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Chapter 6. The Sky 153
Neither the Gods nor men appeared to be overly concerned about the future.
Man’s destiny was to go to the Land of his Ancestors and, as a consequence, take
up that role which funnels power/ luck back towards the family of the living and
helps descendants make their way through life. The Gods, on the other hand, knew
what lay in the future as an inevitability or, as stated in Chapter 2, which “lineages
were on a collision course with another,” but could only deal with the here-and-now
to help push it further forward into the future by working with the inhabitants of
Midgard to generate ¸orlög and keep the Flow of the Waters of Life in harmony with
the needs of the World Tree. The question “Where am I going to go after death?”
does not ever come up in the eddaic or sagaic literature because each knew already,
long before he died, his final destination. The question of uncertainty was and still
is a Christian phenomenon not a Heathen one.
Judgement, after death, by the Gods is unnecessary in the Germanic worldview
and did not form part of the Heathen religion as far as can be ascertained. This is
also primarily a Christian concept. Sagaic and eddaic literature has many references
to revenge being exacted on living men by the Gods, but this is for breaking a taboo
associated with a particular God. Glum in Viga-Glum’s Saga does not have a good
relationship with Frey although He was the patron God of his community.
“Throughout his adult career Glum was on bad terms with the God Freyr.
To begin with, he slew an enemy on the cornfield, Vitazgjafi, and thus defiled
it. The father of this man had no legal case, and was expelled from the
district. Before he left, he brought an ox to Freyr’s temple. The beast
bellowed and fell dead, showing that the God had accepted the sacrifice and
would repay it.
“Glum’s relations with Freyr grew worse as time wore on. He concealed his
outlaw son, Vigfuss, within the sacred precincts of the temple. He emulated
Óðínn in swearing an ambiguous oath in three temples, one of which was the
temple of Freyr. Afterwards he had a strange dream. He saw Freyr sitting
on a chair on the bank of the river, where many had come to visit Him.
These were his dead kinsmen, who had come to intercede with the God on
his behalf. But Freyr answered abruptly and angrily, remembering the ox
which Glum’s enemy had given Him. . . .He could no longer withstand his
enemies, and was driven from his lands in disgrace.” 16
Judgement, by the Gods, was exacted on the living, however, and not the dead. The
above is one of many cases from the sagaic literature although the other cases are
not so clearly delineated nor so well described as this one. The form that revenge
16 Turville-Petre, p. 70.