TEUTONIC MAGIC - Awaken Video

17: THE VANIR
The Vanir are gods of earth and water whose power is called upon for peace and prosperity. They are said
to be wise and to have the power of foresight. The practice of seidhr-magic is associated with the Vanir.
The war between the Aesir and the Vanir is thought to be a mythological representation of an actual cultwar
which ended in the fusion of the two. Vanic worship was greatest in Sweden, and the Swedish kings
were thought to be descended from Yngvi or Freyr. As gods of fertility, they were also gods of death,
with whom the practice of mound-burial was associated, cremation being more characteristic of the Aesic
cult. They overlap in many ways with the disir and the three races of alfar.
NJORD/NERTHUS
The name "Njord" is a form of the name "Nerthus," although the one is male and the other female; both
derive from the Proto-Germanic* Nerthuz, which might refer to either gender. The root word ner from
which our "north" is also derived means "under,"1 bringing out the hidden character of the Vanic powers.
The procession of the goddess Nerthus, described by Tacitus, has been discussed under the runes berkano
and ingwaz, the key elements being the procession of the goddess in the wagon accompanied by the
human priest, the sacred island, and the completion of the ceremony with the human sacrifice, the victims
being sunk in the lake. Tacitus calls Nerthus "Mother Earth";2 Njord, on the other hand, is clearly a god
of wave and wind. The description of the holy island of Nerthus and the drowning of the victims may
indicate an original union of earth and water in this figure, which was later divided. It is mentioned in the
Eddas that Njord got Freyr and Freyja on a nameless sister; one may suppose that at one time or in
different places Njord and Nerthus may have been, like Freyr and Freyja, seen as twins. The bog- cult of
the early Germanic people is probably related to this cult also. Large staves minimally carved to make
them either clearly female or male have been found in bogs, as have the bodies of men who were
sacrificed either by being strangled or having their throats cut. In the Yngling saga, Snorri Sturluson
mentions a golden necklace which was the bridal gift of the daughter of Audhi the Wealthy (possibly
identical with the chthonic Audh, son of Night) and which a later Ynglinga queen, Skjalf, used to strangle
her husband with. It is p05sible that this story is based on the Nerthus sacrifice, being one of a long line of
mysterious deaths of the kings of the Ynglings, which have been associated with the royal sacrifice.3
Certainly the necklace is one of the oldest symbols of this earth-goddess.
Nerthus can be seen as embodying the earth, Njord as the fertile force of the ocean and its wealworking
aspects. Like all the Vanir, he is a god of wealth, which in this case are the treasures hidden
beneath the water's surface and the wealth of food therein. He is called upon for fair weather, favorable
winds, good fishing, and the riches cast up by the sea. Njord is also associated with the passage between
life and death, and with the rune laguz in its fertile and mysterious aspects. His emblems are the ship,
which in some places was drawn over the land in place of a wagon or plough, and the bare foot a symbol
of fertility. Oaths are often sworn "by Freyr and Njord".
FREYR
This god's name is actually a title, meaning "Lord"; it is likely that he is identical to the early Yngvi or
mg, consort of the goddess Nerthus. Several kings who are thought to be euhemeristic representations of
this god are named Frodhi (Fruitful), and Turville Petre suggests that his full name and title could be
given as Yngvi-Freyr-inn-Frodhi, "Lord Yngvi the Fruitful."4 Along with Odhinn and Thorr, Freyr was
one of the most widely worshipped of the gods.
Like Nerthus, Freyr makes processions in a chariot accompanied by a human votary of the opposite
gender. Like Njord, he is associated with the ship, being the owner of a magical ship called
Skidhbladhnir, which can sail over both sea and land, the realms of the Vanir. Such concept of the holy
kingship as the Norse had was wholly associated with the cult of Freyr, the proto-king whose rule was
one of peace and plenty and who confinued to make the land fruitful even after his death and burial in a
mound, at which he received sacrifice. This may be tied to the veneration of the Dokkalfar or moundelves
(discussed later). Freyr was also said to be bra of AIfheim and hence ruler over the Ljosalfar; like
them, he is associated with the fructifying air and light of the sun. According to Saxo, there were a
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