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The Assembly of The Elder Troth would like to welcome you to our website. Please click on the links to the left to enter the relevant area of our site. Heil and welcome to the Articles section of the Assembly of The Elder Troth website. Here you can find items written by many wide and varied folk. The idea is to provide a venue for discussion, debate and education amongst the folk by giving people an individual flavour to the information provided. Every article here is the work of its' author. The Assembly of The Elder Troth DOES NOT endorse the words or anything that is found herein as being official Assembly of The Elder Troth policy, it is purely the work of the author as provided in each case, and Copyright rests with the Author, reproduction is prohibited without the authors permission. Saxo, Tacitus and Grains of Salt - by William Reaves Keep it close when reading Saxo, and as you read it, remember the rules of Comparitive Mythology, you must have at least two confirmations from seperated sources, where borrowing is not a likely factor. (In Comp Myth that's one from the east and one from the west). In regard to Christian "histories"
of the heathen age and eyewitness account texts (such as Saxo and Tacitus),
borrowing from Heathen sources, if it can be demonstrated, is a plus.
It is likely that Saxo borrowed from Heathen songs as we find Latin paraphrases
of Old Norse poems in parts of his text. Thus that he had a heathen source
for his work is likely. When you find agreement in two or more sources
(preferably more) or when they compliment each other~you are probably
hitting on true heathen myths. Rydberg compares many documents before
drawing conclusions~ How many scholars do this in this field? I see a
lot of "research" based on the interpretation of a single passage,
word, or poem and , if the subject is even addressed, any In regard to Tacitus, much
of what he says in regard to custom, dress, social structure, and even
the gods agrees with mythological lore we still possess and archeological
and historical evidence. Because you do not find a Nerthus named in the
lore does not mean she isn't there. Does the description fit anyone we
know? Can the name be explained? What about Tuisto, the Alcis, etc? I
say Ja! Remember salt is necessary for the body, so keep eating those
grains. I will do a chapter by chapter anaylsis of Tacitus giving mythic
citation if you please. That is a new approach, no? (You guys are giving
me all kinds of ideas for articles!) He's a better source than Anyway here's Ole Vik's approach to Saxo: (There must be an echo in here :) "The first 9 books of Saxo form a labyrinth constructed out of the myths related as history, but the thread of Ariadne seems to be wanting. <<<Greek myth reference here: Ariadne's ball of thread led Theseus out of Minos' Labyrinth; note from Hodd>>>. On this account, it might be supposed that Saxo had treated the rich mythical materials at his command in an arbitrary and unmethodical manner; and we must bear in mind that these mythical materials were far more abundant in his time than they were in the following centuries, when they were to be recorded by the Icelandic authors <<Namely Snorri; note from Hodd>>. This supposition is however, wrong <<<That Saxo treated them in an arbitrary manner>>>. "Saxo has examined his
sources methodically and with scrutiny and has handled them with all due
reverence when he assumed the desperate task of constructing, by the aid
of the mythic traditions and heroic poems at hand, a chronicle spanning
several centuries - a chronicle in which 50 to 60 successive rulers were
to be brought on stage and off again - while myths " The simplest of the
rules he followed was to avail himself of the polyonomy with which the
myths and heroic poems are overloaded <<Polyonomy: the use of many
or various names for a single character. For example Odin-Har-Grimnir-Bolverk-etc;
Thor-Veor-Hlorridi-etc; "Assume that a person
in the mythic or heroic poems had three or four names or epithets (he
may have had a score). We will call this person A and the various forms
of his name A', A", and A"'. Saxo's task of producing a chain
of events running through many centuries forced him to consider the names
A', A", and A"' as originally 3 persons who had performed similar
exploits and therefore had, in the course of time, been confounded with
each other, and blended by the authors of the myths and stories into one
person A. As best he can, Saxo tries to resolve the mythical product,
composed in his opinion of historical elements, and to distribute the
exploits attributed to A between A', A'', and A"'. It may also be
that one or more of the stories attributed to A were found more or less
varied in different sources. In such cases he would report the same stories
with slight variations about A', A" and A'". The similarities
remaining form ONE important group of indications which he has furnished
to guide us, but which can assure us that our investigation is in the
right course ONLY when corroborated by indications "But in the events which Saxo in this manner relates about A', A" and A"', other persons are also mentioned. We will assume that in the myths and in the heroic poems that these characters have been named B and C. These too have in the songs of the skalds several names and epithets. B has also been called B', B", and B"'. C has also been styled C', C", and C"'. "Out of this one subordinate person B, Saxo, by aid of the abundance of names, makes as many subordinate persons--B', B", and B"'---as he made out of the original chief person A--that is the chief persons A', A", and A"'. Thus also with C, and in this way we get the following analogies: A' is to B' and C' as "By comparing all that is related concerning these 9 names, we are enabled gradually to form a more or less correct idea of what the original myth has contained in regard to A, B, and C. If it then happens, as is often the case, that 2 or more of the names A', B' and C' etc are found in the Icelandic or other documents, and there belong to persons whose adventures are in some respects the same and in other respects are made clearer and more complete, by what Saxo tells about A', A" and A"' etc, then it is proper to continue the investigation in the direction thus started. If then, every step brings forth new confirmations from various sources, and if a myth thus restored easily dovetails itself into an epic cycle of myths, and there forms a necessary link in the chain of events, then the investigation has produced the desired result. "An aid in the investigation is not unfrequently the circumstance that the names at Saxo's disposal were not sufficent for all points in the above scheme. We then find analogies which open for us, so to speak, short cuts----for instance, as follows: A' is to B' is to C' as The parallels in the above text <<<not included here>>> are a concrete example of the above scheme. For we have seen - A=Halfdan, A'=Gram A"=Halfdan
Berggram A'"=Halfdan Borgarsson The above is, believe it or not, a footnote from Teutonic Mythology by Viktor Rydberg translated by Rasmus Anderson 1889. The passage is difficult, but very rewarding when studying Saxo. Other authors have acknowledged and commended Rydberg's work on Saxo (I'll even tell ya who if ya ask!). In Volundarkvida 3, Volund
is called Annund. He is brother to the archer Egil. In Saxo, we find an
Annundus associated with an archer in 2 places. Coincidence? We find a
one-eyed old man named Uggerus (Yggr), and other similar occurances. Sure
he historicizes, humanizes, and Christianizes, but he uses the heathen
myths as his basis. Look at Saxo in a new light, but Wassail, Hodd HOME | Articles Home | Top Of Page Images and Contents Copyright © Assembly of The Elder Troth 2002 - 2007 or as specified. For communications regarding this website please e-mail webmaster@aetaustralia.org Page maintained by Schmitt Services Last Update: Monday, June 30, 2003
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