The Germanic Ethnicity of Isolde, the Goddess Isa and Iceland

What follows is a short older essay from my former Celto-Germanic Culture, Myth and History blog:

In my researches into Germanic mythology I occasionally find references to a rather obscure Germanic Goddess called Isa. Isa as we know is the name of the 11th rune of the Elder Futhark, also known as Is in the Anglo-Saxon Futhork, Iss in the Scandinavian Futharks and Is in the Armanen Futhork.

There is a theory that this Goddess lends her name to Iceland or Island. "Rassmann identifies Island as derived from Isa, a goddess of the under-world, probably the same as Holda, and not as Iceland." (Legends of the Wagner Drama by Jessie L. Weston) As a female personal name it is Teutonic and of ancient origin, signifying aristocratic, strong willed, a ruler. The element of strength is brought out in the hard, icy and cold nature of the Isa rune.

It is generally considered that due to the Celtic location and time frame of the Tristan and Isolde legend that Isolde was an Irish Celtic princess. However this is a mistake albeit an understandable one. During the 9th century CE it was a Viking and not an Irish king that held court in Dublin and we should not forget the significant Scandinavian and thus Germanic heritage of Ireland from the 9th and 10th centuries.

German scholars, according to Jessie L. Watson derive Isolde's name from Iswalt or Iswalda (Eis-walterin=ruler of the ice). The earliest form of the Isolde name is Isalde (Wolfram von Eschenbach). Legends always represent her as fair haired-'die lichte' as opposed to the rival dark-haired Isolde. She concludes that the Germanic forms of the name have more in common than the Kymric Essylt.

It is also interesting to consider that in the German Nibelungenlied Brunhild is represented as the queen of Iceland and her very nature is hard, icy and strong-willed. She dwelt in her fortress Isenstein ('Ice rock') and was a beautiful woman of formidable strength and fortitude. Could it be that the two distinct legendary figures of Isolde and Brunhild originally derive from a common Germanic source?

The Eyraland Thor and the Icelandic Foss Hammer

"National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik. Figure of god Thor ( ca. 1000 AD ), made of bronze" by Wolfgang Sauber, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyrarland_Statue The image has not been changed and the image owner does not endorse this blog.



A figurine depicting what appears to be a seated Thor, grasping a hammer was discovered in 1815 or 1816 when it was unearthed from the soil at the Eyraland farm near Akureyri in Iceland. The figure is made of bronze and is currently housed in the National Museum of Iceland. I have 2 bronze replicas of the Eyraland Thor and they are used as altar items in my worship of Him.

As I have mentioned before (and need to keep reiterating) the type of hammer that 'Thor' is holding is in the typical Icelandic cross shape, almost a duplicate of the 'Wolf's Cross' found at Foss in Iceland, currently also housed in the National Museum. This clear resemblance should once and for all close the argument as to whether the Foss Hammer is a hammer or a cross. This variation of the hammer was clearly local to Iceland and the argument that it is a 'hybrid' between the Christian cross and Thor's Hammer does not hold water in view of the form that the hammer takes in the hands of the Eyraland Thor.

The argument in favour of it being a hybrid is that it could be disguised as a cross by its wearer (to avoid persecution) but as it dates back to the 10th century and thus PREDATES the Christianisation of Iceland this does not make one iota of sense. Even after the Icelandic Althing voted to accept Christianity in the year 1000 heathenism was still tolerated as a private practice on the island. So it begs the question why anyone would seek to disguise his hammer amulet PRIOR to the Christianisation process?

I have several variants of the Foss Hammer in a variety of metals: pewter, bronze and stainless steel and indeed the St Justin (larger size) Foss Hammer was the second Thor's Hammer I ever purchased in the mid 1990s. I particularly recommend their version which is much chunkier than the original and their products do come with a life time guarantee. The chief gothi of the Asatru Association in Iceland, Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson has been photographed wearing a Foss Hammer himself. Surely there can be no higher recommendation than this?

The Holy Land: Iceland and its Patronymic Naming System

Iceland is a repository of ancient Germanic religion and lore. If it were not for the Icelandic Elder and Younger Eddas along with the saga material and Galdrabooks we would know precious little about our ancient religion so we must always be grateful to this hardy and isolated Germanic people.

