Do you have any info on the Ginfaxi symbol? Seen a heathen who had it tattooed on their throat and immediately had alarms go off in my head.
I'll post what I know about Ginfaxi, but it won't tell you anything more about the person you saw than you already know. I like thinking and writing about this stuff so I wrote a lot but, yeah, none of this is really going to narrow anything down for you. I'm trying to put the rest behind a break but Tumblr doesn't like breaks anymore, and keeps moving this one around, so we'll see what happens.
I assume that what you mean by "ginfaxi" is this:
This isn't the only symbol that gets called that (more on that below) but it is the most common, and it's what comes up when you Google it. I don't really know anything about how modern people are using ginfaxi but here are some off-the-cuff thoughts:
it's probably on its way into popularity because Ægishjálmur and Vegvísir are too well-known to be mysterious and cool anymore
while less common than those, it's been commercialized for just as long. You, anon, probably know this already, because you probably googled it before asking me, and turned up all the same tchotchke shit that every other "Ancient Viking Magic" symbol is slapped onto. That has more determination over how people relate to it than any 18th/19th century black book does.
there's higher-than-average risk of it being made into a symbol of "Viking warriors" or similar because of its actual historical association with glíma even though conceptually it's closer to staves for winning at chess (which do also exist) than it is to actual combat
yeah I do think it has potential to be a "swastika with plausible deniability" but I honestly don't know if people are doing that and if anything its touristification might be the thing that prevents it
it occurs to me that TikTok is probably a serious vector for how people are experiencing this stuff, and it's something I know absolutely nothing about other than that people like to put runes and stuff on their faces. So I dunno, that could be an influence here.
When you're trying to figure out what it means when you see a galdrastafur on someone, it doesn't necessarily do you any good to learn about its background and history if the person who got it inked didn't bother to research that themselves, and I'm disinclined to believe that someone who got a vaguely swastika-like symbol on their throat did that. I have no idea if the symbol has any more frequency among racists than it does among sorta "general population" heathen/viking-interested people who relate to the past basically through the lens of the tourist gift shop, who would have been getting "Celtic" symbols if it were still the 90's, which seems to be the majority of people involved with this stuff at all. A radically different group of people also comes to mind: in my experience in east coast US, some crusty gutter punk types also use symbols like Icelandic galdrastafir and runes, and they're also more likely to get a tattoo on their throat or face or whatever than the average viking enthusiast. I know a guy who used to put runes and stuff on his panhandling signs and claimed they did get him more cash, and whether it was magic or just drawing attention or what didn't really matter to him.
Anyway, the point is, I think that tattoo was a bad idea, makes someone look like a nazi, and you should side-eye them until you know better, but for better or worse there are other possible explanations for how that symbol got there. I'm not making excuses for anyone, just stating the blunt fact that there are non-nazis who attracted to this symbol and decorate itself with it without even thinking about any of this.
It shows up in that annoying graphic of "Norse" symbols with no context that occasionally makes the rounds (that manages not to include a single symbol from the actual Viking age), with an incorrect or at least misleading description:
And as much as this sucks that is probably the main way that people experience symbolism that is related (whether in a historical or a recently-contrived way) to "the Norse."
The version of the symbol I've been talking about is the most well-known because it comes from Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri by Jón Árnason, the most important folklore and fairy tale collection from Iceland. I'm not sure where he got that particular image. When he was writing in the mid-19th century, he said that ginfaxi and gapaldur (which often accompanies ginfaxi) were among the most widespread symbols with the most variety of uses, and even mentions them before ægishjálmur. Ginfaxi was probably always used in glíma, and since that's the context it appears in in magic books while other uses seem not to have been recorded, the association with glíma became stronger over time. It was to be written on a piece of paper or wood-chip and put in the toe of the left show, while gapaldur was supposed to be under the heel in the right shoe (there is some variation in the procedure). According to Grunnavíkur-Jón Ólafsson (via Jón Árna) the two symbols together were also used for spookier things like going into hills (i.e. like huldufólk do, I guess, there's no additional context) and repel sendingar (sort of like ghosts raised by hostile wizards to harm someone) but I don't know where Grunnavíkur-Jón wrote about that or anything else about this. Here is a variant gapaldur from Jón Árnason:
According to Jón Árnason (link in Icelandic), it was rumored that the two staves were composed by hiding the names of different æsir in them. To me, that implies either a method of encoding that is totally opaque to me, or that belief pertained to an entirely different set of visual symbols (either of these are highly plausible). It seems the names ginfaxi and gapaldur (or gapandi) were better-known than the actual visual symbols themselves, and there are many variants that look hardly anything like the one in Jón Arna (this is not surprising -- there are also many symbols called ægishjálmur other than the one we all know). Probably many more people suspected others of having used symbols like these to gain advantage over them, than actually used symbols themselves, so that the idea of ginfaxi would precede anyone knowing how to actually draw it, and perhaps there never really was an original or fixed shape.
