Frithuwald Bor

<font color="#000000">A whole saga existed about the Scyldingas/Skjoldungar, the SKJOLDUNGA SAGA. Parts of it survive in the Flatey Book and we have Arngr&iacute;mur J&oacute;nsson&#39;s Latin abstract of the s&ouml;gu-brot (fragment) of the Skjoldunga Saga. It says that the warlord Odin, coming from Asia, gained dominion over Northern Europe, giving Sweden to his son Yngvi and Denmark to his son Skjoldr. So the rulers of Sweden are called Ynglings and the rulers of Denmark are called Scyldings. - [1]<br> <br> The country east of the Tanaquisl in Asia was called Asaland, or Asaheim, and the chief city in that land was called Asgaard. In that city was a chief called Odin, and it was a great place for sacrifice. It was the custom there that twelve temple priests should both direct the sacrifices, and also judge the people. They were called Diar, or Drotner, and all the people served and obeyed them. Odin was a great and very far-travelled warrior, who conquered many kingdoms, and so successful was he that in every battle the victory was on his side. It was the belief of his people that victory belonged to him in every battle. It was his custom when he sent his men into battle, or on any expedition, that he first laid his hand upon their heads, and called down a blessing upon them; and then they believed their undertaking would be successful. His people also were accustomed, whenever they fell into danger by land or sea, to call upon his name; and they thought that always they got comfort and aid by it, for where he was they thought help was near. Often he went away so far that he passed many seasons on his journeys.<br> Odin went out with a great army against the Vanaland people; but they were well prepared, and defended their land; so that victory was changeable, and they ravaged the lands of each other, and did great damage. They tired of this at last, and on both sides appointed a meeting for establishing peace, made a truce, and exchanged hostages. The Vanaland people sent their best men, Njord the Rich, and his son Frey. The people of Asaland sent a man called Hone, whom they thought well suited to be a chief, as he was a stout and very handsome man; and with him they sent a man of great understanding called Mime. On the other side, the Vanaland people sent the wisest man in their community, who was called Kvase. Now, when Hone came to Vanaheim he was immediately made a chief, and Mime came to him with good counsel on all occasions. But when Hone stood in the Things or other meetings, if Mime was not near him, and any difficult matter was laid before him, he always answered in one way - &quot;Now let others give their advice&quot;; so that the Vanaland people got a suspicion that the Asaland people had deceived them in the exchange of men. They took Mime, therefore, and beheaded him, and sent his head to the Asaland people. Odin took the head, smeared it with herbs so that it should not rot, and sang incantations over it. Thereby he gave it the power that it spoke to him, and discovered to him many secrets. Odin placed Njord and Frey as priests of the sacrifices, and they became Diar of the Asaland people. Njord&#39;s daughter Freya was priestess of the sacrifices, and first taught the Asaland people the magic art, as it was in use and fashion among the Vanaland people. While Njord was with the Vanaland people he had taken his own sister in marriage, for that was allowed by their law; and their children were Frey and Freya. But among the Asaland people it was forbidden to intermarry with such near relations.<br> There goes a great mountain barrier from north-east to south-west, which divides the Greater Swithiod from other kingdoms. South of this mountain ridge it is not far to Turkland, where Odin had great possessions. In those times the Roman chiefs went wide around in the world, subduing to themselves all people; and on this account many chiefs fled from their domains. But Odin having foreknowledge, and magic-sight, knew that his posterity would come to settle and dwell in the northern half of the world. He therefore set his brothers Ve and Vilje over Asgaard; and he himself, with all the gods and a great many other people, wandered out, first westward to Gardarike, and then south to Saxland. He had many sons; and after having subdued an extensive kingdom in Saxland, he set his sons to rule the country. He himself went northwards to the sea, and took up his abode in an island which is called Odins in Fyen. Then he sent Gefion across the sound to the north to discover new countries; and she came to King Gylve, who gave her a ploughgate of land. Then she went to Jotunheim, and bore four sons to a giant, and transformed them into a yoke of oxen. She yoked them to a plough, and broke out the land into the ocean right opposite to Odins. This land was called Sealand, and there she afterwards settled and dwelt. Skjold, a son of Odin, married her, and they dwelt at Leidre. Where the ploughed land was is a lake or sea called Laage. In the Swedish land the fjords of Laage correspond to the nesses in Sealand. Brage the Old sings of it.