Hurstwic: Life After Death in the Viking Age

In this presentation, Hurstwic manager Dr. William R. Short discusses Viking-age beliefs in an afterlife. If you lived in the Viking age, and a loved one died, what did you expect would happen to him or her? To the body? And to the essence of the person, the part of them that lives on after death? This presentation discusses what is known about these Viking-age beliefs.
The video was recorded at one of a regular series of presentations for the Hurstwic Heathen Study Group, an organization that meets monthly for informal presentations and discussions on topics of interest to heathens and to anyone with a passion for Norse-related topics.
www.hurstwic.com/training/classes/heathen/index.htm

[@Omarra67]

I happened upon these videos an hour or so ago and am glad. You are easy to follow and understand. Good stuff!

[@TacDyne]

I am so glad you guys have a YT channel and that I found it! I've visited your regular site many times over the years, and recommend it every time research comes up on any of my modding pages.

[@dr.lexwinter8604]

I wish they'd update it to Netscape Navigator 1.03 or higher. The teeny tiny images and askew text really doesn't translate well over the years. I've considered making a pirate copy just to save my eyesight and setting it loose in the wild.

[@monakw]

there is some really good hair in that room ;)

[@dr.lexwinter8604]

Long, dirty, and frizzy? Nothing can ensure a man's virginity more than bad hair. It was the first thing I noticed and I thought, not only "Oh god it's full of THAT guy.", but "No wonder my people aren't breeding." :/ RIP the Germanic people. CVLT METAL hair is NOT a chick magnet. Hygeine is kinda important!

[@albertoj.mollinedo4116]

@@dr.lexwinter8604 50% of the audience is women, what are you talking about?

[@kingbjarni]

Good lectures. Thanks from Iceland

[@stigsaxegaard3128]

I have worked with the Oseberg textiles on a project. You guys should look into the images on those textiles. Processions and berserkers and female warriors. All weaved by norse people in the 800's.

[@bugatti103]

very good and interesting... as a Norse shamanic person i think the reason a stone was anchored to a ship burial was to keep them as spirits helpers in this middle world. could be wrong but thats how i interpret it

[@AlexaDoTarot]

Excellent video thank you for share this !! Hug to all

[@100ironclaw]

nice presentation! I was wondering, if the beliefs and practices are poorly recorded then for someone like me who might be thinking about heathen reconstructionism, how do I best adjust, for lack of a better term, my beliefs to mesh well with those early Viking peoples?

[@thorleifr]

Yes, sir, a conundrum for many, and one for which there are no easy answers. For me, I try to learn as much as I can about the ancient people and their beliefs and practices, and draw my own conclusions. When new information comes to light, I readily drop the old ideas to accept new ones that are better supported by the new information.

[@michakwolek579]

Further education before the release of god of war ragnarok. Fantastic.lectures.

[@albertito77]

Doesn’t the like about Freyja choosing half and Othin getting half sound like Othin is getting Freyja’s rejects? I’m with Jackson Crawford here in that Freyja probably has some connection to the Valkyries and that Folkvangr is likely just another name for Valhol

[@blakewinter1657]

I'm very sorry, but how do you spell the Norse word for a person's essence, mentioned around 0:30, sounds sort of like 'oðr'?

[@thorleifr]

It is spelled "óðr". When mankind was created, it was the god Hœnir who gave Óðr to mankind.

[@blakewinter1657]

Thanks!

[@latentwisdom]

To be precise! "óðr" is a "kenning" meaning that the word can have alot of different meanings connected or interconnected to each other. For example.. óðr is also the name of the God who is the husband of Freia, and it can also mean "song" and"inspiration", it can however also mean the "point" of a sword for example. The more correct word for spirit is "Hugr" which means both the mind and/or the soul/spirit/ghost. Hope this helps! :)

[@latentwisdom]

in relation to the word "Hugr" is the names of Odins ravens "Hugin" and "Munin", which means "thought" and "memory" respectively.

[@viktorsilva4017]

I was prepared for anything, but not to learning that you put the ghost's head near his ass to kill him

[@frostroxie2740]

Soul.....

[@brookeboyle8235]

Just found out I'm DNA matched to 1 of the males buried in the ship

[@MikaelKjell]

I have to ask why so many americans seem to connect the "viking age" with Iceland? It's true that the Edda's were written there, and these are pretty much the only written information. But I wouldn't trust Snorre Sturlasson all that much, as he was a christian. Once the earlier Edda comes out in public, there's a true way of information. Ofcourse I have nothing against Iceland, but it's such a tiny part of our viking history. Talking about these people being farmers first, you should probably concentrate more on Sweden Norway and Denmark, from where the people of Iceland first came😊 But one thing interesting about Iceland is that it's language today, is the last remains of the language spoken in all Scandinavia. We will soon make something about Scandinavia to show what it really was😊 Anyway, I appreciate the fact that you teach others about our history😊👍 Hail Odin!

[@freikinnewb122]

The reason most Americans focus on Iceland is because they kept written works. Continental Vikings destroyed or never wrote their history down. That's why most people reference Iceland.

[@kajakkille]

Well he says that the Snorri sagas are bias... but his works are no less a pieces in the puzzle of Norse culture and myths. Without the Icelandic sagas the knowledge of continental norse culture would be minuscule.

[@ragnarblobarr9567]

Iceland was also founded during the Viking age. Thus, we connect it. Lol

[@kajakkille]

Chimpz. The old Norse sagas and the poetry stems from a very strong oral tradition and wasn’t written down until Snorri. But traditions and cults taking christian shape lived on in agricultural Scandinavia until early 20 century.

[@dr.lexwinter8604]

The same reason they'll LARP that they're 'Irish' when they're probably English. They just hate admitting that they're Germanic, ethnically. Hell, the Irish, Scots, and northern French hate being Germanic and will invent different sub-ethnicities to escape the term. To the point the very fact it's an ethnic group that everyone from the north pole to the north of France from the British Isles to Russia (less and less easterly since the genocides began 300 years ago, and even more so in WWII where Germanic people were actively targeted but still some enclaves out there where Prussia was before Poland and Russia annexed it) are Germanic peoples.

[@latentwisdom]

OKay.. what this guy is saying about Hel is just incorrect, yes there is a Hel, a NiflHel and a Niflheim! it´s 3 different things! Hel ( the underworld ) is sort of the same place described in the greek mythology as Hades, that means a sort of shadowy underworld that is reminiscent to the materiel world or midgaard in every way except that is dulled or blunted, an example is that, scents are not as a strong, colours not as vivid.. etc. One can think of it as a sort of nursery home for the dead. Niflhel is like a cellar to Hel, again like in greek mythology, this resembles the Tartarus realm, in which only the worst of both Jötunr and people go, for example you go to NiflHel if you are also killed in Hel. Niflheim is the realm in which Hel and NiflHel is located! This cold place is located underneath the roots of the worldtree Yggdrasil! So to sum it all up, Hel and NiflHel is located in Niflheim which is a place of ice and cold, contra to the realm of Muspelheim, which is a place of fire and heat!

[@dr.lexwinter8604]

So Hel is Canada, got it. A lot of the lectures given through this organisation leave me pretty antsy at the incorrect elements, but for non-academics who have thrown this together through their love of our people I cannot flaw them.