Hooray! My book, “The Seed of Yggdrasill – Deciphering the Hidden Messages of Old Norse Myths” will be available for purchasing from June 21, 2013, on Amazon and through the publisher, Whyte Tracks.
FIRST REVIEW HERE: Exclusive First Look “The Seed of Yggdrasill”
Here you will be able to read more about my interpretations of Old Norse Myths. There will be chapters with extensive information and discussion of all the most important themes found in the Edda lore as well as in some scaldic lore: Creation and Cosmology, Ritual and Revelations, The Loss of the Golden Age, The Ragnarok prophecy, as well as the new world to come, Magical Traditions and Worldy Wisdom. There will also be several corrected and edited transcripts of my YouTube lecture series, Hidden Knowledge in Old Norse Myths.
Donate and receive a return gift: My special translation of the Edda poem Völuspa – “The Divination of the Witch” in PDF!
The translation includes comments to each stanza, a thorough introduction by myself, some of my illustrations, and the Old Norse text which may be read side by side with the translation if you so wish. If you donate 10 USD or more (hehe), I will send you a PDF file attached to an email. Please allow a few days to pass before you begin to fret, since I am not always attached to the internet. LOVE, Maria
Welcome to my Old Norse Mythology website!
I am a Historian of Religions with specialty in Old Norse Paganism and particularly the Edda poems. I run the YouTube channel Earth Mythic Library under the username LadyoftheLabyrinth, where I create videos on mythology, in particular about Old Norse mythology. I also have another YouTube channel, The Old Norse Mystery Cult, on which I have specialised in Norse mythology only, and where all my videos and other relevant videos are gathered.
“Freyia Völundarhúsins” is the Old Norse translation of my username Lady of the Labyrinth. The labyrinth was introduced as a symbol and as a sacred site in Scandinavia during the Bronze Ages, possibly influenced by the Minoan culture. Even up to recent times labyrinthes were used for ritual games where a maiden would stand within the center of the labyrinth and wait while young men tried to find their way to the center. I see this in connection with my undisputed thesis of an initiation ritual dating back into Pagan times centered around a mead-serving maiden in the underworld, as is described in my thesis.
The Norse word for Labyrinth, Völundarhús, literally translates as The House of the Sacred Grove.
Sacred groves were important places of worship in Northern Europe since time immemorial.
On this site I will post articles on Old Norse mythology, whether written by myself or by others, as well as my YouTube videos. If you wish to ask questions or discuss matters, please use my forum on the main site. Then if I do not have the time to answer immediately, other people may be able to suggest views.
The Background for my Approach to the Norse Myths:
In the spring of 2004, I graduated with a Master degree in Cultural Studies, the History of Religions, at the University of Oslo, Norway, with the thesis “The Maiden with the Mead – a Goddess of Initiation Rituals in Old Norse Myths?.” In my dissertation, I explored how the fundamental, thematic structure of several Edda poems perfectly rendered the structure and themes of what could only be explained as a Pagan initiation ritual, and that the description of this ritual, albeit in the language of symbols, was a credible description of such ritual, accurate and detailed. Such a discovery challenges any notion held by some critics that the Old Norse myths simply reflect the time in which they were written down, well after Christianity was introduced. The discovery of the ritual structure of the myths and the detailed accounts of the various stages of the ritual experience strongly suggests that the myths as they have been left to us do in fact reflect, to a considerable degree, Pagan religion and Pagan religious practices despite them having been written down by Christian monks.
