00:07:11.060my daughter and i are traveling down in the morning to uh head to mjordshoff in beautiful
00:07:18.660white springs florida hoping to see you all there or at least see many of you there if
00:07:24.580it's something you can do if you can make it there we would love to see you there
00:07:28.100any of our folk builders can get you set up if that's something you'd like to do
00:07:32.020it's a good opportunity to meet people it's a wonderful opportunity to worship
00:07:36.100our gods and to be at Lord New Orleans Hoff so if you can be there make it out
00:07:45.020I would love to see you it'll be great it should be a really good weekend um
00:07:52.020without further ado where did we leave off two weeks ago I believe we are on
00:08:00.060section 16. All right, so we are going at veluspau.org and we are reading from the
00:08:14.780Prose Edda, the Gilfaginning. So feel free to follow along there, follow along
00:08:20.220in, you know, hard copy at home or whatever you got, any translation you
00:08:24.620want. Maybe it has something put in a slightly different way or something you
00:08:28.500learn from but feel free to follow along and it's fun um whenever you would like go ahead and
00:08:36.580take us into the text i think what we're gonna do is
00:08:41.940do about an hour of text and commentary on said text and if you guys have questions that are
00:08:48.500relevant to what we're what we're reading we'll try to hit those as they come if not we'll take a
00:08:55.380break somewhere about an hour in and answer kind of clear the queue of the questions and go back
00:09:03.220into the text so yes fawn take us into guilt forgetting 16 if you would okay and just for a
00:09:11.460little context for people uh we're leaving 15 15 was about yggdrasil the ash that is in heaven
00:09:20.420And that when the gods leave Ausgard, their castle, their enclosed kingdom in heaven, which is on the heavenly mountains, they come up and over and down to the base of Yggdrasil where there is Earth and Verdandian Skald,
00:09:45.420scald the the norns at the well spring at the base of the tree where they revive it
00:09:53.180um so there's a little bit on the well there's also the horses that they use to travel
00:10:01.820from the heavenly realm um or from the uh from ausgarth to the heavenly realm proper if you will
00:10:10.460and um then there is the mention uh really interesting part about how there are norns
00:10:19.240of the gods there are norns of the elves and there are norns of the dwarves and we spoke about
00:10:25.060um you know the the common uses that that we speak of today is dsir um which is again very
00:10:32.300important uh coming up for for um disa thing in which um a d is a determiner of fate uh a bestowing
00:10:45.020of goodly power or doom depending on which way at the very end of 15 it said um good norns and of
00:10:54.300honor our end of honorable race point good life but those men that suffer evil fortunes
00:11:00.300are governed by evil norns so the nornir are placers of fate and it just kind of re-emphasizing
00:11:11.420cosmology and how the the heavenly mountains being up above midgard where the gods live the tree is
00:11:22.060and is surrounded by the swathes of light the light elves and um and there will be some more
00:11:28.780actually because this is just we notice that these um sections are on subjects so 16 is
00:11:39.020further on the ash uh the further on yggdrasil so then gun larry asks what more mighty wonders
00:11:50.380are to be told of the ash and high replied much is to be told of it an eagle sits in its limbs
00:12:01.180and he has understanding of many things and between his eyes sits a hawk that is called
00:12:07.900or wind-torn. The squirrel, called ratataskr, or chattering teeth, runs up and down the length of the ash, bearing envious words between the eagle and nidhogr, the corpse gulper, or the nether gulper.
00:12:37.900and there are four hearts in the limbs of the ash that bite the leaves and they are called
00:12:44.700dawin dvalin dunir and durrthror which are the names of dwarves and we don't necessarily know
00:12:57.580any story in relation to that but by that naming system we can clearly see that there there's
00:13:04.940actually i i i'm a hundred percent in belief that there's a missing story as to how for
00:13:14.140uh dvergar end up being the four hearts that are constantly kind of eroding
00:13:21.260yggdrasil um so and they they describe the ratataskr climbs from the top of the tree and he
00:13:30.380He goes down into the underneath the roots and into the holes and disappears and then travels his way down to the bottom at the taproot where Nidhagar is gnawing on the root.
00:13:47.800Moreover, so many serpents are there in Fergelmir.
00:13:53.220Fergelmer is the well at the taproot, and with Nidagr, that no tongue can tell them, as it is said, Ash Yggdrasil suffers anguish.
00:14:06.220And that's kind of the whole point of the paragraph we just read, is that Yggdrasil is under constant assault.
00:14:15.940Ash Yggdrasil suffers anguish more than men know of.
00:14:19.760The stag bites above, on the side it rotteth, and Nidhoggr gnaws from below. And it is further said, more serpents lie under Yggdrasil's stock.
00:14:34.080so in uh as yggdrasil is in heaven the heavenly mountains and then the midgard and then neither
00:14:42.840velar and then even niflheim all descend below and there are serpents gnawing upon the roots
00:14:50.840um more serpents lie under yggdrasil's stock than ever unwise ape can think
00:14:59.040It is further said that these Norns who dwell at the well of Urðr take water from the well every day,0.92
00:15:26.720and with it that clay which lies about the well and they sprinkle it over the ash to the to end
00:15:36.080and that its limbs shall not wither nor rot for that water is so holy that all things which come
00:15:45.460there into the well become as white as the film which lies within the egg shell as is here said
00:15:55.160I know an ash standing called Yggdrasil
00:16:00.840A high tree sprinkled with snow-white clay
00:16:05.560Thence comes the dews in the dale that fall
00:16:22.800And thereon are bees nourished, and two fowls are fed in earth's well, and they are called swans, and from those fowls has come all of the race of birds.
00:16:35.300Then, said Gangleri, thou knowest many tidings to tell of the heaven.
00:16:46.160What chief abodes are there, more than earth's well?
00:16:51.580And Haur, high, said, many places there are, and glorious, that which is one called Aufheimer.
00:16:59.900There dwell the people called Leozalvar, or light elves.
00:17:06.640But the dark elves dwell underneath the earth, and they, unlike in appearance, but by far more unlike in nature.
00:17:20.060I've spoken about how alvar, the word, the moniker, confuses people.
00:17:25.700But it is best way to remember that Alvar, with whatever is in front of it, is a being of pure synthesis to it.
00:17:37.960So the Leos Alvar are beings synthesized with light.
00:17:43.060Dark elves are synthesized with the darkness.0.89
00:17:46.180And we find this in the Kennings, like Gandalf, a being of the wand.0.80
00:17:53.020And we also see it when the Vikings in one of their haiti, or one of their kennings, is that they are skip alvar, they're elves of the ship. So alvar is a broad term. And even here, it says, you know, that they are unlike in appearance.
00:18:14.280um the light elves are fairer to look upon than the sun but the dark elves are blacker than pitch
00:18:23.660then there is also in that place the abode braitha bleak or broad and shining and there0.98
00:18:34.780is not in heaven a fairer dwelling there too is one called glitnir the scintillating or
00:18:42.860or glittering. Those walls and all of its posts and pillars are of red gold, but its roof is made
00:18:50.360of silver. There's also an abode called Himenbjark, or heavenly mountains, or the castle upon the
00:18:59.660heavenly mountains, and it stands on heaven's edge, and by its bridgehead is the place where
00:19:06.660Bivrost joins heaven. Another great abode is there, which is named Vyallaskyalf. So when
00:19:16.820Bivrost comes down, it arcs up and over and descends over heaven's edge. And that's where
00:19:27.400it is met and continues into the heavenly realm. Vyallaskyalf, or the precipice of the chosen,
00:19:36.660Odin possesses that dwelling. The gods made it and thatched it with sheer silver. And in this hall is Hlíðskálf, or the battle precipice or the viewing precipice.
00:19:52.140the high seat is so called and there's debate as to whether or not it's was
00:19:58.860pictured as a a cliffside or just a kenning for the name of the high seat itself um so in many
00:20:09.380depictions you might see um lordo then sitting on a cliffside in a high seat um and that's again
00:20:48.860shall dwell therein. So it says in the Volusbau, a hall I know standing there, then the sun fairer
00:20:58.080thatched with gold in Gimli bright. There shall dwell the doers of righteousness and ever and
00:21:05.980ever enjoy delight. So we start to see some directionality in heaven, which is why I'm a
00:21:15.980big proponent for understanding that Ausgarde is in heaven. It's not the entirety of heaven
00:21:24.060because we start to see this directionality that in the southern part of heaven or in the place
00:21:31.780above the clouds where the gods live in the southern part, it would be facing the sun,
00:21:36.820which is a huge cultural thing in the north, in northern European climates,
00:21:43.780to have your door facing the south um was a boon so it's it's it's saying that though
00:21:51.580it's got a prime spot um and at this point um it's mentioning that the the souls of those
00:22:07.260of amongst the gods will dwell there and it survives Ragnarok. But there's another interesting
00:22:15.480thing that goes on that a lot of people don't talk about in cosmology. And that is the other
00:22:22.160heavens. And we have to remember that the word heaven being placed here is an elevated place.
00:22:29.660And it's very interesting when we go over the names of those places. I think they'll shed more
00:22:36.080light on what, what is being said. Um, so in essence, this upper realm, this place amongst
00:22:46.660the Leosalfar, where the Leosalfar are kind of inhabiting the upper realms, the gods are there.
