00:10:18.900If you would like to help with that, Nick has the donation link that goes directly to paying this off,
00:10:26.980and that's what's going to move us closer to getting the Hoff for Lord Frey.
00:10:30.340Okay. While we're running those things down, Nick, could you switch over and show folks the graphics for the Sigerheim thermometer as well, please?
00:10:48.220cool thank you very much we appreciate that so
00:10:56.420Sigurheim is being funded entirely separate and on a different schedule than New York's Hoff
00:11:04.560and Frey's Hoff and our Hoff efforts in general so it's not going to affect the rate at which we
00:11:10.160pay those off in any way it's running separate on the side but so you guys are aware we appreciate
00:11:18.200your donations on that as well through your generosity. We've already paid $41,000
00:11:23.180of the $250,000 that that property costs. We imagine this one's going to take us a little
00:11:29.400bit more because again, it's being done in a separate way of funding. So we appreciate it.
00:11:38.720Just letting you guys know kind of where we sit. And I guess where we sit going into the new year,
00:11:45.020This will be the last real update on this before the top of the year.
00:11:59.560But it doesn't work without you guys being willing to support our gods, support our church, support our faith, and support these projects that we're trying to do.
00:15:54.160when you have what you have done to draw two peoples the gates nation and us neighboring
00:15:59.200danes into shared peace impact of friendship in spite of hatreds we have harbored in the past
00:16:03.900for as long as i rule this far-flung land treasures will change hands and each side
00:16:08.620will treat the other with gifts across the gannets path over the broad sea world prowls will
00:16:14.440bring presents and tokens i know your people are beyond reproach in every respect steadfast in the
00:16:19.860old way with friend or foe. Then the earl's defender furnished the hero with twelve treasures
00:16:24.200and told him to set out, sail with those gifts safely home to the people he loved, but to return
00:16:28.840promptly. And so the good and gray-haired dame, that highborn king, kissed Beowulf and embraced
00:16:33.480his neck and broke down in sudden tears. Two forebodings disturbed him in his wisdom, but one
00:16:38.700was stronger. Nevermore would they meet each other face to face, and such was his affection that he
00:16:43.580could not help being overcome. His fondness for the man was so deep-founded. It warmed his heart
00:16:48.760and wound the heartstrings tight in his breast. The embrace ended, and Beowulf, glorious in his
00:16:53.720gold regalia, stepped the green earth, straining at anchor and reaching for the boarding.
00:16:58.600His boat awaited him. So they went on their journey, and Hathgar's generosity was praised
00:17:03.000repeatedly. He was a peerless king until old age sapped his strength and did him mortal harm,
00:17:08.540as it has done so many. So what we're seeing here is the actual relationship and the actual
00:17:14.380bond that has been made between these two in particular. And it says in here that
00:17:22.100the king, the king treasures the bond that he has had with Beowulf. And it is something that
00:17:28.900you see with men who have been in battle together over and over and over again. It's something that
00:17:35.060not everyone can understand. It is something that you have to go through a mass trial and
00:17:42.780tribulation in order to understand the depth of that relationship. And that's something that our
00:17:48.940poet here is trying to express, is there are things in our life that bring us so close together
00:17:54.740that knowing you're not going to see that person again
00:18:00.180can be heartbreaking and heart-wrenching. But sometimes you just know it's not going to happen.
00:18:07.420But that promise of gifts and that promise of correspondence and the promise of the reciprocal relationship still stands despite the distance.
00:18:18.500So that's one thing that I feel is pointed out in there.
00:18:22.580Sir, do you have anything to add on that?
00:18:27.380No, I think that's, I mean, that is what it is.
00:18:32.920I think it's a, I don't know, I think it's kind of a poignant passage in this poem, but
00:18:39.840I don't think there's anything, I don't know, confusing or that needs any extra explanation.
00:18:45.720Doing good. Awesome. So from here, Beowulf's going to go home, tell a story, and then our
00:18:53.140story's going to continue from there. So down to the waves, then dressed to the web of their
00:18:59.340chain mail and worship young men marched in high spirits the coast guard spied them thanes setting
00:19:04.700forth the same as before his salute this time from the top of the cliff was far from unmannerly
00:19:09.820he galloped to meet them as they took ship in the shining gear he said how welcome they would
00:19:14.300be in in gaitland and the broad bowl was beached on the sand to be cargoed in treasure horse and
00:19:19.900war gear the curved crowd motioned the mast stood high above rocker's riches in the loaded bolt
00:19:25.020loaded hold the guard who had watched the boat was given a thord with gold fittings
00:19:29.500and in future days that present would make him respect a respected man at his place on the mead
00:19:34.460bench then the keel plunged and shook in the sea and they hailed and they sailed from denmark
00:19:40.860right away the mast was rigged with the seashell sail ropes were tightened timbers drummed and
00:19:44.940stiff winds kept a wave crosser skimming ahead as she heaved forward her foamy neck was fleet and
00:19:50.540buoyant. A lapped prow looping over currents until the geats caught sight of the coastline
00:19:58.320and familiar cliffs. The keel geared up, wind lifting in his home to hit on the land.
