Hhello friends my name is Arith Härger and today I'm going to talk about werewolves in Norse mythology
Halloween is over but there is still a mystical atmosphere in the air
I don't know about you but I do enjoy werewolves
and winter is a wonderful time to read and listen to such stories, in the comforts of our house of course
while out there it rains and snows and everything's much darker than usual
there is this idea that werewolves are exclusively from Eastern Europe
but I've collected a lot of tales about werewolves from places
I would even imagine that such tales were part of the local folklore
but then again it's not surprising because at some point in prehistoric times
our ancestors spiritual practices were very much connected to animal totems
the power of animals
as I have said before, in Europe, the animals connected to royalty, courage, the warrior spirit and such
were the bear and the boar
these two animals were the most representative creatures of every European culture
pre-christian culture
and then there was the wolf, the wolf was something else entirely
picture this
beyond the borders of the villages and the boundaries of our familiar world
there lies vast, wild and solitary landscapes
when night comes, those places become a scenery of dark and gloomy shadows
in the deep forests the famished wolves roam and hunt, howling in the cold winter nights
howling at the moonless sky
their eyes glitter in the dark as if they burned with a foul fire
the human being as always fear the unknown and in ancient times these landscapes beyond their villages were
terrible places of both mystery and death
few were those who dared to venture into those places
so such places became the scenery of many fantastic tales
and the wolves became a symbol of terror and power
these animals were considered to be the wildest beings on earth, always searching for the kill
so it is perfectly natural that these natural facts led to so many folk tales
about werewolves and other mythical creatures
now let's focus on werewolves for Northern Europe
we have many mythological accounts about werewolves in ancient Scandinavia
let's start with one of the most famous tales
the tale of two men, Sigmund and Sinfjötli, who one day find a house in the middle of the woods
with men under a sleeping spell
these men had enchanted wolf-skins
Sigmund and Sinfjötli steal their wolf- skins and put them on
the moment they do this they transform themselves into wolves and can even understand the wolf language
then, after few adventures and killing other men
things go wrong and one wounds the other, apparently a mortal wound
but things turn out for the best and the two men survive and take off the wolf-skins and destroy them
first of all, these two men were in the woods because they were outlaws
and lived from robbery and other activities against the law
they were outlaws as I've said
and in ancient Scandinavian societies
the outlaws, murderers, defilers of temples and thieves were given the name of Vargr
they were the Vargar, which means "wolves"
such people weren't killed by their actions or arrested, they had a worse fate
they were expelled from the community, or the tribe, and were left in the wild landscapes as an animal
who now needed to survive, alone or in a group of people in equal circumstances, just as wolves do
everyone could kill them, hunt them on sight, with no penalty nor punishment
because the Vargar were now animals, no one considered them as humans
they were mere beasts
another aspect, they came upon other men in a remote area
in the wilds, away from civilization
who possessed enchanted wolf-skins
now, we might be in the presence of individuals who are also outlaws and as such they are Varger
or we are in the presence of shamans
shamans also lived outside communities, far away in the wilds but they didn't live as beasts
they had their own dwellings and most survived because of the offerings the community gave to them
in exchange for their power, their assistance in a variety of fields
from healing, to divination and so on
in the history of shamanism we see many parallels with this aspect
shamans living outside the communities, being both feared and revered
no one wants them close but at the same time they need them
there are other tales similar to this one in the northern European countries
in Finland, for instance
there are tales about men stumbling upon other men under a sleeping spell
men with great spiritual power and can even turn into animals, mostly wolves
so, the two men stole these enchanted wolf-skins and turned into wolves
they either accepted their condition as outlaws or precisely due to the fact that they lived in the wilds
they encountered a spiritual path, they- they had a contact with a shamanic perspective of life
to our ancestors spiritual power came from the wilds
away from civilization, going out there to seek knowledge and power
we see this in shamanism, isolation as a shamanic technique to induce trance
the boundary between civilization and the wilds is a parallel to the boundary
between sanity and madness
and it's precisely with that balanced state that shamans do what they do
there were also tribes of Shaman-warriors
which could take the form of wolves in their trance-journeys
and they acted like wolves
these shamanic mysteries were preserved as hereditary traditions among some families
these shamans, at their initiation rites to become wolf-warriors
would go into the swamps, the most dangerous and wild places of the world
and left their clothes behind
symbolically this is the abandonment of the human form and the identity as a member of a community
these people would live their lives out there away from the civilized world
and learning from the wilds
these people were called wolfmen or werewolves
there are other accounts of werewolves in Norse tradition such as Ulf Bjalfason
a character in the egg Egil's Saga
as soon as night approached . . .
