Volsungs and Language (Live in Texas)

Jackson Crawford talks about the Volsungs myths and some ideas about the Norse language to the faculty of Great Hearts Texas ( www.greatheartsamerica.org/ ), live on September 27, 2021.
Jackson Crawford, Ph.D.: Sharing real expertise in Norse language and myth with people hungry to learn, free of both ivory tower elitism and the agendas of self-appointed gurus. Visit jacksonwcrawford.com/ (includes bio and linked list of all videos).
Jackson Crawford’s Patreon page: / norsebysw
Visit Grimfrost at www.grimfrost.com?aff=183
Latest FAQs: vimeo.com/375149287 (updated Nov. 2019).
Jackson Crawford’s translation of Hávamál, with complete Old Norse text: www.hackettpublishing.com/the... or www.amazon.com/Wanderers-Hava...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Poetic Edda: www.hackettpublishing.com/the... or www.amazon.com/Poetic-Edda-St...
Audiobook: www.audible.com/pd/The-Poetic...
Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Saga of the Volsungs: www.hackettpublishing.com/the... or www.amazon.com/Saga-Volsungs-...
Audiobook: www.audible.com/pd/The-Saga-o...
Music © I See Hawks in L.A., courtesy of the artist. Visit www.iseehawks.com/
Logos by Elizabeth Porter (snowbringer at gmail).

[@benmorgan6433]

I enjoy seeing Dr. Crawford interacting with a crowd. He seems much looser than in his usual videos on here. He seems like he's having fun which is always nice to see.

[@SunnyAquamarine2]

Right? They say the secret isn't to do what you like, but to like what you do. As a linguist myself, I'm about 80% happy for him and 20% jealous for myself.

[@Tina06019]

An hour of listening to Dr. Jackson Crawford? Yes, please.

[@andrew_owens7680]

This can't be the same Jackson Crawford. The one I know wears a cowboy hat and carries around a backdrop of the Rockies. Well done!

[@melissahdawn]

What an opening! "I killed a Dragon and..." and sold my soul to the devil or something.

[@kiffermachon]

No hat... im feeling.... a disturbance in the force

[@getrealroleplaying7427]

Why would he wear a hat indoors though? :)

[@BigShy69]

So awesome that he's here in the Metroplex! Fan-girling a bit! As a person of Scandinavian descent I'm so grateful to you, Dr. Crawford, for sharing your knowledge with us and allowing us to learn more deeply about our cultural heritage.

[@perperson199]

Very Beautiful Norwegian last name you have

[@BigShy69]

@@perperson199 Thank you! Our branch of the family were mostly farmers - nothing nearly as exciting as what Thor did - but we're proud of our Norwegian heritage :)

[@elizabethford7263]

Can anyone else hear the audience swooning when he read in Old Norse??? Btw- if this is in a K12 school, I'm DEFINITELY teaching in the wrong school... Crap, they're all in North Texas. 😓

[@mnels5214]

The positive/negative word discussion was so interesting, and got me thinking about English versions. Slick vs. smooth, maybe? Nonchalant vs. carefree? Did any of the commenters think of more? That was a really interesting talk!

[@gerardvila4685]

My late uncle was fond of sayings like "I am firm, You are obstinate, He is pig-headed" or "I have a healthy appetite, You should watch your weight, He is fat!"

[@mnels5214]

@@davidweihe6052 Yes! Wise and clever and sly all mean about the same thing but have different connotations.

[@gerardvila4685]

@@Galenus1234In my understanding what happens is, due to mixing of languages people find themselves with two or more words for the exact same thing, but since they learned each word in a different context, the words take on subtle or not so subtle differences. For instance, English imported "liberty" from French, I would imagine in the context of the intense political dogfights of the American and French revolutions, so it naturally became associated with that kind of discussion; on the other hand "freedom" is the original English (I.e., Germanic) word and is used in any context whatsoever, such as the feeling you get after taking off uncomfortable boots after a long day... whereas in French you would say "mes pieds sont enfin libres", "my feet are free at last".

[@sameash3153]

I feel like wise/cunning is a good parallel. Usually when somebody is cunning, it has a mischievous sense

[@peterappelgren2932]

Väldigt bra föreläsning. Tack.

[@SunnyAquamarine2]

I recently watched a video of him trying not to swear while swearing and one of the comments was, "isn't he just adorable!" Yeah, he is. Living fossil that he is.

[@SunnyAquamarine2]

@@sarahgilbert8036 I didn't say it was. But thank you for the reminder.

[@elizabethmansfield3609]

What a brilliant lecture and Q&A, thank you! I loved the nuanced vocabulary and the discussion on dying well.

[@callisastapp7160]

This makes me so happppyyyy

[@areigon]

Driving between jobs and see an hour long lecture from Jackson Crawford just got uploaded. Good day, good day

[@palehonkie]

Just listening to this at work was wonderful and insightful. Thank you Doctor Crawford for your time

[@torstenoakes]

This talk was absolute aces, thank you for uploading it!

[@MikefromTexas1]

Wish I'd know about this, I'da shown up!

[@druid_irl5947]

I need to know if Dr. Jackson Crawford plays dnd. If so, there is no question that he is my favorite human on the internet.

[@getrealroleplaying7427]

He has mentioned having played dnd and he follows mathew colville's channel, so draw your own conclusions :)

[@druid_irl5947]

@@getrealroleplaying7427 so you are telling me that Dr Jackson is the most amazing human on the internet and we need to protect him at all cost?

