to find a solution the dedicated runologist will try everything, viewing the inscription from all conceivable angles.

Nordby hopes that his new discovery will help other runologists. He says that very little is known about the use of runic codes, so obviously each new piece of information is important. We may have to look at reading and writing runes in a totally new way and by doing so, it will also help us in understanding how the runic knowledge was conveyed.

Asgard - Home Of The Aesir 1st Part

Asgard is possibly the most famous of all the nine realms of the Norse cosmology. It is to be expected, it is the place where the most famous deities live and it is also the place where Valhalla is, the great hall of the fallen warriors, which is the source of many epic sagas and wonderful tales.

Asgard is the most well guarded realm of all the nine, a realm on top of the great world tree Yggdrasil. Geographically speaking, it is the northernmost realm.
This realm wasn't at first what we know about it from the myths, shamanic/spiritual work nor from the written sources given to us. Asgard was only created or inhabited after the war of the Aesir against the Vanir. Prior to that, the Aesir lived in a place called Manheimur or Mannheim. No one knows were exactly that is, some say it is out of Asgard, others say it was a place inside Asgard, a tiny kingdom poorly fortified, or it might have been the name given to Midgard, not ours, but the very Midgard in existance in the spiritual world. This indicates that the Aesir once lived among the human folk. Suffice to say that the first dwellings of the Aesir is shrouded in mystery.

Mythology tells us of how Asgard was created, from the neckbones of Ymir the great Jotun. Odin, Vili and Vé created it in their great labors of worldmaking. It had a great wall around it, but it was demolished by the Vanir during the great war between the two races. However, it was repaired bu a frost Jotun called Hrimthurs with the aid of his magical horse Svaldilfari. The price for the work if it was done before summer's end, was the hand of the Vanir goddess Freyja. However, Odin sent Loki to disturb Hrimthurs' work and delay it, so he could never be paid. The giant discovered the scheme and burst in rage, the perfect excuse for Thor to kill him, and so he did. It isn't clear if the body of this giant was turned into stone or if a great stone was erected in homage to the giant and his great work, for the stone remains to this day outside the great white walls.

Asgard is much similar to Midgard, in terms of weather, seasons, the times of the day etc. but longer. During the summer the days are very long and bright, the realm of Asgard is filled with light. It has a warm weather, this might be because of the fact that Asgard is the favorite place of Sunna.
The winters there are still dark and chilly but with little snow, and long winter nights, too long.

Asgard is the smallest realm of all the nine, but even so, it is an immense land which seems endless, a vast continent, but comparing to the others, it is the smallest indeed. Asgard is filled with hills, valleys and a few flat plains as far as the eye can see. To the north of it, and immense mountain chain that goes all the way into the east closer to the end of this realm by the sea. To the west lies the coast which is the border between te ocean of Vanaheim. In this western coast there is great bay where Njörd's Halls and Ships lie. The greatThund Thvitr river which is large and deep, comes from the Northern mountains of Jotunheim to the east and serves as a border between Jotunheim and Asgard. The river flows to the south and meets with the borders of Alfheim and then it finds its way into the ocean.

The white walls of Asgard can be seen in the distance once already inland. It's main gate made of iron is called Valgrind. Asgard isn't a realm filled with cities, instead, there are many great Halls with their respective courts with houses, much like big villages. Valhalla, Valaskjalf and Fensalir follow the same pathern pattern. It is known to us that there are at least sixteen geat Halls belonging to major deities and a few minor ones scattered, which belong to other deities.

There is a great plain called Vigrid, it is the largest of all the plains of Asgard. No one lives there, and much like most parts of Asgard, because of the weathern being warm and long bright summer days, there aren't many plants and the lack of flowers because of the fast passing spring time doesn't give the natural beauty that the land deserved. It is said, that it is in this vast brown-dust plain, that Ragnarök will take place, this will be the battlefield.

Near Asgard there are two small realms called Andlang and Vidblain. Little is known about these places, but they are part of Asgard.
Asgard may not have many flowers or other plants and trees that might enhance the beauty of this realm, but in terms of fauna, it is filled with birds of all sorts that crowd the roofs of the trees.


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My First Giveaway!

Remember the surprise I was talking about,and shared a sneak preview? If you guessed that it was a little giveaway you were right!:D My first giveaway, together with Ana Teresa Photography is now LIVE! So if you want to win one of these adorable notebooks head on to https://www.facebook.com/AnaTeresaPhotography/app_228910107186452 OR https://www.facebook.com/ArithHarger/app_228910107186452 and participate on the giveaway!:) 

Working with the Gods: Baldr

Baldr or Baldur is the Norse god of beauty, naivety and light. He is one of the few gods who as descended into the realm of Hel and do not yet arise from it. His story is a difficult one to understand, very tragic for the Aesir tribe of gods, a story of mischief and sorrow.