<br> When Odin of Asaland came to the north, and the Diar with him, they introduced and taught to others the arts which the people long afterwards have practised. Odin was the cleverest of all, and from him all the others learned their arts and accomplishments; and he knew them first, and knew many more than other people. But now, to tell why he is held in such high respect, we must mention various causes that contributed to it. When sitting among his friends his countenance was so beautiful and dignified, that the spirits of all were exhilarated by it, but when he was in war he appeared dreadful to his foes. This arose from his being able to change his skin and form in any way he liked. Another cause was, that he conversed so cleverly and smoothly, that all who heard believed him. He spoke everything in rhyme, such as now composed, which we call scald-craft. He and his temple priests were called song-smiths, for from them came that art of song into the northern countries. Odin could make his enemies in battle blind, or deaf, or terror-struck, and their weapons so blunt that they could no more but than a willow wand; on the other hand, his men rushed forwards without armour, were as mad as dogs or wolves, bit their shields, and were strong as bears or wild bulls, and killed people at a blow, but neither fire nor iron told upon themselves. These were called Berserker.<br> Odin established the same law in his land that had been in force in Asaland. Thus he established by law that all dead men should be burned, and their belongings laid with them upon the pile, and the ashes be cast into the sea or buried in the earth. Thus, said he, every one will come to Valhalla with the riches he had with him upon the pile; and he would also enjoy whatever he himself had buried in the earth. For men of consequence a mound should be raised to their memory, and for all other warriors who had been distinguished for manhood a standing stone; which custom remained long after Odin&#39;s time. On winter day there should be blood-sacrifice for a good year, and in the middle of winter for a good crop; and the third sacrifice should be on summer day, for victory in battle. Over all Swithiod the people paid Odin a scatt or tax -- so much on each head; but he had to defend the country from enemy or disturbance, and pay the expense of the sacrifice feasts for a good year.<br> Odin died in his bed in Swithiod; and when he was near his death he made himself be marked with the point of a spear, and said he was going to Godheim, and would give a welcome there to all his friends, and all brave warriors should be dedicated to him; and the Swedes believed that he was gone to the ancient Asgaard, and would live there eternally. Then began the belief in Odin, and the calling upon him. The Swedes believed that he often showed to them before any great battle. To some he gave victory; others he invited to himself; and they reckoned both of these to be fortunate. Odin was burnt, and at his pile there was great splendour. It was their faith that the higher the smoke arose in the air, the higher he would be raised whose pile it was; and the richer he would be, the more property that was consumed with him. - [2]<br> <br> [1] - http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/492160<br> [2] - http://lind.no/nor/index.asp?vis=s_e_ynglingesoga</font>

<blockquote> Woden was probably the most widely known of the Anglo-Saxon Gods and the naming of many of Englands old settlements and geographical landmarks are testimonials to this: Wodnesbeorg (Woden&#39;s Grave); Wodnesdene (Woden&#39;s Valley); Wodesgeat (Woden&#39;s gap). All in close proximity to each other in Wiltshire, with Wansdyke (Woden&#39;s dyke) close by, indicate a possible cult of Woden in that area; Wednesbury (Woden&#39;s earth works) and Wednesfield (Woden&#39;s field), in Staffordshire; Wensley (Woden&#39;s Grove), Derbyshire; Wodnesfeld and Wedynsfeld (Both translated as Woden&#39;s field), in Essex; Wodenslawe (Woden&#39;s mound), Bedfordshire; Woodnesborough (Woden&#39;s mound), Kent.</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> There are also place names using Woden&#39;s other common name Grim (&#39;Masked one&#39;): Grimsditch, in at least eleven counties, including Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Wiltshire; the name Grimesworne, occurs in Essex, Herefordshire and Warwickshire; Grimsbury, in Berkshire and Oxfordshire; Grim&#39;s Hill, a hillfort in Gloucestshire; and finally Grimspound, a Bronze Age settlement in Devon. The list is continuous. However, one of the most interesting archeological debates in recent times, involving Woden, has been regarding the Long Man of Wilmington, a chalk carving on a hillside in Sussex.</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> Two archeologists (Mr Christoper Hawkes and Mrs Sonia Chadwick Hawkes) have theorised that the Long Man of Wilmington is a representation of Woden. They base this theory on its similarities with the Finglesham belt buckle. A bronze piece found in an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery during excavation in 1964. The figure on the buckle is in the same pose, and bears a striking resemblance to the chalk carving.</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> So why were so many ancient features of the English landscape named after him? Was it because he was the most highly revered of the Anglo-Saxon Deities or was it because he was the most widely known? What we do know, to help answer this question, is a statement from the 11th Century Exeter book:</blockquote> <p align="CENTER">&nbsp;</p> <blockquote> &#39;Woden worhte weos&#39;.</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> This translates as &#39; Woden made idols&#39;. It is most likely that it was because of his reputation for roaming the downlands in diguise as &#39;Grim&#39;, that these places were attributed to his presence.