Unmatched Heathen Shrine Found

Original article by Cato Guhnfeldt appeared in Aftenposten on December 23, 2011

Translation by Dr. Karl E. H. Seigfried for The Norse Mythology Blog
Read the original article (in Norwegian) here

Art and photos © Preben Rønne
Original text © Aftenposten

Unmatched Heathen Shrine Found

Now one of them, in its time deliberately and carefully hidden, is rediscovered – the first of its kind in Norway.

How the temple may have originally looked – with sacrificial altar
on right, pole-building at center and processional road on left

The temple – which last year was identified as a near-complete construction in the city of Ranheim in South Trøndelag, approximately 10 km north of Trondheim – was discovered by accident in connection with plans for construction of homes.

Sacrificed Animal Blood

The pagan sanctuary survived because the last people who used it, over 1,000 years ago, did their utmost to hide the entire system with an unusually thick layer of soil – so thick that plows never reached deep enough to destroy it. There were a few drainage ditches originally dug through the area, but it was not known what lay to the right and left of the trenches.

Temple site visible on left as gray area in field 

“The discovery is unique in a Norwegian context, the first ever made in our latitudes,” says Preben Rønne of the Science Museum at the University of Trondheim, who led the excavations.

The temple may have been built sometime around or after the year 400 CE and thus been used for hundreds of years, until the people emigrated to avoid Christianity’s straitjacket. It consisted of a stone-set “sacrificial altar” and also traces of a pole-building that probably housed idols in the form of logs with carved faces of Thor, Odin, Frey and Freya. Deceased relatives of high rank were also portrayed in this way and worshiped. Nearby, by the archaeologists also uncovered a procession route.

Thanks to the soil, the temple was very well-preserved. The “altar” where the gods were worshiped – including through animal sacrifice – consisted of a circular stone setting around 15 meters in diameter and nearly a meter high. The pole-building a few meters away was rectangular, had a 5.3-by-4.5 meter floor plan, and was erected with 12 pillars – each having a strong stone foundation. It may have been a tall building, and the findings made very clear that it was not used as a dwelling. Among other things, it had no fireplace. Inside the building were found traces of four pillars that may be evidence of a high seat where the idols stood between ceremonies. A processional road west of the temple – and headed straight towards the pole-building – was marked with two parallel rows of large stones, the longest series at least 25 feet long.

Strange Burial Mound

When archaeologists began excavation work last year, the site was thought at first to be a flat burial mound with a main grave and one or more secondary graves.

“But as we dug, the stone cairn appeared more and more peculiar,” says Rønne.

“Approximately in the middle of the excavation, we had to admit that it was not a burial mound, but a sacrificial altar – in the Norse sources called a horg. It was made up of both round domed rocks and stone slabs. During the work, we found two glass beads – and also some burned bones and traces of a wooden box that had been filled with red-brown sand/gravel and a broken cooking stone. Among the bones, we found part of a skull and several human teeth. However, we found no ‘gold old men’ – small human figures of thin gold – which were often used in connection with sacrifices.”

Glass beads found on top of sacrificial altar during excavation 

The most recent dating of the temple is from between 895 CE and 990 CE. Precisely in this period, Christianity was introduced by heavy-handed methods in Norway. This meant that many left the country to retain their original faith.

“Probably the people who used the temple were among those who chose to emigrate, either to Iceland or other North Atlantic islands,” said Rønne. “Posts from the pole-building were, in fact, pulled up and removed. The whole ‘altar’ was carefully covered with earth and clay precisely during the transition to Christian times. Therefore, the cult site was completely forgotten.”

Unique in Norway

Large pre-Christian cult sites in Scandinavia – often large settlements with a large central hall and a smaller attached building – have not been found in Norway. However, they have been found in Central and Southern Sweden (Skåne), and also in eastern Denmark.

“Under the sacrificial altar, we found a fire pit that actually lay directly on the prehistoric plow-layer. The charcoal from this tomb is now dated to 500-400 BCE. Thus, the site may have been regarded as sacred – or at least had a special status – long before the stone altar was built. In the prehistoric plow-layer under the fire pit, we could clearly see the traces of plowing with a plow or plow-precursor,” said Rønne.

The temple site before excavation, in the shape of a circular stone setting
with an opening in the middle of the cleared area. Embankments behind
show the thick layers of soil that were once laid over the temple to hide it.

