Luck, Wyrd, Intent, & Deeds

The ancient Anglo-Saxon word, ræd — is a perfect illustration of Teutonic psychology. When given to others, it means counsel; when applied to the luck working within the mind, it means wisdom, or a good plan, and from an ethical point of view, just and honest thoughts. But the word naturally includes the idea of success, which accompanies wise and upright devising, and on the other hand power and authority, which are the working of a sound will. Men setting about to discuss difficult matters stand in need of ræd and quickness of mind, says an Old-English writer. A rædless man is weakened by lack of will, lack of power and lack of self-assertion.

― Vilhelm Grønbech, The Culture of the Teutons: Volume 1

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

A portion of our Luck is inherited.

The lives of our blood-kin are intertwined.

Wyrd’s web entwines us.

“The ancient view of life leads thought beyond the individual; one always looks among family to find the sources of his will and fate. The honor he bequeaths to his children, with the prayer to have it raised on high like a banner in the light, is his share of the honour which all the kinsmen combine to guard and unite in enjoying. The parents’ eye is gladdened when they see themselves and their kinsmen in their children, when they “see the luck of the family” in their children.”

― Vilhelm Grønbech, The Culture of the Teutons: Volume 1

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

You are the Elders, now.
You are the Library.
Hand down your traditions
To the next generation.

Blessings to all! 🍺😇🙏

Artwork: “Viking Chieftain” by bnolin on DeviantArt
https://www.deviantart.com/bnolin/art/Viking-Chieftain-179230923

* UPDATE *

This past year has been a journey; one I’ve throughly enjoyed. When projects begin, there is always high levels of hope, optimism, & excitement. Then, reality hits, you wake up, re-evaluate things, & discover what will & will not manifest. The issue always boils down to lack of time. I’ve offerd the The Frithstead and Leornung Folcsprǽċ Telegram channels, a Facebook page, YouTube videos, Spotify, & released two published works (Trúnaðarbók & Late West Saxon Pronunciation). By now, it should be evident that YouTube & Spotify has fallen away & Facebook is an afterthought. Going forward, the two Telegram channels & future books will be the primary focus. My original research posts are my thoughts expressed over morning coffee, which ‘oft comes with interruptions, so forgive the occasional breaks in my various research series. Research continues & new books are being written. Folcsida is growing & I appreciate the support. Click the link & see what’s offered: https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead.

This artwork by Graman was created for my new documentary film "The World Tree which Grows from Hell"

Through comparative mythology we can reconstruct the earliest Indo-European beliefs about the cosmos and the afterlife as far as 6000 years back. but Indo-European religion has many features in common with Siberian and Native American religions too. These three groups all share common ancestry from an ice-age population called Ancient North Eurasians, so we can even reconstruct cosmological beliefs of a Siberian people 20,000 years ago! This film helps you to understand the most ancient and fundamental pagan beliefs concerning death, the underworld and reincarnation.

Rise Above

How should we present ourselves when we stand before the gods? Our dress communicates to the world & is amplified when we stand before our gods. This isn’t saying we can’t wear causal clothes in private settings within our inner circles, but with a major blót or social gatherings with collective ritual, we should present ourselves in the best light. It speaks to our character. “Dressing up” shows class, self-respect, & maturity. This isn’t an elitist perspective nor arrogant drivel, but a call that hearkens back to who we are as a folk - noble & proud. The wearing of heavy metal shirts & dirty jeans to a religious event speaks a lot
about who we are. There’s a time and a place. If we’re with friends, this attire is acceptable, but you wouldn’t wear this to weddings or funerals? So why would you think it acceptable to wear before the gods & folk during an important event? Rise above the status quo of the current age & tap into our folk-soul. Be more & do more

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

Lammas, Lughnasadh, & Freyfaxi

Many today celebrate harvest festivals, such as Lammas, Lughnasadh, or Freyfaxi. Lammas, or hláfmæsse as the Anglo-Saxons called it, is a Christian observance of the eucharist, or holy communion, relating to the “Last supper” when Christ gave his disciples bread and wine during a Passover meal. It’s a day of thanksgiving & marks the blessing of the First Fruits of harvest (with a loaf to be offered to the church). Similarly, Lughnasadh, a Gaelic festival, marks the beginning of harvest season & early Irish literature indicates pre-Christian origins. The day is named after their god Lugh & traditions included the offerings of first fruits, possibly at sacred wells. It’s likely that Christians co-opted the Gaelic observance as a conversion tactic. Freyfaxi appears to be a New Age Ásatrú holiday based on Lammas & Lughnasadh, only substituting Lugh for Fréa & focusing on Hrafnkell’s horse, whom is dedicated to Fréa upon oath.

