00:09:09.260When you have to sort things into categories, a lot of the less than good categories are lumped together.
00:09:21.980And you see that with some of the good categories of beings as well, like the term Alf or Alphar.
00:09:27.880But there's Jotunar that are primeval, unconscious forces of creation giants that are clearly different from conscious giants that were wizards that get in the wizard battles with the gods in the lore.
00:09:52.520Both Jotunar, but clearly very different things.
00:09:56.420And when they talk about, there's also an overlap between Jotunar and trolls.
00:10:05.120Well, a troll means lots of different things.
00:10:07.960Basically, any scary thing that goes bump in the night gets in that category.
00:10:15.020And I think that's very much where monstrous and contorted humanoids would fall in.
00:10:25.540um are they yotnar i suppose in a very small j sense of the word um i would probably call them
00:10:37.540more like trolls but i think some of the the words used to describe these things are also
00:10:42.820different depending on the time and the locale and there's a lot of overlap there so i don't
00:10:49.300you know i don't think that there's necessarily uh an also true monsters manual that we can get
00:10:58.820out and flip to the right page and find the stats on on what kind of what kind of creature that that
00:11:06.180grendel winds up in but i i if i had to go i would go troll so now that we're kind of getting
00:11:15.780more into Grendel's mother, we're still going to be referencing back to Grendel. So one of the
00:11:20.680things to remember about what kind of monsters are these, and we'll see this also with the dragon
00:11:26.520when that comes up in the next episodes. But one thing to really distinguish about the different
00:11:33.600parts of Beowulf is the different personalities of the monsters themselves. And you can see that
00:11:39.040represented also in our own lore when you read it from Volusval all the way through from the very
00:11:44.200beginning until Ragnarok, you can see the evolution of the enemies or the evolution of
00:11:51.620the monsters or the Jotuns that they face. So Grendel is very much primal. He's very raw. He's
00:11:58.840very instinct driven. And we're going to see a very, very different monster tonight when we're
00:12:04.120talking about Grendel's mother. So just also remember the monsters kind of have a way of
00:12:10.560talking about the enemies of our people you know what what our ancestors faced the
00:12:16.200types of enemies that they faced the types of monsters that they faced whether those were
00:12:22.200you know enemies across borders or those were enemies that went bump in the night you know so
00:12:27.640we're going to see a very very big difference between Grendel and Grendel's mother tonight
00:12:32.640so keep in mind when we get into Grendel Grendel's mother Grendel himself was overly large
00:12:39.220we want to start off with that you know when we're talking about how large grendel was
00:12:43.180we'll get into more of that you know in the in the fits here but grendel was huge outstandingly huge
00:12:51.500um you know we're gonna see in here where when they bring his head back it takes several men
00:12:57.620to carry his head his arm is enormous he takes entire men and puts them in a sack right in his
00:13:04.160man person. So that is one thing about him is he's larger than life and he's very primal. He's very
00:13:12.260raw and he's very instinctual in the things that he does. There is no real thought or control. We
00:13:19.700saw Grendel feel fear for the very first time the last time that we had this podcast. So just keep
00:13:27.020in mind with the monsters, it's not necessarily what kind of monster or what does that monster
00:13:31.460really represent in regards to what it is that are that we face as a people or as an individual so
00:13:38.180i'll add that in there and with that we can go ahead and get started if you're ready sir
00:13:45.060take it away all right so we're going to follow the same format that we followed last time we're
00:13:50.820going to read a part and then go back through and discuss it so we have already killed grendel
00:13:56.020we've ripped his arm from his body and it is currently a trophy in the hall then morning came
00:14:04.420and many warrior gathered as i've heard around the gift hall clan chiefs flocking from far and near
00:14:10.500down wide ranging roads wandering greatly at the monster his fatal departure was regretted by no
00:14:17.300one who witnessed his trail the ignominious works of his flight where he'd sculpt away exhausted in
00:14:22.980spirit and beaten in battle bloody in the path hauling his doom to the demon's mare the bloodshot
00:14:28.980water wallowed and surged there was low some up throws and overturnings of waves and gore and
00:14:34.420wound slurry with his death upon him he had dived deep into his marsh den drowned out his life and
00:14:41.540his heathen soul hell claimed him there then away they rode the old retainers with many a young man
00:14:48.180following after, a troop on horseback, and high spirits on their base deeds. Beowulf's doings
00:14:54.520were praised over and over again. Nowhere, they said, north or south, between the two seas or
00:14:59.160under the tall sky. On the broad earth was there ever anyone better to raise a shield or to rule
00:15:05.780a kingdom. Yet there was no laying of blame on their lord, the noble Hrothgar. He was a good king.
00:15:12.640At times the warband broke into a gallop, letting their chestnut horses race.
00:15:16.640Wherever they found the going good on the well-known tracks, meanwhile a thing, a thing of the king's household, a carrier of tales, a traditional singer deeply schooled in the lore of the past, linked a new theme to a strict meter.
00:15:31.700The man started to recite with skill, rehearsing Beowulf's triumphs and feats in well-fashioned lines, entwining his words.
00:16:55.920The waves of his grief had beaten him down,
00:16:59.580made him a burden, a source of anxiety to his nobles.
00:17:02.440That expedition was often condemned in those earlier times by experienced men who relied on his lordship for redress, who presumed that the part of his prince was to thrive on his father's throne and defend the nation, the shielding land where they had lived and belonged, its holdings and its strongholds.
00:17:21.560Such was Beowulf in the affection of his friends and of everyone alive, who evil entered into Haramod.
00:17:28.440Meanwhile, the dames kept racing their mounts down the sandy lanes.
00:17:33.020The light of the day broke and kept brightening.
00:17:36.120Bands of retainers galloped in excitement to the gabled hall to see the marble, the king himself, guardian of the ring horde, goodness in person,
00:17:43.900walked in majesty from the women's quarters with the numerous train attended by his queen and her crowd of maidens across the maid hall.
00:17:52.040So if you've read Beowulf for the first time, this is a lot of names and this is a lot of things in one little section.
00:17:58.820So first we start talking about Beowulf did this awesome thing and killed Grendel.
00:18:03.740And then everyone is gathering over to basically celebrate and see all the things that are going on, to hear the story and to gather in the hall with the king.
00:18:14.120But then we start talking about two leis within this lay, right?
