A Timeline for the Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons

During the period of the Christianisation of the previously heathen Germanic peoples the Church initially used deception as a tool to win over the hearts and minds of the people as they lacked the power at that stage to use violence and force. Only after the introduction of Christianity in certain regions with the assistance of chieftains and petty kings did they resort to more overt methods to establish and enforce the Christian religion.

The conversion of the Anglo-Saxons started relatively early, only a century and a half after the 'coming of the English' in 449 CE, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. I realise of course that there was a Germanic presence in England centuries before this date but for convenience I am referring to this date. Pope Gregory I made the decision to send missionaries to the Anglo-Saxons and the mission began in 597 with the arrival of a mission under the leadership of a Benedictine monk, Augustine to Canterbury in the kingdom of Kent. Kent was colonised by Jutes from northern Germany and southern Denmark. The king at that time, Aethelbert (c. 550-616) was the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kings and held the title of Bretwalda ('ruler of Britain'). That does not of course signify that Aethelbert literally was the 'ruler of Britain', just that he was a powerful king with influence over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It should be understood that 'Britain' was a term that the Romans used for what became England and Wales. 'Great Britain' refers to the entire island including Scotland.

It was a shrewd decision of Gregory to target the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kings as conversion was a process from the top down in the hierarchy of society. It is said that Aethelbert converted to Christianity very quickly and one must question how deeply held his convictions were? I believe that the answer lies with Aethelbert's wife Bertha, the daughter of the Christian Merovingian king of Paris, Charibert I (c. 517-567). On travelling to Kent to marry Aethelbert Bertha took with her Bishop Liudhard, her private chaplain so it is clear where the influence and motivation to convert was coming from. Whilst it does not appear that Aethelbert forced his subjects to convert it would appear that they were to enjoy the king's favour if they did.

The Christianisation process in Kent saw a reversal after Aethelbert's and Bertha's deaths. His son Eadbald, a pagan succeeded him. However even Eadbald would ultimately also convert to Christianity. One other king Saeberht of Essex converted under the influence of Eadbald's father, Aethelbert. It is quite obvious that these sudden 'conversions' amongst the most powerful people in England had nothing other than money and power as the motives. It is not my intention to give a detailed chronology for the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons but merely to point out how this process began-under the influence of kings and initially peacefully but that was not to last for very long.

Bede tells us in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People that Eadbald's son, Eorcenbehrt (died 664) was the first Anglo-Saxon king to command that the 'pagan idols' be destroyed and the feast of Lent to be enforced. It did not take long, not even half a century for the former peaceful methods of conversion started to take a violent turn!

Kent was not immune from the Christian virus for other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms started to convert at about the same time in the early 7th century. King Raedwald of East Anglia converted in the year 604. It would appear that this too was under the influence of Aethelbert! However Raedwald's 'conversion' does not appear to have been very sincere as his temple contained both an altar dedicated to Christ and one to the old Gods. Under the prompting of King Edwin of Northumbria, Raedwald's son, Eorpwald converted to Christianity along with his entire kingdom. Edwin was baptised in 627 and is widely regarded as one of the most committed Christian kings amongst his contemporaries. However under what or whose influence did Edwin convert? Once again as in the case of Aethelbert Edwin was married to a Merovingian princess, Aethelburh of Kent, the sister of Eadbald who by this time was also a Christian! I have written in the past about Edwin's high priest Coifi who was also instrumental in persuading Edwin to convert and it was he who desecrated the temple of Woden in Goodmanham in 627. See: The Temple of Woden at Goodmanham

These conversions as I have intimated earlier did encounter the odd pagan backlash and setback. The Christian king Eorpwald was slain in 627 by Ricberht who it is believed was his brother and may have ruled East Anglia afterwards.

In the same 7th century Peada, the son of the pagan Penda and the king of Mercia also embraced Christianity and there is no record of any relapse in that kingdom. In the kingdom of Sussex Aethelwealh was baptised in 675 and it is speculated that this was a precondition of marrying the Christian Queen Eafa of the Hwicce. (This seems to be a recurring theme!) Hwicce was a tribal kingdom under the influence of the much larger and more powerful Mercia. The Christianisation of the kingdom of Wessex began with the baptism of King Cynegils in 635. Likewise Cwichelm of Wessex who was the king of the Gewisse was also baptised in the same year. It is of this royal house that the Christian zealot Alfred the 'Great' sprang.

One of the later kingdoms to be converted was that of the Jutes of the Isle of Wight who unlike the others were converted by force after the invasion of King Wulfhere of Mercia in 661. Once the king left the islanders returned to paganism but 25 years later in 686 King Caedwalla of Wessex also invaded but this time exterminated the population (in true 'Christian' fashion) and annexed the island to the kingdom of Wessex.

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 Thor Stone at Taston

The "Thorstone" at Taston, Oxfordshire, UK, by ColinofOxfordshire, is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taston No changes were made to the image. The image owner does not endorse this blog.








There are a number of megaliths in Great Britain named after the Germanic Gods or at least have legends attributed to them which involve our deities. One example of the former is the Thor Stone situated in Taston in Oxfordshire, England. It is situated next to the garden wall of Thorstone Cottage in the middle of the small hamlet. Taston is believed to be derived from Thorstan (meaning Thorstone) but I cannot find the place name referred to in either A Dictionary of English Place-Names (A.D. Mills, 1991) or Place-Names in the Landscape (Margaret Gelling, 1984), no doubt because of the small size of the hamlet. I understand however that it is referred to in Gelling's The Place-Names of Oxfordshire-volume 2 (1954).

It is significant however that the village should take its name from this megalith and no doubt this was originally a ritual site for the worship of Thor. The suffix of the original name Thor-stan is of Old English rather than Norse origin and I am speculating that this may have been an Anglian cultic site where Thunor was worshiped. Over the course of time and with the influence of Old Norse on the English language 'Thunor' may very well have transformed in some places in to 'Thor'.

Elsie Corbett in her A History of Spelsbury (1962) relates that the stone is said to be a thunderbolt thrown down from the heavens. This idea is closely related to the concept of the much smaller Thunderstones in Germanic folklore. The story of the origin of the stone is similar to that of the origin of the Devil's Arrows in Boroughbridge and I refer readers to my article The Devil's Arrows in Folklore

The Felling of Donar's Oak

The felling of the sacred oak of Donar in 723/724 CE (this date is estimated) at Geismar, near Fritzlar, Hesse, Germany reminds me of the felling of the Irminsul by Charlemagne in 778 CE. Both trees or columns were sacred to the ancient Germans and symbolically they remind us of the tree Yggdrasil referred to in the Icelandic Eddas. The destruction of these two sacred things by the genocidal and maniacal Christian Church should not surprise us. Christianity like Islam is a death cult whilst the Irminsul and Donar's Oak represent LIFE!

The felling of Donar's Oak is referred to in Willibald's Life of Saint Boniface, a grossly exaggerated account of what actually occurred. According to Willibald as soon as the Anglo-Saxon Boniface (born Wynfrith) took his axe to the oak tree it began to fall and this 'miracle' caused astonishment amongst the witnesses so that they readily converted to Christianity. In reality it took many hours to chop down the tree as Boniface made known in his letter to Pope Gregory II, making Willibald (like most of his ilk) a bare faced liar. Allegedly oak from this sacred tree was used by Boniface to build an oratory (a small chapel for private worship) and dedicated it to Saint Peter.

I dare say that the Oak of Donar in Hesse was not unique and many such sacred oaks existed in pre-Christian times but the account by Willibald is significant for the 8th century marked a turning point in the Christianisation of Germany and the massacre of 4,500 Saxons at Verden in 772 CE showed how desperate Charlemagne and the Church were to impose their alien religion upon my ancestors. Not content with desecrating our most sacred sites the Church was not above committing genocide in their forceable conversion of the Saxons. The only reason why we do not see this today is because the power of the Church has been broken but we do see the same impulse in modern day Islam.

This vile creature, Boniface became known as the 'Apostle of the Germans'. However ultimately he was to pay the price for his sacrilege. By felling Donar's Oak he had in effect weaved his own wyrd!  In 754 CE he was slain by the heathen Frisians. He dared to challenge our God Donar and 30 years later he paid the consequences for his crime. For those of you who are interested in the association between Donar and the oak I would direct you to chapter 15 (The Worship of the Oak) of The Golden Bough by James George Frazer (1922), a most excellent work on mythology which has in my opinion never been equalled.

A Dream of Valhalla/Folkvangr and Freyja

I do not often discuss my dreams on my blogs but on occasion I feel that there is a pressing need to do so and this is one of those occasions. Last night I woke up at about 3.00 am following a very vivid dream. In my dream I saw a procession of warriors and they were led by a female who I sensed was a deity but not a Valkyrie. She rode on a horse. I do not recall if the warriors she led were on horseback or not as everything in my dream was indistinct and the whole dream lacked colour. It was entirely monochrome in nature, consisting of various shades of grey. There was no light in the dream but it was not entirely dark either but resembled twilight. The female at the head of the procession also carried a very large round shield in front of her. I instinctively realised that this was a Goddess and was Freyja Herself.

