#Woden

[illustratus]

Wotan's farewell to Brunhilde by Ferdinand Leeke

[gifts-of-heimdall-runes]

Source: VK.com

Artist: Sjors van Helmond [ArtStation]

Original posted 27th December, 2021

Created by Photoshop

"In this artwork, I wanted to display the mystery and wisdom associated with the All-Father of the Norse gods. The artwork features Odin with all his attributes, his ravens, his wolves, his spear, his drinking horn, his hat and his magic ring. The illustration also features various references to stories related to Odin like the three shields in the bottom. The first shield shows Odin sacrificing his eye to the well of Mimir for wisdom, the second shield depicts Sleipnir Odin's eight legged horse and the third shield shows how Odin and his two brothers carved the first two humans Ask and Embla out of wood."

Re-posted respecting finding the original on ArtStation.

[miltaart]

ODIN

© Milta Svartvis 2015

MORE LIKE THIS @miltaart

MY PHOTOGRAPHS @sonnemordundsterne

[that-guy-in-the-chiton]

[cusaqphotos]

[survivethejive]

9 adults and 5 children of The Hearth of Devon assembled for a blot to Woden on Dartmoor this weekend. The Neolithic stone row served as a procession path leading to a cist/dolmen which we used as a harrow (ON: hörgr). The ritual area was demarcated by hazel poles and a we-band (ON: vébönd). The hlaut bowl is positioned in the centre of the harrow with a flame to the South, the mead horns to the West, a silver oath ring to the East facing the supplicants at Delling's door, and a Woden stapol on the North side of the harrow.

[voiceoftheoldways]

Hail the Allfather on this Odin‘s Day!

O Wisdom-seeker,

Inspire us to peer into the mysteries of Wyrd,

And to your insatiable quest for knowing

May we join ourselves,

To prize above all else

The true sight of eyes

Blinded to expectation —

Therein is the vision of Yggdrasil.

[notthesomefather]

Prayer to Odin

[[written by a member of the Godsring and shared with permission]]

Wōden, World-Shaper, Wandering God!

We come before You this night and ask humbly for Your ear,

That You might hear us in our place of prayer and receive our thanks.

For Your never-ending quest for knowledge,

Inspires us, and makes us yearn to know more than we know,

To do more than we can do,

And to be more than we have ever been before.

We come before You this night and ask humbly for Your company,

That You might walk with us in the coming days and keep us on our way.

For Your ceaseless journey through the worlds,

Inspires us, and makes us yearn to see more than we see,

To go where we have yet to go,

And to be more than we have ever thought we could be.

Hail the Hanged God, who searches the void where He hung,

For those lost souls searching for secrets of their own,

And pulls them out, gasping, returned to the land of the living,

To keep learning, and wandering, and serving You.

Hail Wōden!

[hesy-bes]

Wanderer of the World

Even when I am distant, wandering amidst the past, mimicking your mind, focused on finding my Truth, you guide me back home. Wanderer, O’ Woden, you hold a place deep in my heart. I feel the beat of your staff on earth, in time with the rhythm in my chest. Your runes are my comfort, your wisdom is my well. No matter how far I stray, O’ Woden, I always wander home.

[marejadilla]

Victor Grasso, “Woden”, 2015, oil on board. B. 1977, Cape May Court House, NJ, EEUU.

[illustratus]

Odin riding Sleipnir, with his wolves Geri and Freki

by Max Koch

[gifts-of-heimdall-runes]

Everthing Norse & Viking

(Facebook Group)

[the-fire-within0]

I know Wednesday has already passed for me, but I had a STRONG connection with Odin last night. He was coming in strong which led to me researching him more and feeling his grandfatherly energy, which I so honestly crave.

He wanted to show me that he was there and well, I told him the troubles I was having with a relationship. And he was giving me advice I needed to hear in that moment. I am not sharing however since it's private, but it was helpful and comforting to hear.

He has his moments of coming and going, but when he decides to stay for a while, it's quite reassuring.

I appreciate the old man.

[incorrectwicdivquotes]

Woden: How did you get past security?! My fortress is impenetrable!

Persephone: Door was unlocked.

Woden: Son of a BITCH!

[that-guy-in-the-chiton]

Moder meeting uncle Odin.

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Armies of the Dead/heaven in myths and epic fantasy - and the magic horns behind them!

