Please note that a modern Thorist needlework design included in this journal has been excluded due the difficulty of transferring the chart to the website. It can be added to the website if there is sufficient interest.
Welcome to the sixth issue of Thunder, a journal dedicated to the thunder gods of Northern Europe. This journal is the joint venture of two organisations from opposite sides of the Atlantic: Thunderway Hall in America, which promotes the revival of the Anglo-Saxon Thunor cult, and Thorshof in homely Buckinghamshire which encourages research into the Teutonic religion as a whole (though with an emphasis on the cults of Thor, Frey and the Teutonic goddesses).
Our American colleges have gone all arty on us, and we are going to prove that we can give as good as we can get. This spring we have artwork, music and textiles. If you get Thunder just for the academic stuff you will find it further in.
Please note the Thorist Ritual competition is still open until 1st May 1998, see the details on the back page.
A very happy Easter to all our readers!
The Third of the 'Gods of England' series - Thor
Thorskegga has started a series of paintings depicting the gods worshipped by the Anglo-Saxon and Norse settlers in England. The first two of the series Freya and Frey will be found in the next couple of issues of 'The Wain' and several of them will surely find their way onto the Thorshof website.
This is the black and white version of the original which would unfortunately be very dark if it was photocopied. Most of the symbolism should be familiar to our readers, the hammer, the goat drawn chariot, Thor's fiery halo, the firesteel, the star Aurvandil and the swastika (widely used in Anglo-Saxon England as a symbol for Thor). The plant between the goats is the houseleek which is grown on buildings to protect from lightning.
Tried tested and sworn at by Jason, Thorunn, Mike and Thorskegga
On 24 January 1998 the braver friends of Thorshof met to try banner making, a now notorious afternoon which reduced most to gibbering wrecks and drove Thorskegga to alcohol. Here are some notes for anyone who did not attend who wants to join in this effective form of self torture.
The Historic Approach: We are only aware of one illustration of a Viking banner which appears on one of the Viking coins minted in York. The banner resembles a quarter circle with ribbons or metal decorations hanging from its curved bottom edge. The banner is supported by a second pole running out from the top of the staff which ensures that the banner is always visible. The top of the main pole is decorated with a cross. This style of banner very closely resembles the Viking age weather vanes and these can also be used for inspiration. The weathervanes also seem to have been fringed with ribbons because they have pierced holes along their bottom edge.
To be truly authentic the banner should be made in authentic materials (ideally wool, linen or silk) and should be hand sewn. The decoration should be applied with embroidery, appliqué, or painted on with water resistant pigments. The terminal can be carved out of wood and gilded if desired. A cast metal decoration would look rather flash but is beyond the means and budget of most of us.
Bear in mind that this style of banner needs to have a design on both sides, and you will probably need to use a double thickness of fabric depending on your method of decoration.
The Modern Approach: Well the sky is the limit now, but here are the basic forms of banners:
Centrally supported, one sided banner: This is probably the easiest to make and is also easy to display indoors and out. You only need the design on one side and it can be decorated with fringe if desired. Unsupported Banner: The type used for national flags. Its major disadvantage is that it will flop down its pole in anything but a stiff wind. Hand made flags tend to be very heavy adding to the problem. It also requires decoration on both sides. Large supported banner: One answer to the problem of displaying a banner outdoors is to support the top edge of the banner with a horizontal pole. This tends to produce a square banner as the top pole cannot be very long.
Fabric Paint: The easiest way to make a banner is to get a fabric pen and draw out the design, a fading fabric marker can be used to sketch the design first. Be very careful with using thin fabrics because the paint will bleed across the fabric, so do a test run first. If you can get away with just an outline this will also be a very inexpensive project. Fabric paints can be bought in many colours if you want to do a full colour infilled design but they do cost £1.50 - £2.00 for a small pot. Do not try to use pale colours on a dark background unless you want five coats of paint and cloth that doesn't bend anymore. Oil paint can also be used but will need to be left for a week to dry.
