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<blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 6643787" data-attributes="member: 58172"><p>Today, Norse archeology (including anthropologists, textual studies, etcetera) has a better sense of what the cultures were like during the Viking Era, and in this context, a better understanding of how the Norse texts fit in.</p><p></p><p>Perhaps most important is the realization, all Norse beliefs are local. Norse belief never unified, centralized, nor systematized. One town might know of a custom in an neighboring town, and perhaps even participate in it. Thus Norse belief(s) are part of a larger network of overlapping local customs, that stretches across different cultures from the remotest regions of Norway (Old West Norse) to the heart of Germany (Old High German). The cultural worldview of any particular place in this network can differ drastically from one of a more distant place. The locales often shared cognates, but their meanings evolved differently in each locale. The Norwegians were strongly animistic, the Germans were strongly polytheistic, while the Danes were some mix in between.</p><p></p><p>The Norse Eddas and related texts are the traditions of Iceland, and mainly preserve the Old West Norse animistic traditions, where they immigrated from, but also some other locales in a kind of Pan-Norse sensibility.</p><p></p><p>The Norse texts dont explain how the Norse animists ‘related’ to (ie, ‘worshiped’) the nature spirits, because the ancient Norse never did. These nature spirits are not gods, were never ‘worshiped’, and there are no formal rules for how to worship them. All animistic traditions were personal and spontaneous. Of course, some places have local customs, such as the Alfablót and the Disablót, but these are more like Mothers Day or Thanksgiving Day in the US, traditions that feature some persistent customs, but mostly informal and spontaneous. Occasionally there is a story about a human who marries a nature spirit, and this normal way of how the Norse relate to other persons, is precisely how they relate to nature spirits as well.</p><p></p><p>In Norway, Thorr was a popular nature spirit. (Similarly, the Thunderbird is a popular nature spirit among certain Native American tribes.) But one of the archeological surprises was, Odhinn the nature spirit of the skydome, seems mostly irrelevant in Norway. The distorted emphasis on Odhinn in the Norse texts derives mainly from the skald who viewed him as a kind of muse. The name Odhinn literally means ‘the fury’, and like the skydome includes night and day simultaneously, he associated with different trance-like states from the inspiration of songs to the frenzy of the berserkr. Thus skald who preserved the Norse traditions in song were the same ones who promoted their favorite nature spirit.</p><p></p><p>Archeologists continue to debate the extent of influence of Christianity in the Norse Eddas. Personally, I lean toward the camp that sees the texts as moreorless accurate samples of Norse beliefs. Some of the skald adopted Christianity, such as Snorri, thus perhaps emphasize Norse traditions that resemble Christian traditions. Even here, the Eddas are not especially missionizing in tone, and even for the apocalyptic traditions it is often more illuminating to compare Zoroastrian texts, concerning an ancient apocalyptic tradition that both Norse and Christians shared in common. The Jul is an ancient Norse custom that honors Baldr the nature spirit of daylight, who ‘dies’ and ‘resurrects’ during the winter solstice. In the Eddas, the descriptions of daylight as good, allseeing, pure, and beautiful are likely accurate portraits of a Norse belief.</p><p></p><p>An other archeological surprise is how animistic the Norwegians were. They simply have no gods. There are no priests. These dont exist. The only formal spiritual leader is the Volva, a custom of a female shaman-like seer, who in Norse texts is clearly animistic.</p><p></p><p>Certain local customs seem more polytheistic in sensibility (such as in Uppsala, Sweden). But these appear to be innovations, inspired by Non-Norse international influences, and the texts mention the persons who invented the custom.</p><p></p><p>So when the scholars of the Romantic Era combed thru the Norse texts trying to figure out how Norse ‘religion’ worked - there never was any religion in the first place. There were only animist humans surrounded by other nature spirits. Sometimes they became friends, and sometimes they didnt. The Norse were mainly a remote aboriginal people, preserving even prehistoric ways.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Yaarel, post: 6643787, member: 58172"] Today, Norse archeology (including anthropologists, textual studies, etcetera) has a better sense of what the cultures were like during the Viking Era, and in this context, a better understanding of how the Norse texts fit in. Perhaps most important is the realization, all Norse beliefs are local. Norse belief never unified, centralized, nor systematized. One town might know of a custom in an neighboring town, and perhaps even participate in it. Thus Norse belief(s) are part of a larger network of overlapping local customs, that stretches across different cultures from the remotest regions of Norway (Old West Norse) to the heart of Germany (Old High German). The cultural worldview of any particular place in this network can differ drastically from one of a more distant place. The locales often shared cognates, but their meanings evolved differently in each locale. The Norwegians were strongly animistic, the Germans were strongly polytheistic, while the Danes were some mix in between. The Norse Eddas and related texts are the traditions of Iceland, and mainly preserve the Old West Norse animistic traditions, where they immigrated from, but also some other locales in a kind of Pan-Norse sensibility. The Norse texts dont explain how the Norse animists ‘related’ to (ie, ‘worshiped’) the nature spirits, because the ancient Norse never did. These nature spirits are not gods, were never ‘worshiped’, and there are no formal rules for how to worship them. All animistic traditions were personal and spontaneous. Of course, some places have local customs, such as the Alfablót and the Disablót, but these are more like Mothers Day or Thanksgiving Day in the US, traditions that feature some persistent customs, but mostly informal and spontaneous. Occasionally there is a story about a human who marries a nature spirit, and this normal way of how the Norse relate to other persons, is precisely how they relate to nature spirits as well. In Norway, Thorr was a popular nature spirit. (Similarly, the Thunderbird is a popular nature spirit among certain Native American tribes.) But one of the archeological surprises was, Odhinn the nature spirit of the skydome, seems mostly irrelevant in Norway. The distorted emphasis on Odhinn in the Norse texts derives mainly from the skald who viewed him as a kind of muse. The name Odhinn literally means ‘the fury’, and like the skydome includes night and day simultaneously, he associated with different trance-like states from the inspiration of songs to the frenzy of the berserkr. Thus skald who preserved the Norse traditions in song were the same ones who promoted their favorite nature spirit. Archeologists continue to debate the extent of influence of Christianity in the Norse Eddas. Personally, I lean toward the camp that sees the texts as moreorless accurate samples of Norse beliefs. Some of the skald adopted Christianity, such as Snorri, thus perhaps emphasize Norse traditions that resemble Christian traditions. Even here, the Eddas are not especially missionizing in tone, and even for the apocalyptic traditions it is often more illuminating to compare Zoroastrian texts, concerning an ancient apocalyptic tradition that both Norse and Christians shared in common. The Jul is an ancient Norse custom that honors Baldr the nature spirit of daylight, who ‘dies’ and ‘resurrects’ during the winter solstice. In the Eddas, the descriptions of daylight as good, allseeing, pure, and beautiful are likely accurate portraits of a Norse belief. An other archeological surprise is how animistic the Norwegians were. They simply have no gods. There are no priests. These dont exist. The only formal spiritual leader is the Volva, a custom of a female shaman-like seer, who in Norse texts is clearly animistic. Certain local customs seem more polytheistic in sensibility (such as in Uppsala, Sweden). But these appear to be innovations, inspired by Non-Norse international influences, and the texts mention the persons who invented the custom. So when the scholars of the Romantic Era combed thru the Norse texts trying to figure out how Norse ‘religion’ worked - there never was any religion in the first place. There were only animist humans surrounded by other nature spirits. Sometimes they became friends, and sometimes they didnt. The Norse were mainly a remote aboriginal people, preserving even prehistoric ways. [/QUOTE]
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