Hearthside

So I have seen some interesting discourse for the start of the Aun year, which started on the New Moon (according to Rune Rasmussen’s reckoning.) There seems to be a bit of confusion why the name Aun is associated with the 9 year cycle. Rune didn’t just make that up. It is likely that the story of King Aun was in part a story that taught how to reckon the 9 year cycle to the elder Heathens. (The 9 year cycle is 9 years inclusive, or by modern reckoning, which is exclusive reckoning… 8 years.) So what is the Aun story, for those not familiar?    In Upsal's town the cruel king Slaughtered his sons at Odin's shrine -- Slaughtered his sons with cruel knife, To get from Odin length of life. He lived until he had to turn His toothless mouth to the deer's horn; And he who shed his children's blood Sucked through the ox's horn his food. At length fell Death has tracked him down, Slowly, but sure, in Upsal's town. - Y...

I find myself circling back time and time again to the story of the wooing of Gerðr. You are probably wondering why. It is true from a modern perspective that the story is extremely problematic. (And I will say right now that the subject matter of this post may be troubling to some and you may not want to read any further.) I am sure there are a lot of parts of the Lore that we all are often tempted to gloss over, and this is probably top of the list. That probably is exactly our problem in approaching it, however. Sometimes you can’t go into something with a modern mindset and take anything of value from it, and the importance of the story isn’t the story itself, but its value.  Now what value can I possibly deriving from a story that seems to glorify rape culture and remove female agency? That is exactly where we get stuck with this story, is making assumptions based on modern understandings. There are quite a few scholars who try to pick apart whether or not Gerðr has feminine a...