[@ileaddeaths]

This is so amazing

[@petersonl1008]

Quite happy to hear and see this. Thanks for the intel.

[@brandonwinstead7137]

What a great lecture I wish I was there.. its almost like you've done this before...

[@traditionaltaekwondoramblings]

Thank you for sharing this, and for all your good work :-)

[@johnsweet6448]

I wanted to say! Thank you! for your continued sharing of your knowledge of My Faith!

[@blakewinter1657]

This is great!

[@tgsflowa807]

Thank you.

[@riptidemonzarc3103]

Jackson Crawford: *turns around* Lady in the audience: *whoops* JC: *flustered* ...was that a cheer for colour?! No, Jackson. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a cheer for shape, if you know what I mean.

[@Fridrik-]

Hann var kappi mikill, drengr góðr og gledi mikla gerði skutr hans meðal emblu dætra.

[@Fridrik-]

Hann var kappi mikill, drengr góðr og gledi mikla gerði skutr hans meðal emblu dætra.

[@arminiush]

Wow. I enjoy the Doc's videos very, very much, but it is great to see him interacting real-time on his feet with an audience! If I had had more teachers like him, maybe I would have bothered to finish college, and maybe in something that interested me(Though his advice on that does make a fair amount of sense..).

[@j.b.4340]

@25:24, 👍🏻 I had wondered this. “Ulfar eta annars erindi” is one of my favorite, rarely used, quotes from you Dr. Crawford. I’ll get to use it one day.

[@rowanmcgovern1343]

Dr Crawford mentioned the good and bad connotations of jarpr vs brúnn, which made me wonder if that has anything to do with the word "bear" being related to the word "brown." Obviously bears are normally brown, but is it possible that the "bad" brown word was chosen because of how dangerous bears are? Though I'm not sure how far back the good/bad colors go. I guess it would have to be something that occurred when the Germanic languages weren't split apart, right? I'd love if anyone has any sources or anything on this

[@perkarlsson9087]

I think you are right about "bear" and "brown". I have read something about it a long time ago.

[@dvolsung1527]

So for the free choice / will question, would it be fair to say we are free to choose our path but not its end?

[@sunnyday_lemonbars]

I'd say so!

[@jimbobjones5972]

So first, I was hoping that somebody actually recognized Dr. Crawford when he stopped for gas. Oh well. I do have a question: is anyone doing work/are there any resources (in English) on the mythologies/stories of the various branches of the Proto Indo-European language family? I feel I know a fair amount about the Old Norse tradition and the Greco-Roman traditions, but little about arising in such branches as the Slavic or Indo-Iranian, but I still have questions about the Greco-Roman as well. Does, for example, a concept similar to "drengr" enter into the G-R stories. What about the fate is accepted and yet, is attempt to be resisted? The would be interesting, I think, to compare the vision of humanity/what makes a good man or woman in each of these tradition as well as such things as the relative position of various deities (such as, for example, Jupiter/Zeus/Tyr) in the various language traditions.

[@garethbrandt9163]

Slögth =slug and means sly in english

[@battlereed4708]

No hat?!

[@SaintGooch]

No hat indoors

[@johnwilson1340]

Jackson: "I've gotten bad advice from people ... 'Get a PhD in Scandinavian Studies' " LOL Then again, if you hadn't done that, you wouldn't now be making more money than you did in academia and you now seem to have a really great job. Are you sure the person that gave you that advice didn't have a long grey beard and one eye? Seems like it worked out well. :-)

[@weopdurdegenes6598]

Otter

[@Ratnoseterry]

You lost me Mr. Crawford. Norse myth is much deeper than a comic book. In fact comic book are largely reliant on mythical narrative, so it is entirely backwards.

[@ErikHolten]

I believe the comparison is meant to be a superficial one, meant to get audiences to associate the mythos with the comics medium not a self-consistent work but with various inconsistencies, paradoxes and anachronisms from numerous writers over different time periods. Yet the main characters remain the same. That said, I don't necessarily think that "Norse myth is much deeper than a comic book" is true, looking at certain immensely complex series from many countries. It's all literature in different genres and media. And also we're gonna have to find a common working definition for "deep".

[@Ratnoseterry]

@@ErikHolten Much of it deals with death, struggle, memory. So, using a dash of the humor you might find in norse myth, it's riddled with the character development of a Gabor Maté novel. And if you think that is actually a joke, it isn't. Becoming caught in cycles, particularly 'familiar' cycles is dealt with widely. Very similar to the treatment of Oedipus, or any number of other myth dealing with curses running within family lines. The norse did not have comic books, and so did not see their world as a comic book. When someone in our day and age sees what they are reading as a comic book, likely their introduction was a comic book. Said people, therefore, see this or that like comics books. No sense in projecting that and confusing people. That is what projection is, I can see Odin on a chocolate bar because someone drew a connection between Odin and Santa. That would still be my projection, because facts, like time, run one direction, and that isn't back in the direction 'you' came from. The age-old idea of primitive man rationalizing, but in truth, we are the primitive man rationalizing at best. We see things as we are, not as they actually are. So when a dwarf is called a mold, creates things when added to water, not least of all alcohol, but disappears into a stone it becomes difficult for us to wrap our minds around this, seeing as we don't dry yeast on logs and stones anymore, that was part of their culture. Someone who doesn't know will likely picture a midget, as is the collective image of a dwarf in our day. Understandable, but a mistake nonetheless.