00:22:53.580And then we see what would in essence be an escalation. And I think that this is, uh,
00:23:00.380corresponding to the level upon which the gods interact with the earth that there are there is
00:23:09.180abilities to be far removed from fate and far removed from the middle world but they choose
00:23:19.420to be closer because they can interact but those places become safeguards when um heaven is under
00:23:29.440attack. And we could kind of see this as a compartmentalization of heaven in a way in which
00:23:37.040it's in a cosmological sense. Their direct interaction with fate, with Orla, with creation,
00:23:46.940and all of these things that by moving to these upper realms, there is a distancing that
00:23:55.400removes a lot of their ties so they don't do that um but yet save it for when heaven's attack
00:24:05.960they can place the souls of those who have ascended there by choice via valfather and his
00:24:12.900choosing of of the the uh einherjar by the valkyria and by those who have ascended up there
00:24:20.380through greatness of deed and greatness of renown and so even the souls in heaven um
00:24:28.860some of them it's fun we're going to pause for just a second we got somebody blowing up the chat
00:24:33.740i'm very insistent that we answer a question apparently i'm not sure what pagan revival is
00:24:42.220I assume it is an outlet for Raven Folk or something, but somebody wants me to address, I guess, a variety of accusations there or whatever.
00:24:55.420But the closest I can tell is for me to address the Kevin Van Paye situation.
00:38:50.380I do find it quite poetically beautiful that this is all going on when we're talking about the things that are gnawing at Yggdrasil.
00:38:59.620like these uh these elements that try to constantly tear down and dissipate and break
00:39:09.780or over spiral and purity or purity spiral or split it's it's a constant thing and you can
00:39:17.660always tell i think that's a good marker perhaps the idea is that you know when you are on that
00:39:23.320onslaught it's because you matter and because you are that that center force um you know nobody's
00:39:30.900really uh cracking down on uh out outliers edge walkers that have no point the center is always
00:39:41.140constantly being attacked very very uh divinely um fitting if you will it's unfortunate but it
00:39:51.720is what it is, but it's, it's one of those things. It's just not true. And it's been weaponized and
00:40:03.640the goal of it seems to be to tear down stuff that is good and successful. And unfortunately,
00:40:12.160a lot of well-meaning people get pulled away from our faith because of it. And then those people
00:40:20.200don't come back. Those people end up getting distanced from, you know, a good relationship
00:40:27.900with the gods and an active ability to participate in the gift cycle. And, you know, all for a lot
00:40:36.500of pettiness. And the things that are, the folks that are spreading, the folks that are at the top
00:40:41.460spreading those things know for a fact that they're not true, or at least the way they're
00:40:46.660characterizing them are grossly untrue. They all know that, but it trying to tear down the AFA is
00:40:55.640more important to a lot of people than practicing ausitrine in whatever they feel like the right
00:41:03.180way of doing that is. And that's something that's something I think is relevant in our circles a lot
00:41:10.860and is worth discussing are people there's a lot wrong in the world and I think we get that but I
00:41:23.000think some people get very caught up to where they lose sight of the things that they're for
00:41:28.060and they only define themselves by what they're against there's a constant need to tear down
00:41:34.960But an aversion or a, I don't know, a lack of any focus on what they're for.
00:41:44.160And I think we see it with race a lot.
00:41:47.360I think when people become racially aware and they see the persistent degradation of white people,
00:41:58.880And they start being very anti. And they become more anti-other than they are pro-white. And I think that's unfortunate. And I think we see it in Ausatru. When somebody has a disagreement, either legitimate or illegitimate, with a group of Ausatru, or their focus, and often this lands on the AFA, is to spend years
00:42:26.780complaining about the AFA rather than to spend time building whatever they think, you know,
00:42:34.140the right way, the right way to do it is. And we see that time and time again, it's really
00:42:40.520unfortunate, but the most unfortunate part is people who genuinely don't know any better,
00:42:45.000they get caught in the middle and it damages their relationships they have with their friends,
00:42:50.540their family, and with the ICR ultimately. So I hope people can overcome that. Again,
00:42:55.560I'm always here for any questions, answering questions is important.
00:43:00.360But while I'm on that, Nick donated $10 each to Sigurheim and Frazehoff.
00:47:02.820You can't have somebody coming in and say, no, don't look at that that way.0.58
00:47:06.880It's just that it's an understanding, okay, there's never any moment in which women are
00:47:12.700distraught, but there's nothing wrong with you applying it in that way.
00:47:18.420there's a a kind of cohesion that you will have with exploring facets and ideas that bring you
00:47:27.540closer to understanding fate time and again uh the the feminine as i was here ago he was talking
00:47:36.100about interweaving um i often say you know the masculine is vertical it's the pillars and the
00:47:43.620the feminine is horizontal, like the weaving between the pillars, almost like cloth or a
00:47:48.940basket. And in this case, we see the weaving of fate and the threshold of the feminine.0.66
00:47:58.900All time passes through the threshold of the feminine, just like children are born through0.65
00:48:05.460the threshold of their mothers. So I really think that's an interesting way of looking at it.
00:48:11.720And so I would never discourage that, honestly. But I have to give it to you from the lore perspective first. And that I think is the names are indicative of purpose and titling all of the gods.
00:48:28.880The gods are the gods of the Aryans. And whether the Greeks call them by certain names or whether the Norse or the Germanics call them by certain names, the titles have purpose in the way that our relationship to the gods has been built.
00:48:47.140We ask the gods, and very rarely, I mean, some of the titles are based strictly on observation. Thor, thunder, so observation. But the furious one, and again, observation, but it's connected to battle, and that's Lord Odin.
00:49:09.240So all of the titles are kind of built around giving us glimmers of purpose and scope.
00:49:21.000Something else to add on the observation about the Nornir. That really, that is the root of the Wiccan, what is it, maiden leather throne tripartite there. It's drawn from the same source.
00:49:39.720so you're not and those functions are very much kind of what you're talking about in what you're
00:49:46.920saying so to see that in that is isn't odd and it's not you know it's not outside the norm of
00:49:54.900things that people have taken from that progression so it's it is an expansion on a theme that i do
00:50:03.260think is useful and worthwhile to formulate thoughts in though it's not you know explicitly
00:50:11.180what the point of those particular norm there are but that said we're we're what's gone i
00:50:19.820know you were finishing up right in the last section here of 17. um so we talk about the
00:50:28.700other heavens and in our modern way of thinking oh is like a place above a place but we have to
00:50:35.980remember the storytelling and the understanding of the heavenly mountains which a lot of people
00:50:43.740forget about um there's the heavenly mountains and up there is is the either of all the plane
00:50:51.340of of work where the gods have built us go to there and there's the tree and then there's uh
00:50:56.700like these elevated places connected to um so it's obviously this is symbolic of
00:51:08.060things and i was kind of speaking about um how the the not residing in those elevated places
00:51:17.820because it brings them closer to the middle world is i think the important part of that
00:51:23.100and we can kind of see to some some understanding um because here after speaking about the hall
00:51:31.100gimle um then gangleri asks what shall guard this place when the flame of sorter shall consume
00:51:43.260all heaven and earth hower answers it is sad that another heaven is to be southward or it is said
00:51:51.420actually this is right i might be written wrong it is sad that another heaven is to be southward
00:51:59.420and upward of this one so i think it's said um and it is called on our own longer
00:52:10.940which means end long or on the end long of heaven so now we start to see
00:52:18.220the idea that there is an extension um that is off and upward and there is a third heaven
00:52:28.820and again the word heaven meaning elevated place um we of course conceptualize it differently
00:52:36.920because of both christianity and its usage but this elevated place so end long is kind of off
00:52:45.460of heaven and upward, but there is a third and it is called Vithblauen, which means the far blue
00:52:52.580or the far, um, or the wide blue, the, the great expanse, the sky, if you will, um, clearly
00:53:02.420referring to sky. Um, and in that heaven, we think this abode is, but we believe that none dwell
00:53:12.380there but the light elves that inhabit these mansions now so the leo salvar alvar again
00:53:20.540another title like nornir uh synthesizing with light the leo salvar are masters of light or the
00:53:29.820lords of light if you want to think about it like that alvar is kind of like lords and they inhabit
00:53:36.700this heavenly realm around the heavenly mountains of the gods and even in the far off and uppers
00:53:44.140now the only uh inhabitants there are the leo salvar and that they inhabit the world
00:53:52.380are the clouds and the stars the starry expanse around um the gods the in in the blue and in the
00:54:00.300in the light and they descend down into uh midgard to encourage things to grow and uh perhaps you
00:54:08.460know protect and give guidance um we see this in the names the anglo-saxons names like alfred um
00:54:17.500meaning counseled by the elves but it's just not specified um or it could also mean a council elf
00:54:26.140meaning somebody who's completely synthesized which makes them good at it um could be read
00:54:33.500either way um so i just i find that very very interesting but i think in a cosmological sense
00:54:43.180and now as we know that the the world is not hemispherical but spherical um and we're looking
00:54:50.140at the cosmos in a slightly different way from our ancestors, we notice that there are elevated
00:54:56.840places upon which the gods will place the souls that live amongst them into these places for
00:55:04.760safekeeping up and away from the battle. And they do not remain there because it doesn't befit
00:55:15.260their adjudication of order in the middle world.
00:55:19.660They choose to be closer and more involved,
00:55:23.620which is, I think, a subject that we talk about a lot,
00:55:47.780It is strong, so that it stirs the great seas, and it swells fire.
00:55:54.780But strong as it is, none may see it, for it is wonderfully shapen.