00:20:04.420The harbor guard came hurrying out to the rolling water. He had watched the offing long and hard on
00:20:10.360the lookout for those friends. With the anchor cables, he moored their craft right where it had
00:20:15.180beached in case in case a backwash might catch the hall and carry it away then he ordered the
00:20:20.880princess treasure trove to be carried ashore it was a short step from there to where hatha's son
00:20:25.660in the air hyglek the gold giver make his home on the secure cliff in the company of retainers
00:20:31.780the building was magnificent the king majestic ensconced in his hall and although hide his queen
00:20:38.860was young a few short years at court her mind was thoughtful and her man was sure
00:29:53.280could you ease the prince of his well-known troubles your undertaking cast my spirits down
00:29:58.280i dreaded the outcome of your expedition and pleaded with you long and hard to leave the killer
00:30:02.200bee let the south danes settle their own blood feud with grendel so god can be thanked i am
00:30:07.680granted the sight of you safe and sound beowulf son of ectow spoke what happened lord heiglick
00:30:13.120is hardly a secret anymore among men in the world in the in this world myself and grendel coming to
00:30:18.700grips on the very spot where he visited destruction on the victory shieldings and
00:30:22.680violated life and limb. Losses I avenged, so no earthly offspring of Grendel's need ever boast
00:30:29.900of that bout before dawn, no matter how long the last of his evil family survives. When I first
00:30:37.820landed, I had hastened to the ring hall and salute the Kravgar. Once he discovered why I had come,
00:30:42.720the son of Halfdane sent me immediately to sit with his own sons on the bench.
00:30:46.540It was a happy gathering. In my whole life, I have never seen Mead enjoyed more in the hall on earth.
00:30:52.680Sometimes the queen herself appeared, peace pledged between nations, to hearten the young ones and hand out a tort to a warrior, then take her place. Sometimes Hrothgar's daughter distributed ale to the older ranks and order on the benches.
00:47:58.140war sword, and proceeded with the speech.
00:48:00.740When Hrothgar presented this war gear to me, he instructed me, my lord, to give you some account of why it signifies his special favor.
00:48:10.520He said it had belonged to his older brother, King Hrothgar, who had long kept it.
00:48:15.440But Hrothgar had never been quested to his son, Hrothgar, their worthy scion, loyal as he was, enjoy it well.
00:48:24.800I heard four horses were handed over next. Beowulfs bestowed four bay steeds to go with the armor, swift gallopers all alike. So ought a kinsman act, instead of plotting and planning in secret to bring his people to grief, or conspiring to arrange the deaths of comrades, the warrior king was uncle to Beowulf and honored by his nephew.
00:48:44.500Each was concerned for the other's good.
00:51:14.420So, interesting rabbit hole I'm going to jump down, but not for long.
00:51:17.840this particular fit in those lines of when Beowulf was basically ending that
00:51:28.120Beowulf was coming back and the story was supposed to be ending there is debate over
00:51:34.080whether or not this was actually meant to be two stories Grendel and Grendel's mother and the
00:51:39.040dragon that is actually a pretty hotly debated topic because of this in this particular um fit
00:51:47.020If you look at several other translations, Hall included, there's going to be a lot of lines that
00:51:53.600are actually starred through, or it says omitted, or whatever it is, because they don't really know.
00:52:01.480With the modern technology we have, and the way that they can look at things with different kind
00:52:05.660of lights and things like that, you can actually see where the ink has been shaved off and smeared
00:52:11.420off on the parchment itself, and what we have here has been written on top of it.
00:52:17.020and so there the original theory was that this was supposed to be two separate poems
00:52:23.880and that this little interlude that they're writing here is what is tying them together
00:52:29.540so that's one of one of the little rabbit holes I like to go down um because you can see it in
00:52:36.540other manuscripts and stuff as well now that we have the technology to see what was underneath
00:52:40.600that ink you can see what was underneath it if it hasn't been overly written over but you can see
00:52:46.500that there was something there. So that's just an interesting rabbit hole. I want to hop down on
00:52:51.060that. Um, when we talk about the battle that Heiglit dies in. So one thing you got to remember
00:52:59.880again, the genealogy, and this is where this is all going to come in. Um, if you've ever see that
00:53:06.380meme with the guy standing at the whiteboard with all the pictures and the string around it,
00:53:10.140and he looks crazy. I'm going to try not to look like that. Okay. But I just want to run through
00:53:16.780really quick why these things are important and how we got to where we're at. So Heiglik himself
00:53:23.740is Beowulf's nephew. Beowulf is the nephew or the son of Heiglik's sister and Ekthel. Okay.
00:53:37.040Now, Hyglaac's son, in theory, should have taken over, but there was a battle that took place, and people were invaded, or people invaded, and the people that were invaded were the Swedes.
00:53:53.820We hear about Half-Dane's daughter in the very beginning, who is sent over to Sweden to be the bride of Onella.
00:54:02.400he was not actually the king at that time the king at that time was Othair and what happened
00:54:10.440was Othair kills Othair and in theory Othair's oldest son Aemond which we are going to be hearing
00:54:20.100about should have been king but instead he takes refuge over with the geese
00:54:27.700that causes them problems causes wars people die next thing you know pal beowulf is now
00:54:36.720the king okay and we're going to get more into that here as the story continues but i just
00:54:41.720wanted to start with that so this is kind of the the secession of how beowulf became king okay
00:54:47.780how he got that but interesting those 10 lines all these things happen king dies people die
00:58:37.700No trendling heart, no tuned timber, no tumbling hawk,
00:58:42.320swerving through the hall, no swift horse pawing the courtyard.