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

On Native Languages

Aside from The Frithstead, I run an Old English channel, Leornung Folcsprǽċ, meaning, Folk-Speech. In short, it’s the Folcsida dialect; Folcsida being those who follow the Anglo-Saxon leaning, pan-Germanic ways of our forebears. Language changes the way we think, which affects our culture & beliefs. When we look at modern English, it’s an amalgam of many foreign influences; its nativeness has been diluted. This isn’t to disrespect modern English, as folk like Shakespeare & Frost created beautiful works; however, it’s not the language that evolved within the natural state of our folk. Within Old English, Old Norse, Old High German, Lombardic, or whatever ancient language one connects with, the connection within the soul resounds, bringing us closer to our forebears & gods than previously imagined. Our old ways are sacred & our native Heathen languages hold a key to reclaiming that which has been taken from us & discovering that which we’ve lost ~ Folcweard

https://t.me/LeornungFolcspraec

And excellent post by Hwítġeard 👇🏻

In my Writer's Bloc talk with @NixJeelvy last night we talked about Anglish and Old English. Anglish is a modern linguistic movement of speaking and writing in pure English free from French, Latin, Greek and other loanwords, either reviving 'dead' words from Old English into modern circulation or seeking alternatives using the words we have.

For example; thedeship (þēodscipe) for nationality, sye (sige) for victory, woldry (wuldrig) for glorious, anlet (andwlita) for face, elderdom (ealdordōm) for authority, wlitty (wlitig) for beautiful, ore (ār) for honour, thaning (þegnung) for service, lawly (lahlīc) for legal, worthful (weorðful) for valuable etc.

When such words were replaced because of trends and social status or to make international communication easier in the name of progress, one should question whether something of value was lost to us in which we had no say. This is all too common to us as we see our national identity and culture eroded without our consent, passive observers of civilisational decline. William Barnes, a 19th century poet who wrote in his Dorset dialect and a central figure of what is now called 'Anglish', rejected what he called 'inkhorn words', that is, pretentious words of Latin or Greek origin used by scholars to appear sophisticated or of high social status. Barnes encouraged people to look to their own language, their own 'wordhoard'.

I mentioned in our talk that what drew me to Old English is a realisation that modern English has become the standard language of globalism, the language of trade, commerce and communication, even more so than Esperanto (a Jewish invention) ever was. Unlike those for whom English is a second language, this meant that I was 'trapped' in my own language with nothing to call my own independently from the language of globalism. By learning my ancient tongue, I was not only connected closer to my ancestors, but could think and write in something that was my own, that was English in an national way, rather than English as a cosmopolitan lingua-franca. One may ask "What's the point? It's dead and you cannot communicate with people" but, like many things, this same question will be put to us by our enemies when European art and culture is also gone.

I see such a theme in linguistics to be analogous in many levels to the revival of European paganism/natural religion, which as Stephen McNallen advises; we should "drink from our own well." There are many in the modern world who lack any true identity, alienated by modernity and materialism and cast adrift from any nation or culture to call their own, even in their own homelands. One of the main criticisms I have of Christianity is that it sets its roots in Jewish history, it sees itself as a continuation of their traditions, their history, their status. Christ is king because he fulfils a Jewish messianic prophecy, born of the royal line of the Jewish king David, and will save the land of Israel (and maybe the gentiles if they're lucky). It is therefore impossible to escape from living in the shadow of a foreign people (unless one indulges 'Christian Identity' as a cope and claims descent from 'the real Israelites').

I reject all of this and claim my descent from the English, the land, the folk and the gods of the English.

Famously Alcuin/Ealhwine of York wrote a letter to Bishop Higbald of Lindisfarne in 797, questioning the monks' interest in heroic legends, and asked "Quid enim Hinieldus cum Christo", "What has Ingeld to do with Christ?" The audacity of such a question is astounding. "What has your own way of life, your own traditions, your own language, your own heroes, your own culture to do with the new 'truth' we have imposed upon you?", and now "What have national identity, ethnic homelands and a folk to do with the pursuit of progress, diversity and technological innovation?"

It is for this reason that I find my own native language so interesting and found spiritual truth in the religious traditions of my ancestors. From my own well I have found a deeper and firmly rooted understanding of who I am.

