Iron, a Sacred Metal to our Ancestors

Iron as a metal has fascinated me for some time, mainly because of its association with the Thunder God.
My readers will recall that Thunor/Thor/Donar was given an iron hammer by the dwarves Brokk and Sindri as part of a contest between them and the sons of Ivaldi.

However as I have written before this iron hammer was not the original one. Thunor first wielded a stone hammer which he had taken from his foster parents, Vingnir and Hlora who raised Him.

"It is certain that Thor took a stone hammer from Vingnir`s home as a spoil of victory, which he always used against the giants afterwards, except during the short time he possessed an iron hammer that Mimir`s son Sindri had forged for him."[Our Fathers` Godsaga, Viktor Rydberg]

After the new iron Mjolnir was destroyed by Wieland`s sword Gambantein, Thunor resorted to using the original stone one again and it is this stone one which will be recovered by Thunor`s sons, Magni and Modi after Ragnarok.  In my opinion the tale of the two hammers is a reflection of the transition from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. During the Bronze Age neolithic tools were still used alongside bronze ones and this is why we do not hear of any stories of Thunor having a bronze hammer. Of course originally the stone hammer would have been an axe. Many Thor`s Hammers do tend to resemble the axe rather than a pure hammer.
The stone battle axe is a symbol not only of the Aryan Thunder God but a symbol uniquely associated with our Germanic and Aryan ancestors.

Meteorites were considered by our ancestors to be divinely sent and from the meteorite iron of a special quality may be obtained. Meteorite iron according to J.T. Sibley, the author of The Divine Thunderbolt. Missile of the Gods, is "capable of taking a brilliant polish." This is because it contains 5-12% nickel which also helps to retard rusting. Iron pyrite which is also called `fools` gold` would have made quite an impression and of course when struck by flint it would shoot off sparks.

Iron in folkore was used to repel witches, ghosts, fairies and any kind of malevolent being. Iron axes or axe amulets, horseshoes, nails and knives were frequently used as a means of supernatural protection. Meteorite iron in particular was used for the formation of sacred tools in many cultures. In Sweden the `trolls` cross` was made of iron in the shape of an Odal rune and used to ward of malevolent magic.

"An axe(Thor`s weapon) and a broom are laid crosswise on the inner side of the threshold over which the nurse has to step when she goes out with an infant to have it christened. This is done that the babe may be safe from all the devices of the powers of evil.

"As Indra used to milk the cloud cows and churn the milk lakes and fountains with the thunderbolt, so did Thor. The German god`s  fiery weapon was often represented as an axe, and hence it is a customary thing with witches to draw milk from the handle of an axe stuck in a doorpost."[Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore, Walter Keating Kelly].

There is a reference to iron in the Old Norwegian Rune Poem for the rune Ur:

"(Slag) is from bad iron;

           oft runs the reindeer on the hard snow ."

 

Cremation, the Way to Woden

Over recent years I have given much thought as to the most appropriate method of disposing of the body after death, whether it be inhumation or cremation. This issue as Aryan or Germanic heathens should be important to us because as heathens we should desire to recover both the beliefs and practices of our ancestors prior to their forced acceptance of the alien and semitic religion of xtianity.

It is quite clear to me now after a great deal of study that cremation should be the preferred option for us as devout heathens. In this article I will present some of the evidence and the thinking behind this.

In The Road to Hel Hilda Roderick Ellis (Davidson) [a book published originally under her maiden name of Ellis] Dr Davidson demonstrates that the rite of cremation travelled northward through Germany into Scandinavia.

This should not surprise us as the Cult of Woden has its origins amongst the continental Germanic tribes. Later on He was recognised in Scandinavia. This God is a purely Germanic, indeed a purely German deity. There are very few etymological or theological cognates. Scholars have tried without success to compare Him to deities in other Indo-European mythologies. The closest cognate to Woden is in my opinion the Indo-Aryan God Vata. See my article Woden and Vata-Vayu-a Comparison published on this blog on 2/10/12!

It is through the act and rite of cremation that the Einherjar ascend to Walhall to be with their Lord of the Slain, the Lord of the chosen slain that is.

Initially cremated remains were buried in body-length stone cists. These later were reduced in size to small box-like stone cists which would contain the urn holding the ashes. Sometimes they were placed in mounds or ship graves. Eventually urns were not used at all.
The change from inhumation to cremation occurred at the time of the transition to the Bronze Age when Indo-European language and customs spread out throughout Europe.

Snorri Sturluson in his Ynglinga Saga says that Odin taught His followers to burn their dead:

"every man should enter Valhall with as much wealth as he had on his pyre, and should also enjoy everything which he himself had buried in the earth; and the ashes should be borne out to sea or buried in the earth; but over men of renown a howe should be raised as memorial, and over all men who acquitted themselves manfully memorial stones should be raised; and this continued for a long time afterwards."

We are reminded of the magnificent heathen funeral of Boewulf where he was cremated and his ashes placed in a barrow facing the sea. My readers should recall that the author of the poem was a xtian so such a depiction of a glorious heathen funeral is rather amazing.

"Heaven swallowed the smoke."[Beowulf]

This is the essence of the thinking-the non-corporeal elements of man, some may refer to this as the soul or spirit although the Germanic interpretation is more complex than this, [See my article Death and Afterlife in Germanic Mythology published on my Celto-Germanic Culture, Myth and History blog on 30/1/10!]
is freed from the physical body to return to All-Father Woden. The life force of the individual fully individuated awakened Einherjar is returned to his previous God-like state in Walhall, the abode of those who are awakened and faithful to Woden. Those of us who have sworn sacred oaths of allegiance to Him have the Valknut carved upon our flesh as a sign that we belong to Him and He will take as when He chooses.

"The burning was carried out in very splendid wise. It was then believed that the higher the smoke rose in the air, the loftier would his position be in heaven whose burning it was; and the more possessions were burned with him, the richer he would be."[Ynglinga Saga]

 We cannot enter Walhall in our physical body. Our spiritual essence must be released in order that we may enter a spiritual realm. The existence of our decaying body in the earth delays our transition to this spiritual state and causes us to remain Midgarth bound. This may be the reason for some hauntings. Cremation frees us from ties to this realm of existence. In the Icelandic Sagas we have many curious incidents of the dead walking freely among the living as draugar-vampires in other words and it is only via burning that the dead can be sure to be left at peace from the activities of the malevolent dead.

Cremation both frees the dead so that they can begin the journey to the next realm of existence and protects the living from malevolent spirits. Furthermore it is a mark of reverence to the Aryan Sky or Sun God as Dr Davidson points out:

"The evidence for linking cremation with the burnt offering on the one hand, and with the cult of the sun god on the other, is perhaps the most suggestive."[The Road to Hel]

From the Prose Edda we have a detailed desciption of Baldur`s funeral which was of course a cremation on a pyre. Likewise there is a description of the cremation of both Sigurd and Brynhildr in the Poetic Edda.
There is no shortage of literary evidence from Germanic saga, legend or myth is support of the very Germanic practice of cremation. By committing ourselves to this final act, this final rite we are demonstrating our total loyalty to Woden and our ancestral Gods.