Tales from the Ironwood

My thoughts on GIBOR have been formulating for quite some time. I've understood that GIBOR involved a secret or a mystery. I hadn't realized however that the mystery was the Runes themselves. And that the secret was in fact the answer as well as the question. Written from 25-30 May 2021. ********* I begin my meditations on the last of the Eighteen Sacred Futhorkh runes by thinking of Karl Hans Welz’s translation of the relevant strophe from Hávamál 164. An eighteenth I learned, but I would not Let this know just anyone else, for everyone knows The best for oneself: That which leads to the end of the songs. Only One is to know, who is in my arms as my lover. [1] The eighteenth rune contains a secret or a mystery. As Odin reaches the final rune of the Rúnatáls-þáttr-Óðins (“Odins Rune Song”) its meaning is obscured, even more so than usual. The mystery however is not to be solved, but rather is the answer as well as the question. While, many may think of discs or sto...

My initial thoughts on Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda  were completed in May 2017. While some of the ideas contained therein were not yet fully formed, my insights remain core to my understanding of Snorri's text. For those who seek the mysteries, Snorri's Edda is a wonderful place to explore. ********* One of the most important texts available to Ásatrúar (and others interested in the study of Germanic spirituality, Norse mythology or Icelandic literature) is Snorri Sturluson’s Edda , sometimes referred to as the “Prose Edda” or the “Younger Edda” to differentiate it from mythological and heroic poems normally referred to as the “Poetic Edda” or “Elder Edda.” [1] Sturluson’s thirteenth century work is composed of three parts of which Gylfaginning (“The Tricking of Gylfi”) is the most popular and certainly the most influential. It is this section, which recounts the fantastic tales of the Norse gods, that has been rewritten and retold by numerous authors through the ye...