One thing in particular which interests me about modern day Iceland is their surname naming system which until the early 1980s was unique in the Germanic world and yet is hardly ever commentated upon. Generally new- borns' surnames are patronymic, sometimes matronymic. In other words their surname is their father's (sometimes the mother's) forename or middle name (if preferred) with sson if a son or dóttir if a daughter, added to it as a suffix. Occasionally as a surname some Icelanders have both a patronymic and a matronymic name as a sort of double barreled surname! Thus the surname is likely to change from generation to generation. There are some Icelanders who have inherited surnames either because they are of foreign origin or if their surname was incorporated before certain legal changes in 1925. Since the early 1980s other Germano-Scandinavian countries such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Faroe Islands have allowed for the use of patronymic or matronymic surnames. As an aside I have found during the last 2 or 3 years or so that I have been carrying out ancestral research that some of my paternal grandmother's ancestors from North Meols in Lancashire still practised a patronymic naming system in the 17th and 18th centuries and thus the surname changed from one generation to the next. North Meols was colonised by Scandinavian settlers and this is reflected to an extent in my autosomal DNA so it is quite possible that this is a remnant of 'Viking' practise in Lancashire.

Interestingly in Russia (heavily influenced by the ruling and dominant Swedish Russ) the middle name is a reflection of the father. Originally Russians had the same kind of system as in Iceland. Also Icelanders are not free to adopt alien and exotic names. Forenames have to be approved by the Mannanafnanefnd (Icelandic Naming Committee). Only names that can be pronounced using the Icelandic (Old Norse) alphabet may be used. This all goes to preserving the Germanic inheritance of the Icelandic people who by the way were the first to legally recognise the Odinic religion in 1973.

Icelandic as a language is peculiar in the North Germanic language group as it alone unlike modern Danish, Swedish and Norwegian (which are mutually intelligible) has changed very little from Old Norse due to Iceland's geographical isolation. This geographical isolation is helping to culturally and racially preserve the Icelandic people and has inculcated a strong sense of independence in the national character. One only has to recall the Icelandic government's refusal to bail out the Icelandic banks. To do so would have been to bankrupt this small country. So despite their small size as a population (322,000) they show a pluckiness that does them credit and shames the sheeple of England. If only Greece, Spain and Portugal (not to mention the United Kingdom) were to have followed their brave and sensible example!

Iceland has never started any wars or invaded any other country and this should be a lesson for us because by minding their own business they have retained their way of life and the biological integrity of their gene pool. It is to Iceland that we should look to as an example and revere as a holy land, not Israel. The moral difference between the peace-loving and hardy Icelanders and the war-mongering, genocidal but western-backed apartheid state of Israel could not be more astounding!

Woden and the Wolf Hammer

Icelandic Thor's Hammer replica.





Recently I began to reflect on the significance of the beast`s head at the top of the Wolf's Hammer. Some consider this to be a dragon, others a wolf. If one accepts this to be a wolf then there is a clear association with Woden as the God of the Hanged who was accompanied by His wolves, Freki and Geri. The wolf along with the raven is clearly associated with this God. The wolfhead of the hammer reminds us that we are at the moment as followers of Woden to be regarded as wolfheads.

The shape of the Wolf Hammer reminds us that Woden hung Himself upon the world tree for 9 nights in order to acquire the mysteries of the runes. It is generally considered that He hung upside down:

                              "I ween that I hung | on the windy tree,
                              Hung there for nights full nine;
                              With the spear I was wounded, | and offered I was
                              To Othin, myself to myself,
                              On the tree that none | may ever know
                              What root beneath it runs." (Havamal 139, translation by Henry                                         Adams Bellows)

The shape of the hammer is not entirely unique as the Danish Laby hammer has a similar apparent inverted 
cross form; almost T-shaped. The Wolf Hammer resembles very closely the form of the Judge`s gavel and one could consider it the most hammer like of hammers for most other Thor's Hammers resemble more the axe which it took its form from. The arms of the Wolf Hammer are rounded as one would expect in this type of hammer. We should remember that the All-Thing was dedicated to Thunor and so Thunor has this function of presiding-like Tiw and the Frisian Fosite over legal proceedings.

The statue of Thor from Eyraland is more or less contemporary with the Wolf Hammer and the shape of the hammer which Thor is grasping in both hands is practically the same as the Wolf Hammer. Clearly Thor would not be grasping a Christian cross so this adds further weight to the heathen nature of the Wolf Hammer.