00:17:14.020So King Olaf sent it was five ships and 300 men to capture Olvir.
00:17:21.660Olvir was executed, his property sacked, and many of his men were maimed, killed, driven from the country.
00:17:30.180Their belongings appropriated by the king for his empire.
00:17:35.760And, um, it was, it was, it was, again, really brutal. So it was, uh, it was in, but still he held his bravery. Um, and the reason that I chose Olvir, um, he, he's kind of different from some of our other heroes. Many of our heroes, there's something, you know, they led in these huge battles and they, uh, did these, these larger than life things.
00:18:03.340Olvir, and not to speak little of him, he was known as a great chieftain, a great gothing,
00:18:11.980and a man of honor and prestige among his people. He's the owner of a great farming estate, but
00:18:19.420he in many ways was a normal guy, just like us, who had the courage to stand up for what he
00:18:29.020believed was right and so and it seems like that's something that we see less and less of today as
00:18:36.860the air of political correctness has continued to envelop our culture
00:18:44.520i think it's that we need to bring back uh it also reminds me of you know because we here in
00:18:55.040united states we have so many great examples of people from the american revolution who
00:19:01.840spoke their minds under pain of death um many of the people who signed the declaration of
00:19:07.840independence for instance were you know they're they were killed arrested their homes burned and
00:19:15.520all these terrible things so that we could have the freedom in this country to speak our minds
00:19:20.400and i think we need to we really need to remember that that it's so important to a functioning
00:19:29.940society for us to speak the truth so that so that tyrannical rulers cannot
00:19:38.900cannot establish their faulty viewpoints over the people shall we say
00:19:46.040all right well there you have it and you have uh you've accomplished a first so this is our
00:19:53.960third episode on heroes and in the questions line right now we have uh two and a half questions that
00:20:02.760are related to our hero today so that is a first in the previous episodes we haven't had
00:20:07.960any questions about the hero that we were featuring um that said not one of those questions
00:20:14.840gothi trent east asks justin is there a god or goddess you feel closest to and if so why
00:20:23.640well i i guess when i started out uh much like many men um odin and thorne were the first one
00:20:30.360the first gods that i identified with and i still do love them they're such great examples of how we
00:20:36.040can how we can live our lives um i'm always very strongly identified with odin because he's known
00:20:44.520for his bravery but he's also known for his wisdom and as someone who is i consider myself a lifelong
00:20:52.520learner and that's that's so important um he also practiced the esoteric and he's uh just a great
00:21:02.680example of a leader but uh as i as i became a leader myself and i've kind of grown into this
00:21:08.680position um i've grown closer to tear because i have learned more about the selfless service and
00:21:22.040self-sacrifice that goes into being a leader and really all of the gods and goddesses i've
00:21:29.320cultivated a much closer relationship with because as a spiritual leader i have to work with people
00:21:37.800who very closely identify with those gods and goddesses and through them i am able to build
00:21:43.960a connection with them and learn more about them as people sounds good um all right and our our
00:21:55.720half-related question from Catla. Okay, serious egg question. Favorite way to eat your eggs.
00:22:05.080What is your favorite egg preparation, Justin? Scrambled with cheese and breakfast sausage.
00:22:15.000Sounds good. I'm gonna go off the res here and not really a breakfast egg.
00:22:19.400deviled eggs. I love me some deviled eggs. I can eat an infinite quantity of deviled
00:22:25.640eggs. The serving is whatever quantity finds itself in front of me. That's going to be
00:22:31.620my favorite. From Sarah, where does the egg part of his name come from? A town, a family
00:22:41.800name, maybe it's a translation. Justin, enlighten us.
00:22:47.000It comes from, that was the name of his farming estate.
00:22:49.400I'm not sure if that was named after the region, but that's what he was known as.
00:22:54.780Olver of the Egg or Eggia Farming Estate.
00:23:19.400I think that sounds solid. It's funny because when you overthink it, you always find many of the virtues that kind of overlap. I was going to say courage, but I was torn on fidelity and perseverance as well.