Freyja led the warriors through a gateway, the details of which I could not make out. I was not part of the procession but watched it from the side. There was no interaction between them and I. Then immediately after this I found myself inside a very large enclosure with thousands of people. I could not discern their features but I knew that these were all dead people and the enclosure was indeed the fields around Valhalla. I found that not only was I in Valhalla but I was positioned upon a hill and started 'preaching' to the masses. Please excuse my use of a Christian term but I cannot think of a more appropriate alternative! I started to tell the masses in front of me that Odin was the father of all the Gods, that He was the father of great heroes that bear His blood in their veins and that He is the father of all our people whether they can claim direct descent from Him or not. In essence I was publicly proclaiming my faith in Him. I make no apology for using the Norse version of His name as 1/4 of my ancestry can be traced back to the original Norwegian colonisers of a hitherto deserted area of western Lancashire in the 10th century. Of course my ancestors also knew Him by the name of Woden, Wodan and indeed Gwydion too. At this point I woke up. I did not see Odin within the dream, only Freyja. Of course the fact that it was Freyja who led the host of dead warriors and it was a field that I found myself in would lend to a better interpretation that this was Folkvang ('field of the host') that I visited rather than Valhalla but both are equally worthy places to spend eternity!

I have had a few mystical dreams over the years, all of which I have been able to interpret and I do hold a qualification in Dream Analysis but do not claim to be any kind of expert in the field and the interpretation of dreams is by necessity a personal one. Not all dreams have a 'meaning' but are merely the actions of the subconscious playing through and rerunning thoughts encountered in the  conscious mind during the daytime. However this dream stands out as one which merits a spiritual interpretation. I am not going to attempt an interpretation here because my intention is to initially make the dream publicly known. In addition to a spiritual or mystical interpretation it should be noted that the ancients believed that via the dream state they could encounter other entities including Gods. This is the first time that I have ever encountered a deity within a dream and the first time that I have dreamed about Valhalla or the afterlife. Whilst I was aware of being in Valhalla I had no awareness of whether I was dead or still a living, breathing human being.

My late mother who has been dead 31 years this year was a spiritualist medium and she often told me of her out of body encounters in the dream state where she engaged in astral travelling and encountered the spirits of the dead and angelic beings. This was her belief and I am not in a position to judge that belief as beliefs are inherently personal things. As an aside on one occasion she told me that she had left her body in order to minister healing to my half sister in Germany. Many years later my half sister related to me the experience of her being seriously ill and seeing the spirit or form of my mother by her bed. They had fallen out with each other before this encounter and never spoke to each other again and yet both parties related to me the very same experience which I cannot explain through rational or scientific means.

The dream could be interpreted as an example of astral travelling to a different realm and there are a few examples of this in the saga literature of northern Europe so it is a belief that was held by our pre-Christian ancestors. A third interpretation may be that of a premonition. This is partly why I am making known this dream today on my blog, in order to strengthen the faith of my fellow heathens in the reality of our Gods, the afterlife and the existence of worlds outside of along side of Midgarth if indeed it is a premonition. A few weeks ago I discussed with my partner how both my mother and my late brother had premonitions in the form of dreams of their impending demise and speculated whether this would be my experience as well.

On Sunday 2nd of July 1989 my mother told my late former first wife of a dream that she had a few days previously in which she saw her gravestone. My wife told me about the dream after we returned home that evening. I was rather sceptical and dismissed the dream straight away. I was at the time a fundamentalist Bible-believing Christian. However 4 days later on Thursday 6th of July she was dead. She had a heart attack which she could not possibly have predicted by any rational means. My late father pointed out the rather unusual date: 6/7/89!

In 2009 I received a telephone call from my brother who likewise told me of a dream in which he had received a premonition of impending death. 10 days later he died suddenly and again there is no rational explanation for how he could have predicted this. My German grandfather who died in 1933 was taken ill and shortly before his death he sat up in bed and told my grandmother of seeing a crowd of dead relatives at his bed who had come to greet him. Shortly after this experience he died. This was not a dream that he had but a vision whilst awake. The appearance of dead relatives prior to death is a form or function of the psychopomp. Odin, Freyja and the valkyries all performed the function of a psychopomp. The Grim Reaper is the best known form of the psychopomp in western Europe since the middle ages and I have already speculated on the association between Him and Odin in another article: The Grim Reaper, an Aspect of Grimnir the Hooded One

We will see what this dream actually means with the passing of time and thus I dare not venture an interpretation.

The Scythian Origin Myth, the Four Hallows, the Grail Runes and the Indo-European Caste System

Over the years I have from time to time discussed the Indo-European pagan origins of the grail or graal mythos and how this is rooted in pre-Christian Celtic religion and reflected in the last three or possibly last four rune staves and names. I have also referred to the Scythian connection in the past which I first encountered in Alu An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology by Edred Thorsson (2012, Weiser Books). Edred devotes an appendix in his book to discussing the grail runes (Appendix C Grail Mythos in Old English Runes?)

It would appear that according to Herodotus, writing in The Histories the ancestor of the Scythians was called Targitaos, the son of Zeus (the Greek name for the equivalent Scythian deity) and the daughter of the river god Borysthenes (the Greek name for the Dnieper). He in turn had three sons, Lipoxais, Arpoxais and his youngest Colaxais. These three sons fathered their own tribes. This origin myth bears some similarity to the Germanic origins myth referred to by Tacitus in his Germania. Mannus, the son of the 'earth born god' Tuisto fathered three sons who were the ancestors of the tribal confederations of the Ingaevones, Herminones and the Istvaeones. It is of course possible that these myths are a later survival of an original Proto-Indo-European origins myth.

An alternative view of these three sons is that they are the fathers of three castes rather than tribes. Only the ruling caste, the Skolotoi (Royal Scythians) who were descended from Colaxais worshiped the deity Thagimasadas (identified by Herodotus as the equivalent of Poseidon). This reminds me of the Germanic caste system myth in the Rigsthula of the Poetic Edda. It is the third and youngest caste, Jarl that bears the first Germanic king and this is represented by Kon, the youngest son of Jarl. Likewise Odin has a special relationship with the Jarl caste and it is my contention that the god referred to as Rig is in fact Odin, not Heimdall as this otherwise would not make a great deal of sense. I have discussed this elsewhere on my blogs and do not intend to repeat the arguments in favour of that theory here.

Herodotus goes on to relate that four gold implements fell from the sky to the sons of Targitaos, a plough, yoke, cup and a battle-axe. Dumezil interpreted these as symbols of the Indo-European caste system. The fact that these symbols appeared before the three progenitors of the Scythian castes is significant in my opinion. Only Colaxais was able to touch these gold implements without them bursting into fire and thus his descendants became the guardians of them. Quite obviously the plough and yoke became symbols of the producer or farmer caste. The battle-axe symbolised the warrior (and thus noble) caste whilst the cup represented the priestly one.

At this point I just wish to clarify that the Scythians are regarded as an Indo-European people of Iranian origins. This has been concluded via a study of  the genetics of ancient bodily remains, anthropological descriptions by classical authors, their language (Scythian, a branch of Eastern Iranian), culture and religion. Genetic analysis of six Kurgan warriors indicates that they were carriers of the R1b1a1a2 or R-M629 haplotype which is very common in western Europe and reaches its greatest intensity of 92.3% in Wales. Various classical writers describe the Scythians as having red or fair-hair, being of light skin and having grey or blue eyes and being tall in stature. These physical characteristics closely match those of the Germanic and Celtic peoples and no doubt point to a common distant origin.


The religion of the Scythians appears to have been derived from early primitive Iranian pre-Zoroastrian religion and a number of their deities have been identified. One of their primary deities whose name is unknown corresponds closely to the Greek Ares. As the Scythians were a war-like people this should not surprise us!

In recent years scholars have begun to reassess the King Arthur and grail legends in the light of Scythian history and mythology. Notable examples of this include From Scythia to Camelot: Radical Reassessment of the Legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table and the Holy Grail (Arthurian Characters and Themes) by C. Scott Littleton and Linda A. Malcor (2000, Routledge) and Arthur the Dragon King. Man and Myth Reassessed by Howard Reid (2001, Headline Book Publishing).