Jónas Jónasson (another folklore collector) identified this one from Lbs 977 4to as another ginfaxi although I don't know how he knows it's that and not gapaldur:
This one comes with a formula to recite that invokes Óðinn and Frigg and is specifically about winning at glíma.
These two are from the Galdrasýning á Ströndum website (only on the Icelandic version of the page for some reason), not sure where they got them either. With these you're supposed to carve them on a piece of turf when the moon is waxing and drop some of your own blood into them, then put them in your shoes and recite a verse.
I think it's worth showing what glíma is. True, when an Old Icelandic text refers to people doing an action that is uses the verb glíma to describe, it's talking about actual fighting, but this is the stuff that the glímugaldrar ('glíma-magic') that we have is about:
22 notes
·
View notes
Galdrastafir - Sigilos Mágicos Islandeses
Os Galdrastafir são símbolos islandeses e aparecem por volta de 1400 a 1800 (do final da meia-idade ao início do período moderno). A maioria é do século 17, e existem centenas deles.
Muitos sites gostam de afirmar que o Vegvisir/Vegvísir é uma "Bússola Viking" - isso não é verdade! O "Período Viking" termina antes de 1100 E.C. e que existem 8 pontos como uma bússola é apenas uma coincidência. Muitos sigilos têm 8 pontos, ou 6 ou 4.
Eles pegam emprestado conceitos de tempos pagãos, de vikings, de deuses nórdicos, mitos e folclore, e de personagens rúnicos, mas também refletem questões atuais para sua época e fortes crenças cristãs (luteranas). É provável que o Galdrastafir tenha ganhado popularidade na Islândia depois que outros símbolos foram vistos em grimórios de meia-idade da Europa continental.
Desde 1800 E.C., o Galdrastafir foi desenhado e redesenhado, muitas vezes em compilações, e em muitas ocasiões feito com elementos ausentes ou adicionados que mudam sua aparência original.
Se você estiver interessado em usar esses símbolos, faça-o com sabedoria. Os significados das runas esotéricas (contemporâneas) têm pouco a ver com Galdrastafir. Ásatrú, Odinismo e Xamanismo (todas religiões pagãs ou pagãs da nova era) adotaram alguns dos símbolos para uso em seus próprios sistemas de crenças - isso não significa que os símbolos sejam pagãos ou simbólicos de qualquer grupo em particular.
Definição e significado de Galdrastafir
Galdrastafir (pl. de galdrastafur) é uma palavra islandesa que se traduz como [galdra] mágico [stafi] sigilo ou símbolo. Steven Flowers escreve que eles herdaram da antiga designação técnica de runas como símbolos ou paus, porque muitas vezes eram esculpidos nesses objetos para fins talismânicos. Um bastão (do inglês antigo: sigilos pl. de bastão) é geralmente algum tipo de suporte de estrutura reta: bengala ou bastão; uma pequena viga ou suporte; ou as linhas desenhadas segurando notas musicais e outros símbolos. No entanto, o galdrastafir é melhor definido como um sigilo - um sinal ou símbolo mágico inscrito ou pintado ou até mesmo um selo de tipo de família. Eles geralmente eram projetados para controlar os elementos ou orientar os desenvolvimentos. Por si só, a palavra stafr em islandês também significa uma letra (do alfabeto) ou caractere e também significa tradição ou sabedoria.
