The Hanged God, Óðinn Grímnir – Shani Oates (Anathema Press)

Description

Challenging former atrophied or outdated knowledge regarding Óðinn’s acquisition of the runes and the mead of poetry, this extensive and intense study revisits Hávamál, Vǫluspá, Skáldskaparmál, Grímnismál, Heimskringla and Ynglinga Sagas specifically, to unravel and reconnect crucial factors that collectively reveal a magical formula for rebirth and resurrection. These kennings have preserved the threads of mysteries pertaining to Rúnar entrenched in Taboo. Óðinn’s quest of discovery takes him through three historically attested trials as Rites of Passage that find parallel forms in other animistic traditions. His ordeals of Mound, Tree and Sacral Kingship together with an articulation of the role of Hamingja are hitherto connected.

Using a multi-disciplinary approach that includes forensic and ethno-anthropology, mythology, archaeology, folklore and etymology, previous speculations regarding Óðinn’s associations with sacrifice, penal codes and shamanism are shown to be flawed. Instead, for the first time, personal experience is combined with intensive research that provide plausible solutions to age-old puzzles, solving anomalies surrounding Scandinavian lore. A clear Cultus is revealed of a hidden elite totally focused on surviving Ragnarǫk via the application of arcane magics. New insights present the real location of Valhǫll, and explain Óðinn’s ancestral relationship with wolves.

Sacred cows are culled in a controversial re-interpretation of Yggdrasil, Sleipnir and Mímir based entirely within information drafted from obscure or overlooked texts. Original extracts interject the text, adding substantial weight that fully support the conclusion offered. Songs and charms, giants and dwarves, cauldrons and manna, totemic beasts, burial customs, fear of the dead, their propitiation and the dead that walk, slaying, sacrifice and tribal mothers feature in this expedition into the past to discover real identities for its key players, and real purpose in their deeds. By sorcerous enchantments, Óðinn traversed a magical pathway to ‘overcome Fate,’ his mastery of runic sorcery and necromancy is finally given cause.

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