[Main Blog Post] Eirik Westcoat and the American Futharch

[jprussell]

Eirik Westcoat is the modern poet from whom I have learned to craft verse in Germanish meters, and he has constructed a new set of Runestaves fitted to the sounds of modern English. Along the way to explaining why he did that, though, he just happened to drop a remarkable insight into one of the mysteries of Runic scholarship.

Comments

[causticus]

Agreed, I too think that both heavy metal and grunge convey an Odinic vibe. Metal in particular evokes a strong Germanic barbarian aesthetic, or at least what we modern people imagine that as being.

I think the wily old man might get a good chuckle out of the Alice in Chains song Them Bones. Heck, it could even be a devotional to Hel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFgAE5SgFnw

[jprussell]

Thank you for this as well! It certainly has the right vibe. I still think there's something to Jordan Peterson's observation that a lot of punk and post-punk music (including Grunge and Metal, I believe, though he doesn't mention them specifically) has seemingly nihilistic lyrics and themes that are belied by the music itself. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden is maybe the pre-eminent example in my own experience, but this song hits the same vibe for me. It's lyrics read as a straightforward despair in the face of inevitable death, but the wryness and the up-tempo of the music and a few other things gives it an aesthetically meaning nonetheless.

That feels like a fairly Odinic mystery to me (at least for His "Dark Side" that we're also discussing over on your journal currently).