O Museu de Feitiçaria e Bruxaria da Islândia tem um catálogo abrangente de Galdrastafir em sua página da web chamado sigilos Mágicos.
Propriedades mágicas eram propostas pelo criador do sigilo, muitas vezes um mago da velha escola, feiticeiro ou xamã. As lendas islandesas falam de quase todos os magos formados no exterior (Alemanha ou outros países nórdicos) com o propósito de se tornarem clérigos cristãos. A população em geral era analfabeta. Na Islândia, essas pessoas eram chamadas de galdramenn ou seið-maðr / kona. Especula-se que eles desenhariam, riscariam, entalhariam ou gravariam linhas e símbolos, muitas vezes personagens rúnicos, e empregariam processos ritualísticos enquanto moldavam os sigilos.
Use o senso comum. Como escrever uma runa em um pedaço de papel resolve alguma coisa? Isso soa supersticioso, não é? Por outro lado, se a runa é usada para provocar ação, ou outra perspectiva, ou como um lembrete - então você vê que pode ter algum tipo de impacto. - Tyriel 2011
Os aspectos de galdrastafir estão imersos na história germânica, conexões com deuses e deusas pagãos nórdicos e caracteres do alfabeto rúnico que remontam a séculos. Também parece provável que a forma que essas insígnias assumem foi inspirada pelos sigilos encontrados nos grimórios do continente - a Chave do Rei Salomão sendo uma das candidatas mais prováveis. As runas eram usadas para escrever em todas as regiões germânicas e escandinavas até cerca de 1000 E.C., momento em que seu uso diminuiu, exceto para marcar túmulos, itens pessoais e menos frequentemente para amuletos e amuletos. De 800 a 1200 E.C. as pessoas colonizaram e povoaram a Islândia e carregaram consigo as práticas mágicas, seus deuses e runas.
Publicado originalmente em https://galdrastafir.com
Traduzido por Svart Stjarna
6 notes
·
View notes
Lasabrjotr Chapter 2: Lure of Sleep
Chapters: 2/?Fandom: Thor (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Rating: Teen And Up
Warnings: Illness, Alcohol Mention
Relationships: Loki x Reader
Characters: Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), OFC, Heimdall (Marvel), Brunnhilde/Valkyrie (Marvel)
Additional Tags: Post-Endgame: Best Possible Ending, New Asgard, Stark is Stubborn, Loki is Impatient, The Power of Dreams
Summary: Loki tries to keep his head on straight as a mysterious illness creeps up on him.
Loki awoke in a feverish haze. That dream again. Again! For the past six months it had filled his sleeping hours, more and more often. It came every night now, and robbed him of rest. It wasn’t an unpleasant dream exactly, but it was accompanied by growing weakness. He was sickly now, and people were starting to notice.
Especially his brother, who shot him a concerned look when he stumbled into their hastily set up council chambers, sheen of sweat shining in the electric lights.
He took his usual seat at Thor’s side, determined to be present, even though his head was swimming. Luckily the meeting was mostly discussion of delays of the next shipment of building supplies, due to their makeshift Bifrost’s continued inaccuracy issues. The thing worked, but just barely. It could only be used a few times a day, and tended to drop things anywhere from thirty to two hundred yards from their intended target. With the large, natural fen just north of the construction grounds; that inaccuracy was a potential problem. They’d already lost some supplies to the mire, they really couldn’t afford anymore.
The government of Iceland, and its people had been blessedly welcoming of their refugee nation; however, there was only so much aid they could give. The people of Asgard survived as they could, offering their knowledge and skills in exchange for the odd paper currency of this world. It was slow going; an entire year and they’d only gotten a few buildings up and finished. The creation of the makeshift Bifrost had been cause for celebration, but it simply was not effective enough. Their engineers were working on it every second that they weren’t needed elsewhere, but the old one had been completed eons ago, and none who worked on it still lived. The younger generations knew how it was supposed to work; they’d just never had the experience of actually building one.
