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jprussellEirik 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.
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Date: 2024-09-02 10:43 am (UTC)Thanks for this. Very interesting indeed, and I don't think I've seen that explanation suggested anywhere either. You're right that it makes a lot of sense, especially for such a poetry-obsessed culture, haha.
As for the American Futhark, I really like it, but I'll admit it also leaves me a tad envious as a European Heathen. I'd love to have something like this for Scandinavian languages. Westcoat's praise for the runes as phonetically one to one is pretty absurd when it comes to the Younger Futhark. The HGD also suggests writing modern Norwegian using the YF, which doesn't make much sense to me as a native speaker. That thing is missing half the sounds of Old Norse, nevermind the modern language (plus it's not anywhere near as aesthetically pleasing as the Older and OE Futharks IMO, but that's another story). An adapted version like this would be neat.
Still, I really like seeing projects like this, even if I can't benefit from it personally. There does seem to be a living spark to modern Heathenry, with people building new and intriguing things on the traditional framework, a la Westcoat, Kvilhaug, Hodge-Rose, Hill with the HGD et al (and of course yourself and Krasskova with the Heathen Rosary). That's much more interesting and worthwhile IMO than strict academic reconstructionism, which will always be chasing a mirage anyway.
Like I've said on JMG's blogs before, it sometimes feels like the creative core of Heathenry has moved more to the New World these days. And in many ways the tradition seems to fit American culture better than our Scandinavian ones these days. Of course, the US also just has many more people to innovate and experiment with new religions to begin with, and Kvilhaug is a counter-example. But again, as a Scandinavian it makes me glad to see it, but also a little wistful that the Americans are doing all the fun stuff with Heathenry these days...
The organized Heathen scene here is tiny, and I haven't had any contact with it personally, but maybe I'll see about that as I proceed with the HGD.
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Date: 2024-09-02 03:55 pm (UTC)1) Well, the Younger Futhark is the odd man out, and Westcoat acknowledges that the "one Runestave, one sound" correlation was strongest in the Elder Futhark. The Anglo-Frisian Futhorc went for "more Runestaves!" and included stuff like Stan ("Stone"), which stands for /st/, which is not really one sound, but two. I haven't studied the Younger Futhark at all, but my understanding is that it definitely broke from "one sound for one Runestave," but in a way that paid close attention to the (then) sounds of the tongue (for example, when one stave started being used for two or more sounds, it was because they shared something important, like placement of the tongue. I don't know if the Younger Futhark does this, but an example might be using the same letter/stave for "t" and "d," since the only distinction between these sounds is that the former is unvoiced and the latter voiced, meaning the vocal cords are engaged or not). I also believe there were diacritics used to distinguish between sounds that were still distinct, but represented by the same stave, like putting a dot next to the stave. I have even less idea how suited this more complex approach is to today's Scandinavian tongues.
2) Agreed on liking to see projects like this and on the lesser value of strict reconstruction! I think that detailed academic research into how it was done back in the day is invaluable for getting ideas of what we might do, and as sanity checks to make sure we're not way off base, but the idea that someone today could worship exactly as a 4th century Saxon did (or 5th century Norwegian, or whatever) seems both hopeless and not worth trying for anyway, since we live in a very different world.
3) This is a topic I'm starting to noodle on, which you can see in some of my comments here, on MM, and over at causticus's journal - what would a truly "American Heathenry" look like? What might we do to help plant seeds of that and nurture them? I'd like to explore it more through blog posts, projects, and of course, my own practice, but right now I don't have much more than you mentioned - a feeling that there's some life there, and something worth exploring.
4) As an American, I'm completely disconnected from what is or isn't going on with Heathenry in Scandinavia, and barely connected with what's going on in the wider Anglo-sphere (I've read a bit about what English Heathens are up to, as there's quite a lot of overlap with my interests, and no language barrier). Not "Scandinavian," but still "Nordic," another name that comes to mind is the Youtuber Rune Hjarno Rasmussen, who is Danish, trained as an anthropologist of religion specializing in African diaspora religions, and is interested in looking at Nordic Religions as a local, "animist" tradition (his Youtube channel is "Nordic Animism"). I have my disagreements with him, but I really admire his commitment to the religion as something immediate and to be practiced right here and now, with relevance to the issues we're dealing with, along with a focus on embracing and reviving local customs and practices, like Krampusnacht.
I'm less sure on this front, but I suspect one complicating factor is that Germanic religion might have more nationalist baggage in Europe than in the US, and that baggage might be more strongly reacted against. Sure, there's a strain of white nationalists/supremacists trying to associate Heathenry with what they're about, but we have never had large popular movements that were like "this is who we have always really been and it should drive these cultural and political changes!" in the way that the Romantic revival of interest in ancient Germanic myth and religion did in European countries (though I know this was to different extents in different countries).