Returning to the issue of the grail legend Edred Thorsson makes the argument in his afore-mentioned book that the symbols of the grail are represented in the last three rune staves of the Anglo-Saxon or (more correctly) the Northumbrian runic futhorc. Calc symbolises the cup or chalice, Stan the stone and Gar the spear of Parsifal. Each of these three symbols, chalice, stone and spear are integral parts of the legend. In the version related in the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach it is the stone rather than the chalice which represents the grail. Wagner in his last work Parsifal emphasises the spear and the chalice. Like Eschenbach Heinrich von Ofterdingen in his Wartburgkrieg depicts the grail as a green stone that fell from the crown of Lucifer. For more interesting background information on this topic I recommend both of Otto Rahn's books translated into English:- Crusade Against the Grail: The Struggle Between the Cathars, the Templars and the Church of Rome and Lucifer's Court: A Heretic's Journey in Search of the Light Bringers (Inner Traditions, 2006 and 2008).

All of this raises the question as to why was the grail mythos encoded in the last three Northumbrian runes? Edred posits the theory that the ultimate origin for the grail runes is to be found in the stationing of Alans in Northumbria by the Roman Empire. With the withdrawal of Rome from Britannia in the early 5th century the Alans appear to have been an influential community in that region of the country. Edred points out that the Alans are of course related to the Scythians and would have been familiar with the legend related by Herodotus. He speculates that the grail runes may have a similar or related meaning. What is certain is that these runes find their parallels in the four hallows of the Celtic gods, the Tuatha De Danann in Irish mythology.

The four hallows are the Stone of Fal, the Spear of Lug, the Cauldron of the Dagda and the Sword of Nuada. It should be noted at this point that the rune which appears immediately before the three grail runes is Cweorth. Some students of the runes have speculated that the etymology and possibly the shape of the stave may indicate a sword and it is certainly worth bearing in mind but it is unfortunately not provable.

Edred further speculates that the three grail runes like the four gold Scythian implements may symbolise the tripartite Indo-European caste system. The spear rune Gar which is closely associated with Odin symbolising the warrior or noble caste, the cup or chalice the rune Calc, the priestly caste whilst Stan the stone rune symbolising the caste of producers. If Edred's theory is correct then we should apply the same interpretation to the four hallows. The Spear of Lugh (partially mythically cognate with Odin) and the Sword of Nuada (mythically cognate with Tyr) represent the warrior and noble caste. The Cauldron of the Dagda would symbolise the priestly caste whilst the Stone of Fal would of course relate to the producers. It is certainly a tempting theory.

The Political Indoctrination of the Masses

On creating this new blog last year I was determined not to discuss politics on here but sometimes this is inevitable as politics is a part of everyday life whether we realise this or not and sometimes what is relevant to the subjects of mythology, religion and spirituality is of relevance to politics as well. My late eldest brother was a graduate of Political Science as well as Modern Languages and we had many a long political discussion late into the night and some of my political education is inevitably due to his influence, particularly in my formative years.

My brother Robert was initially a student in the late 1960s and participated in many a march, demonstration and university sit in. By his own admission he was in the late 60s and early 70s a communist and an anarchist (obviously not at the same time and I cannot remember which way around this was now!). By contrast my late father was a typical Tory and quite an extreme right wing one at that and they never saw eye to eye on politics in those days. By the time of my brother's death at the age of 58 nearly 11 years ago now he had become a conservative with a small 'c'. I however took an opposite journey in my political development from the 'right' to the 'left'.

The terms 'right wing' and 'left wing' are not ones which I tend to use and indeed I usually make a determined effort to avoid their usage as they are open to misinterpretation. This terminology dates back to the days of revolutionary France where the supporters of the French king were seated on the right side of the president in the National Assembly whilst his opponents and supporters of the revolution were seated on the left. For many years I identified myself as a national socialist (but not a nationalist) and contrary to prevailing opinion a 'left winger'. National socialism in its pure and unadulterated form is organic socialism, not to be confused with that of the internationalist variety. It is concerned purely with the welfare of the folk or tribe. Unfortunately national socialism took a wrong turn in late June and early July 1934 with the 'Night of the Long Knives' which had the intention and effect of destroying the left wing of the NSDAP at the instigation of the German officer class and German capitalists. The SA under Ernst Roehm were a revolutionary force that were not satisfied with the progress of the revolution in Germany and desired the implementation of a true national socialist agenda. Caught up in this fratricide were the Strasser brothers. Gregor Strasser was murdered on 30th of June and his brother Otto fled Germany to return nearly 20 years later in 1954. For those of you who would doubt my assertion that national socialism is and was a left wing movement I recommend that you obtain and read a copy of National Socialism-a left wing movement, 1984 by Povl H Riis-Knudsen and also his National Socialism-The Biological Worldview, 1987.

The form of national socialism advocated by Otto Strasser has had an influence upon many late 20th and early 21st century British nationalist parties who realising it or not are or were advocates of Strasserite politics. With regards to national socialism and where it sits on the left-right political spectrum (if we must insist on using such terms)it  is most decidedly left wing for it is revolutionary in nature and seeks to replace the current economic system of capitalism and the current liberal political system. To label it as 'right wing' is absurd for this would imply that it seeks to PRESERVE or CONSERVE this current system which it does not.

After the Night of the Long Knives the NSDAP largely abandoned its socialist agenda and took a very nationalistic, fascist and militaristic turn culminating in the insane invasion of the USSR. Even Miguel Serrano in his The Golden Thread (translation by Alex Kurtagic) makes reference to this mistake by Hitler and views this as the fatal error that it was. He poetically describes how the female spirit of Germany abandoned the land and people when Hitler disobeyed his spiritual guides.

It is no longer advisable or credible to openly use the terms national socialist or national socialism and I have started to refer to myself as a follower of organic or tribal socialism. I deliberately avoid the use of the term 'nation' as even Tom Rowsell (Survive the Jive) observed in one of his excellent videos it is an artificial construct. Nations were built from tribal confederations which in turn were combinations of different tribes in Europe and this is why we find many sub races within modern European nations. Contrary to the erroneous assertions of American 'white nationalists' there is no such thing as a 'white race'.This is a very crude and scientifically inaccurate descriptor. The formation of nations was a necessary building block for the imperialist intentions and ambitions of the elite. In my opinion only tribes and confederations of related tribes have any biological legitimacy.

It is clear from my studies of the ancient Celts, Teutons, Slavs and Balts (the northern European peoples) that whilst they still were at the stage of tribal societies (rather than 'nations') that they held all land and cattle in common, recognising tribal ownership of all land and cattle. The individual only held his land and cattle on trust on behalf of the tribe. Our ancestors before the onset and introduction of 'money' and capitalism practiced a primitive form of socialism. Indeed one could go further and refer to this as communism. I intend in future articles to explore this concept further.

One often hears (usually from wealthy American capitalists such as Trump) that 'socialism never works'. This as we know is a falsification of the truth for the USA's primary mission in the world is to spread the capitalist economic system and the neo-liberal political system and part of this involves the destabalisation of societies with alternative political and economic systems (e.g. the USSR, South America et al) via the arming of 'rebels', invasion or their current favourite method, 'sanctions'. Economic warfare in many senses is as bad as actual warfare for the effects of these sanctions on a society are just as debilitating. Socialism in the mid 20th century in the 'west' was made into a bogeyman as witnessed in the late 1940s and 1950s McCarthy witch hunts and the effects of this demonisation is still felt today with the character assassination of Jeremy Corbyn by the gutter Tory press which is little more than a propaganda tool of the wealthy elite.

The beginnings of mass education in mid 19th century England was a two edged sword. Of course literacy and education are good and positive things but the education of the masses has made them prone to the propaganda of the elite. Hundreds of thousands of voters had their minds poisoned by the constant negative press given to Mr Corbyn by the media and the pro-Israel lobby. I have spoken to people about this just before and after the general election last month and whilst people were forthright in their views about him ('can't stand the man, hate him,' etc) they were unable to the man to tell me WHY? They could not articulate the reason for their emotions. This is surely indoctrination, the effects of 2 years of relentless media attack following Labour's very good election result in 2017. Of course one can rightly point to the issue of Brexit and Labour's sitting on the fence about this policy but this does not explain the visceral hatred that many people feel towards him.

Predictably the masses have like turkeys voted for Christmas and will be the first to complain about another 5 years of 'austerity'. They will truly get what they richly deserve! This is why I feel that it is imperative that in a democratic system as we have in this country that education regarding the British constitution and political science be made a mandatory part of the educational curriculum. People should demonstrate their intellectual fitness for the exercise of the political franchise by the passing of a basic test in these matters rather than permit any fool or idiot to exercise their choice at the ballot box. The general political illiteracy of the masses in this country is startling and I do not for one minute believe this to be an accident!