The discussion turned to lists of necessary supplies, price lists and available funds. Loki drifted in and out, his mind sliding between the mystery of his dreams, and the thing that lingered on his hand. He still didn’t know what to make of it. Certainly, it was magical in nature, but he had no idea from where it sprang. That woman from the tower…of course it came from you, but the whys and hows eluded him. He had been assured firmly that it was not intentional, and once security arrived, there were no more chances to ask. You were whisked away, and he had been ‘encouraged’ to return home.
Yet half a year later, and he still remembered the face of a woman he’d spent less than a minute with. You were in his dream.
The meeting ended without him noticing, the people shuffling out of the room and back to their work. He had work to do today. He had work…
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder.
“Brother, are you…ill?” Thor asked, expression full of concern. Loki looked up into his face, reading it as confusion.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He said. “We don’t fall ill. I simply didn’t get enough rest.”
Thor sat back down next to him. “You’ve been having this problem for some time now. Something has to be done. We need you, Loki, and you’re not here. Is it the dreams?”
“What do you know of-“ He began.
“You mentioned it some months ago.” Thor interrupted. “A recurring dream you were having, but you gave no details. So you’re still having them? Dreams mean things to people like us. Tell me, perhaps we can come up with a solution.”
He didn’t want to. Dreams were private things, and this one might be construed as a little embarrassing. But galling as it was, Thor was correct. Something had to be done. He was wasting slowly away, and it had to stop. He didn’t have to give every little detail, after all.
“Do you remember, some months ago, the incident in the tower?”
“With that girl? Did you ever figure out what happened?”
Loki shook his head. “If we still had our libraries, perhaps I could find something. But I have not been able to locate another single such incident happening in the history of this realm. It was magic, but other than that, I do not yet know what that was. But I see her in my dream. She is… in danger. “
It wasn’t a clear danger, just a nebulous darkness that tried to drag you in. In the way of dreams though, he knew it was dangerous, and so, he would reach out to you…
“I save her from it, but it follows her. I keep her close and safe.”
The darkness s could not be dispersed, not by magic or force. It wanted to devour you. He’d once let it do so, and he’d been drained so badly when he awoke, he hadn’t been able to rise from his bed for hours. That was when he realized that the dream was connected to his health, somehow. After that, he made sure to always save you, and even began to enjoy it a little. Playing hero to a helpless little thing made him feel powerful, and the way you pressed against him in appreciation and fear, as if he were the only thing in all the realms strong enough to protect you, gave a welcome stroke to his confidence. He didn’t really want the dreams to stop. They were self -indulgent and somewhat pleasant, but if they were indeed related to his declining health, he had to put an end to them.
But in the dream, you had…
“She has a mark on her hand. Like mine.”
“Didn’t that heal?” Thor asked.
Loki rolled his eyes and held out his right hand. The illusion he held over it dissipated, revealing an odd, rectangular shape, and a collection of circles with pitchfork finials on each line, all burned into his palm.
“I didn’t want any awkward questions.” He explained. “And it hasn’t flared up again since that day in the tower. But it did not heal either, and I have found out what it is, if not why it’s here. It’s called galdrastafur. A little spell about locks. Midgardian attempts at our magic. Nowhere near as effective, of course.”
“Effective enough, if you can’t make it heal. Do you think she still bears this mark as well?”
Loki shrugged. “In the dreams she does, but in life? Who knows? Nothing has happened since then, except for those dreams. Which have been making me ill, in the way of a human…damn. I’ve been too burned out to make the connection.”
“Do you think these marks may be connecting you? Do you think you are sick, because she is?”
“If I am ill because of this, she may very well be dying.” He stood. “If she dies, we never find out what this is, or what caused it.” If you died, there might be no more pleasant dreams.
His brother stood with him. “If she dies, who knows what might happen to you? So. We find her?”
“We find her.”
“Very well. Though, I thought you didn’t care much for humanity.” Thor teased.
“I don’t. But we live on their land now. And besides, my reputation is fragile. If this woman dies, and it is pinned on me, her entire belligerent country may decide to take it out on us.”