Anyhow, my last thought would be that if you're jealous of us having all the fun, there's nothing stopping you from making some of your own fun! I'm not a part of any groups and I don't know any other worshipers of the Germanic Gods in person, I just read stuff online and do my own thing, so if you're here, you've got the same sources inspiration and support that I do (well, besides whatever possible Astral/Spiritual currents might be flowing over here that aren't over there). So, maybe you can get something going, if you feel called that way.
Cheers,
Jeff
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Date: 2024-09-02 08:57 pm (UTC)4) Thanks for the tip. I was aware of Rasmussen, but haven't delved too much into his work. The "local customs" thing is interesting, since I get the sense that's a major strand of several in-person Pagan/Heathen groups both here and in Sweden. Ie. the focus on "Forn Sed" if you've run into that term, literally "old custom", where they use various half-Christianized folk traditions as a starting point for their practice more than the written myths or reconstructions.
Maybe I'm too optimistic, but I suspect the nationalist (or let's be real, racist) baggage was more of an issue back in the 90s and 00s. These days it's more about Islamic immigrants vs American-style secular rightwing populists, with a few hardcore Christians thrown in. Thankfully, Heathens haven't really been part of that whole debate in the public view, and the days of Varg Vikernes et al are thankfully long gone. Both national Heathen-adjacent organizations here do very clearly disavow any kind of racism on their public pages, though, and I guess some prejudice might still linger.
Actually, the few times I've seen anything Heathen-related in the media here, it's been more along the lines of "look at these silly people doing their silly ceremonies while benefitting from public money" (all religious organizations get state support based on member count here).
And of course making your own fun is always a good suggestion. :) Like I said on MM, maybe I'll try to adapt the Merlin rituals eventually, unless someone else does first. I have no idea if Hill plans on writing more books for the system. For the time being I'll focus on just working my way through the curriculum as written, though. Like you've talked about here before with your Dolmen Arch practice, I feel what I need more than anything right now is steady work with a structured system "by the book", then we'll see.
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Date: 2024-09-03 04:14 am (UTC)4b) That seems likely true, but is a bit hard to sort out in a "very online" context, as opposed to going to a group and meeting folks. I initially used the term "nationalist" because I think the Romantic and early post-Romantic interest in embracing Germanic myth and ethos among Germanic nations was not all about "race" or "racism," though of course they were all mixed up a lot of the time, and these days, many people insist that such nationalistic tendencies were just racism, and dismiss all of it with that label. Also, to call a spade a spade, certain groups within the Nazis enthusiastically embraced some elements of Romantic Germanic polytheistic revival, and I get the impression there's a lingering fear of being associated with the 20th century's ultimate bogeymen (this is certainly sometimes true in America, where some, but not all, avowed neo-Nazis have adopted Germanic mythic and religious symbols, myths, and sometimes worship). I also have heard that such fears might be especially strong in Germany, made worse by the strict legal bans on anything Nazi-related, and I inferred that the Germanic nations that were occupied by/allied with/neutral to the Nazis might have some similar feelings.
In America in the last few decades, all of this has been muddied by a few currents that come together most messily: 1) As I mentioned, some actual, this-is-what-I-call-myself Neonazis worship Odin and get Runic tattoos and what not, 2) the increasing focus on racial identities and their associated tensions has left some white folks going "what about our racial identity?" with varying levels of animosity toward other races, 3) the emphasis on both historical reconstruction and ancestor worship/veneration has led many groups to place great emphasis on the ethnic and cultural context of pre-Christian Germanic polytheism, which was, to not put too fine a point on it, very white, and 4) the social justice/woke/progressive/whatever term you prefer cultural and social currents have greatly altered how folks use the term "racist" and "racism," which has created all kinds of counter-responses.
Put all this together, and you get everything from extremely woke Heathen organizations that celebrate any archaeological, historical, or mythic evidence for things championed by today's progressives, Heathen organizations that are avowedly racist, Heathen organizations that say "we don't have a problem with other races, but our organization is for folks of Germanic heritage," folks who aren't racist but won't join Heathen organizations that are too loud about advertising their non-racism, and all kinds of other permutations. To say nothing of how any of these organizations might change over time as the more politically-motivated of their members try to steer it in the directions they think best.
Or, at least, that's sure what it looks like from my computer screen! These complications, along with basic logistics like "there really aren't that many actively practicing Heathens" and "all of us have our own idiosyncratic interpretations of how to do worship, personal practice, and interpret myth," have, as I said, so far kept me from getting involved in anything in-person.
Despite all that, as you say, I'm getting the impression that maybe some of these things are fading a bit, and "serious" Heathens are finding their voices and each other and looking more to build healthy practices for the future than to fight over definitions from the past. Unless, of course, that's wishful thinking on my part.
4c) Heh, I haven't even seen Heathens getting that kind of coverage here in the states, so maybe things are more "advanced" there than you realize! :)
4d) That sounds like a rather sensible path, to me, and I'll be interested to hear what comes of it for you, especially since at this point, I'm only really familiar with JMG's approach to spiritual work.
Oh, and responding to your comment below, no worries!
Cheers,
Jeff
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Date: 2024-09-02 08:59 pm (UTC)