GERMANIC MYTHOLOGY A BIG HIT AT THE TURN VEREIN!

by

Stephen A. McNallen

On Friday, April 21st, I stood before a crowd of about sixty people at Sacramento's oldest German ethnic society and, for more than an hour and a half, expounded on "Germanic Mythology: Why it matters to us today."

I started by stressing the big question…Why should members of the Turn Verein care about am obscure system of mythology? In an era characterized by globalization and the online, wi-fi culture of the post-historical age, what does mythology have to do with…well, anything?

The first step was to suggest some possible definitions of mythology. A century and a half ago, educated people might have said that myths were nothing more than primitive explanations for natural phenomena made up by savages. Not satisfied with that outdated view, I gave the opinion that mythology was, like poetry, "that which says what cannot be said." Alternatively, we might consider it "that which never happened, but is always true." Looking at mythology in terms of its function, I offered that it was "the way in which a particular group of people approached the divine."

And, you won't be surprised to know, I talked about the ancestors a lot.

Warming to my subject, I introduced the core of my material by describing the surviving lore from Scandinavia - most especially in the Poetic Edda . I gave the crowd a brief introduction to the Holy Powers, following up with a few verses of Voluspa and some select homely wisdom of Havamal . Moving south to the tribes of central Europe, I discussed our limited sources from that region. The Edda never emerged there, but we have the evidence of archeology, place names, literary scraps like the Merseberg Charms, and bits of folklore. I related the Gods of central Europe to the ones we know from Scandinavia, and commented on the Wild Hunt.

After a few minutes on the runes, it was time to explain why Germanic mythology was important. I did this by describing the contributions of the Germanic worldview to "Western" (really "Northern") Civilization. Speaking of the Well and the Tree, I showed how our ancestors "made their own fate" by the exercise of free will. This point led directly to the foundations of Anglo-Saxon law, which is based on precedent (the layers of orlog in the Well of Urd), and then to the development of free government. I ended up with a quick comparison of Germanic tribal structure with the "checks and balances" of the Constitution of the United States.

Finally, back to the ancestors! I talked of roots, and of connections between each of us and the grey line of ghostly figures, mostly unnamed, that stretch out behind us. I told the audience about my pilgrimage to the place where my ancestors had walked, and how, alone yet not alone, I had been transformed in the soft darkness of an Irish night. Myth, I told them, has the power to make that connection between us and those who have gone before us - and between us and the divine.

I have never had a friendlier, more receptive audience outside an Asatru gathering, notwithstanding the fact that most of the men and women sitting before me were Christian. Talking before the Turn Verein was highly rewarding and downright invigorating. I made no secret of the fact that I was a "follower of the spiritual path of our pre-Christian ancestors," and AFA materials were available at the back of the room. It was a good night for those of us who give our troth to the Aesir and Vanir!