According to Rønne, the find was easy to interpret as a temple from Norse sources. It was also from precisely the Trøndelag area that the largest exodus of people who wanted to retain their freedom – and not become Christians – took place. A large part of them went to Iceland between between 870 CE and 930 CE – i.e., during Harald Fairhair’s time. In all, 40 people from Trøndelag are specifically mentioned in the Norse sources. In Iceland, their descendants later wrote a large part of these sources.

“Indications are that the people who deliberately covered up the temple in Ranheim took the posts from the pole-building – in addition to soil from the altar – to the place where they settled down and raised a new temple. Because our findings and the Norse sources work well together, the sources may be more reliable than many scientists believed,” said Rønne.

Now the unique Ranheim shrine will be removed forever to make way for housing. Not all agree.

“The facility will be a great tourist attraction, if it is simultaneously disclosed what happened on the site. It is unique in Norway, says civil engineer Arvid Ystad, who has – on private initiative – applied to both the Directorate for Cultural Heritage and the Society for the Preservation Norwegian Ancient Monuments for site conservation.

“The location of the homes could easily be adapted to this unique cultural heritage, without anyone losing their residential lots. It could have been an attraction for new residents and tell them much about the history of the site from over 1,000 years ago. Unfortunately, housing construction is now underway,” said Rønne.

A Middle School Student Asks About Norse Mythology and Norse Religion

Back in November, I posted my answers to a series of questions that a high school student asked me for a project on Norse mythology and Norse religion that he was working on for his English class. I've now answered another set of questions on the topic – this time for a middle school student's English project.

Tanner Lettieri is an eighth-grade student in Mr. Bradley Akans' Language Arts class at Algonquin Middle School in Clinton Township, Michigan. Tanner chose "Norse Mythology and Viking Culture" as the topic for his project, and – since Mr. Akans required his students to interview someone with knowledge of their chosen subject – he sent me a very nice email asking me to help.

Algonquin Middle School, Home of the Eagles

Tanner's questions are incredibly insightful and sophisticated. He's a very impressive eighth grader! Below are his questions and my answers.

TL – Norse mythology includes many different gods and goddesses. How many are there, and do they have control over every aspect of life, or are there parts that not even the gods could control?

How many of the Norse gods and goddesses can you identify
from their attributes in this artwork by Sól Hrafnsdóttir?

KS – In the book known as the Edda, the 13th-century Icelandic writer Snorri Sturluson lists the main gods as Odin, Thor, Njörð, Frey, Týr, Heimdall, Bragi, Vídar, Váli, Ull, Hœnir, Forseti and Loki. He does, however, say that Loki is only “numbered among the Æsir,” so his status as a god is a bit suspect. Snorri lists the main goddesses (Ásynjur) as Frigg, Freya, Gefjon, Idun, Gerd, Sigyn, Fulla, Nanna, Sága, Eir, Lofn, Vár, Vör, Hlín, Snotra, Gná and Sól; he neglects to mention Thor’s wife Sif and the icy maiden Skadi. Like Loki, Skadi is (temporarily) aligned with the gods – she’s actually a giant-maiden associated with mountains, skiing and archery.

There are, as you said, many figures (even beyond what I’ve listed here), but some of them don’t really have developed characters or stories associated with them. In fact, some scholars argue that these lesser gods and goddesses may merely be aspects of the better-known gods that have “branched off” into separate entities.

I don’t know if I would use the word control when talking of the gods' relationship to the various aspects of life. I think a better word might be influence. The gods are definitely involved in all aspects of life – birth, death, love, war, creativity, wealth, power, etc – but their contact with humanity is much more interactive and interesting than simple control.

The Norse gods are very different from the god of the Old Testament, who demands obedience and adherence to his commandments, and who (for example) smites you with lightning if you accidentally bump into the Ark of the Covenant. In the Old Norse worldview, the gods were actors on the stage of life, not all-powerful directors.

If you ever have to carry the Ark of the Covenant, please be careful!

Possibly the strongest evidence for the Norse gods not controlling life is the fact that they themselves can die – that they are subject to the decrees of the Norns, the three mystic women who spin the fates of all living things. The gods (especially Odin) may mightily struggle against destiny, but they do not control it.

TL – Throughout all the sources I’ve looked through while working on my project, most have told me that information on the Norse religion is scarce and hard to find, due to the lack of writing used in Viking culture. How lacking is this info?

