Wyrd Times

The following article was written between 30 May and 13 June 2020. It is a reminder that actions have consequences and that as Ásatrúars we believe in free will despite the eternal weaving of the Norns.

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The news of the past few days –of rioting and looting across our country –in the aftermath of watching the killing of George Floyd on national TV has been particularly emotional for me. For some the nationwide protests turned riots may seem unique or yet another indication that 2020 seems to be a year that is particularly damned. But I have known of such turmoil for as long as I can recall. I have become quite cynical that anything will change anytime soon. There was the Newark riots of 1967 and other similar race riots throughout the ‘60s. In 1970 Asbury Park suffered from riots that left that New Jersey shore town in misery for the next thirty plus years.

 

While there were many riots in the years that followed –Los Angeles in 1992 when Rodney King was beaten by the LAPD following a high-speed chase, to Ferguson, MO in 2014 and Baltimore in 2015 and countless others –the latest chaos stirs my memories back nearly 50 years. In 1972, I was the victim of a race riot when I was only 11 years old. The students in my elementary school decided to emulate their parents and others who they saw rioting in the streets. As fate would have it, I chose to be out on a ball field during our lunch recess when a youthful and energetic mob decided to attack. My left arm was broken in nine places and the growth centers were torn threatening the possibility that my arm would no longer grow –or at least not normally. A doctor performed surgery and, other than the scars on the outside and inside of my elbow, my arm would return to its full normal function and grow normally in the years to come.

 

Following my injury, I was transferred to a school that was more integrated –the one that I had attended had only three white boys in the class and two white girls. By the following summer we moved to Central Jersey in what some might call a case of "white flight." The outcome, I must say, was very positive. I met my wife-to-be in the local High School. That in turn resulted in having two wonderful children –and now a granddaughter. The greatest joys of my life might never have happened had I not been injured.

 

I'm sure that having such an experience in my formative years shaped significantly my world views—how could it not? As I lament the death and mayhem around the country and see many innocents injured for being in the wrong place at the wrong time –I ponder the role of fate in our lives.

 

Today many conflate the idea of “fate” with “predestination.” Predestination is a doctrine from Christianity that suggests that god has a master plan—from which there shall be no deviation. While many Christians today speak enthusiastically of “free will,” John Calvin, one of the foremost figures in the establishment of Protestant theology argued against it as did Martin Luther. Such thinking has had a major influence on the popular contemporary definition of fate. A quick search of on-line dictionaries results in definitions that include phrases such as, “events beyond a person’s control,” and “inevitable.”

 

The ancient Germanic tribes and the Norse had words that are often translated as fate but which conveyed a significantly different meaning. The Old English term wyrd[1] derived from the Old Saxon wurd, and Old High German, wurt is more properly defined as “to come to pass” or “to become.” In the Germanic mind then, “that which shall come to pass” is dependent on “that which has become” –the events of the past. Edred Thorsson explains, “the Germanic concept of ‘fate’ (wyrd) is closely connected with the concepts of time and causality.”[2] One might then consider that the word wyrd is related to the Hindu concept of karma in which someone’s actions or intent shapes their future.

 

When we turn to the poems of the Poetic Edda we encounter the Norse term ørlǫg, which is also typically translated into the English word fate. The term more accurately means “primal layers” or “primal law.” According to our lore, ørlǫg is shaped by the three norns (or the Wyrd sisters[3]) that represent the past, present, and future.  More precisely, the norn Urðr represents “that which has become,” the norn Verðandi, “what is presently coming into being” and the norn Skuld “What shall be.” Ørlǫg then is the result of all the layers that have gone before –thereby shaping our present, which ultimately has the same causal impact on our future—“what shall be.”

 

We, as Ásatrúars, believe that we do indeed have free will and do not accept the concept of fate as “predestination.” We do not subscribe to a philosophy of fatalism and we are not limited by a pre-ordained outcome. Our actions, however, have consequences. We should be aware of our past and present deeds for they will impact what shall be.

 

To this day, I have no idea what the riot in Passaic back in 1972 was about. I don't know the catalyst. I don't know the cause for which people took to the streets. I do know that innocents get hurt when such mayhem occurs. These days I've become jaded to political solutions—and leave such debates and activities to others. I’ve long wandered on a personal spiritual journey and along that path I shall continue to wend my way.

 

My journey has led me to believe that most simply want to live their lives in peace. We want to laugh with our friends. We want to celebrate our holidays. We want to experience wonder and joy. We want to be safe. And we want to enjoy life's grandest moments –like marrying sweethearts, and watching our children and grandchildren be born. 

 

My mind suddenly drifts to a far off time. I imagine the future—and the lives of my descendants—the children of my grandchildren, the children of their grandchildren. Their existence, some day, is inextricably tied to actions being taken today—which could never have occurred if not for those of my ancestors—those who came before me—and those who came before them on back through time.

 

 

 Notes:

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1. In modern English, “wyrd” has become “weird.” Over time, the popular meaning of the latter term has transformed to mean little more than “odd” or “strange” and is rarely used to mean “destiny.”

2. Edred Thorsson, A Book of Troth (USA: Runestone Press, 2015) 59.

3. Immortalized by Shakespeare in his tragedy Macbeth.