00:23:38.920One of the things that is powerful to me is he took his responsibility seriously as, and this was kind of a thing, as one of the more well-to-do people in his area, it was his job to take on the responsibility of making sure our gods were worshipped and of leading his people in our religion.
00:24:05.840and this was a time it would be very very easy for him to give that up and go along and get along
00:24:13.680and be much much safer but he took that responsibility very seriously and not only
00:24:18.800to take it seriously to arrange for the sacrifices and the feasts but to then go and stand before the
00:24:25.280king in enemy territory and show his face representing the people um that certainly
00:24:32.480it exemplifies the courage that justin talked about but also it's part of his his fidelity to
00:24:39.200our gods and his perseverance in continuing our faith even when it was outlawed so that's my
00:24:46.960thoughts on that um dan mason our folk builder from maine asks what is your favorite part of
00:24:55.840being a folk builder just being able to help people um whether it's being able to counsel people
00:25:05.200through times of hardship maybe grief or maybe they are in between jobs or you know they're
00:25:13.760experiencing a crisis of faith you know they have problem with drug abuse or you know there's so
00:25:21.600many things that i've encountered being a folk builder that i've been able to help people with
00:25:27.840and it's you know it's kind of hackneyed the um you know the old saying that you know it's
00:25:35.040oh you know service is uh the the quickest way to happiness and you know i never believed that
00:25:40.480until i started doing it and it's it's addictive being able to help people and you know and not
00:25:47.600just individuals being able to lead community service you know it you it makes you and
00:25:54.800in addition to the people that you get involved in those community service projects you know that
00:25:58.480you're you're taking responsibility for your environment you know whether you're you're
00:26:04.800leading a a park cleanup or a food drive or whatever it may be and uh yeah it's fantastic
00:26:13.040give it a try so we got a an important reminder over in the chat everybody who's listening to
00:26:21.920this on whatever platform it's on um like it subscribe to it assuming that you do like it
00:26:30.240if you're if you're here and you you enjoy what we're doing tonight please help us bump up those
00:26:36.320algorithms you know like it share it whatever you can do on the platform that you're on
00:26:42.080but those things do factor in and they help us pop up more frequently for people
00:26:47.040and put us in front of the eyes and ears of more of our folk that
00:26:52.560perhaps would enjoy hearing this or perhaps need to hear it
00:26:58.400question from ryan orion wotenson in what saga is this hero you're talking about in
00:27:05.520Justin can you tell them yes that is the heimskringla the saga of the kings of Norway
00:27:16.720and this is in uh king Olaf's saga correct in the heimskringla yes sir yeah if you guys
00:27:24.000haven't read that that was one of my uh you know what that was my first bit of of our lore that I
00:27:31.280read and i read that right when i was on the cusp of you know just just leaving christianity but i
00:27:38.400wasn't didn't fully find alsatru yet and so i read the heimskringla and it's awesome it's a great work
00:27:48.160of history and it's a really good collection of sagas and i think it's a really good place
00:27:54.240to start for a lot of folks if you do have an interest in history
00:27:57.520um from katla also justin uh can you tell us about a powerful spiritual or magical experience
00:28:09.680that you've had yeah every time i galder is a magical experience um that's something that
00:28:19.280resonated with me very strongly from the moment that I found this faith was the wisdom of the
00:28:28.340runes and the ability to use resonance to change what's inside of you, you know, be it your body,
00:28:39.200your mind, your spirit, or your inner, your inner guard, as well as your outer guard,
00:28:44.520you're projecting those vibrations into the world um often i will i try to galder every day
00:28:51.580and often i'll have incredible visions of maybe things that should happen maybe things that i
00:28:59.100want to make happen maybe things that will happen um there have been a couple times that i think that
00:29:04.920i may have made contact with spiritual beings um i i don't like to get too too serious about that
00:29:11.720But I, the way I take it is, you know, was it real?
