What is Old Norse Religion?

Discover the captivating world of ancient Norse beliefs as we delve into the pantheon of gods, epic sagas, and sacred rites. Join us on a fascinating exploration of Odin, Thor, Freyja, and more, as we unravel the threads of a rich and enigmatic faith that shaped the Viking Age.
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Also check out the Let's Talk Religion Podcast: open.spotify.com/show/0ih4sqt...
Music by:
Filip Holm
Sources/Recomended Reading:
Crawford, Jackson (transl. by) (2015). "The Poetic Edda". Hackett Publishing.
Crawford, Jackson (transl. by) (2017). "The Saga of the Volsungs". Hackett Publishing.
Johansson, Carl G. & Mats Malm (transl. by) (2015). "Snorres Edda". Anthropos.
Lindow, John (2002). "Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs". Oxford University Press.
Lönnroth, Lars (transl. by) (2016). "Den Poetiska Eddan". Bokförlaget Atlantis.
Näsström, Britt-Mari (1995). "Freyja - the great goddess of the north". Almqvist & Wiksell International.
Stensland, Gro (2007). "Fornnordisk Religion". Natur Kultur Akademisk.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro & Basics
5:55 Historical Sources
14:12 Cosmology
21:15 Origins & End of the world/gods
29:46 Religion?
33:00 Death, gods & the private cult
42:10 Blót & the public cult
50:00 Seidr (Shamanism?)
51:32 Conclusions
#norsemythology #thor #polytheism

[@LetsTalkReligion]

Corrections: 1. Contrary to what I state in the video, the greek word "theos" is not actually directly related to the latin "deus". So ignore that first greek word, and the rest should be true. It is from the same root as "deus" that we get Zeus, as well as related words like deva in sanskrit and eventually Tyr. (I'm not a linguist, give me a break!) ----------------------------------------------------------- Support Let's Talk Religion on Patreon: www.patreon.com/letstalkreligion Or through a one-time donation: www.paypal.com/paypalme/letstalkreligion Also check out the Let's Talk Religion Podcast: open.spotify.com/show/0ih4sqtWv0wRIhS6HFgerb?si=95b07d83d0254b Music by: Filip Holm Most of my music can be found here: Filip Holm: open.spotify.com/artist/2O7FLjTvLWdWHDBgog9MPG?si=wLyeCLaoS4il7XLhhMgntQ Zini: open.spotify.com/artist/0jy5KbYexv9k3zx2KWxXYQ?si=LMbsxxvjT-uI6bWwUxkPIw

[@wodansuz]

I didn't intend to give you a hard time, my apologies. I enjoyed your video regardless, keep it up!

[@LetsTalkReligion]

@@wodansuz Don't worry about it! If I make mistakes, I expect and encourage people to correct me!

[@dmonvisigoth1651]

You good, I've made the same mistake myself in conversation.

[@thelaurens1996]

True, it comes from daewas (can't write it correctly in phonetics) but all these early words, including the Norse one for God, had the same meaning, roughly translating to "to beget"

[@Survivethejive]

​@@LetsTalkReligionbut Tyr and Zeus are NOT mythic cognates

[@wanemarr]

Nobody is talking about this man making his own music for his videos. How can a single man be so talented ?

[@J_Z913]

It wouldn't be fair to the rest of us slackers by pointing out our shortcomings! 😂

[@deanamyers57]

He’s not a single man, his wife is a sound engineer so far as i’ve gathered and probably has quite a bit to do the success of this channel. I’m so thankful and certainly have much admiration for what they do here. It’s amazing 🤩

[@Bill-ou7zp]

Absolutely. Religion for breakfast doesn’t come close

[@BenJuan123]

@@Bill-ou7zpno need to pit the two against each other - both are great channels

[@GizzyDillespee]

@@BenJuan123I'd rather see THEM mud wrestle than Zuck and Musk...

[@philipchurch8772]

I really appreciated you addressing how belief has become overemphasized as the currency of religious participation by monotheism.

[@LetsTalkReligion]

An important point for a better understanding of the subject!

[@albertito77]

Protestant Christianity have overemphasized belief/faith to mind boggling levels. This Roman Catholic finds it a little weird (although I certainly believe in my faith). Germanic Heathens believed _enough_ to offer sacrifices, live with a fatalistic outlook because Norns are weaving your fate. Believe in keeping your oaths because you will be sent to snake-hell if you break them.

[@MaryamsMehboob]

if you read the scriptures of the major world religions all the scriptures of the major world religions they say that Almighty God is one he has got no images he's not begotten he's one and only absolutely Eternal nothing like him and by the passage of time many of the scriptures almost all besides the Quran these scriptures have changed Allah says in Golorious Quran here it's mentioned in the Quran that people write the scripture with their own hands and then say this is from Allah so by the passage of time all the scriptures that came before the Quran they have been changed and since before final Revelation i.e. Quran Almighty God did not think it fit to be preserved because those were the previous Revelations but in spite of this corruption in spite of the manipulation in spite of the change yet in the remnants of all the major world religions in their scriptures you will find the mention of monotheism the Oneness of Almighty God that he has got no images he is not begotten he is one and only and nothing like him so if you believe in the concept of God it should be according to your scriptures

[@thelaurens1996]

​@@MaryamsMehboobsorry buddy, but even Islam has its roots in polytheism. It may be so that there is one God above the rest, but that doesn't discount the other ones. Gods are ways of representing certain aspects of reality or consciousness. Have always been that, are now less so in 'Western' culture. Also it does not matter if you call it Allah and I call it Brahman or whatever. It's all the same in the end.

