Asatru Holidays - April 2025 - Jarl Hákon ｜ Stubba ｜ Nornanótt
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Summary
In this episode, we talk about the holidays, holy days, and days of remembrance of our people. We cover the names of the holidays and the day of remembrance for Jarl Halken Sigurdarsson, and the first day of the month of April.
Transcript
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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and folk of all ages, you know what time it is.
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So let's get down to it and talk about the holidays, holy days, and days of remembrance of our people.
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And to start off this episode, we actually have a very special learning lesson time.
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You may have seen bits and pieces of it here or there over the last, maybe, month.
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the Witten, Gothar, and the Ausher of the Argothi
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the names of some of our holidays that we called them
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when you have holidays that are named in English
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We needed to come together and actually unify that.
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And one of those holidays that I mentioned that was in German
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we celebrate them more or less the exact same all but one of them is the exact same
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let's go through them really quick go through all 12 and then we'll go into the specifics of
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our month of april so in january we're keeping it as thorblot same as always
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in february it is going to be a bit different it is disa thing disa thing that is a old norse
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version of what you may have heard a word before disting and it also is still incorporating
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aspects of charming of the plow we're still blessing the plow honoring slayer all of that
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sort, but there's the added addition of honoring the dísir. And really, there's never a bad
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time to honor our mothers and our ancestral mothers, and we still bless the plow and all
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of that. Last month, in March, we celebrated Æstra. Now, this is just the Old Norse name
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is Harvestblot. Always Winter Finding was a Harvest Festival anyway. It's still a Harvest
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Festival. We're still going to be honoring Ur and the start of the hunting season. We'll
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just call it Haustblot. And for the final three months of the year, it's basically just
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an Old Norse translation of the names we were using more or less. Vetterneter for Winter
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We'll be going over them every month, as always.
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day on the 10th for our day of remembrance for John Yorl Stubba and then our holiday as I said
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earlier is Nornanots and as always that will be the technically the last day of April on the 30th
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it would be followed by Sumer Mall on May 1st but because we know that not everybody can get
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together for two days in a row and a lot of times if those fall in the week or anything like that
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we celebrate and observe the holiday on the third weekend of the month but if you're able to get
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together on the 30th and the 31st with your folk that's awesome so the third weekend of the month
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would be the april 19th which is the day that we're going to observe the northern notes at the
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Alrighty, let's get down to the nitty-gritty and learn a bit about these holidays and holy days.
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Halken Sigurdarsson, also known as Halken Jarl and Jarl Halken,
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after his father was killed by Harald Glaycloak.
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He was the Jarl of Laid, Thrandelag, Halogaland in Norway.
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Adam of Brimen claimed that Jarl Halken was descended from Ivar the Boneless
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and Halken himself claimed to be descended from the Allfather
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After the death of his father and his elevation to the title of Jarl
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he warred with Harald Greycloak for a time, until being forced to flee to Denmark.
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Once in Denmark, he and Harald Bluetooth managed to defeat and kill Harald Greycloak.
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After Greycloak's defeat, Bluetooth gave Jarl Halken fiefs in Denmark.
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After defeating Greycloak's surviving brothers, Jarl Halken ruled Norway as one of Bluetooth's vassals.
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In 973, Halken went south to Denmark to help Bluetooth fight off Otto II of the Holy Roman Empire.
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Despite this help, Otto managed to fight off their combined forces and Germany retained
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Following this in 975, Bluetooth convinced Jarl Halken to accept Christ to be baptized
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and to take clergymen with him back to Norway in order to convert his folk.
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However, when a perfect wind came along for him to return to Norway,
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he ordered the Christian clergy to stay ashore.
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He returned to Norway, his loyalty to the Aesir intact.
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On the face of it, the story may look like a betrayal by Jarl Halken,
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To a friend, be a friend, but with an enemy, swap lies for lies.
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Once Bluetooth forced baptism upon Halkin, he had no choice to break his allegiance and leave Bluetooth's Christian clergy behind.
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Twenty years later, in 995, a disagreement erupted between Jarl Halkin and his folk in Trondolog.
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At the same time, the infamous snake known as Olaf Tryggvason arrived in the area.
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likely to convert the area to his foreign faith.
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and he was murdered by his friend and servant, Tormund Kark.
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Kark betrayed his lord in the hopes that Olaf would reward him,
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but he was decapitated for the crime of betraying his master.
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Jarl Halkin was a man who helped his allies when called,
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navigated the politics of northern Europe with skill,
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and kept his troth with the Aesir, even when his lord forced him to be bathed in the name of Christ.
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If not for the treachery of Tormund Kark, he may have stood a chance against Olaf the traitor.
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On the ninth day of April, we honor both his strength as a ruler
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and his devotion to build his folk and our gods.
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Even though it only lasted an extra twenty years,
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He managed to keep the torch of Trondalag's troch with the Aesir alight.
