Gnosis Diary: Life as a Heathen

My personal experiences, including religious and spiritual experiences, community interaction, general heathenry, and modern life on my heathen path, which is Asatru.

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Novel Gnosis part 26: Njord

Njord is a sea god in heathen mythology. He is the father of Freya and Freyr. The lore does not say who their mother is, but it is hinted that it might be himself, or his counterpart. That would be Nerthus, except that Nerthus and Njord never appear in the same story. Nerthus appears in lore written by Tacitus in the Roman era, and Njord appears in lore written in the Viking Age. Linguistically the name Nerthus probably became the name Njord, and thus, Nerthus the goddess probably became Njord the god.

In Viking Age heathen mythology, Njord was briefly married to Skadi, the frost giantess who became a goddess of winter. That story took place in Asgard, though, and Njord, Freya, and Freyr all settled in Asgard as adults, with the status of hostages after the First War. So, Skadi is a stepmother, and after the divorce, a former stepmother. 

In the Fireverse, Njord’s main house is on the ocean, but he has a secondary residence in Asgard’s main city which he only uses when he attends gatherings of all the gods, which Odin sometimes calls to deal with important issues. It’s like his Thing booth. He has a small fishing pond in front of it so he’s not completely away from water.

enjoy this snippet from Some Say Fire

Image: Hail Njord on silk by Erin Lale.

Edited: I accidentally posted this one out of order. It was supposed to be dated June 21, which would schedule it to post later this month. I accidentally dated it May 21 and it published live. Since people have already been reading it I don't want to unpublish it now but later this month after the 21st I'll try to remember to edit the date so it will go in order.

 

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Erin Lale is the author of Asatru For Beginners, and the updated, longer version of her book, Asatru: A Beginner's Guide to the Heathen Path. Erin has been a gythia since 1989. She was the editor and publisher of Berserkrgangr Magazine, and is admin/ owner of the Asatru Facebook Forum. She also writes science fiction and poetry, ran for public office, is a dyer and fiber artist, was acquisitions editor at a small press, and founded the Heathen Visibility Project.

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