Easter Sunday

I ween that I hung on the windy tree,

Hung there for nights full nine;

With the spear I was wounded,

and offered I was To Odin, myself to myself,

On the tree that none may ever know

What root beneath it runs.

• The Havamal

In geological terms, it’s only been a blink of an eye since mankind has lived in this time of safety and leisure. Ages ago, man was trying to survive in a wild, brutal land filled to the brim with deadly beasts and strange spirits dwelling the realm. After man’s fall in Eden, not only was man’s relationships with the Lord broken, but Nature itself fell along with man. The great beings whose presence extended to planes unknown to man, who once knew their place and role, were corrupted and subject to the same temptations and foibles that plague mankind. The world, immersed in small, primitive tribes with sparse pockets of cities fostering the first great civilizations, often found these old spirits dwelling alongside man, and worshipped them. They might have seen them in the rising mist over the sea before sunrise, or strange shapes terrifying them in the bog. Perhaps they saw an old bearded warlord, larger than any man, make haste into battle and bring victory to his people. Perhaps a prophet came from the far beyond and told fantastical stories that ripped the veil between the spiritual realm and the physical.

In any case, the spirits they worshipped were shaped by their environment. Every domain had its great protectors, with the people of these remote lands having their own customs, codes of honor, and gods. Countless myths have been lost forever to history, though many were saved through scribes who wrote down the poems and epics of these ancient peoples.

One such effort was through Snorri Sturluson in his Prose Edda and the anonymous writer of the Codex Regius, known popularly as the Poetic Edda. They codified the ancient Germanic religion as it fell into obscurity with their mass conversion to Christianity. The Germanics were master storytellers, with the legends of Odin, Thor, Freya, and Loki filling stories of heroism, deep meditation, and suicidal hubris that made these powerful beings all too human, regardless of the strangeness of the stories. Grown from the dark, mysterious forests of the North, where being in tune with the cycles of the seasons meant life or death as the ruthless and unforgiving cold of Winter came year after year, these gods are just as tough, clever, and resourceful as the tribe who once worshipped them. We’ll never know every tale of these tribes, as the surviving lore is full or references to other celestial beings and cosmic events forever lost to history. Reading these works only increases their mystery.

There's the story of the great dwarves, the greatest blacksmiths who ever existed, and their scheming to turn Loki's head into a machine. We have the God of Thunder putting on a wedding dress to trick a giant on his nuptial banquet. We have all the Aesir panicking as a great builder nears completion of a wall ahead of schedule, as they promised Freya as the man's bride, along with the Sun and the Moon. Through these myths we see them becoming victims of their own folly, ultimately bringing forth their own downfall.

A unique aspect of these myths is the gods are all mortal. The Greek gods were immortal, coinciding with the Greek understanding of time moving infinitely. The Egyptian gods were mortal-ish, always resurrected in a cycle of death and rebirth. For the Germanics it was neither. Most of the gods had a single life, and at Ragnarök the universe would collapse and begin anew. Afterwards, according to Odin’s prophetess, there is no rebirth for most of the gods. the All-Father is forever gone, with only a few gods, such as a resurrected Balder and minor gods from the Aesir seeing this new world. There is conjecture even this was an addition, that the Germanics actually believed the universe would end forever, and the rebirth was an addition based on their contact with Christianity. While that would coincide with the German’s gleeful fatalism, I personally believe the ancient ones believed what was scribed.

Netflix recently had a series on this Mythology, The Twilight of the Gods, expounding on many of these stories. While I appreciate the attempt to de-Marvelize these grand tales, the violence and sex was excessive, even given the material. What stuck out though was a shocking scene where Odin, the all-father, sees his future.

Odin, the wanderer, the seer, and the warrior, witnessed the beginning of Ragnarök, watching his son battle the great serpent. He glimpses Fenrir, the great wolf and his future killer.

The vision progresses and becomes more disconcerting. He sees a man crucified, and watches his people turn away, throwing away the tokens and idols of their rejected gods and sailing off. Shocked and confused, he’s transported to a modern city next to a gothic church. He is brought down to his knees and his eyes turn away from a blinding light. He sees Christ again, The King of Kings, lower himself from the cross, his pierced feet hitting the pavement as he walks to the all-father. Christ touches Odin’s face, not in contempt, not with triumph, but divine love.