00:56:01.780And then Haur said, That I am well able to tell thee at the northward end of heaven.0.99
00:56:10.780So, in the upper realm, on the north side, the cold side, there is a giant or a Jotun. And remember, we talked about that too, like Alvar is a title. Oftentimes, Jotun is a title, and people immediately relegate it to one place and thing, and that is not the case.
00:56:34.620But the best thing for, I think, for folks when they're reading the stories, when they see the word Yotin, it's ancient, like the mountains, old, and before the gods organized themselves into the adjudicators of order, there were the Yotins from various places.
00:56:56.340And so it is a jaten in the shape of an eagle, and its name is praisvelger. Praisvelger or praisvelger means carrion or corpse eater, swallower or gulper.
00:57:20.180And he has plumes of an eagle, and when he stretches his wings for flight, then the wind rises from under his wings, as here it is said.
00:57:34.440Reisvelgerheit is he, height meaning title, who sits at heaven's ending, giant in eagle's coat.
00:57:43.780From his wings, they say, the wind cometh, all men folk over.
00:57:48.760So the picture that I did as the interpretation of cosmology, I made a spherical Earth because I wanted to connect that understanding and show that the application of mythos can apply even if you have a scientific spherical Earth.
00:58:13.920um and in it there at the top in it's very small but you could see it uh behind the strut of heaven0.99
00:58:22.880there is a race velg and he's um a rice svelger he's uh fanning uh over the world making um
00:58:35.580the wind and there's little plumes of wind coming off of his wings um and i think that that is0.51
00:58:42.440really indicative of the nature of Jotun's in relation to the Midgard world. We talk about
00:58:53.220pressure and buildup. Vanaheim is of life and of death and the cyclic nature of these things.
00:58:58.880Jotunheim is really resistance, and that doesn't necessarily mean against life, but the buildup
00:59:08.060of pressures wind is pressure building up the heat the cold um and uh you know elevations and
00:59:17.200lowering so the yotans of that primordial um tapestry of pressures even tornadoes and hurricanes
00:59:27.880are equalizing between great powerful pressures um so uh we have 19 um about the differences
00:59:43.000between summer and winter then said gang live why is there so much difference that summer
00:59:51.820should be hot, but winter cold. Haur answered, a wise man would not ask thus. And you'll notice
01:00:01.240this throughout the story. There's this kind of antagonism from the tripartite to Gangliri.
01:00:09.880There's a reason for this as it will be kind of revealed. But in other words, they're already0.99
01:00:16.000onto his ruse um and they are kind of jibing him because he's pretending to be ignorant0.88
01:00:26.720and i think in this in this case he is truly ignorant of of these uh instances but they're0.74
01:00:32.720jibing him to see if he'll crack if he'll break his his disguise um so they say a wise man would
01:00:41.520not ask thus seeing that all are able to tell this but if thou alone art become so slight of
01:00:48.960understanding as not to have heard it then i will yet permit that thou shalt rather ask foolishly
01:00:56.240once so if you are so slow that you can't catch it despite everyone else i give you know pass to
01:01:05.360to let you you know ask this but once and uh then thou shalt be kept longer in ignorance of a thing
01:01:15.200which is proper to know he is called svalv sudor or the the soft south who is the father of summer
01:01:27.520and he is a pleasant nature so that from his name whatsoever is pleasant is called sweet
01:01:35.360The sweet south, the soft to south. And even though it's not indicated by title, the general view is that this is of not mortals and not of gods, but of Jotun.
01:01:50.940So again, another indication of how Jotuns are interconnected in the middle realm.
01:01:58.100They could be Vanir, but it's not mentioned either way.
01:02:02.920But there is this deep connection between the Vanir and the Jotnar in the middle world with Midgard.
01:02:10.420They are deeply connected to nature and heat and cold and all of these primordial forces.
01:02:23.140But the father of winter, old man winter, father winter, is variously called Vindlioni or Vindsvaller, like wind, actually I don't know about Vindlioni, but wind gale or gust for Vindsvaller.
01:03:16.260To the hierarchy of the Jotunar in relation, we see this predominantly through nature and distance. Those that live in the Utgard or the outer edges of Jotunheim are control over other forces of nature or influence, I should say, not total control, influence.
01:03:39.440Because, again, all of our divine, and that's a concept that I think a lot of Christians have a hard time, is that their God is the God of everything.
01:03:52.440And even though there's evil, he's the God of it, which would then lend me to think that he created it, and it is of him.
01:04:05.900But in our faith, the divine is great powers that share over the dominion of primordial forces and that the gods are adjudicating these primordial forces in the benefit of the folk.0.96
01:04:30.600and the Yotnar are either neutral or hostile.0.97
01:04:37.020And so that means to be ausatru, to be trothful to the gods,0.87
01:04:40.920is to be trothful to the gods that look benevolently upon the folk
01:04:45.940as we carry their breath, they gave us our breath.
01:15:22.320Um, anyways, back to the question, recommendation for children and books for introducing our Lord to our children. My kids and I read a God story every night and all my children are five and under. Spawn, do you have any recommendations for that?
01:15:38.680yeah i have a huge one um again being a storyteller um and i i don't think a lot
01:15:47.880of folks have heard about it there is a book called northern pathways by douglas rossman
01:15:55.400he uh was a minnesota i believe he was a um uh descendant of uh scandinavians that settled
01:16:06.280in minnesota and he was a storyteller and it is a phenomenal book for giving the broad outline
01:16:15.640of stories i think that he uh takes some liberties in combining them but he doesn't do it in a way
01:16:23.320that's egregious there is another book i tell people to avoid because in personal experience
01:16:29.640The liberties that are taken are kind of egregious. They kind of put a negative spin very lightly on things that I don't think are negative. And that would be Odin's children.
01:16:47.240So I'm not a big fan of that one. Mainly as you're reading it, you can see Thor is easily angered because of his capriciousness.
01:17:00.540And so they kind of, I just don't like that twist. And there's also, again, a kind of twisting of the way that the gods and the elves and humanity interact, where they kind of make the gods, again, uncaring.
01:17:19.980um so uh northern pathways by rossman uh if you're looking for maybe pre-teen or older
01:17:32.320uh norse myths by kevin crossley holland are great as a story-based sense and they're a little
01:17:43.320bit more advanced than for say like young children but they're they're right around 10 to 15 year
01:17:49.420olds um and then there's another one and um i was actually looking for it um i know the last name
01:17:59.260uh but the title of the book i believe is just norse myths um by kiri is the last name and it's
01:18:10.780actually kind of strange because it's written by two people um and it's their sisters yes uh let
01:18:18.620let me see. It is Tales of Norse Mythology by A, one moment, Annie Kiri and Eliza Kiri,
01:18:35.120but on the book it says A and E Kiri. They're sisters. Now, one of the reasons why I love
01:18:41.700this book is because this was written at the, um, the end of the 1800s, beginning of the 1900s.
01:18:49.780And, uh, the, the ladies that write this book, they present the gods in a very majestic way.
01:18:58.540They pulled Viking and Arthurian together. So they describe instead of say Frigg being in
01:19:10.640some sort of long house with, or, or wearing shoulder pelts and face paints. No, she is in
01:19:18.280her crystalline salon where she has the maidens with her. It's very majestic. It's really cool.
