Reykjavík Grapevine - 27.06.2003, Qupperneq 11

- the reykjavík grapevine -10 june 27th - july 10th, 2003 - the reykjavík grapevine - 11june 27th - july 10th, 2003
Twilight of the Old Gods,
Dawn of the New
The Icelandic word for pagan is
heiðinn, which is similar to the
English word heathen. Heiðin also
means hill, and the reason for
this is arguably that urban dwell-
ers became Christian earlier than
rural ones; hence the phrase was
coined as derogatory. The Nordic
heathens, who were surrounded on
all sides by Christians, were aware
of this, but they quickly adopted
the term for themselves, much like
modern day gays often adopt in-
sults directed against them in order
to disarm their enemy.
Not much is known for certain
about the heathen religion, since
the art of writing books only came
to the Nordic countries along with
Christianity. The Gods are men-
tioned by Tacitus in the first century,
although they are given the Latin
names of Gods worshipped by the
Romans. The most comprehensive
account available of Nordic religion
are the Poetic Edda, and Prose
Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson
in the 13th Century, more than 200
years after Christianity became
the official religion of Iceland. But
Snorri was a considerable stylist,
and it is sometimes hard to tell
what is based on older myths and
what sprang from his own fertile
imagination. It is interesting to note
that Snorra Edda as well as the
sagas was written in Iceland rather
than in the larger Nordic countries,
and Icelandic Christians in the 13th
century seemed remarkably tolerant
of pagan beliefs and did their best
to document them, whereas on the
continent scholars as well as kings
had been doing their best to eradi-
cate these. One reason for this
may have been that that the other
countries, particularly Norway, be-
came Christian after a series of civil
wars, wherein almost anyone who
attempted to stick to the old religion
was executed. In Iceland, however,
a peaceful solution was reached. In
the year 1000, a þing was held at
Þingvellir, and the adherents of the
two religions met to resolve the
matter, one way or another. It was
decided that the man among them
whom was considered the wisest,
Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði, would
come to a judgement, and this
would be obeyed by everyone. He
wrapped himself up in a bearskin,
and for three days and nights he
deliberated. Finally he emerged
again, and pronounced that Iceland
should become Christian. His ver-
dict was accepted, and civil war was
avoided. It is surprising that the pa-
gans surrendered their old beliefs
so easily, as if religion was not
of critical importance and then as
well as now Icelanders have never
seemed as religious as their cousins
the Norwegians. In fact, some of
the first settlers were atheists, who
professed a mystical sort of belief in
themselves.
After the conversion to Chris-
tianity it was written into law that
anyone who so wished might still
worship the old Gods, as long as no
one found out about this. This rule
was later omitted, but the fact that
in Iceland transition to Christian-
ity was peaceful might explain why
some of the old traditions seem
to have lived on here, even being
reflected in superstitions today.
Who’s who in Asgard?
The top five.
1. Odin (Óðinn)
The All-Father. King of the Gods. His
weapon is the spear and he rides an
8 legged horse, Sleipnir. His other
pets are wolves and the ravens Hug-
inn and Muninn, meaning roughly
mind and memory, which probably
symbolise wisdom and knowledge.
They fly around the world and report
back to their master on the affairs
of men. He sacrificed one eye for
the sake of wisdom, and traverses
the world in various guises. He is
said to have some 170 names. He
occupies much the same position
as Zeus or Jupiter in Mediterranean
mythology, but unlike his colleague,
who took on different shapes to
prowl the earth in search of young
girls, Odin’s quest was in search of
knowledge, and he seems to have
been mostly faithful to his wife,
Frigg (despite the fact that that her
name sounds suspiciously similar to
frigid).
2. Thor (Þór)
The God of Thunder and perhaps
miserable weather in general. Son
of Odin, but seems to have been
considerably more popular in Ice-
land than his old man, as various
place and people names clearly
prove. He rides through the sky on
a chariot pulled by two rams. When
away from home, he kills and eats
the rams, but if all their bones are
returned to their hide and bound
up, the rams appear good as new
the day after. Thor had red hair
and beard, unlike the Nazi poster
boy of the Marvel Comics, and is
the physically strongest of all the
Gods, if not necessarily the bright-
est. His favourite possession is his
hammer, Mjölnir, which always hits
its target, and returns to whoever
throws it. This was once stolen
by an unfriendly giant, who would
only return it in exchange for Freyja,
the most beautiful goddess. Thor
dressed up in drag as the goddess,
married the giant, got his hammer
back and killed everyone present at
the wedding.
3. Freyr and Freyja
Fertility Gods. Brother and sister
from another race of Gods, the
Vanir, who had formerly been en-
emies of the Æsir, but were now
friends. The Old Norse believed
that everything calls forth a similar
quality in something else, and hence
human fertility was representative
of the fertility of the land. Statues
of Freyr are usually well hung. In
Sweden, they even went so far as
to have women have sex with Freyr
statues to increase the yield of the
crops. Freyr was very rich, and his
favourite animals were pigs and
horses, and among his possessions
was a sword that could fight on its
own, and a ship that could hold all
the Æsir, but when not in use could
be carried in a pouch. Freyja was
the Goddess of love and seems to
have taken her office seriously, at
least if Loki is to be believed, who
claimed there was not a single God
or elf she hadn’t slept with.
4. Loki
Part God, part demon and one of
the more complex characters. A
trickster and shape shifter who
often gets the Gods into trouble,
but through his cunning usually
gets them out again. However, it
has been foretold that at the end of
the world, Ragnarök, he will lead the
enemies of the Æsir against them.
He is the father of the Fenriswolf,
the Miðgarðs Serpent, and the God-
dess of death, Hel. He is also the
mother of Sleipnir, Odin’s 8 legged
horse, having become impregnated
by a stallion when in the shape of a
mare. After the death of Baldur he
was tied up with a serpent dripping
poison onto his head. His faith-
ful wife collects the poison into a
bowl, but when she empties it he
shudders violently, and that’s how
earthquakes are made.
5. Baldur
Another son of Odin. The most fair
of all the Gods. Perhaps a God of
Law, for his son Forseti (meaning
president) sits in judgement in the
judgement hall, although Snorri
claims that no ruling the father
makes will take hold. Having a
foreboding, Frigg takes a promise
from all creatures in the world,
animate and inanimate, not to harm
him. All agreed, and as he could not
be harmed by anything, the Gods
relished in using him for target prac-
tice. However, Loki discovered that
a mistletoe has not made the prom-
ise, so he got Hödur, the blind God,
to shoot him with an arrow with the
mistletoe attached, thus killing him.
He was cremated along with his wife
Nanna, and a dwarf who happened
to be passing by and Thor kicked on
the pyre for good luck.
A Viking eats a traditional style meal.
Freyja, the goddess of love, took her
office seriously, and it was said there
was not a single God or elf that she
hadn´t slept with.
The Allsherjargoði brings the proceedings to their climax.
A young Viking is despatched to Valhalla.
Grown men live out their boyhood fantasies.