brandasongr

[brandasongr]

A Hard-Fought Battle

Resurrecting this blog to post an attempt at lausavísur, based on the form of a verse from Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks.

Byrnie laying bare,

Fell indeed we fare.

Our foes the same,

Thor‘s black breath o‘er

The field of fame

Beshields the light.

Stride our steeds lame

In tangled plight.

[brandasongr]

[brandasongr]

Segja til dauða, “Ekki í dag.” (Say to death, “Not today.”)

Photo via Foto Forge on Facebook.

[brandasongr]

ᛟ Heathen Tattoos ᛟ

[brandasongr]

The Vikings Berthold Steinhilber

[brandasongr]

:Yore: : The Abyss of Darkness: 

1. Hearing I ask | from the holy races, From Heimdall’s sons, | both high and low; Thou wilt, Valfather, | that well I relate Old tales I remember | of men long ago.

2. I remember yet | the giants of yore, Who gave me bread | in the days gone by; Nine worlds I knew, | the nine in the tree With mighty roots | beneath the mold.

3. Of old was the age | when Ymir lived; Sea nor cool waves | nor sand there were; Earth had not been, | nor heaven above, But a yawning gap, | and grass nowhere.

4. Then Bur’s sons lifted | the level land, Mithgarth the mighty | there they made; The sun from the south | warmed the stones of earth, And green was the ground | with growing leeks.

5. The sun, the sister | of the moon, from the south Her right hand cast | over heaven’s rim; No knowledge she had | where her home should be, The moon knew not | what might was his, The stars knew not | where their stations were

-Ulvrh

[brandasongr]

ableism and Asatru

 like what the fuck? Do you think Odin can see in 3D? He can not. He has one eye, the other one he gave up for knowledge. My favored Týr lost his SWORD hand. Not just the less used hand, he lost his fucking SWORD HAND. Freya was called the “tränenschöne Dis” which translates roughly to the “teary beautiful maid” because she wandered through the world, searching and grieving for her lover Od, cyring over him. If thats not depression? Hödur was blind, last I remembered? I mean, it’s been a while since I read in the Edda. But… you can not seriously believe, that discriminating disabled people is in the spirit of being true to the Aesir.

[brandasongr]

The fertility siblings Freya and Freyr from Norse mythology.

She was the battle hardened one, while he was the gentle nature lover. They were both strongly associated with gold because the Vikings considered wealth and fertility to be linked.

[brandasongr]

Norse Gods: Æser og Åsynjer Part 1

Part 2

[brandasongr]

Norse Gods: Æser og Åsynjer Part 2

Part 1 

[brandasongr]

Fenrir

[brandasongr]

black and asian vikings 100% definitely existed (also, saami vikings)

you know how far you can get into eurasia and africa by sailing up rivers from the baltic and mediterranean seas? pretty fucking far, and that’s what vikings liked to do to trade

then, you know, people are people, so love happens, business happens, and so ppl get married and take spouses back home to the frozen hellscape that is scandinavia (upon which i’m guessing the horrorstruck new spouses went “WHAT THE FUCK??? FUCKING GIVE ME YOUR JACKET???????”)

and sometimes vikings bought thralls and brought them home as well, and i mean, when your indentured service is up after however many years and you’re a free person again, maaaaaaaaaaaaybe it’s a bit hard to get all the way home across the continent, so you make the best out of the situation and you probably get married and raise a gaggle kids

so yeah

viking kingdoms/communities were not uniformly pure white aryan fantasy paradises, so pls stop using my cultural history and ethnic background to excuse your racist discomfort with black ppl playing heimdall and valkyrie

[brandasongr]

Skadi, our kin were slain, and those in power will not act to right this great wrong. Give us the strength to make them hear us when we go to demand our due.

Thor, great injustice has been done to us - we are attacked in our own halls. Protect us and help us to protect each other, and grant us courage in the face of evil.

Loki, You know what it is to be an outsider, but always You are true to Yourself. Help us to do the same, and to be catalysts for necessary change in our world.

Odin, never did You heed those who try to dictate what You can or cannot do or be. May our rage give us the spirit to live freely and the daring to test ourselves against the mighty, and may we always be one step ahead of our foes.

[brandasongr]

[brandasongr]

Before the Rain by Rich Goddard on Flickr.

[brandasongr]

Just a reminder: Heathenry does have a term for smoke-cleansing. Recaning. To recan. (Or reocan, in Old West Saxon.) This is cleansing via smoke, whether through incense or a bundle of herbs put together for a particular type of cleansing. Juniper and mugwort are both favorites for this. In case you’re wondering how to pronounce it, it sounds like reekening. The word “reeks” is actually derived from it, signifying a potent smell. For Old Norse fans, this seems to be related to the work reykr. In case you were wondering, Reykjavik in Iceland translates to “Smoky Bay”.

[brandasongr]

Lindisfarne, Northumberland, England by iandowns77