Since then, I have kept doing research on the essential meaning of Norse myths, taking seriously the fact that the myth-makers, the poets (skalds), actually tried to convey meaning through metaphor, and also to take seriously the fact that the names of characters and places in the myths actually mean something – meanings that are essential if one is to understand the messages of the metaphors. After many years of study I have, eventually, come to see the poems of the Edda not as a random collection of old poems, but rather as poems collected, perhaps edited, and certainly put together chronologically for a purpose; to reveal a Pagan spiritual path of self-knowledge and transformation. Each poem may be read as such on its own, but when looking at the poems that appear in the manuscript Codex Regius, later known as the “Poetic Edda”, one may detect a purpose to the chronology of the poems – to the point of suggesting that the collection of poems was in fact meant as a book, telling a story of an eternal spiritual quest and the slow unfolding of revealed knowledge as one goes along. Adding the Edda poems that were not part of the Codex Regius, one may realize that they belong to the same conceptual universe. I have become convinced that the mythical and legendary poems that survived the Conversion in writing belong to a powerful and well-established religious, or perhaps rather a mystical or spiritual tradition with a message and a purpose of its own. This tradition, which may have been something like a Mystery cult, applies the characters of an ancient Old Norse pantheon of gods and other powers, but is revealing deeper messages of a universal character about the nature of the human soul and quest for its divine origins.
The boldness of my research may be one reason why I did not continue an academic career: In order to pursue such a career one must always be extremely over cautious about making claims that are fundamentally different from previous paradigms of understanding, at least until one already has a professorate. Even then, trying to change an academic paradigm may be the suicide of one´s academic career. I found that I could not hold back on my discoveries without compromising myself.
Another reason for my choice to seek a different career is the fact that, although not being religious, contrary to most academics, I actually believe in “spirituality”. That is; I believe that there is such a thing as spirit and soul, that there is something happening after death, and that those who created the myths were trying to reveal spiritual messages that may actually hold some truth in them. Dreams and visions have sometimes provided me with the greatest insights about the myths, at least as far as I understand it.
Despite all this, I love doing research, and I love to do it properly. I do not use secondary sources unless they are written by scholars who actually know the Old Norse language and have access to the primary source material, as I do. Sources written by, say, neopagans who are not actually acquainted with the primary source material (archaeology or written medieval sources in Old Norse), may sometimes hold interest at a personal spiritual level but cannot be used as a proper source to the myths.
By March 2010, after six years of doing research on the side, building upon my first thesis, I was almost brimming over with research material about the Old Norse myths and felt deeply compelled to share my insights. I created my first YouTube channel, the LadyoftheLabyrinth´s channel and began making videos about ancient goddess symbolism and Norse mythology. By the end of the summer that year, I sat down and spoke my first lecture on how to decipher the myths. I called my lecture series “Hidden Knowledge in Old Norse Myths”, and little more than a year after, I have made as many as thirty lectures.
The feedback and interest I have met after I began sharing, particularly my talking videos, have truly warmed my heart and propelled even new insight. The fun thing about Norse myths is that they never cease to reveal something new. As I teach, I learn.
Disclaimer: Some people seem to think that Old Norse mythology, history, symbols and paganism provide nourishment to Nazi, racist and fascist ideologies. They do not. I have absolutely no sympathy for such ideologies whatsoever, and no understanding for why people of such hateful bends abuse and misrepresent the ancestral lore of Northern Europe to serve their disgusting ends. This is about history and about spirituality.
Hello,
I enjoy your video lectures on You Tube very much. It is refreshing to come across such clear insight into the mysteries of our past. I have discovered something you may find interesting and would very much like to share it with you in hopes of receiving your most valued opinion.
website:
thehamletenigma.com
Elmar
Din efterforskning är väldigt intressant. Jag älskar dina videolektioner. Jag är konstnär och har jobbat en del med bilder… performance- bilder- finns på video föreställande olika gudinnor. Det synes som du är något på spåren. Som ock arkeologer och kanske några religionshistoriker misstänker men ej våga knysta…
Hi
I was wondering if you could help me, i am looking for a translation of my chidlren’s names into old norse or furthak. Can you help? Their names are nicholas, isabelle and emily.
Thankyou
Hmm – not really? They are not Old Norse names…
But I can give you directions as to how to proceed: You should use some kind of translation service online to see what the names originally mean in English? Then you can find a futhark online and write the names in those letters. Finally, search up an English-Old Norse dictionary and translate the meaning of the names from English into Old Norse, and then apply the futhark to write the names in Old Norse. All this is perfectly possible to do through online services and will probably take you a few hours. I do not have the capacity to do it for you, however, but good luck, and do not hesitate to tell me what they are when you have found out! 
Maria
I liked your video of ragnorak and the song of the fate mill.