[@MaryamsMehboob]

@@thelaurens1996 some people may say that why they should be only one God why can't there be many gods if there would have been many gods surely these Gods would have fought among themselves and we find this in the mythology of some of the religions one God fighting with the other God one God helping the other God to fight the third God can you believe in such a God who can be defeated who can be killed and some people say that why can't they be different God one God for sun one God for cloud one God for wind now imagine if there was one God for each..each one having power over his own little thing it's logical to have one God who has power of all things rather than each different different God fighting among themselves it's illogical that's the reason the Quran says chapter number 21 verse number 22 that if they would have been Gods besides Allah surely there have been confusion in the universe if they were God besides Allah on the other surely there would have been infighting amongst them therefore we see in the mythology the best and the most logical is only one God one and only all-powerful having power over all things

[@chronikhiles]

The primordial man and cow appear in a lot of creation myths, especially in PIE mythology. Maybe you could make a video on that one day.

[@LetsTalkReligion]

Indeed!

[@quinnjohnson9750]

what the heck is PIE mythology if I may ask?"

[@geilleadh4852]

​@@quinnjohnson9750 Proto Indo-European, the people from whom most Europeans, the Iranians, and the Northern Upper caste Indians are descended from.

[@YoussefMouline-zo4it]

Proto Indo European religion. The Proto Indo Europeans, or PIE, were an ancient people that lived primarily in the steppes around the Black Sea in modern day Russia and Ukraine around 6000 years ago, and they spread all over Europe and West and South Asia and into countries as far away from each other as Iceland and India. They also had a significant religion, which they took with them as they migrated and spread, and a lot of the religious motifs, such as the ones that @chronikhiles mentioned, are found in the countries that they spread to, if that makes sense.

[@rickysampson8759]

@@quinnjohnson9750basically the original aryans

[@leminjapan]

The production quality of your channel has increased by leaps and bounds the past couple months. Don't think we haven't noticed! Great video as always

[@LetsTalkReligion]

Thank you so much!

[@Mongoose-ct6us]

Great topic. I always wanted to visit Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark etcétera. I am impressed by Scandinavian pragmatism and culture.

[@xlr8inch52]

I too

[@LetsTalkReligion]

You are most welcome!

[@Mongoose-ct6us]

@@LetsTalkReligion Thank you, my friend

[@lavish_1717]

Same

[@veronicalogotheti1162]

These is not viking

[@hmtmth8481]

Highly informative and interesting video. Could you create one about the spiritual world of the nomadic peoples of Central Asia, featuring the deity Tengri? Thank you.

[@Gomno420]

Do slavic mythology next! It's similar to german and norse. There are also similarities between south, east and west slavic. Thanks.

[@lh384]

As someone of Slavic descent, yes, please!

[@lookash3048]

The problem with Slavic mythology is that we have very few sources which can tell us something about it, and even those sources contradict each other, what suggests that there was never one mythology for all Slavic people. Even worse information is the fact that many science works about Slavic mythology were never translated into English, so you have to know Polish, Russian, or Czech to have access to full information about current state of our knowledge about Slavic mythology.

[@emZee1994]

All European mythology comes from the Indo-Europeans. So you will find much much overlap. I recommend listening to @Crecganford on KZbin. He's an academic who specialises in Indo-European mythology and religion

[@sergeymikhailov9234]

@@lookash3048 There is no such cultural and historical community as "all Slavic peoples". Compare with the spread of the Roman group of languages. They are spoken by people with absolutely different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The main problem in anthropology and cultural studies is the absence or incorrect use of basic terms.

[@lookash3048]

@@sergeymikhailov9234 Of course, there was once one Slavic tribe which by migration and expansion gave birth to all Slavic speaking nations. That tribe had its own culture and religion, but we know almost nothing about that, but the existence of common cultural ancestors for all Slavic nations is just a historic fact.

[@tmAcorn]

I was a member of a Viking Guild when this photo of me was taken. Answering questions on their religion was confusing at best, but you did a very good job laying it out. Good voice and your words stick. Much thanks. I used to teach about Eric the Reds Children and their adventures in Vinland. Everyone knows of Lief, but not many know of Thorvald who was died from an arrow wound in North America or heard of Thorstein who got lost in the Atlantic trying to locate Vinland and retrieve his brother's body and bring it home to Greenland or their crazy sister Freydis (redhead) who scared away a band of Micmacs by charging at them topless and waving a sword over her head. Good adventurous historical stories waiting in The Sagas. Can't believe they haven't made a movie of it!!

[@SeekersofUnity]

What a gift. Thank you Filip ☺️

[@ViliSuutarinen]

With Finnish mythology, It's a difficult topic because it's very fragmented and each region had their own Gods and practices, but some sources we have is Mikael Agricola's list of Idols and Gods from 1551, where he lists 24 Gods and Spirits, 12 for Tavastians and 12 for Karelians in a pretty poem, Then we have ofcourse all the collected poems from around Finland, that were compiled into works like the Kalevala, which isn't a raw source material, but rather edited to tell a story, but includes many real figures and names, We have just about enough evidence to paint a vague picture of their beliefs and practices, and i think it's very interesting and does not get much attention probably due to the difficulty of researching the subject

[@AllisonRutherford-vs4dt]

We also all believe that existence itself, let alone the various gods or what have you, are all many parts of the same unified higher spirit, like a force or energy or hivemind sort of, so the idea of "correct" or "true" beliefs of the ancient world is an inherently flawed, and incoherent concept, that can't even be applied to our belief system lol, and that goes for the ancient and indigenous peoples all over the world, and we believe that every individual, let alone group or faith, has some piece of unique and individual truth that is their purpose for even manifesting in that life in the first place

[@joannemarshall7479]

"The bock saga"??

