The Gods and Goddesses pt 2 - Heathen lessons

Readings:
The Elder Troth – Lesson Two.
The Poetic Edda. Specifically Voluspa, Havamal, Vafthrudnismal, Grimnismal, Hymskvida, Thrymskvida, Skirnismal, Rigsthula, Baldrs Draumar, and Lokasenna.
The Prose Edda. Most of Gyfalginning, and throughout Skaldskaparamal.
Our Troth, Volume 1. Chapters 8-20.

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THE GODS AND GODDESSES pt 1- Heathen Lesson

~The Elder Troth by Gundarsson
This is actually the lengthiest of the lessons, covering a number of specific areas of study, and therefore it is best to work on it piecemeal while proceeding through the lessons that follow. For an overview, read chapters 3, 4, and 5 in Teutonic Religion. This will give you a general sense of who the deities are, after which you can then go back and look closely at each one in turn as your circumstances and needs indicate.

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Worshipping the Gods

by Diana L. Paxson

Veiztu hvé rista skal, veiztu hvé ráða skal?
veiztu hvé fá skal, veiztu hvé freista skal?
veiztu hvé biðja skal, veiztu hvé blóta skal?
veiztu hvé senda skal, veiztu hvé sóa skal?
(“Havamál”: 144)

Among the best-known stanzas from the “Havamál” is the one quoted above, which summarizes the skills required for runecraft and religion. The first two verses, in which the High One refers to inscribing, reading, coloring, and interpreting the runes, are often quoted. The second pair of lines are less familiar, but the verbs used contain the essence of Germanic religious practice.

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Vanaheimr

Vanaheimr is the home of the Vanir the second family of Gods of which Freyr and Fréyja are members. It is thought to be west of Midgarðr and like Ágarðr is said to have many mansions.

Svartálfheimr

Svartálfheimr is the home of the Svartálfar, the black elves. Their identity is unclear though a few believe them the same as the Dokkálfar or “dark elves.” Still others hold they are the dwarves of Norse mythology. It is thought of as a subterranean region and folk tales suggest it can be accessed through caves in Midgarðr.

Niflheimr

Niflheimr “the misty home” was thought of lying in the metaphysical north of Miðgardr below Hell. It is a world of pure cold or ice, shrouded in mist. From it flowed the rivers into Ginnungagap at the beginning of time that now flow into Hvergelmir, a part of the Well of Wyrd. It is believed that the Nibelingen (MHG) or Niflungar (ON) of the Sigurd myth may have originated there.

Midgarðr

Midgarðr is the realm of Man and is thought of lying in the center of the Nine Worlds. It is surrounded by a vast ocean and about it lies a wall built by the gods to protect it. Several variants of the name survive, amongst them Middenerd and Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.

Múspellheimr

Múspellheimr is a region of pure fire ruled by the giant Surtr. Others like him inhabit the realm and are the closest thing to evil incarnate that can be found in Northern European mythology.

Hel

Hel is the lowest of the Nine Worlds besides Niflheimr resting below the World Tree. It is not at all a bad place, parts of it are an afterlife paradise while other parts are seen as dark and gloomy. Unlike the Christian purgatory, it is not an abode of punishment, but simply a resting place for the dead. It may be reached by the road Helvergr “the Hell way” or “Highway to Hell” if you like, a river of blood called Gjøll, or a cave called Gnípahellir. Hel’s gate called Helgrind or Nágrind is guarded by the ettin woman Modgud and the hound Garmr.

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Jøttinheimr

Jøttinheimr was home to the Jøtnar (AS Eotenas) or ettins, the giants. Traditionally it is seen as north of Midgarðr. In Jøttinheimr lie the fortresses of the Jotunar. Within its borders also lies the Jarnviðr or the “iron wood.”

Alfheimr

Alfheimr is the home of the elves and was given as a gift to the god Freyr for his first tooth. It was thought of as a place of great beauty, as were its inhabitants. Many believe it lies near Ágarðr

Ásgarðr

Ásgarðr literally means “enclosure of the Ése (Æsir)” or “enclosure of the gods.” It is possible it was also called Heofonríce in Anglo-Saxon, but there is no way to prove this definitely.

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The Nine Worlds: Their Shaping and End

~from online version of Our Troth found at http://ourtroth.weebly.com/index.html

We know of the making and ending of the worlds from three sources: Völuspá, Vafþrúðnismál, and Snorri’s retelling in his Edda. As usual, the latter is the most complete and neatest, adding many details that the others leave out (for instance, the fires of Muspell-Home are not spoken of as part of the first world-shaping in either of the poetic sources).

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LESSON ONE—THE COSMOS OF THE NORTH

The cosmos of the North is complex and variable. However, one image remains constant: that of the great Tree, Yggdrasill (“Odin’s Steed”) or the World-Tree, with the Well at its foot (in the Prose Edda, Snorri describes three wells with separate names, locations, and functions, but it is generally believed that these actually embody three different aspects of the Well of Wyrd as it appears in the different realms). Together, the Well and the Tree encompass all of time, space, and being; they are tended by the Norns Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, who bring about the workings of Wyrd. The Nine Worlds are sometimes thought of as being in the branches of the Tree, but the Eddic sources describe them—even Asgard—as lying within its roots.

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