[This part and the forthcoming sequels are an elaborated version of the original article entitled “The Norse Goddesses behind the Asir Veil: The Vanir Mothers in Continental Scandinavia—a late Shamanistic Branch of the Old European Civilization?” by Märta-Lena Bergstedt & Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen, included in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (Mago Books, 2018) Edited by Mary Ann Beavis and Helen Hye-Sook Hwang.]
Sources of Knowledge
Historical Written Documents and Non-Written tradition
Generally, the definition of history is based on and depending on the existence of written sources. What cannot exhibit written documents, but only archeological data or oral tradition will not fit into the definition history. The classical definition of history will allow the Asir gods in the Medieval Norse texts to belong to our history, but not the older layer of Vanir mythology. A fragile line of classification therefore cuts away a big part of our history. Thus leaning on the guidelines suggested by Pentikäinen allowing also non-written (e.g. artifacts, place-names, traditions) and oral sources to be taken into account, the traditional line of definition can be crossed for the benefit of a fuller picture of the Vaner belief system and culture.[1]
For written sources. The oldest evidence of the Scandinavia belief system comes from the Roman consul and historian, Cornelius Tacitus, c. 98 CE. Two thousand years ago, Tacitus gave an account of the Hyperboréans (the People beyond the North Winds), and depicted one of their earth based rituals in which a mother deity was riding in a chariot in springtime, blessing the pregnant fields. With due reservations for antique writers, this account lays out fragments of a ritual from an older layer Scandinavian society. At least, a similar tradition is not reported of in the medieval texts on Asir gods; and not surprisingly, Tacitus on his part, has no notations about any of the warlike Asir gods. They were not yet invented.[2]
Over a thousand years later, the medieval texts about Asir gods and religion were written down foremost on Iceland. The Old Norse (ON) texts are only vague and indirect sources to the older layer of Vanir-belief and culture. At the time when the ON scripts were put together the Viking Age had ended, and Christianity had been accepted already two hundred years ago. By now, Asir-religion was rapidly disappearing. It was then still another 600 years since the much older Vanir icons were amalgamated into Asir-religion. When the Icelandic chieftain and Asa-priest (gode), Snorri Sturlason in the 13th century sat down to compile the Sagas, it was an ambition in the last minute to preserve memories of brave forefathers, their deeds, and faith.[3] Or, the stories may have been produced partly to serve as covert posts in the current political debate – at least this has been suggested for his motifs.[4] Whatever motif, the ON writings were compiled by the elite and for the elite in society. In principle all existing knowledge about Asir mythology derives from Snorri´s scripts. These were in turn based on earlier written sources and oral tradition of his time. All the same, seen from a Scandinavian perspective, the hitch with Snorri´s Eddas is that they were all composed far away, in both time and geography from the continental Scandinavia that they intend to describe, namely on Iceland, a bare island in the Atlantic Ocean. This fact gives rise to quite a few problems concerning their suitability in the study also of the Vanir world, as the Icelandic texts are not even likely to represent much of the continental Scandinavia world.[5]
Besides the problem that the Eddas were put to paper in the Christian era and looking back from an antiquarian interest or with nostalgic undertones at the Viking Age, and at best giving sentimental remains of the vanishing Viking and Asir-belief, the more profound problem is that Iceland was settled, as late as the 9th century, by aristocratic Asir-believers and their households sailing out from Scandinavia. When these noble-men from Scandinavia drew their boats ashore, they met no indigenous groups. Iceland had never before been inhabited by anyone. This means that all the Bronze and Stone Age remnants, legends or traditions tied to the Scandinavian landscape and giving the Scandinavia its personality, was lacking on Iceland. Also, the Icelandic geography was dramatically different. Icelandic had a grass-covered volcano landscape, utterly unlike from the vast, deep and gloomy forests, the wild mountains, or the rich farming soil of Scandinavia. The Icelandic fauna is poor, counting none of the wolves, bears, elks, etc. that characterize Scandinavia. The difference is considerable, and in the ON texts the unfamiliarity shows. The Scandinavian world, its nature-beings in the forests, its lakes and mountains, its dolmens, stone-circles, labyrinths, and antique Bronze and Stone Age remnants in the landscape were unfamiliar to the Icelanders 3-4oo years later, when the Eddas were written. They were foreign to old and long-lasting traditions, to tales and sayings of the past, and the ancient honoring of nature as living mother; all of this unaccustomedness seems to have contributed to the medieval Icelandic perception reproduced in the texts, telling of otherwise natural and familiar phenomenon as fearful and dangerous, and, in Scandinavian eyes, many times heavily distorted. The Medieval scripts will therefore provide little help in understand Old Vanir culture from before Asir-belief.
Despite these severe reservations, the Eddas are still brilliant (and in principle the only written sources to the Vanir mothers). Unintendedly, the medieval Eddas on Asir religion give indispensable information about the underlying and still older Scandinavian belief and culture of the Vanirs. In their transformed guises as Asir goddesses the original features of the old mothers still lurk behind the veils. Also the Eddas, both directly and indirectly, provide information on why the Vanir mothers were so urgently needed at the time when Asir religion was being created and took shape.