01:19:25.800I think it's a, a very good way, an interesting way. I think that the reason why, um, perhaps
01:19:33.720people who do not like our folk want us to worship the gods barbarically is because as we
01:19:41.340present the gods and as we're in drawings and things, it reflects the nature. And I think that
01:19:49.240all too often Christians forget that all of the beautification of their religion really comes from
01:19:55.760the Greeks and the Romans. You know, if you look at the biblical angels, it's, you know,
01:20:02.540tentacle demon with eyes and then once it becomes the stalwart man with wings fighting a dragon
01:20:11.380that's actually greek and roman paganism and i think that we are on that evolutionary trail we
01:20:18.960see in the stories here and in the depictions um in the adas that the icelanders are drawing
01:20:26.200the gods wearing clothing of the age they're wearing doublets they have a falchion um instead
01:20:33.920of a traditional you know two-sided viking sword uh or norse sword that they are of that time so i
01:20:43.160think what we are and should be inclined to do is to show the gods in an elevated sense a sense of
01:20:53.600beauty um a mixture though we we are living in an information age so we have a unique ability to
01:21:01.840look at the past and know details that our ancestors didn't even know they romanticized
01:21:08.800much of what they thought and um that is good it has a kind of bombastic mythos to it but now we
01:21:17.200have real knowledge so the reason why the murals are are drawn the way they are is because we have
01:21:25.040knowledge so we have information and then we have key elements um that are unique little easter eggs
01:21:32.720placed in there but more importantly is that there is beauty and majesty in the gods in their
01:21:39.680depictions because that is a reflection of who we are if you're drawing the gods as some
01:21:46.960sort of forest troll um i think that reflects what is inside and i hope that on the journey they
01:22:00.620move away from that and go into elevated forward and upward things but we see this
01:22:08.440even in the stories, just by words alone. The gods are not primitive, savage things. They are
01:22:18.380beings of gold and silver and light and fairness and waters springing up and words and songs being
01:22:28.780spoken. It's very, very beautiful. And we should, that's why I recommend this book because it's one
01:22:34.480of the first books i've ever read that kind of hints towards that um very interesting i don't
01:22:42.660think everybody's gonna like it um but if you have a kind of an elastic um if you don't view
01:22:50.820the gods simply in one singular way i think it opens and broadens horizons and it really does
01:22:57.460make some majesty for the children when they're hearing it um the idea of crystalline castles and
01:23:06.420and um golden uh roofed halls with beating of light it's it's awesome it's a really good book
01:23:18.020um so next question hi nick thank you for all you do having gone over a section of
01:23:30.500gil forgetting about dark elves as they're described as black as pitch and evil could
01:23:36.820there be a leap made that black people are these evil dark elves should we be treating them as such0.80
01:23:45.060would our ancestors have viewed them as anything else or are we to assume they are different
01:23:50.740magical beings so thanks for asking me answers no i'll let them answer continue though all right so
01:24:01.700no um that's not the case i think that they exist completely um
01:24:10.420um outside of the conceptualization of our ancestors when we're talking about
01:24:19.060our lore because they are completely foreign to us and our cosmos and our existence um i think
01:24:27.980you see that our lore is very us focused and it doesn't try to account for different for not us
01:24:36.220in the realm of humanity it it's our existence and the divine forces that are relating to it i also
01:24:47.420don't think our ancestors conceived of different races of people as being some kind of mythic
01:24:55.340beings but they treated them in a much more biological sense because we have a we have a
01:25:01.100word for it for that in old north we have an understanding for that for the rare occasion
01:25:05.660that it comes up to where you know a a black person or africa itself is depicted blau mother0.60
01:25:14.940uh blue blue man and um africa itself uh uh blauland is the land of the blacks
01:25:26.460or the land of the blues rather i guess but the conceptualization how you made like black
01:25:31.900dye and stuff it was a it was a blue it was a super blue variant it's like the you know
01:25:37.740term to describe somebody who's like super duper black is blue black um
01:25:44.300so yeah it was it was black the the blau mother um and there was no indication that that was
01:25:51.500diff like some kind of a magical creature it was another biological earth fauna thing that they
01:26:02.780were dealing with it was clearly not them but i i don't think that there's an association between
01:26:08.940that and um trolls or or dark elves of our um our mythos and you know we also see that when
01:26:17.180they talk about scraylings for um native americans there wasn't the idea that there's some kind of
01:26:24.380strange wood elf creature that exists in the woods it was very much treated like another biological
01:26:31.820you know being that they were interacted with and not like a something that had inherent
01:26:36.780spiritual implications but certainly something that was markedly different and not us
01:26:43.420swan do you have anything to add on that yeah um and you had mentioned this the scrailing good um
01:26:51.820and i just recently was looking at there's some people speculating the translation not meaning
01:26:57.580necessarily the people of like the woods or the roots but also the people of screaming or yelling
01:27:03.820uh perhaps because of uh battle cries or something of that nature but yeah uh for people that might
01:27:09.660not understand blau mother why would you call them blue men is because blue is a spectrum of color
01:27:15.740um from sky blue which would be referred to as sky blue and then blau in and of itself was more
01:27:22.860a midnight blue it's the same with red uh road is red but it can be also pink um i think that's an
01:27:33.420uh in european culture um young boys wore pink because it grows like the color grows up to red
01:27:42.300so the pink on a young boy was representative of him being a young man and then when he was a man
01:27:48.940he was fully red um vitality things like that but you know these these things are kind of funny
01:27:56.060And they do cause confusion. But, you know, in the part, it says that there is one of the people called light elves, but the dark elves dwell down in the earth and they are unlike in appearance.
01:28:10.560So there's a big thing between whether we're talking about Svartalvar or Dvergar and Dark Elves.
01:28:19.540And I was trying to see in this case, because sometimes the translators will mess or switch these things up.
01:28:32.040But one of the big things about the Dark Elves and being black as pitch, they are synthesized with darkness.
01:28:40.560And I am of the belief that dark elves are actually the same as, say, a barrow white or a mound elf is referred to sometimes.
01:28:52.180um the alvar that are connected to the land that have traveled the road of death0.71
01:29:00.400um and are synthesized with it as opposed to the smart alvar which smart now is the word for black
01:29:09.100in modern germanic languages but back then it wasn't it meant swarthy and sooty based on
01:29:16.540um material like from burn uh burning firewood or from um blacksmithing so there was this kind of
01:29:29.860difference between and the darkness is a huge part of that um that they are of of death and
01:29:41.520have walked the road of death and are in these places some of them are i i don't think there's
01:29:50.880any case where they're benevolent but some are more neutral than they are malevolent to those
01:29:57.760who live but sometimes they give over the sword to the the maiden so that she can give it to
01:30:06.320her husband so he can slay a monster there there is a continuing poetic tropes or or uh constructions
01:30:16.160and so the dark dark alvar are absolutely mysterious i would say more more so and out
01:30:24.160of the two if we're talking about the svart alvar or the the dvergar and the dark elves it is
01:30:29.760clearly that the dvergar are more malicious and more capricious the dark elves are mysterious and0.83
01:30:37.840shadowed and uh undefinable and their they their presence shows a thinning of the veil0.96
01:30:48.240their their presence in the barrow their presence on a battlefield absolutely is more built around
01:30:56.240the scariness of you're in an area that uh the the lines between the worlds are blurring
01:31:05.360so but uh the leo salvar are the ones they're you know focusing on in the heavenly realm
01:31:12.960the light beings the beings that are uh fair to look upon like the sun so um
01:31:19.440um the alvar title lord of light lord of darkness and lord of soot or smarter is like lord of the
01:31:30.260of the the grit and the soot of the earth so i hope that helps uh break that up sometimes i
01:31:40.500wonder halfway through if i'm like that's all good um meant to ask in a previous episode but
01:31:47.860could you explain the style of vestments that the afa clergy wear yeah um the afa clergy wear stoles
01:31:58.100um a couple of reasons for that well and specifically i wear a gold stole the uh
01:32:07.620speckengar wear white stoles and the gothar wear blue stoles and
01:39:42.860As it is said here, when Odin himself spake with him,
01:39:48.160Now, on that line in specifics, I would like to point out that I think that this point is talking about association.
01:40:03.260We've talked about the Austvinir, the most beloved ones, becoming of the Aesir because of association.
01:40:14.600but the other point is is that in this when they're telling the story to gang litty
01:40:21.500it's important that they don't reveal so they are speaking about loki as he when he was aligned with
01:40:31.760the gods and as it goes it will turn so it's very important for them to not uh oh you mean
01:40:41.200like the kinslayer who was walking amongst them whoa whoa whoa focus in on that that's the reason
01:40:47.520i think that that's not done there's an evolution of his alignment and then eventually his um
01:40:56.800his breaking of troth and his deeds so um in this odin says uh thou art mad now
01:41:09.760And I think that this also really emphasizes a point of power between the masculine and the feminine.
01:41:31.760Lord Odin goes out. He injects himself into the world to gain wisdom. However, the power of Frigg comes from her gathering information that flows to her.
01:41:48.520She is receptive of it and has many avenues that channel information to her and that she also has portents of prophecy.
01:41:59.680um yet doesn't speak on it is a very interesting point i think that um the evolution of
01:42:10.720speaking on prophecy that you know to come forth is because of a greater understanding of fate and
01:42:18.500will and ultimately um that reservation to make that proclamation into reality um and we see the
01:42:30.660reason why obviously uh with lord balder um odin is called the all father because he is the father
01:42:41.540of all the gods. He is also the father of the slain, because all of those that fall in battle
01:42:49.120are the sons of his, adopt on. For them, he appoints Valhall and Vingoth, and they are then
01:42:59.220called Champions, Einherjahr, which means the lone or single warrior, but I also find
01:43:12.540it interesting, harrier, and the idea of rising or flying above. Those two are also connected
01:43:21.380linguistically um he is also called the god of the hanged god of gods god of cargo and he also
01:43:32.900has been named in many more ways after he had had come to the king get older so there is a story
01:43:44.260about, called Grimnismal, the sayings of Grimnir. And in the Grimnismal, he goes to King Geradir.
01:43:54.200And this is a clear poetic connection. So the gods aren't just connecting only through
01:44:01.380Gilfi. Obviously, we see it with Quasir, we see it with Gilfi, we see it with Geradir.
01:44:07.940And that account is leading to much fame because he spoke of his names.
01:44:15.760So, um, the, uh, we were called Grimner and Gangleri, Herjan and Hjalmberi, Fekker and Thrivi, Thudur, Uður, Hellblindi, Haur, the high one, uh, Sather, uh, actually, let me see.
01:45:30.480Gondlir, Hábardar, Svíður, Svidrir, Járkur, Kjálar, Víður, Þrór, Ígir, which is where we get Ígdrisil from, Þuntur, the strong one, Vakkur, Skilfingur, Váfúður, Hrottatir, Gautur, Veratir.
01:45:59.180So one of the most interesting things that you gain from the list is that it clearly states that when we talk about the tripartite of the gods, and we see the tripartite of the gods throughout history,
01:46:16.260This is the reveal that the tripartite within the tripartite, who is Lord Odin, is who is talking to Ganglili, because there is high, just as high, and the third in the list.
01:46:34.360So he, just like with King Gerard, he coyishly reveals the nature of those he's speaking with.
01:46:47.300And this kind of poetic meter would have been spoken quickly.
01:46:52.680And the whole point is taking words that sound similar but have completely different meanings.
01:47:00.940And they just, in Old Norse, rhyme together, if you will.
01:47:09.440So I just kind of wanted to go over some of them.
01:47:14.040We have Grimmr, which, of course, is the...