KS – There actually is a lot of information, and our body of knowledge is continually growing. New archaeological finds occur fairly regularly, and each discovery adds another piece to the puzzle of our understanding of this ancient culture. Linguists and philologists work to reconstruct long-lost language-forms and dialects. Historians study primary sources written by Greek and Roman authors for their descriptions of the Germanic and Nordic traditions of their times. Literary scholars pour over the Eddas and sagas of Iceland and try to piece together a coherent picture of the mythology and religion.

You are right, however, about the lack of written sources from the actual believers in the ancient faith. Most of our written records come from well after the conversion to Christianity, when the new religion brought the traditions of Latin learning and writing with it as it moved into northern Europe. We really have a collection of second- or third-hand descriptions of religious practice that were written down by (at best) interested non-believers or (at worst) individuals who were actively hostile to the Old Way.

Today, there is a vast body of scholarship on all aspects of Norse history and religion. However, it’s very difficult to find reliable information on the Internet, which tends to be dominated by superficial, non-scholarly material. If you have access to a university library – or a good public library – you will find a whole world of books waiting for you on these subjects.

Books are awesome.

TL – Why wasn’t the Runic writing system – the system said to be created by Odin himself in the old tales – not used to write down the legends that skalds told?

The runic system was mainly used for carving in stone and wood. The tradition of writing on parchment with ink came in with the arrival of Christian learning. In pre-Christian times, poems and stories were preserved as oral tradition.

A story from Gautrek’s Saga underscores the importance of memory for the poet-storyteller. Odin, disguised as Grani Horsehair (grani means “moustache”), takes the hero Starkad to a meeting of the gods. Thor is mad at Starkad, since the hero’s mother chose a giant for a mate instead of the Thunder God. Whatever gift Odin gives the hero, Thor cancels out.

Then just about midnight, Grani Horsehair woke up his foster-son Starkad and asked him to come along with him. They got a small boat and rowed over to another island. They walked through a wood until they came to a clearing where a large number of people were attending a meeting. There were eleven men sitting on chairs but a twelfth chair was empty. Starkad and his foster-father joined the assembly, and Grani Horsehair seated himself on the twelfth chair. Everyone present greeted him by the name Odin, and he said that the judges would now have to decide on Starkad's fate.

Then Thor spoke up and said: 'Starkad's mother, Alfhild, preferred a brainy giant to Thor himself as the father of her son. So I ordain that Starkad himself shall have neither a son nor a daughter, and his family will end with him.'

Odin: 'I ordain that he shall live for three life spans.'

Thor: 'He shall commit a most foul deed in every one of them.'

Odin: 'I ordain that he shall have the best in weapons and clothing.'

Thor: 'I ordain that he shall have neither land nor estates.'

Odin: 'I give him this, that he shall vast sums of money.'

Thor: 'I lay this curse on him, that he shall never be satisfied with what he has.'

Odin: 'I give him victory and fame in every battle.'

Thor: 'I lay this curse on him, that in every battle he shall be sorely wounded.'

Odin: 'I give him the art of poetry, so that he shall compose verses as fast as he can speak.'

Thor: 'He shall never remember afterwards what he composes.'

Odin: 'I ordain that he shall be most highly thought of by all the noblest people and the best.'

Thor: 'The common people shall hate him every one.'

Then the judges decreed that all that had been said should happen to Starkad. The assembly broke up, and Grani Horse-hair and Starkad went back to their boat.

Odin, the god of poetic inspiration, gives Starkad the ability to compose poetry on the spot, like a freestyle rapper. Thor makes the gift useless by decreeing that Starkad won’t be able to remember what he composes after he speaks it. In an age when the written word was still uncommon, this meant that Starkad’s poetry would be instantly lost. From this tale, you can see that simply being creative wasn’t enough; you had to remember what you had composed, too!

1555 illustration of Starkad: the rune-stick in his
right hand gives the Latin version of his name.

TL – Do the stories told by the Norsemen affect our culture any great deal today without most people knowing?

They do. When you study English literature in high school or college, you’ll find that one of the foundational works of Old English is Beowulf, which details both historical and legendary events in Denmark and other northern locales. It preserves alternate versions of famous legends, including that of the great dragon-slayer Sigurd/Siegfried (although Beowulf switches the roles of Sigurd and his father, Sigmund).