Intertwined, when listning humankinds cultures it is a mosaic structure that can and is understood. It was nice to see your video from Tube with topic Odin, The Spirit – wonderfull to observe beautifully deductioned and intuitively together molded vision of our spiritual legasy; women’s herstory wich tells so much of ages healthiness. History of the psyche is- will, cause religion happened. Pfaraos, druids, indians and Balhaean jorneys from now, to the past, and then beyond. You norsk sweden and finnland right in the middle of it. Universumes voice from our dance and sound from the cosmos, through man to woman – to 1+1=3. Or the longest ride via trinity, artificial star-algorithm and Entity. It isn’t sure will Cosmos die to dissolvement of black holes or imploding back to the ‘sourse’. For there is our future, in A woman to a vacant space, left by a voice in racial memory to becom full and it is not flesh that departes. In my recearch, you – dear Lady have entered vessel that is unique as a soul can be born anew. That is not men’s road, only one can trancent to our planet for reflecting God who doen’t will go the full cycle.. 1 has to become 1 to be one.
Unfortunately, our next century will be hard – but the things, we are the ones who wich to go exelarated clock
Intertwined, when listning humankinds cultures it is a mosaic structure that can and is understood by memetic terms foundationed in trans-geneologigal delinear variables and chaos theory. Like ‘mater’ wo man is also in kvantioned state. Nice to see your video from Tube with topic Odin, The Spirit – wonderfull to observe beautifully deductioned and intuitively together molded vision of our spiritual legasy; women’s herstory wich tells so much of ages healthiness. It isn’t eyes that see. History of the psyche is- will, cause religion happened. Pfaraos, druids, indians and Balhaean journeys from now, to the past, and then beyond. You norsk, swedish and finnish right in the middle of it. Universumes voice from our dance and sound to the cosmos, through man to woman – to 1+1=3. Or the longest ride via trinity, forfould artificial star-algorithm and equitensses of Entity (5). It isn’t sure will Cosmos die to dissolvement of black holes or imploding back to the ‘sourse’. For there is our future, in A woman to a vacant space, left by a voice in racial memory to become full and it is not the cup that departes. In my recearch, you – dear Lady, every woman have entered a vessel that is unique as a soul can be born anew. That is not men’s road, only one can trancent to our planet for reflecting God who doesn’t no thyself.. utterly confused, barbaricly curious. To go the full cycle.. 1 has to become 1 to be one. Mother Earth, Tellus, Gaia at your disposal, maybe to the advesory whom by wich we project ourselfes, not to the selfhood, traded to government buffering care.
Unfortunately, our next century will be hard – yet we are not the ones who wish to go on accelerated clock for our instincts, and not senses. It won’t go away, for then History would have ended. Good times bad times, we can only influance how long does season last. One moment can be opening a can, approxemytly 12 seconds, one specific a lifetime. Time is flexible and music is moldable like truth is a question what is birthright to all. Couse, reaction, dialog, right to know how to move on when Pi between us isn’t expanding.
.. Bytheway i like sand dunes, swamps, when mist is above the lakes, trees and everything moving with it’s own rhytm. Like you. Everyone has their own way, but onlike moebeus ribbon but a path to follow, and by this we are all exposed, bare.. do’s and dont’s, escaping what we need to find.. Could i introduce you something ? Kenji Kawai’s live with song Hyakkin. Clouds hold’s summer behind, and this song moves the same elements as startemples and musics, languages, perspectives to same goal and above all repeating ritual useing women to men’s powerstruggle.
Have you ever felt like.. what B.Marley said when going on consert, day after he was shot. Someone asked “how can you go when shooter is still loose” soon he answered – “hate and despair doesn’t sleep, why should i”.
There are few places on earth where resting is possible, vast majority are estranged. Can i ask what are your ‘favorate’ retreats where gather energy or/and expand it?
Hi, i am from the philippines teaching class 4 in a school. class 4 theme is about norse mythtology. i do not have many resources and not very good in speaking the norse words. can you help me find even just a video or audio verse in norse about morning or new day with english translations where i can practice and teach it to my children.