00:29:15.820Well, it was a real experience and, um, those, those experiences meant a lot to me and they
00:29:22.360help guide my actions and my thoughts.
00:29:24.360So I put a lot of stud into it, but that's going to be up to the individual.
00:29:29.480But, um, yeah, as the wounds go, study them.
00:44:54.240as far as it relates to to now people there's kind of an inverse relationship to this now
00:45:01.200when people have very little to lose that's when they're the most courageous um
00:45:08.080the folks that don't have a lot going on well in their life they don't have you know lands and
00:45:13.200fortune and success are the ones most likely to stand up for our faith it's very difficult and
00:45:20.240it's rare that rich people and successful people and people who have careers and you know seemingly
00:45:27.040a lot to lose are willing to step forward but it's precisely those people that it's their job
00:45:35.680when you have when you have success when you've been blessed when things have worked out well
00:45:42.320for you in your life it's your job to be a leader for your folk and to help the rest of your folk to
00:45:49.360take that responsibility that was older's job as the you know the the rich guy in the community
00:45:55.200that owned the farm that owned the means to make sure that the gods were worshipped and that he
00:46:00.400was representing the people when he had to go to the assembly and speak before the king um
00:46:05.920Um, very often now people use as an excuse and it's, you know, it's way easier said than done.
00:46:13.180Please don't get me wrong. I know it's very difficult. Um, but it's why it's so admirable.
00:46:17.620What Olver was able to do is people are scared. They don't want to stand up. They don't want to
00:46:23.520lose their livelihood. They don't want to lose their career. They don't want to lose, you know,
00:46:27.960all of the, the blessings that they've been given in life. They're scared to lose them.
00:46:33.580So they become, you know, their their blessings become a prison of sorts that keeps them from feeling free to stand up for the things they believe in.
00:46:45.320And I think Olver is a really strong example of with money and with success and with power and affluence comes a responsibility to represent your people, to speak for those that don't have a voice, to make sure that the gods are taken care of.
00:47:06.480You notice that people who make, okay, so I've noticed this, and this doesn't speak for everybody, certainly. But in the AFA, oftentimes the people with the least to give are the most generous and willing to give, you know, very large percentages of what they have.
00:47:24.760But it's the people that are very successful that oftentimes give very little and give a much smaller percent of the things that they have.
00:47:36.980And I think that's that's interesting. And Olver is a is a powerful example in how to do that. Right.
00:47:43.800i think um i have a question from folk builder shay mccurdy from oklahoma what skills talents
00:47:54.120or trades do you wield well the table justin well i am i've done a lot of different stuff in my life
00:48:05.720um i'd say probably one of the most unique ones was uh i my father was a horse trainer
00:48:15.800a journeyman farrier which is someone who puts the shoes on a horse and hoof he nails them on there
00:48:23.480and a welder and it's been a blacksmith so i grew up apprenticing with him and
00:48:29.400And I didn't know how lucky I was, man.
00:48:33.340It was such a coming-of-age experience challenging myself against these, you know, beautiful, majestic animals.
00:48:40.980You know, it's like my dad always used to saying, a horse is an animal, a 2,000-pound animal with the strength of 10 men and the mentality of a 2-year-old child.