Appliqué: Second easiest method. Cut out you design in another fabric and either sew or glue it to the banner (use washable glue if you are taking your banner outdoors). Avoid fabrics that fray badly and use interfacing or fray prevention solvent if necessary. Felt works well on a indoor banner and is very easy to cut out and apply. The edges of the appliqué can be hidden with decorative cord which will give a machine sewn or glued design a more hand sewn appearance.
Embroidery: For a quick result use thick wool or cotton thread and outline the design in chain stitch. Chain stitch can also be used for infilling. Solid satin stitch also looks good but a banner design will take about a month (including the day job!) to complete, and if you want a design on both sides..... There is little point to going into great detail on stitches in Thunder but contact Thorskegga if you need any help
Screen Printing: Another option for a modern banner if you have access to the equipment. There are plenty of companies around who will take commissions for banners but the last quote I heard was £400.
If you are stuck for ideas try heraldry books which are often full of good line drawings which can be enlarged on a photocopier and then cut out as patterns. Most good libraries will have a good selection. Cut out your design on paper or newspaper first so you can check the positioning and appearance on the fabric, you can then use this as pattern to trace round for painting or for cutting appliqué fabric.
The friends of Thorshof choose tradition dark age designs, runes, bind-runes and modern symbolism. With most choosing the easy one sided banner option.
If you are aiming for an authentic or a traditional effect choose earthy natural colours. If using felt for appliqué you can dull down the brighter colours by shading over them very lightly with a fabric pen.
The rules of heraldry are worth bearing in mind (if not obeying!), never put 'metal' colours together (white, yellow, silver or gold), and never put 'tinctures' together (blue, black, red, green, brown, purple). This makes the designs clear from a distance. If you do want to break this rule, for example if you wanted to have a gold hammer on a white background, you could separate the colours by sewing a dark cord around the edge of the design.
A flag pole needs to be five to eight feet high depending on the size of the banner. It is advisable to make it in two pieces to may it easier to store and transport. Thick dowel is easy to get hold of and can be joined with a length of plumbers pipe. (Thorskegga has some spare, bring a hacksaw!). Horizontal poles for the dark age style banner can be fixed by drilling the main pole slightly smaller than required and whittling the end of the horizontal pole to fit. Wooden terminals can be attached using double ended screws.
Jona Sparey has been running courses in Icelandic needlework in rural Somerton for many years and this year she is touring the country and doing her courses in different areas. If you are interested in needlework these are very highly recommended. The basic style is cross-stitch done in heavy earthy coloured wools using a technique of holding the fabric without a frame. The patterns of medieval beasts, knotwork and Nordic stars will appeal most readers. The cost is £33 for a one day 6 hour course. If your are interested write quickly to get the list of dates because they start in mid May. If you prefer to teach yourself she has written a book, Icelandic Needlework Patterns published by David and Charles. Jona also organises needlework orientated tours of Iceland.
Write to: Icelandic Tapestry School, Southleigh, Langport Road, Somerton, Somerset, TA11 6RT.
A Review By Jason Hutchison
One of the best things about publishing a magazine is that every now and then, someone sends you something free to review. I was fortunate to secure a copy of Ælfric's new tape, Harp Runes from Allfather's Hall. For those of you who don't know, Ælfric is a young man from Canada and an artist in the truest sense of the word. To put it bluntly, I loved the tape and I have listened to it over and over again. But, for those of you who need more than that short recommendation to go out and blow a few bucks, let me give you a better picture.
Harp Runes is a mixture of traditional and modern Anglo-Saxon poems gealdored (sung) to the accompaniment of (variously) harp, pennywhistle, drum, and other assorted instruments, with the harp featured most prominently. Ælfric has had some training in music, and instead of being merely a novelty (Oh, listen to the pretty Anglo Saxon, dear- isn't that quaint?) Harp Runes is a vibrant work of movement and direction. The songs are possessed of an inner intensity that fills them with life, even at slower tempos. I know, you're thinking to yourself "But don't most pagan/heathen tapes I buy suck?" Well, the rest might, but Harp Runes isn't like anything else out there. The Rungerim (Anglo-Saxon rune poem) alone, gealdored in Anglo-Saxon is worth the price of admission. Add to that tunes like Eric Wodening's Woden Beot, and several pieces of Ælfric's own design, and you have a winning combination.