About morning or new day? I dont understand. It should be easy to find some books on the internet in English about basic Norse mytholody suitable for children, but I do not have any ideas what is best since I have been studying this subject on the university level for the last fifteen years or so. If you can find it, better still would perhaps be one of the “Valhalla” comics by Peder Madsen.
Hi…thank you for the video! Please look at this website for information regarding Trojans being the ancient Scandinavians:
http://www.osterholm.info/swedes.html
http://www.osterholm.info/thracian.html
What do you think?
I appreciate your work since I like what the archetypes of old norse mythology among other cultures represent as you have explained them. Being African American in modern times I have found it hard to share my new found expression or better yet my formerly unconditioned state with other like minded people so please keep up the excellent work. I will continue to watch and learn..
I’ve watched you on Youtube for a long time. I’m so in love with you. I’m an Asatruer for lthe last 4 years. You are amazing, I never get tired of listening to you. Your are a Goddess in your own right. I’m sure you hear that all the time which is why I don’t expect a reply. Just wanted you to know.
your work is the best I have seen. love your videos
Hei Kvilhaug.
I enjoy your videos. I see you have done a very thorough work, and I respect your understanding, waking up the gods. You are one of all those who reawaken our wonderful old norse culture, and you focus on an area needing attention. I focus on the music. I use Vedic knowledge and scales to recontruct what I find in the old oral traditions and rune stones of Southern Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The result is amazing in the effect it has on listeners who have never been into spiritual matters or who have pains, sicknesses, restlessness etc. I was just curious about the music and I didn’t expect this. I was also very curious to find through the spirit of the music what emotions, experiences and thoughts people had. The music with the texts has given me an idea of that.
You say we don’t know what the common Norseman believed. The music has shown me what they believed. Fascinating and moving my heart. I convey these things in my concerts all around.
Go on sturdy! Blessings.
Hei Maria.
he he!
I guess you maybe know already, that the pre-roman so called christianity has many similiarities with our oldnorse tradition, an example is the death mysteries.
To me, Yeshua ben Yusuf (called Jesus later on) has many resemblances with Odin. Too many
Well, my interest goes far back, so, there are many common lines in the traditions and cultures here….
All blessings.
Having finally found my path as a pagan and being of Norse decent, I am truly in awe and wish to extend my many thanks for your insight and ability to tell the stories of our ancestors in a very well thought out interpretation. I commend you for all of your hard work and please don’t ever stop thirsting for the everlasting knowledge. It is what keeps us alive. Blessed be.
It is an honor to listen to your UTube videos and I am thrilled to be purchasing your book. Your experiences, the attention you pay to the historical, the ancient words, looking at the depth of what most others glance over… you see things differently, yet I believe rightly due to what I believe is a true connection to that which seek and what you teach… I appreciate all the work you have done! and the fact that you have not held it within your own self alone, and have shared it. Thank you.
now I have something I would like your view on or about. I will not give the Lengthy story as it is way too long to write out.. I had an experience a few years ago that started out with following a rhyme that came to me while gathered with some of my friends, it wound up in part to be being thrown into a dream like state, or something??? where I was or felt as if I was inside the body of another, witness to what was happening but powerless, more of a hitch hiker ? I could feel, smell, taste, see, hear, etc. but only as an observer. I was in what I believe to be the body of a Smith who was forging metal, after many trials and errors praying to the Gods the Smith offered three drops of blood to bind the generations to the metal… one drop for the ancestors, one drop for the present generation and one drop for all the future generations of the Smith’s lineage.
The process of the metal is long, even in that dream state of being, but when it came into being it was not as a lifeless thing, the metal was born so to speak, and had a heart beat… When the smith began to work the hot metal the goal was to find Living Metal, that when it was folded to a particular angle degree (that of Kenaz) it would not be too brittle and snap, to weak and fold over, but it would be flexible and maintain its shape.
As the black smith worked the metal, it was heated and cooled and dipped into water, the sound of which was the sound of KAHHhhhh NAHaazzzzzz which from the dream the name of the rune is not a “name” . it is the “sound” of hot metal being slowly doused into water as it is being worked … and tempered…
Am I crazy ?
