Survive the Jive: All-feed

Pre-Roman Iron Age is a weirdly ignored period of 500 years of Germanic history between the end of the Nordic Bronze Age (500 BC) and the start of the Roman Iron Age (c. 1st c AD). The latter is a period of increasing social stratification with many imported Roman items and increased Roman influence on Germanic material culture whereas the former is a period of high social stratification with Bronze age kings hoarding gold and receiving lavish funerals in great barrows. The intervening period was less stratified, less centralised (with no large settlements), and fewer amazing finds due to less gold hoarding, no more bronze, few barrows (cremation more popular), and a less well defined regional culture. Nordic Bronze age items are unique and Germanic art also took on a distinctly recognisable character in the Roman Iron Age. But in the Pre-Roman Iron age, Germanics mostly seemed to copy Celts. In this period the Proto-Germanic language emerged and acquired Celtic loan words pertaining to hierarchy and new ways of life eg. *rīkz (king), *ambahtaz (servant), *boudī (booty), *īsarną (iron), *tūną (fence/town), and *gīslaz (hostage). Early Roman accounts of the Germanics (from the end of this era) indicate they mainly worshipped a maternal goddess. Linguistics show that Odin (Wotanaz) was worshipped then, but it seems his cult became much more prominent later on due to militarisation under Roman influence.

Just recorded an absolute banger of a podcast about Yule for @hearthfireradio It was a two month long period, containing multiple blots alongside a party with lots of drinking and feasting and the aim was to ensure the health of the land for the coming year. The health of the land depended on the king who was central to the Yule feast, but also on the noble dead who were present as well. The gods of Yule are Odin, Frey and Njord - with Odin, aka Jolnir "Yule one", being the primary god of Yule, and his Wild Hunt, which rides at Yule, consists of him and his einherjar.

Nordic Bronze Age weapon deposit in a sacred lake. Photographed by Emma Foss at the The Bronze Age festival at the Vitlycke Museum in Tanum, Sweden.

Trying to combine Giger and Germanic Interlace styles to create a vision of Hell.

The full moon of Blōtmōnaþ is technically tomorrow but it appears full now. This is an important time to make an offering to the gods and ancestors

And another new find by Jørgen Frost - a Viking age "god mask" mount. This one is quite unusual, especially the bared teeth.

Heathenry in it's revived state is a century in the making Germanic paganism's revival begins with the efforts of Victorian antiquarians, artists and eccentrics of the Romantic period but the first proper self proclaimed Wodenist/Odinist was an Australian Nazi-sympathiser in the 1930's called Alexander Rud Mills. History Channel claims the Nazis themselves were pagans, but that isn't really true. Only Himmler and a few of his mates dabbled with some pagan themes and aesthetics, but they were not actually pagans - or only few of them were. There were even some genuine Heathens who were thrown into concentration camps by the Nazis. Mill's work in Australia didn't lead to anything in the 30's, and his Heathenry was not very authentic either, but it was important because in the 60's it influenced significant people like Else Christensen who established the Odinist Fellowship in 1969 in Florida. She then influenced people like Stephen McNallen who founded the AFA in 1976. In Europe, Heathenry was first established in Iceland by Ásatrúarfélagið in 1972 where it was called Asatru. In England, Stubba founded the Committee for the Restoration of the Odinic Rite in 1973, which was based in Stepney, Tower Hamlets - in the 80's this was built up to become the Odinic Rite charity which later split into the modern group called the Odinic Rite, while the charity status was kept by the other group called the Odinist Fellowship (unrelated to Else's OF). Both of these still exist. McNallen was uploading videos promoting Heathenry to YouTube from around 2008/9 while I first reverted to Heathenry in 2009, influenced mainly by philosophy and other books, and soon began uploading videos on the subject of Heathenry too. Since 2010, the majority of Heathens have been brought to the faith through online content rather than via books and outreach as in the past. This process has taken 100 years at least, but many assume Heathenry just emerged as an online phenomenon, not realising this online activity was a continuation of decades of offline work.

Anglo-Saxon artefacts at the British Museum in London. Most of them come from the Sutton Hoo burial - including the lyre, the rotating fish mount, and the bird shield mount.

This sculpture from Valais in Switzerland dates to around 2500 BC and is associated with the Beaker folk - it resembles similar anthropomorphic stelae of the steppes. It depicts an archer with a bow diagonally across his chest, a belt beneath it and a patterned tunic in the fashion of the time. His arms are resting above his belt. His stylised face looks like he is wearing a helmet with a nose guard, although afaik no such helmets have been found dating to this time.

Viking SAGA film broadcast at FAB! archaeological film festival in Italy. 🇮🇸🐦‍⬛️⚔️ 'Sagas of the Raven Land' is a history documentary in which historian Tom Rowsell journeys to Iceland, immersing himself in the landscapes that inspired the Icelandic sagas of the Viking Age. He rides native horses across the fells, bathes in hot springs, and traces the footsteps of legendary saga heroes like Eirik the Red and Egill Skallagrimsson. CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT NOW

FRESH new find

IBD sharing fig from the above paper seems to show that North Germany had a greater connection to Britain.

A new paper shows that after the fall of Rome, some Romans preferred to stay behind the limes and marry South German women around Altheim, leaving mixed offspring in the 6th century. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389635889_Historic_Genomes_Uncover_Demographic_Shifts_and_Kinship_Structures_in_Post-Roman_Central_Europe

Heathens judge by phenotype. The 12th century Christian Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus wrote of an old king's daughter who he says "men believed" could judge a man's status by his physical appearance. When Olo Vegetus came to her Father's court, with a glare so fierce that brave men cringed beneath it, she acclaimed him "a kingly-born hero". All asked him to remove his hood and when he did they all admired his golden hair but he kept his eyes half closed so as not to terrify them. Saxo's scepticism was at odds with common beliefs of his forefathers. Anyone could judge the merit of a man by his face alone.

Pagans are those who say “Yes” to life

There are loads of artistic depictions of the Celtic hill forts built in Iron Age Britain, but few of the forts made nearly 1000 years later in Migration era Northern Europe. Sandy Borg in Sweden, picture 1 below, had stone walls which made it rather advanced for the 400's AD. There are very few forts in Germany compared to Scandinavia at this time, so it may be that the 5th century Saxon fort of Heidenstadt was influenced by such Nordic ones. I have generated 2 images of Heidenstadt using ChatGPT and Grok (see pics 2 and 3). The fort had wooden walls built on a bank, which can be seen on the lidar scan (pic 4). No evidence of settlement within has been found, but I suspect that is because the peaty marshy land has destroyed the buildings - therefore i included some structures. Many gold and other finds have been found in the marshes around the fort showing wealth and power was centred there.

“I stood at noon when the maidens dread Came forth ere the battle, to choose the slain, And at nightfall the raven's foot was red, And the wolves were met on the darkening plain. Then hewed the hanger, the sword smote sore, I held up the flag till the day went by; It was glued to my straining clasp with gore - Wrap it round me when I die!” The Battle Flag of Sigurd (1872) NB: Sigurd was a Teutonic dragon slaying hero whose battle flag guaranteed victory but also death to he who bore it

Romans should pay reparations for this!