[@reges-mortis3100]

Also wikipedia and many sources claims Finnish paganism went extinct in the early 20th century, being slowly turned into christianity but this is just not true at all. I come from a family that still practice a lot of the old nomadic rituals and has very "pagan" spiritualistic beliefs but it is kept sort of secret since my family has a long history of persecution and hence we are all told not to speak loudly at all about spirits etc. But i can attest that the oral traditions have always kept it alive although a lot of it as a "whole" has been left alone. And this is one of the reasons it is fragmented not just a geographical difference but a long history of being mistreated by lutheran christians, russian orthodoxy, and neighbouring peoples all throughout history. Like my original "tribe" is basically extinct and our "lands" has been taken from us multiple times forcing us to move and split a lot. Something I don't think is too uncommon.

[@ViliSuutarinen]

Bringing much needed light to a topic often misrepresented in popular media

[@psychsoma]

As a modern reconstructionist of this religion, I love your take on this! I'd love to hear you talk about modern pagan reconstruction movements; kemetic orthodoxy, modern heathenry (and there's a few of these! Norse reconstruction is just one), Hellenism, Religio Romana. There's so many and they're all really cool

[@moonlitee]

It's all gay and cringe, participation will land you in hell

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

I wonder if some of these modern revival paganisms (not sure what the collective term really should be) might be rather hard to pin down and say they believe this, that, and that other thing given their newness and the inherent localism you usually run into in classical paganism.

[@JP-zz7en]

The truth is that I am very critical of the neo-pagan movement, I really feel that they do not offer any type of authentic spirituality, and it is only a fashion and an ideological and counterculture movement, and that it has more to do with modern and postmodern ideologies such as romanticism, idealism , environmentalism, animalism, indigenism, nationalism, feminism, etc. And many of their "rituals" feel very artificial and I don't think neopagans literally believe in the existence of multiple gods, at most they are just deists, or atheists or agnostics.

[@matteopani9291]

​@@JP-zz7enread about the roman religion reconstructive movements

[@marvelloustraveller3559]

​@@JP-zz7en I do agree most pagans are larpers. But you should also know that polytheistic religions for most part don't have any strict rituals and prayers. Take vedic poetry , skaldic poetry etc , all written in native language in poetic form , asking for help , unlike ✝️& ,☪️ where prayers should be in Latin & arabic. So if some neopagan , if he /she has serious belief & do basic ritual enough to please gods , then do consider them geniune believer. Although personally I believe that only Hellenism & greco-roman religion deserve revival. This religion produced many great philosophers , conquerors , empire , civilization, culture & had influence still today while on other hand slavs , Celts , Germans & Norse become civilized only they come under greco-roman influence via Christianity.

[@thenaiam]

I love the depiction of Old Norse religion and practices in the game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, and in the movie The Northman. It seems both teams did their research from similar sources.

[@ViliSuutarinen]

There are interesting correspondence with Finnish folklore and mythology, The Landvaettir are reminiscent of the "Halitja" which are spirits of a certain place or land, there was also a thing called "Väki" which is an energy or a force imbued in a place or thing. Odin ofcourse is very similiar to the character of Väinämöinen, a hero and sort of a Wizard figure, who was the God of Wisdom, Poetry, Song and Magic, As well as Gods corresponding with elements, some interpretations of the world's structure in Finnish mythology also corresponds with The Yggdrasil, where there is a central pillar holding a dome like structure, which the world is inside of

[@xibalbalon8668]

I would like to see a video on Finnish paganism one day

[@Mrityormokshiya]

cool similarities between Germanic and Finnic mythologies

[@InTheRhettRow]

@@Mrityormokshiya Germanic and Norse derive from the same peoples, along with Latin, Celtic, Persian, Slavic, and Indian. Finnic and Hungarian are a different people.

[@ViliSuutarinen]

@@InTheRhettRow We speak languages which belong to a different family, but it doesn't change the fact that proto uralic people lived right next to indo aryans and proto Finnic people had close and consistant contact with Germanic people and the cultures and mythologies share many similarities, they're much closer by many standards than most people think. Very similiar yet different.

[@JP-zz7en]

The god Ukko is said to have been the Finnish version of Thor, and there was a celebration in his honor that continued to be practiced in some remote rural areas of Finland until the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

[@ishouldhavetried]

I would love to see you compare Heathenry, Hellenism, Kemeticism, Druidry, Celtic, etc. Or perhaps even a PIE religion origins. Seeing what they share and where they differ would be amazing!

[@mishapurser4439]

As a Norse Pagan myself, this was a fantastic introduction to my religion! I can't wait for the future more specific videos. I would also love videos on other Pagan traditions such as Anglo-Saxon Paganism, Brythonic Paganism, and Roman Paganism, as well as a video on Roman Syncretism.

[@0x00a]

We know very little about AngloSaxon, as the Christians succeeded in wiping any trace of it. However, what we do know is often crossed with Norse mythology since they were essentially the same folk, same culture.

[@camelusdromedarius3789]

I've been a pagan for years now and this is by far the BEST video on YT on Old Norse religion that I've come across. Bravo to you Filip!