00:58:45.400Pillage and slaughter have emptied the earth of entire peoples.
00:58:47.920and so he mourned as he moved about the world deserted and alone lamenting his unhappiness
00:58:54.340day and night until death's death's flood brimmed up in his heart then an old terror of the dark
00:59:00.540happened to find the horde open the burning one who hunts out barrows the slick and slick
00:59:06.060skinned dragon threatening the night with streamers of fire people on the farms are in
00:59:13.620dread of him he is given to hunt out hordes underground to guard heathen gold through
00:59:19.060age-long vigils though to little avail for three centuries the scourge of the people had stood
00:59:25.000guard on the stoutly protected underground treasury until the intruder unleashed his fury
00:59:29.340he hurried to his lord with the gold-plated cup and made his plea to be reinstated then the vault
00:59:34.880was rifled the ring horde robbed and the wretched man had his request granted his master gazed at
00:59:40.340the fine from the past for the first time. When the dragon awoke, trouble blared again. He ripped
00:59:46.240down the rock, writhing in anger when he saw the footprints of the prowler who had stolen too close
00:59:50.740to his dreaming head. So many a man not marked by fate easily escaped exile and woe from the grace
00:59:56.500of God. The horde guardian scorched the ground as he scurred and hunted for the trespasser who had
01:00:01.180troubled his sleep. Hot and savage, he kept the circling and circling from outside the mound.
01:00:06.000No man appeared in the desert waste, but he worked himself up by imagining battle.
01:00:11.040Then back in he'd go in search of the cup, only to discover signs that someone had stumbled upon the golden treasures.
01:00:16.240So the guardian of the mound, the horde watcher, waited for the gleaming with fierce impatience.
01:00:21.920His pent-up fury at the loss of the vessel made him long to hit back and lash out in flames.
01:00:26.740Then to his delight the day waned and he could wait no longer behind the wall, but hurtled forth in a fiery blaze.
01:00:34.420the first to suffer were the people on the land but before long it was their treasure giver who
01:00:38.740would come to grief all right so if you are looking at this from a scholarly aspect this
01:00:46.680particular part is called the lay of the lost the lay of the last survivor um what they're talking
01:00:54.400about is basically a burial mound and it says in here you know the we first got these treasures
01:01:01.320from you but then they you know basically return to you because they're in this mound
01:01:05.640one of the big things that's up to debate on here is what this dragon represents
01:01:11.080and you'll have the debates on does this dragon represent satan and all of the greed that
01:01:20.700destroys people i'm going to say no um i'm not no great educated scholar but i do have an opinion
01:01:29.140in my opinion is is that dragons do what dragons do it is an animal i don't think that this i think
01:01:36.820the dragon itself showing up is something that we should pay attention to but one of the things
01:01:44.060that dragons do is they find out and they search out these hordes and then they sit and they nest
01:01:50.240they're like a dog that finds a comfy blanket it is their thing it's just what dragons do
01:01:58.960And there's a lot of critics out there that will talk about how this all needs to be a complete and total biblical reference to how the dragon itself is Satan and how this represents all of the sins that men do.
01:02:15.820I don't think so. I think dragons in our lore, in our lore, and in our poetry, and in our culture,
01:02:26.820again, I'm going to ask the Asheragothi for his opinion. However, dragons do what dragons do.
01:02:34.220Consequences of poking the bear are consequences of poking the bear. The dragon always represents
01:02:40.280something that you have to beat and overcome, but often something that you poked to begin with.
01:02:49.880So I'm going to leave it at that and let the Elshir Yargothi talk about dragons really quick
01:02:54.360before I talk about that cup and the man who stole it.
01:02:58.300Um, yeah, dragons don't equal Satan. That's silly and dragons predate references to Satan.
01:03:10.280um but dragons do represent greed dragons are motivated by greed they are greed greed is what
01:03:18.880they do just like and and some of that has to do with their nature of being dragons
01:03:24.960but you also have the idea and the concept of not dragons becoming super greedy sitting on hordes
01:07:50.740You have to be able to support your community.
01:07:56.080so that is one of the things that i've always talked about with the people that i've studied
01:08:00.640they will with is having so much and making such a big deal in the raft coming from one small item
01:08:09.280being removed from that horde one insignificant item that does the dragon no good that's what
01:08:16.320that's what separates us from the dragon but the actually important to we can't we can't say it
01:08:24.960enough um sure the scholars out there through their own christian lens are are on to something
01:08:35.120the dragon represents anti-social malignancy and that's you know people talk about there's
01:08:45.600not good and evil and also true there is we just look at it through a lens of of order and chaos
01:08:51.440the proper order of things is to circulate wealth through the gift cycle through giving
01:08:57.040through generosity through sharing through you know lavish gifting if you're a king and you're
01:09:04.320sitting on piles of wealth you give that to your retainers you throw parties you do stuff
01:09:11.280for your kingdom if you sit on it and you have the uncle scrooge money bin that you go swim in
01:09:17.360that's not the same. When you take wealth that is sought after and virtuous and all you do is sit
01:09:27.120and hoard it for centuries and you begrudge the unpaid for, uncompensated parting of the slightest
01:09:38.560piece of your treasure hoard it's also a illustration of pettiness and you're willing
01:09:49.420to sacrifice everything and to bring all to ruin because there's one thing unaccounted for
01:09:57.000one minor thing unavenged i think that's something important to factor in with our ancestors whenever
01:10:02.440you read things when you read things like culture of the teutons which i am a huge fan of
01:10:09.280They paint things far too black and white when it comes to the hyper reputation and dignity culture.
