War, Peace and Gender in the Viking Age- Hidden Messages in Old Norse Myths pt.23

How did the Old Norse myths of a golden age of peace and wisdom and the desire to restore that age correspond with Viking Age and Iron Age society and warrior culture in the North?

Article: http://mardallar.wordpress.com/witches-and-warriors-the-northern-barbarian-cu...

Some interesting notes/articles on research done on these subjects and others are now available on my Freya facebook-page:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=hp#!/pages/Freya/150148709034

and on my website: http://www.mardallar.wordpress.com

Category:

Education

Tags:

• old norse mythology
• viking age
• poetic edda
• prose edda
• myth
• paganism
• pagan
• gender
• history
• archaeology

[Vidarskald]

Great video as always. I only bring this up because we don't have perfect records of the killings that took place during the Viking era but I wouldn't be surprised if those days were actually more peaceful than our modern era. When I've been in places where everyone was armed and you knew harm could befall you if you acted like a jerk people generally behaved very well. I think the anonymity of big cities and the ease of killing from a distance has made this a more violent age.

[LadyoftheLabyrinth]

@Vidarskald Yes, agree. As you point out, these people had to engage directly in battle - usually with people who could match them in strength and eqiupment, which required a considerable degree of courage that modern soldiers probably cannot imagine...and which, despite the terrible violence that happened in that era, cannot compare to the immense massacres, often of civilians and children, (often executed from a safe distance) caused by modern warfare.

[1010bree]

Baldur is a sun god, polarities of wisdom and understanding god and goddess on the tree of life in qaballah

[LadyoftheLabyrinth]

@1010bree Hi! Sorry, but that is wrong. That Baldr is a sun god is a modern misconception with no basis in the Norse/Germanic sources at all. The sun is a goddess, always referred to as "her" and "she", described as a sister, (birth-giving)mother, wife and maiden, and rankes among the goddesses by Snorri. Both the noun for "sun" in the Germanic/Nordic languages and the mythology of the sun in absolutely all the sources give absolute evidence for a female sun.The moon, however, is masculine.

[Francesko263]

Also in italian we have the word "baldo" and "baldanzoso" which means "self-confident, strong, frank, full of courage".

[LadyoftheLabyrinth]

@Francesko263 Definitely related! :)

[RolloOfTheNorth]

Love this video :D

[SentientRaven]

Fascinating stuff! Thanks!

[2011gsexton]

Your knowledge and introspection is priceless...thank you so much for sharing as you are assisting me in understanding much of my ancestors....bless you my dear!

[teufelstaub]

I don't know if there is a direct linguistic correlation,but the Russians have long brewed a fermented rye or beet based beveridge called Kvass.It's quite nutritious,full of vitamins and is much like the old meads...filling,inspiring and tasty.

[CelticValdyr]

Wonderful video and great exploration into greed, jealousy and hatred - the banes of joy and peace. The need to survive is king though and much of the raiding was really a grab for land and resources as neighbor crowded neighbor. The mention of the bow in female graves was interesting. Might explain the fading of Ullr in the stories as he too was associated with the bow (Yew Dales), but as the iron age noble-warrior society grew dominant, axe and sword had higher reverence.

[Vidarskald]

For example, look at the ease with which we Americans start wars all around the world. Does anyone really think we would be at war every couple of years, like clockwork, if we actually had to walk right up to our "enemies" and hack them to death? Much easier to kill people with Tomahawk missiles. : (

[Vidarskald]

It's my understanding that many tribes in sub-Saharan Africa today also have this arrangement where the mother's brother is more likely the father figure to her children. This makes perfect sense in society where women are more sexually promiscuous (let's say "openly promiscuous") and you don't know for certain who the father is. You always know who your siblings are.