J.R.R. Tolkien was an expert on Old English and Old Norse literature, and his essay on Beowulf influenced the way that way study it in England and America to this day. Tolkien’s books of fantasy fiction (especially The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) are full of references to and retellings of Norse myth. How many people watching the Peter Jackson films understand these allusions? Many ideas from Norse mythology (magical runic inscriptions, mystical swords, wandering wizards) have simply become part of the fantasy genre, and their connection to Norse myth goes unnoticed by most people.

Many scenes in The Hobbit – like this riddle contest between
Bilbo Baggins and Gollum – come straight from Norse mythology.

The concepts of the Old Way continue to influence politics, too. We developed a different system here in America, but many European nations (and countries where they have had influence) have a parliamentary system. The roots of this system can be traced back to the Þing (pronounced “thing”) of the ancient Germanic world. In Iceland, they actually still use this old name for their parliament.

The Icelandic sagas contain many fascinating stories of debates (and sometimes actual fights) at these long-ago councils, and the myths tell us that even the gods held their own Þings. It’s fascinating that this system of government has survived and evolved over so great a time span.

There are many other ways Norse myth still lives on around us. You can read about some of them in my article answering questions on Norse mythology and Norse religion from a high school student.

TL – The Norse gods created several different worlds, each housing its own specific race. Were these separate worlds, or the races within them ever greatly detailed, or just vaguely referenced?

KS – We know a lot about some of them, very little about others. The myths tell us about Asgard (home of the Æsir) in great detail – about the buildings, the inhabitants, the events that take place there. Thor has adventures in Jötunheim (home of the giants) and meets many of its monstrous inhabitants – he usually ends up smashing them with his mighty hammer. Humans live on Midgard, so you could say that all the sagas deal with this world.

Norse mythology tells us that the World Tree
connects Nine Worlds, but artists can't seem
to agree on how to illustrate them.

On the other hand, we know very little about Álfheim (home of the light-elves) and its inhabitants. We may think we know all about the elves, but most of our image of them comes from later folk tales and fantasy literature; the myths themselves tell us very little. The dwarves appear in the mythology and make treasures for their gods, but no female dwarves ever show up. I wonder if the dwarves spend so much time in their workshops because they can't find any girls to talk to . . .

The poems, myths and sagas all suggest that ancient people had detailed ideas about the different races of beings. References are made to Álfablót (sacrifice to the elves), for instance. The poems collected in the Poetic Edda make shadowy references to stories that are now lost. It seems clear that there was once a more detailed conception of these different types of beings, but they haven’t survived in the written record that we have today.

TL – Were the gods immortal like most gods in other religions? The gods who planned to fight with the forces of evil in Ragnarök – seemed to be able to die, so what made them higher then mere men?

The gods are definitely not immortal, and they are not eternal – unlike the god of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, who has always existed. The myths tell us of the “birth” of the first god (he’s actually licked from salty ice by a magic cow) and of the deaths of Odin, Thor and the other major gods. They have both a beginning and an end.

What enables the gods and goddesses to outlive mortals is their access to mystic apples of youth, harvested by the goddess Idun. As long as they take these sort-of super-vitamins, they stay young and strong. In one story, the giants kidnap Idun, and the gods age and wither until they get her (and her magic apples) back.

The gods fade away without their magic apples.

The gods are higher than humans in the same way that humans are higher than hamsters; they’re simply a higher order of being. The gods are older and wiser, they are more powerful and stronger, and they have access to all sorts of wondrous things that you and I couldn’t really handle – Thor’s hammer, Odin’s eight-legged horse, Freya’s falcon cloak and so on.

One way to think of the gods is as personifications of powerful natural forces. In fact, one of the old terms for the gods is regin, which means “powers.” You and I are just people, but some of the gods’ names show their very different natures. Thor is “thunder,” Odin is “fury,” Jörð is “earth.” You could even see Frey (“lord”) and Freya (“lady”) as manhood and womanhood incarnate.

TL – Are there any details on what creatures make up the horde of evil that will face off with the gods? Loki and his offspring are main contributors, but who else?