00:48:52.980and learning to work with an animal that's make those animals my companions and learn
00:49:04.020learn from them was such a special experience um you know i did that i'm
00:49:14.620i got i had the pleasure of working at a store that specialized in aquarium service and
00:49:25.840um salt water coral and that was incredible getting to see so many
00:49:32.940just rare and strange sea creatures and it's this incredible form of life it's like wait
00:49:41.100i thought these were plants wait corals aren't plants no they're animals they're actually animals
00:49:45.640believe it or not but they do photosynthesize and just learning to again just getting my getting
00:49:52.000myself involved with nature in so many ways has been so rewarding and i'm gonna sound like a broken
00:49:57.680record but get out there get out there in the woods and work with animals and experience it
00:50:05.660yourself if you haven't there you go that's that's really unique uh your your dad being a farrier
00:50:14.140that's that's a that's a cool and unique skill set that is you know much much more rare to come by
00:50:21.740uh now and labs to be even more so in the future um brandy uh witten brandy callahan asks justin
00:50:31.500and I'll share your gothy could you both tell us about a moment when you feel that you have
00:50:36.620achieved victory justin tell us tell us about a moment where you felt victorious
00:50:46.620when i was oath as a folk builder at the feast of the inner yar about six months ago now or so
00:50:53.020and in this last november um it was really great to see all my hard work recognized and um not just
00:51:01.180recognized but but recognized by some of the people that i respect and admire the most
00:51:10.940well i think that's i think that's a good one i'm i'm proud and happy i was i was there to
00:51:16.940to be there for that moment of you being victorious um
00:51:22.060shoot randy it's hard i have been i've been very very fortunate um
00:51:31.180One big moment that I felt was really victorious was when we finally closed on Thorshoff.
00:51:44.740You know, we got Odenshoff at the tail end of Steve McNallan's administration.
00:51:51.720And one of the big things jumping in that was kind of a proving ground of, you know,
00:51:56.780could I fill the shoes? Could I, could I be effective as Osherian Yothi?
00:52:05.840Was, you know, can, can we keep this ball rolling? And so it was really important,
00:52:10.880but it was kind of a behind the scenes victory when we were able to pay off Odin's off. And
00:52:15.320that was really important to me. But the big public victory was, you know, can Matt get us
00:52:21.640off and if so how fast can he get us off and anybody who was there during the time we had a
00:52:27.560number of things kind of fall through and not work out the way we wanted to and you know it was it
00:52:33.800was definitely there was some struggling involved to get uh thor's off and we overcame it we were
00:52:39.720able to do it there were so many people who contributed to that victory i don't want less
00:52:44.120than that but that was that was my first half i was able to be a part of you know to take the
00:52:50.840lead and make it happen. And that meant and still means a lot to me and will always have a very
00:52:57.240special place in my heart. And that was a moment that I felt very blessed with victory.
00:53:04.620So Nick asks, our producer Nick, so there's not a folk builder everywhere. Can members that don't
00:53:12.680have the time and energy to take on all the responsibilities of folk buildings still host
00:53:18.820something local to them and how could we help them with that well absolutely so
00:53:26.020not only can folks do that we would really love to see folks do that um
00:53:35.140so we've got way better folk builder coverage now than we've ever had but midgard is a big place
00:53:41.540and uh much more likely to have somebody very close to you now than you have been in days past
00:53:47.860but we still we need all the help we can we can get to do this and if we have members somewhere
00:53:53.300and you want to host something and see something happen in your area a couple of things first
00:53:58.660every place that we have that's all right so trying to get the best way to start this one thing that
00:54:12.020you know when you're when you just start to be an adult and you move out to your own place
00:54:17.860You know, who buys dish soap? Who buys, you know, who buys aspirin? You just go in the in the cabinet and there's aspirin when you're a kid.
00:54:28.320Well, somebody has to actually go do those things. And you take for granted that it's your parents that do it.
00:54:34.520In the AFA, people just assume we've got stuff everywhere. And they assume when they show up that, you know, I'm sitting out here in in Nevada,
00:54:42.960oh, we're waving a magic wand and, you know, a community erupts somewhere. And I really wish I
00:54:50.080had the power to do that. That would be awesome. We would be doing some spectacular things if I
00:54:56.160could. But realistically, it takes regular folks who are members who see a need and decide, hey,
00:55:02.680I want to step up and make this happen. And that comes in a lot of different shapes and sizes,
00:55:07.060certainly with our folk builders. But even if we don't have that in, hey, I'm a member,
00:55:11.680is there anything going on near me? Well, no, there's not. The next question you should ask
00:55:16.460is, well, are there members near me? And your folk builder, however far away they are, or me,
00:55:21.860I can tell you if you got folks next to you. And if they've clicked the referral box,
00:55:26.480I can give you their contact info. And I can help. And when I say I, the AFA in general,
00:55:34.360any of our folk builders, any of our go-thar and myself can help you figure out what to do.