I seem to find nothing similar in my searching, to give me the idea maybe … it has some substance in relationship to Kenaz.
This was the most significant of introductions to the runes I feel I may have received, some of the others have spoken as well, and I find that their introductions of themselves seem to go back to when they were living things, to be reduced to a pictorial or symbolic state of existence. Most of the ones have similar meanings, but there are also slight differences or maybe more depth … but when they have introduced themselves it has been in circumstances that have nothing to do with me actually trying to know them, it is like something is triggered and happens instantaneously.
So, instead of blathering on and on, I would sorely appreciate your opinion as you have had experiences with introductions and understandings that I believe gives you an insight to actually give me a valid opinion, base on more than common or popular conceptions of the Runes.
Thank you, Kelly
Hi Kelly!
It was indeed interesting that you wrote about this particular experience since I have been personally thinking a lot about the mythical blacksmith for the last few weeks. I cannot give you any answers except that I do not think you are crazy. If I thought that, I would have to be crazy too, since such experiences have happened to me many times, and I think there is reality in it, like you said you were inside another persons body for a while like a hitchhiker, I think that is an actual experience of aligning with experiences of the past – perhaps with ancestors, perhaps with previous selves, perhaps just a visit to an experience that is relevant to you. It was a marvellously powerful experience you had and meaningful, but probably also personal – so I cannot say what the meaning is foryou. But if you want to study the blacksmith more, study the Edda poem Völundarkvida about the smith Völund, and have a look at Lotte Von Motz thesis “The Wise One on the Mountains” (or something like that) about the blacksmith in Norse and Germanic mythology.
Love and blessings, Maria
My interest is of Odin and Iceland, specifically Seljalandsfoss.
Transcending Gender would be of interest to my beloved.
Thank you for your wonderful web site, video’s and talent for telling of the past.
Hello,
You are an enlightening source of knowledge of our ancestral religion…I am in my “study” period of initiation and stumbled upon your videos while searching for information in order to prepare my next encounter with my Gothi and watching your videos has been of great help, thank you so much…
Beauty, intelligence, devastating humor, strength of character, Ha! I’m hopelessly in love with you! (smile) Fabrice…14/88 Heil Wotan
Is it possible to submit an article or more in your homepage/blog-system?
Kan jeg legge inn mine egne artikler ett eller annet sted i http://www.freya.theladyofthelabyrints.com eller i din blogg?
Is it possible to submit an article or more in your homepage/blog-system?
Kan jeg legge inn mine egne artikler ett eller annet sted i http://www.freya.theladyofthelabyrints.com eller i din blogg?
Jeg har sett på din hjemmeside med stor interesse og jeg vil snart kjøpe din bok: “The seeds of Yggdrasill”. Det er sjelden en treffer en person som har samme interesse(r) som en selv og tenker på samme måte. Vi vil forhåpentligvis ha mer kontakt med hverandre i framtiden.
I think you are wonderful. I read the Norse Myths in college and fell in love with the stories. Thank you very much for putting so much effort into bringing the stories to everyone they way they should be. Orally! Come to Alaska!
Michael
I wanted to thank you for this great read!
! I certainly loved every bit of it. I have you book marked to look at new things
you post…
First of all, I would like to thank you for making all of this available to the public, it is wonderful! I live in the middle of Kansas, US, and as you can imagine, Old Norse lore is a bit thin on the ground.
I tried to access your forum, but it says that registration is required, and that registry is closed at this time, so I thought I would try my questions here.
I am writing a novel involving Ragnarok, namely Sol’s daughter and the role she might play. I was curious as to whether you might have ever come across a name for her, all I can find on her is that “she is as fair as her mother, and will ride her course/tale her place.” I do know that Sol’s husband is referred to twice(?), and that is Glenr, but other than saying she definitely has a daughter, I can’t find anything else on the matter aside from Sol’s own origins. I was greatly impressed with your video series, and the different interpretations of things, and it occurred to me that the name of Sol’s daughter may have been lost in this way. I figured if anyone would know, it would be a philologist.