his mood would darken and he had to get away from everyone and being isolated
people started to be suspicious and began to wonder that he might be one of those who changes his skin
people started to call him Kveld Ulf (Night's wolf)
a cool nickname
we can see in here the similarities with the previous account
isolation and to become a skin-changer
I'm sure you were already thinking about this
obviously, in Norse mythology, we have the great wolf Fenrir son of Loki
Fenrir will kill Odin during the events of Ragnarök
eventually I shall speak about Fenrir on another time
but Fenrir symbolizes the wilds, power, chaos, the other side of things that oppose order
but must exist to create a balance
the wild side of nature, its cruelty and destructive power
as we have seen before people sought knowledge in the wilds
spiritual knowledge
the knowledge that can only come from the dead, from what is chaotic, untamable
and people have always had this need to try to tame the untamable in order to survive
it's interesting to see that Fenrir will kill Odin
and Odin being the personification of wisdom and power but Fenrir is also power
the other side of power, the wild power, two opposites against each other
and it's the wild power that will eventually succeed but ultimately be consumed and fall
just as we have seen with Sigmund and Sinfjötli, they enjoyed their time being wolves
but could not control the power and the wild side to control of them
and one ended up killing the other
but taking their wolf-skins off
they became men again - civilized
Fenrir might be the remnants of a prehistoric tale about those who are skinchangers
that take the form of wolves and live their lives according to their wolf-totem
every tale has a moral and this one would probably be that seeking power is healthy and wise
but be careful to not let yourself be consumed by such power and let it control you
Fenrir also has two sons - Sköll and Hati - one chases the sun the other chases the moon
every day like a shadow
darkness seeking to overcome balance and nature itself
we have the same principle as with Fenrir
we know of two other wolves - Geri and Freki the Wolves of Odin himself
there is a great possibility that these two wolves are not just pets
two animals akin to dogs and Odin just likes to have them near, pet them, and feed them his food under the table
it's possible that Geri and Freki represents skinchangers
and that in fact these are two people, maybe Odin's own body-guards
or two chosen warriors of the utmost confidence
the best of the best, the perfect loyal soldiers
there are many archaeological finds depicting human figures wearing wolf pelts
in Scandinavian societies the tales of wolves went further than the mythological tales
there was the existence of the elite warriors called Úlfhéðnar (Ulfhednar)
people who went to war dressed with the skins of wolves, and were also warriors with immense strength
who sometimes fought naked without showing that they were uncomfortable with the cold weather
or the landscape itself, adapting perfectly to the harsh environment just like wolves
these Warriors went to battle in some kind of a trance
and did not have the need for weapons, they could kill with their bare hands
or bite just as a wolf does
in fact that is what they were-
people with the shapes of wolves, who thought that they were wolves themselves
and acted like the creatures
there is a great possibility that before battle
they consumed some kind of hallucinogenic, entering in a trance-like state
psychologically they could feel the difference
it's just like if someone asks you to lift a table and you don't have the strength or the strength fails you
and you- and it's hard, but when you are angry you gain strength and you can lift and throw the table with no problem
people sometimes go beyond the limitations they think they have
when they are physically and psychologically affected
when people are pushed into certain situations
the need to survive comes to the surface
and the wild and savage feelings hidden within us appear, almost feral
of course these accounts may be exaggerations but the fact is-
we find representations in archaeological excavations so people probably believed in this
and these Warriors were actually part of a cult which involved hallucinogenic-drugs
and pushing people to their limits, inducing rage, anger, inducing a state of uncontrollable mindless violence
being feral
these people were represented as wolves
from a cult which goes far back before recorded history
to prehistoric shamanistic communities of wolfmen or werewolves
alright friends I hope you have enjoyed this video, see you on the next one
and I am famished as a wolf
and I think I'm going to take a bite off of Mr. Tico here
alright
tack för idag! (thank you for today!)
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