01:10:21.880The slightest offense, and we see this time and again played out in our lore, not as an instruction of how we ought to be, but as an example of how not to be.
01:10:31.420when everything is an existential crisis because the slightest somebody called you a name or looked
01:10:39.440at you funny, destruction and the fall of your people in your kingdom ensue because you can
01:10:47.940never life dishes you out too many things for you to avenge every slight every strange look
01:11:00.260every possible thing you could avenge you have to be judicious in weighing the cost benefit analysis
01:11:08.020of the things that you do the dragon's not like hey you took one piece of my gold hoard
01:11:13.540the whole world must burn because of it it's important to look at that too this is very
01:11:21.620much a juxtaposition between order and the society of men and chaos which is represented by
01:11:29.060the three different monsters of this poem in different ways
01:11:36.260the only other thing that i kind of have a note on in regard to the dragon with the horde in
01:11:41.140particular is it was always pointed out to me as well that always watch what you know dragons do
01:11:48.500what dragons do but one thing that they do that is foolish and always ends with the death of the
01:11:56.980dragon or the happy ending for the humans is they have an entire mound of gold and they leave it
01:12:05.860they leave the horde they leave it behind to chase that one thing that they are missing
01:12:13.840and it's always to remember don't leave behind the big picture the big picture is always more
01:12:22.280important than the one thing the horde is more important than the one cup and in the end you'll
01:12:29.000always lose your entire horde if you are foolish enough to chase one thing so there's that as well
01:12:37.720i want to say thank you to someone someone donated ten dollars they bought us two coffees
01:12:45.520and said thanks for the weekly information we appreciate you someone i uh appreciate all you
01:12:50.860guys not being dragons and being generous we we thank you guys all right moving on to the next
01:12:58.240fit we are going to kill us a dragon i'll think about killing us a dragon anyway the dragon began
01:13:06.340to belch out flames and burn bright homesteads there was a hot glow that scared everyone from
01:13:11.560the vile sky winger would leave nothing alive in his wake everywhere the havoc he wrought was an
01:13:16.160evidence far and near the geek nation bore the brunt of his brutal assaults and virulent hate
01:13:20.860then back to the horde he would dart before daybreak to hide in his den he had swing the
01:13:25.560land swapping the flame and the fire and the burning and no one had felt secure in the vault
01:13:29.140of his barrel but his trust was unavailing then beowulf was given bad news a hard truth
01:13:34.460his own home the best of the buildings had been burnt to cinder the throne room of the geats
01:13:39.500it threw the hero into deep anguish and darkened his mood a wise man thought he must must have
01:13:45.300thwarted ancient ordinance of the internal lord broken his commandment his mind was in turmoil
01:13:50.340unaccustomed anxiety and gloom confused his brain the fire dragon had had raised the coastal region
01:13:56.340and reduced force and earthworks to dust and ashes so the war came plan and plotted his revenge
01:14:01.540the warrior's protector prince of the hall troop ordered a marvelous iron all iron shield from his
01:14:06.820smithy works he knew well the linden boards would let him down in timber burn after many trials he
01:14:12.740was destined to face the end of his days in this mortal world as was the dragon for all his lease
01:14:18.180hold on the treasure yet the prince of the rings was too proud to line up with a large army against
01:14:22.260the sky plague he had scant regard for the dragon as a threat no dreaded all of its courage or its
01:14:28.100strength for he had kept going often in the past through perils and ordeals of every sort
01:14:33.700after he had purged hrothgar's hall triumphed in herod and beaten grendel he out grappled the
01:14:39.460monster and his evil kin one of his cruelest hand-to-hand encounters had happened when
01:14:43.140Heiglitz, King of the Geats, was killed in Friesland, and people's friend and lord Rathal's
01:14:48.300son slaked the sword's blade thirst for blood. But Beowulf's progenous gifts as a swimmer
01:14:54.320guaranteed his safety. He arrived at the shore, shouldering thirty battle dresses, the booty
01:15:01.200he had won. There was little for Hethweir to be happy, about as they shielded their
01:15:06.500faces fighting on the ground began in earnest. With Beowulf against them, few could hope to
01:15:11.640return home. Across the White Sea, desolate and alone, the son of Ekthau swam back to his people.
01:15:17.620Their hide offered him throne and authority as lord of the ring word. With Higlec dead, she had
01:15:23.240no belief in her son's ability to defend their homeland against foreign invaders. Yet there was
01:15:28.540no way the weakened nation could get Beowulf to give in and agree to be elevated over Hedred or
01:15:34.560his lord, or to undertake the office of kingship. But he did provide support for the prince, honored
01:15:40.440and minded him until he matured as the ruler of Gieland.
