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SpecialEditionHardback-ABSB041 ISBN:978-0-9566959-2-5 StandardEditionPaperback-ABSB042 E ISBN:978-0-9566959-3-2 1.0Fromthe dim MistofAn1tiQlJity 1.1Animism 1.2Sorcery 1.3 Religion 1.4The Mistletoe 1.5The 1.6The 2.0The CalendarWoman 2.1TheSun'sCalendar 2.2The Mysteries 3.0The DivineSecrets 3.1The Runes 3.2 Freyr's of 3.3 Hagall'sGroup of 3.4 Groupofeight 4.0 VOIUS[)8 4.1The ProphecyoftheSorceress Freyr's First of 4.3 Hagall's FirstGroupof 66 4.4 First of 68 4.5 Freyr'sSecond 4.6 Hagall'sSecond 80 4.7 Tyr'sSecond of 4.8 Freyr'sThird Group of 4.9 Hagall'sThird of 4.10 Third of 5.0The MysteryChamber 5.1The HidingPlace ofthe Dead 6.0TheVoice ofthe Forefathers 6.1The Eggjum Stone 6.2 Ellison 6.3The Love ofthe Grave NameIndex 5 the conclusions myown.You need an open mind and common senseto preciatethe contents ofthis book, and this meansthatafew academ- icsaswell mightappreciate it. Thisbookiswritten an todescribethetraditionsand beliefsoftheAn- Thesorceryand religion in ancient isthefoundation on which cient havestudiedthe foralmosttwodecadesandyet can and civilisation was built. We see traces ofthis all around us, listtwo books aboutthis The Golden bythe anthropologist do, build andsurround ourselves and notleastin ourselves. SirJames and Fedrekult Cult in Norway"), the mis- thatwe realise and this. and historian Otto as any real when writingthis book. I have been forced to lookfor answers in the etymologyand original texts, The language in this book is my second butalso old traditional songsand folklore. speakerswill haveto bearwith me. this book are based on the claim thatall thetribes ofAncient hadthesame whether lived in Europeorhad emi- Vikernes to North-Africa or different ofAsia. Even though the deities, myths and traditions discussed in this book speaking are Scandinavian, it November2007 does not mean are Scandinavian. I am common Ancient Troms0,Norway 1V"r\r",r\~.n beliefs. assume that reader ofthis book familiar with the Scandinavian and will askfrom you thatyou open your mind and acceptthat much ofwhatyou you know isinfactnotcorrect.Thecommon perception ofBaldrand twoseparate deitiesforexample iswrong; theyare different names the same When you encounter such apparent "mis- takes" made you need to them as correct, and keep reading until you realisethatmy is infactcorrect. encounteratranslation a word or name that you think is wrong, or that your dictionary lecturer) claims is wrong, you need to do better research and find outwhat otherdiction- aries have say about this. They don't always agree. Also, rememberthatthe Norse was nota with aclearorthography. Whatthis means is that sometimes mytranslation mayseem to be wrong, but can beseen ascorrectifyou the ofthetranslated word. We knowmanynamesfrom differentNorsesources,andthesedifferentsourcesuse a different Narfi is for some times Norvi. Ialways use translation that makesthe mostsense, some times othertransla- tionsare also - and Ioften include all possibletranslations. Academics tend every book written without references to specific sources.This book is such a butIhaveto defend itbysayingthat cannotlistsourceswhenthe ideasare myown,the interpretationsmyown and 6 OF The Sun was the most to the Stone man. It him sohecouldseewell enoughto withthe rain itwaswhatmade nature green and fertile, an abundance of edible and gave warmthsohedid notfreezetodeath.The whentheSunwasgoneor lostitsstrengthwasthereforecharacterized fear. WhatwouId Would the ever return and grow He did not know. He did understand theSunwasborn intheeast, itflewacrossthe and sank into the ocean and died in the west. What could make this ball moveacrossthesky? Hecould notsee the soobviouslyinvisibleforces in theairwere The known In\J'IC'I1,",10 force ableto moveother likethatwasthewind. could so would tearupentiretreesfrom the and tossthem about. Itwas strongenough to movethat ball upthere the aswell! The wind was closely related tothe breath