01:47:19.300Okay, so pause for a sec before you do.
01:51:14.160Obviously, I spoke about how there is the high one and there is the three.
01:51:21.500And that is why at Odin's Hoff, there is a rock written in runic that says that Lord Odin is three but one.
01:51:30.700And one who is three is the reference to this title, three V.
01:51:36.180Obviously, I'm speaking about Vodin Villive or Odin Villive.
01:51:40.960And the other names that kind of and the only reason why I bring it up is because I wanted to kind of explain poetics.
01:51:51.500um so when we see like something like uh helm bearer helmets were extremely rare and were
01:52:02.420often reserved for those of lordly station so will helm is a name that all of those names
01:52:09.540mean the the helm that is gleaming or willful and leading um because the very mention of a helmet
01:52:18.000in relation like a metal helmet was uh about station um but you see these kind of combinations
01:52:27.240between very dark themes and very light themes like um the cargo god uh um there is very specifically
01:52:39.380a correlation with this Aryan god and I hate to say it that way because it sounds very
01:52:48.040disassociative but I want to talk about the gods as um the gods are the gods and then each of the
01:52:55.940Aryan branches individually has interacted and has deep relations there's one interesting thing
01:53:05.380about the the god we call Odin and that is the correlation between death and prosperity or
01:53:15.880riches and things of that nature which seems to be hard of a stretch but there is this correlation
01:53:25.460between fate, the gaining of a good death or the gaining of great riches while alive.
01:53:35.560And it also lends to most likely the possibility that Lord Odin was prayed to more than just
01:53:44.120battle, the God of cargos, of roads, of carrying things for trading.
01:53:51.240So it wasn't just war, but again, it's about prosperity. Prosperity and death are deeply interlinked in the Aryan spectrums. When we think of the Hellenics, they have Hadis, the god of goodbyes. That's where we get adios to say goodbye.0.98
01:54:17.080um and but they didn't say his name often so they called him plutonius or the giver of riches
01:54:23.880um and again this may have a poetic meaning um it could also in the hellenic sense grave goods
01:54:33.480but we don't quite know um but clearly in the germanic sense lord odin is a lord of war he's
01:54:42.340lord of death a lord of magic and a lord of prosperity in his own right um traversing and
01:54:49.940trading involves moving and traveling and so that was important um there is another uh uh
01:55:02.900changing um we see uh hell blindi kind of i've heard people ask me what is what is that about
01:55:12.260Well, I think that has poetically a different meaning than just being
01:55:15.780hell blind is that he is the survivor of death.
01:55:23.040He synthesizes himself, death in a godly sense, not so much a mortal sense,0.58
01:55:29.940but that synthesizing with Yggdrasil did not end him or change him in a different way,
01:55:36.100but instead he returned with the power that he got there.
01:55:40.420So he walked the road of death and returned.
01:55:45.540And then we see others like Spear Lord.
01:55:50.720Clearly the connections were throwing the spear over the or at the enemy army was to give them in sacrifice to Lord Odin.
01:56:00.400And I think that really came about from the migration age.
01:56:03.820I think there were massive cults of the gods at that time.
01:56:07.460Some folk were honoring, they would have the boar as their symbol, and they would have perhaps vanic or particular vanic gods like Frey and Freya, and then others would honor Tyr, and others would honor Lord Odin.
01:56:24.120and they had practices that culminated with their re-migration back to the Scandinavian realm
01:56:31.500that translates in these stories um but uh like uh hair tighter uh hair warrior and tighter is like
01:56:43.160the host the host of the warriors um the one who uh holds banquet for for great ones um and
01:56:53.500Lastly, I wanted to talk about was thudr. Thunderer or sounder? So thudr is an interesting one because we know that thor is derivative of the literally meaning thunder.
01:57:08.080So I heard someone once try to say that Thor is just an outcropping of Lord Odin. I mean, as a son would be, sure, but more or less that Odin and Thor are but the same.
01:57:26.240And this haiti gives credence to it. I think that's very bad to go into lumping the gods into boxes. But I think it's more important to remember the roaring that he did when he took up the runes.
01:57:42.480and sound and the the key points of song and um like in the in the halvam or in the halvamal
01:57:53.320the rune poems are not called poems they're not called runes they're called rune songs
01:57:58.580so there's always a sense of song and powerful voiced magic uh coming from lord odin so just
01:58:10.600some interesting ones uh yeah shield shaker uh wand bearer there's a lot of them very very
01:58:24.420interesting stuff you can look up translates uh now with ai it really really helps but you could
01:58:30.580also um there is a old icelandic and old norse dictionaries um uh that are really really good
01:59:36.980that knows all the lore and examples of what chances have brought about each of these names.
01:59:45.120Then the high one made answer, it is truly a vast sum of knowledge to gather together and set forth
01:59:52.800fittingly, but it is the briefest to tell thee that most of his names have been given to him by
02:00:00.060reason of his chance. There being so many branches of tongues in the world, all peoples
02:00:06.520believed that it was needful for them to turn his name into their own tongue. And a lot of times
02:00:15.280you'll find people speaking about this as some sort of allowance to universalism. And that is
02:00:23.160not the case because the peoples that are being referred to are the peoples of Europe, the Germanic
02:00:31.920branches um and the the tongues i mean they did obviously know that there were people outside of
02:00:39.600themselves that had tongues but the concern of whether they worshiped lord odin or not is
02:00:48.000kind of null and void it's it's devoid of the point um but it kind of indicates how broad
02:00:56.720spanning lord odin's worship was amongst the people um and why we have everything from wednesday to
02:01:05.040the word god uh from from the lombardic word godhan um as they called him um so uh by which they might
02:01:17.980the better invoke him and entreat him on their own behalf. But some occasions for these names
02:01:27.420arose in his wanderings, and that matter is recorded in tales. Nor canst thou ever be called
02:01:35.240a wise man if thou shalt not be able to tell of those great events. I think that last line too
02:01:41.680is also snorty making a poke with encouragement for more skulls to come about and learn learn the
02:01:51.280stories um yeah i agree i think this is and i know i said on each of the episodes but i'll take the
02:02:01.260liberty it is this is just such a special piece of work for us because it's very much
02:02:11.080laid out not to tell a story but to this is the cosmology of you know our forefathers religion
02:02:21.320this is what our ancestors believed this is his presentation of what also true is and
02:02:31.800it's laid out in such an accessible way from somebody who you know in in this poem um
02:02:40.200you know hey this is the character knows nothing and is starting fresh and it's being laid out
02:02:49.840right in front of him in a very instructive way and this is the best example of that that we see
02:02:55.600in in our lore for these high things i think the album all has a parallel and it's being laid out
02:03:03.860as you know useful stuff for the reader to apply this lays out the the big picture the big cosmology
02:03:13.140in in the most clear way and i really like that we'll see that as we go through the uh different
02:03:20.020gods that it points out something you know spawn was very quick to make the point that it mentions
02:03:25.860that loki is is of the icer but one of the things that sets this whole thing out that's important is
02:03:36.980uh these are the you know the ice here are 12 that it's good for mankind to believe in
02:03:45.300and you'll see this list that we go through um
02:03:50.020um loki is is mentioned and there are 14 and there's a very specific reason that
02:03:59.400you know you know so something else on this this list of the gods um you'll notice this list in
02:04:07.480this order is how we present the gods in the true log mall in a variety of things and very
02:04:15.860specifically in our ordering of Hoffs. So, man, there's 14 here, but it says there's only 12 that
02:04:25.500are the ones that are beneficial for man to worship or for man to believe in. That's really
02:04:32.020intentional, and I think we'll see when we itemize this, running that count of who they are and why
02:04:40.040certain ones why two of them are omitted from that count and that makes itself kind of self-evident
02:04:46.360as we go through the list but yeah this is the list in the order of uh hoffs that we're going
02:04:52.920to establish to the gods um the decision on that um
02:05:03.400there has always been a lingering kind of question for a long time in modern house to
02:05:12.940true like oh there's so many gods which gods do you know do we worship which gods don't we but
02:05:18.360what about this one but what about that one and there's any number of obscure local deities or
02:05:26.340you know deities that were venerated by one tribe that you know are detested by others there's
02:05:33.400We could drive ourselves insane trying to figure out the perfect answer to all of the things, but the answer that we decided on was, okay, to solidify, there is a list in the Lord that presents us in a straightforward way.
02:05:48.160These are the Iser, these 12, it's good for people to worship.
02:05:52.060And so that's kind of the starting point of the concept of the true legal, the concept of separating this is this, that's that and laying down some foundational doctrine of exactly what we believe.0.98
02:06:09.940So everything isn't always a shoulder shrug of everybody doing their own thing.
02:06:14.140This is structured and we've built upon that structure.
02:06:18.340And the idea of using that was a, I remember the conversation that I had with a former AFA leader, Brad Hicks, that was, he and I were having a discussion on this.
02:06:37.520He was a mentor of mine for a number of years there and a good friend of mine at the time.
02:06:42.800And we were going over, you know, what we need to start making some, we need to start drawing some lines on, hey, this is what we're doing.
02:08:30.040Then said Gangliri, what are the names of the other Aesir, or what is their office,
02:08:38.280For what deeds of renown have they done?
02:08:42.700Haur answered, Thor is the foremost of them.
02:08:48.700He that is called Thor of the Aesir, Ausathur, or Okthor, the rolling Thor.
02:09:01.580And Thor, of course, derivative of the, or etymologically is thunder.