[@YouTubdotCub]

Really appreciate all the location shooting and as you say at the end, shooting in the "beautiful natural environment", it really made this episode something special.

[@Stoneworks]

I'm so so excited to watch this, everytime you upload it improves my day. For anyone who wants more deep-dive info on this, I suggest the channel Jackson Crawford. Man's the Norse Mythology cowboy.

[@LetsTalkReligion]

Definitely!

[@milesfromnowhere1985]

It's important to understand that Crawford is a linguist, not an expert on Norse religion, and to myself and many other Norse polytheists, he seems to view those who follow these gods with a thinly veiled contempt. If one is interested in a well-researched channel centered on Norse history and practice, Ocean Keltoi is second to none.

[@nowhereman6019]

I think one of the most fascinating parts of Norse religion is this "Viking Fatalism" that permeates it. For the Norse living in the cold lands of Northern Europe, life was constantly filled with struggle and fighting. There was no grand design or meaning to this existence, all that mattered was that you fought in this life and died heroically. There was no paradise awaiting you after this life, only waiting for the final battle and ultimate destruction of all creation, which you would have no chance of winning. This worldview is so radically unique compared to most other religions throughout history, as it reflects a society and culture that didn't have time to think of things like the nature of reality or the meaning to our existence. Their needs were very immediate, based on a harsh lifestyle that thoroughly normalized violence and warfare. All that mattered was that your do your best in this life, to fight as hard as you can, but not for any other purpose than to survive and hopefully prosper.

[@smashwombel]

But keep in mind that most of what comes down to us from the Norse, apart from Snorri, is skaldic poetry. It makes sense that these stories would be fatalistic, since they are concerned with the lifes of mortal humans, but it would be wrong to assume that the entire society was organised that way. It would be like basing our understanding of Ancient Greece exclusively on Greek tragedies.

[@nowhereman6019]

​@@smashwombelthat's fair.

[@scottkunghadrengsen2604]

Winters were long, lots of time to think, talk and explore reality in various modes of altered consciousness

[@Alejandro-te2nt]

Its basically the same ethos as the jahili arabs

[@doseferatu]

It's also worth noting that norse paganism actually had multiple potential afterlifes. Valholl wasn't necessarily something everyone in Scandinavian society wanted, despite what popular media would have you believe.

[@MADGuy248]

I’m very glad you’re covering Nordic religious system! I’ve been intrigued by it but never know where to start. I also enjoy the tracks you’ve composed in this video - I wonder if you compose the jingles for other videos as well? Love your works!!!

[@J_Z913]

I recently watched a Ronald Hutton video on this topic as it relates to the Norse religion in Saxon England. Thanks for this amazing video Filip!

[@Lostforwords0]

Dude! I would love one on the Alevi of Albania (Anatolia originally) … this mystical group deserves a spot light. Also… Great video 👊🏼

[@YouraBurdaninmyHand]

I agree an Alevi video would be great!

[@emZee1994]

Actually yeh the Alawites are very interesting

[@JP-zz7en]

In fact it is said that the Alevis along with those of the Bektashi order could have absorbed elements of folk religiosity, with a possible pre-Christian and pre-Islamic origin, since they celebrate nowrus (of Zoroastrian origin or even within the ancient Iranian religion) or the dita e veres, and popular Albanian beliefs that could derive from the ancient religion of the Illyrians.

[@mythosandlogos]

Really great work! I’ve found it so difficult to consolidate the Norse stories into something cohesive, and this is excellent and easy to follow.

[@TempehLiberation]

Great video! I really enjoyed seeing the scenery and the rune stone, I felt like it made the video more dynamic in a way.

[@YouraBurdaninmyHand]

Finnish and Estonian paganism video (s) would be great to see next !

[@AllisonRutherford-vs4dt]

It's not finish its indigenous Scandinavian, all of the lands you call "norse" except Germany are Sapmi, the native land of the indigenous Scandinavian peoples, the Sámi, we arent from Finland, ALL of "Scandinavia" was ours prior to the aryians first genocide campaign

[@YouraBurdaninmyHand]

@@AllisonRutherford-vs4dt cool story brah. Not related to what I said but whatever

[@reges-mortis3100]

​@@AllisonRutherford-vs4dtThis is just wrong, claiming all of scandinavia was Sapmi disregards the MANY indigenous people that lived the nomadic way, in all of Finland and all the way to the urals there are a lot of different indigenous peoples with a shared common ancestral lineage. Of which one of the biggest concentration of these people are the baltic region and karelia (who also suffered first considering the aryans THEORIZED route). Also funny this gets repeated still, even though linguistics proves a long history of shared culture and languages between these nomadic tribes as well as loan words.

[@Paolur]

My grandma always taught me to, among other things, never pour water on the earth without first shouting and warning those who live in the ground, "dei underjordiske" as she called them.

[@LaggingGames]

Beautiful video!! You really put your musical and visual artistic heart into this! Thank you this was calming to watch all the way through

[@stephanieparker1250]

That was fantastic! Super excited for more videos on this topic! Also, beautiful scenery and views of the historic structures. 🎉

[@LetsTalkReligion]

Thank you! It was fun to shoot this one outisde. But I picked the wrong summer, since it's been mostly raining all summer. You can see my hair length chance significantly throughout the video because it took so long to shoot 🙂

[@rdklkje13]

Thanks for the effort, though@@LetsTalkReligion! Absolutely worth it (for us at least 🙃) for a topic so intertwined with those very landscapes. The strong Jackson Crawford vibes notwithstanding, I don't think anyone'll be expecting you to do útiseta in a thin jacket in December any time soon!