Thor nodded. “I will speak with Stark on the morrow.” Noticing his brother’s sour expression, he added, “He owns the tower, and his security will at least help us narrow down who we are looking for.”
“I know what she looks like.” Loki protested.
“But not where she lives, or what her name is, nor anything else about her, save some nebulous feeling of danger. Stark may be able to provide us all of those things. Now you…” He steered Loki towards the door. “You are to take what I believe is referred to as a ‘sick day’. Get something to eat, have a bath, and most importantly, rest. Rest as much as you can.”
Loki went along with it with only a cursory protest; a testament to how out of sorts he really felt.
The kitchen was always open, and stocked with simple, easy to eat staples. With so many workers and sentries about at all times of the day, it was a necessity. Loki grabbed a small bunch of grapes out of the fruit bowl, and headed back to his rooms, eating them along the way.
He knocked on the door to the guard room, just inside his suite and informed the live-in guard-a young man from a prominent Asgardian family-that he was retiring early. The young man took up his post instantly. He was decent at his job, even if he wasn’t strictly necessary.
Once the grapes were gone, he decided a bath really did sound very nice. He started the water running and grabbed a book to read while he waited.
There had been a lot of debate on how to go about building their nation. Thor hadn’t really wanted to burden the people any further with providing excess luxury just for himself and Loki. He’d gotten used to living in cramped quarters and dressing like a peasant in his time on Midgard.
Loki however, knew that it was important to put on a good show, not only of power, but of capability. Midgard could be an exceptionally savage place, and people who were perceived as having less, were all too often perceived as being less. There were nations here who would love nothing more than to use them until they were empty, take everything that they were, erase their claim to their own selves, and then discard them like so much garbage. There were more who would hold every Asgardian man, woman, and child responsible for the things he had done, and wish to punish them in his place. They had to show their greatness from the first step. For their own protection.
So there would be no golden palace. That was fine. But no one would say that Asgard was lesser. No one would be allowed to take advantage. Asgardian ingenuity, capability, and power would be shown to the world. They would be envied. They would be emulated. They would be coveted. But they would never be up for grabs. In the end, he and Thor had compromised.
This was why Loki got to have his large, sunken bath, but had to fill it himself. There weren’t really any royal servants anymore. Truthfully, neither brother really needed them. There were maids, and cooks, and sentries, and janitors of course, but aside from a few guards, there was nobody specifically to attend just to them. In their short years away from home, they’d both grown much more self-sufficient.
How much could happen in just a few years. It seemed no more than a blink of an eye, and suddenly everything was different. Loki set his book aside, discarded his clothing, turned off the water, and slid into the bath. The water felt delightful, easing the ache of muscles that were sore for no real reason.
Why was that happening? What was causing it, this strange and detrimental connection to you in dreams, through this mark? He raised his right hand out of the water and examined the mark once more. It hadn’t lit up since that meeting in the tower, but nothing he did made it fade. It couldn’t really have been you that caused it, no mortal could possess magic so strong that he could not undo it. That meant it had to have been him. Somehow. It was always him. The how and why still eluded him.
Loki sunk down to the neck in hot water. There was planning to do now. They had to find you, first of all. Bring you here to study what had happened. Erase it if they could. Find a way to deal with it, if they could not. He very much doubted that he would die from this thing, even if you did, but it would still likely be very uncomfortable, and not the desirable outcome. You would need a place to stay, certain basic amenities. It might be a few days, or it might be the rest of your natural lifespan. Either way, it wouldn’t be all that long from his perspective.
He stayed until the water began to chill, then drained it, toweled off, grabbed his book again, and headed to bed. He read until his eyes grew heavy, and the book threatened to slip from his hands. Heeding Thor’s advice for once, he allowed himself to drift away.