00:18:18.880So they're talking about the minstrel is singing a song about Beowulf, which has a lot of things to it. We'll get to that in a second. But there's two lays within this lay. The first thing that they're talking about is Sigmund of the Bolsoga saga. So this is actually debated on whether or not that this is the first time that this story is actually noted down in literature.
00:18:43.240so this is the oldest reference that we have so when you look at it it doesn't make a lot of
00:18:50.800sense unless you know what it is that they're talking about unless you know about the saga
00:18:54.780itself and about the story itself the same with the tale of harrow so the the author or the
00:19:03.220narrator is assuming that you are already familiar with these things and they are comparing
00:19:08.800Beowulf to the greatness of killing that dragon. They're basically, they're giving his eulogy,
00:19:18.340basically, without you knowing that that's what they're doing. They're referring to two separate
00:19:23.680things. So one of the points that they make in here is that they are noting that Beowulf,
00:19:30.760there is no one more worthy of going to battle with and ruling a kingdom than Beowulf. However,
00:19:36.600that is not the fault of their king. Their king is a good king, and they make it a point to say
00:19:41.920that over and over and over again. No matter how great the warrior, this is a good king,
00:19:48.700and this shows definitely the loyalty to the king itself. The king does not have to be
00:19:56.720the greatest warrior on the battlefield. He has the loyalty of the warriors on that battlefield.
00:20:04.320do you have your thoughts on that sir you don't have to be the strongest but you always have the
00:20:09.960loyalty of those who are willing to fight for you you know it it depends and I think this adds
00:20:18.760some of the richness of context that is often overlooked especially in historic
00:20:27.600like epic poetry and in our lore everything is very often carried to the extreme
00:20:36.340it's you know either a hundred percent or nothing because it's illustrating these
00:20:42.800larger than life principles on on this canvas
00:20:46.860part of the the worth of rulership isn't
00:21:01.020isn't just being the mightiest on the battlefield it's the fact that you are on the battlefield
00:21:08.820it's the fact that you're leading from the front it's the fact that you're actively engaged and
00:21:15.540you have skin in the game for your people and in your kingdom um there's also it would be foolish
00:21:26.260to think that every king is going to be the greatest warrior amongst their people but
00:21:34.800celebrating that as if that were the case because that's the ideal is what's important you're going
00:21:41.000to come across a king that takes the throne when he's a child. He's obviously, you know,
00:21:45.580your five-year-old king is not going to go out there and lay waste to his foes. By that
00:21:51.340token, your 70-year-old king is likely not going to be out there laying waste to the
00:21:56.640heroes of the opposition. But the idea is still present. The ideal of going out and
00:22:06.940the living example of what your fault ought to aspire to be um there's two
00:29:36.900So, and this, I think this might highly depend on where someone is answering this question.
00:29:52.840The vast majority of us, and probably of the people watching, you're up to them, I'm making
00:30:02.000air quotes but i gotta bring it in because my screen's smaller um is central northern and
00:30:09.680western europe i think if you start getting into ottoman europe and greek europe and you start
00:30:20.240getting into like russian europe i think you see a little bit more of that and you're more likely
00:30:29.200to encounter it just like you mentioned in the question i think if you're dealing with iberian
00:30:34.560things you're much more likely to see some of that but most of the time the influence
00:30:44.800the like christian influence isn't hidden it's writ large for everyone to see christian influence
00:30:51.600in europe almost all of the time is taking a pagan thing and then re re adding and reworking
00:31:00.240it to put a christian overlay so there's not like subtle christianity seeping into it i think that's
00:31:07.200very much a misnomer i think there's blatant christianity injected into it in an obvious way
00:31:14.480and i think where you might see muslim influence for the same reason because it's based on a very
00:31:20.640similar root religion or root mindset you would see islam written over it in big bold letters
00:31:31.440spray painted all over it so i don't worry about the subtlety of that sneaking in what i think is
00:31:40.160much more how it works is for muslims not to realize that a lot of their lore and a lot of
00:31:48.720their history comes from pagan sources in pagan parts of arabia and in different places and
00:31:57.200pagan persian things i think that what's much more likely is european christians thinking
00:32:03.600that they're doing all this christianity when they come to realize that almost none of it is
00:32:08.720biblical and what they're doing is various pagan traditions that somebody slapped a saint name on
00:32:16.400or put a jesus coat of paint on much like the story that we're reading it much predates
00:32:21.920the conversion of the tribes and talks about to christianity
00:32:27.760but there's a a clear like they at awkward times inject like they they feel the need to add
00:32:37.280little references to god throughout so it remains you know kosher with with that crowd
00:32:43.840but i think those influences are rather obvious um one thing i also saw in the chat about leaders
00:32:50.320today you know not leading from the front i think and i'm not disputing that that's the case
00:32:57.280one of the things we see is that there isn't functional european monarchy so of course they
00:33:03.120don't lead from the front if the monarchy is solely symbolic and they don't command men and
00:33:10.560they have none of the teeth of monarch even why would they leave from the front and that's really
00:33:15.920sad that said to me that it's gotten to that point um but i wonder what that looks like in a modern
00:33:22.800context because we're not leading night charges into into battle we're not even leading lines of
00:33:30.560infantry or lines of tanks that's not what modern warfare is so i don't know i don't know what that
00:33:37.120looks like like you'll see when an american president goes to iraq or afghanistan or anything
00:33:42.880like that all of a sudden everything stops the entire focus is on security and the whole it's
00:33:50.320not productive to leading successful charges so i wonder what that looks like and i think that's
00:33:56.960an interesting challenge should monarchy resurface in in a modern and a future context that way i
00:34:04.320I wonder what that looks like because the engagement and the regular embodiment and being part of the struggle of a nation is, it takes such different forms.
00:34:19.640It's one of the challenges that I think we all face in Ausatru is we see the world through the lens of our epic lore, and we see so many of our values portrayed in an early medieval context, figuring out how to live those principles.
00:34:37.840but in the current world that we live in that isn't battlefield focus that isn't you know
00:34:46.620everybody is a warrior that's slaying people and fighting for their life every day what that looks
00:34:54.520like in our lives is you know one of our great challenges thank you sir all right we'll continue
00:35:03.960on when hrothgar arrived at the hall he spoke standing on the steps under the steep eaves
00:35:09.680gazing at the roof work roof work and grendel's talon first and foremost let the almighty father
00:35:15.060be thanked for this sight i suffered a long harrowing by grendel but the heavenly shepherd
00:35:19.720can work his wonders always and everywhere not long since it seems i would never be granted
00:35:25.740the slightest solace or relief from any of my burdens the best houses glittered and reeked and
00:35:30.460ran with blood. This one worry outweighed all others, a constant distress to counselors entrusted
00:35:36.020with defending the people's sports from assault by monsters and demons. But now a man, with the
00:35:41.420Lord's assistance, has accomplished something none of us could manage before now for all our efforts.