KS – The Edda and Poetic Edda both provide details about the forces of darkness that will fight the gods in the final battle at Ragnarök. Loki, Hel, Fenrir and Jörmungand will be joined by an army of evil dead and a host of monstrous giants. Surt will raise his flaming sword to lead giants from Muspell, the land of fire to the south. Hrym will lead the giants from the east, raising his shield before him. The monstrous hound named Garm will break free from his bonds and join the attack. All of the Nine Worlds seem to be involved in the battle, but the allegiances of the different groups aren’t completely spelled out. One of the main poems in the Poetic Edda tells us that “the dwarfs howl before their rocky doors,” but it doesn’t tell us whose side they’re on.

Surt had a flaming sword before Darth Vader had a lightsaber.

TL – Why are the Æsir and Vanir gods so different from one another, and why did the Æsir receive more attention from followers of the religion?

Generally speaking, the Æsir are gods of rulership and war, and the Vanir of fertility. However, their roles tend to overlap. There is historical evidence that Thor was invoked in battle, but he was also seen as the patron of the independent farmer; you can see that this reflects both the destructive power of lightning and the fertile power of the rain that it brings.

At the beginning of this interview, you asked if the gods “have control over every aspect of life.” Together, the two tribes of gods are involved in the totality of existence. Neither group by itself is enough; they need each other to complete the circle.

For example, Freya brings knowledge of magical practice from the Vanir to the Æsir. Odin learns this wisdom, and goes on to become a sort of wizard-priest and master of magic. So, is magical knowledge a trait of the Vanir or the Æsir? Although Freya is one of the Vanir – and can be seen, in part, as a goddess of fertility and love – she lives with the Æsir in Asgard and divides with Odin the warriors who die in battle. The two tribes of gods have a very complicated partnership.

Freya was a sorceress before Odin was a wizard.

I’m not sure that I would say the Æsir received more attention from the followers of the old religion. Odin looms large in the poetry that has survived, but you have to remember that he was the god who inspired poets. It makes sense that they would dedicate their poems to him. If we could go back in time and interview old-time farmers, they might tell us a great number of forgotten tales of Thor.

As a matter of fact, historical sources tell us that the ancient temple at Uppsala in Sweden had a huge statue of Thor in the middle; Odin and Frey were placed off to the side. We also know that Frey himself had very devoted followers in both Sweden and Iceland. My point is that different gods were given varying degrees of importance in different locales.

Snorri Sturluson’s Edda tells us that women prayed to specific goddesses for specific needs. Earlier, I mentioned the Álfablót (sacrifice to the elves). The elves – mysterious as they are – are associated with the Vanir in the mythology. Frey, one of the most important of the Vanir, lives in Álfheim (home of the elves). As with so much of this material, we seem to be missing some important pieces of the puzzle here.

Like we did in the case of Odin and the poets, we should consider who eventually wrote down the myths. If women writers were the ones preserving the records of mythology and religion, we might have a very different idea of the whole subject – perhaps with a greater emphasis on the Vanir.

It’s also important to consider our own contemporary perspective. I grew up reading Thor comics, not Frey comics. It’s a lot easier to write adventure tales about a violent god of thunder than about a peaceful god of fertility. Which would you rather read? Our own interests can shape our view of the material, and we need to be careful not to project our own attitudes onto a complicated group of people that lived over a thousand years ago, and who had a very complex relationship with this ancient religion.

Frey actually has appeared in the pages of The Mighty Thor,
but it seems like Marvel Comics wasn't sure what to do with him.

I would like to thank you for asking me to be part of your school project. Your questions are very insightful and sophisticated. Many of the issues that you raise are the same ones that I discuss with students in my Norse religion college classes. You’re way ahead of the game in your thinking on these issues, and I am curious to see how your studies progress. Please keep me posted!

Why Norse Mythology? Part Two

This post continues my portrait of people I've been lucky enough to meet since I began writing The Norse Mythology Blog – recently voted Best Religion Weblog in the international Weblog Awards – and examines the many ways in which Norse myth continues to deeply affect life in today's world.

RELIGIOUS LEADERS

I have had the great honor and pleasure of gaining the friendship of some truly amazing and progressive religious leaders in Iceland and America. In Summer 2010, I spent three weeks in Iceland getting to know the wonderfully open and friendly members of the Ásatrúarfélagið (“Æsir Faith Fellowship”), the pagan church founded in 1972 that is officially recognized by the Icelandic government. I had been corresponding with several of them for some time via their web forum and email, and they were incredibly welcoming from the moment I arrived in Iceland.