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May we all be steadfast in our devotion and dauntless in our piety.
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And on the 10th, the very next day, we honor John Yul Stubba.
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John Leslie William Yole, better known as Stubba, was born in England on April 10th of 1918.
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We know precious little about his family or early life.
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Most of our knowledge of him comes from his military service and role in the Royal Stuart Society.
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In the military, he served in the Spanish Civil War, the Indochina War, and in Burma in the 40s and early 50s.
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As far as his role in the Royal Stewards Society, he was elevated to the position of Vice-President
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and was said to be 7th in line for the throne of Great Britain if the Steward Line were
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He was so treasured by this society that upon his death, it performed his funeral service.
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After his time in the military, he discovered Alcetru and met John Gibbs Bailey, also known
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Halskold was experienced with various early Alcetru groups over the previous 30 years,
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and introduced Yol to the religious teachings of that time.
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Throughout the 1960s, the two men stayed in consistent contact and cultivated knowledge
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In 1973, they formed the Committee for the Restoration of the Odinic Rite, the predecessor
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During these early years of the committee, John Yole adopted the name Stubba, which he
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took from a Saxon chief who had ruled in the area now known as Whitechapel.
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As the Committee of the Odinic Rite started to find its footing, Stubba played an integral
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role in creating Alcetru doctrine with what little knowledge they had at the time.
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This included helping Haskell write the Nine Noble Virtues.
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Haskell had come up with a list of eight, and Stubba added the ninth one.
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These virtues, along with Aushergothi Flavel's edition of Victory, are still used by the
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Many of our folk, AFA or not, strive to live their lives by these virtues.
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At Haskell's time in Midgarthor began to come to a close in the 70s, Stubba began much
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He became the first director of the court of O'gothar, leading important efforts in
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bringing his folk back to the troth with the Iseer.
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He assisted in the publishing of the Raven Banner, the first Alcatru publication in the
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Stubba led the court of Gothar until 1989, when he retired from leadership to focus on
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writings, recording of Alcetra music, and research.
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He wrote and published several books in his lifetime, but perhaps most notably, he wrote
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a letter to the Australian government requesting information and photographs of Helig mother
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He had nearly completed a manuscript regarding this, but there is no known copy in existence.
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Stubba passed from Midgarth and joined his ancestors on September 25th, 2010.
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He was given a funeral by the Royal Stewards Society, followed by an Alcintrus ceremony
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where he was honored at the famous White Horse Stone, the resting place of Horsa, one of
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the first Saxon chieftains to set foot in Britannia.
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was a warrior, a student of our folk's history, an author, and a pioneer of our ancestral
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faith. He was part of the tip of the spear, leading the British folk in reforging their
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loyalty to the Aesir, and the Alcetru Folk Assembly will honor him forever. Hail Stubba,
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hail the Aesir, hail the Alcetru Folk Assembly. And our holiday for the month, officially
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on April 30th, with the observant day on the 19th, is Nornenot. Previously, we referred
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to this as Hexenot, of course. When the ground was thawed and the colder weather was beginning
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to give way, it became necessary to move the cattle from the winter fields to the summer
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ones. Nornenot, traditionally, was a festival celebrating this very thing. The main focus
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of the holiday was the bonfire. The men would all gather and build the large needfire. They
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would then walk the cattle through the smoke to bless them before rehoming them for the
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warm months. Often the men would call on Freyr during the night, asking for fertility
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and abundance. While the men were off blessing the cattle, the women gathered together for
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their own festivities. They had their own bonfires, and it was during this time that
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the women often burned herbs and practiced their local magic, or sedhe. As the men called
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Anfraer, the women would often call Anfraea. After the separate celebrations, men and women
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would come together and continue the festivities. We in the AFA celebrate this day as Nornanuts,
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Valpurgisnacht is named such because it is a night before the Christian feast day honoring St. Valpurgia,
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who was credited with healing and repelling witches.
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Certainly not something for our folk to celebrate.
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Men and women celebrating separately and then coming together
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are one of the main features of Nurnanauts, as well as the bonfires.
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A good way to celebrate the holiday might include the men building the bonfire, or the women practice communal saver.
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When they are finished, the men and women can join together around the bonfire.
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The women can throw herbs into the fire, and asking for the blessings of Freyr and Freya,
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the men, women, and children can each take turns walking through the smoke.
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Thank you so much everybody for listening in again today.
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If you guys have any questions about any of the holidays, the names, or anything like that,
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don't hesitate to ask any of the Folkbillers, Leadership, Gotar.
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We're all happy to answer any questions you got.
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And we'll talk to you next month about Summonermann, of course, and our Days of Remembrance in May.
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And I know we're a ways off. I'm not going to plug it too big.
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Hail the Aesir, hail the folk, hail the AFA, hail victory.