Tag: Viking Age

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The Völsunga Saga

Certainly one of the if not the most important and famous of all the Norse Sagas is indeed the Völsunga Saga (Volsunga Saga or Volsungasaga). This is a saga that I feel everyone who is spiritually invested or are devoted to the beliefs of Norse Paganism should have included in their library. The tales in it are extremely fascinating, well written and truly paint visual image of such Gods as Odin and Loki as well as the deeds of man such as Sigurd the dragon Slayer. This saga is comprised of 44 stories and each just as good as the next.

Based on Viking Age poems and composed in thirteenth-century Iceland, The Saga of the Volsungs combines mythology, legend, and sheer human drama in telling of the heroic deeds of Sigurd the dragon slayer, who acquires runic knowledge from one of Odin’s Valkyries. Yet the saga is set in a very human world, incorporating oral memories of the fourth and fifth centuries, when Attila the Hun and other warriors fought on the northern frontiers of the Roman empire. Get your copy here

My personal copy of the Völsunga Saga

Further resources

http://www.voluspa.org/volsungsaga.htm

https://www.timelessmyths.com/norse/volsunga.html

https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/volsungsaga.html

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Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness

Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness is a book that certainly gives an outside perspective during the late Viking Age and post Viking Age I feel is excellent to read about. This book was even the inspiration for Michael Crichton’s 1976 novel Eaters of the Dead and the film The 13th Warrior.

Between the ninth and fourteenth centuries, Arab explorers journeyed widely and frequently into the far north, crossing territories that now include Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. Ibn Fadlan’s chronicles of his travels are one of the most important documents from the period, and this illuminating new translation offers insight into the world of the Arab geographers and the medieval lands of the far north. Based on an expedition to the upper Volga River in 922 AD, Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness provides a rare and valuable glimpse of Viking customs, dress, table manners, religion, and sexual practices, including the only eyewitness account ever written of a Viking ship cremation.

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Learn about Rune Kennings

Rune Kennings are associated with ancient Icelandic poetry but can also be found in such tales as the famous Anglo-Saxon poem of Beowulf. But they certainly are most prevalent with Runic text of Iceland.

I have studied them for years now and still continue to explore deeper into them even to the point of creating my own.

Two books which you can find a great list of Rune Kennings are Sorcerer’s Screed: The Icelandic Book of Magic Spells and Icelandic Magic: Practical Secrets of the Northern Grimoires.

Learning resources:

Spelling with rune kennings

Guidelines for translating kennings

https://skaldic.abdn.ac.uk/db.php?id=447&if=runic&num=1&table=doc&fbclid=IwAR2OCtPIlM7pwptkp_EY9IvizjWo7E0OXOscOQtJoaRpbWMgPOMd49QXJHI

The Poet’s Vision: An Overview of the Kenning in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse-Icelandic Poetry

https://www.academia.edu/4661868/The_Poets_Vision_An_Overview_of_the_Kenning_in_Anglo-Saxon_and_Old_Norse-Icelandic_Poetry?fbclid=IwAR2OCtPIlM7pwptkp_EY9IvizjWo7E0OXOscOQtJoaRpbWMgPOMd49QXJHI

The Rune Poems

https://www.ragweedforge.com/poems.html?fbclid=IwAR0yVnlqoPthppR1-1S_ssRUuTJfRbt6uPRRcMRCCs-VYx12w2qpWOHykzY

What is a Kenning?
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Welcome to the Úlfsvættr Craftsman domain

I want to welcome you to my website of the Úlfsvættr Craftsman. This is the culmination after years of study and working to fine tune my craft in order to produce the highest of quality. Items that easily could become heirlooms passed on to younger generations. But more than that is this Blog where I have so much I want to share with you from my vast experiences and wide variety of knowledge crammed packed into my mind. I hope you enjoy what you see and in some way whether you visit to browse my shop, look through the gallery or just read through this Blog which will be added to four times a month. In time or perhaps by the time you are reading this I will also have a newsletter available as well. Thank you again for taking the time to read this welcome message and remember to always “Keep the Primal Side Alive.”