A living religion woven into the fabric of everyday life:
Hilmar (left) at Ásatrú name-giving ceremony - June 24, 2010

In my interviews with Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson (allsherjargoði – very roughly translated as “high priest”) and Jóhanna G. Harðardóttir (staðgengill allsherjargoða (“deputy high priestess”), the two church leaders express very different views on how contemporary individuals can experience a living religion that is based on the ancient texts of Norse myth and saga. Since my visit, I have received powerfully moving letters from Hilmar in which he describes his experiences as a spiritual leader – providing grief counseling to the family of friends who died unexpectedly young; presiding over name-giving ceremonies, weddings and funerals; dealing with the business side of building a hof (“temple”) in a country that has gone through an intense economic battering. For the members of the Icelandic church, this is a real, living religion connected to an ancient tradition that impacts their lives as strongly as any other faith – it has nothing to do with wearing a horned helmet and running around the forest with a wooden sword.

Here in Chicago, I have gotten to know Reverend Kurt Esslinger, the Presbyterian minister who runs Agape House at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His dedication to working for positive change is truly inspiring, and his efforts to reach out across cultural, ethnic and religious lines provide a standard for the rest of us. He surprised me recently when he unveiled a massive new tattoo of Yggdrasil, the World Tree of Norse myth.

Reverend Kurt Esslinger's Yggdrasil tattoo

For Kurt, the World Tree “denotes the permeation of the divine throughout all existence.” I completely agree, and I am happy to know a Christian minister who is open enough to other traditions to be able to embrace the power of this ancient symbol from another faith. I just wish that people with Kurt’s progressive attitude were in charge of more of America’s interfaith organizations – which mostly seem to define “interfaith” as dialogue between various Christian denominations or between Christians and Jews (and sometimes Muslims). There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in only those philosophies.

ACTIVISTS

One of the ways that Norse myth has inspired contemporary social dialogue is through the progressive political actions of many involved in this international community. For those who espouse an allegiance to the various forms of modern religion that are based (in whole or in part) on the Old Norse faiths, progressive political action is often at the core of their public lives.

On the other hand, the power of the myths to inspire activism also shows up in purely academic settings; Scott Mellor and several of his students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Scandinavian Studies were very active participants in the protests against Governor Scott Walker. According to Hárbarðsljóð ("Harbard's Song"),

Odin has the nobles who fall in battle
and Thor has the breed of serfs.

This political season, Odin may or may not be throwing his runes for the aristocratic Romney; only the Allfather knows what the Allfather knows. Thor, on the other hand, is clearly aligned with the 99%.

Protests in Madison: partially Thor-inspired?

\Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson told me that “for some of us, the gods are personifications of natural forces,” and it is this spiritual connection to the natural world that seems to be at the root of actions such as Hilmar’s raising of a traditional níðstöng (“scorn-pole”) against the Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Project in an effort to protect a place of great natural beauty from the destructive actions of modern industry. As he told me in our interview,

It’s part of my oath that I will fight with nature [i.e., on nature’s side] and respect the . . . how can I say it? We sincerely believe that, when we settled this country, we did it in good connection with the nature spirits and the spirits of the land. When we do our ceremonies, we are also offering our greetings and pouring out beer for the genius loci - the local spirits. I think it’s really important that we should give this country in better shape to our children and grandchildren than we receive it. If you have to take a political stand, so be it.

For some time, I have corresponded with members of Germany’s Nornirs Ætt (“Norn’s Family”), another contemporary religious group – particularly the members who belong to the rock band Singvøgel. Along with the organization called Rabenclan, they have been prominent in publicly denouncing right-wing groups. Recently, Singvøgel performed at a German demonstration against ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement), which is the international equivalent of the American SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) that caused such an outcry in January. It’s easy to see how these German activists can find inspiration in Norse myth and legend, with its emphasis on individual freedom and responsibility.

Singvøgel performs at anti-ACTA demonstration

One of the most interesting connections I have made is with Suhag Shukla, Managing Director of the Hindu American Foundation. I heard her speak with Reverend C. Welton Gaddy on his wonderful State of Belief radio show, and her criticism of President Obama’s advisory council on faith-based programs lined up perfectly with my own. When I contacted her through her Facebook page, she was gracious and kind. I look forward to meeting her in person in the near future and discussing her powerful advocacy for enlarging the scope of respectful interfaith dialogue in the United States.