The Rehabilitation of Loki, the Shadow of Odin

Loki, is He a God or a giant? The scholars argue that the Eddas appear to be ambiguous about this. My argument is that His status is no less ambiguous than many of the other major Germanic deities. We know that his father was Farbauti (ON 'dangerous hitter'), a giant. The etymology of Farbauti`s name is associated with lightening or the storm (See Rudolf Simek's Dictionary of Northern Mythology ). His mother was Laufey (ON 'leaf island'-a rather incredulous interpretation). Her alternative or additional name was Nal (ON 'needle) because she was so slender and nimble. Simek suggests that Laufey may have been a tree Goddess. She is generally considered to be a Goddess and listed as such in the Eddas and we have no reason therefore to doubt that She was one. The Eddas are replete with stories of matings between Gods or Goddesses with giants and the giants should be considered as an earlier race of Gods which the Aesir and Vanir displaced. Odin Himself was of giant parentage via His mother Bestla, a frost giantess. Thus we may conclude that Loki had as much Aesir blood flowing through His veins as Odin. However Loki's attitude towards the Gods is ambivalent. Early on in the mythology He is portrayed as a positive member of the Aesir, often coming to their aid in times of crisis. It is only with the beginning of Ragnarok and the events that precede it that we see a markedly different side to Loki. Causing the death of Baldur and preventing His early release from Hel and His slandering of the Gods in the Lokasenna He hastens on Ragnarok and shows Himself as an apparent enemy of the Gods.

That is how people superficially see Loki's role. However like life He is more complex than that and in my opinion He should be viewed as being the Shadow of  Odin. Loki and Odin are said to be 'blood brothers' and often journeyed together in Midgard. There is some suspicion that He is in fact the God Lodur who along with Odin and Hoenir gave life to man. Both Odin and Loki are half giant in extraction but Loki as Odin's Shadow has his giant inheritance from His mother's and not His father's side. Usually it was the Gods who mated with giantesses and not the other way around. My inkling is that Laufey may have been raped by Farbauti and hence the apparent shame and lack of identification with the father. This may account for why some are tempted to see him more in the light of being a giant than a God. Curiously He is named after His mother, not His father for in the Eddas He is referred to as Loki Laufeyjarson. Perhaps He was anxious to bury his giant heritage, maybe even ashamed of it for the reason stated above?

Scholars point out that there is no evidence for any cults of Loki in the pre-Christian past. However this betrays their lack of understanding of His role. If Loki is Odin's Shadow then it is unlikely that we would expect to see any such evidence for the common people were highly unlikely to worship such an apparently negative deity. Additionally as Odin`s Shadow He in effect IS Odin, His darker and seemingly more destructive side. However it is the Loki side of Odin's personality which grants the All Father such naked intelligence, cunning and at times seeming duplicity. Loki is a catalyst, an agent of change and transformation. Whilst He is responsible for hastening on Ragnarok He was not responsible for the loss of the Golden Age. In His seeming 'evil' deeds He is in fact providing a solution to the Wolf Age in which we find ourselves in. Through His actions the new Golden Age will arise after Ragnarok. He is the ultimate problem solver but His motives are not always clear.

Loki represents the ultimate Left-Hand Path Germanic God. He stands alone. He is independent. He cares not for worship, adulation or approval. There is no consensus over the etymology of Loki`s name and this does not surprise me for there is no consensus at all about Loki who is the ultimate enigmatic God. My interpretation of His name is one that suggests 'light'. I am reminded of Lucifer (an Indo-European, not a Semitic name) who shares a similar personality and name. It is likely that Loki derives from the PIE word *leuk. George William Cox in his The Mythology of the Aryan Nations volume II states:

"The name Loki, like that of the Latin Vulcanus, denotes the light or blaze of fire, and in such phrases as Locke dricker vand, Loki drinks water, described the phenomena of the sun drinking when its light streams in shafts from the cloud rifts to the earth or the waters beneath. The word thus carries us to the old verb liuhan, the Latin lucere, to shine, and to Logi as its earlier form, the modern German lohe, glow; but as the Greek tradition referred the name Oidipous......., to know and to swell, so a supposed connexion with the verb lukan, to shut or lock, substituted the name Loki for Logi, and modified his character accordingly."

The Eddas know of an Utgard-Loki and a Logi, a fire giant. Wagner in his Das Rheingold conflates the two characters of Loki and Logi together in the form of Loge and it would appear that there may be good grounds for doing so. It is interesting to note that the Old Norse equivalent of Saturday is Laugardagr, the Swedish logerdag and the Danish loverdag. Clearly originally before the pernicious influence of Christianity Loki had a much more revered role in the Germanic pantheon but like many of the Gods He was demonised and this demonisation continues amongst many modern day 'Asatru' and 'Odinists'. We need to view Him as the Germanic Prometheus who has brought the light of intelligence to man rather than the Christian imposed idea of being a 'devil'. To understand Loki we must try and free ourselves of our 20th century thinking and Christian indoctrination which I believe is the root cause for Loki's perception as being a type of heathen 'devil' or even as the 'archetypal Jew' which some heathens consider Him to be. It is clear to me that Loki represents those repressed parts of Odin's Self, those parts which both He and His followers have disowned (especially in modern day American inspired Odinism which owes much more to Christianity than genuine Germanic heathenism). By embracing this concept we will be able to understand Odin as a personality far better than the current one dimensional thinking allows. At the same time we will be able to understand Loki far better and appreciate His contribution to the Norse mythos. Those parts of our Self, those drives which we have that are deemed to be unacceptable by one's parents, teachers and society at large we disown but this act of repression does not make them go away. Instead they become repressed in the personal Unconscious and take on a life of their own, becoming the Shadow. We must learn to accept the Shadow, to integrate it as far as possible but NOT to be controlled by it. This is the process of Individuation taught by the great father of analytical psychology Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), the 'Aryan Christ' (see Richard Noll).

Denn die Todten reiten schnell

Many years ago whilst reading Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) I encountered for the first time the phrase Denn die Todten reiten schnell which is translated to mean 'for the dead travel fast' and is traceable to an earlier work by Gottfried August Bürger called Lenore (1773).

"In the carriage, Harker notes: As he spoke he smiled,and the lamplight fell on a hard-looking mouth, with very red lips and sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory. One of my companions whispered to another the line from Burger's 'Lenore'. "Denn die Todten reiten Schnell." ('For the dead travel fast.') [ Dracula ] “Sieh hin, sieh her! der Mond-scheint hell. Wir und die Todten reiten schnell.” [Lenore]

This concept is familiar to those of who have experienced what is commonly known as astral travelling, when the spirit is temporarily loosened from the physical body and one is capable of travelling anywhere at or beyond the speed of light. It is conjectured by some that if we exceed the speed of light then we can experience time travel. I believe that this is perfectly possible and unlike the world of Science Fiction it does not require a special device. The secret is to be found within. For some this is an art which must be mastered and to others it is a gift. By the click of an internal switch one may experience an altered state of reality. This is something which I practiced as a child and as a young man but which I am no longer comfortable doing for there is always the lingering doubt that one may not be able to return from this altered state.

During astral travel or projection one experiences no limitations. All things feel as if they are possible. One is able to travel so quickly that one feels composed of light itself and this should not surprise us. The human body and indeed all forms of life are expressions of energy at different vibrational levels. Science tells us that energy can not be destroyed-only transformed, and this is what death is all about-a change of vibrational frequency when one being freed from a dense physical body which operates at a lower frequency level to becoming a being of light. Essentially our Gods are advanced beings of light who operate on the highest frequency levels. As such they are able to move freely throughout time and space. The Wild Hunt is one expression of this idea and is to be found not only amongst the Germanic peoples but also among other closely related Aryan peoples. As Claude Lecouteux pointed out in his Phantom Armies of the Night. The Wild Hunt and the Ghostly Processions of the Undead (1999) the 'troop' is made up of either human beings in ghostly form or animals or often a combination of the two. It can be both silent or noisy. Most accounts refer to how noisy the apparition is. Depending upon the country and the region the Wild Hunt may be led by Wode (Woden), Mother Hulda, Dame Holla, Percht and many other deities or supernatural beings. Mr Lecouteux stresses that "the Wild Hunt undoubtedly had an Indo-European origin," and makes reference to similar occurrence in India. Indra and the Maruts take the place of Woden in their equivalent of the Wild Hunt. Indra is often compared to the Germanic *Thunaraz. The Rig Veda likens the human body to a chariot whilst the eternal Self (the I) is the lord of the chariot (the Me). The lord of course may unlink himself from the chariot is he so wishes. This concept is also found in the Hindu Upanishads.

Modern Germanic Heathenism and its Corruption by Political Extremism

One of the obstacles to the growth of Germanic heathenism is the divide between those who perceive heathenism to be a purely ancestral religion (folkish) and those who regard it as wholly inclusive (universalist). This divide is then further reflected in the political divide between the 'left' and the 'right'. These are both barriers and unnecessary ones at that which impede the growth of Germanic heathenism and place pressure upon individuals to 'choose' a particular path. Those who are on the periphery of heathenism, people who may have an interest but are nor participants may be deterred from exploring heathenism further if they are exposed to the extreme end of either of these factions.

When I say the 'extreme' end I am referring to the following:

1. In folkish heathenism this is best represented by (predominately) American Wotanism, an extremely racist interpretation of heathenism which has and does act as an impetus for extreme political activism, criminality and even terrorist activities. This must not be confused with folkish Odinism or Wodenism (a form of heathenism found primarily in England).

