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Chapter 7. At the Well of Urð 186
Gundarsson’s definitions of shamanism, in the body of the article are based primarily
on Mircea Eliade’s classical definition from Shamanism; Archaic Techniques
of Ecstasy 24 based on descriptions of practice from the Tungusic and various other
Siberian tribes. Although he clearly states that shamanism was not a core of Germanic
culture as far as can be ascertained from written or archeological sources, he
softens his stance, seemingly, for those readers involved in neo-shamanic practices,
that
“some form of shamanism was probably practiced by the earliest inhabitants
of Northern Europe, who were hunters and gatherers and, for a time,
reindeer herders. It should be noted that, whether or not the Germanic
people practiced genuine shamanism in the historical period, these crafts
are ultimately part of the Northern Heritage and . . . the reconstruction of
shamanism within the [Ring of] Troth is wholly fitting.” 25
His position, though, that well-wishing New Agers are fully capable of contaminating
ancient Germanic spiritual philosophy is indeed correct since in the past decade there
have been numerous books written on the topic of “Shamanism in such-and-such
Culture” which are filled to the brim with gross errors of negligence, and faulty,
unreliable, and unrealistic information, misinformation, deceptions, and outright
lies. For anyone following the path of the Reconstructionist, such writings are
abhorrent and an abomination of the greatest magnitude. Some of the books which
contain questionable, inaccurate, unreliable information can be found in the reading
lists at the end of this book.
On the other hand, there is a very large percentage of authors who have suspected
that a form of Norse or Germanic shamanism did indeed exist. Even the foremost
Mircea Eliade devoted a portion of a chapter in his Shamanism to the probability of
its existence, but again his arguments are based on his own definition of shamanism.
Eliade’s arguments are a priori using Siberian shamanism as the arbitrary standard
against which all other evidence is weighed. For the purpose here, however, the only
approach which can possibly be of any value while at the same time by-passing all
arguments is an a posteriori investigation which forms definitions after the fact as
opposed to collecting data to support a theory. In other words, define apples and
oranges separately rather than attempt to compare them.
What is being sought for this discussion is characters belonging to a group of
enigmatic figures in any of the Germanic literature of the time who
1. seem to engage knowledge with a method different than those described above,
24 Eliade, Mircea Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (Princeton/ Bollingen Paper-
backs, Princeton Univ. Press), 1974.
25 ibid.