In which I search for wisdom in Norse mythology · 8:54pm May 23rd, 2020
A few days ago I had a strange epiphany. The world is shaking and all the old truths are falling apart. In these strange and troubled times when everything seems in doubt, now is the time to do the impossible. So to hell with it. I’m going to be a wizard. It’s already the closest thing I have to a brand, I’m just making it official.
So, I asked myself, what’s the next step? Well, I suppose I should look the part. I’ve gotten a good start on that by growing a quarantine beard over the past months, but I’ll need to look for proper wizarding clothes. I should probably learn some basic magic tricks too, and brush up on my words of wizardly wisdom.
And you know I’m a mythology nerd. So I thought I would read some classic wisdom-literature, and share what I found. Specifically Havamal, a poem from the Poetic Edda, made up of stories and words of advice told by Odin, who has the advantage of being a wizard on top of being a god, as he attends a feast. So what does Odin have to teach us about getting through trying times?
23.
The unwise man is awake all night,
and ponders everything over;
when morning comes he is weary in mind,
and all is a burden as ever.
Well. As it happens I just had a night of total insomnia a couple days ago that I still haven’t fully recovered from, so, thanks for putting me on blast like that 
But he’s not wrong. What else?
71.
The lame can ride horse, the handless drive cattle,
the deaf one can fight and prevail,
'tis happier for the blind than for him on the bale-fire,
but no man hath care for a corpse.
Odin is not here for ableism. Good to know.
There’s a lot of talk on the subject of drink, and weapons, and enemies, and how the three of them are a very bad combination. Vikings, man.There’s a lot of talk about being a good guest at a feast (protip: be careful when entering, for you don’t know if your enemies are already inside). But more broadly those things stress the importance of knowing who your friends are.
And since we’re here, is there something more direct on the subject of friendship? Why yes there is:
118.
I counsel thee, Stray-Singer, accept my counsels,
they will be thy boon if thou obey'st them,
they will work thy weal if thou win'st them:
hast thou a friend whom thou trustest well,
fare thou to find him oft;
for with brushwood grows and with grasses high
the path where no foot doth pass.119.
I counsel thee, Stray-Singer, accept my counsels,
they will be thy boon if thou obey'st them,
they will work thy weal if thou win'st them:
in sweet converse call the righteous to thy side,
learn a healing song while thou livest.120.
I counsel thee, Stray-Singer, accept my counsels,
they will be thy boon if thou obey'st them,
they will work thy weal if thou win'st them:
be never the first with friend of thine
to break the bond of fellowship;
care shall gnaw thy heart if thou canst not tell
all thy mind to another.
My copy of this is a translation into modern Norwegian, which I think flows a lot better than this English version, but I took what I can find. 119 in particular reads very strangely to me here. My version, to translate myself, would be something like “Be joyous with good friends, and learn to care for others.”
Which is downright nice, by Odin’s standards. And yeah, keeping in touch with people is something I’m not very good at. Even the vikings, not typically considered the friendliest of people, knew the importance of good friends.
It’s also amusing to me that the next verse pretty much just says “never argue with morons”.
I will take it as a good omen that while composing this blog I saw another excellent rainbow here.
These are the parts that stood out to me the most, but as you can see these are just a few verses from a very long (and often very savage) poem. The timeless wisdom is in there. It’s just tucked in between advice about how to seduce married women and so forth 
This is Odin speaking, after all.
Finally I thought I would share this long and excellent interview with historian and novelist Ada Palmer (whose writings I’ve plugged before, here and here), who as a renaissance historian has a great many wise things to say on the subject of living through periods of crisis and transformation.
It’s also relevant because I’ve now learned that in addition to being historian and novelist she’s also a musician, and composes a cappela songs based on Norse mythology. You can check that out here, and if you’re going to listen to anything I recommend track 7, “My Brother, My Enemy”: a duet between Loki and Odin where they sing about the breakdown of their friendship. It’s riveting.
So… That’s some of what’s going on here. How is everyone holding up? It's a lot out there.
I can’t understand what you mean
Well, all I have to do to become a wizard is to wait four and a half years.
Fascinating, and good advice on top of that. Good luck with furthering your wizardry, and thanks for sharing the first steps with us.
Also:
What? What did you think of with those lines?
Vikings, man. A culture that we only know by the Anglo-Saxon records and the unwritten eddas passed from generation to other and very few archeological findings. I live almost in the great Viking lands, though I'd be classed as a rus. I've grown up reading both Kalevala and the eddas and have felt the massive need to hit my head violently upon a desk lately thanks to mostly Assassin's Creed: Valhalla and slightly less thanks to the Netflix show.
A fun thing me and a friend though of a few days back: Folks from the US love their Westerns, which is sometimes hard for us non-US folks to understand. What is so great about sweaty, dirty men clad in leather shooting at each other with awfully inaccurate guns in a lawless society? Then we realized that for us Northerners, the viking myths are our Wild West that we base so many of our values and history on. A manly man is a muscular blacksmith with a great beard and the glint of intellect and cunning in his eye. He is a quiet, contemplative man, yet fierce and vengeful when wronged. So is a woman the equal of a man, suited for all the same tasks as her spouse, yet adores children thanks to their gentler and wiser soul.
I'm pretty sure you already follow them, but do give Metatron and Shadiversity a look-see on Youtube. Both gents have very deep knowledge of both the martial and cultural sides of Viking-ery.
Very good advice there!
One of the downsides of being a wizard is that a seemingly trivial/thoughtless word or action can have immense consequences.
From one wizard to another, I bid you luck on your path.
Also, the Havamal was an interesting read. There's a lot of wisdom hidden within it's verses, more than what's just on the surface. I took the Hermetic route myself, but I do sometimes wonder what would have been if I took the path of Norse Heathenry or Eastern Shamanism. There's a lot to learn from every path, even if you aren't on those specific paths yourself.
If you need resources or information, I have 600 GB of PDFs on esoteric spirituality and occult practices, hit me up if you need some resources.
Here's yesterday's rainbow. While the previous one was stronger I think this one made a better picture:
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Oh? What happens then?
5268000
Fluttershy: Viking Sage. Yes. She has a bear friend, who's to say she can't make a shirt from his shed fur and be a literal berserker? Rarity will be horrified beyond belief, but friendship can overcome any obstacle
Thanks. If I find more interesting things I may report on them as they come along.
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Judging from the state of my beard I am likely to be a wizard of the "mad doomsday prophet" variety.
The good news is that I dare say very few people will listen to my words
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"I told you so! But would you listen to me? Noooooo! What do you think of the cute little bunny, now?"
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This.
I'm happy I read this today. This made me laugh for the first time in weeks; I wish you the best of luck good sir on your epic quest to master the arts of wizardry. I hope you remember us little people when you're the next headmaster at Hogwarts or helping a team of halflings save the world
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Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. The way I see it, if I help at least one person feel a little better then I can't be a total failure as a wizard. So I'm off to a good start.