2. Universalist Asatru which minimalises the importance of race and ethnicity and thus of ancestry itself, downgrading heathenism into an eclectic 'pick and mix' religion along the lines of 'Wicca'.

The animosity felt by both extremes to each other does a great deal of harm to the perception of heathenism amongst outsiders. Both extremes denigrate the faith of the other and each claims to be the only genuine interpreter of modern heathenism. This is a form of religious supremacism and reminds me of the centuries old conflict between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, both claiming to be the only valid interpreter of the Christian religion. This should not surprise us as the people engaged in the revival of modern heathenism are mainly products of 20th century thinking and have not yet learned to shed themselves of centuries of Christian intolerance.

The 'intolerance' that I speak of is to be found in both extremes of heathenism. The 'Wotanist' contingent intermingle a false interpretation of National Socialism (Hollywood uniform fetishism) with heathenism and a dash of Italian fascism. This unholy concoction damages our religion and marginalises it in the minds of the public, playing straight into the hands of those who would see our revival fail. Heathenism is thus viewed as being the religion of 'neo-nazis' and 'white supremacists'. The extreme universalists by engaging in neo-liberal politics also damage our religion as many outsiders who do not share their political views then dismiss heathenism as a tree hugging religion intended only for feminists, lesbians and those who seek an open border policy allowing our land to be flooded by yet more third world immigrants, thus creating the conditions for our eventual biological displacement. The universalist interpretation is largely revisionary as they project their western neo-liberal values onto an age and people who would deem their worldviews to be alien and inimical to the welfare of the folk.

Both the 'neo-nutzis' and the neo-liberals at both extremes of heathenism endanger it by their blending of it with their own personal political views. Both extremes make a laughing stock of our religion and cause many to keep their distance from it. Politics dilutes the religion and causes it to have a nasty 'smell'. We must strive as individuals to separate our political ideals from our heathen practices and beliefs. We must be aware that many people not only do not hold extreme political beliefs but may not be interested in politics at all.

It is unfortunate for us that Germanic heathenism first started to really grow in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s and thus our concept of it in England and in northern Europe generally is to a large extent framed by American thought. I have already commented many times in the past on my previous blogs that North Americans, especially those in the United States are inflicted by a strange neurosis, almost a pathology of sorts which I have termed the 'Pilgrim Fathers Complex'. For a country which is supposedly secular by constitution unlike northern Europe it is a hotbed of Christian fanaticism and fundamentalism and this to a certain extent is reflected in American Wotanism and Odinism. How much of our practices are actually Germanic in nature and how much is simply a 20th century American Hollywood view of 'Viking' religion, heavily coloured by Christian morality?  A very early heathen movement started by Stephen McNallen in 1969 was given the rather embarrassing name of the Viking Brotherhood. Fortunately this eventually became the more appropriately named Asatru Free Assembly.

Often in England Germanic heathenism is given the appellation of 'Odinism' or 'Wodenism'. This again is an Americanism and it should be recognised that our ancestors never called their religion by these terms. In all honesty we do not know what our ancestors called their pre-Christian religion and it may not have even had a specific term as to them religion embraced all stages and aspects of life and was not considered to be something which was kept separate. Whilst there undoubtedly was a 'cult of Odin' or Woden this did not embrace all of heathenism but was just one aspect of it. It is a fallacy to term Odin or Woden as the 'father of the Gods'. This is a rather late development and there is no evidence at all of any early primacy of this deity. Indeed in Norway and in Iceland (largely colonised by Norwegians) it was Thor who was regarded as the most popular and older of the deities.

By focusing almost exclusively upon the cult of Odin or Woden we are in effect cutting ourselves off from the great richness and diversity of heathenism. As with the Celts the Germanic peoples had many deities, some of whom were specific to a certain tribe or a location such as a mountain or river. Thus by naming our religion Odinism or Wodenism we are giving the outside world an impression that we are simply just another brand of monotheism as opposed to polytheism. I believe that this is in large part due to the American genesis of Germanic modern heathenism which is in my opinion heavily tainted by Christian monotheism. If one wishes to give a further name to Germanic heathenism then Asatru ('faith in the Gods') is as good as any. However it could be argued that even this term is not all inclusive if one takes a particular interpretation of who the Aesir are. For those who follow the Vanir deities there is of course the term Vanatru. My preference is just to call it heathenism. The fact that very few females are drawn to Odinism is no doubt down to the male-centric nature of the religion. There is far too much emphasis placed upon the male Gods and lacks a perception of balance. We need to see a little less of the 'warrior' emphasis and more of the nurturer and the mystic.

An example of Christian influence upon Odinism is the formulation of the 'Nine Noble Virtues' which owes more to the North American pioneers of the 'wild west' and the Judeo-Christian 10 commandments than it does to our ancient Germanic ancestors. The codification of belief is not Germanic but Judaic.

Dagenham Woden Idol from the third Millenium BCE

A replica of the Dagenham Idol on display in the Museum of London, by Ethan_Doyle_White , is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagenham_idol No changes were made to this image and the image owner does not endorse this blog.






Our knowledge of the Germanic deities is too tightly bound up in the public mind with Viking Age Scandinavia and consequently discussion of the Gods tends to focus too narrowly on this small geographical area in the latter stages of historical Germanic heathenism. My quest over recent years is to uncover evidence for and information about our deities over a wider northern European area and from a much earlier time period.

An interesting example of archaeological evidence for the cult of Woden is to be found in the Dagenham Idol, found in Dagenham in 1922 and carbon dated to 2250 BCE. This is a staggering 3,000 years prior to the early Viking era and significantly from what came to be England. Fortunately the idol was found buried in peat just under 10 ft below ground and near to the skeleton of a deer which is thought to have been a votive offering to the Gods. I understand that the idol is 'owned' by Colchester Castle Museum and is on indefinite loan to Valence House Museum in Dagenham with a copy on display in the Museum of London.

The idol is carved out of Scot's Pine wood and is 18 inches in height. Like many such idols found to be dated to the late Neolithic to the early Bronze Age this idol has two legs but no arms. What identifies this idol with Woden is a damaged left eye.

In an edition of the British Archaeology magazine in 2014 the Dagenham idol was identified to be similar to other idols of this nature found at Seahenge at Holme Beach in Norfolk. The wooden circles at Seahenge have an identical carbon dating and interestingly the Dagenham idol is said to originate from East Anglia as well. The fact that there should have been a cult of Woden in East Anglia in the third millenium BCE should not entirely surprise us we now know from DNA analysis and the study of the origins of Old English that there has been migration from the Germanic north of Europe to eastern England for many centuries prior to the 'Anglo-Saxon invasions' of the mid 5th century CE.

The Grim Reaper, an Aspect of Grimnir the Hooded One

For a number of months now I have contemplated writing an article on the 'Grim Reaper', a figure which has preoccupied my thoughts in recent years as I get older. Indeed I have struggled to get an article under way in the last couple of weeks until to my amazement I encountered this rather interesting post on the Inglinga blog: Wr.Alda & The Black Sun Wulf Ingessunu makes a connection between the Grim Reaper and Woden. For a long time now I have come to the belief that the Grim Reaper is a post-heathen manifestation of Woden in the Collective Unconscious of the Germanic peoples, especially in the Middle Ages when plagues were rife in Europe which owe their origins in part to the perpetuation of ignorance by the Christian Church. Wulf also makes the connection with the relatively unknown Saxon God, Krodo whose cult was centred in the Harz Mountains of north-central Germany, shared between the German lands of Lower Saxony and Thuringia. I have written about Krodo many times on my blogs. He provides new information about Krodo which supplements that which may be found on my blogs. I would encourage people to read his article in full.

What are the connections between the Grim Reaper and Woden? First of all both Woden and the Grim Reaper act as psychopomps for the dead. A psychopomp is an entity who acts as a spiritual guide for those who have recently died. In some cultures a psychopomp may take the form of an animal but in mediaeval Christianised Europe the most common form is that of the Grim Reaper. He takes the form of a man appearing in dark robes or a shroud with a skull face and carrying a scythe. Clearly the skull represents death. Th scythe is symbolic of the cutting down of the living in the form of crops to be reaped. The scythe also cuts the invisible chord that joins the physical body to its ethereal counterpart. When this cord is cut death ensues. In the same way when a baby is delivered its umbilical chord is cut and it begins a life independent from its mother's body. When the Grim Reaper comes for you there is no escaping that meeting and it would benefit us all that we prepare ourselves individually for that meeting which we can only do alone.