01:15:44.700Then over sea roads, exiles arrived, sons of Othair.
01:15:47.740They had rebelled against the best of all the sea kings in Sweden
01:15:50.440and the one who held sway in the Shilfi nation,
01:15:53.540their renowned prince, lord of the meat hall.
01:18:06.460But yeah, showing Beowulf at two different points in his life in this poem I think is
01:18:21.460really important the if you are a king when your kingdom is winning and great things are happening
01:18:37.540you get a disproportionate share of the glory because of it but when times are tough
01:18:45.940you are disproportionately responsible for what did you do that brought misfortune upon your people
01:18:56.220and that is a that is a hefty thing to weigh and uh the fact that it's mentioned here i think is
01:19:09.380really important because it didn't have to be for the fun and the action of the story
01:19:15.940The fact that even the greatest of heroes has to stop and ponder the responsibility that he has when, you know, his kingdom and his people are relying upon him is a really important piece of this.
01:19:36.720And yeah, I don't think anybody, it's very easy to understand from a narrative point of view, it is much more difficult to internalize and feel the gravity of.
01:19:55.600all right so the next couple fits are going to be some information in background
01:20:05.840so i'm actually going to combine fits 34 and 35 which is going to be a lot of reading
01:20:14.160but i'd like to do together daniel skinner donated ten dollars to us and said hail the gods
01:20:20.740the AFA and the folk and ask a question. And I think it's a monetized question. So we're going
01:20:27.600to get to it right now. Do you feel like the dragons as described in lore are redeemable
01:20:34.460or is one lost when they turn dragon? What are your thoughts, Brandy, before I dig into that one?
01:20:45.400um so i get yelled at sometimes for my thoughts on dragons to be honest um a dragon is not
01:20:53.260redeemable a dragon is not a human being the only emotion that a dragon feels is wrath and anger
01:21:02.400that's it they remind me of a big dumb dog circling around their blanket and they get
01:21:09.640mad when you take the blanket. I don't think that they're redeemable in my opinion. I don't think
01:21:15.320that they have characteristics that can deem them noble no matter which story that you read because
01:21:21.000they are still a dragon. Dragons are going to do what dragons are going to do. It's in their nature
01:21:30.000just like Grendel going to do what Grendel going to do. It's in his nature. So no, I don't
01:21:36.300personally believe that they are redeemable, so I'll pass that one back over to you.
01:48:50.680we're almost done. I promise. We've got a total of, I think, 43 fits, so we're about there.
01:48:58.120All right. And so I have heard the son of Weston quickly obeyed the command of his languishing,
01:49:06.780war-weary lord. He went into the chainmail under the rock-piled roof of beryl, exalting his triumph,
01:49:12.100and saw beyond the seat a treasure trove of astonishing richness, wall hangings that were
01:49:16.360wonders to behold glittering gold spread across the ground an old dawn-searching serpent's den
01:49:21.160packed with the goblets and vessels from the past tarnishing and corroding rusty helmets all eaten
01:49:25.860away armbands everywhere artfully wrought how easily treasure buried in the ground gold hidden
01:49:31.320however skillfully can escape from any man and he saw to a standard entirely of gold
01:49:37.160hanging high over the horde a masterpiece of filigree it glowed with a light so he could
01:49:42.220make out and ground his feet and inspect the valuables of the dragon there were no remaining
01:49:48.540sign the sword had dispatched him then the story goes a certain man plundered the horde in the
01:49:53.900immemorial how build his arms with flagons and plates anything he wanted and took the standard
01:50:00.140also most brilliant of banners already the blade of the king's old sharp killing sword had gone
01:50:06.500had done its worst the one who had for long minded the horde and hovering over the gold unleashing
01:50:11.240the fire, surging forth midnight after midnight, had been mowed down. Wigalov went quickly, keen to
01:50:18.300get back, excited by the treasure. Anxiety weighed on his brave heart, and he was hoping he would find
01:50:23.000the leader of the Gitzliab where he had left him, helpless earlier on the ground open. So he came to
01:50:29.900the place carrying the treasure and found his lord bleeding profusely, his life at an end. Again he
01:50:35.180began to swab his body. The beginnings of an utterance broke out from the king's breastcage.
01:50:40.080the old lord gaze sadly at the gold to the everlasting lord of all to the king of glory
01:50:45.700i give thanks and i behold the treasure here in front of me and i have been allowed to leave my
01:50:50.280people so well in doubt on my day on the day i die now that i have bartered my last breath
01:50:55.960to my to own this fortune it is up to you to look after their needs i can hold out no longer
01:51:02.220order my troop to construct a barrel on on the headland of the coast after my my pyre has cooled
01:51:08.640It will loom on the horizon at Ronas and be a reminder among my people so that in coming times crews under sail will call it Beowulf's Barrow as they steer ships across the wide, shrouded waters.
01:51:22.380Then the king in his great heartedness unclasped the collar of gold from his neck and gave it to the young thing, telling him to use it in the war shirt and the gilded helmet well.
01:51:32.080You are the last of us, the only one left of the Wagamundines.
