Reconciling Norse and Gaelic approaches...and where to start in Scotland?!

 

I am a Norse-Gael, and honor both pantheons. It is a tricky journey, but worth it.

Clearly there are many things that work well together: the concept of a pantheon of deities, ancestors (very loosely defined), and land spirits; the concept of leaving offerings to one or all of the above, and in special days to do so; the importance of oaths and frith in norse approaches are found in clan and tuat loyalties in Gaelic society.

 Both Norse and Gaelic paganism embrace the concept of a holy tree at the center of the homestead (bile in Irish, Warden  Tree in Norse.) We have such a tree, and are forbidden to harm it in any way, even to the extent of picking off leaves or trimming healthy branches. We often have guests in the summer, and we sit, eat, and drink under that tree. The limbs are so huge that they form a canopy over us, touching the ground in several places. We do not trim these; rather, we ask people to walk around the lower branches. We accommodate our own actions to the tree, rather than the other way around. 

 This is directly associated with our faith.  It is also a cultural way of life in Ireland, Scotland, and Norway, as Warden Trees continue to exist on Norse farms, even those owned by agnostics and christians, to the present day. 

There are, however, serious cosmological differences, that some may be able to creatively reconcile, or not:

 The Norse have a very detailed and complex structure of worlds (Jotenheim, Asgard, Alfheim, etc), while the Gaels simply see This World and Otherworld. Now, I understand the Gaelic Otherworld may be similarly divided (Tir nan Og, etc), but it is not clearly defined as in Norse lore.

 The Aesir act in Midgard in very limited ways and the only connection between the two is Bifrost. In Gaelic paganachd, "liminal spaces" connecting the realms invite interaction on a daily basis, and are everywhere: seashores, mounaintops, caves, ponds, springs, wells, even property lines.

 Norse time is linear, with a beginning and an end: It stared with Ginnungagap, it ends at Ragnarok. Baldur, who was killed, remains in Hel in the meantime. For the Gael, there is no beginning of time (no creation story) and no end of the world - simply endless cycles without beginning or end. Gods that "die" reappear in subsequent lore, or continue to be accessed through their dwelling in the Otherworld.

 Norse fate is strongly influenced by the weaving of the Norns, that even the gods can't readily change; the Gaels have much less of a sense of your fate being determined...unless The Morrigan takes an interest in you :-) The Norse approach seems more rigid to me.

 Sacrifices to Norse gods (blots) normally involve leaving the blood for the deities and consuming the offered meat. In Gaelic paganchd, one never consumes a food offering: the entire offering is left for those to whom it is being offered.

 Magic, for the Norse, was largely a female work, even though Odin practiced in his endless thirst for wisdom. Among Gaels, there was no such gender division, and males described as Druids regularly engage in magic arts.

 There is a clear delineation of "who is what" in Norse lore: Thor is a God, Njord is a Vanir, Aegir is a Jotunn, Brynhild is a Valkyrie, and Sigurd is a Mortal. in Gaelic lore, there is whole ton of grey; strict lines between deities, great warrior-heroes, and many characters are often not clear. 

Norse gods exist in a vast "world above" (Asgard, Vanaheim), unconnected to place; Gaelic gods are associated with specific pieces of earth: Irish tutelary gods rule over specific landscapes, estates, ponds mountains etc, and were not divorced from the earth, but intimately connected with small pieces of it.

The differences are not necessarily irreconcilable, but there are differences, and in a personal practice, it takes a bit of work to decide how to weave them together into a coherent system.

Or, you decide they are not meant to be reconciled, and "live in the grey."

 Now, as for Scottish Paganachd

Scottish is particularly difficult; there really are no books devoted solely to Scottish Paganachd yet.  Scottish paganism is itself a collision and syncretism of the Brythonic traditions of the Picts, the Irish traditions imported with the Kingdom of DalRiata, and the influence of the Norse in the Viking Age at the same time that Christian missionaries were at work.

I would check out the blog at tairis.co.uk/ as a good starting place.

Invest in some of the Pagan Portal books on individual deities, such as An Cailleach, Brigid, Manannan Mac Lir, The Morrigan, etc. Morgan Daimler, though she embraces modern concept, is exceptional at collecting and presenting lore in a fairly unbiased fashion. As Irish lore is Scottish lore due to the cross-pollination of the Kingdom of Dal Riada, they are worth a read. Even more important, get a copy of Thomas Kinsella's translation of The Tain.  The Tain bo Cuailgne, or Cattle Raid of Cooley, is the Gaelic equivalent of the Norse Poetic Edda...and some of the action takes place in Scotland.

 In Scotland, An Cailleach is KEY, and the book by Rachel Patterson is the best I've found.  In addition, do a web search on Tigh nan Bodach, a shrine to An Cailleach near Loch Lyon.

