Extra Reading Viktor Rydberg, Teutonic Mythology, sections 62, 63, 64, and 65 (free through UMass).
Hel the place, Hel the goddess, and the goddess Urd (Wyrd). We discussed Celtic
and Germanic rituals of sacrifice to water. Now consider the Three Norns who guard the water of the Well of Memory at the roots of Yggdrasil (in Hel's domain). The well provided Odin with foresight and knowledge of poetry. How do the Disir, the goddesses, interact with the lives of warriors, kings, and queens? |