00:35:47.200Whoever she was who brought forth the flower of manhood, if she is still alive, that woman can say
00:35:53.840that her labor, the Lord of Ages, bestowed a grace on her. So now, Beowulf, I adopt you in my heart as
00:35:59.560a dear son. Nourish and maintain this new connection, you noblest of men. There'll be
00:36:04.380nothing you'll want for, no worldly goods that won't be yours. I have often honored smaller
00:36:10.380achievements, recognized warriors not nearly as worthy, lavish words on the less deserving,
00:36:15.600but you have made yourself immortal by your glorious action. May the gods of ages continue
00:36:19.580to keep and requit you well. Beowulf, son of Ekthal, spoke. We have gone through the glorious
00:36:25.180endeavor and been much favored in this fight we dared against the unknown. Nevertheless,
00:36:29.100the less if he could have seen the monster himself where he lay beaten, I would have been better
00:36:32.780pleased. My plan was to pounce, pin him down in a tight grip, and grapple him to death, have him
00:36:39.320panting for life, powerless and clasped in my bare hands, his body in thrall. But I couldn't stop him
00:36:44.560from slipping my hold. The Lord allowed it. My lock on him wasn't strong enough. He struggled
00:36:49.280fiercely and broke and ran, yet he bought his freedom at a high price, for he left his hand
00:36:54.500and arm and shoulder to show he had been here a cold comfort for having come among us and now he
00:37:01.080won't be long for this world he has done his worst but the wound will end him he has has been hooped
00:37:06.360in hair painting and pain limping and loping with it like a man outlawed for wickedness he must
00:37:11.980await the almighty the judge the mighty judgment of god and majesty there was less tampering and
00:37:17.380big talk then from unfurth boaster less of his blather and the hall things eyed the awful proof
00:37:22.300of the hero's prowess. The splayed hand up under the eaves, every nail, claw, scale, and spur,
00:37:28.180every spike and welt on the hand of that heathen brute was like barb steel. Everybody said there
00:37:33.920was no honed iron hard enough to pierce him through, no time-proof blade that could have
00:37:38.500cut his brutal blood-caked cloth. All right, so we've got a couple things here. Hrothgar arrives
00:37:44.600at his hall, and when he gets there, he says, he makes the statement of, you have done what nobody
00:37:52.280else could do. We have suffered long and hard under Grendel. For what reason we have been
00:37:59.720cursed with this, we don't know, but we have suffered through it. And he speaks as a king
00:38:07.800and a leader of his people, a king that was unable to stop what was happening, a king who
00:38:14.980was defenseless in protecting his men and the lands of his men and the treasures of his men
00:38:19.940in the families of his men. And I don't think enough attention gets paid to that. And the
00:38:27.600reason I say that is because we are told over and over and over and over again up until this point,
00:38:34.300Hrothgar is a good king. His men were less in number, but he was still king.
00:38:42.700There are, you know, stories of kings being sacrificed for fields not producing.
00:38:49.940would sacrifice their king for that so this tells you how loyal the people were to this particular
00:38:57.860man and for what reason was that why was he a good king and he tells us in here i reciprocate
00:39:04.340what you give me you give me your fealty and your loyalty you fight for me and you die for
00:39:09.860me and i take care of you he is still unable to defend all of these people against grendel yet
00:39:17.540still they stay. And why? If he was any lesser of a leader, they would not have stayed with him
00:39:26.740because he is breaking his bond to his people by not being able to protect them.
00:39:33.980So that's one thing to consider about the greatness of Hrothgar before Grendel and
00:39:39.880during Grendel is even though he could not protect them, they stayed by his side.
00:39:43.360because of the other things that he was able to provide for them.
00:39:51.060And it's important to note the strain that that was on him as a leader, as a king. And I don't
00:39:57.940think that gets stressed enough is the sorrow that is felt by him. And we see that sorrow coming back
00:40:03.820up here in a little bit, but the intense sorrow and pain that is felt by a king when they cannot
00:40:12.460protect their people so that's one thing i would like to know if the alshira godi would like to
00:40:17.580talk about is that that pain that he has that nobody sees our narrator tells us about it and
00:40:24.780he hints about it but you don't see it manifested in the way he rules and i think you're muted sir
00:40:36.380i don't think so ah there we go so nick had muted me uh
00:40:45.100i you know i mentioned this on the last stanza but even though this is
00:40:55.900epic poetry it adds in elements of reality
00:41:00.140life happens and if you're just inventing a story you can make it to where the good guys
00:41:09.280always win and the bad guys always lose and you know
00:41:14.760right is always vindicated and all of these things and the real world doesn't always work
00:41:22.020that way um to be the best king in the world and not win and be faced with overwhelming odds that
00:41:28.700are beyond your power to, uh, to confront. Um, and that's, that's one of the things is
00:41:39.160Croftgar does his best to keep the courtly vision of how things ought to be alive as
00:41:51.980best as he can um they celebrate they lavish their gifts their gifts upon the heroes and
00:41:59.280upon their guests they go through the motions of feasting and doing what one ought to do in a hall
00:42:06.820and of existing in the regality that he ought to exist in even when things are crumbling around
00:42:16.840him when he's beset by you know terror at every nightfall um keeping up keeping up appearances
00:42:29.240is really important and it's not about dishonesty it's about keeping your head up
00:42:36.360you owe it to your men not to be pouty and not to look weak you know they're not stupid
00:42:45.000But even when you're on the losing end, even in defeat, to carry yourself with a dignity that doesn't make them question, you know, why have we served this man?
00:42:55.400Like, look at this weak, quivering, like, pile in front of us.
00:43:02.680We're fixing to die for this guy, and we've made a bad choice.