00:55:40.780I think people, if they go to one of our larger events, they go to a Hoff and they see, you know, something spectacular, they assume that their get-together that they do, you know, needs to be at that level, and it doesn't.
00:55:55.800When I started folk building, I started folk building in Anchorage, Alaska, and what I always really loved to do was to have people in my home and have a meal and, you know, do that.
00:56:08.560So I still do that to this day, but that's one of my, that's my folk building fundamentals.
00:56:14.280But I was doing this before I was officially a folk builder is invite people over and have a meal,
00:56:19.960have a potluck. So it's not a big expense or hardship on you. And if you're not comfortable
00:56:24.380with that, that's okay too. You can have a park moot. You can have a pub moot. What I say to
00:56:29.640anybody, and I say this to all the new folk builders when I talk to them as well,0.99
00:56:33.080don't start out investing a lot into it because that's going to build frustration if it doesn't
00:56:40.580you know if it doesn't work out that first time and the the unfortunate truth is sometimes it
00:56:45.060takes several times before it catches on but when it's consistent when it does it snowballs
00:56:50.540amazing things happen but I would say this if you want stuff to happen in your area and there's no
00:56:56.300folk builder get with your local folk builder and have them help you host something and host
00:57:01.780a pub mood at a place you like to go or at a restaurant you like to go to. If you got a
00:57:08.400girlfriend, a wife, bring them with you. And worst case scenario, nobody shows up and you guys have
00:57:15.540a nice dinner at a place you like. And best case scenario, a bunch of people show up and you have
00:57:20.260a successful mood and you take a picture. You guys still eat a dinner that you like at a place you
00:57:24.240like. And then you've got momentum for that next month that you try. So, and that goes for anything.
00:57:30.520doesn't have to look like that you can have a bowling mood you can play pool you can go for a
00:57:35.800hike you can have a moot with your kids at a park where they can play on the equipment
00:57:41.480a lot a lot of options but willingness to step up and want to try that's the big thing and
00:57:47.000reach out to your folk builder they'd love to help you so that's that's what i gotta say in that
00:57:51.640regard um folk builder shay mccurdy asks what is the best place time fair festival uh to visit
00:58:03.640your great state suggestion if anybody wants to visit texas when when should they go and what
00:58:09.080should they go for um well i guess um i guess i'll go ahead and uh i'll just tease it right now
00:58:18.520well first of all let me say if you have the opportunity to go to a midsummer celebration
00:58:23.560the one at odenshof is going to be the biggest so don't miss out on that but
00:58:27.560if you can't make it out there um we're planning i'm cooking up a pretty fun little bloat that
00:58:33.480we're going to have out on the water for this midsummer so uh come on out for that uh i also
00:58:40.280really enjoy our thora bloat um being in texas you know it's it's not a super harsh winter
00:58:47.320most of the time and we play our games of strength everything from
00:58:51.480uh indian leg wrestling to arm wrestling to um you name it you just got to come out to see it
00:58:58.760uh a lot of times we have uh we have a lot of the oklahoma afa guys out from out from uh up north
00:59:05.560and we make a make a big event of it so we'd love to see that grow in the future and um
00:59:12.200yeah i'd love to have everybody support and see some new faces
00:59:16.600excellent from uh gofi daniel young as a folk builder what has challenged you the most
01:08:34.500thank you for that that wasn't that wasn't half bad thank you all right
01:08:41.540All right. So our next question from Catla, how far are we with Njordshoff getting paid off?
01:08:51.140All right. So for those of you that do not know, got Njordshoff in White Springs, Florida,
01:08:59.380beautiful Njordshoff. It's fantastic. People down there put a lot of love into it.
01:09:03.860It was our most expensive hoff so far because Florida is a very popular place for people to
01:09:10.680be buying right now. They have been pillars of freedom down there. So a lot of people are
01:09:15.400wanting to move to Florida. The total cost all in for our, for Njordshof, it's $245,000.
