Very unfortunate, it really caught my attention when you mentioned that :D do you have plans to remake a discord server in the future? I think many people, including myself, would enjoy that very much

@@Ingenting I like your music videos.

Did Auðhumla lick Buri out of ice or out of stones?

What happened? Why was it short lived?

He was the first sacrifice, vital in that war and our creation.

Like another set of twins Romulus and Remus, Rmus had to be sacrificed too do that the city of Rome could be built.

Better than a story about a talking snake and cursed fruit.

Why not both?

Viking cowboy is best cowboy

If you don't know who Dr. Crawford is, you don't know Jack(son)! (*mmmph* sorry- bad joke, but I just had to...)

Fascinating observation

I was thinking about the same thing. Also the possibility that the piece of wood is a piece of us from the wood we were created from.

In real life, the Norse also carved runes into wooden sticks. Long, narrow, flat sticks. Some of it was for God after christinization, others were curses and genuine magic. Perhaps it is a part of seiðr that has been forgotten.

I have to also wonder about the part of the stories which say each individual has a personal Norn. Does that mean we shape our own destinies? It may seem a but odd but two belief systems I really align with are Norse Mythology and Earthseed, which is all about shaping destiny. So just something to consider.

@@valeriy8502 Interesting, I've never heard of that before. I do know that anyone who knows divination (whether tarot, palm reading, or scrying), and what my priestess taught me, is that the future is not set. When you are given an answer or vision, it is merely telling you what could happen if you continue the path that you are on. That's why it's used for advice. That outcome can be changed depending on your choices/actions. Even the lines on your palm can change. Your life is a beautiful butterfly effect.

They're invaluable.

For what it's worth, here in Denmark the myth of Balder's death is retold as him getting killed by an arrow made of mistletoe.

@@LarsPallesen Beowulf also speaks of an arrow, and is the oldest of the sources regarding this story

Same in Polish - 'sword-side' and 'spindle-side'.

In English, it's the spear and distaff sides.

Let me guess, you read the Valhalla comics? Or was it another book? :)

@@Luka1180, it was a children's book in the library of the elementary school I went to back in the 1970s. :) I don't know the title, but it had a very distinct art style, so I'm betting I could find it with Google and a few minutes.

@@hotspurre Where are you from?

@@Luka1180 Oh wow, must have missed this notification NE United States. IIRC it was in my elementary school library, I believe it was in New Jersey. :)

People have said we're a part of the universe and made of the same stuff stars are made for decades. Then they proved it... It warmed my heart to hear that my ancestors already knew 😊

@@ladycerulean6224 Indeed, people have been saying it for countless generations no doubt 😊 I just really love it when science deals with the same subjects that have been in mythology

A historically accurate one

Bolverkr Love the idea of the outer sea being space. It makes a lot of sense.

I'd be very interested in this subject as well.

Not really. Except Freyr is supposedly the lord of elves, they seem to just exist.

I don't think there are any, or if there were no one bothered to write them down

@@swinhelm389 that's a possibility, I haven't found any refrences to their origins

Interesting. Another theory I've heard (and I think I'm more partial to) is that 'álfr' had a more broad definition meaning 'any being worshiped as higher (i.e. more divine) than a human but lower than the Æsir.' Of course this would mean that the Vanir (and Freyr himself) were considered 'elves.'

@@swinhelm389 that is a possibility

@@AsdDsa-qo7es I would love to read up on that, what sources do you recommend and where can I find them?

All what the sources say points toward Ash and Elm trees. Ash trees are native in Denmark and Elm trees was introduced about 7500 years ago. I don't see how embers would turn into driftwood?

The driftwood could be used as kindling and then you would get ash and embers. But I agree with you, this is most likely in this context. Was just a question on the origin of Embla.

I completely understand your question because it has also crossed my mind many a time. I at least can't get it to make sense.