00:43:06.820um no you owe it to them to be as best you can to be the man that they swore oaths to
00:43:16.480and up until you know up until the point in which you you're done and that's that that dignity is
00:43:24.280is crucial and we see that we see that here and it really is kind of a
00:43:30.100the pieces like that i think are are more more important to me and we'll see more of this
00:43:43.340in part three but those moments of of frailty and things not working how they're supposed to
00:43:52.020are more informative to me in this in this work than the you know feats of great heroism as
00:43:58.720amazing as those are we get that and we celebrate that people don't think about the quiet pain of
00:44:06.560being powerless and that's the thing we come to find out this monster's impervious to steal
00:44:13.060you could have been the greatest swordsman in the world and no sword would have penetrated this guy
00:44:17.660no amount of battle prowess would have done that just strength of muscle versus muscle was the
00:44:25.300only way that was going to do this. And they didn't know that till the end. So some of the
00:44:31.440tragic elements of this I think teach us a lot as well. One of the things that we see in Beowulf
00:44:38.160and what Beowulf says as well is, I would have liked it a lot better if you could have seen his
00:44:44.100whole body here, but rest assured he's gone. But one of the things that he hints at here is that
00:48:46.780Most of the time in the world we live in, there's probably not an immediate violent consequence to people saying rude or completely unfounded and inappropriate things.
00:48:59.120But there is a gut level instinctive consequence to looking foolish in public, to being aware that everybody looks at you like you're either the villain or you're a coward or something that you say is completely inappropriate or a way that you're behaving.
00:49:19.260Having to deal with the looks of scorn of other people when you do that, then there's another thing to be said when you are in the presence of greatness.
00:49:29.120So there are people that, and there's all kind of hippie ways of describing it with auras and various other things, but it's absolutely real that there are people who have a presence that is greater than themselves.
00:50:01.600that people see and affects their vision of you.
00:50:08.260And that can be a number of different things.
00:50:10.620But it's sometimes when you see an old, shriveled up man that is a hero, that you are aware of the life that they lived, you can't help but not see this broke down elderly person in front of you.
00:50:32.440you see a reflection of them in their prime of their glory that they've achieved
00:50:39.220there's something different that happens in moments and I always talk about you guys may
00:50:45.540remember this I always talk about the coolest thing as a gothi is when we see in someone else's
00:50:51.740eyes when the house of truth became real for them and this is kind of what I mean about that
00:50:56.580presence you can tell that that person is different than they were moments before
00:51:02.580something has happened there everything about them
00:51:07.460presents differently because they have awakened to our faith and seeing that is special you also
00:51:16.100see that when someone has been transformed through circumstance we've talked a lot lately about the
00:51:25.300in here you are and the idea of ascending and becoming something more than you are
00:51:30.900and how heroes very often on the battlefield will achieve that state of being
00:51:38.820more being superhuman being the ubermensch maybe just for a moment maybe for a small window
00:51:46.260but touching their potential for a moment being their woad self as opposed to being separate from
00:51:52.420it you see that in a lot of those cont cont uh contexts and i think that you see that here
00:52:02.180when beowulf is standing draped in glory you know beneath the dangling arm of his foe
00:52:13.060his presence is overwhelming i think his presence is overwhelming to everyone in the room
00:52:18.660but to unfurth in a different way he can't look beowulf in the eye
00:52:24.180and that is a very primal man-to-man reaction that you see there in a really special way
00:54:38.560Then the Danish prince, descendant of Ing, handed over both the arms and the horses, urging Beowulf to use them well.
00:54:47.120And so their leader, the lord and guard and coffer and strong room, with customary grace bestowed upon Beowulf, both sets of gifts.
00:54:56.480A fair witness can see how well each one behaved.
00:54:59.960Okay, so this is interesting for a couple different reasons, depending on what you're reading Beowulf for.
00:55:06.160So when I talked about Beowulf in the introduction, we talked about the people who took it at an academic stance and they only mined it for information, right?
00:58:21.680subtle way. And we give gifts to the gods. But again, as I've said many times, they don't
00:58:29.240really drink our meat or really eat, you know, the meat of the sacrifice. The exchange is much
00:58:36.340more on a metaphysical plane that you don't see. But you see it here because gods give what gods
00:58:43.520give men give to the gods their worship they give loyalty they give things but a king and his
00:58:53.520retainers what resources does a king have and he may give a favor down the line he may give
00:59:03.380royal preference to something or something that is a little bit more esoteric but what the king
00:59:11.240has is resources. And you'll see in the exchange, it's never an even exchange. And we like to think
00:59:17.880that it is, but it's in proportion to the people giving. Hrothgar in the story is this, you know,
00:59:26.540great king. It's told in a really interesting way because he's this great king that's got all these
00:59:31.780horses and gold and, you know, gold weaponry and golden banner and all this stuff. But his kingdom
00:59:37.600seems to exist of one hall with one war band of like 12 guys so it's it's told strange in that way
00:59:48.080but you know a small war leader may not have that he may have you know an extra portion of the crops
00:59:54.960or an extra proportion of the spoils that he can give he may can give you a bigger cut of you know
01:00:01.680war spoils if he has lands to dispose of he can give you lands he can give you you know whatever
01:00:09.600the case might be at the time but the idea is the king gives you gifts befitting a king and you know
01:00:18.400the person of more humbler means gives what he can and sometimes that's a song sometimes that's
01:00:24.320a poem sometimes that's a token of their loyalty oftentimes it's a showing of loyalty it's taking a
01:00:32.400knee it's pledging to be that king's man and to have that king's back and to provide for that king
01:00:39.440and have that loyalty um people of very little means they give what they have to give and the
01:00:47.360king with his with his luxury and his spoils yes you want you want your king to be laid you know
01:00:53.360just weighed down with gold and jewels and magnificence because like i said earlier he
01:00:59.280symbolizes your folk he's your living idol of the glory of your nation the glory of your war band
01:01:11.520you want to adorn him with all those things one of the other reasons that for kings to have immense
01:01:16.480riches is for them to be able to distribute those as reward to people who've served them well
01:01:23.360But the gift cycle that bonds us together in Sambal, the gift cycle that bonds us and our gods, the gift cycle that builds relationship through friendship is very much the gift cycle that goes on in the hall of our ancestors.
01:01:40.660It becomes much more formalized when done from retainer to king, but the principle remains, and it's what ties this community together with bonds of loyalty based on it.
01:01:53.360so we do have a question in the chat as well from uh robert eboy lee and it says good evening how
01:02:03.840are y'all doing also what has been the greatest battle you have fought physical or otherwise and
01:02:09.040did you rip your opponent's arm off how's a year ago have you ever ripped off an arm
01:17:08.420we talk in leadership a little bit about
01:17:16.280What things we have to help reward people on things.
01:17:20.480We've got enough funds that we can do nice things.
01:17:24.260But we often will reward people with positions, with opportunity, with tokens of our appreciation on stuff, with plaques, with names on plaques of things.
