Wane Wyrds

The Temple of Uppsala was one of the foremost religious sites historically for the Norse pagans, and by examining it's material and literary records, many aspects of Norse Paganism and the old Heathen traditions can be better understood. It is located in a place called Gamla Uppsala or "Old Uppsala" on the cultivated river valley on the River Fyris in Sweden. Photograph of Uppsala Site in modern times, attributed to OlofE This town was once a religious center for the Norse, as well as a governmental one. The written record describes various traditional religious occasions and celebrations which occurred there throughout the year. Uppsala was the residence of the legendary Yngling line of Swedish kings which are spoken of in myth and saga. Many literary references claim that Uppsala was among the last areas to be converted to Christianity in the 11th century, and the people there were very much opposed to the loss of their pagan ways. Many of the accounts le...

I do alot of reading, it is a great passion of mine. I have decided not long ago that when I have a bit of time to do some leisure reading, I will just randomly choose on of the sagas or a it of the Eddas to read through, just because I have yet to really feel as if I have a handle on some of the lesser known myths of the heroes and kings which are relevant to the Gods themselves. Anyway, the other day I randomly chose the Völundarkviða. For those unfamiliar with the poem, it is the story of the famous smith Volundr, also known across Europe as Weyland the smith. Apparently Volund is quite a famous figure, and I had never heard of him. He can be found in an exorbitant amount of European myth and folktale. He is credited to have forged a number of swords within various sagas, as well as Caliburn, the sword in Mary Stewart's Arthurian legend, and Albion, the sword of Robin Hood. He is mentioned in the epic poem Beowulf as well, in passing. So I was quite shocked to learn that h...