[@rdklkje13]

@@LetsTalkReligion And yes, please do a looong video on seiðr! But try to talk to Annette Høst from the Scandinavian Center for Shamanic Studies first. Few people have studied seiðr in more depth than she has, both academically and as a conscientious, historically informed practitioner.

[@Shadowspark9945]

Snorri wasn’t a monk he was a Politician he also wrote the Heimskringla 10:51

[@KindOfCaring]

I'm seeing this an hour after it was posted, and I have to say it's really fun to watch the views and likes go up while I'm watching!! Thanks for sharing such great content!

[@robgau2501]

Great video. I've been a Norse Heathen for decades, well before the Vikings craze. It's a good thing. I love the show and the attention Vikings has gotten.

[@standardranchstash221]

Excellent episode and I must add that the opening music instantly reminded me of that wonderful Norwegian film, Pathfinder. Filip’s music always impresses.

[@worldman8997]

Great work Filip! This style suits you, looking forward to more on the subject! Seems you've had a great summer :)

[@dseelenmagie8811]

That was a really good broad talk about norse beliefs. Thank you for not making this a "Viking bro" video. As a german animist, I really appreciate it.

[@tobias734]

I would be very curious to know more about the relationship humans had with Utgård. Could one travel there? Did creatures cross the bounderies between realms? Were there clear boundaries or did they meld together? Great video!

[@dogukan7406]

It is fascinating to me how all ancient mythologies, all around the world, always have some features in common

[@M0U53B41T]

It was a gorgeous video thank you so much for showing us! I really enjoyed the music as well. If you could cover more about Freyja that would be my own wish

[@BornToLiveForever]

What a fascinating introduction to a subject! I really enjoyed this and your production value is commendable!

[@droop8911]

The Norse idea of Soul (as we understand it) was very complex. It would be interesting to see a video dedicated to the ideas around it. When you described the way Odin Hœnir and Lothr giving gifts to the lifeless forms has been interpreted as the three of them giving them the different parts of the Soul. It has also been said that the soul doesn’t stop as the ends of our body’s but instead carrying on into different forms including the Filhja, the Haminja, and the Disir. All can be seen as seperate agents but they’re also described as being connected to one’s individual being or even a family line. I thought you might mind such a concept interesting.

[@jsmcguireIII]

Yuval Harari (and others) makes the point that a lot of our environmental destruction coincides closely with the loss of a land-based ethos as exemplified by the Vaettir. The post-religion age may bring reason and rationalism, but it also ends a deeper ethos for nature - which we cannot live without. Thanks for the great work on this Filip.

[@nocantry]

Excited to get home and watch this one! It's always a pleasure to see you upload! God bless brother 🙏

[@lilacsandobsidian]

I appreciated the humour at 2:16 (literally lol'd). This is so well researched and explained. I'll refer backto this a lot, thanks for taking the time to make it ☺

[@osmanerdogdu7868]

Please an episode about Sami religion, the "other" Nordic religion.

[@Kali-Yuga-Peace-Corp]

That would be great.

[@Volzotran]

This video was beautiful, the imagery and your music was incredibly fitting. I would love to hear more about Seiðr in detail and maybe also about the orgin story of the Vanir or more so their "arrival" in the world of the Aesir and what It means

[@sleepywoodelf]

The Viking Way by Neil Price is far more detail about seiðr than you could ever ask for, dense at times but good

[@rdklkje13]

Annette Høst is your best source out there for information about seiðr, by far. She has a series of videos here on YT, as well as a couple of articles in English (most of her writing is in Danish).

[@leaveluck2heven]

Fascinating! I’ve always loved Norse mythology and I’ve casually studied it. I found this video filling holes and adding substance to what I had known and frankly it was an l incredible video. I really can’t wait for more videos on this subject

[@DefaultUser61]

Another great video! Love the scenic shots, can’t wait for more episodes

[@hrolfthestrange]

Another topic I've been interested in on this subject is the influence or effect of the proximity of Sami people in relationship to the norse people on their religions and myths. I've read some theories that the Sami, who lived more inland and in densely forested areas compared to the more coastal Norse may have been the basis of the Norse concepts of elves. Also it'd be interesting to see if there are any direct exchanges of myths/gods/concepts between the two people groups.

[@cathymelanson7119]

I love your content which is well researched and respectful of all traditions. 🔥

[@affanshaikh8492]

Filip's voice is so soothing that it automatically makes me interested in whatever he's teaching is

[@hypergraphic]

This was such a great video! I also liked the songs you wrote, so cool. And damn the nature in Sweden is gorgeous. I must come visit someday :)

[@LetsTalkReligion]

Thank you!

[@lemokemo5752]

I want to commend the artists Linnea and Hedda for their very pedagogical and beautiful illustration!😊😊

[@scottygarner4670]

I would love an episode also on Celtic and Greek mythology too that would be sick.

[@ktkatte6791]

Filip, I *need* to say your music is beautiful. It has helped me meditate in the past, and the music previewed in this video is on another level. thank you!!!

[@johanlidman6168]

Great video as always! I'm looking forward to going more in-depth into some of the central myths, such as the death of Baldur and how they reflect the cosmology and the world view of these people. I was missing your meticulous pronunciation that you apply in other videos, it's nice to hear the words and the names as the practitioners themselves would have pronounced them!