of man, which could also be used move tiny objects, like feathers and leaves, around. was therefore natural theStoneAge man to assumethatthe wind was made up of the air, and that controlled the movementoftheSun. NotetotheEnglishversion: In the original Norwegian version ofthis bookthe similarityofthe words "breath" (No. ande) and "spirit"(No.and) isusedtoshowwherewehavetheideaof"spirits"from. Ican addthatthe Latin spiritus alsooriginallytranslatesas "breath",to make itclearthatthis is notacoincidence in ImageofDanishBurialMound, byunknownArtist. Norwegianlanguage. Thespirits were invisible and and he assumed that sible for all the incomprehensible forces of nature. Animism from theclouds,thunderand nature'spowerof and else. Herealised - orratherassumed - thatitwasall associatedwiththe Stone man was as but he knew virtually abouttheworld in which thattookplacearound him, The nextthingtodofor him wastofind outhowhecould influencethe even the mosttrivial of was very or at best, incomprehensi- thattheygave him whatheneeded,firstandforemost rain and ble. Hedid notknow theSun roseandshoneonthesky, theSunsetand when hewanted and needed it. the oreven whattheSun was. Hedid notknowwhythe above or itstartedto rain. Hedid notknowwhyorhow or wintercame. Hedid nothaveanyunderstand- of ofhow an hour,a a amonthorayearlasted.Because ofthat he did not know for how the Sun would be gone when itsat in the west, orfor the winterwould last. 8 9 when nature was at ifs most and lettingthe rain fall upon them. It did notend he wanted a per- man learntthatthe lightningstruckthe trees sonto keep apromise hecould ask himtostand on orhold ontoarockwhen and sometimes them. was followed by the thunder in madethe promise, sothatthe would as and as and thefire was verysimilarto the Sun. Itwarmed them and lituptheir He could also hold onto a ring, sothatthe was withoutan end. liketheSun even inthedarkestwinternights. Hetherefore even catch animals thrusting hisspear intothe animal tracks when assumed that the fire had been transferred from Heaven to Earth and that it acrossthem, to ifs easierto catch. was stored insidethetrees. The wasto extractthe fire from the wood atthe moment he needed it. With time the sorcery became more and more the StoneAge man hadspells about in nature, andthe idea When he in his life made different tools out of flint small sparks ap- ofsorcery permeated his life. When men died itwas to them andfell the likethe didfromthe Hetherefore would come back one likethe berries and seeds assumed that this was what in the as well; mighty spirits struck were in the soil. The Earth was seen as because stones each occurred and hit trees, plants emerged from herwomb like children from the womb ofthe woman. them. atsome thatifhedidthesame hewould achieve Forthe deadto return alltheStoneAgewoman hadto dowastotouchthe dead thesame result. When hedidthe from thestonescame intocontactwith in the grave, ortouch something he had been in contact with. She then and when he used hisbreath and blewonthetinyembers be made asdescribed above. When thewoman then gave birthtoa some times turned into a live and fire! Eureka! Ecstatic and amazed the newborn was given the dead name and was as same theStone man had discovered howto makea imitatingthe spirits in person asthe one in the grave. Becausethe dead had no memories his the This was a and had a great impacton the shaping livesitwasassumedthathehad allaboutthisinthe realm ofthedead. oftheStone to all theforces ofnature? Note: studied nature further and discovered thatthe frogs croaked shortly before Thisnaturallyexplainswhywestill havethecustom inmostpartsofEuropeofnamingourchildren the rain started to fall. Was this a to or from the spirits? When imitating aftertheirgrandparents. the in the he had to make a so in orderto make itrain wheneverhewanted hecould catchsome and makethemcroak, usually The Sun disappeared into the ocean in the west, and was assumed to travel them. did and it worked. After