02:09:08.280He is the strongest of all the gods and men.
02:09:12.300He has his realm in a place called Thrudvangr, which literally means force or strength fields, might fields, or power or force fields.
02:09:29.120Though that's getting a little bit more cosmic and really broadening our interpretation.
02:09:36.360But thruth means like strength or might.
02:09:39.660And vangr is the area, the field upon which he built his section in the heavenly realms, as it's described in the stories, and the rivers that flow between them.
02:19:17.020do you have uh do you have something to say on that or do you want to tell us about balder
02:19:25.840oh i was going to move into that but i did want to say one thing that's very interesting is the
02:19:31.220relationships that we have with the gods um in their totality as the icier which i think is
02:19:36.540important that we we know that and that we also realize the vanir are the icier they are
02:19:43.400interconnected there's no uh you know i i'm vanatru and that kind of stuff is ridiculous um
02:19:52.200i think though when we look at the relationships we have with the gods what we often find is when
02:19:58.360people are in the beginning of their relationship with the gods they go towards the beneficiary
02:20:05.080the the the gods that um they feel familiar with and that they feel that there is an interconnectedness
02:20:13.160because they're looking in themselves more interestingly and one of the cool hurdles
02:20:18.840that i think a person of our faith living their life is when they go into the deficiency realm
02:20:27.080where they suddenly start having a relationship with the gods because they're looking inside
02:20:33.400themselves and seeing something missing that is a huge spiritual landmark in in i think that souls
02:20:43.160uh journey you go from kind of uh the god you relate to the god you like that this and that
02:20:51.180and then it comes to a point where you're looking at yourself and you're like
02:20:54.260this is missing out of out of me um i'm going to reach out and build relationships in hopes to
02:21:03.520guide and build up the the weak points or the missing points or what have you so that's all
02:21:11.240wanted to say about that was relationships um it's easy to look for for the the the positive
02:21:20.040and then when you see some of the things you need to work on um reaching out and making those the
02:21:25.880positive so uh 22 of balder then said gangliri i would ask the tidings of more ice here
02:21:41.240Haur replied, The second son of Odin is Baldr, the bold one, and good things are to be said of him.
02:21:50.080He is best, and all praise him. He is so fair of feature and so bright that light shines from him.
02:21:59.540A certain herb is so white that it is likened to Baldr's brow.
02:22:04.860Of all grasses, it is whitest, and by it thou mayest judge his fairness, both in hair and in body.
02:22:17.040Now, this doesn't mean albinism, but it does show a sense of the lightness, the whiteness, the fairness has been a measure of beauty with our ancestors for a very long time.
02:22:37.220And there is an actual flower. I was hoping that people in the audience could find it real quick because it's eluding me right now.
02:22:47.040But it doesn't necessarily mean it pops from his brow, though the I made a little Easter egg of that at Baldershof.
02:23:00.320Um, it just says that it is likened to his brow. So to have a broad and clean and fair brow, not marred by the sun is was clearly a mark of, um, perhaps royalty or just beauty in general.
02:23:21.940I don't quite know, but he, let's see, sorry, I lost my, a certain herb that's likened to his brow, and of all, okay, both in, he is the wisest of the Aesir, and the fairest spoken, and most gracious,
02:23:41.720And that quality attends him that none may gainsay in his judgments. He dwells in the place called
02:23:50.580or the broad flash. Imagine kind of light, but not in a strike. It's just this overarching
02:24:02.900horizon of light, which is in heaven. And in that place may nothing unclean be, even as is said here.
02:24:13.920Brideblick is called where Balder has a hall made for himself in that land where I know lie
02:24:23.240fewest baneful runes. So there is no foulness in that land. There's no evil magic.
02:24:32.900being done. And again, I love as the story is laying out the veil, the valley of work where
02:24:47.380the gods have built Ausgard and the sections and the rivers flowing through it. And here is this
02:24:55.820great expanse and the hall is bright and shining. And in this place, there is just no ill will
02:25:02.800between the gods and between the souls that reside there.
02:25:08.580And we move to 23 of Njardr and Skavi.
02:25:14.660The third amongst the Isir is he that is called Njardr.0.98
02:25:20.400He dwells in heaven in an abode called Novatun.0.99
02:25:26.020Again, this also emphasizes the idea that heaven is an expansely place with outcroppings and places leaving off.
02:25:38.460And it means the boat town, though the the etymology of that can be debated.
02:25:45.760Most folks think of it as the boat town.
02:25:49.660He rules the course of the wind and he still stills the sea and fire.
02:25:56.020On him shall men call for voyages and for hunting.
02:26:01.400He is so prosperous and abounding in wealth that he may give them great plenty of lands or of gear.
02:26:09.900And him shall men invoke for such things.
02:26:13.580Bear in mind, too, hunting, sea voyage hunting was very much a big thing.
02:26:17.640My grandfather actually owned an island where we were legally, my family was legally allowed to go there and take one seal and bring, you know, hunt it, bring it back and, and eat it as they, they became more strict on the animal laws, which I'm absolutely there for.
02:26:40.120but um that caretaking and that hunting is again in reference to that um and we talk about that
02:26:49.720all the time the the dominion of the gods Ullr is the god of the hunt um but he's also the god of
02:26:56.040self-defense and self-preservation and self uh standing and Njordr is here you know if you read
02:27:02.840it literally oh he's the god of the hunt how can that be he is the I mean the gods share dominion
02:27:09.280over many things, and you can call upon them in your relationships. But I think this is also
02:27:15.980referring to hunting by sea. And perhaps fishing might have actually been included in that.
02:27:25.320So he is so prosperous and abounding in wealth that he may give them great plenty of lands or
02:27:33.560gear and to him shall men and vote for such things my order is not of the race of the icier0.80
02:27:41.320he was reared in the land of the vanir but the vanir delivered him as a hostage to the gods0.51
02:27:49.160and took for hostage in exchange him that men call high near he became an atonement between0.54
02:27:59.720the gods and the Vanmere. Njörðr has to a wife, the woman called Skaði, daughter of Fyazi the giant.0.79
02:28:11.080Skaði would fain dwell in the abode which her father had had, which is on certain mountains
02:28:20.040in the place called Threemheimr but Njörðr would be near the sea. They made a compact on these
02:28:30.840terms. They should be nine nights in Threemheimr but the second nine in Nohaton. But when Njörðr
02:28:39.960came down from the mountain back to Nohaton he sung this lay, O loath were the hills to me,
02:28:47.400I was not long in them, nights only nine, and to me the wailing of wolves seemed most ill, after the song of swans. And then Savi, Skavi, sang, Sleep could I never on the seabeds, for the wailing of the waterfowl, he wakens me, who comes from the deep, the sea-mew every morn.
02:29:12.860Then Skadi went up into the mountains and dwelt in Thrymheimr, and she goes for the more part on snowshoes and with bow and arrow to shoot the beasts.0.53
02:29:24.980She is called the Snowshoe Goddess, or Lady of the Snowshoes, so it is said.0.94
02:29:31.080So we see this movement between heaven and earth.
02:29:55.700We see the goddess of the snowshoes, whereas you will also see reference to Ullur as god of the skis.
02:30:04.960And what we're really looking at here is not, I don't think it's wise to look at it flatly.
02:30:12.560What snowshoes represent, what they mean, the expanse of being able to travel over great distances in skis,
02:30:20.740or to be able to track prey in snowshoes without sinking and especially the the perilous nature of
02:30:29.480hunting in the winter time versus hunting at any other time of the year um has a heavy sense of
02:30:37.160uh survival and uh there is that rawness there um we talked a little bit too about what if there was
02:30:45.240some like when we talked about the horses with the sun and the moon what if there was a kind of
02:30:51.620deeper meaning and the gothar in the afa um came up with something that really uh struck me and
02:30:59.300it's just it's not the explanation all out be out it's just an interesting consideration of the
02:31:05.140water tables and the way that water moves from the mountain to the ocean and then is evaporated
02:31:11.820and then returns and and we have this kind of cycle being done again material reflects divinity
02:31:21.020so i'm not saying that that's what that story solely means or anything but it's again building
02:31:26.840those relationships looking into those things that's one of the things that i think uh was
02:31:32.700really poignant coming from the clergy um i thought was just it's good to to think these
02:31:40.740ways and just like that story about the nornier i mean this question about the nornier so we move
02:31:47.940now to of frere or fruer depending on if you the ey uh and fruia or freya uh yes
02:32:03.780over in the chat there's a comment that i just think is worth remarking on you know people
02:32:08.660praying to the oust true gods may have a better chance of being heard this might help outreach
02:32:14.340to people who pray to a foreign god that ignores them so i think that's
02:32:28.100it's it's really hard because our best tool the only tool available to us
02:32:32.900i guess i guess the two tools available are our experience our imagination um when it comes to
02:32:44.100how do the gods think the only thing we have to go by is kind of the way that we think
02:32:52.820and our experience and the knowledge that the gods are so much more than us
02:33:03.860um you know i've always said a really good place to start the very least the gods are
02:33:12.980is the very best that we can imagine humans to be they are far beyond that but from our
02:33:21.140scope and our perspective so it's one of the things that i i often wonder gods are gods and
02:33:26.020i don't know there's limits to their capacity of how many people to listen to or how many people
02:33:32.180pay attention to but i think something that is probably true to a degree or holds some sort of
02:33:38.900sway that's interesting um we are at a special time in the development of our folk right now
02:33:47.860It is tragic that such a small number of our folk worship the Iser, but it also presents
02:33:58.940a really special opportunity and a really special relationship we get to have with them.