A creature like Odin doesn't fit well into Christian theology. Many pagan gods are clearly demonic, some are near saints, but most are in the middle like Odin. They are forces of nature, displaced through the fall of Eden. Odin prided himself on knowledge and distilling wisdom to his followers. To see the world, his ravens perched on his shoulders to tell its goings on. His loyal dogs Geri and Freki, translated as greed and avarice, showed his more barbaric side. He plucked his eyes to receive divine wisdom in the well. The Havamal is full of useful anecdotes and deep sayings in matters of living a good life, even if the god himself often failed to be wise.

He could be a violent god, but also a wise ruler. He loved his power yet enjoyed travelling the forest alone. He could be rotten yet also bound by honor to treat compatriots better than they deserved, like the time Odin allowed Loki to a party against the will of the guests due to a blood oath, with Loki proceeding to accuse all the female gods of being whores. Just like the great spanning woods where he wandered, the One-Eyed-Man was untamed.

There are also the strange similarities in symbolism. While there’s no reason to assume any cross-pollination between the European North and the Levant, it’s fascinating. Odin was tied to a tree for nine days and pierced with a spear to learn the secrets of the runes. While Christ sacrificed Himself on the cross for the sin of his people, Odin did it to increase his own knowledge. Both had foresight into their brutal deaths, grimly moving forward to fulfill their appointed task. Then there’s Yggdrasil, the great world spanning tree that bears striking resemblance to The Tree of Life in Genesis and Revelation. Then there’s the great apocalypse at the end of time.

The most interesting is the trinitarian nature of Odin. His three natures give a key insight into the conflicted nature of this god, and the inner restlessness that drove him.

Odin the Wanderer traveled the world of men while hiding his great power, giving aid to those he deems worthy, or to simply play the trickster. Many of the stories in the Eddas show Odin wandering in a cloak, often appearing as an old man. In one tale he disguises himself as a boatman and has a battle of wits with his son Thor. In another from the saga “Hrolf Kraki and His Champions”, he appears as a farmer and proceeds to challenge his men and whittle down Hrolf’s band into twelve of his best berserkers to charge into battle with. There’s both a playfulness and weariness to this Odin, like even with his immense power, there’s a missing element to his existence he can’t find.

Odin the Seer went to a seer to determine what the Norns, being who determined the fate of every living thing, had in store for him. He got more than he bargained for, given a vision into Ragnarok, and the collapse of the entire cosmos after three subsequent hard winters with no summer. Instead of lamenting his fate, he accepted it with the fatalism expected of such a man used to cold winters, hard battles, and unrelenting forests. Even Odin was helpless against the power of the Norns, and his only say in the matter was the attitude in which he continued on, even if unsatisfied with his end.

Odin the Warrior needs no explanation. He was the most powerful of the gods and the scourge of the giants. None of the other denizens of Valhalla could match him might, and with his magic spear he always hit his foe. Through his life he lived for war, and his worshippers would ask for his assistance in battle. In the end of days, the stoic attitude as he walked to his death showed no cowardly bone in his body, even if he fails in his greatest test.

When Christianity came and supplanted the rites of the old religion, they didn’t so much eliminate as baptize them. The valor of Thor found its place in the veneration of St. Michael the Archangel. Christ’s life was told in heroic fashion to fit their culture in the Heliand. Old traditions from the ancient woods they dwelled turned into the Yule log and Christmas tree. Then the heroic ethos of the ancient people found its purpose in the Crusades. It didn’t happen overnight though, as many old graves have inscriptions of both the Cross and Thor’s Hammer.

Through this process, one is left to wonder what has happened to Odin.

Will the Old Gods Please Stand?

With no followers who know the ancient rites and a world that is increasingly domesticated, perhaps he appears to those few people with a wildness in their eyes. Perhaps he decided to go to sleep as civilization has passed him by, dreaming of older days of glory. What goes through his head through the centuries, seeing this Christ, a God who became man to die for the infractions of others and rise again? Does he have contempt for the God who tore his people away? Does he stand in awe at this great Man, whose power is greater than the Norns?

No one but The Lord knows his final fate. The prophetess gave a dark ending, but perhaps there are events even she is blind to. I like to think that in his centuries of pondering after witnessing the risen God, he understands Christ, whose sacrifice was for mankind and the Aesir as well, and through the redemption of Man he also redeemed Nature to its proper form. Maybe the stubborn god lets go of his pride and believes, understanding that only His love can make him fulfilled. Maybe as he makes his last stand, and the jaws of Fenrir close on him, he sees Christ appear again, driving the darkness away, His hand reaching out to take the weary warrior home.

He is Risen. Happy Easter.

Alan