After three years of famine, legendary King Domalde is sacrificed at Uppsala, Sweden. Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson chronicles the event in Ynglinga Saga. Blood of a king is the ultimate gift to the gods. Domalde, cursed by his stepmother, is just unlucky.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
See also:
The people link prosperity of the land to fortunes of the king. During the reign of King Domalde crops fail and starvation prevails. The first year, a sacrifice of oxen has no effect. Next year, several men are sacrificed. The gods are not pleased, and the famine continues.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
Finally, a citizen assembly decides the king must be sacrificed. Domalde has been cursed by his stepmother with ósgæssa or bad luck. He's born of his father Visbur's lust for another woman. Visbur disinherits the sons of his first wife, triggering her curse on Domalde.
See also:
A curse on the king is a curse on the land. Old Norse blót, blōt or Old English geblōt mean blood sacrifice. In German it's Blut (pron. bloot), meaning blood or geblutet meaning bled. Blood is the life force, the essence of life.
Blood of a king is the highest honor. Blood spilled on the ground in sacrifice is a ritual of fertility lore and nature magic. Another vital element of creation is semen, thought to run through the bones of animals such as bulls and oxen.
See also:
In people it's initially thought to be stored in the head to flow down through the spine. Semen is associated with life force, power and masculinity. In some beliefs, ejaculation drains the body of vital energy. In some myths the god creates life or water with his semen.
The Temple at Uppsala is well documented. Around its roof parapets runs a golden chain. Statues of three gods, Thor, Odin and Freya (Frigg) dominate the space. Offerings to Thor are made in times of plague or famine; sacrifice to Odin for war, and Frigg for weddings.
See also:
According to 11th century historian Adam of Bremen, "every nine years there is a communal festival of every province in Sweden held in Ubsola; and those already converted to Christianity have to buy themselves off from the ceremonies."
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
Adam continues on to describe activities at the temple, including blood sacrifice of the males of every living species. Dogs, horses and other animals are slain and their corpses hung from the trees of a grove in the temple.
See also:
Adherents or priests wave sticks dipped in blood, spraying the gathered people. Blood is a blessing of life as well as a symbol of death, a duality found in pagan nature worship and contemporary philosophies throughout the world.
Early Germanic people are animists. Spirits reside in all things and dark and light aspects exists for all. Fire can be nurturing or destructive. Water can give life or take it away. Poison can be healing or deadly.
See also:
Whether human or other animal, only males are sacrificed at Uppsala. On dying they often release body fluids to the earth. Certain magical plants grow in the nitrogen-rich soil under the bodies of hanged men.
In Scandinavia, the fly agaric mushroom, a hallucinogen, grows in soil such as that found near spilled blood and decomposing bodies. At one time it was thought the Viking berserkers used the mushroom to induce their legendary battle rages.
See also:
Later evidence points to use of the toxic plant henbane (stinking nightshade), a hallucinogenic, body stimulating plant. Henbane seeds have been found in a Viking grave in Denmark.
Nutritionally, blood is good for the soil. Blood contains nitrogen, copper, iron, chromium, magnesium, manganese, potassium and selenium, which all improve plant health. Blood meal and bone fertilizers are used in gardens today to increase fertility of the earth.
See also:
At Uppsala, the corpses of many men hang among those of the rotting animals. When none of these appease the gods, the next rational step is the life essence of a King.
And so, the King dutifully becomes the sacrificial lamb. He doesn't have much choice. Blood spills, blood sprays, epithets and chants filled the air and the royal corpse hangs on the branch of a tree among the other unfortunate creatures.
See also:
Next year, the crops grow strong and tall, trees were fruitful and the harvest excellent. The people rejoiced, justified in spilling the blood of the King.
Adam of Bremen describes an enormous tree with spreading branches, evergreen both in summer and winter. Beneath is a spring or well, where sacrifices are also made. It's custom to throw a man into the well. If he doesn't re-surface, the wishes of the people will be fulfilled.
See also:
In nature lore, wells and springs are associated with spirits such as nixies and water entities who can pull a person in to drown. In other regions it was customary to toss coins of silver or copper into wells and springs and wish for luck from the spirit who lives in the well.
The Spring Equinox marks nine days of sacrifice at Uppsala. Every day, a man is sacrificed with two animals, to a total of twenty-seven sacrifices. Nine is significant, as it's three threes relating to triples, triangles, trinities and triptychs. Three is especially strong in magic.
See also:
Due to his efforts to Christianize Scandinavia, King Haakon the Good of Norway causes a religious feud with his opposition of the blót. Although the peasants had elected him king, strife broke out when he wouldn't participate fully in the rituals at Uppsala.
Raised at the Anglo-Saxon court to be Christian, he's appalled and refuses to eat of the meat. People hurl insults. Humiliated, King Haakon regrets his conversion to Christianity, and later reverts to the Old Ways.
See also:
When he dies he's given a proper Norse funeral. By that time, King Haakon the Good has already changed the course of Yuletide.
See also:
Comentários