A Viking Curse on Terrorism

http://www.mackaos.com.au/Rune-Net/niding.html

The Niding Pole
A traditional Viking curse

Gegen Terrorismus

The wolves at their heels

Let them know terror

Ravens wait to feast

Those who finance them

Shall languish in poverty

Those who support them

Will be racked with pain

Let all terrorists

Fall on their own weapons

Hel's realm awaits them

 

i'm assuming this is a contemporary version of a viking curse. it would seem odd that a civilization that made a living on being terrorists would have a curse to punish and discourage just that.

more niding pole stuff...and some humor as well at the bottom of the page...pagans against nazis...heathens against hate...etc...etc...

niding pole

 

Yeah, judging by the wording, it was most likely written in a modern context using the feel of the older style. The "traditional" part probably refers to the Niding Pole itself. Still thought it was cool and interesting.

 

Hey, E -

I know you've been looking into Norse religions, what is their version of "hell" like?

 

Its pretty much the same as Valhalla except all the kegs of mead have holes in the bottom of them and all the buxom nordic women don't.

 

I'm about to go to bed; let me look some stuff up and get back to you.

 

I used to get the Thor comic book so if you have any questions let me know.....

I watched "Erik the Viking" too.

 

there's not really a heaven and hell. there's valhalla, where the warriors, the heroic dead actually, taken by odin's valkyries are housed until ragnarok. those not selected, were taken by hel, a female offspring of loki and the frost giantess angrboda. odin banished hel to the netherworld, where her powers grew stronger than odin, as evidenced when hel refused to return odin's son balder. hel has the face and body of a living woman, but from the waist down is a rotting corpse. hel ruled from her throne, the sick bed, and her subjects were all those who died from sickness and old age, or in other words, those that did not die in battle. it was these two forces, odin and his einherjar and the unworthy dead allied with loki, fenrir, jormungand and the frost giants, that would battle at ragnarok, the twilight of the gods.

in a nutshell.

 

Yes - I thought this too, but it was interesting nonetheless. Viking history has always interested me. I don't know if it's just because of my lineage, but it's facsinating stuff .

 

Much of this is still a little new to me, so I feel funny giving answers on it, but...

Most sources I've come across so far indicate that Hel was not necessarily a place of suffering or punishment. It was divided into different sections, the bad ones -- such as the "serpent hall" where vipers dripped poison upon the tormented -- were reserved for murderers, oathbreakers, and the like. Hel in general was described as dreary and cold in some sources; others protray it more as a place of rest or stasis, but not as an infernal prison. Its purpose was not exclusively punitive.

It's important to note that most modern heathens do not necessarily take the old myths literally. For many, the myths serve as symbolic spiritual lessons on the Noble Virtues, and the Gods are ideals to strive for, personifications of abstract concepts. This of course will vary between individuals and from one community (Hearth, or Kindred) to another.

The heathen strives to live by the Noble Virtues, as well as cultivate hamingja (a combination of one's personal power, luck, reputation, wisdom and spiritual strength) because they lead to a meaningful and honorable life here in Midgard (the ordinary world), and not so much to rack up brownie points for the afterlife.

There's also evidence that the Norse believed in a sort of reincarnation, namely the passing on of one's hamingja to one's children. That life force living on in the child is a piece of the ancestor living on as well.

"Hel's realm awaits them" probably means more "they're gonna die" than "they're gonna burn." If anything, "Freeze in Hel" would be more accurate than any reference to burning.