One of the most famous armies of dead soldiers? The Men of Dunharrow, the army of the dead from Lord of the Rings who broke their oaths and renewed them finally under Aragorn.

Let's do this!

If you're a younger fantasy reader, or more modern, perhaps your introduction to this idea is in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time with his magical horn that summons an army and legendary heroes to the field.

Some fans have said this is inspired by the Norse horn Gjallarhorn. 

This is the horn trusted to Heimdallr to be blown to announce the beginning of Ragnarok and summon the Norse gods to the "thing" (thing is used in this case legitimately to mean - meeting, assembly, folkmoot) - in a moment like NORSE AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE! 

This includes the Einherjar, the spirits of Norse warriors of honored dead who fell in battle and reside in Valhalla. But was there another possible influence?

Well, we know RJ was a Tolkien fan, and honestly who wouldn't be back in the days of early fantasy? 

So, what of Tolkien's ghostly army of dead warriors? Well, if you haven't read the books, you might not know that Aragorn too summons his army of the dead with a magical horn (cut from the films). That's right. 

You see, Elrohir (one of the sons of Elrond, also cut from the films) entrusts Aragorn with a silver horn to summon the dead with at the Stone of Erech to deal with them. Tolkien was a Norse buff and loved the old epics as well as poems. 

So he was likely familiar with the stories just like with Gjallarhorn as well. But also, quite possibly the Song of Roland (a French epic poem) in where Roland and his forces are ambushed at Roncesvalles and are going to lose. In final desperation, Roland blows the horn, and the emperor hears the call. But the aid will not arrive in time (unlike the films and more modern stories where the heroes do arrive to save the day - this is cuz we like the just in the nick of time trope) so Roland dies blowing it one last time to hard in vengeance his temples burst (and he ascends to heaven), but...Charlemagne's army arrives in the aftermath and scatters the enemy. But, are there other armies of the dead? In fact, yes. 

The Night Marchers of Hawaii who come with a warm wind, & the smell of sulfur, and the call of a conch shell to herald them. If you come upon this procession with torches in the night, and you are an enemy...time to RUN! Because if you watch them your eyes might be incinerated.

Then there is the Wild Hunt - a shared myth motif present through eastern, northern, and western European cultures. A ghostly army of the souls of dead men (and creatures) usually united under a leader (though this figure changes), Herne, Odin/Woden, Gwyn ap Nudd, Sigurd or Siegfried the Dragon Slayer, Theodoric the Great, onward. Now, they're not summoned by a horn, but in some tales their coming is announced by one.

Now, an Indian cognate of the Wild Hunt and warriors in the service of heavens The Maruts.

The number of them vary from 20+ to over 180, to even more (yay conflicting mythological sources and arguments in ancient texts and interpretations).

But who are they? Companions and servants to Lord Indra, Slayer of the First Born of Dragons, and lord of the heavens and storms! So, fittingly, these warriors are very...storm themed. Violent, aggressive, expert combatants armed with lightning weaponary, and golden chariots to fly through the clouds on. Their war crys and battle sounds are like thunder. Their blows would split clouds (sounding thunder) and would hunt the enemies of Lord Indra and slaughter demons/monsters.

Interestingly they are often associated as the sons (children) of Rudra (the Rig Vedic storm and wind god). However, there is another group that often gets that association (obviously so), the Rudras.

The Rudras are similar in (some) regards to the Maruts but not all. They aid Vishnu in his battles against demons and are clad in lion-skins, and wear serpents around their necks. A crescent moon adorns their foreheads, and they wield golden tridents and carry a skull in one hand they wear necklaces of lightning illuminated clouds (how's that for bling bling?), and are monstrously feral in battle. Lord Shiva can call them with a blow of a conch shell/horn. 

Their overlap, association with the Maruts is because of some etymology and shared functions as they too are a divine/spiritual/demigod group of heavenly warriors to aid the good and destroy evil - demons/adversaries, and the root word in their name means the roarers, thunderers, or the shouters - and this is also mentioned of the Maruts.

Are these all there are for legendary armies of the dead, of gods/heaven to be summoned to the field or aid? No. But, it's rainy, I'm a little messed up (mental health and meds), and tired. 

So I'm going to bow out and read and study for Tremaine 3 and leave this minor comparative thread here for folks into this stuff.