02:34:07.300If every, you know, all of our people, which we would like to see happen, and we work hard
02:34:12.240to make sure we're making progress towards happening, we're to return to worshiping the
02:34:16.660is here then your voice becomes one in a much much larger ocean of voices right now i think
02:34:28.100is the best time in the history of ever for an individual person to develop and be impactful
02:34:36.500and have the gods pay closer attention to them because there's such a small number of people
02:34:43.700worshiping our gods that those who do have a disproportionately high i don't know chance for
02:34:54.500audience with the gods it's like you're going to visit seek an audience with the king on an off
02:34:59.620date where there's only a couple people in line as opposed to when there's thousands of people in
02:35:04.020line you've got more time for their attention to be on you and i don't mean to limit whatever that
02:35:11.620might be but just from my own understanding you know you you have the ability to to be impactful
02:35:21.380in a way that if everyone had come home to the gods you have a much harder time being
02:35:29.000individually impactful so there's an opportunity for each of us to make the best use of the
02:35:37.080attention of of the ice here being upon us to gain their favor to make them proud to impress them
02:35:45.260with who we are and the men and women that we that we exist as how we function in our life what we
02:35:53.900accomplish the the character that defines us never is there a better time or a time where the gods
02:36:02.660are likely to pay more attention to us individually than at this moment and i think that's a special
02:36:09.460opportunity that we all have it's fine you're mute uh terribly sorry uh no i was gonna say in
02:36:25.300relation to uh many uh folk have they relate immediately to christianity because of its
02:36:32.980over-pervasing uh power in our society and and a lot of times we've come up in those families
02:36:41.220really interesting thing to think about too is old old uh ancient judaism where christianity comes
02:36:48.260from, though many try to virulently deny it. You know, the idea that you shall put no other
02:36:56.500gods before Yahweh, and specifically talking to the Israelites is, you know, very telling
02:37:04.540in its nature as to the relationship that their religion had in regards to foreign religions
02:37:13.900for them. Um, and this was the case well into, uh, Europe that, um, the idea was kind of a beating
02:37:26.560out other gods. And then of course, Saul of Tarsus, um, who was, uh, changed his name to Paul
02:37:36.280to, to blend in with the Greeks. Um, he was the one that kind of started to try to convert
02:37:43.840non-Jews into the religion. And this is where the line started to get blurred. And also the0.54
02:37:50.740formulation of one of the key things that you might hear Christians say today is that all gods0.74
02:37:56.280that are not their God are demons, which is funny because one, the word demon being Greek,
02:38:04.620the word they should be looking for is the Aramaic or Hebrew word Shadim. But there's no
02:38:12.600mentioning of this idea that these gods are Shadim. This is theological framing well after0.76
02:38:23.740in Europe where they're trying to make sense of one, why were the European Christians were
02:38:33.300trying to understand why are the Israelites the chosen ones? Just like today, a lot of modern0.91
02:38:39.940Christians are like, oh, the Israelites are no longer the chosen ones and the Church of
02:38:45.260Christianity is, except they can't quite define which church is. But as they're scrabbling for0.97
02:38:55.600this kind of positioning, but they also needed to try to make sense of the idea that why were
02:39:05.720these gods worshiped all over the world and not the one God from Israel. And that ended up leading
02:39:18.560them to, oh, they're all actually Shadim that were once angels or malaks is the word that they0.99
02:39:27.520should be using. And it sounds really, it sounds like you're reading a Klingon treaties when you0.99
02:39:33.240start kind of going, and it emphasizes how foreign, like, oh, all the gods are actually
02:39:38.920Shadim, and the Shadim were once Malaks of Yehovah or Yahweh, and it just starts to get
02:39:46.120wild. And if you paraphrase it this way, too, I think it emphasizes the foreignness to a lot of0.96
02:39:52.280folks. But again, others are just going to jump through the hoops that they need to. But that
02:39:58.400concept is a later concept. Now their neighbors, they were a Semitic religion amongst Semites and
02:40:06.720sure. Yeah. They're, they had some crazy stuff going on down there. Uh, it seems to be pretty0.99
02:40:13.060much across the board. It was just that the Israelites were like, you know, their God was
02:40:17.620like, instead of human sacrifices, I'll take the foreskin, which is also pretty crazy. Um,0.88
02:40:24.440Definitely better than burning babies, but all around, it shows kind of an overarching nature that's very foreign from the mindset of our folks.
02:40:33.720And we could joke and meme about it or what have you, but in all seriousness, it's just that if you dig deep enough, anything after the philosophes of Greece, after the Neoplatonists' influence of Christianity, it is really foreign.
02:40:52.300um and we need to be aware of that um i remember too there was a part of uh the bible where it said
02:41:02.860that like of the north the the might of yahweh diminished under um the people of the iron wheel
02:41:09.640and their gods and i i find that interesting um and of course the connection to victory
02:41:15.040through the divine was direct. When we win, my God beat your God kind of thing. And we see that
02:41:23.760in them a lot. In Europe, we don't necessarily see that because the reality is everybody was
02:41:30.040worshiping the same gods. We saw it in the difference between say Romans and Germanic
02:41:37.940because of the different levels of their considerations of society, tribal versus
02:41:44.260metropolis and so on and so forth but it was very easy for them to go amongst the germanics
02:41:49.860and create equivalencies because they branch from the same source um so things get very very
02:41:59.140odd when you add in christians who are jews coming from judea or palestine or whatever
02:42:07.460you want to call it they come into turkey they go into greece they go into rome and eventually0.61
02:42:14.100non-Jews kind of take over that and they humanize their God as a heretical rabbi0.92
02:42:21.380and they go from there but they did bring in Jews from the area Charlemagne said don't mess0.95
02:42:28.820with the Jews there are biblical cousins leave them alone and they spread and so even after that
02:42:36.980with many Jews converting to Christianity, either by force or by choice, there was also
02:42:43.160influx of ideas coming there. It's a very wild thing where we start to look at the way we perceive
02:42:53.000perhaps foreign gods, other people's gods, and so on. So that universalism that happened
02:43:01.060is, I think, a detriment. I think it's important that we just consider that the divine spirit of
02:43:09.080a people is connected to the people and that our gods are connected to us. And that is of most
02:43:15.800importance. Outside of that, I leave that just is not in my consideration. And yeah, I try not to
02:43:26.020make it so much a big deal or or even to the point where it's like oh yes they're actually
02:43:30.900jotens um i know that's a very interesting and desirable path for a lot of folks to go down but
02:43:38.080it's it's more or less irrelevant if you focus on the positive and building the spiritual strength
02:43:43.680between the folk and the gods everyone else outside of that is again outlandish
02:43:50.480all right well let's read about uh Freyr and Freya okay 24 of Freyr and Freya
02:44:03.840Nyarður in Nohatun begot afterward two children the son was called Freyr and the daughter Freya
02:44:14.940they were fair of face and mighty frere is the most renowned of the isir he rules over the rain
02:44:25.520and the shining of the sun and therewithal the fruit of the earth and it is good to call upon
02:44:31.500him for fruitful seasons and for peace he governs also the prosperity of men but
02:45:07.460tend to be very one-dimensional um you know
02:45:12.100prayer equals you know male fecundity um thor equals strength balder equals bravery because
02:45:25.540that's what his name means odin equals wisdom or whatever those things are it's interesting that
02:45:33.100balder is the wisest of the icier and everyone trusts his judgment that's not usually what
02:45:41.740you think of first when you think of balder here it talks about how you know frayer is the most
02:45:49.340of the most renowned amongst the icier i think most people would suggest
02:45:54.700that that's also thor if you're talking about like battle prowess um
02:46:00.060um our gods are great at lots and lots of things for us to boil them all down like oh for a god
02:46:10.380to be wise that has to be odin odin's the only god that's wise is i mean saying it like that
02:46:17.020obviously makes it foolish but we all too often don't we get trained in that pattern recognition
02:46:25.500So it's interesting in this particular presentation of the gods that sometimes, you know, their glory is manifested in different ways than, you know, just the Thor equals strength and thunder.
02:46:42.800This God, there's a depth here that I think is maybe something that people haven't considered or not something that people are used to that I wanted to point out.
02:46:55.500So I also want to bring up a point. So a lot of people don't make these associations and I would like to make a connective point. In Íðavr, in the Vale of Work, they said that Thor's home is in the realm called Þrððvangr. That's important. So let's go into what we're, you know, as we're reading.
02:47:18.480um so it says but freya is most renowned of the goddesses and she has in heaven the dwelling
02:47:29.560folk vonger so a lot of folks i wanted to make the point of the field the idea of the area or
02:47:38.840the land around a hall having a name having a purpose having a sentiment that reflects the
02:47:47.800nature of the divine um these these domiciles are a kind of a honing and then as it gets to the land
02:47:57.640outside it's even it's a broader point and uh we can see that and then that makes it very interesting
02:48:04.680with the idea of the name folk long or the field of of the people um and really we can kind of
02:48:13.400surmise okay well what does that mean we can surmise a little bit more with the name of the
02:48:18.600hall and how deeply interconnected holy freya is to people to the uh passions of the people
02:48:30.420and their their uh proctor like their their appropriation their their proclivity to numberings
02:48:39.200I guess. But it's also, again, it's about, there's a deep connection there, I think,
02:48:44.200with the energy of, say, people and the community. It says, the dwelling is called
02:48:53.900Folkvanger, and whereso she rides to the strife, when she rides to war, she has one half of the0.83
02:49:02.300kill and Odin the other. As it is said here, Folkvangers is called, where Freyja rules,
02:49:12.000degrees of seats in the hall, half the kill she keepeth each day and half Odin has. And her hall
02:49:20.160is called Ses Rumnir, which means the seating room or the room of many seats. So again, kind of
02:49:28.840The field of the folk, a place where people gather, or a lot of people gather, and then the roomy sitting place, lots of seats. So there's always just kind of this connection to an abundance of people as a symbol of her might, and where I think ultimately her dominion dwells.
