Tales from the Ironwood

Sometimes articles appear fully formed in my mind before I commit them to the page. At other times they develop chaotically through a strange creative dance of research and revelation. This one, appropriately, developed through the latter method. Nietzsche wrote in Also Sprach Zarathustra that "one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star." This star appeared in the heavens during Yule 2020. ********* Even within Ásatrú circles, some of the least understood of mythic beings are the giants. While their role in Norse cosmogony, eschatology, and even magick is essential, most Ásatrúars take an overly simplistic and perhaps naïve approach to these figures. In fact, most kindreds and tribes that I know mandate that no giants be toasted—no horn may be raised during the ceremony of sumbel to these awesome beings. The basic line of reasoning is that giants are opposed to the Æsir gods, that they play a destructive role in the events of Ragnarök