it started to rain. boatatthat through the realm ofthe dead belowthesurface ofthe anyway. Itthen reappeared in the east, after its Man was a nature,justlikeeverythingelse,sotheStone man assumedthathetoo to travel through the underworld when he boat across the ocean mayaddthatwhen Iwasakid in BergenjNorwayweweretold bytheadultsnottokill ortorment vast river, before being reborn again, a woman. He assumed that itwas this frogs,becauseifwedid,theadultsclaimed,"itwouldstarttorain".Accordingtothemthesameap thatmade himforget. When theStone man died hewas because of pliedtoblacksnails. Ifwesteppedonthem itwouldstarttorain. given aboat orhewas placed in agrave likeaboat.Some hewas buried inland alongwith ahorse ifthe sea wastoofarawayand He also saw when berries the bushes fell to the ground they turn~d theSun setoverland.Thedead were buried onSunset first after intobushes the Earth's wastransferred bycontact.The firstfull Moon afterdeath, because on this would havethe companyof Stone man had no idea itwas thesexual intercoursethatmadethe the Sun and the waning on their into the dark cold so order to make them pregnant he began to transfer the realm beneaththesurface ofthe Earth. their behinds with birch twigs in the 10 One would human like ourforefathers were, would realize that their sorcery did not but ifa sorcerer killed frogs started to rain afterwards it was not easyto know that his spell had to do with this. itdidn'tstartto rain right away, butsooner or later it would, and when it did the sorcerer could take the credit for having caused this effect. since man was so fearful ofall things itwould take a lotof courage notto trustthe sorcerers as well. What ifthe rain would never fall the Sun never shine and the women never become ifthey their ris~(r'\\Ir\Y\lTnlnn- isthatsome ofthe the sorcerers did were indeed verysen- nature and the processes in learntsomething tried new Some ofthe they such as herbal medicine, brain surgery watering the dry fields with wet ofseeds in the the use ofwaterto cleanse wounds, sorcererswerethescientistsand researchersortheStoneAge! The final and reason for sorcery to survive, from the of modern man to the Bronze- and in some places until the Iron Age, thefactthatmanyofthesorcerersmusthaveunderstoodthatwhat were was pure was the fact that the sorcerers wanted to keep theirstatus and power. The sorcerer had been the mostskilled, creative and manin the he had to be in orderto survive as asor cerer, so he would also bethe man bestsuitedto keepthe status quo. RomanticImageoftheNorns, byL.Burger. 12 often carriedtheir around onshieldsorin or them inwagons. He could notcut his beard or nails because he did all More and more sorcerers from the Neolithic era and onwards, to recog of nature would be cut down too - because he was the embodiment of nature. nisethefact had no powerwhatsoever overthe spirits ofnature. How- Hewasnotallowedtotravel boatbetweenthe andautumn be- ever, ratherthan understand that there are no in nature concluded cause this would carry him thus off into a death. Some that notcontrol them means ofsorcery. still wanted the Sun places there were so many restrictions to what the could or could to shine and to return after and still needed rain and what he had to wear, how and when he had to up in the where the women to become so tried adifferentapproach. Ratherthan could sleep, and so that itmust have been a real tormentto be cast thesorcererturned intoa and to praytothespirits and askthemfor instead. Whathad been impersonalspiritseverywhere Sorcerydid notdisappearwith the in nature therefore turned deities. They were addressed of religion, and the animals the and because ofthat were different names. Everywherethe birdsthat had previously been seen as manifestations ofdifferent names, reason we - thedifferentEuropeantribes ture became attributesto the deities from these - knowthem differentnamesisthefactthatweatthatpointhad traditions ofthe sorcerers turned into festivals. the