In the Eddas Odin and His messengers, the Valkyries have the function of being psychopomps. One example of Odin dealing out death to one of His followers and descendants is that of Sigmund, the father of Sigurd:

"But now whenas the battle had dured a while, there came a man into the fight clad in a blue cloak, and with a slouched hat on his head, one-eyed he was, [1] and bare a bill in his hand; and he came against Sigmund the King, and have up his bill against him, and as Sigmund smote fiercely with the sword it fell upon the bill and burst asunder in the midst: thenceforth the slaughter and dismay turned to his side, for the good-hap of King Sigmund had departed from him, and his men fell fast about him; naught did the king spare himself, but the rather cheered on his men; but even as the saw says, "No might 'gainst many", so was it now proven; and in this fight fell Sigmund the King, and King Eylimi, his father-in-law, in the fore-front of their battle, and therewith the more part of their folk." (Chapter 11, Volsunga Saga, translated by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson)

Woden reminds me of the ferryman in Greek mythology who ferries the souls of the newly deceased to Hades, the equivalent of the Norse Hel (not to be confused with the Christian concept of Hell). In the Eddas Odin on one occasion appears as a ferryman in the Harbardsljod in the Poetic Edda where He takes the name Harbard and engages in a flyting contest with Thor and naturally He wins the contest! Harbard has the meaning of 'grey beard' and Odin is always pictured in this way in the Eddas and Norse poetry. Whilst some scholars in the past have conjectured that Harbard may in fact be Loki (a view that occurred to me as well) Harbard is listed as one of the by-names of Odin in Grimnismal 47. Whilst Loki may be viewed in Jungian terms as the Shadow of Odin this article is not the place to explore that theory. Whilst Harbardsljod does not portray Odin as a psychopomp it is nevertheless important to point out that He occupied this role and it does have an association with death in Greek mythology.

Like Woden the Grim Reaper is often portrayed as wearing dark clothing whether this be a robe or a cloak. He is certainly a veiled figure, his face almost inscrutable until close up a skull is revealed, just as one of Odin's eyes cannot be seen as it has been placed in Mimir's well. One of the most compelling arguments for a comparison is that of the name itself: Grim. Grimr or Grimnir are by-names for Odin. Grimnismal 46 and 47 record this by-name and it has the meaning of 'the masked one' as does Grimnir (see Northern Mythology, Rudolf Simek). Odin is masked or hooded, His face not clearly visible. Often a floppy hat takes the place of a hood, all with the intention of masking Him.

It is believed that the earliest accounts of the Grim Reaper are from 14th century Europe when plagues started to decimate the population. By then Christianity had obtained an iron grip on most of northern Europe (apart from the Baltic lands) but Gods can never be truly repressed and will often manifest as Archetypes in the racial Collective Unconscious. I believe that this is what happened in the 14th century. Odin may have been largely forgotten by name but his image, His Archetype persisted. Indeed when certain aspects of the Self are repressed they reappear at times in the Shadow. Woden/Wodan/Odin was repressed in the Consciousness of the Germanic peoples so in my opinion His Shadow form reappeared a few hundred years later as the Grim Reaper in the Collective Unconscious. There are accounts in many cultures of the dying being visited by the non-living prior to death. Sometimes this is in the form of dead relatives as was the case with my maternal grandfather Hermann August Wilhelm Bock who died between 1932-1933. In that case his dead relatives took the place of the Grim Reaper psychopomp. However for those of us who do not fear death He will come I believe in His true form. Instead of fearing Him we should welcome Him as an old friend about to take us home.

The image at the head of this article is that of the 13th card of the Major Arcana of The Tarot, depicting death as a personality.

Some Reflections on the Norse God Lodurr

The God Lodurr is a rather mysterious deity. On the one hand He had an important role in the animation of the first (Germanic) human beings but on the other hand His name occurs only once in the Elder Edda and not at all in the Younger Edda.

"Until there came three mighty and benevolent Aesir to the world from their assembly. They found on earth, nearly powerless, Ask and Embla, void of destiny.

"Spirit they possessed not, sense they had not, blood nor motive powers, nor goodly colour. Spirit gave Odin, sense gave Hoenir, blood gave Lodur, and goodly colour."(Voluspa 17-18, Benjamin Thorpe) 

Carolyne Larrington in her translation uses the terms 'breath' instead of 'spirit', 'spirit' instead of 'sense', 'vital spark' instead 'blood' and 'fresh complexions' instead of 'goodly colour'. The Old Norse terms are Ond (Odin's gift), od (Hoenir's gift) and la and litu goda (Lodurr's gifts)

Ond has since the 19th century taken on rather mystical connotations thanks to the research of Baron Dr Karl von Reichenbach (1788-1869) who published a number of works on his discovery of Odic force. (See The Odic Force: Letters on Od and Magnetism) Ond is the vital life force or energy that Odin gave our Ur-ancestors.  I do not wish to dwell on this as I intend to write an article more specific to Ond in the future. The focus here needs to remain on Lodurr and His identity.

According to Rudolf Simek (Dictionary of Northern Mythology) aside from Volupsa Lodurr's name also occurs in the 10th century Haleygjatal (Eyvind) and in the 12th century Islendingadrapa (Haukr Valdisarson) as a kenning for Odin-"Lodurr's friend".

A number of scholars have attempted to identify Lodurr with Loki (Gras, Krogmann, Philippson, Schroeder, Thorgeirsson, de Vries, Dumezil, et al). Simek is not convinced by their arguments. In the Gylfaginning of the Younger Edda Snorri instead has Odin, Vili and Ve in the place of Odin, Hoenir and Lodurr:

"'One day', replied Har, 'as two sons of Bor were walking along the sea-beach they found two stems of wood, out of which they shaped a man and a woman. The first (Odin) infused into them life and spirit; the second (Vili) endowed them with reason and the power of motion; the third (Ve) gave them speech and features, hearing and vision." (Blackwell)

Vili and Ve are said to be the brothers of Odin but it could be argued that they were hypostases of Odin. The concept of a God revealing Himself as a trinity is a very old Indo-European idea, plagiarised by the Christian church. This helps to explain why Vili, Ve, Hoenir and Lodurr only occur infrequently in the Eddas and other Old Norse poetry.  In Proto-Norse the names of this triad of Gods alliterates: Wodinaz, Wiljo and Wiha.

If Lodurr was ever considered by the ancient Norse to be a genuine independent deity then it is quite possible that He may have been considered to be a God associated with fertility as Simek points out that Lodurr is related to the Gothic verb liudan which means to grow. The Old Norse lod also means 'fruit' and to 'yield' (Simek) and there could also be a link to the Old Norse ljodr, meaning 'people' and 'community' (Simek).

Armanen Runes and the Black Sun in Modern Heathenry Volume 1-a Review

Recently Aelfric Avery published a three volume set on the Armanen Runes. Some time ago I completed my first reading of volume 1, published by Lulu Books. I have not yet purchased the other two volumes in the set but I will do in due course.

Mr Avery is better known for his works on Gothic mythology and religion so it is good to see him turn his hand to the more esoteric works of the early 19th century. There is very little material which has been translated into English on the Armanen Rune masters. Thus far the most noted translators and reinterpreters have been Dr Stephen Edred Flowers (Edred Thorsson) and the 55 Club. I have occasionally translated some extracts of the more obscure literature on my blogs, most notably by Friedrich Bernhard Marby.

Mr Avery sets the groundwork for Armanism in volume 1 by giving a history of it and its main thinkers and pioneers, being Guido von List, Friedrich Bernhard Marby, Rudolf John Gorsleben, Siegfried Adolf Kummer, Karl Maria Wiligut and Peryt Shou as well as post war rune masters such as Karl Spiesberger, Adolf Schleipfer, Karl Hans Welz and Edred Thorsson. It may be argued that Marby was not an Armanen rune master as he did not work with the Armanen Futhorkh but the Anglo-Saxon/Anglo-Frisian Futhorc but nevertheless he was a rune master and had a deep influence on the Armanen tradition and was the originator of rune yoga or rune gymnastics, later developed by Kummer. Mr Avery does emphasise this point in his book. So for these reasons it is valid to include this great man within a work on Armanism.

Mr Avery discusses the relationship between Wotanism (von List) and Armanism, the thorny subject of National Socialism and the Armanen runes, the use of the term 'Aryan', Irminism, Aryan Kristianity, Hyperborea, Atlantis, the Midnight Mountain, ancient civilisations, Root Races, Vril, alchemy, the Holy Grail, Isais, the Black Sun, the Swastika and even  Zoroastrianism. As far as I know Mr Avery is the first and thus far only published writer to link the Black Sun with the runes and to introduce the religion of Zoroastrianism in connection with Armanism. It should be noted that in recent years Dr Flowers has researched Zoroastrianism and published several books on how this religion may be adopted by modern day Indo-Europeans and magical practises within this tradition.