01:51:40.740Fate swept us away, sent my whole brave highborn clan to their final doom.
01:56:20.180All right, so the next thing that we're going to cover, um, we've got a couple left, so I'm going to read one, and then I'm going to combine the last two.
02:29:00.820We go back to the faith of our ancestors and we probe the depths of that faith through ritual, through the gift cycle, through reaching out to the gods and seeing what happens.
02:29:18.280and uh it's very hard for those of us who've practiced also true for a very long time to
02:29:30.000convince people who've never practiced also true that it's you know the right thing to do because
02:29:40.660it's not about intellectualizing and it's not about argumentation it's just true these are
02:29:50.700our gods and when we reach out they bless us and we've experienced those blessings in our lives
02:29:57.760for a long way i talk on this show a lot and i don't i don't fault you if this is your first
02:30:03.020time hearing it but something that's a recurring theme on here is talking about the coolest thing
02:30:10.180as a go-thee is when we are able to see in the eyes of people that moment where this becomes
02:30:22.180real to them. And many of us, many of us in the chat room likely, many Alcetruar that you've met,
02:30:31.220you mentioned over here that you're familiar with Alcetruar and that you like it in a lot of ways.
02:30:34.960a lot of people haven't experienced that yet but really want to everybody thinks that they believe
02:30:42.560in the gods until their mind is blown and reality has changed for them the gods exist
02:30:53.200and again i can't intellectualize that or make a a science argument on that because it's not a
02:31:02.200it's not an equation it's a reality um but it's night and day between when you wanted this to be
02:31:12.120true you hoped it would be true you were just going to believe that it's true until it is
02:31:19.320undisputedly true and how could you have ever thought anything different and those moments
02:31:27.080there's a lot of things i think i do good as a go thief but i can't i can't pull that rabbit
02:31:34.760out of the hat all the time um but sometimes sometimes if i do my job really well and if the
02:31:46.840gods decide they want to extend that i've seen quite a few times in the life where this becomes
02:32:38.420Other folk relate to other gods in their own very unique way.
02:32:45.560We relate to our gods in a very specific way
02:32:49.020that's related to our people and who we are and where we come from.
02:32:55.720so i so you know on uh and this is different for everybody in this room we've all got a different
02:33:04.700story but i didn't convert from christianity to house the truth i evaluate i was a christian
02:33:16.060I was a Jehovah's Witness. And I, through my own interaction with that faith, with that God, with that body of Scripture, found it to be wrong.
02:33:35.280And it to be wrong and it to not be real are two separate things.
02:33:40.780I came to the point that even if this God is everything he says he is in this book, he is bad.
02:33:52.520the stuff that he wants us to do is bad
02:33:57.360and is so fundamentally opposed to my very core as as a man that i can't support that so even if
02:34:09.580this is the all-powerful one god of the universe i have to be on the other side and that was really
02:34:17.480scary because that was the worldview that I was under when I, when I left the Jehovah's
02:34:25.800witnesses. But after I turned on that and realized that wasn't for me and wasn't something
02:34:34.080I could do in good faith and in good conscious conscience, I started to look into what my
02:34:40.940people had and I'm like, okay, let's go back to the factory settings here. You know, what
02:34:47.000did we have before? Because again, I'm a student of history. I knew that Christianity was a Middle
02:34:53.960Eastern, you know, reformation of the Jewish faith that then moved into Europe. Well, what did
02:35:01.000European people have before this Middle Eastern faith came into Europe? And that's when I found
02:35:08.000also true. And I found it in a, you know, an ancient sense. And I thought, I didn't know other
02:35:12.660people did this in you know at the time it was 20 2001 i didn't know other people did this but i was
02:35:19.700trying to look for ways that maybe our ancestors did or just to figure it out starting fresh
02:35:33.700it was a while ago so the afa was only officially six years old at that point
02:35:38.260and i discovered that there were other people who did this in the real world and in today's world
02:35:48.260that's what led me here and uh it has changed my life for the better in so many ways
02:35:58.600it has brought me my family my wife my daughter my friends everything that i have that's of value
02:36:07.440I owe to the relationship that I've worked very hard to build with my gods and with my folk
02:36:15.380through the context of Ausatru. Through ritual and through interaction, I couldn't possibly
02:36:23.740entertain the thought that my gods weren't real and weren't interacting with me when I tried to
02:36:30.900interact with them. I know that they are with every fiber of my being. And given enough time,
02:36:38.480and again, this is never going to occur to someone if they're intellectualizing by themselves
02:36:43.640in isolation. Because faith isn't about fear. I say faith, it's not even that.
02:36:51.540religion isn't about isolated speculations. It's about relationships. Relationships can't happen
02:37:02.160without interaction. So if you don't make the attempt to interact with the gods and with your
02:37:09.740religious community, you can't experience what it means to be out. And so people are stuck
02:37:19.360debating ideas and theories instead of dealing with experience and relationship. And it's a very,
02:37:25.880very different kind of equation. Brandy, what do you have to add or where would you take that
02:37:32.160question? One of the first things that I always tell people are like, are you trying to convert
02:37:38.120people? No, I don't have to convert you because the gods and the ancestors will do that on their
02:37:43.880own. What I am here to do is to be that guidepost that's shining really, really bright when you
02:37:49.480finally find your way and finally find your way home. So I'm the one that's going to lead you
02:37:53.420home to the rest of the folk. But as far as that conversion, it's something that you have to hear
02:37:57.920in your own head and you have to see it with your own eyes and you have to feel it in your own soul.