01:17:38.980when someone is ordained as a Goethe or Githia, they get a ring.
01:17:46.700When somebody is a very special long-term member of making the AFA happen,
01:17:58.220A couple reasons. Rings are cool. It's a cool thing.
01:18:01.280But hearkening back to our lore and our tradition,
01:18:03.700It's one of my jobs as the sovereign of the AFA to be a ring giver, figuratively and literally.
01:18:12.960But finding ways to honor our heroes and people who do great things in the AFA is always an interesting challenge because we don't have the wealth and abundance to give them teams of horses and golden armor and things of that nature.
01:18:33.700But we try to or we try to find small tokens that are meaningful to give as gifts.
01:18:46.880Sometimes we'll fly people out to an event if they're leaders that have done an amazing job.
01:18:52.360And it's dual purpose. Some of that's a reward.
01:18:55.900But most of the rewards within the AFA, and I was talking to Witten Young about that earlier.
01:21:16.660they foredoomed cut down the spear gourd she the woman in shock waylaid by grief
01:21:21.720whose daughter how could she not lament her fate when morning came and the light broke on her
01:21:27.500murdered dears and so farewell delight on earth was carried away finn's troop of things all but
01:21:33.120a few how then could finn hold the line or fight on the end with with hangist who saved the rump
01:21:40.420of his force from the enemy chief so a truce was offered as follows for separate quarters to be
01:21:46.640cleared for the Danes. Hall and thrones would be shared with the Frisians. Then, second, every day
01:21:52.480as a dole out of gifts, Fenn, son of Focwald, should honor the Danes bestowed with an even
01:21:58.640hand to Angus and Angus men, and rock gold rings, bounding to match the measure he gave his own
01:22:04.120Frisians, to keep morale in the beer hall high. Both sides then sealed their agreement, which
01:22:10.080owes to Angus Fenn swore openly, solemnly, that the battle survivors would be guaranteed honor
01:22:15.400and status. No infringement by word or deed, no provocation would be permitted. Their own ring
01:22:21.800giver, after all, was dead and gone. They were leaderless, and forced allegiance to his murderer.
01:22:27.620So if any Phrygians stirred up bad blood with insinuations or taunts about this,
01:22:31.960the blade of the sword would arbitrate it. A funeral pyre was then prepared.
01:22:37.640Evelch and gold brought out from the horde. The pride of the prince of the Shildians lay
01:22:41.660awaiting the flame. Everywhere there were blood plaster coats of mail. The pyre was heaped with
01:22:47.400the boar-shaped helmets forged in gold with the gashed corpses of well-born veins. Many had
01:22:52.240fallen. Then Hildebrand ordered her own son's body be burnt with knaps. The flesh of his bones
01:22:58.880to sputter and blaze beside his uncle's. The woman wailed and sang kings. The warrior went up.
01:23:05.500Carcass flame swirled and fumed and stood round the brutal mound and howled his head melting,
01:23:10.320crushed gashes, spattered, and ran bloody matter. The glutton element flamed, consued the dead of
01:23:16.820both sides. Their great days were gone. All right, so we've got a little bit for everybody on this
01:23:22.720one. So if you're into the funeral rites, it's in there. One of the things that I want to
01:23:29.360focus on on this one is the mother who lost her family, right?
01:23:40.320So one of the things that you will find in epic literature, as well as in the sagas, is a lot of the time the women will be either, they either act as solid council or they act as a cattle prod.
01:23:56.940And you'll see that more as we get into when the queen comes through as well.
01:24:02.020there are a lot of things that men will fight and die for that'll be country cause their folk
01:24:10.080but oftentimes a a woman will settle a lot of things a woman's heartbreak or a agreement with
01:24:21.960a woman or any of those things men will fight for women but men will also be peaceful for women
01:24:29.880And they will find a way to make that happen.
01:26:26.900the epic lore of the eddas is everybody's go-to but it doesn't teach the same like what do you do
01:26:39.080with that how do you behave with the ethics of alsa true and this poem does um
01:26:45.200Um, women being frith weavers is essential to women's proper social function.
01:26:59.660There's lots of things that women do that are women's specialties, and the more that
01:27:08.880move our women away from those or we lessen the value of those we rob our women of success and
01:27:19.360their natural strengths and glories in life one of the biggest of those is they are able to settle
01:27:31.280disputes and the calm things and i think that we've all been in those situations we've seen it
01:27:36.000go the other way. They can absolutely stir two men who would never, ever fight one another into
01:27:41.880a heated fist fight by choosing to make that happen. I've gotten a fight with a number of
01:27:48.520guys bouncing to where, because they're girls behind them. They literally mouth to me,
01:27:55.360I'm sorry, I don't want to do this. Because they got put on the spot and they got made to look
01:28:03.200weak and like are you gonna take that are you gonna let him talk to you like that and like
01:28:08.480and that's that's a thing but the inverse is also equally true putting a hand on somebody's arm
01:28:17.200and asking them not to fight there or asking them to take you home or like hey how about you how
01:28:22.480about you dance with me instead let's go dance doing those things sometimes very very subtle
01:28:29.120de-escalate a situation very very well and that's an important skill that is in short
01:28:39.020supply amongst our women these days unfortunately the idea of when the king falls everybody just
01:28:50.720kind of stops and goes, collects their dead and everybody goes home is a very important
01:28:59.440concept on things. And we see this displayed in different ways. I think
01:29:05.240we need to look at the things that our ancestors did that were celebrated and look at the things
01:29:15.940they did that were the subject of hardship and tragedy we don't want to ape how our ancestors
01:29:25.300lived how they lived is irrelevant the thought of the values that they lived for and what they
01:29:33.620chose to value and chose to not value are extremely relevant the individual actions
01:29:40.180are contextual. What we see is finding resolution is valuable. If you can get awesome vengeance
01:29:49.760and come out on top, that's also valuable. If two families or two groups of people are
01:29:57.460involved in a generations-long blood feud, that is a tragedy. Now, there are principles of honor
01:30:05.300that go into sometimes making that a necessity but it's tragic and finding ways to avoid that
01:30:13.780is one of the themes that our ancestors placed great value in
01:30:23.060when and this goes into and we talked a little bit about on the episode with tear as as the war god
01:30:30.900but when when two kings take the field
01:30:37.560a metaphysical struggle goes on when one of those kings falls
01:30:46.540the issue's kind of been decided you don't have to like it
01:30:52.660but you stop needlessly throwing life on it
01:30:59.160and that's a that's a hard thing but it's it's a really important thing and we see that a lot
01:31:07.800we especially see that in antiquity and through the middle ages when when the king goes down
01:31:14.680everybody just kind of get figures that it's it's done put down your weapons we'll call it good
01:31:22.200you know people go home we're gonna go home or you're you're we're gonna take you prisoner
01:31:28.480whatever the deal is um but battle's over at that point a lot things in the age of kings and
01:31:38.720war chiefs were very often personal in the sense that they were related to that king's claim on
01:31:47.760things to that king's rights being enforced or not when that king falls it's a very natural
01:31:56.080end to all right we don't every last person doesn't need to sacrifice their life
01:32:03.760and that saves that idea has saved a lot of lives
01:32:12.960we do have a question in the chat we might want to get to too before we get too much further
01:32:18.480um as true texas asked here's a question for y'all would it be inappropriate to hold a blow
01:32:23.440to slutnir he is technically offspring of locally of loki but he is also a boon to the all father
01:32:33.840yeah he's a horse like and i've seen the other things and it's
01:32:41.760it's strange because his siblings have different levels of sentience and personness
01:32:52.480we have zero indication in the lore that slepner is capable of
01:32:59.280exchanging in the gift cycle in a way outside of what a regular horse would be able to exchange in
01:33:12.000that's so the issue is well should we not do it because
01:33:17.360he's an offspring of loki no i don't think that's the reason that we shouldn't
01:33:21.920In that way, the same way that we've talked about various giantesses being welcomed into and amongst the Aesir, he's clearly welcomed to and, you know, on-team Aesir as Odin's steed.