Harp Runes runs about 45 minutes or so, has 10 songs, and is available through Theod Books, PO Box 8062, Watertown, NY 13601. I think it's definitely worth adding to any collection. A good friend of mine told me once that he knew we were going in the right direction when we started inspiring actual art, as opposed to mere imitation. Ælfric has done that, and I think we all should support his endeavour.
By Hildiwulf
Skazki is the name of the second album by the precocious and talented Russian artist Slovisha, whom you may remember as penning the article on Perun in a previous Thunder. Filled with moody (and módig) music which reminds one of the iron-grey Russian sky, this is, in my opinion, the better of his two works to date, and I liked his first album, Predanie Volkhva, a great deal.
Slovisha's main influences are the folk-culture and the old Slavic heathenry of his native Russians. His music, therefore, is rich with echoes of traditional Russian folk-music, and a background of the Russian countryside and wilderness. This album also has a few definite touches of Celtic flavour, which highlight the Slavic whole beautifully.
I would definitely recommend this album to anyone, especially while drinking a bottle of vodka through a winter's day and evening while contemplating the nature of existence, or any such other activity that short days, long nights, and vodka might engender.
Thorskegga Thorn
Treyford Hill, Sussex
At Treyford there are five barrows on the scarp face of the South Downs. It is said that in olden times, Thor was fond of resting on Treyford hill. One day the Devil arrived and made great sport of leaping from one barrow to the next and back again. This disturbed the dozing thundergod who told the Devil to go away. The Devil then teased Thor, saying he was too old to leap so skilfully. Thor seized a rock and hurled it at the Devil catching him in the belly while in mid leap. The devil staggered away and has not been seen there since (1)
The Devils Jumps, South East Surrey
An identical story is attributed to the Hills called the Devils Jumps, and furthermore the stone that Thor threw is still visible near the Jumps. (2)
Thursley, Surrey
Probably the most attractive village in England named after Thor, it's name meaning Thunor's grove. This area was a great centre for iron working in the late middles ages, so don't get over excited if you find 'hammer ponds' in the area, they are left over from ore mining. Thursley has a large natural reserve and the large pond marks the old moot place for the local villages. (2, 3)
Thor's Stone, Thursley, Surrey
On a ridge about a mile north of Thursley village there is a flat outcrop of sandstone hidden deep in pine trees, according to local tradition it is lucky to carve your initials on it the first time you see it. It is not easy to find but if you walk south from the moot pond and turn east on the first major path, then walk for about a mile you will approach a low hill densely covered in pines. Keep walking until you find a path leading up the hill and then walk south to the top. Near the top of the hill the stone will be 30 yards on your right. if in doubt take me, I am fat and need the exercise. (Information provided by Hillary).
Thunderfield In the Forest, Surrey
In the fourteenth century the district around Horley in Surrey was called Thunderfield in the Forest but this name has fallen out of use. There is still a hill fort in the area (a mile east of Horley) named Thunderfield Castle which appears to be the Dunresfield Castle mentioned in King Alfred's will. (2,3)
Thunorslege, Sussex
A deserted medieval village named Thunor's grove once stood a couple of miles east along the south coast from Hastings. (3)
The Devil's Dyke, Sussex
The story of the Devils Dyke is not directly connected to Thor but it is linked to the conversion of England and may have been inspired by the myths of the Thunderer. It is said the Devil was so upset when the people of Sussex accepted Christianity that he was determined to drown them all. His plan was to dig his way through the South Downs and all the way to the sea in a single night. He started digging with great gusto, throwing up lumps of earth so massive that every local hill is attributed to debris of his excavation. Late in the night a woman was woken by the noise of the digging and decided to put and end to the Devils plans, she light a candle and put a sieve before it so that it glowed like the dawn sun, then she knocked her cockerel of his perch so that he crowed loud and long. The Devil was convinced that it was morning and fled, some say he went south and the last piece of earth fell in the sea and became the Isle of Wight, while others say he went north and the fall of his cloven hoof in Surrey made the hollow known as the 'Devil's Punch Bowl. (2).