[@moizahmed8987]

Most of my knowledge of Norse Mythology comes from the Age of Mythology game and the Magnus Chase series, nice to see a more in depth view of the religion

[@hassanobeid99]

Lol, but its very generalized in the game you are missing out by not reading the Eddas, although I had the same introduction trhougg AOM

[@manonzucka9474]

Hello Filip great topic. Would be awesome if you could also make a video about the counsil of Nicea one day!

[@mrm6607]

Fantastic video! I love the gorgeous scenery and music, and your serious treatment of the religion. Tack så mycket!

[@kangev8662]

Wonderful video! Would love to hear more about these mythologies and belief systems, seeing actual places and landmarks is a wonderful addtion, thank you so much!

[@erikgustafson7365]

We dont more since Christians destroyed it

[@Dhad91]

Nice to see this branch of spirituality (Norse religion) talked about in a serious manner. Especially considering how much of a role it's played in my spiritual journey. It's definetly a growing faith in the 21st century and we will hear more about it in the coming years.

[@Tom-sd9jb]

It's nice to see it discussed in this manner instead of the way Viking larpers portray it.

[@mattisvov]

I have a friend who is an Asatru believer. She has a bag of runes she casts for something akin to divination. When asked if she would use her runes when playing role-playing games (she is also an avid roleplayer), she replied gently but firmly: "Those are not toys".

[@travislankford9254]

Location shot? I wasn't ready for that. Great touch to your always incredibly informative videos. I also greatly look forward to more background on the jotunn as apparently I am "related" to "Fornjotr".

[@hrodotos8623]

I'm studing arts and the fact you reference most of the arwork you show on the videos helps a lot, thank you.

[@idraote]

The natural settings you chose are particularly beautiful and I personally much appreciated them. Norse Myth is my area of expertise and I must say you covered it quite well.

[@korotan658]

Great video! Could you possibly talk about Old Slavic Religion/Slavic Paganism in the future? It's an interesting subject and despite what some people say it's quite different from Norse Paganism.

[@G00DBL00MS]

Incredible info! Is there a video discussing all of these overlapping themes, stories, characters, and mythologies across these major religions?

[@tashkashka]

I stopped using your videos to help me fall asleep bc the content is actually so interesting and i want to pay attention.

[@LuisAldamiz]

The creation is not confusing, it's almost identcal to the Greek legend of Gaia and Eros emerging from Chaos and giving birth to everything, including the giants. It's not the only coincidence between Greek and Nordic mythology, among other details (per Stephany 2012) Loki is Prometheus or vice versa (and IMO both are Sugaar, the Dragon God of the Vasconics, and Gaia is Mari, the Mother Goddess and "gaia" can still be read in Basque as "the matter" and "the capability", quite amazingly). In those legends is hidden the late Prehistory of Europe and the terrible war (and also truces) between the Indoeuropeans and the Vasconics.

[@AttilaKattila]

I wonder if you've ever heard of the Bock Saga, and what your thoughts are about it.

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@AttilaKattila - I'm unfamiliar with that Bock Saga, what's about it?

[@AttilaKattila]

​@@LuisAldamiz In short it's a huge crazy story mostly covering prehistory or history before written language but since it's so crazy, as long as it's internally consistent or plausible it might as well be true. After all truth can preclude believability. It is an oral story about the origin of humanity, plants, animals, language, races, nations, symbols, songs and sayings. A lot of mythological and religious figures are in this story but with a totally different explanation as to who they were. It is told mainly in two languages: Rot (as in "root" or root language), which would be today's Finland Swedish, and Van, which would be Finnish. In these original languages according to the story, there's 29 sounds, which make up the alphabet , each with their corresponding mark (or letter?), that we are more or less familiar with. Each of these sounds, however, by themselves have meaning. So perhaps if each sound (or mark) had meaning, and if a word is a string of sounds or marks, there would probably be less need for phrases, punctuation marks or lower case letters, the latter of which they didn't even have at least. Over time as written languages formed people lost the understanding of the meaning of the sounds themselves. The story covers a span of time of about a modest 100+ million years. In the beginning there was the paradise time, when the whole Earth was tropical and all people were literally one human family with a common all father for each line of successive all fathers. It was a caste society based on breeding rights. During this time the North Pole was in front of Helsinki, in Hel (also Asgard, Midgard, Udenmaa), where the all father (also Ukko Väinämöinen, Per), the all mother (also Akka), the breeder for the next line (also Pukki Lemminkäinen, Baldur) etc. lived at. Here the first two humans were also born supposedly to a male ape and a female goat, perhaps enabled by some kind of mutation. During this period the sun never set on the North Pole, always staying on the horizon. Eventually the axis of the Earth, and supposedly the galaxy's, tilted 23 degrees or so, and an ice age began causing mass death in the polar regions, also creating the deserts. In this period, the people known as the Aser (the immediate family of the all father etc.) became isolated from the rest of the world, surrounded by ice. They were able to survive however due to the gulf stream, that kept the Baltic Sea free of ice. This period is called the Alt-Lant-Is period, and during this time these people became light skinned with blonde hair and blue eyes. They started to wear clothing such as bear skins from bears they had hunted, they started to eat meat, they started agriculture, domesticated the farm animals we are familiar with, developed and built houses, boats or other capital etc. After some time another destruction occurred when the ice sheets cracked and started to slide down the current North Pole, scraping the surface of the Earth, pulverizing everything and grinding the bedrock smooth. The only place that the ice sheets didn't move over was the island of Gotland, where these people fled. After some time they came out of this place, started to repopulate much of the Northern hemisphere and contact the rest of the world again, bringing them agriculture, boat building, the domesticated animals and mathematics or something. Most of the Aser went back to Hel, returning to their old way of life, but not all. Eventually the Catholic Church came to Hel with a Swiss mercenary army, if I recall correctly, encircled this pagan capital, burned it to the ground and killed everybody inside that didn't flee. The supposed ancestors of this man from whom this story comes from, Ior Bock, managed to flee but were eventually allowed to come back by Birger Jarl, on the condition they keep quiet and do not get involved with politics for a very long time. Then I think in 1984 Ior first started to talk about the Saga in Goa. Curiously, but unfortunately, he was murdered in 2010 by one of his Indian caretakers, after already having been rendered paralyzed (from the waist down IIRC), due to a previous stabbing attack. The man who murdered him, was deemed insane by the court, then the insane asylum or whatever deemed him NOT insane and set him free, after which he went back to India. There was a retrial after this again in Finland, and he didn't even have to attend it, but he did, and he was again deemed insane by the court, and this time he was deported back to India. So at least in Finland you can get away with murder, though I think there was a similar case in Austria recently. Oh yea, before the Christians came, the story says a certain temple was sealed up and hidden in order to avoid from falling into the wrong hands. The story even has buried crystal balls and golden treasures at least 50 million years old. Then regarding the temple, supposedly there is an enormous collection of golden artifacts dedicated to each Ukko stored in the underworld or the storehouse under the Temple of Lemminkäinen. The temple, and the storehouse's entrance was sealed by boulders, 1 huge vertical granite slab, whose seams were sealed up with rapakivi, and 2 or 3 more huge granite slabs in front of it and the entrance, buried under meters of soil and planted vegetation to blend in with the environment. The cave entrance of the temple should lead to a water lock before leading to the temple and storehouse itself.