LGBT

For those with only a passing acquaintance with Norse mythology, it may come as something of a surprise to read that I have met several members of the LGBT community who are truly passionate about this material. I have met and exchanged letters with gay and lesbian individuals in America and abroad who feel that they can find themselves in Norse myth in a way that they cannot in Christian myth.

Loki expresses his feminine side.
Art by Dylan Teague

Specifically, they feel a sort of sympathetic kinship with the complicated figure of Loki. The charismatic trickster of Norse mythology changes gender with aplomb, cross-dresses with gleeful abandon, mates with both male and female partners, makes no distinction between gods and their enemy giants in his choice of partners – he even gives birth. Although I get exhausted just thinking about all this, I can understand why members of the LGBT community find Loki so simpatico. Where in the Judeo-Christian tradition can they find such a colorful character who takes such Samantha-Jones-like delight in his all-embracing, pan-sexual nature?

RELIGION JOURNALISTS

The one great disappointment in all of this is the interaction I have had with America’s mainstream religion journalists – actually, the complete lack of interaction. I feel that many religion journalists have not lived up to the calling of their profession. If I had a nickel for every time I asked a writer who covers religion a question about coverage of faiths other than Christianity, Judaism and Islam – and received absolutely no response back . . . well, I sure would have a lot of nickels. This willful ghettoization of minority faiths is shameful.

Covering the religion beat for a major national news organization should not mean using your position as a bully pulpit for promoting your own religious views. It should mean digging deeper into religious matters than simply parroting the headlines in the other sections of the newspaper. To pick just one example, if Mitt Romney says that President Obama is waging a “war on religion,” don’t just ask your Christian minister friend if he thinks Obama is really a Christian or not; spend some time with Native American activists and learn about a real war on religion – what Indian Country Today’s Suzan Shown Harjo calls the “USDA’s Culture War Against Sacred Places.” We as a nation need to learn more about the perspectives of minority faiths, not just be fed an incessant stream of statements from leaders of and evangelists for the massive majority religions.

Is Justin Bieber the most important religious thinker of our times?
Many religion journalists seem to think so.

Working as a professional religion journalist should also not mean writing endless stories on the (not incredibly deep) proclamations of Christian faith by celebrities like Justin Bieber, Tim Tebow and (new flavor-of-the-month) Jeremy Lin. If you are (as Bernie Mac would say) “a grown-ass man” (or woman) and went to a fancy journalism school, you shouldn’t be writing article after article on, for example, what a eighteen-year-old Auto-Tuned pop singer says about Jesus. You’re better than this. I realize that repeating the simple faith statements of evangelical celebrities will get you more Twitter followers than taking the time to research the deep spiritual beliefs of the followers of minority religions, but I also believe that the benefits to your own spiritual journey – and that of your readers – will be worth making the effort to expand your horizons.

In order to help shine a light on this issue, I recently joined the Religion Newswriters Association. I hope that my membership in the organization will enable me to make contact with the more open-minded wing of the profession. I also hope that my work on this blog (and the other websites of Norse Mythology Online) will inspire other writers to move beyond their comfort zones and begin to investigate the deep reservoir of all the world’s religious beliefs – past, present and future.

CODA
I hope that I have been able to show that Norse mythology matters to a wide range of people around us and around the world. It continues to be a source of solace, a stirrer of inspiration, and a guide to the great mysteries – mysteries that moved the ancient northern peoples in as deep and complex a fashion as we are moved by them today. Personally, I find it somehow comforting to know that my German, Anglo-Saxon and Norse-Gael ancestors were struggling with the same Big Issues as I am today, and that their insights are still meaningful.

A FINAL BIG THANK YOU

. . . to everyone who blogged, emailed, posted, reposted, tweeted and retweeted in support of The Norse Mythology Blog, working hard to bring out the vote. Aside from those I’ve already mentioned in the article – many of whom put a lot of time into getting the word out – I’m deeply grateful to Asatru Lore, The Icelandic Association of Chicago, Odinssons Alte Sitte, Pagan Princesses, The Silver Bough, Vikings Books Etc and The Wild Hunt.

My sincere apologies to anyone I left out of this article, but there were so many who went above and beyond. Winning Best Religion Weblog is an achievement that belongs to all of you.