01:33:41.880He's not a talking horse that engages, you know.
01:33:44.760And I'm not being silly because we do get the impression that Jormungand and that Fenrir are malevolent, that they have intent, that they have fought to do evil, to do chaos.
01:34:05.440We aren't given that impression of personality about Sleipnir.
01:34:09.080Now, that said, I've mentioned before, leaving out an offering for or giving a nod to, I don't think is inappropriate.
01:34:23.000Hosting a big bloat for would seem very out of place.
01:34:27.700And that may seem like a subtle distinction, but, you know, I mentioned the silly little first offering I did to Freya when I first became Alcetru.
01:34:36.020And it was meant, well, it's not what I recommend, but it was what I had.
01:34:41.420And I left her a shot of Goldschlager and some fancy feast because she had cats.
01:52:48.020more foppishness and you know i would argue more christianity took over the court of kings
01:52:55.940But in our tradition, frankness is really important, being able to speak openly, but it implies certain things.
01:53:04.600Your ability to speak openly, it goes hand in hand with your ability to accept things that are not your favorite with grace and without butthurt.
01:53:17.600We all who are listening to this know that our world would be a lot better if a lot of people were a lot less sensitive over the little minutia and microaggressions.
01:53:31.180So re-embracing a frank discussion of who sits where, that's part of the hall culture is I often wonder how the seating was laid out.
01:53:40.560i think it was very obvious and the ladies of the hall enforced it a lot on prescribed rank
01:53:48.400when there's kings and dukes and counts and there's a there's a structure when it's the
01:53:54.960members of a war band not as much i think there's probably a feeling out process of who sat where
01:54:02.160and whether you get to sit there without somebody saying hey you know that's my spot get up
01:54:06.800um having those conversations is healthy and it's especially healthy amongst men
01:54:13.520it's really important that we respond to those in a healthy way instead of
01:54:21.040taking a frank assessment of ourselves as being meant as an insult
01:54:29.840all right we're going to try to get the next couple sections here and then we've got some
01:54:34.640questions that are stacking up all right the cup was carried to him kind words spoken and welcome
01:54:42.100in the wealth of the rock gold graciously bestowed two-armed bangles a male shirt and rings and the
01:54:46.860most resplendent twerk of gold i had ever heard tell of anywhere on earth or under heaven
01:54:52.860there was no horde like it since hummus snapped the brosan's neck chain and bore it away with
01:54:59.160his gems and setting into his shining fort, away from Imeric's wiles and hatred, and thereby
01:55:04.440ensured his internal reward. Highlight the Geet, grandson of Swearing, wore this neck ring on his
01:55:10.820net last raid at bay under his banner. He defended the booty treasure he had won. Fate swept him away
01:55:16.700because of his proud need to provoke a feud with the Frisians. He fell beneath his shield in the
01:55:21.620same gem-crusted kingly gear he had worn when he had crossed the frothing wavebat. So the dead
01:55:27.560king fell into Frankish hands. They took his breastmail, also with his neck torque, and the
01:55:32.260Pinir warriors plundered the slain. When the carnage ended, Geet corpses covered the field.
01:55:37.400Applause filled the hall. Then Wethel pronounced in the presence of the company,
01:55:42.800take delight in this torque, dear Beowulf, where for luck and where for also this mail from our
01:55:47.520people's armory. May you prosper in them. Be acclaimed for strength, for kindly guidance
01:55:52.180to these two boys and your bounty will be sure you have one renown you are known for all men
01:55:58.080far and near now and forever your sway is white as the winds home as the sea around cliffs and
01:56:03.660so my prince i wish you a lifetime's luck and blessings to enjoy this treasure treat my sons
01:56:08.720with tender care be strong and kind here each comrade is true to the other loyal to the lord
01:56:13.500loving in spirit the things have purpose the things have on purpose the people are ready
01:56:18.980having drunk and pledged the ranks do as I bid. She moved then to her place. Men were drinking
01:56:24.260wine at the rare feast. How could they no fate, the grim shape of things to come, the threat
01:56:29.820looming over many thanes? As night approached, the King Hrothgarh prepared to retire to his quarters.
01:56:35.560Retainers and great numbers were posted on guard, as so often in the past. Benches were pushed back,
01:56:41.200bending gear and bolsters spread across the floor, and one man lay down to his rest, already
01:56:46.540marked for death as their heads they placed their polished timber battle shields and on the bench
01:56:52.620above them each man kid was kept in hand a towering war helmet webbed male shirt and great
01:56:58.820shafted spear it was their habit always and everywhere to be ready for action at home or in
01:57:04.220the camp in whatever case and whatever time they need a rose to rally around their lord
01:57:08.720they were a right people all right so we have with what what coming through and giving out
01:57:15.860gifts, a torque and a shield from the armory of their family and says, may they guide you and may
01:57:21.840give you luck and may give you honor, but you can tell exactly what it is that is on a woman's mind
01:57:26.600that's a little bit different than the king's. When she talks about all these things, may you
01:57:31.580take delight, may you take honor in this, if the care of my sons is your priority, if you are true
01:57:39.720to my children. I am giving these things to you and I am telling you in my speech
01:57:44.920that I expect your loyalty to my children. So that is where her priority is. She talked also
01:57:51.820about it in the previous bit when she says, your nephew would do well because he is closer to our
01:57:58.640sons than Beowulf is. And now she reiterates it to Beowulf as well. My children are my priority.