This story has strong comparisons with Tor Trollbane (Thunder 3) and the Eddic story of Utgardaloki.
A Word of Warning
The only reliable links between this folklore and the religion of the Anglo-Saxons is the ancient place names with can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon names recorded in the Doomsday book and similar authentic accounts. The folktales may be products the increasing interest in antiquities seen over the last three centuries, but then again, you never know....
(1) The Folklore of Sussex, Jacqueline Simpson, Batsford, 1973.
(2) Portrait of Surrey, Basil E Cracknell, Robert Halr & Co 1970.
(3) Anglo -Saxon Paganism, Davis Wilson, Routledge, 1992.
The Axe of Thor
We are greatly indebted to Stead for his contribution of the recent article on Mjolnir from the Viking Society Saga Book series. The author Loote Motz determinedly argues that Thor's weapon in the Eddas is an axe rather than a hammer. He considers the Norse word 'hamarr' is a survival of an earlier word for a rock or a stone axe. His argument is not totally convincing but he covers much Norse folklore concerning Thor's weapon and this article is well worth tracking down. What Loote Motz does show convincingly is the huge range of thunderbolt weapons associated with Thor, ranging from the technologically advanced dwarf forged hammer of the Norse myths, through spears, arrows, stone bolts down to the boulders he hurls in several tales. He also suggests that many of the Thor's 'hammer' pendants resemble an axe head more than a hammer.
The Germanic Thunderweapon, Loote Motz, Viking Society Saga Book Vol XXIV part 5 1997.
The Origins of Ragnarok
Following the Ragnarok debate summarised in our last issue we have found an excellent article on the Poem Voluspa, the main source of the end of the world myth. In 'The Author of Voluspa', Sigurdur Nordal suggests that Volu-Steinn wrote the poem shortly before the year 1000. He based his conclusion on the unusual style of the poetry itself which is comparable with Volu-Steinn's known work; Volu- Steinn's intensely Odinic upbringing ( his mother was a volva) and his consequent understanding of prophecy; his recent loss of a son which would explain the passion behind the description of Balder's death; and Volu-Steinn's encounter with Christianity through the missionary Thangbrandr.
Sigurdur's conclusions may not be certain (he admits as such) but his reasoning behind the choice of Volu-Steinn makes fascinating reading and cannot be far from the truth. Even more interesting is his point that Thangbrandr would have preached of the Christian Armageddon, then expected to descend in the year 1000, and would have used this as a powerful conversion tool against the Icelandic heathens. It is possible that the heathen concept of the worlds end was barely developed at this time and it was Thrangbrandr who unwittingly inspired the Ragnarok myth we know today.
This article should prove very useful in answering the old problem of why Odin dominates the Icelandic myths when he was hardly worshipped there.
'The Author of Voluspa' Sigurdur Nordal, Viking Society Saga Book Volume XX 1978-1979.
Viking Society for Northern Research:
To get the society's articles on publication, subscription costs £15 per annum - write to Viking Society for Northern Research, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT.
The is currently a move underway to start a forum for the more active members of all the heathen groups in the UK. So calling all you writers, researchers, website writers, group leaders, regional organisers, land holders, artists, enthusiastic people with spare time, editors and so on. If you are prepared to work with others and respect their beliefs there is a huge amount of common ground that we can work on. There are no other obligations and all Forum projects are strictly voluntary
The first meeting will be held in May in the Birmingham area, if you want to join the bun fight send 8 first class stamps to Thorshof and you will be informed of future developments.
The following article was done for a Class in Anglo-Saxon and therefore assumes a familiarity with the period. However Thunder is more than happy to include serious articles relevant to the Northlands, we hope you enjoy this one.
by Hildiwulf
In this paper, I will look at the comitatus relationship, the fore-runner to feudalism, in England after the conversion to Christianity. I will use the poem The Wanderer and the entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle called Cynewulf and Cyneheard to look at the state of the relationship in early post-conversion England, and The Battle of Maldon to look at the relationship about two-hundred-fifty years later.