02:38:03.780Nobody is going to tell you that worshiping the gods is the right thing to do. We can tell you
02:38:11.220all day long, but until you actually experience it and know it in your heart, what we say isn't
02:38:18.400going to matter. What we're doing here is we are making sure that there is a home for you to go to,
02:38:23.720that there are folk with you to gather, and that there are
02:38:27.180hoffs for you to worship your gods in. That's what we're doing. We're doing our best to serve
02:38:33.120the gods and serve the folk, and we're serving the folk by being those guidelines that are
02:38:37.620bring them home. That's all I have to say about that, sir.
02:38:42.820All right. Next on our questions here. Which would you recommend moving close to,
02:38:56.880your local Hoth or prioritizing Sigerheim? I think that is a
02:39:04.900so i and we've this is absolutely something that's come up and been thought about um and i think it's
02:39:17.700a it's a false dichotomy because we are dealing with scale the answer between those questions
02:39:28.900is going to be based heavily on the individual circumstance so we have a lot of people that are
02:39:38.340very tied to where they are that have a different career path a different you know idea of what they
02:39:44.820want hopefully and eventually we'll have a hof in each of those places for the time being
02:39:52.660there are folk that their family connections, their career, their lives center them in certain
02:40:03.560locations or make certain locations more palatable than others. And so I think that the choice is
02:40:09.680all of those depending on your circumstance. What I want is for our folk to pick up where
02:40:18.460they are and move closer to one another the best that they can i want that to happen in
02:40:25.100jackson county tennessee at sigerheim absolutely because that's what i'm doing but i also want that
02:40:33.260to happen in murdoch minnesota i want that to happen in brownsville california i want it to
02:40:39.740happen in white springs florida and i want it to happen in lyndon north carolina and i want to
02:40:45.900happen want it to happen in wherever ohio or pennsylvania that phrasehoff lands and i want it
02:40:55.020in wherever we end up putting braggies off when it's that time all of those things are a great
02:41:04.300positive thing for us to rally behind and i don't really think it's a this or that choice
02:41:11.660keep them all in the mix and figure out what so assuming that you're asking because you're looking
02:41:18.380for stuff to do with your life figure out which of those places that we currently have
02:41:25.740best suits the needs of you your family your career the things that you have going that you
02:41:31.580value and go there any of those options is better than not going to those places
02:41:38.620and that's what i've got on what what are your thoughts on that brandy i think you should go
02:41:43.740wherever the folk are right so we've had actually several people that have moved to be closer to
02:41:50.380hops we have several people who are going to be moving to segerheim go where your folk are so
02:41:58.380go where you're comfortable go with what's going to suit you and your family but
02:42:02.380we need people at all of those locations the temple is to the god but it needs to be tended
02:42:09.660by the folk so wherever your heart calls you i suggest you go there all right
02:42:20.540so super honky asks do you guys have an afa calendar yes absolutely they posted the link
02:42:37.340nick can post a link again of the official afa calendar
02:42:42.300get yours today so you get it in time for the new year
02:42:45.580that being said i don't really know the depth of the question i'm not sure the secret identity
02:42:53.340of the super honky nor what his powers are that he gets with the title i'm curious about that um
02:43:03.740that said each so nick just put up the um the different websites for each of our hoffs
02:43:12.780there is a calendar on the front the home page of each of those sites as well as a more detailed
02:43:20.220calendar in the links that tells you stuff going on in those different hoff districts
02:43:27.780so check those out if the reason you're asking is because you're looking for events
02:43:33.740near you because we absolutely have those calendars as well and they're maintained on
02:43:38.040each of those sites that Nick has up there. Yeah, so we've got, depending on what you're
02:43:48.400looking for, we've got physical calendars on sale now, and we also have calendars that
02:43:52.520populate your local events on each of our websites.
02:43:55.620oh and shout out uh dale just bought a calendar and matthew bought two so i appreciate that
02:44:12.420dale and matthew thank you uh next question from human manipulation nation it really gets me
02:44:22.660thinking so what happens if you let the king die so to speak and see the air in your ways as a young
02:44:30.500warrior so here is the unfortunate reality that we exist in um oh another call back to uh to uh
02:44:49.140brenicus he mentioned that it's like christianity and also true have similar principles one's just
02:44:59.780more fleshed out than the other it's not true and this is one of the ways that um that it's not true
02:45:05.620so christianity is basing it is anti this life with the idea of storing up treasures in heaven
02:45:20.260for the next life in that way it's more similar to buddhism or some forms of hinduism where you're
02:45:28.580trying to escape this world to something better somewhere else whereas also true is life embracing
02:45:33.620And the other thing is, Alistair is very embracing of natural law, and it doesn't violate it in the way that Christianity does, which brings me to this.
02:45:48.180If you were one of the king's retainers and you turn and ran when your king needed you, you can try to hide from it and hope nobody knows.