01:58:05.900My children are the future. Tend them well and honor is going to be yours. We are giving you
01:58:11.540these gifts. I'm telling you as a woman, this is what I expect in return. So the whole idea that
01:58:17.820women in this time and space are docile and they are only there to literally hold the cup and walk
01:58:25.060around is not true. They influence politics and they influence the leaders with the things that
01:58:33.540they say and the actions that they have. They are very blunt to make sure that their family and
01:58:39.460their children are first and foremost taken care of, that their interests are being taken
01:58:43.880care of. So the docile woman just handing out meat and smiling with nothing to say is
01:58:50.320not correct. I'll share your goal, do you have anything to add on that?
01:58:59.720I think you're muted. Yep. Funny when you said that, I said I'm waiting for Nick to take
01:59:05.360mute thing off um yeah i mean yes and no i think that the young women absolutely are
01:59:14.080because they don't have the interest or the
01:59:20.240gravitas to make that effective but specifically you see um noble women
01:59:28.880And having that, and you see a lot with queens, the women in hall culture, and in a large part today, do a whole lot to set the pecking order.
01:59:49.980and you know you can see this i've mentioned this a lot if you're in a room full of full of mixed
01:59:58.900company and all of the women the guys that the women show the attention to
02:00:04.420helps sort out the social status of the people in the room
02:00:09.200Some of that is the natural magnetism of the men, but a lot of that is the intentional, where women want to put that emphasis.
02:00:25.400and in the chaotic world of today it gets morphed into a lot of different things but the more
02:00:33.060structured the society is the more the women flex their subtle arts of social manipulation
02:00:42.940manipulation isn't a bad word you can manipulate things maliciously or in a way that's
02:00:51.800dishonorable but there's plenty of completely respectable ways to manipulate the situation
02:00:57.080and i think that we've got it in our lexicon as as a negative word when it's not um but specifically
02:01:06.200women determine the man with the most clout in the room often and when you deal in a situation
02:01:17.960like this especially with an aging monarch the women have a lot to do with the succession and
02:01:28.600how that works and they have a lot at stake very often the queen's value is
02:01:38.440they're the queen and then they're the mother of the next king
02:01:43.320it's their job to make sure that works because if it doesn't and their kids get pushed aside
02:01:52.680they're very quickly thrown in the dust heap and that's you know that's suboptimal so figuring that
02:02:03.840and using the powers that they have while they have them to ensure that their children are well
02:02:11.940taken care of and to get oaths and agreements in public to that effect are very very valuable
02:02:20.740because it's real easy you know after the king dies if you're a celebrity and you're
02:02:26.020awesome and you're prominent and you have a lot of power behind you for
02:02:30.580the princess just go hunting with you and disappear one day um and you know we don't
02:02:35.940talk about them anymore i don't know um and that but that but that happened a lot um
02:02:43.540so that's that's that's very much a thing to do that to do that publicly to do that in the side
02:02:48.180of the court and in the side of the gods in a ritual place is really important to secure
02:02:55.860those things and to secure the next relationship very often the the the queen would go and
02:03:05.940would then become the queen of the next king depending in a in a more elective war band you
02:03:12.020see this and it you read a lot about this on the lady with the mead cup i talk a lot about how it's
02:03:16.520very redundant this is one of the three or four points that it says 17 times um
02:03:25.320but yeah the the the man that the the former queen chooses to be you know the guy she's going
02:03:34.220to put attention on is a huge factor in their ability to take control of that leaderless war
02:03:41.700band or not. Once it's more formalized in a hereditary monarchy, her securing position
02:03:49.420for her sons is extremely important. And if not, her, you know, maybe becoming the queen
02:03:57.800of the next king is really important too if she wants to keep her spot and keep her family's
02:04:02.720prominence. All right. So we went through a lot of cultural things and how to act things and how
02:04:15.840to hold old things and importance of things. So now we're going to get back into the Quentin
02:04:20.980Tarantino movie portion. So Grendel's mother is going to be coming now. They went to sleep and
02:04:28.820one paid dearly for his knight's ease, as
02:25:08.420It was different for the other, rigged
02:25:10.500out in his gear, ready to do battle. All right, so she has basically taken the king of the friend,
02:25:18.060she has drug him through the woods, she has ripped his head off and left it, sitting there for them
02:25:22.840to find. Again, different monster. She is hurting them in all the possible ways that she can hurt
02:25:29.780them. She's not only taking him, she's like ripping him apart and leaving a trail for them to
02:25:36.180find. That's disturbing. It shows you just how brutal she is and just how heinous and vengeful
02:25:52.540she is and just how hurt she is. Like we said, we're not dealing with just an out of his mind
02:25:58.780monster, we're dealing with not only a monster, but a woman who has lost a child, a mother on
02:26:07.760vengeance. And she is doing things like leaving the head of Ashir for them to fight. They get to
02:26:15.840the water and there's all of these monsters and all of these things. And remember, your narrator
02:26:22.020is always going to prepare you. So we already know that Beowulf can probably deal with a singular
02:26:27.780sea monster. So now we're going to see what we can do with a whole bunch of them. Unferth gives
02:26:35.020him a sword, Hunting. And the name of that sword is Hunting. And this is important to know because
02:26:41.640this sword has never failed. What we are being told up until this point is that this is an epic
02:26:47.300sword. It has never been swung in battle and failed. It has always been a champion. It has
02:26:53.240always won the battle. It doesn't miss. And Unferth is giving Beowulf a sign of peace and a sign of
02:27:05.060acceptance in giving him this sword. This is a familiar, an ancient sword, an epic sword that
02:27:12.380he's giving to Beowulf. It's a sign of extending that hand in peace. I am giving this to you. He
02:27:20.260is accepting that Beowulf is a better man than he is, and it says, you know, there is no longer
02:27:26.320the memory of the way he talked to Beowulf when he got there. He's no longer challenging the
02:27:31.200awesomeness that is Beowulf. He has just accepted that he is the lesser, weaker man, and that he
02:27:36.920indeed is a coward, and he sure as hell isn't going to go in the water, but hey, Beowulf,
02:27:41.000I'll give you my sword. You can take my sword with me. Anything to add on that, sir?