While an all-encompassing definition of the comitatus relationship would be difficult, I will try to give an overview. The thegn and his lord are bound by an oath. The thegn fights for his lord in battle, and in the event that his lord is killed, does not leave the field of battle alive unless he has avenged his lord. In return for their loyalty, a lord feeds his thegns and gives them rich gifts, mainly (according to Tacitus) in the form of plunder. The thegn also lives in his lord's hall. The oath which bound lord and thegn was possibly spoken in a ceremony, which The Wanderer gives a glimpse at, and which I will discuss later.
First, I would like to look at a more ancient source, the Germania of Cornelius Tacitus:
"On the field of battle it is a disgrace to a chief to be surpassed in courage by his followers, and to the followers not to equal the courage of their chief. And to leave a battle alive after their chief has fallen means lifelong infamy and shame. To defend and protect him, and to let him get the credit for their own acts of heroism, are the most solemn obligations of their allegiance. The chiefs fight for victory, the followers for their chief. They are always making demands on the generosity of their chief, asking for a coveted war-horse or a spear stained with the blood of a defeated enemy." (Tacitus, ch. 14, Mattingly's trans.)
The Germania first appeared in 98 AD as a study of the Germanic tribes living beyond the Rhine. Some have criticised this work as being political propaganda aimed at casting a bad light on Roman decadence. However, for my purposes, he seems to be a reliable source, as I have found nothing in early Germanic literature concerning the relationship of lords and thegns to contradict him. What he says in the passage quoted above is the bare bones and basic obligations of thegns and lords to each other among the Germanic peoples. The poems and records of these peoples give flesh to form, and from them we may learn the emotional aspect of this bond.
The entry for the year 755 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us much about the strength of the comitatus relationship. Briefly, King Cynewulf of Wessex deprived an ætheling named Sigebryht of his lands, except for Hampshire. He held that until he killed his own aldorman, a man named Cumbra. He was then exiled to the forest, and lived there until he was killed in retaliation for Cumbra's death. A while later, King Cynewulf wanted to exile Sigebryht's brother Cyneheard. Cyneheard discovered the location of the king and went there with his men. In the ensuing battle, the king [Cynewulf] was killed, and Cyneheard was wounded. Cyneheard offered the king's thegns their own judgment of their price for allowing him [Cyneheard] to be king, and remarked that some of them had kinsmen among his own thegns, who would not leave him. The king's [Cynewulf's] thegns then remarked that they had no dearer kinsman than their lord, and that they wouldn't follow his slayer. There was then another battle, and the king's thegns were killed. The following day, more thegns of the king showed up to avenge his death, and offered safe passage to their kinsmen among Cyneheard's thegns. This offer was refused, and Cyneheard and all of his thegns were killed, except one who was the godson of the king's aldorman. The important thing to note in Cynewulf and Cyneheard is that men on both sides, when given the chance to escape battle because of kinsmen on the other side, turn down the offer in order to remain with and fight for their chosen lord. This indicates that the bond of the comitatus relationship was stronger, in this case, to these men than blood-ties, and that the duties of the comitatus took precedence before the duties of kin.