On a separate note, I wanted to know whether you had ever heard of Hyrcinian birds? I have only ever found very brief descriptions of them, but they interest me and I would like to include them in my book. They are found in the Hyrcinian forest, and they shine brightly in the dark, and lead lost travelers to safety. But I have no idea where the Hyrcinian forest supposedly is, other than “Germany”.
If you have any information on either of these subjects, I would be greatly appreciative of a response; even just an idea of certain books to check out. I do have both Eddas (poetic and prose), and several mythical bestiaries, but I am still at a loss. Thank you in advance for reading this huge comment.
Hello Deirdre. Thank you for feedback. The forum doesnt work, sadly, my webmaster skills are only so so and self-taught,on the other hand you can request friendship on my Facebook account Ladyofthe Labyrinth, it works a little as a forum. But to answer your question about the Suns daughter: She is mentioned only as a prophecy, a daughter to be born when the Sun dies, essentially meaning that there will be a new Sun, which is also a new age, to come after Ragnarok. She is in effect just a reborn Sun, a new time cycle.
Never heard of Hyrcinian birds though…but what you say about them, shining in the dark and leading lost travelers to safety, they sound a lot like fylgjur (followers) or valkyriur. These female spirits often took bird shape, and birds in general (always described as female, unless they are eagles) have an important role showing the way in Edda lore. See for example the poem of Helgi Hjörvardsson, Poetic Edda, where Atli prays to birds in a sacred grove, or the Fafnismal poem, where birds show the way to Sigurd Fafnisbane. I have an article on this site on the Sun goddess and the Song of the Sun, and on fylgjur.
Thank you very much, that was most helpful. I think I will incorporate the fylgjur instead of the Hyrcinian birds, they were a bit of a stretch anyway. Actually the fylgjur article was the first on your site that I read, you popped right up when I Googled “fylgja” after combing Wikipedia for Norse creatures. I greatly enjoyed your articles you recommended, and am working through the Edda selections you were kind enough to suggest.
Thank you so much for your time and help!
Hello Maria,
I am immensely appreciative for your very articulate postings on youtube,
being a beginner in this area I do feel strongly about the spirituallity within,
most of what you have posted feels like home and I am a thirsty solitary
traveller.
Thank you for your good energy.
Kara
P.S. Someone has hacked my facebook page, therefore I am absent from
the site for awhile.
Thank you for sharing your research. Like you I have struggled with my modern academic dealings, being compelled by ethics and a sense of purpose, I dropped out and became a student of occultism, specializing in runes and mystery traditions.
However, the same new agey stigma that obstructs the path of scholarly progress in Norse cultural studies, has barred the way of progress in the field of occultism. With my Tumblr page (http://havamal33.tumblr.com/) I have posted a few practical examples and theories, these have gained me an audience with some of my peers, and much of the Tumblr pagan community. I am emboldened now to pursue greater heights with these new mysteries of Scandinavia, and would like to express some of the ways I have perceived some of your theories in the light of the initiatic and occult mysteries that I have been exposed to, both legitimately and of my own unveiling.
I can’t find your e-mail so here you go I’ll send it to you in this comment.
Thor was mentioned as a physical historical figure in the Urantia Book. His lifespan may have been as long as 1000 years in length. He had 1/8th or more blood as an Adamic and 1/8th or more blood as an Immortal mixed with the people in Northern Europe around 9000 years ago. He may now be an immortal since he went to the higher non-physical material plains of existence.
http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-80-andite-expansion-in-occident (Thor is mentioned here)
http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-85-origins-worship (And Thor is mentioned here)
I can also share with you a lot of hidden history of Gods, Goddesses, higher beings, and medium density beings if you’re interested. My e-mail is Danthemanholt@att.net and they really do exist.
This people know about channeling so you might see if you can learn channeling and ask to channel these beings. They both might know how to do remote time travel and time channeling to talk to people from different timelines which you can get guides to assist you because their are rules and so to make it safe for you. The Greek Gods and Goddesses also really existed. As did the Sumerian Gods and Goddesses. These channelers talk to faeries, Gods, Goddesses, extraterrestrials, archangels, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/user/makalesi
http://www.youtube.com/user/AskFaeries