The Chad Pastoralist: History

Souls on the Banks of the Acheron - Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, 1898.

For those who would prefer to read in the Substack format with pictures, you can do so here in this (free) article.

Woden as Mercury There is an obscure Old English text, Salomon and Saturn, which credits Woden with the establishment of letters: saga me, hwá aeróst bócstasfas sette? ic the secge, Mercurius ge gygand. "Tell me, who first established letters? I tell thee, Mercurius the giant." The exerpt from Salomon and Saturn above also coincides with verses 138-139 in the Hávamál, which credits Woden with the discovery of the runes. Mercurius is the original Latin form of Mercury, who we know was identified with Woden since the time of Tacitus (c. 56-120 AD) and was worshipped as the highest god amongst the Germans: "Of the gods, Mercury (Odin) is the principal object of their adoration; whom, on certain days, they think it lawful to propitiate even with human victims. To Hercules (Thor) and Mars (Tyr), they offer the animals usually allotted for sacrifice..." -Tacitus, Germania Moreover, in his Annals, Tacitus wrote of how war broke out between the Hermunduri and the Chatti over a salt bearing river. He notes that each side vowed to sacrifice the other to Mars and Mercury for victory. In sources as late as the 12th century, such as The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095-1155), the identification of Mercury as Woden is further exemplified. Geoffrey writes in reference to Hengist, the leader and first king of the Jutes in Kent, that they "...especially worship Mercury, whom we call Woden." Additionally, Layamon's Middle English poem Brut - which was largely influenced by the Anglo-Norman poet Robert Wace's Roman de Brut (1155) - states that Hengist once said that Woden is the highest of Gods.

WODEN. Song: Danheim - Skugga.

A number of Woden’s Burg’s can be found across England including Wednesbury in Essex. A church now sits on the highest point and probably replaced a Weoh dedicated to Woden. This church uses the Three Seaxes of Essex as an emblem and boasts a ‘Woden window’. Another church which unconsciously continues to hold the spirit of Woden is at Woodnesborough, spelt Wodnesbeorge in 1100. The current church replaces the far older Saxon one – however a local legend has it somewhere either in or under the church a Golden image of Woden still remains! Adam’s Grave was a Neolithic long barrow as was once known as Wodnesbeorh as recorded in an Anglo-Saxon charter. Two battles were fought there (or nearby at Wanborough) in 592 and 715 - Her micel wælfill wæs æt Woddes beorge, 7 Ceawlin wæs ut adrifen." (There was great slaughter at Woden's hill, and Ceawlin was driven out.) It is also believed that one of the hills had a chalk figure of Woden carved into it. Image- Wodnesbeorh barrow by Hedley Thorne

In the skaldic poetry, a kenning that is often used in reference to the Gods is "son of Odin". Both Baldr and Thor are referred to by this kenning in particular. In the poem Haustlǫng (Autumn-long) by the Norwegian skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir, Thor is referred to as burr Óðins, meaning son of Óðinn. The same kenning is used for Baldr in stanza 7 of Húsdrápa by Úlfr Uggason: Boðfróðr Freyr ríðr fyrst til borgar sonar Óðins á inum golli byrsta borg ok stýrir folkum. "Battle-skilled Freyr rides first to the funeral pyre of the son of Óðinn (Baldr) on the boar bristled with gold (Gullinbursti) and leads the troops." Additionally, the Æsir are also collectively known as ætt Óðins, meaning family/race of Óðinn as noted in stanza 13 of the Hallfreðar Saga. This kenning corresponds to Snorri Sturluson's account of Óðinn in the Gylfaginning, where Óðinn is referred to as the Allfather because "he is father of all the Gods and of men..."

Woden Worhte Weos! Woden weohs by Alex : Authentic Product : Wessex Woodcraft

Odin, friend of altars It is interesting to note the similarity between the English understanding of Woden and Norse understanding of Óðinn as the creator of shrines, altars, and temples. In the Ynglinga Saga, it is stated in a euhemerised account that Óðinn is the builder of temples, and in the Anglo-Saxon source Maxims I, Woden is described as a constructor of idols: Woden worhte weos "Woden wrought idols" This is reflected in some toponymic place-names in England such as Woden's Dyke and Grim's Ditch. Grim being an epithet of Woden meaning hooded or covered, with the Old Norse name being Grímr. This can also be connected to another one of Woden's epithets in Old Norse - vinr stalla - Friend of Altars.

See you in Hel > See you in Hell

Special thank you to Imperium Press for sending me a review copy of Germanic Theology by Tristan Powers. Two things I liked: -Powers' discussion on the intrinsic physicality of the realms within the cosmological structure of Yggdrasil. Powers' position corresponds to the reachability of Hel, for example, by the living and the dead found in the sources. He brilliantly details the way in which the nine realms exist with overlapping structures that are intrinsically connected via the world tree. -Powers' position on Ginnungagap mirrors my own, that the Yawning Void serves as the creative potentiality from which things arise. Powers suggests that given the aforementioned two points, we should reject the notion of transcendence entirely, which I do not necessarily agree with. However, I agree with the concept of creative potentiality which is also explored in Aristotle's theory of potentiality and actuality. Two things I disliked: -Powers' mistakes and reliance on hypothetical reconstructionism. For example, on page 79 Powers suggests that Odin's byname Þundr means thunder and connects this to the hypothetical "*Dyḗus ph₂tḗr". This is incorrect, as Dr. Jackson Crawford states that the word Þundr is not related to thunder and is instead a past participle to the verb þenja, meaning "stretched". Therefore, Odin's epithet Þundr likely references His hanging on Yggdrasil. -Powers references Hinduism as a filler source too frequently. Additionally, the book mostly goes over numerous scholarly theories as opposed to the study of the nature of the Gods and the metaphysical principles within the myths themselves. Ultimately, Germanic Theology by Tristan Powers is a decent book but I would not call it theology. Commendably, there are gems contained within such as the aforementioned comment on Ginnungagap, and the book itself functions extremely well as a compendium of academic theories that can be referred to when studying. Germanic Theology by Tristan Powers: https://www.imperiumpress.org/shop/germanic-theology-vol-i