01:09:26.380As of today, it is, we still owe $112,000 and change. That's a huge chunk in a very short
01:09:38.080amount of time. You guys and your generosity has been amazing. You know, last time I ran numbers,
01:09:46.660it was about $102 per AFA member. If you guys paid that, we would immediately have that half
01:09:52.880paid off. But I appreciate anybody who has. And mentioning that figure, a number of people just
01:09:58.720stepped up and did when I asked. So I appreciate that a lot. Getting very close. Another side thing,
01:10:04.940because of you know various persecution we've had to be find alternative ways to get lending
01:10:13.380and we've had two people one an afa member and another who wasn't a member but is shares shares
01:10:21.540values with us who are willing to lend us some money and make this happen and i really appreciate
01:10:26.280that so we had two separate loans taken out in order to get yorts off and i'm proud to say that
01:10:33.400as of this last month we have paid off one of those loans so now we only have one loan remaining
01:10:39.160on it and uh sounds like a big number but it's it's much less than half of what that original
01:10:45.400chunk was and we're we're only i got a math but we're only you know what eight or nine months
01:10:53.960into it so this has been fantastic i appreciate it i appreciate everybody who's been generous
01:10:58.600So you guys know that's the first step in us getting Frazehoff. Frazehoff is going to be our next hoff, and it's going to be in eastern Ohio with the slightest of chances that it could be in western Pennsylvania.
01:11:14.480but I think Eastern Ohio is the safer bet. We're working really hard to make that happen. And the
01:11:20.560first thing that we got to do is get out from under Njordshoff, and then we can worry about0.90
01:11:26.580starting to make Frazehoff happen. But we're excited. We've got a lot of momentum, and you
01:11:30.500guys have been very generous. We appreciate it. So Vladimir says, greetings, friends. I apologize
01:11:40.600for intruding off topic. But gentlemen, where can a Slavic German Gentile get a closer look at your0.99
01:11:48.720movement? Vladimir, thank you. You're not, no apologies necessary. We go, we go wherever the0.79
01:11:56.580questions take us on this program. You want to go to our website, www.runestone.org. But I'm going
01:12:07.620have Nick throw up the sites for each of our Hoffs depending on where you're located or look
01:12:12.460at all of them if you'd like. Each of our Hoffs has their own website. What I would say if you
01:12:21.440want, so those are good places to read about stuff we do and get an idea of scheduling on when and
01:12:27.840where events are and things of that nature. But if you want to kind of see and get a feel for
01:12:32.700what we're about and what we do, I don't know where you're watching us right now, but our YouTube
01:12:37.480channel is where you want to go and you can find all of our videos, all of these that we do once
01:12:44.020a week. You can find little slideshows we make of all the different events that we, you know,
01:12:50.980the national and regional events we host throughout the year. And then every quarter and certainly
01:12:56.640every year, I put out a little video that's basically a slideshow of all the different,
01:13:01.440you know, all the different little gatherings that we do. And, you know, any given weekend,
01:13:05.520we've got those going on across the country so got a lot of really cool things going on that
01:13:11.120we'd love to show off to you the other thing is uh each of those websites has contact uh information
01:13:17.280so please feel free to ask any of our go thar any of our folk builders anything you might be
01:13:22.560curious about we'd love to help and you can always email me matt flavel runestone.org and
01:14:03.600So I'm sure James will let you know the details.
01:14:07.600Anybody else that's coming up next month, Nick can throw up the dates for you here.
01:14:12.600I believe it's the 20 something of next month in Wisconsin.
01:14:20.600We're going to have a our third annual celebration of folk mother Elsie Christensen and James Alt and his his wife host that and they do an amazing job.
01:14:34.280So if you guys can get up there and they have a Wisconsin fish boil all the time, and that's absolutely delicious.
01:14:41.120And I'm looking forward to that. I'd love to see you guys there. I'll be up there for it.