Also ash (meaning that sooty substance) and ash (meaning the tree) should not be confused. These words actually have different roots and have just conflated in modern English. In Old Norse 'aska' is the word for the soot and 'askr' for the tree, both going back to different proto-indoeuropean roots.

In Danish the name is Ask as in the tree. Aske would be for soot, so I will always think Ash tree and Elm tree for Ash and Embla.

keeperofthegood It would be very unlikely. Yeti is from Tibetan, which is not part of the same language-tree (Proto-Indo-European)that Old Norse is descended from, so unless a group of Vikings stumbled into Tibet and saw some things that they thought were jötnar - which we have no evidence for and is about as likely as early Native Americans tribes having reached the moon - this would be impossible.

Except that the silk road did reach into the same regions the Germans later moved into and marriaged into the population already there to form the Norseman.

keeperofthegood Your comparison is also based on English counterparts for foreign words. “Yeti” comes from the Tibetan language and is a compound of the two words: g.ya (rocky place) and dred (bear). Whereas, jǫtunn comes from the Proto-Germanic noun: etunaz, which has to do with consuming or greed. Also note that “yeti” is a word invented during the time period of the Tibetan language’s existence. This would’ve been from around 650 and onwards. Even the word “yeti” is itself a combination of modern Tibetan words and is probably a lot younger than that. The Pre-Germanic peoples would’ve migrated from Asia millennia before the Tibetan language’s emergence and thus the word “yeti.”

Thank you that explanation does help.

keeperofthegood It’s a pleasure, I hope my replies didn’t sound too much like some obnoxious know-it-all.

Ymir isn't connected to Gaia. Though he is linguistically related to the Vedic Yama, Avestan Yima, and the Roman Remus. He’s also structurally related to the Vedic Manāvī and Puruṣa, and the Avestan Gayōmart. From these connections, scholars have reconstructed a Proto-Indo-European myth of a man named Manu who sacrificed his twin brother Yemo in order to bring about creation. A bull or cow is also heavily involved in this creation myth, much like the Norse Auðumbla.

Linnunrata = birds cource

It makes sense in terms of what current scientific method leads us to understand about the expanding universe 😄

@@valeriy8502 No it doesn't, you are just reaching

@@tomsandstrom338 No I am not reaching, it is what really makes sense to me and is how I understand this story of my heritage in my own process. I am not trying make claims about what people knew at this time in history, it is just the way I understand it. There are a lot of parallels in old stories and modern understanding, it may be that our minds are shaped more by myth than we realize and we use similar language to describe things. Other translators/interpreters have covered this subject, I may not always agree with all their interpretations but it is interesting to contemplate.

@@valeriy8502 So what I am saying is: "You are just reaching for parallels, it doesn't make sense" and what you are saying is: "It makes sense to me!!"

@@tomsandstrom338 I know what you are saying, and not sure what the issue is with what I am saying. For the record, I was raised on reading scientific research as well as folklore, and while I am not a professional it has shaped my way of thinking and be having. When it comes to historic texts, I always read source material and make sure to reference it especially when speaking with other people so as to not spread misinformation. I always make a distinction between "this is the actual text and standard interpretation" and "this is my personal gnosis" or that of another interpreter to whom I would give credit if going into detail about their hypothesis. I never conflate the two or present my personal interpretation as fact or proof of a historic practice or belief. The fact is, we don't know that much for certain about the pre-Christian era, and modern practitioners have to choose our own way of bringing traditions back to life in a way that is meaningful to us. I like Norse Mythology and modern science (within that community there are many differences of opinion too), and if I find parallels which appeal to me personally (and I might add many others) that becomes part of my life perspective and spiritual practice. So when I say "It makes sense" I am not claiming any historic evidence that this is what the myths were originally written about, just saying it works for me and is interesting. I don't know the ultimate truth and no one can be absolutely certain, but I like to listen to different perspectives and hear them out. If you don't see it the same way, that's your interpretation and really doesn't bother me.