Volume 1 contains a great deal of hitherto untranslated material which is essential reading for all latter day Armanen and I have to say that Mr Avery's work is both old in the sense of the source material but at the same time refreshingly new with his ingenious interpretation. With this 3 volume set and his recent translation of Siegfried Adolf Kummer's Heilige Runenmacht (Holy Rune Might) this young man has established himself as someone to follow in the coming years. It is very rare to find a modern writer who is not shackled by false notions of political correctness and who is both a practicing heathen and an Armanen. This book may be purchased on Amazon, Lulu Books and ebay. Without the least hesitation I wholeheartedly endorse and recommend this incredible book to my readers.

The Fylfot (Swastika) in Anglo-Saxon England

We are told repeatedly these days that the swastika symbol has 'nothing to do' with the German or Germanic peoples and belongs originally to Hindu civilisation etc. This of course is a bare faced lie for there is ample evidence for the use of this symbol by many pre-Christian Indo-European peoples outside of India. For this article I intend to focus exclusively on its use by the Anglo-Saxon and Norse peoples.

Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson refers to the use of the swastika or fylfot in Anglo-Saxon times in her remarkable Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (1964) and points out that it is to be found on funeral urns in pre-Christian England, especially in cemeteries in East Anglia. She points out the great care that was taken when carving the symbol with a high degree of precision so this symbol clearly had particular significance for our ancestors. She associates this symbol with Thunor, the Anglo-Saxon variant of the Norse Thor and by inscribing the fylfot on urns our ancestors were asking for Thunor's protection of the dead person. Likewise David Wilson comes to the same conclusion in his Anglo-Saxon Paganism (1992).

It needs to be remembered that Thunor or Thor is a God who is most closely associated with protection and the wearing of the hammer or axe amulet gives the wearer a feeling and consciousness that He walks before, behind and along side us. It is clear from the Eddas that Thor was invoked on at least three special occasions in the lives of His followers: birth, marriage and death. We know that many children were named after Thor in pre-Christian Iceland and Scandinavia. Often names incorporated 'Thor' as a prefix. It must be pointed out that probably no one would have been called 'Thor' but 'Thor' was included as part of a given name, e.g. Thorolf, Thorbjorn, Thorgrim, Thorgeir, Thorkel, Thormod, Thorsten, Thorvald, etc. Davidson points out that the hammer was "used to hallow the new-born child who was accepted into the community" (page 80).

Thor presided over marriage rites. A hammer would be placed on the lap of the bride which symbolically was a request for Thor to bless the woman with fertility. In the Lay of Thrym (Thrymskvida) in the Poetic Edda we have the story of how Thor won back His hammer from the giant Thrym by presenting Himself as the giant's bride. The hammer is placed into the hands of Thor as part of the wedding ceremony so what we have here is the mythological origin of this marriage ritual. Some scholars have drawn analogies between this and the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale recorded by the Grimm brothers. Bronze Age rock carvings in Bohuslan in Sweden show an axe wielding God standing over a couple which could be a very early pictorial depiction of a Thunder/Sky deity blessing a marriage.

Thor also presided over funeral rites. We already have evidence for the association of Thunor with funerary urns but there is also a story in Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda which relates the death and funeral of Baldr. Thor uses His hammer to consecrate the funeral fire.

In addition to the appearance of the fylfot on funeral urns the symbol also appears on Anglo-Saxon broaches, bronze belt mounts, sword hilts and Saxon sceatta coins. Germanic bracteates from Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Hungary also feature the fylfot, sometimes in association with the God Woden/Wodan/Odin. Many items recovered from the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo ship burial also feature the fylfot.

* The image at the head of this article is that of an urn found in North Elham, Norfolk and dated to the 5th-6th century.

The United Kingdom and its Orwellian Advance Towards Mass Slavery

The subjugation of the English people is almost complete. CCTV cameras are everywhere, whether they are operated by private companies such as shops, shopping centres, local authority street cameras or mobile ones that are operated by the police. London itself is the most spied upon city in the world, even one place ahead in the rankings above Bejing in China. See: The Most Spied Upon Cities in the World As far as the United Kingdom as a whole is concerned 20% of the world's CCTV cameras are to be found in this country and yet the United Kingdom is only the 21st most populated country in the world, taking up a mere 0.87% of the global population.

Earlier this year there was a controversial case of the police stopping a  man who refused to show his face to a mobile police recording camera. After stopping him the man continued to refuse to have his face filmed and he was consequently issued with a £90 fine for allegedly 'swearing' although the last time I checked there was no law on the statute book that outlawed swearing and I dare say he only swore when he had been unjustly stopped to begin with! This appears to have been an incident entirely initiated and provoked by the police. Regardless of the rights and wrongs of that particular case we have seen in recent years a tendency by the police to view ordinary members of the public as 'guilty' until proven innocent and an even more worrying tendency for certain forces to make up their own laws on the hoof!

An example of the police creating de facto as opposed to de jure laws is Nottingham Police in 2016 taking it upon themselves to classify wolf whistling as a 'hate crime'. Behind all of this is of course a group of feminists. Police forces have a statutory duty to uphold the law and apart from common law, law is made by Parliament, not by the police!

The now leader of the Liberal Democrat Party (a feminist with a shrill voice) is one of those politicians campaigning for 'misogyny' to become a 'hate crime'. You will note however that these feminists have little to say about misandry which is far more common. One only has to think of the stereotype of the 'nagging wife' to realise that there is some truth in what I say. Likewise a man is more likely to be a victim of 'domestic violence' than a woman and yet very little is said about this. For many years now I have been saying on my blogs that Aryan man must grow balls and take back mastery over his own hearth and bugger political correctness!

Returning to the issue of CCTVs and their ubiquitous presence, one only has to recall the novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, originally published in 1949 but completed in 1948. In his work we have the infamous telescreen which operated both as a television and a security camera. A couple of years ago it was revealed that 'smart' televisions had the capacity to spy on you and indeed so does your laptop computer which is why I suggest that people disable the camera and microphone functions when they are not needed. Like the telescreen modern television is full of propaganda, whether this be overt such as the 'news' or more covert such as the social conditioning that we find not only in mindless soap operas for adults but BBC children's programmes. The CBBC channel is rife with this with bedtime stories telling toddlers that some families have two 'mothers' or two 'fathers'.

With the introduction of the Crime and Disorder Act in 1998 for the first time in England, Scotland and Wales judges had the power to imposer longer prison sentences and larger fines if it could be established in court that an offence was motivated by 'hate' of the victim's race or religious affiliation. This went one step further than sections 3 and 3A of the Public Order Act of 1986 which outlawed for the first time 'hate speech'. Now we have the criminalisation of thought and THIS is Orwellian. We have moved from the criminalisation of an act to the criminalisation of words to the criminalisation of the thought. This was predicted by Orwell in his novel and the term that he coined for this was crimethink, although those who have not actually read the book refer to this as thoughtcrime. The terms crimethink and wrongthink are the ones actually used in the society portrayed in the novel.

Many years ago when I went through a  phase of reading some of David Icke's earlier books I encountered Icke's use of the term 'internal policeman'. He talked about his theory that people do not always need the actual police to police their actions, words or thoughts for we do this ourselves. Social engineering and social conditioning have created one vast prison, a prison without bars in which we are as individuals so terrified of having unorthodox thoughts that we act as our own internal or psychological policeman and monitor and control our own thoughts lest we say or do something which would be frowned upon by society as a whole. The State no longer merely outlaws the act but our inconvenient and rebellious words and now our thoughts, with judges punishing us for having unorthodox thoughts. Crimethink has now become a reality and is on the statute book.

The organisation in Orwell's novel that enforced laws concerning crimethink were of course the Thought Police or to use the more correct term which appears in the novel, Thinkpol, and they used the surveillance systems of the day, not so much as to catch real criminals but to look for any deviation in behaviour or appearance from the masses. This is the main purpose of CCTV in the United Kingdom today. It is largely impotent in detecting or preventing crime. Instead it is a system that is being used (along with the Internet and 'smart' phones) to amass data on the whole population. The prime mover in this are the 'intelligence' (unfortunate use of the term-it reminds me of that other oxymoron 'military intelligence') agencies, in particular GCHQ whose main task is to not just monitor foreign and hostile 'enemy' communications but to spy on the general populace, something which they have been doing illegally for decades and yet no one has been taken to court over this. The courts are there merely to punish the masses who do not conform to the expectations of the (largely invisible) elite. Their love of fining people is an excellent way to raise funds for the Treasury instead of compensating the victim. As an aside when Woden's Folk appeared in most mainstream news outlets the other week this new blog of mine experienced a spike in visits as did those of my folk comrades. I am well aware that GCHQ and/or MI5 visit our blogs for their presence is detectable in the corresponding spike in Linux users in my blog statistics, an operating system which is used by less than 2% of the population but is standard for GCHQ! I do hope that their visits were not a  complete waste of time and that they did learn something about Indo-European mythology!

