Military Weapons are one of the fundamental pillars of the Northern European Tradition . The lands of Fennoscandia are permeated with the symbolism of military elitism. Despite the titanism of the modern world, Weapons, as one of the attributes of Northern European existence, remain a key element of the existence of the Nordic man of the wolf age.
Peder stands in the corner of the yard,
It’s time for him to talk to the sword.
“My sword, renew your glory.
Do you want to bathe in blood?
You are for me, my sword, wait,
I have no other relatives.”
[ Danish ballad ” The Sword is the Avenger “]
The basis of the logos of the North is a ritual metaphysical construction, which includes: sagas, myths, art, craft, rites and rituals. This axiological foundation serves as a support for the man of Tradition. Weapons are interpreted as a symbol of spiritual and ethical qualities. They take an oath on the weapon, or the weapon acts as a tool that saves them from straw death. A noble death is a death with a weapon in hand or a dignified suicide instead of servile captivity.
On Nydud’s belt
My sword sparkles, I sharpen it
As sharp as possible
And hardened
As tightly as possible;
My sword is forever
They took me away
He won’t be anymore
in the Wölund forge…
[ Elder Edda ]
In Nordic eschatology, weapons occupy central plots in narratives, for example, the weapon of the Thunder God, Thor ( Þōrr ) – Mjöllnir – has cult significance. The war hammer was created by the blacksmith magician Wöland. The cult of the Blacksmith God is associated with the process of mining and processing metals. Blacksmithing is a sacred thing that personifies magical practices. The transformation of iron ore into a specific form is an act of the Demiurge. Blacksmithing in the human world marks the forceful transformation of matter, calling upon the noumena and their further connection with man can be formed.
There the blacksmith stopped,
There he makes a fire for himself.
On the first day he sets the bellows,
On the second day – the anvil.
Here is that blacksmith, Ilmarinen,
Eternal is that blacksmith,
I threw all my supplies into the flames,
Things needed in the crucible,
He placed slaves at the bellows,
So that they fan the fire.
[ Epic “Kalevala“, Rune Ten ]
In the Northern European legends of the heirs of Paleo-European cosmology, Weapons are endowed with a primordial nature. The demiurge-smith Seppo Ilmarinen summoned fiery prominences and produced tools from iron. The god of air and weather forged the Sampo mill for the sorceress Louhi and a sword for the hero Lemminkäinen.
It also helped the hero
What Vitia Hrothgar gave him:
Sword with hilt, ancient Hrunting,
The best of the glorious inherited blades;
(were on a blade tempered with blood,
patterned snakes are etched with a potion)…
[ Beowulf ]
The creation of a product is a ritual accompanied by the reading of incantations and praises from sacred texts during the initiation of free men. This gave rise to the mysterious image of Weapons as a symbol of personal freedom, a sacred object of war or a family relic.
Do you see the sword
In the palm of my hand
Decorated with signs?..
[ Skirnir’s Ride ]
During the period of dominance of Tradition, an important element is the cultural hierarchy of interaction with Weapons. To syncretize the Warrior and his Weapon, the ritual practice of naming the sword was carried out: Furious ( Gramr ), Gray Sides ( Grásíða ), Flame of Battle ( Gunnlogi ), Foot Eater ( Fotbitr ), Leg Eater ( Leggbir ), Breaker of Stones ( Kuernbut ), Bite ( Skrofnung ), Viper ( Nadr ) and Piercing ( Naegling ). There was a ceremony of donation – the King presented a sword to a successful and skillful Warrior who had accomplished a feat on the battlefield, transferring a piece of his own strength, glory and hamingja . The practice of sacrifice with the use of Weapons or washing with blood was used; Consecration on the altar; Application of sacred symbols and runes.
The husband shouldn’t
even for a moment
move away from the weapon;
because who knows
when on the way
the spear will come in handy
[ Speeches of the High One ]
In Northern European ethnoculture, the understanding of Weapons was multi-valued: archetypal, cosmological and magical. Traditional society viewed the surrounding world as a supernatural phenomenon, therefore earthly Weapons, which are the fruit of transcendental blacksmithing, reflected the divine plan of its existence. Weapons also determined the moral qualities of people and nations: militancy, heroism, strength and justice. All this subsequently influenced the existence and metaphysical understanding of what was happening in the life of Nordic man.
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