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@AttilaKattila - Sounds to me to made up neo-legend of quasi-nazi echoes. And in fact I just found some references re. Ior Bock and he was a Finnish "Blavatsky" two years younger than my dad, who doesn't make such wacko claims most of the time (although he once expressed the belief that Brazilians are Black, what shocked me, as I thought he knew better). Anyway, I have no idea why Odin is called "the All Father" when he did not father Humanity. It seems to me just another word for "Pretentious Patriarch". Ancient legends were something more serious, people were familiar with them since childhood and would barely modify them in oral transmission because oral transmission was sacred and also everyone would have noticed the changes if significant. Ancient legends and other more factual info (such as archaeology) are Ariadne's Thread to Late Prehistory, to the forgotten history... of Europe in our case. But one has to know how to use the Thread (Mythos), else Theseus gets lost in the Labyrinth and nothing good happens afterwards. Ancient legends are even more significant when peoples separated by many millennia of divergence still told similar stories, as is the case with Nordic and Greek legends, for example the shocking identity of Loki and Prometheus (Stephany 2012), which speaks of probably Copper Age stories when the proto-Greeks and proto-Germanics all lived in a Central Europe they had just conquered to the Vasconics. Thus those and other legends are fascinating because they include the Vasconic legacy, even if subordinated to the conqueror Indoeuropean one, in ways that the few survivor Vasconics have not preserved (Christianization, acculturation), except for fragments that have to be reconstructed, for which the Vasconic legacy in Indoeuropean legends is important. In Ragnarok I'm fighting for Loki, Jormungadr and Hel. Ans Ragnarok is today.

[@AttilaKattila]

@@LuisAldamiz Well Odin in this is not called the All Father, the All Father in Rot would be Per or Gubbe and in Van Väinämöinen or Ukko. Odin according to this story is... kind of like existence itself, life, evolution, all of creation. The names of the "gods" in this story are usually titles not actual names for example. When it comes to people changing stories over time, perhaps this story wasn't common knowledge, and the way this story supposedly was passed on was through the sound system where each sound in the alphabet had meaning in and of themselves, and thus the words made up of them were sort of like the clauses or phrases we make today out of words. Sure Ior was a weird man for sure and he and his friends sure liked to smoke cannabis and what not, but I'm willing to give his story the benefit of the doubt regardless.

[@sturestensson9187]

Might the importance of "ask" and "alm" be related to the fact that these two types of trees are some of the best and most common for bow making in the nordics? (yes, bows has always been one of my special interests)

[@TheCynthiaRice]

Great video. Looking forward to more like this.

[@Jacks-tj9mb]

Currently discovering the roots of my ancestors and what I can learn from them. Thank you for this.

[@noahdanielg]

Hail to Odin, hail to the Old Gods

[@LangThoughts]

Filip, as a Linguistics Major, I can tell you that "Theos" is unrelated to "Zues/Deus/Deva/Tyr", since if Theos reflected the same PIE root, the Latin would be Feus, the Sanskrit "Dheva" (with an h) and the Norse "Dyr"

[@daniellechance5838]

One of my favorite videos you've ever done!

[@Sam-shushu]

I liked how you sneaked in "Ironman" to the list of mythic characters.

[@Luckytaylor1117]

Can you discuss the appropriation of the Norse religion and fascism? As a white person in the USA, I don’t like to say that I am interested in Norse mythology and paganism because it’s automatically associated with white supremacy and I have a hard time articulating that Norse mythology does not mean I’m a white supremacist.

[@breadpilled2587]

I'm honestly surprised he didn't bring it up.

