Animals = Realm Travellers? [Viking Age]

#heathen #norseheathen #norsepagan #norsemythology #norsemyth #viking #vikingage #animal
Animals are prevalent boundary crossers in early medieval Nordic literature - so let's break down the prominent idea of the wild vs civilisation (and how that ties into realm crossing, travelling, wandering, and all of that).
Let's get those brain juices flowing.
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References and Further Reading
orca.cardiff.a...
Humans and Animals in the Norse North Atlantic Lara M. Hogg
• STONE AGE MOTHER & BAB...
Denmark burial
Between Nature and Culture: Animals and Humans in Old Norse Literature, Timothy J.S. Bourns, University of Oxford.
ora.ox.ac.uk/o...
Magnell, O. 2019. Animals of Sacrifice: Animals and the Blót
in the OldNorse Sources and Ritual Depositions of Bones from Archaeological Sites.In: Wikström af Edholm, K., Jackson Rova, P., Nordberg, A., Sundqvist, O. &Zachrisson, T. (eds.)
Myth, Materiality, and Lived Religion: In Merovingianand Viking Scandinavia
Stockholm: Stockholm UniversityPress.
Animals & Humans: Recurrent Symbiosis in Archaeology & Old Norse Religion (Vagar Till Midgard): Recurrent Symbiosis in Archaeology and Old Norse Religion. Kristina Jennbert.
(Note this book is great for the archeology, but the first couple of chapters miss the mark on analysis of the literature).
Animals in burial contexts - An investigation of Norse rituals and human-animal relationships, Hannah Strehlau
Animals in the Viking World: Dogs in Society and Burial, Kaitlyn Gutierrez

[@RedemptionDenied]

Thank you!

[@valsif]

you're very welcome - thank you for watching!

[@stephenakastephen5117]

Once again you have challenged my preconceived notions of the gods and they interact with the world. I (so far) haven’t generally interacted with jotnarr or Vanir. For the first time I am considering the Aesir as conquerors of the natural world, which I suppose is obvious, but sometimes the obvious hides from us in plain site. I really enjoy your perspectives and the way in which you challenge heathen norms.

[@valsif]

Thank you for watching and spending the time to comment. I was worried I came off as too negative against the Aesir (seeing as I also worship them in parallel with the Vanir and Jotunn personally). It's quite a nice ongoing theme that fits within the Eddas and sagas when you balance the three "parties" as being conqueror, collaborator, and nature personified. The Jotunn are everything wild and primordial and natural. The Vanir work hand in hand with nature. The Aesir look to dominate and control it (potentially also adding a nice framework for why the Aesir and Jotunn come to heads so often, while the Vanir seemingly do not). I just love looking at the "underlayers" of the Eddas to see how it can shape and inform our practice as heathens. That's my goal, and I'm beyond happy that I'm helping you to do the same.

[@stephenakastephen5117]

@@valsif no definitely not negative. But for the first time I looked at the Aesir in a similar light as I do (perhaps unfairly) the Christians and their god, who I perceive as wishing to master nature and having dominion over it, rather than coexisting. I found myself considering the story of the binding of Fenrir as an allegory of trying to tame nature and the consequences in doing so.

[@pheonix7157]

@7:25 DAMN YOU VALSIIIIF!!! :p

[@valsif]

hehehe, I am become Snorri, destroyer of explanations

[@wesleyfilms]

Nice to see someone touching on the hamrammr. Feels like the berserker gets all the attention.

[@nathanieli5572]

*Promo sm* 😅