Wane Wyrds

If I read one more retelling of the Vanir/Aesir war that states Gullveig was killed because she talked incessantly of gold, I am gonna vomit. This is An ASSUMPTION with no basis in the original text, based solely on modern translations of Gullveig as gold-lust. SPECULATIVE translations for clarity sake, with about fifty alternate translative possibilities. If one is going to retell a story from the Lore, please stick to the facts. Where does this need to fabricate a reason come from? In my opinion, it comes from modern desire by Asatruar to justify the actions of the Aesir in this instance. As a Vanatru, it is a sore spot for me. If I am going to retell a story from the Lore, I am not going to fabricate parts of the story to portray the Aesir in a negative light. If one of the Vanir act in a manner I find no explanation for, I accept this, it does not change my ability to have faith in them. The need for our gods to be perfect is a hold on from monotheism which has no place in heathe...

Modern etching of Havamal 143: Freetha on deviantart In Norse Paganism, as well as many other ancient pagan religions, blood played an important role in the spiritual process. I wanted to take a moment to talk about a couple of the spiritual rituals of heathenry that involve blood, as well as blood as a symbol. To the Norse, the blood is a sacred. Sacred in that it possesses the vital energies which constitute life. And this possession of life extended not only on a personal level, but a cosmological one as well. One's blood was not only a personal power source. One's blood contained both ancestral as well as divine powers. The Norse believed that their people were the actual flesh and blood descendants of the Gods. The God Heimdall was believed to have fathered the races of man, and many royal houses claimed that they were the children of specific Aesir and Vanir Gods. This was not a symbolic belief, but an absolute truth for the Norse. One's blood was a blending of...