Germanic religion and cults

An examination of the Lombard version of judicial duel, a Germanic institution that shaped the history of post-Roman West. Praxis and ideology are reconstructed by confronting Langobard sources with other Romano-barbaric kingdoms and the later Norse tradition. An attempt is made at tracking the early history of duel, from pagan and tribal times to Christianity, and further on as a feudal institution and a nobiliar privilege.

In this Foreword to the Hungarian translation  of „What is Odinism?” (by Collin Cleary) I examine the written and material sources of the Odin-archetype and in the light of them I propose a structural analysis. Then I make a comparison of the ancient and modern concept of „godhood”, and examine if the two are comparable and the ancient concept is realizable by the modern or the recent man. I make a difference between modernitas and hodiernitas (the recent, ’hodiernal’ man is not necessarily ’modern’ in thought). In order to make an adequate relation to the archaic concept of ’god’, we must transform our consciousness ’archaic’, which mean arkhe, primordial. In my opinion this is not the case generally in the discourse of the somewhat shallow vulgar-jungianism –or veiled, implicit materialism- of the recent neopagan-reenaction movements. I suggest –in line with the Author Collin Cleary- a heideggerian autonomous poetic-atmospheric approach by the means of magical idealism.

Humans are similar to the geography they live in. Geography shapes humans' lives, thoughts and beliefs. The Germanic peoples were also influenced by the geography they lived in. This geography covered with forests has shaped their lives, thoughts and beliefs. Geography, on the one hand, made the Germanic peoples warrior and libertarian, on the other hand, the associated their beliefs with forests. In their struggle with the Romans, the forests became a shelter where the Germanic peoples received spiritual strength and protected themselves. The Germans, who are descendants of the Germanic peoples, also continued these characteristics of their ancestors. They also applied to the forest beliefs of their ancestors in their struggle with the heirs of Rome and formed their national identity by being inspired by the forests. The process started with Arminius continued with Martin Luther and peaked in the 19th and 20th centuries. In this study, the reflections of the Germanic forest beliefs on the national identity of the Germans were examined in chronological order. The work is divided into three parts. In the first part, the sources about the Germanic religion, in the second part, the Germanic religion, and in the third part, the reflections of the forest beliefs on the German national identity are expressed. As a result, it has been concluded that forest beliefs are reflected in the German national identity in the context of victory and freedom.

Keywords: Germanic religion, Germanic forest beliefs, German national identity, national culture, cultural conflict

Nel Walhalla, il palazzo dorato degli Asi, durante i banchetti non si beve nettare, ma idromele. In questo palazzo sono portati anche i guerrieri caduti, gli Einherier, che affiancheranno Odino, il giorno della fine del mondo, nella lotta contro i Giganti. Il condottiero dei Giganti è Surtur, che avanza con il lupo Fenrir e con il serpente Midgard, e la sua spada brilla «più chiara di mille soli». Senza l'uomo non potrebbero esserci né gli Asi, né gli Olimpi. Il Walhalla confina con il bosco incantato di Glasor. Verso questo luogo cavalcano gli Einherier, dopo avere bevuto una prima volta l'idromele, e si preparano per l'estrema lotta. Gli Einherier, i «combattenti solitari», sono invitati al tavolo di Odino, amici e nemici, qualunque sia la causa terrena per la quale sono caduti. Viene in mente la massima di Nietzsche: ciò che conta non è la buona causa, ma la buona guerra. Nel bosco di Glasor si combatte duramente: i colpi sono mortali. Ma alla sera le ferite si richiudono; gli Einherier si riuniscono di nuovo intorno alla tavola di Odino e vien loro offerto l'idromele in coppe d'oro.

Verschiedene Rezensionen/Besprechungen des Buches von G. Doerr: Muttermythos und Herrschaftsmythos -- Zur Dialektik der Aufklärung um die Jahrhundertwende bei den Kosmikern, Stefan George und in der Frankfurter Schule. Würzburg: Koenigshausen & Neumann 2007. -- 2. Auflage als eBook wieder bei Koenigshausen & Neumann. Wuerzburg, Februar 2019. 410 S.

Досліджено  один  із  пізніх  шведських  рунічних  календарів. Описано  календар,  наведено  прорис  різьблення,  пояснено  принцип  користування  календарем.  В  результаті  аналізу  структури  календаря  зроблено  висновок  про  місце  його  походження;  наведено  ймовірні  дати  його створення. / Scandinavian runic calendars (runstaff) sit a signiʃcant place in the European calendar tradition. These calendars were made by peasants from XIII till XVIII cen. Besides the folk runic calendars, there were so called «intellectual» runstaffs which were mainly made by the Sweden intellectuals in the second half of XVIII century for themselves and Scandinavian elite. Their creators tried to save the tradition of making runic calendars. Such calendars represent a whole layer of Swedish intellectual culture of the XVIII century. They were typical and made by the common pattern. Nevertheless, they had a lot of speciʃc differences.
One  of  such  «intellectual»  runic  calendars  from  the  «Museum  of  Art»  of the  «Bakhchisaraj  historical  and  cultural  preserve»  is  described  at  first.  The breakthrough of the calendar pictures and runes was made and the principle of  them  using  was  explained.  The  place  of  exhibit’s  origin  was  located  by  the calendar’s structure analysis. Author makes the conclusion that the calendar turned up to the Bakhchisaraj «Museum  of  Art»  from  the  Petersburg  «Hermitage»  collection.  The  absence of  the  calendar’s  part  (two  months  –  June  and  December)  was  deʃned.  The reconstruction of lost months was made. / Im  Mittelpunkt  steht  ein  schwedischer  Runenkalender,  einer  der  jьngsten seiner  Art.  Neben  seiner  ausfьhrlichen  Beschreibung  ʃnden  sich  im  Beitrag eine  graphische  Darstellung  und  eine  Nutzungsanleitung.  Die  Analyse  der Kalenderstruktur  gibt  Aufschluss  ьber  den  Ort  und  die  mцgliche  Zeit  der Kalenderentstehung