</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> Other evidence for his worship in England comes in written form from the historians of the period. He is often refered to as one of the &#39;ancestors&#39;of the existing Angle, Saxon and Jutish nobility. The 10th Century chronicler, AEthelweard, records a good example of this:</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><ul><blockquote> &#39;Two young men, Hengist and Horsa, had already paid in advance. They were the descendants of Woden, a king of the barbarians. And after his death the pagans, honouring him as a god with respect not fit to be mentioned, offer a sacrifice in order to have victory or be courageous.&#39;</blockquote></ul> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> These references to Woden being an ancestor continue, even after the christianisation of England, even though, in many cases they were fictious. It seemed necessary for nobility to prove lineage directly from its patron and Woden is mentioned more than any other god indicating his status as one of the major deities worshipped by the Theigns and Kings of the period.</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> The Royal Houses of Bernicia, Deira, East Anglia, Lindsey and mercia, Kent, and the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex. All trace their genealogies back to him.</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> The first known reference to Woden is in Tacitus&#39; Germania, where he is recognised as the Roman God Mercury:</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><ul><blockquote> &#39; Above all other gods they worship Mercury, and count it no sin, on certain feast-days, to include human victims in the sacrifices offered to him&#39;.</blockquote></ul> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> That the Romans should compare Woden to Mercury is hardly surprising, as the points of resemblance between the two Gods are numerous. Both acting as psychopompous, guiding the souls of the dead; both known for their wisdom cunning and trickery; and both having their roots in fertility deities. Their is no doubt that our distant ancestors the Anglo-saxons would have been aware of this similarity, and hence the naming of Wednesday or in Old English &quot;Wodnes-daeg&quot; and the fact it is known in France as Mercredi or &quot;Mercurys day&quot;.</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> At first glance though, the identification of Woden with Mercury may not necessarily be obvious. So what else was the identification based upon? Mercury, the messenger of the Gods, has his true nature shown in the the ancient Pelasgic sculptures, not shown as the young flighty God of the later Romans, but of a bearded middle aged man (similar to Woden) with an eminently large phallus (not unlike the figure on the Dorset chalk downs of Cerne Abbas). This identification of Woden with Mercury is also made much later in the 10th Century verse of Kemble&#39;s Solomon and Saturn:</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><ul><blockquote> Once there was a man who was mercury called; he was vastly decitful and cunning in his deeds, he loved well to steal and all his lying tricks; the heathens had made him the highest of their gods, and at the crossroads they offered him booty and to the high hills brought him victims to slay. This god was most honoured among all the heathen; his name when translated to Danish is Odinn (Woden).</blockquote></ul> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> Although there is mention of human sacifice to Woden by both Tacitus and Kemble, there appears to be no evidence of ritual sacrifice to him in early Anglo-Saxon England. That sacrifice to him took place amongst the continental Germanic tribes, there is no doubt. Plenty of archeological evidence has been found, including the famous &#39;Tolund man&#39;, a well preserved hung corpse, found in 1950 by some Danish peat-cutters. Adam of Bremen records similar sacrificial hangings to the god Odhinn, at the great pagan temple at Uppsala as late as the 10th Century. There are no recorded incidences of similar rites in any of the great Anglo-Saxon works of the period and no similar archeological evidence has been found anywhere in England.</blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote> We must deduce from the lack of evidence that ritual sacrifice had gone out of favour with the tribes emigrating into England by the time christianity took hold . The Anglo-Saxons were obviously still aware of these sacrificial rites and Woden continued to be associated with hanging as a capital punishment, and continued to be refered to as the &#39;Lord of the Gallows&#39;.There is no doubt that the other reason for this title might be the way he is attributed as gaining his wisdom.</blockquote>

<p>In Norse mythology, Odin was a one-eyed god, the wisest of the Aesirs and their leader, displacing Thor. Odin was also a god of the dead. He helped to slay Ymir. Odin was accompanied by two ravens who informed him of the doings of the gods, giants, dwarves, and men. He lost his eye in exchange for a drink from a sacred well full of knowledge and learned songs and runes by hanging onto Yggdrasil for nine days. At Ragnarok, Odin dies while fighting Fenrir. <br>Odin is also known as Woden among the Teutons. </p>