The Wanderer takes the form of the private musings and memories of a man who is in that worst of states in a Germanic society, that of being lordless. The Wanderer was probably written around the middle of the 8th century, and therefore is roughly contemporary with Cynewulf and Cyneheard. The poem itself goes over such things as the importance of keeping one's thoughts to oneself, the virtues of a warrior, and the meaning of wisdom. What we get from this poem is a rare picture of the man on the outside, of a man whose lord has died, leaving the speaker without a place in the world. This is a clue to the importance of the comitatus relationship in Germanic society. A man who has lost his lord has lost with him any place in the ordered society of mankind, and is therefore automatically an exile. This leads the speaker in the poem to reflect upon the transitory nature of his position in the world, and of that which held him in that position. Eventually, he comes to the conclusion that: "eal þis eorþan gestal ídel weorþeð!", "all the foundation of this earth becomes empty!" (l. 110). I find it likely that he would not be driven to the brinks of such despair if he had other options open to him in society, which, of course, the end of the poem makes clear (almost as if to remind him) that he does, that of taking holy orders, an option which would not have been open to him prior to the conversion. I think it would be a mistake, however, to assume that with the introduction of this new option, holy orders, that the importance of the comitatus relationship waned. If the date of this poem is correct, the Roman church had been in England for one-hundred-fifty some-odd years, and the idea of entering a priestly order would hardly have been new. It seems to me, therefore, that the fact that the situation of the speaker in The Wanderer is so poignant is not a bad piece of evidence for assuming that the comitatus relationship was still one of the main binding relationships in post-conversion England.
Another interesting piece of information in The Wanderer is the brief description of what might be a ceremony consecrating the relationship between lord and thegn:
"þinceð him on móde þæt hé his mondryhtn clyppe ond cysse ond on cnéo lecge honda ond héafod, swá hé hwílum âr in géardagum giefstólas bréac."
"It seems to him in his mind that he embraces and kisses his lord and lays hands and head on knee just as he sometimes used the gift-stool before, in days of yore." (ll. 41-44). It might not be too far afield to envision a ceremony in which the prospective thegn embraces and kisses his lord, and then lays his head and hands on his lord's knee and speaks his oath.
The poem The Battle of Maldon shows us a great deal about the comitatus relationship in action, and that not everyone lived up to the ideal. This poem was composed about an actual event, a battle near the town of Maldon between Vikings and the army of Wessex, led by Byrhtnóþ. This battle occured in 991 and is mentioned in the entry for that year in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This was during the reign of King Æþelræd Unræd, who was somewhat well-known for paying off Viking invaders rather than fighting them. In short, Byrhtnóþ and his men advance to meet the Vikings, who are camped on an island, his men having driven their horses away to show their resolve. They and the Vikings exchange volleys of arrows, as the tide is in and the channel to the island too deep to ford. When the tide goes out, a few men advance to defend the ford, but then Byrhtnóþ calls them back and tells the Vikings that the way is opened to them to come to land (an action which often gets Byrhtnóþ accused of "ofermód", or over-boldness). They then square off to do battle, and in the course of the battle, Byrhtnóþ is killed. At this point in the narrative, some men fail to carry out their duty to their lord to avenge his death or die trying. These were Godríc, the son of Odda, and his brothers Godwine and Godwíg, who escaped by jumping on Byrhtnóþ's horse and riding towards the woods. Many of the men in the fyrd thought that it was Byrhtnóþ escaping the battle, and this undoubtedly caused much confusion and panic. The personal retainers of Byrhtnóþ first cursed those who ran and then emboldened each other to do their duty. One by one, they would wade into the battle and kill as many as they could before they died, thus fulfilling their obligations as thegns of their lord. Interestingly, this boasting was contributed to by a churl named Dunnere, a man of lower rank than the other men speaking there. He gives a short and simple, yet moving speech about how fear must be disregarded and their lord avenged. It is perhaps strange to those familiar with later medieval literature to see a churl speaking up like this. There are a few possible reasons why he might have, one being the possibility that lords might have accepted men of churlish rank as thegns or personal retainers, another being that all of the men in the fyrd may have had the same obligations to their leader as did his thegns. Whichever one the reason may have been (if it was one of these reasons), it is clear that, at least on the field of battle, there were not the strict distinctions of rank that existed later in the feudal period.
To conclude, it would appear that the comitatus relationship and the bonds between lords and thegns were little weaker after the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons than before. This, however, is just a part of a larger point that I've had in mind. I would have to say that what I have read does not appear to reflect the view of a clear break between heathen Anglo-Saxon culture and Christian Anglo-Saxon culture. Indeed, it seems probable to me that the eventual death of the comitatus relationship as we know it was not due, at least in England, to the conversion to Christianity, but rather to the Norman invasion. It is my hypothesis, rather, that the comitatus relationship was replaced by a variant of itself, the feudal relationship, and the bonds between vassal and liege.