*****
The void pulled harder than ever, threatening to yank you out of his arms, but he planted his feet and held on. He was a god, he would not lose to a formless blob of darkness! But as he clung to you, defying the nothingness that loomed over you both, the pull only increased the shadow unmoved by either godly pride or mortal fear. It stole his footing, sent you both crashing to the ground. He kept his grip on you, but he no longer had traction; the terrible pull towed you both toward the void. It swallowed your legs before he got back to his feet and tore you free. The darkness did not seem to care that it had been denied; it was not some stalking, thinking enemy. It simply existed. An inexorable danger that loomed, without wanting or needing anything, just being. It would continue being, continue growing in strength, until he either failed, or did something about it.
*****
It was late in the morning when he woke. He had a headache, but he felt a little better than he had yesterday. Getting out of bed and dressed was still tiring, but not so much of a struggle. Breakfast was actually lunch; half a sandwich, and a hearty soup to ward of the chill. Not that he needed protection from the cold, but it still tasted good.
When Thor found him, he was attempting to catch up on some of the paperwork he had neglected the day before. One look at his brothers dour expression told Loki he was about to hear bad news.
“Your meeting with Stark did not go in your favor.” Loki said flatly.
“He refused to give me any information about the woman.” Thor growled. “Oh, he knows who she is, but he won’t tell me anything.”
“Did you really expect otherwise?” Loki asked. “He is never very cooperative when I am involved.”
“I thought he might be, for the safety of his countrymen, but I can also see his point of view. We don’t really have much information to give him, just that some woman we don’t know is in some kind of danger, and you are somehow tied up in it. Naturally he wants to check it out for himself.” Thor sighed. “I don’t like it, but I understand it. Would I do any different?”
“The difference here being that Stark is not a king, and has no responsibility to the people around him, save what he decides for himself. Nor does he have any real authority over them.” Nor me, he thought.
“I left Brunnhilde with him, to plead my case.” Thor said, and Loki choked over a barked laugh. “Stark bends more easily to strong women.” Thor explained.
“Oh yes, and the fact that she will drink through all his alcohol so quickly that he will soon be doing whatever it takes to convince her to leave has nothing to do with it?” Loki asked. The last Valkyrie was not a diplomat, but she certainly did have some political usefulness.
“I can’t imagine what you mean.” Thor said, the ghost of a smile sweeping across his face. “I’ve merely put Stark in a position to reconsider cooperation. In any case, we will hopefully have the information we need in a few days. Now, I’ve got to go meet with an environmental specialist, regarding the fens. I think they’re afraid we’re going to destroy them. Do not neglect your rest.” With that, Thor left, and Loki set his paperwork aside.
This wouldn’t do. After last night’s dream, Loki had grown certain the there was no time left. Not for formalities, and certainly not for waiting for a stubborn Stark to come around. He left his paperwork with an aide, and headed back to his rooms to retrieve his cellphone.
Most of them had one now, though few of them had taken up the habit of carrying them everywhere in the way of humans. Thor was still not very good at handling Midgardian tech, but Loki had become somewhat proficient. He sent a quick text to Brunnhilde, and waited.
Can you expidite?
Why? You have a date?
Yes.
I don’t believe you.
All I need is the name and address. Can you do it?
Yeah, yeah. I can probably do better than that, if this guy doesn’t have a fit first. Give me a few.
The Valkyrie was usually as good as her word. Loki grabbed his book, took a seat, and waited. It took an even shorter time than he had anticipated, the information popping up in terse snippets. Full name. Age. Address. Family. Workplace. He typed out a quick thanks as he went over it. It was with some small relief that he saw you were well into the human age of adulthood, but had no family other than a father. That would make your leaving easier. He wouldn’t have the time to convince, or cajole.
He left his rooms, left the limits of New Asgard altogether, and headed straight for the makeshift Bifrost. Heimdall looked him over impassively, taking in the light armor and the horns, and saying nothing.
“It is important to a life, that I go here, right now.” Loki said, showing your workplace address. He thought it was about the time a person in your time zone would be going to work.
Midgard was so very, very large. The largest of the nine realms, by a great margin. So large, that it didn’t all exist at the same time, at least, by human reckoning. Heimdall gazed out over the vast expanse, and twisted his sword in its socket. The narrow beam of light that made up the tiny Bifrost gathered up everything Loki was, and flung it out over the expanse of the ocean and beyond.
16 notes
·
View notes