[@pietpiraat393]

Norse religion isn’t fascist, but it’s used by fascists, just like the swastika was a symbol of peace in many places, until the Nazi’s used it.

[@emZee1994]

*Please consider a collab with @Crecganford. He's an academic like yourself and since you have just made a video about an Indo-European religion it would be a great time to invite him as he is one of the most amazing experts I've ever heard speak on this topic. He has information I've never heard elsewhere and it's all backed up with good sources due to his research skills as an academic*

[@Kittykrysis]

Brother, you’re multi talented I love the music on this! And YOU MADE IT! That’s awesome!

[@Mollica03]

Just stumbled on this channel today, and love how positive this channel is. I am fascinated by different religions and culture, from a learning perspective and tired of coming across content that is bashing other faiths rather than looking at them with an open mind and heart. Looking forward to binging the content here 😊

[@sabithasajan5564]

Finally....some paganism.

[@johnbedinghaus2390]

Heathenism

[@doseferatu]

​@@johnbedinghaus2390same thing dawg

[@johnbedinghaus2390]

@@doseferatu No, it's not the same thing.

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

@@johnbedinghaus2390 All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.

[@doseferatu]

@@johnbedinghaus2390 heathen and pagan literally mean the exact same thing. They're basically synonyms for "gentile" but for Christians to use instead of jews.

[@nihilean]

Coming down like Michael from the heaven Coming down like Thor, I got the hammer Steppin' out like Jesus in some sandals

[@anotheralice]

Love seeing the forests, standing stone and hills. I hope it wasn't too much trouble to film as I'd love to see more 💚

[@phillipbernhardt-house6907]

Very nicely done! I really enjoyed both the (local!) scenery you incorporated, as well as your excellent music! Thanks so much for this!

[@phillipbernhardt-house6907]

Also: I hope that the music you made for this documentary will be available soon! (I might even have to join Spotify in order to access it!)

[@TalabAlSahra]

Heathens ASSEMBLE!!!

[@monochromeboy]

Ikr I'm so hyped

[@maxbuckley9762]

Hail to our ancestors.. less we forget Hail to the Æsir Hail to the Vanir ⛈️

[@jimmyjack7083]

Here here!

[@droop8911]

Hail to the All Father. Hail the the Thunderer. Hail to Vanadis. Hail to Alfwalda. Hail to the Father of the Wolf. Hail to the Mother of Ullr. Hail to The Giving God. Hail to Fenrirs Sister. Hail to The Skald of the Gods. Hail to All the gods of our faith.

[@agucci]

The religion of the old Norse is very good.

[@Ziggy246]

Really love your videos, how informed non biased and clear they are. One can really see your passion for these subjects. Lil request from me, would love to see you do Ifa and Igbo cosmology from Nigeria and maybe even Vodun form the caribbean, these traditions are also very deep snd heavily misunderstood. Would love to see videos on these coming from you. Stay Blessed 🙏🏽

[@darthcarnage6734]

Heck yeah I love seeing you post a new video!!!!

[@durastar2024]

Everything starts with Sanatan Dharma

[@user-zl9sh9mz6h]

The biggest mistake that Western Civilization ever made was getting into bed with Abraham.

[@Neadunkel]

Really good Jon. Hugh quality on this one. Very good music also! Keep it up

[@Davidf8L]

Thanks again for your time and work ❤

[@nerthus4685]

Hinduism and Islam are not Nordic religions.

[@bb9a]

Is Christianity Nordic?

[@bb9a]

@Helgrimr because its the most prominent religion in the nordic countries.

[@PasteurizedLettuce]

Did you watch the video? He said he specifically wasn’t referring to the religions practiced in Nordic countries today like a Christianity, Islam, or Hinduism

[@americaeaustraliaepius4338]

Neither is christianity. If you wanna go that way, then all scandinavians should return to Odin.

[@BrokenChain195]

As someone with strong, Scandinavian ancestry (mostly Norwegian, but Swedish too), I’m glad that you have decided to make a video on Nordic beliefs that pre-dated/existed during The emergence of Christianity in Scandinavia. Great video!

[@sparkplugz75]

Thank you so much for covering this topic and hopefully more deeper dives in future episodes

[@StarstreamJester]

Great video! And beautifully shot!

[@droop8911]

Fun fact: Giant is a poor translation for the old Norse word Jotün / Jotnar. Jotün / Jotnar has roots in the proto-germanic word Etaną. Etaną is a verb meaning “to eat”. Knowing this, a far better translation for the old Norse word Jotün / Jotnar would be something along the lines of “consumer” or “devourer”. Jotün / Jotnar was most likely not meant to be interpreted as giant in Norse myth. Rather it described their nature as agents of chaos and destruction that acted as the antithesis to the Æsir gods that wanted to bring order to the cosmos.

[@ikenami2635]

Thank you for this great in detpth overview, I enjoyed the video and the landscape that you showed is really beautiful! I would love to hear more about the völva and their trips through different dimensions, especially since psychedelics and medicines like ayahuasca in the north american cultures is getting more and more interest nowadays.

[@tehrinshaikh]

Brilliant episode 🎉 another one on the individual gods especially freyja ❤❤❤ I was wondering why had you not covered Norse mythology so far. And if possible can you also do another episode on the fenian cycle history.

[@theskoomacat7849]

Small correction: 11:06 I believe you might have wanted to say Eddic poetry, as a contrast to Skaldic poetry you mentioned later on. Although perhaps Snorri did write about Skaldic poetry as well, many of the same poetic tools (like kennings and names) are needed for both.