Get ahold of the Carmina Gadelica by Alexander Carmichael. Its a collection of oral prayers from the Hebrides in the 1800s and is saturated in christian references, BUT it gives insight into the remaining pagan thought patterns, and includes many prayers involving Brigid.

 Check out Scottish folklore books , and if you are so inclined, historic clan folklore of specific clans and history if you are connected with such a clan. While many folktales are late (1600s on), and all have morphed with storyteller's flourishes with time, some reach far back. Tales I found particularly helpful: Assipattle, Golden Cradle of the Picts, the Cam Ruadh, and two crossovers with Norse lore: Lady Odivere in the Orkneys and the Origin of Midges in Applecross, where the Norse Jotun Thrym is a key character.

 Scottish folklore books:

 1)      Daniel Allisons 'Scottish Myths and Legends" is a great start. I am actually in contact with him, and have provided him with some source material :-)

2)      There is a version of the Irish Fionn McCool saga involving Grainne and Diarmid. In the Irish version, they flee to Scotland, but somehow end up back in Ireland. In the Scottish version, their death is in Scotland (Perthshire.) Allison's book "Finn & The Fianna" would be best.

3)      The Anthology of Scottish Folktales by History Press

4)      Perthshire Folk Tales by Lindsey Gibb and C.A. Hope.

 5)      Tales of the Seal People by Duncan Williamson. You will find some cross-over and retelling of some stories in these first four books, but the variances are fascinating, and speak to their nature as oral history.

 6)      Glen of the Fairies (Antony Mackenzie Smith - expensive! $600! I found mine in a second hand shop for $25!)

7)      Folklore of the Scottish Highlands, Anne Ross. Most of what she covers is late (1700s on), and some deals with later christian accusations of witchraft and later developments,  but her focus on "Second Sight" is instructive.

8)      The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies by Roert Kirk (Intro by Lang). The intro is longer than the original book(!) and somewhat cynical and not useful...but Kirk was a pastor who collected stories about fairies and brownies in the 1600s. Again, like most Scottish lore, you are 'investigating' and peeling apart an onion.

9) Highland Myths and Legends, George W MacPherson. A good sample of different subject matters, with an emphasis on the Isle of Skye. Worth getting, although MacPherson has a peculiar obsession with introducing "Amazons" into Sgathach's fighting forces, which is not attested to in any other lore.

10) Tiel's Saga, by Thom Simmons, examines five fairly well-known Scottish folklore tales and researches the syncretism of Norse and Gaelic cultures evident in those tales.

 For Pictish sources...Look up news reports on the Rhynie Man, an archaeological find in Aberdeenshire, which suggests possible connections between the Picts and continental celts (the god Esus) and who seems to also appear on a stone in Caithness.  Also, "Pagan Symbols of the Picts and "A New History of the Picts" by Stuart McHardy are worth a read.

 That should be enough to get you started

Transliterating Elder Futhark to English

 "We temporarily interrupt this series of posts about Making a set of Runes to bring you this important message!"

On literally every social media site I visit, someone will ask about how to write some English phrase in runes.  And naturally,  when using them, it makes sense to write in the language they were created for. But for 99.96%+ of us, that ain't gonna happen. So we use them to write English in Elder Futhark. That's simply going to happen. But if we're going to do that, we need to transliterate, and not translate. And that means *throw away* all these stupid internet memes and apps that try to make a Rune-to-letter equivalency.

Runes represent SOUNDS, NOT LETTERS. The Ansuz represents the "a" sound in "want," but NOT the "a" sound in "wane." Here is the phenome chart to use. You're welcome.

Making a Rune Set...Post #1

 

Introduction

As a Reconstructionst Heathen, I take the Runes seriously.  Certainly, our Norse ancestors did. Odin sacrificed himself, hanging for nine days, in order to grasp the keys to their use.

In the Havamal ("Sayings of the High One"), Stanza 144, we read,

"Do you know how to write them? Do you know how to read them? Do you know how to paint them? Do you know how to test them? Do you know how to ask them? Do you know how to bless them? Do you know how to send them? Do you know how to offer them?" (Trans. by Crawford)

There has long been passionate discussion among heathens as to various aspects of using runes.  It is inarguable that runes were used for magical purposes, according to the lore. Using them for divination is more controversial, with some even claiming that using runes simply meant “writing words.”  It is my firm belief that both the lore and historical sources point to their use beyond mere writing.  When The Havamal asks, “Do you know how to test them? Do you know how to ask them? Do you know how to bless them?,” it is clear that something more is going on than writing a word.  Having said that, expressing an actual word – whether orally or in writing – carried significant weight in ancient society. Whether a spoken Oath in Norse culture, or a geis placed on someone in Gaelic culture – words mattered.

