Norse Magick
 

I have become very interested in the northmen and their pantheon due to reading the Poetic Edda.
I was wondering does anyone have any recommendations for books about the norse or their magick.

Thanks :)

Blessed be xxxxx

Any chance you understand Danish?

"Elves, Wights, and Trolls" by Kveldulf Gundarsson (http://www.amazon.com/Elves-Wights-T.../dp/0595421652) is a decent book out there. There aren't many good books out there other than the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, at least not from I'm being told from my fiancé (he's a Heathen).

He says you should look up Spell Singing or seiðr and possibly look into Odin since it's pretty much his domain.

Of course, learning Norse or Norse-based languages and looking into their books might also help out, but those languages are very tricky and not the easiest to learn.

Do you want recommendations for heathen religion, or specifically 'magick'?

No I only speak English lol.

Cool I will have a poke on amazon.

I am looking for information for sorta both, umm pretty much anything I can get my hands on :)

Okey then I do not think I have anything. In dansih we have a book called "Erik Menneskesøn" (Eric Manson or Eric Son of Man) by Lars-Henrik Olsen. I have tried to search if there is an English version but have not found it. Maybe you have better luck. Eric is an ordinary boy of today. He is picked up by Thor to Asgard and must travel through Hel and Jotunheim to rescue Idun from the giants.

If you choose to learn a Norse based language the danish, swedish and norwegian are almost similar. They are also Germanic languages like English so it should be easier to learn than a non-Germanic language. Not saying it is easy. I can still get confused if swedes or norwegians speak too fast :tongue: I say that Norwegian is a prettier way to speak danish and swedish just comes someplace in the middle. Lately I have thought that all three countries would benefit of smashing the languages together to one scandivanian language (sorry for rambling :tongue: ).

Standard Norwegian language, bokmaal, is based on Danish since Denmark was the stronger partner in the Danish-Norwegian Union from the 16th century to 1814, when we were seceded to Sweden after the end of the Napolonic wars. By then we had a strong local bureaucracy and the Swedes didn't even try to rule us the way the Danish had, so from then on we could develop our language further on our own.

Regarding norse magick, I am mostly aware of 'blot', sacrificial ceremonies of which xmas is probably best known ;) We also have our norse gods of course.

Norseman here on our site would have the best insight I will drop him a line and tell him someone wants more info on his way of life.

For a general overview over some ideas in Heathenry/Asatru:

http://www.asatru-u.org/

http://www.friggasweb.org/

Reading lists:

http://www.axenthof.org/reading.html

http://www.erichshall.com/asanew/bblist.htm

Online texts:

http://heathengods.com/temple/modules/library/

http://www.northvegr.org/

The above links will give you a general feel for the beliefs of many Heathens and help you orient yourself some.

I personally recommend Gods and Myths of Northern Europe for a general overview of many Germanic gods. But, one must keep in mind that the book is over 40 years old, and some of her scholarship has been shown to be off the mark in some areas. Even so, it's an enjoyable read and confers some knowledge.

Another book I particularly like is the Norse Myths; while Crossley-Holland takes some liberty in adding details and dialogue to the myths, it's a fun read that gives you a feel for the surviving mythological stories.

Now for some resources on magical practices - of a scholarly nature, save the how-to's and the manuals of magic[k] until you actually know some facts about what we really know of Germanic heathen magic.

An essay on healing hands and magical incantations in Eddic poetry: http://sydney.edu.au/arts/medieval/s...6-nasstrom.pdf

An essay on the idea of witches gathering and the transvection of the Middle Ages and whether it has roots in pre-Christian belief: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~alvismal/7sabbat.pdf

An essay upon magic represented in the Sagaic literature: http://sydney.edu.au/arts/medieval/s...5-mitchell.pdf

Finally a good piece on seiðr: http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/seidhr.shtml (this site in general has lots of good reading from a historical perspective)

One thing to keep in mind is to never believe any second-hand source without further study. One sad fact about many pagan religions is that they tend to be misrepresented or based on bad facts when it comes to modern, non-scholarly publications. I'd advise you of staying clear of any "Asatru 101" or "Viking Magick!" books. At least for now. They tend to be not worth the paper they're printed on.

A final note is to remember that the surviving Eddic poetry and sagaic literature that mention gods or religious practices are nearly all written anywhere from 150 to 250 years after the conversions. Thus, they can never be taken at face value, or seen as purely word for word accounts of genuine Germanic myths or rituals. So, when reading the Eddas and Sagas, keep that in mind.

*deep breath* this is probably an overload for you. But hopefully you find some information that furthers your understanding of Germanic Heathenry.

Good luck :D

Also keep in mind that some of the norse mythology is been written down by christian monks/scholars when they arrived in the north, so who knows how much they have changed to their own favor?