02:27:47.620yeah i think he i think you're uh breaking up a little bit sir uh i'm up because
02:28:05.340all right so we're going to get into the last couple fits we're going to go into probably two
02:28:27.100more and i'm going to read these two together because they they flow well together and there's
02:28:32.860a lot of things in here that I'm going to point out just in these two, and it's pretty much the
02:28:37.700whole thing. Beowulf, son of Ekbal spoke, wisest of kings, now that I have come to the point of
02:28:44.780action, I ask you to recall what we said earlier, that you, son of Hafdain, and gold friend to the
02:28:50.480retainers, that you, if I should fall and suffer death while serving your cause, would act like a
02:28:55.820father to me afterwards. If this combat kills me, take care of my young company, my comrades in
02:29:01.140arms, and be sure also, my beloved Hrothgar, to send Hyglet the treasures I received.
02:29:06.760Let the lord of the Geath gaze on that gold, let Hrothal's son take note of it, and see
02:29:11.100that I found a ring giver of rare magnificence, and enjoyed the good of his generosity.
02:29:17.660And, unfurth, is to have what I inherited.
02:29:20.560To that far-famed man I bequeath my own sharp-honed, wave-sheened wonderblade.
02:29:26.500With Hrondina shall gain glory or die.
02:29:29.280After these words, the Prince of the Weathergeats was impatient to be away and plunged suddenly.
02:29:33.920Without more ado, he dived into the heaving depths of the lake.
02:29:37.160It was the best part of the day before he could see the solid bottom.
02:29:40.640Quickly, the one who haunted those waters, who had scavenged and gone her gluttonous rounds for a hundred seasons,
02:29:48.020sensed a human observing her outlandish lair from above.
02:29:51.660So she lunged and clutched and managed to catch him in her brutal grip.
02:29:54.960But his body for all that remained unscathed, and the mesh of the chainmail saved him on the outside.
02:30:00.520Her savage talons failed to rip the web of his worcesters.
02:30:03.960Then once she touched bottom, the wolfish swimmer carried the ringmailed prince to her court so that, for all his courage, he could never use the weapons he carried.
02:30:12.360And bewildering horde came at him from the depths, droves of sea beasts who attacked with tusks and tore at his chainmail and ghastly onslaught.
02:30:20.840The gallant man could see he had entered some hellish turnhole, and yet the water did not work against them,
02:30:25.880because the hall roofing held off the force of the current.
02:30:28.940Then he saw firelight, a gleam and a flare-up, a glimmer of brightness.
02:30:33.080The hero observed the swamp thing from hell, the torn hag, and all her horrible strength.
02:30:38.680Then heaved his war sword and swung his arm.
02:30:41.660The decorated blade came down, ringing and singing on her head, but he soon found his battle torch extinguished.
02:30:47.120The shining blade refused to bite. It spared her and failed.
02:30:50.160this man in his need. It had gone through many hand-to-hand fights. It had hewed the armor and
02:30:55.100helmets of the doomed, but here at last the fabulous powers of that heirloom failed.
02:30:59.820Eglis' kinsmen kept thinking about his name and his fame. He never lost heart.
02:31:05.360Then in a flurry he flung his sword away. Then king-inlaid, worm-looped patterned steel was
02:31:10.960hurled to the ground. He would have to rely on the might of his arm. So must a man do who intends
02:31:16.120to gain enduring glory in combat life doesn't cost him a thought when the prince of the war
02:31:20.940geeks warming to this fight with grendel's mother gripped her shoulder and laid about him in battle
02:31:25.000frenzy he pitched his killer opponent to the floor but she rose quickly and retaliated grappled him
02:31:29.940tightly in her grim embrace the sure-footed fighter felt daunted the strongest of warriors
02:31:34.840stumbled and fell so she pounced upon him and pulled out a broad wedded knife now she would
02:31:39.920avenge her only child but the mesh of the chainmail on bewell's shoulder shielded his life
02:42:59.080That, that is one theory of that. Yes. But why is it that there's that one sword that works?
02:43:05.900When you look at the sword, if you look at Leslie Hall's version of it, the translation of it, as well as Tolkien's, they talk about it having runes on it. It was forged in the time of the giants. And it has the story that it actually has written on the sword is a story of a flood, right?
02:43:24.480which would be going back to what when if our people were hearing this in or in an oral
02:43:30.520in an oral way right like if they're hearing the story in those times prior to christianity they're
02:43:38.540going to think of the killing of ymir and all of the flood that ensued from there right the killing
02:43:45.840of chaos, the managing of chaos, um, and the order that came from it. So that sword itself
02:43:54.220is very much order defeating chaos. The way my mentor explained it to me, why did the sword melt?
02:44:01.200The only thing that was left of the hilt. And this was kind of a lesson that, that he bestowed
02:44:06.660upon me. When you are going up against life or when you are going through a moment in your
02:44:15.160spirituality where it's kind of a battle and you're experiencing something, you're having
02:44:19.920an awakening of your own. You can tell people all day long about the battle that you fought
02:44:27.840and your experience with the gods and your experience with this whole thing. But in the
02:44:36.040end, all you have to show them is the result. The blade melts, the battle is done. There is
02:44:43.200no monster for them to see, but what you have in your hand is this beautiful jeweled hilt.
02:44:48.120And that beautiful jeweled hilt is what you learned and what you became because of those
02:44:55.160things that you went through and because of your personal experience that you can't explain to
02:45:00.620somebody else. All you can show them is the result of that. I can't tell you about my personal
02:45:06.720relationship and experience with this because I can't put it into words, but I can show you that
02:45:12.920I am a better person since I found the gods, since I have started venerating my ancestors,
02:45:18.700since I joined the AFA. I can show you my hilt. I can show you my result.
02:45:24.980So that's the story that I like to tell with that.
02:45:31.800And do we have any other questions or do we have anything else to add on that, sir?
02:50:16.140Yeah, I'm looking. It looks to me like we got them.
02:50:25.440Oh, we have one from Nick. When we were talking about oaths, right? How does it relate to holding of oaths who made it simple? They are the responsibility of the whole congregation, the self-lord beneath the group.