For the non-written sources. As the pre-Asir culture in all definitions is pre-historic and pre-literate, a fair picture of the postulated Vanir culture and religion would not be possible to find with evidence only from later texts about them. Obviously, as scholars like Pentikäinen assert for all non-literate, often shamanic based cultures world-wide, a culture like the Vanirs cannot be given justice, nor be discussed within academy without a multi-disciplinary approach.[6] A just treatment needs to employ a fan of other disciplines, and merge with archeology, anthropology, ethnology and folklore, seasonal celebrations and festivals, traditional tales and legends, language and sayings, and take into account geographical names and shrines in Scandinavia etc.[7] All of this encapsulates invaluable and unique information and fragments of the Old Vanir Ways.
It has been natural also to allow relevant parallels to be drawn between the Old Vanirs and the indigenous Sami culture in northern Scandinavia. Both of them were non-war and shamanic based. Sami shamanism belongs to the circumpolar shamanic cultures. Evidence is stated for the existence also of Norse shamanism, and we believe it is rooted in the Old Vanir culture. In Edda literature the shaman is depicted as the Vala or Völva. In Viking Age the völva-tradition was heavily on decline, and extinct by Christianity, as will be discussed below. We acknowledge the difference between Sami-Finnish and the Norse-Germanic shamanism and world perception; at the same time the many shared motifs and menti-facts make an interchange of ideas that found relevance in their respective belief systems most likely.[8]
Iconography is another source of non-written evidence. As discussed above, current interpretations of archeological excavations have suggested a quick and substantial shift of paradigm in society and mythology in the 400´s.[9] The shift is observable in many ways, also in iconography. We have chosen to exemplify the shift in the 5th century society by means of the significant shift in iconography and symbolism on decorated standing stones on the Baltic island, Gotland, Sweden.
Iconography from before the 400´s is female oriented and has a long history leading back to at least Scandinavian Bronze Age c. 1300 BCE. It displays features and symbolism parallel to and similar to that of the OE-civilization in southeast Europe.[10] OE-civilization is believed to have gone extinct at latest c. 1100 BCE (its last branch was the Minoan culture on Crete), but given that an enclave or a branch of OE culture may have lingered on in remote Scandinavia, the OE culture (its society, belief system and symbolism) may have been alive until as late as 400CE.
Iconography from after the 400´s is male oriented and shows warfare.
The rise of patriarchy in Scandinavia is linked to the mere construction of Asir-belief (Asatro). Because Asir religion attracts many today, both in Scandinavia and abroad, and as Asir-belief frequently is referred to as a nature based mythology, we have found it of importance to point out that it is not. Therefore, before following the course to the core of this article, the mythic and shamanistic society of the Vanir mothers, and their brother-partners and lovers, we will first brief the historical background, transition and manifestation of Asir-religion in Scandinavia in the 400´s CE.
(To be Continued)
(Meet Mago Contributor) Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen.
[1] Spretnak, Lost Goddesses, 23. Pentikäinen, Shamanism, 13
[2] Cornelius Tacitus, Germania, trans. Nils Edvard Hammarstedt, Per Persson (Stockholm: Nordisk familjeboks förlags aktiebolag, 1916), Cap. 40.
2010:33-57 https://www.academia.edu/11817728/Snorre_Sturlasson_som_balanskonstn%C3%A4r
[5] Karen, Bek-Pedersen, The Norns in Old Norse Mythology, (Edinburgh: Dunedin Press. 2011), xiv, 10, 41
[6] Pentikäinen, Shamanism, 17
[7] Juha Pentikäinen, Shamanism, 13-14, 17, 86.
[8] Louise Bäckman, Sájva: Föreställningar om hjälp- och skyddsväsen i heliga fjäll bland samerna (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1975), 45. Bäckman, Louise, interviewed by Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen. Spring 2014-5 and July 2017. Kaarina Kailo, Finnish Goddess Mythology and the Golden Woman, (Oulu: Lore & Loom, 2018), 82. Britt-Mari Näsström, Fornskandinavisk religion. En grundbok (Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2001), 11.
[9] Hedeager, Iron Age Myth, 2011. Wall, Hägnade bergens. 2003.
[10] Donna Read and Starhawk, Signs Out of Time: The Story of Archeologist Marija Gimbutas (Belili Production, 2004). Marija Gimbutas, The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe: Myth and Cult Images (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007). Ian Hodder, Catalhöyük. The Leopard´s Tale: Revealing the mysteries of Catalhöyük (London: Themes & Hudson, 2006). James Mellaart, Çatal Hüyük: A Neolithic Town in Anatolia (London: Thames and Hudson, 1967).
Fascinating. Re the oral nature of early cultures, we face the same challenges in Australia with Aboriginal cultures extending back tens of thousands of years, possibly 120,000 years. But many of the features are really similar. And the cultural destruction over the past 200 years has been immense. However, many communities hold on to their knowledge.
Norse Goddeses 2: I know that I have been inculcated into the belief that the Norse gods were travelers ,fearsome etc.. never heard of the earlier female goddesses and we know why – interesting the change 400 CE…. it is amazing how every European culture seems to have undergone thisbrutl transition from female to male gods somewhere around this period.