In the Saga of the Volsungs, Brynhild provides interesting history and context for the use of runes, when she advises the hero Sigurd:

“You should carve victory-runes if you want to have victory. Carve some on the hilt of your sword, carve some on the middle of your blade also, some elsewhere on the sword, and name Tyr twice.”  Indeed, there are numerous gravestones in Sweden that bear a double-Tiwaz, the rune of Tyr.    Brynhild continues, and names the places runes were carved:

“…on the wheel of the chariot of Thor, on the reigns of Sleipnir, on the reins of his sled.”  And while some dismiss these as mere words (as opposed to single runes used magically), she names other places, including a fingernail, the beak of an owl, and on a pine needle.

“All of them that were carved,
Were then shaved off,
And they were stirred into the holy mead,
And sent far away;
Some are with the Aesir,
Some are with the elves,
Some are with the Vanir,
And mortal men have some.”

Saga of the Volsungs, Chapter 20

On one hand, Runes should not be dismissed as some modern new agey woo-woo; but on the other, neither should they be used as casual toys to take out and play with at a sleepover for giggles. They do not operate the same as Tarot Cards or Ouija boards. They are not inanimate tools.

"Runes are far more than a simple method of divination or even a system of magic. At their core, they are living keys to accessing and working the Wyrd, but even this function only barely touches on their true nature. The runes are alive. It is not enough to simply cast them; at the higher levels, one must realize that they have an instinct and intellect all their own, and a very potent will. ...this is something that most people who work with runes don’t realize. They're sentient." (Krasskova, Runes: Theory and Practice, 2009)

Choosing The Raw Material

Each practitioner needs to decide for themselves how they will make their runes; what each one represents; and, while drawing on the experience of others, relying on their own relationship with their own runes. I personally believe that natural materials are best, such as bone, stones, wood, and seashells. The historian Tacitus, writing circa 98 CE, describes casting lots as a practice used by the Germanic tribes as follows:

"To divination and casting of lots, they pay attention beyond any other people. Their method of casting lots is a simple one: they cut a branch from a fruit-bearing tree and divide it into small pieces which they mark with certain distinctive signs and scatter at random onto a white cloth. Then, the priest of the community if the lots are consulted publicly, or the father of the family if it is done privately, after invoking the gods and with eyes raised to heaven, picks up three pieces, one at a time, and interprets them according to the signs previously marked upon them." (Germanica, chapter 10.)

 

Various translations of Tacitus’ passage above differ as to the actual meaning of “fruit-bearing tree;” some translate it as “nut-bearing,” and still others as “seed-bearing.”  A broad reading would suggest that the wood of almost any tree would do, although intriguingly, Ash (cYggdrasil is thought to be an Ash), Holly, Aspen, Cedar, and Willow are all dioecious, meaning that there are separate mail and female trees, and only female trees bear fruit, nuts, or seeds of any kind.

Historically, Norse farmers identified one tree on their property as the “Warden Tree;” this was a special tree, under whose roots was believed to dwell the farm’s land spirits. It was forbidden to cut a limb or harm this tree in any way.

We have such a tree on our property.

In the middle of our lawn stands a huge Black Walnut Tree.  In the summer, its limbs become so heavy with leaves (and nuts), that the branches bend down to the ground and form a canopy, one of our favorite places to escape to and sit and relax with an ale or glass of wine in the heat.  This tree is the focal point of our farm.  We make gallons of black walnut wood stain from the hulls of the nuts that drop each fall, and return the nuts to the red squirrels who have taken up residence here. Black Walnut is a unique tree, in that it produces a natural chemical, juglone, in all parts of the tree.  It is poisonous to most non-native plants, but most native plants have no problem co-existing with it.  Its almost as if the Black Walnut is saying, “if you don’t belong here – get out!”

 

I would have loved to have made my runes out of walnut – but as our “Warden tree,” there is no way I was going to cut a branch to do so.  We have a second, slightly smaller walnut tree right next to it, but its branches are quite high off the ground and large, and it wasn’t practical to cut.  I had pretty much decided that I would use the wood from a young Ash at the front of our house - which needed to come down anyway.

And then, this spring, we had a powerful late snowstorm, and a huge limb from the second walnut tree came crashing down. It remained attached to the tree by a small strip of bark, and remarkably, began putting out buds this week, but the branch needed to be removed.  And in so doing, I now had living wood from a nut-bearing tree.  My material was chosen for me by the forces of nature around us.

 

Slicing the Wood into Discs

 

I took a three-foot section of the branch that had a uniform diameter of about 1 ¾ inches.

  Using a wire brush, I cleaned off the branch (which was covered in lichen and moss on one side), being careful not to unduly damage the bark.  Then we trotted off to the workshop in the garage, and using the chopsaw, began carefully slicing the branch into discs. I made many more than I needed (I need 24 for the Elder Futhark, and ended up with over 50), adjusting slightly on thickness as I went.  3/8” thickness seems to be about perfect.  Later, I will be picking through them and choosing the most uniform set I can create, without blemishes or subtle cracks in the wood.