To the Jarl and All of Hulneth Isle

[Ulrika]

Greetings. The High Jarl Donar Bloodaxe and the folk of Scagnar Isle C-C wish to invite you all to a dedication of the Temple of the Aesir on Scagnar Monday, May 8th at 9:30 pm EST.

Thank you

[Joe]

all have permission to go to Scagnar -smiles- I will try and attend though my time is very limited at present

[Joe]

So My People understand some of what this is about:

The collective name for the the principal race of Norse gods; they who lived in Asgard, and with the All-Father Odin, ruled the lives of mortal men, the other was the Vanir. The Aesir gods under the leadership of Odin, included Balder (god of beauty), Bragi (god of eloquence), Forseti (god of mediation), Freyr (god of fertility, who originally was from the Vanir), Heimdall (guardian of the bridge), Hod (the blind god), Loki (god of fire and ally of the frost giants), Njord (the sea god, and another ex-Vanir), Thor (god of thunder), Tyr (god of war), Vili (brother to Odin), Ve (brother to Odin), and Vidar (Odin's son). The goddesses included Freya (the fertility goddess), Frigg (Odin's wife), Sif (Thor's wife), and Idun (keeper of the apples of youth).

Aesir might be derived from the old-Teutonic word Ase, the common word for "god".

The interaction between the Æsir and the Vanir is an interesting aspect of Norse mythology. While other cultures have had "elder" and "younger" families of gods, as with the Titans versus the Olympians of ancient Greece, the Æsir and Vanir were portrayed as contemporary. The two clans of gods fought battles, concluded treaties, and exchanged hostages (Freyr and Freyja are mentioned as such hostages). It is tempting to speculate that the interactions described as occurring between Æsir and Vanir reflect the types of interaction common to various Norse clans at the time. According to another theory, the cult of the Vanir (who are mainly connected with fertility and relatively peaceful) may be of an older date, and that of the more warlike Æsir of later origin, so the mythical war may perhaps mirror a religious conflict. On the other hand this may be a parallel to the historicized conflict between the Romans and the Sabines. The noted comparative religion scholar Mircea Eliade speculated that both conflicts are actually different versions of an older Indo-European myth of conflict and integration between deities of sky and rulership vs. deities of earth and fertility, with no strict historical antecedents.

The chronology of the cults would in that case not be pictured in the myths. However, only Odin and Thor were important in both myth and cult; an áss like Ullr is almost unknown in the myths, but his name is seen in a lot of geographical names, especially in Sweden, so his cult was probably quite wide-spread.

The Æsir stayed forever young by eating the apples of Iðunn, although they could be slain, as it was predicted that nearly all will die at Ragnarok.

List of Æsir and Vanir (all names in Old Norse form)

* Baldr — god of innocence and beauty
* Bragi — the bard (skald)
* Forseti — god of justice
* Freyja (a Vanir hostage) — goddess of love and mating
* Freyr (a Vanir hostage) — god of fertility and love
* Frigg — chief goddess
* Heimdallr — the watchman and guardian
* Höðr — blind god of darkness and winter
* Hœnir — the indecisive god
* Iðunn — goddess of youth, fertility and death
* Loki — the trickster
* Meili — the mile-stepper
* Nanna — wife of Baldr
* Njörðr (a Vanir hostage) — god of seamanship and sailing
* Odin — chief god, of wisdom and war
* Sif — golden-haired wife of Thor
* Þórr — god of thunder and battle
* Týr — one-handed god of battles and bravery
* Ullr — the hunter, tracker and archer
* Váli — the avenger
* Vé — brother of Odin, who gave men speech
* Viðarr — god of silence, stealth, and revenge
* Vili — brother of Odin, who gave men feeling and thought


If You have any questions then come see Me or post here


High Jarl of Hulneth

Joe MacBain

[pelagon]

This info is like WoW, thank you Joe for explaining this, I found it very interesting and helps me to understand a little more.

Pelagon