Sacred Trees of the Vanir
As spring comes again, and the trees are budding and growing their fresh green finery, a few thoughts on which (if any) trees are especially associated with the Vanir. Unfortunately there are no definite historical links I know of but I would suggest a few possibilities.
The first one is the elder tree for Freyja the Vanadis (as suggested by Kveldulf Gundarson). This has strong folkloric links with magic and both the flowers and berries can be used in the making of wine ( she is a great source of inspiration).
For Freyr it has been suggested that the oak is a good tree (used for making ships and feeding swine) or the fir - however it could be argued that he is lord of the Wildwood and therefore of the forest in its entirety rather than a particular tree.
Njord is difficult to suggest with his marine connections - maybe the willow?
Re-enactment Markets Yes I know, all you boring modern Asatru bods out there, we are not trying to live in the dark ages, but few people passionately interested in dark age culture could fail to enjoy one of these events. The March market was brimming full of desirable goodies, natural fabrics, reproduction jewellery, hand made cups, pole lathe turned platters, drinking horns & weapons, you name it and it was probably there.
Next Markets:
Kirby Hall, 1 & 2 August 1998, Near Corby Northants. Unfortunately difficult by public transport.
14/15 November 1998, Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre, Oxford. Easy access from Oxford railway station on the Blackbird Leys bus - ask for the Leisure Centre on Pegasus Road. Buses run every ten minutes Sat & Sun. Blackbird Leys estate is just outside the ring road to the south of Oxford.
Thorshof Events:
If you live in the London area and wish to attend the Thorshof meetings please e-mail Thorshof..
April 1998 A Modern Althing How should disputes be settled between heathens? Math is hoping to draft up a modern althing for this purpose, but please bring or post your own ideas. We will try and agree on a basic procedure and then put it to the test with some role-playing and imaginary disputes. To make this more interesting we will hold the thing itself at the old moot site for the local area, Desborough Castle, which is five minutes walk from Thorshof. The more the merrier for this one, we need plenty of witnesses and hecklers. If wet we will stay firmly indoors.
May 1998 Tablet Weaving Revisited Another chance to learn traditional Viking/Anglo-Saxon braid weaving skills, not for the fainthearted! This is being held at a private London address - write and ask for details if you are interested.
June 1998 The Heathen Personality Why are we attracted to particular gods? How does our connection with that god affect our behaviour, or did our behaviour forge our link with them. What is our faith and what is called?
The deadline for entries for the Thorist ritual competition is the 1st May 1998.
Two types of entry can apply:
1: a modern ritual dedicated to Thor, Thunor or Donar.
2: a fictional description of a historical ceremony based on historical evidence. The prize for the best entry received is 10 years free subscription to Thunder, so get scribbling! Any other entries received that are printed will earn two free copies. If you receive Thunder via the internet (or receive a complimentary copy) a suitable prize of similar value can be negotiated.
Thorshof Recommended Book List (under construction -religion/history/arts/folklore)
Brief Introduction to Heathenism - under construction - Thorskegga Thorn
Spinning in Myths and Folktales, Thorskegga Thorn
The Spindle and the Well (spinning tales of Holda), Thorskegga Thorn
Basic information on Thor - (under construction) -Thorskegga Thorn
Print outs are also available from Thorshof for 25p each + postage.
United Kingdom: Thorskegga Thorn, Thorshof, 106 Oakridge Road, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP11 2PL. UK subscription is £2 for four issues. Please make cheques payable to 'Thorskegga Thorn'. Thunder is also available on the WWW at http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~skegga/ or search for 'Thorshof'. Thorshof can be contacted by e-mail on skegga@nildram.co.uk
United States Jason Hutchinson, PO Box 68, Hopkins, MN 55343, USA. US subscription is $8.00 for four issues. US Version can be found on http://www.scc.net/~hutch/ E-mail hutch@scc.net
Other countries please write for details.