this is from a Swedish archeologist i unfortunantly cant remember the name of. brilliant man! I would like to set a few things strait when it comes to the afterlife in the pre-Christian faith. During the Viking age there are about 70 different ways to bury a person. This is because there are very many possible destinations. Many seem to believe that there are only 2 choices, Valhalla and Hel (not Helheim = stop reading Marvel Thor). Where you go in the afterlife depends on what cast you are a part of. It is true that the warriors are divided between Odin & Freya. Half go to Valhalla in the region of Gladsheim and the other half goes to Sessrymner in the region of Folkvång. Kings, Jarls and Hersirs (lords) go to Tyr’s palace Valaskjalf. Tyr’s name (Tyr, Tue, Ti, Di) means “The God” or “The Lord” and it is he, not Odin who leads the forces of Asgard during Ragnarök. He is the god of the art of war (like Athena) and god of victory which is why he stands with his hands stretched out (like Chirst later would do) and he holds Sunna (the sun) and Måne (the moon) in his hands! The Sun hand later gets bitten off by Fenris (the sun is swallowed by a wolf, Hate, before Ragnarök). It is the Christian priests who mix up Tyr & Odin (god of the battle rage), as in the old scriptures & stories their names are not used. Instead Heiten (secondary names: Hagbard = greybeard = Odin & Sigtyr = victory god = Tyr) and Kenningar (descriptions: the fair god = Balder, the white Asar = Heimdall etc.) are used. It is most likely that Balder is his son, not Odin’s as Balder in runes would be pronounces Baldir or Baltyr meaning: “New or Renewed God/Lord”. The church equalized Tyr with God and his son Balder as Christ (as like Christ, Balder will be resurrected during Ragnarök and lead the people through a 1000-year period). When the father falls (Tyr) the son will rise (Baltyr). Enough about this, let us continue. The largest house in the heavens is Bilskirnir in the region of Trudvång and is owned by Thor & Siv (another name for the sun goddess Sunna or Sol = with the golden hair = sun rays). The region is named after Thor’s daughter Trud (meaning Power). He has 640 grand halls in his palace. Here those of the farmer cast (which is the largest cast), and Trälar (Thralls) go. Thralls are not slaves! They are paid workers, but they do not own land and as such cannot vote (only 1 vote per farm/household). Half the hunters go to Ull’s place in Ydalar. Ull (like Apollo) is both the Sun God & God of the daytime Hunt! He is Siv’s (Sunna’s) son with Glen (Dag = Day). The other half of the hunters go to Trymheim where Skade lives (moon goddess and goddess of the evening hunt, like Artemis). Healers go to Skimmer were the Goddess Eir lives (Goddess of medicine & healing). Oracles, völvor (weavers) and others that practice the art of divination (future seeing) go to Saga’s place called Sökkvabekk! Merchants & fisherman (those that make their living off of the sea) goes to Naotun, where thr God of the Sea, Njord lives, who also is the God of Merchants! He is the richest, yet most layed back god of them all. He is always barefoot and always happy. No god had more temples dedicated to him or her than Njord. He is the father of Frey & Freya together with his twin sister Njerd (Njerda, Nerthus = Mater Terra = Mother Earth). And so, on and so on…you get the picture = many different destinations. However, the gods only accept the best of each cast, as the places have limits! Therefore each person must strive to do his very best in his/her chosen lifestyle! Most people however do not make it to the gods palaces. Skuld (one of the 3 Faiths) decides where each person goes after reading Verdandi’s (her sister) tapestry of your life (a woven record of all your deeds). Urd (the first sister) only decides your lifespan. The future however is not written and what you do with the time that is given to you, is completely up to you. Most people end up in Hel (ruled over by a goddess with the same name), which is divided up into 2 halves. Hel’s Lundar & Nifelhel. Hel’s Lundar is a nice place of constant summer, set tables and an abundance of food (quite like Elysium). It is a better version of the life you lived as a mortal. People here only see Hel’s beautiful half of her face. Evil doers, such as nidingar, oath breakers, rapest’s of virgins, traitors etc, see her other half of her face which is rotten and hallow. They end up in Nifelhel, which is a cold frozen swamp & tundra where evil demonic spirits chase the spirits of those souls who end up here. There is a river here, and on the other side of the river lies Narstrand (beach of corpses). It is on Narstrand that the “largest building under a roof” is situated and is completely made of snakes who are interwoven to make walls & a ceiling. They are all facing inwards towards the center of this great hall, and there they spit venom into the center. There is so much that it creates an entire river of venom. It is in this venom that the souls of the worst criminals must bath in eternity, that being oath breakers (nothing worse in the Viking time than a person that cannot be trusted) and child murderers! Hope you found this to be interesting reading!
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 07:21:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015