same different inthe differentpartsof L-UJ~IJ'V. spirits and sorcerers continued to the deities and their foravery time. given the name pu and finally - in the meaning: to pro- the name Lukan ("lightning"), as Loki. The ofthe crop was called Sibjo asSif.Thespiritoftheforest,the the love, and everythingelse, were all were named and were created to tell the aboutthe deitiesandtheir Theytaughttheirchil- dren about "slash and burn" that Lukan once had cutthe hair of the wife ofPunaz. This thethunderalways "chased" the Awhole was created, the cominggenera- the processes in nature and how should relate to their deities in nature, around man, and when the CH/£:.::l.F\I\A/nt:::l.FLl idea of sorcery still permeated the JJJ~.F-.J\JIUJforthe religiousmantothinkthatman it,and doingsogain itspow- theworldthe newkingbecameagod-king. not the role ofa he was himselfa deity! Everythingagod did influenced the world in some way, and thereforethe god-king had to bevery careful. He should not touch the with his so our forefathers most their hides. This sorcerer, most known as berserkr ulfheioinn stored his own force egg, a box, atree, an animal or somewhere and used the life force the animal or Theoakwasthetreethatwasmostoftenstruck and becauseofthis wore the life force of the killed animal outside his own, as itwas thesorcerersasthe mostsacredtree intheforest. Morethan nvr,+At"'+lr,n himselfvirtuallyinvulnerable. Orso he believed anyway. of anyothertreethe oak thesolarpowers. Intheautumnthe leavesfell used otheranimals in this context, instead ofor addition to the offthetreeand it to butsometimesonecould, even in winter,find the bear, such as lions and in Ancient Greece and wild a green and lush inthetreecrown.Thiswasthe mistletoe.Thesor- cerers because foundthe mistletoeinthecrown ofthetree,where and in but idea wasthe same. mostoften that camefromthe Thatitwas t'V'':lne-t''\r\V''TQrI Forthe sake ofsimplicity this book usetheterm "berserk" from Heaven to Earth or "berserks" when tothe different sorcerers with a V'QT,O....vln,-{ animal. The oak's life force had retracted to the mistletoe for the and therefore the tree itself was unusable as a source of solar power. The mistletoe on the We know ofthis totemic idea from the about the death of otherhand wasvery All powerofthe the lifeforceoftheoak,the from where sorcerers or trolls ("malicious ofthe was concentrated into this The sorcerertherefore because have hidden awaytheir own life climbed into the tree crown and cut down the and the sorcerer pos- duck, in awell on an island faraway. Beforethe herocan kill the such a had all the powerand energyoftheSun at hisdisposal. It nvr-,-t-r'\'-;:"""""'''''''+ and save he mustfind the and crush was used as as forlovespells,to manipulatefireand as ward '""',-{"... Int...·.. rI,...-,.nri'nV,I""'\1 the Bronze had turned into a known in Scandinavia at that as white that we know from the Viking asBaldr Inthe aboutBaldr'sdeath we learnthatthegods had fun arrows and rocks at the oaktree, because he could not harmed. After his life force was stored safely in the mistletoe. The beliefthat individual'slifeforce can existoutsidethe individual hadgreat the ancient man. Sorcerers could steal the life force from other creatures, like could steal the lifeforce ofthe cuttingdown the mis- tletoe afterthe oak itself to be dead. Animals such as wolves and bears were even to man, just like win- was, with its darkness and and because ofthat the Scandinavians saw these animals as manifestations of the winter believed that these animals could kill the winterspirit, and make summer and return. In were hadto huntand kill such animalsfor summerto return. could alsostealthe lifeforce of theseanimalsand useitto becomestill and morepowerfulthemselves. autumn, when winter the sorcererstherefore wenton a hunt forwinteranimals. killed them, dranktheir atetheirheartsandtook 16 RomanticImageoftheDeathofBaldr,by Frolich. RomanticImageoftheDeathofBaldr, byC.E. Doep/er. 18