02:45:58.660You can travel to far off lands and change your name and hope for the best.
02:46:06.060But if people discover who you are in your hometown or in your area, they're going to know of that great infamy that you've done for yourself.
02:46:18.120so the best you can do and this comes with any transgression or dishonorable behavior
02:46:30.160you can take responsibility for it you can own up to it you can attempt to compensate someone for
02:46:39.380the loss i don't know how you would compensate the king or his family for abandoning him
02:46:47.320in his hour of need i don't know what you would be able to do that would somehow even those scales
02:46:55.080over the course of your life you can devote your life to noble behavior and noble deeds
02:47:02.600and hope that if you try hard enough and you try hard enough for long enough
02:47:08.280enough that you can outweigh the negatives with the positives. But if that's the case,
02:47:17.140you better start now and you better start running off the line because that's a pretty high degree
02:47:24.220of shameful behavior. But that's the only answer. And I think that this is accessible to all of us.
02:47:31.760I don't think many of us are going to abandon a literal king in the face of a literal dragon.
02:47:38.280But the best you can do is take responsibility, attempt to make right what you've done, and spend the rest of your existence trying to balance it and outweigh it with good deeds and with noble conduct, and hope that the scales work out in your favor when your saga is done.
02:51:07.180In all of our lore and all of our belief,
02:51:11.960everything is about motion the sun and the moon have to stay in constant motion because
02:51:20.020they're chased by two wolves that will overtake them and eat them if they don't
02:51:24.840everything in our nature in our cosmos in our cosmology is about constant movement
02:51:35.140because chaos is very closely related to entropy when we stop moving forward we trend towards
02:51:46.580destruction and chaos the only thing that keeps us from that is constant motion forward doing things
02:51:52.920it is part of the overall theme of why this program is called victory never sleeps if you
02:51:58.400want to keep winning you got to keep doing when you rest that's when rot takes in
02:52:04.700So that's a big, big part of it. Dragons are the manifestation of that chaos of hoarding and stopping with your mound of gold. Instead of investing it, circulating it, making use of it.
02:52:20.000um what are dragons otherwise it's a fascinating question because there's dragons
02:52:28.020in so very very many different ancient people's conceptions of things the theme of dragons
02:52:39.580is so widespread and so worldwide that it's it raises a lot of really interesting questions on
02:52:47.700And what the genesis, forgive me for using a biblical term, what the origin of dragons truly are in the experience of mankind in ancient times.
02:53:07.840And I think it's really, really interesting, and you can go down interesting rabbit holes on that, and the subject is very fascinating.
02:53:13.840But that's something interesting is just how pervasive in the existence of sentient earth fauna that dragons are.
02:56:46.400I would never turn down a statue or artwork or anything at a Hoff.
02:56:53.380If you paint me, and I'm just going to say it, if you paint me a picture for my Hoff or for your Hoff, I will personally go out there and hang it up.
02:57:02.980If you send me something that is artwork for the Hoff, I will put it up.
02:57:07.860If you send me something for an ancestor altar, I will go take it out there.
02:57:11.520If you send me something for the Elsie Christensen altar, I will go out there and take it out there for you.
02:57:17.940I will never turn away the gifts of the folk, especially when they're done out of love and worship of the Aesir or in remembrance of the ancestors or in honor of our heroes.
02:57:30.680So if you have things that want to go out to the Hoff, send them to me.
02:57:48.400If you're a grown man and they're shockingly hideous, probably not.
02:57:51.440If you are a child, then the thought is what counts.
02:57:56.360Realistically, though, yeah, everything you guys do, if you look at some of the archaeological examples we have in Northern Europe of our stuff, it's very simple.
02:58:07.060it's very rustic um that's part of the point in the artistry but the the intent
02:58:18.840carries it so far beyond that um that said stone is such an interesting medium because if you know
02:58:28.920how to do it right we have some of the most beautiful stone work in the renaissance with
02:58:36.040you know much less technology than we have today with some of the most intricate folds and fabrics
02:58:41.640and indication of veins and people's musculature and just ridiculous stuff that they're able to do
02:58:48.440with with marble or or other things so there's so much you can do in the medium of stone
02:58:54.520and be it simple or be it complex i think it would be great to honor our gods with that
02:58:59.000All right. So, uh-oh, uh-oh. This just in. Hope, new member, $20. Baldershof is the best
02:59:19.240Hoff. Thanks, Hope. Appreciate it. I just want to point out that it does not make it the best
02:59:29.900Hoff. It makes it as good as Odin's Hoff. I need one more from Baldur's Hoff, guys. Where are we at?
02:59:36.180So that makes Baldur as good as Odin's Hoff. Thor's Hoff and Yort's Hoff, you guys are slacking.
02:59:43.580um that said brandy thank you so much for for doing these i appreciate you our folk appreciate
02:59:53.900you we've gotten so much good feedback on this series um thank you very much thanks for having
03:00:01.980me all right guys well i look forward to talking to you guys next week um if for some reason you're
03:00:09.500You're busy with it, hopefully for a great reason.
03:00:12.200If you're with family and friends this month and you miss the next couple, keep in mind, they come out on Friday as a podcast, but on Spotify.
03:00:20.920But also, you can listen to this anytime.