02:49:55.440um so uh her hall is called sesrumner and it is great and fair when she goes forth she drives
02:50:05.760her cats and sits in a chariot she is most comfortable to man's prayers and from her
02:50:14.400name comes the name of honor through by which noble women are called songs of love are well
02:50:22.860pleasing to her. It is good to call on her for the furtherances of love. So one of the things I,
02:50:30.960you know, wanted to speak of really there is there is the clear mentioning of the masculine
02:50:39.460praying to her. And that is not seen as some sort of taboo, but in actuality is again,
02:50:46.860giving blessing to her um with the ability to incite the passions of someone uh you love i think
02:50:54.480that uh beauty and um uh passion is her dominion um it can fall into uh possession which is a scary
02:51:10.400thing which i think she that's why she has um kind of the some darker aspects to to look at but
02:51:17.200a lot of the the idea of singing songs in prayer to her in the furtherances of love and passion
02:51:24.980um i often associate holy freya with even the aesthetic of beauty and the aesthetic of what
02:51:36.100beautiful art can inspire in people when they see it and that feeling that power that wells up from
02:51:44.280them um 25 of tear then said gang lady great in power do these icier seem to me nor is it a marvel
02:51:57.160that much authority attends who are said to possess understanding of the gods and know which
02:52:04.040one men should call on for what boon soever? Or are the gods yet more? Haur said, yet remains that
02:52:14.700one of the Iser who is called Tir, he is most daring and the best in the stoutness of heart.
02:52:23.020He has much authority over the victory in battle. It is good for men of valor to invoke him.
02:52:30.560It is a proverb that he who is tier valiant, who surpasses other men and does not waver, he is wise so that it is also said that he that he that is the wisest is tier prudent.
02:52:48.740this is one token of his daring so it's not just his uh combat prowess it's his prudence
02:52:57.220um and it's his valiant and wisdom um this is one token of his daring when the isir enticed
02:53:07.700the Fenris, the swamp dweller, the wetlands or bog dweller, Fenrir, the wolf, to take upon him
02:53:19.700the fetter, Gleipnir. The wolf did not believe them that they would loose him until they had
02:53:27.720laid Tyr's hand into his mouth as a pledge. But when the Aesir would not loose him, he bit off
02:53:35.440the hand at the place that is now called the wolf's joint and tear is one-handed and is so
02:53:42.860and is not called a reconciler of men he is he is uh not called for peace amongst men
02:53:54.380he is an adjudicator of victory in war um the concisement and the uh the sense of
02:54:03.400just absolutism. But I think one of the things that I find most kind of overlooked is I think
02:54:12.100that when we look at, say, Lord Odin, and even Tacitus spoke of this, is that the Germanics
02:54:18.680were very concerned with Lord Odin. And again, it's pretty solid, but we can say there is some
02:54:28.160speculation when they refer, he kind of analogizes Lord Othen to Mercury is that the, where their
02:54:36.200soul goes, if they die in battle, but there's the, also the point that Tyr is about the victory,
02:54:47.560the, the, the, the, I would say the aftermath of the battle, when you are victorious,
02:54:56.200You have to, you take those lands, you allocate the lands, you allocate resources, you allocate what's going to happen to those who have been taken over.
02:55:06.300And so the concept of justice, and I mean that a lot of people kind of intermix the justice of, say, law, which I think would be more Forseti's boon, if praying, Tir, I think, is more about the wisdom of leadership and about the allocation of everything from funds to resources.
02:55:30.820a very, the god of the living after the battle, whereas Lord Odin was very much the god of the
02:55:39.700dead after a battle. And I know that's kind of a broad way to say it, and I don't mean that in
02:55:46.060any disrespect of things, but it's like just an inclination for our folk to consider these things
02:55:52.500as to why lord tear is called the god of justice um that justice is really judgment adjudication
02:56:01.780um as opposed to say asking him for boon in a trial it is more about after
02:56:11.220going across the threshold of war and battle that we find there's the need for allocating things
02:56:22.500So, yeah, we go with 26 of Bragi and Idon.
02:56:38.880He is renowned for wisdom and most all for fluency of speech and the skill with words.
02:56:44.560He knows most of Scaldship, and after him, Scaldship is called Bragr, and from his name, that one is called Bragrman, or woman, who possesses the eloquence surpassing others, of women or of men.
02:57:05.180His wife is Idun. She guards in her chest of ash those apples upon which the gods must taste whensoever that they grow old, and then they all become young, and so it shall be even unto the weird of the gods.
02:57:25.180then said gangliri a very great thing methinks the gods and trust to the watchfulness and the
02:57:32.360good faith upon even then how are laughing loudly twas near being desperate once i may be able to
02:57:42.920tell thee of it but now thou shalt first hear more of the names of the ice here so he gives an
02:57:51.440a kind of uh enticement to obviously the theft of even but we see this in the core of every
02:58:02.240aryan branch there is the soma of the uh araya in india um there's the ambrosia of the hellenics
02:58:10.300the golden apples um one thing that i see a lot of people do is they try
02:58:15.440is is there some correlation between eden and even because of the apple no the bible says fruit
02:58:24.540specifically and they're most likely talking about pomegranates uh the change to the apple was for
02:58:30.380european folk when christianity was being taught amongst them to make it more relatable um no so
02:58:39.740that, that etymology is not, um, uh, connected. It's like, just, I've seen people try to make
02:58:48.000the connection between Niflheim and the Nephilim, no connection. Um, so it's perhaps just that
02:58:57.400coincidence in, in, in that when two, uh, languages are kind of passing by each other.
02:59:03.300However, I think it's really interesting. One, in the list of the Ausenir, Idun is not there. And there is the list of the Ausenir that folks should pray to. But that doesn't mean that the gods outside of this list don't exist, which is why we've chosen to give them the title Ausenir, the most beloved ones.
02:59:29.800And that is clear with Idun and Bragi. Bragi is of the gods. Idun is an Austvenir. And she holds and is entrusted. So that shows that the Austvenir as well are given extremely high trust and power.
02:59:49.800power. Um, and I also going really cosmic I've, um, the golden apples, um, of youth and of light
02:59:58.860and of life. I thought it was very interesting when you think about it as the gods in their
03:00:04.400heavenly realm, um, the connection or correlation between life and light and sound, um, which are
03:00:12.780two parallel powers and again when when the light and the sound of heaven comes to the earth it is
03:00:21.980um prismatically represented in bivrost which i find uh very beautiful but these are more just
03:00:31.660kind of again mental um considerations and things like that stuff that we do talk about amongst the
03:00:39.420goth are and postulate um okay so 27 of high yeah all right so let's call it a night on the text for
03:00:55.900tonight um we do have one question left i and i want to make sure we're not you know rushing
03:01:03.660through any of these things i think we're at the i don't know this is such an important one i want
03:01:10.060to take our time on it um we got one more question this evening do we have any reason to believe the
03:01:19.660gods demand us to fear them like how yahweh demands us to fear him swan do you have any thoughts on
03:01:28.460Yeah, I do. I don't think that there is a demand. However, there is a healthy respect. And we see it in the names. We see it in the stories when Lord Thor, he has the sliver of stone in his head that causes great aggravation.
03:01:52.780And when he is angry, as it's said in the story, that few are spared from his wrath, even though it's not directed at them.
03:02:03.120They're just around him and he is just letting this loose.
03:02:10.620But it's about, yes, again, that great respect.
03:02:16.460I think that the capabilities and understandings of the powers of the gods, especially amongst her ancestors, knew that they were presiding over and the ability to affect these primordial domains.
03:02:34.960domains. So, um, saying a prayer to Skadi while on the mountain in, in hopes that an avalanche
03:02:43.780did not take you, um, praying to Lord Nyarder when you go out to sea, um, and hoping that,
03:02:53.560you know, you don't get sideswiped by, by foul storms or whirlpools or, or, or what have you.
03:03:01.500Um, we see that there are inclinations towards more respect and, um, again, not fear, but just healthy respect towards certain gods over others.
03:03:19.500obviously balder uh no but like lord odin the idea is that lord odin understands so much that
03:03:31.900your place in it is you might you might not understand things and he is doing what he must
03:03:41.100do and so there is a kind of overarching sense that you have to respect his workings
03:03:49.020even though you might not understand them because of the broader view but there's no demand to be
03:03:55.740i mean i think if you're disrespectful it gets worse when the king of uh norway gives a false um
03:04:06.540sorry that's uh um an alarm the uh when uh the king of norway gives a false sacrifice to lord
03:04:16.700odin um he takes him because of the blatant disrespect the uh that i think is the elevator
03:04:26.300of whether or not there's a demand of fear yeah i think it's an interesting question because i
03:04:35.300i think the natures of our gods versus the desert god are really really different um