The Norse, my ancestors, are somewhat elusive just like the Celts. Most of what we know about them come from what was written by visitors and later Christian missionaries, although we do have texts such as the Poetic Edda and the Runic alphabet to help us better understand the beliefs and cosmology of the Norse people. History is as always written by the victorious, which for the Celts became the Roman conquerors. The Norse were converted to Christianity mostly without force but they were some of the last European peoples who converted, in the 11th Century, and Scandinavia was never conquered by the Romans as the British Isles were.
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The word Norse is often used interchangeably with Vikings. The Viking age was a particular time in Norse history when some people ventured outside of Scandinavia by boat to raid or settle in other European lands, and sometimes beyond, probably because of the harsh life and climate in Scandinavia. The Viking Age started around year 800 AD and continued for more than 200 years. A bronze Buddha statue was found in an old Viking Era settlement in Sweden, which shows that Norse society was not cut off from the rest of the world and influences from other parts of the world were already there.
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Mainly due to the sometimes brutal raids of the Vikings and the often over exaggerated historical descriptions of them by Christian Europeans, pre-Christian Norse people have been perceived as cruel savages or romanticised as some type of super-humans. Of course neither is the whole truth. We also have to remember that the European Christians at the time who wrote down their accounts of the Norse had preconceived notions about them and may have had their own reasons to portray them as 'uncivilised' and brutal to further the Christianisation of Europe.
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One of the last places to be Christianised in Sweden was in what is now the town of Uppsala, close to where I grew up. Old Uppsala was a pagan spiritual center with a temple. The temple was destroyed and there is now a church and a museum in its place. The below picture of me is taken at that site. The main visible parts of the old pagan site there are the three large grave mounds dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries.
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A grave of a woman soldier was found in the archeological site of Birka outside of Stockholm. Her remains were found buried with military objects and even animals that suggested she was high up in the ranks. These women warriors have been called shield-maidens and are featured in the television series Vikings. Although the Hollywood depiction might glamourise these people a bit too much, the historical evidence of these warriors, and similar stories about Celtic women, show that the history of women in Europe is not as clear cut as we may think.
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The practise of Seidr, Norse witchcraft and a type of trance prophecy, was practised almost exclusively by women. It was seen as inappropriate for men to take on this female role. The Norse seer was called a Völva and was highly respected for the connection she had with the otherworld and the information she could bring back.
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When we connect with our ancestral heritage on a deep level, regardless of where your ancestors are from, I believe we can uncover mysteries and connect with something within us that may has been dormant and wants to be released.
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I have created a 3 month journey with our Divine Feminine Ancestry and Soul Lineage. Part of this journey is connecting more deeply with our ancestors, ancestral lands and the spiritual traditions that come from them. I will use my own journey with my Scandinavian/Norse ancestry to guide us. Click here to learn more.
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May the Divine Feminine rise from all ancestry lines and soul lineages...