In the Norse mythology, Baldr is the youngest son of Odin and Frigga, the most beautiful of thesky gods, the Aesir. His mere presence brought light and merriment to all the gods in Asgard, and from him, a very bright light came to everywhere he went. 

Baldr married the Aesir goddess Nana who took care of the orchards of Asgard. They lived in the hall called Breidablik and in its surroundings nothing that was impure could ever live in such place, everything was naturally beautiful. They had a son called Forseti who would be later be known as the god of justice.

The saga of Baldr, Baldurs Draumar (Baldur’s Dream), tells us of the time when Baldr began to have strange dreams about his oncoming doom, death was approaching to cover in darkness the world of Aesir, light itself would be swallowed by it. Baldr told his parents about the dreams and his mother, Frigga, in a hurry, travelled throughout the nine realms asking every living thing not to harm her beloved son. Every living thing made this oath and when Frigga passed by the mistletoe, she thought that it was too young to make such an oath and she thought it to be harmless. Then she returned to Asgard and told to Baldr what she had done and that he was safe, nothing could harm him. Baldr made a game out of this, every god would throw weapons against him and every single object would bounce off.

Every great tragic story has vengeance in it, and this one isn't different. The god Loki was angry with the Aesir because they had murdered his wife Angrboda and imprisoned one of his sons, Fenrir, so Loki discovered the secret of Baldr's imunity to all things except the mistletoe, so he made a dart out of it and waited until the games of throwing weapons to Baldr began. Loki offered himself to help Hoder, the Blind brother of Baldr, so he could also participate in the games. Hoder agreed, and threw the mistletoe dart to Baldr, killing his own brother.

Meanwhile Loki fled and there was great mourning in Asgard. Many gods offered themselves to avenge Baldr's death, but Odin had other things in mind and none from his family was fit to do the task. So Odin raped the giant goddess Rind and she gave him a son called Váli, the god of vengeance. Váli didn't knew about the true story, all he knew is that his half brother Baldr had been killed by Hoder, and so he murdered the blind god.

Baldr was placed on his ship called Hringhorni and the funeral fire was started. Many were those who came to Baldr's funeral. Thor lost his self control because of the death of his younger brother, and in that rage he kicked a visiting dwarf right into the fire thus killing him. Baldr's wife, Nana, threw herself into the funeral pyre, thus commiting suicide to be with her beloved. Baldr's horse was also burnt along with everything that belonged to the god of light. When the time came to push the ship into the waters, it prove to be too heavy. All of a sudden a female giant called Hyrrokin, ridding a great wolf, came and gave the ship such a shove, that the earth itself trembled. It is said that this mysterious Hyrrokin was none other than Angrboda, Loki's wife, coming to witness her vengeance for the murder attempt on her, and for the kidnapping and later binding of her son Fenrir, and also her child Jormundgand, the great sea serpent.

In the meantime Odin and Frigga gave another task to one of Baldur's brothers, Hermod. He was to ride into Helheim and beg Hela to release Baldr. Hermod rode fro nine days till he finaly reached the Gates of Helheim and entered. He begged to Hela for his brother's life and she told him that she would only release him if every living thing in the nine worlds would weep for him. The Aesir went in all directions asking everyone they met to shed a tear for Baldr. All did so, except for an old female giant called Thokk and thus Baldr was lost forever. It is said that this Thokk figure was no other than Loki himself in disguise, making sure that Baldr stood with her daughter Hela.

There is much speculation in why such an event happened, why did Odin let all of this happen. In a foretelling, Odin knew that Baldr would be slain when Ragnarök started if Baldr was alive by then, on the other hand, being slain, Baldr would come to life after Ragnarök and rule in Asgard. It is said that Baldr's death was arranged by Odin and Loki to protect Baldr and send him to the safest place in the nine realms, the realm of the dead, so he might arise when the time comes and rule in Asgard.

The Saxons had another version of this story, in which Baldr and Hoder were two princes and both wanted the mortal princess Nana. Both fought and Hoder killed Baldr with a sword named Mistletoe and thus he married Nana.

It is clear that behind this story we can see that the only thing that can prevail over the light, is darkness, the opposite. Hoder the blind god is darkness and he took the life of his brother, Baldr, the god of light. When darkness covers the land, death and sorrow comes to mortal men and it is in darkness that Ragnarök starts, when all light fades away. But after te darkness a new light comes forth and life sprouts once more. Baldr revives and will rule in the realm of the Sky Gods.

One thing is also certain, to Baldr was given another task and he became a different god with a new sacred task, he is now the god who gives light in dark places, this also means giving light to those who live a life in darkness, while their mind is, metaphorically speaking, in darkness. Sorrow, sadness, depression, living in hard times, Baldr gives light and a new awakening.


Note: The artwork to illustrate this post is a painting of Baldr made by me. 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