Like the modern day police and 'intelligence' agencies Thinkpol orchestrate false flag operations and as part of this they infiltrate what they regard as 'subversive' organisations and influence others to commit offences. Usually the most suspect ones are the 'fanatics' who have very little if any prior history that can be checked. Undercover reporters who earn their living from lying to others and duplicity are often used by the authorities for purposes of infiltration and subversion and I have no doubt that they share information with them either willingly or under duress.

Returning to David Icke's theory of the internal policeman this in essence is the same thing as the Orwellian concept of doublethink, the ability to hold two contradictory opinions at the same time. This is essentially cognitive dissonance and ultimately it can result in only one thing-psychosis. This may help in part to explain the sharp rise in mental illness in recent decades. People en masse these days engage in doublethink without necessarily always being aware of it. With this kind of mass sociological and psychological control one can see why the government does not need to spend greater sums of money on expanding the 'intelligence' services.

The official term for the language of Oceania, the fictional superstate in which the novel is set is newspeak, an artificial language deliberately constructed in order to control the thoughts, words and ultimately the actions of the masses. It is no secret that this is the very same aim of political correctness which made its public appearance in the west in the 1970s and has gained a firm foothold since then. This ideology, initially promoted by Marxists is now mainstream and has infected every aspect of our lives. It effectively legitimises homosexuality, same-sex 'marriage', miscegenation, feminism and any other act or movement that harms Aryan society. Any prevailing lunatic theory gaining currency such as 'gender dysphoria' and people being allowed to 'choose' a gender is not only legitimised by the State and its institutions but those who oppose it are treated as social lepers or even criminalised. Even once rational people who like myself are old enough to remember a slightly saner world are infected by this neurosis and neurosis is exactly what political correctness is.

Newspeak is not only an artificial language created by the State but the size of its vocabulary shrinks every year, giving people less options for the words that they can use. This effectively limits freedom of thought as well. As with political correctness and Icke's internal policeman newspeak starts off with controlling our words and then our thoughts with the ultimate aim of discouraging unorthodoxy and rebellion against the State. This is why the laws introduced since the mid 1980s should cause us to speak out against this encroaching totalitarianism.

Propaganda was a central feature of how the party of the State, Ingsoc (English Socialism) operated. The primary means of disseminating propaganda (or lies) was via the telescreen and the press. We see the same methods used today by the State. Where the State does not own or control the media (e.g. the BBC) it works in cahoots with rootless millionaire media owners who likewise have a personal vested interest in preserving the lie so the same crap is turned out regardless of who owns a particular 'news' paper, television or radio company. The same type of people are recruited for these positions who have undergone the same type of education (brainwashing) in the cultural Marxist universities of the day and like paid whores will follow the 'party line' and not deviate from what they are told to write or speak. There is very little real journalism to speak of these days. More often than not a 'journalist' to save time, energy and work will simply copy and paste what they read on the Internet  without any critical examination or any genuine right of reply when someone has been defamed by these creatures with their lies and slurs.

What is the purpose of all this brainwashing? To what end are we being manipulated? One of the aims is to create a compliant population, a compliant workforce, a nation of slaves. This process in England was initiated by William the Bastard and the Norman invasion and conquest of 1066 where most of our native nobles were deposed (apart from the traitors) and century after century of social conditioning has occurred since then. The extension of basic education and literacy to the masses was for two reasons and neither were altruistic. The first reason was that the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century required a greater number of skilled people and educated people who could function in administrative positions. Secondly with the emergence of 'news' papers in the 17th century the elite of the day realised that mass propaganda could very quickly be disseminated to the population as a whole but that this was contingent on mass education as well and this started to develop in the mid 19th century. My great great great grandfather was originally a schoolmaster in the 1830s and 40s prior to becoming a minister of religion. Being born in the 18th century he could only have received an education if his father, a Gentleman, paid for it. The vast majority of people at the time had little if no literacy and this no longer suited the economic system of the time or the elite. With the gradual extension of the electoral franchise in the 19th century there had to be a means of influencing the masses politically. This of course was the role of the press and eventually in the 20th century the radio and then television. For this reason the Internet is seen as a threat to the State for it has no regulatory control over it. Consequently many police forces will spend thousands of pounds in Council Tax payers' money 'policing' the Internet, searching for 'subversives'! Likewise GCHQ and MI5 will have teams of people engaged in checking what people like me write on our blogs and websites.

We have seen this week the publication of a report by The Centre for Social Justice (another oxymoron) titled Ageing Confidently-Supporting an ageing workforce. This piece of propaganda from an organisation which is chaired by that famous social justice warrior, Iain Duncan Smith (the Secretary of State who introduced the now infamous Universal Credit) and proposes (surprise, surprise) that the State pension retirement age should be increased first to 70 in 2028 and then 75 in 2035. This in effect would turn the entire country into a workhouse, a slave population where only a minority of people such as Duncan Smith could afford to retire whenever they wanted and I can guarantee that the likes of him will not be flogging their guts out on a building site at the age of 74! Any political party which attempts to support and adopt this insane and inhumane policy will be severely punished at the next general election and the Conservative Party effectively is supported by people who have already retired or are close to it. As the Americans say "do the mathematics"!

For a number of years now we keep hearing the mantra that 'we are all living longer' which in itself of course is a lie for we are not "all" living longer. As I have commented on other blogs before now, people are not living any longer than they ever used to do-they are simply not dying in infancy any more. This has extended the average life span but NOT the life expectancy which are two separate issues. Anyone like myself who has spent several years in ancestral research can tell you that nothing has changed in terms of life spans apart from the near eradication of infant mortality. We are being sold a lie and many are foolish enough to believe it. There may be more old and older people alive now but that is due to the spike in births after the war and extending to the early 1960s and the consequent reduction of births since then with the introduction of contraception and legalised child murder. Once these 'baby boomers' start to die off as we will, the population will begin to stabalise. In terms of 'affordability' of pensions if the HMRC were to pull their finger out and chase millionaires and large corporations for the tax that is owed to the Treasury instead of agreeing cosy deals behind closed doors then this recovered tax would more than offset the cost of old age pensions. However the Conservative government prefers instead to offer tax cuts to its rich financial backers than look after its elderly. The recent fiasco over the withdrawal of free television licences for the over 75s is indicative of that. Regardless of whether people are 'living longer' or not they are certainly not getting any healthier as the BBC keeps telling us about the burden that the elderly place upon the NHS! So there is a clear contradiction (cognitive dissonance) and a  flaw in the arguments of these social justice warriors such as Duncan Smith. Likewise we are continually bombarded with propaganda that people actually want to work themselves to death. Everything you see is by popular demand!

I really do urge my readers to obtain a copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four and to analyse it in depth for this is the blueprint of modern western government.

The Triquetra-a Symbol Common to the Germanic and Celtic Peoples

The symbol known as the triquetra is generally assumed to be a Celtic or solely a Celtic symbol and often a Christian one at that. Whilst the symbol became ubiquitous in early mediaeval Celtic inspired art in the British Isle its origins reach back into pre-Christian times and are not confined to just the Celts. A form of this symbol may be found on Scandinavian rune stones and a photographic example of this is attached to this article. The rune stone in question is catalogued as U 937 from Funbo in Uppsala, Sweden, now situated in a park at Uppsala University.

A triquetra also is to be found on the 7th Anglo-Saxon frith stool in Hexham Abbey, Northumberland. I have seen the stool but I cannot recall now after more than 20 years whether at the time I noticed the symbol or not. The presence of a triquetra on an Anglo-Saxon stone chair or 'throne' points to the possible use of this symbol by the Anglo-Saxons. It certainly remained as a spiritual symbol with the transition from heathenism to Christianity when it became known as the 'Trinity Knot', symbolising the triune Christian god as 'Father, Son and Holy Ghost'.

The triquetra is often compared to the Norse Valknut but I find the comparison to be quite superficial although I would argue that stylistically it is similar to the triple horns of Odin symbol, an alternative Odinic triple symbol. The symbol does appear on early silver Anglo-Saxon coins although it must not be assumed that at the time that this was intended to be depicted as a heathen symbol. The form of triquetra on this coin: Anglo-Saxon coin does strongly resemble the form on the U 937 Funbo rune stone. A form of the symbol also appears on English Viking era coins and here is an example of one from York: Viking Coin My readers will notice that this form of the triquetra strongly resembles the triple horn of Odin symbol. I have provided links to the website which feature images of these coins rather than posting their images on here as I am unsure of their copyright status.

Walther Blachetta briefly discusses the triquetra in his Das Buch der Deutschen Sinnzeichen, 1941:

"The triquetra is likewise an old Germanic form of the trefot and the sign for the threefold duty, which God, the world and mankind place on every life. " (My translation )

Please note that the German term for the triquetra is Die Dreierschild. Of course the interpretation by Blachetta must be regarded as a personal opinion as we cannot possibly know after so many centuries how our ancestors viewed the symbol and its meaning for them but there may very well be a certain overlap in meaning with other Germanic, Celtic and Indo-European symbols which are triple in nature.