Nordic folk is still one of my favorite genres. I discovered it back in 2012 and have been hooked ever since. I only wish different expressions of it would spread to the rest of the Germanic world and see bands singing in Old English, Old Saxon, or Old High German. It would truly be an inspiring movement. This song here, I’ve been meaning to translate it into Old English, as when I sing this song, it speaks to my soul, of a past time, the days of yore, when we were a stronger folk.

https://youtu.be/8aveUs1o6e4

“Where is my Love” is a song I sang lead vocals on (with lovely accompaniment from a friend). It was written by Clan na Gael, whom I saw in a central California coastal town at strawberry festival back in 1994. In some ways, they helped plant the seeds that would soon lead me home. I went through many phases before returning to Folcsida, and the Celtic path was one step in the journey that became my story.

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

Tréow

May we never settle for mediocrity, but always remember that effort is worth more than result. May we rise above the doldrums of all this modern world afflicts us with, & ever seek to better ourselves & those around us. May we honor ourselves, our family, our friends, our fellow kinsmen of the faith, & above all, when our days are numbered & we walk the Hellwegas, may the gods judge us favorably & our ancestors welcome us home with pride and celebration. Sóðlíċe.

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

The secret of longevity... strong family ties.

A handy linguistic diagram informed by ancient genetics that predicts how Indo-European languages in Europe developed in relation to each other

The native range of the sacred Ash tree (fraxinus excelsior) - holy lands

A Roman road showing up as ghostly parchmarks within Durobrivae (Water Newton, near Peterborough) Roman town.

This is Ermine Street, the Roman road that linked London to Lincoln and York, and continued as a main north-south route for centuries to come.

We don’t know what the Romans called the road, but the Ermine Street name comes from the Earningas, a tribal group from the early Anglo-Saxon period. The road skirted through their territory in what’s now west Cambridgeshire.

The Earningas gave their name to three other places, all in west Cambridgeshire: Armingford Hundred ('the ford of the Earningas'); Arrington ('the farm of Earna's people'); and Armshold Lane ('the hill of Earna or Earning') which forms part of the parish boundary between Kingston and Great Eversden.

Susan Oosthuizen (1998). The Origins of Cambridgeshire. The Antiquaries Journal, 78, pp 85-109 doi:10.1017/S0003581500044954

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

Contemporary witnesses to the pagan priesthood of Anglo-Saxon England are not as full as we might wish them to be. As such, we do not truly know whether the authority or dominion of any pagan priest's domain was so broad as to encompass all godly idols/temples - that is to say, whether each pagan priest saw to the worship of but one deity to whom he or she was given or to the worship of all of the gods and goddesses. Yet, from what witnesses we have, and just from intuition, it would seem that each priest held domain over the idol/temple or grove of a given deity.

Tacitus wrote of the priest who warded the idol and wagon of Nerthus and, likewise, of the priest that served the twin Alcis. It may be that the priests who fettered, flogged, or quelled those found guilty at the Þing, were themselves bound to 'deo imperante quem adesse bellantibus credunt', (the god whom they believe inspires the warrior).

As recalled of the Swedes by Adam of Bremen a thousand years thereafter, 'For all their gods there are appointed priests who offer sacrifices for the people.' In polytheist belief such as ours, this would make for a great many pagan priests, perhaps too many for a given area to uphold. In all likelihood, Adam of Bremen was speaking of those deities whose idols were found at the temple of Uppsala: Wodan, Thor, and Fricco. Yet it may be that there were, further from Uppsala, other holy cults and temples or groves overseen by other pagan priests. In my view, the latter, that being that there were definitely other temples and groves overseen by other priests was certainly the case and is just common sense. This is because paganism varied from clan to clan and had room for different ways of doing things and understanding things.

The above post by the Chad Pastoralist (https://t.me/thechadpastoralist/1114) gives food for thought; adding to my previous posts on religious leaders and their titles. The Anglo-Saxons had many names for their religious leaders, which implies they had multiple roles in which they performed their duties. Although much of Anglo-Saxon Heathen information was destroyed by the invading foreign ideologues, there is enough left to rebuild, if only in part, the structure of the ancient religious Folcsida of our forebears. Theirs was an intricate and complex folk-centered religious system that honored the gods, and gave order and stability to society. As I previously outlined (links below), they were the:

1. Blótere, one who blóts or Sacrifices https://t.me/c/1557050385/543

2. Ǽweweard, a Guardian of the Divine Law https://t.me/c/1557050385/544

3. Weofodþeġn, a servant of the altar https://t.me/c/1557050385/546

4. Þingere, an advocate or intercessor; who intercedes for the folk; in essence, a judge https://t.me/c/1557050385/547

5. Árþeġn, a religious servant or minister https://t.me/c/1557050385/549

6. Ġeruna, a counselor https://t.me/c/1557050385/553

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

"I tell you, hwæt!"
King of the Barrow by Graman