From the cold, desolate regions of Northern Europe and the British Isles comes some of the most mystically powerful mythology in the world. Ironically, however, the agricultural tribes who settled these regions, the Celts and Vikings, are considered by many to be blood thirsty savages with no respect for human life. Is it possible for these assumed unintelligent peoples to create complex, psychological metaphors to express their religion? Yes, in fact, the Celtic and Viking legends are perhaps the most widely imitated and expounded upon stories in the Western hemisphere. The Celts have given us King Arthur and the Holy Grail while the Vikings gave us the original versions of Sleeping Beauty and inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings. Furthermore, George Lucas incorporated both mythologies into the most famous motion pictures of all time: the Star Wars epics.
How strange it is that the Western culture is so drawn to the Celtic and Viking heroes of ten centuries ago and how strange it is that school books paint such a gruesome picture of the same people who created them. As we have recently realized in the case of the Native American Indians, often times our Christian forefathers have taken the liberty to contort our perceptions and manipulate our history. But, it seems that our natural instincts always prevail and thankfully, the truth is sought after and found. Upon studying these mythologies, one finds that the same forces which drove the Celtic and Viking heroes are what we consider the most honorable and humane traits within ourselves.
The Viking, or Norse, peoples included those settling Germany and Scandinavia who lived oppressive lives due to the harsh, freezing climate and terrain within which they existed. These geographical factors provided short growing seasons and minimal harvests which when coupled with a lack of medical knowledge, led to a feeling of unavoidable doom. This heavy cast plays itself out in Viking religion and legends as both gods and heroes were subject to predetermined fates that even the most magical deity or courageous human could not escape. Although today's society may find their mindset disagreeable, the Vikings willingly accepted death and spent their lives fighting tirelessly for the propagation of their race and the immortality of their soul through legendary tales of bravery on earth.
Interesting in the Viking mythology is the fact that their gods existed separately from worshippers and only on rare instances interacted with humans. In fact, only Odin, the father of mortals, helped the Viking cause and ironically his presence was synonymous with death. It is thought that Odin's name was connected with wind tying him to the powerful Norse gales which the Vikings personified as the procession of dead souls across the sky. Furthermore, his Germanic worshippers saw him as a furiously mad deity who empowered them in battle and inspired their infamous rage and unrelenting desire to destroy those considered enemies. These fearless soldiers, beserkers, died willingly due to the promise of an afterlife serving Odin as bodyguards in his famous golden hall, Valhalla. Warriors were either celebrated or killed by Odin's daughters, the Valkyries, and those slain would be whisked off to Valhalla accompanied by ravens and wolves until their time to fight beside Odin in the final battle of the world, Ragnarok, against the evil giants.
Even gods must pay a price for having bad reputations and Odin is no exception. Although his mythology gave meaning to the Viking's uncertain, turbulent world, the fact that Odin's presence usually forbode death could not be completely ignored. Because Viking combat lacked the technical weaponry of today, warriors fought hand to hand and the outcome could never be fully predicted. This absence of certainly often led people to doubt their god, as so many of us do, when the champion was not whom they wished. In an attempt to tip the scales in their favor, Vikings offered human sacrifices to Odin which may be why our culture deems them so barbaric. However, after taking a closer look at their lifestyle and mentality, it is possible to empathize with their struggle and even understand why killing had become second nature to these people.
Odin's power to inspire rioting rests not in the mind of a god who made mindless choices. Instead, he was a wise sorcerer who used his connection with the dead to give life as well as take it. The famous runic alphabet used by the Druids owes its history to Odin and the sacrifice he made to decipher them. Similar to Western Christian mythology with Christ martyred on the cross, Odin also hung on the World Tree, Yggdrasil, in order to gain knowledge beneficial to all humankind. The legend states that while hanging, Odin reached to the ground to pick up the ruins and in doing so crossed over to the spirit world gaining ancient wisdom from their magical messages. Some myths ascertain that by manipulating the runes, Odin could resurrect fallen heroes.
As stated earlier in this essay, Odin would occasionally aid Norse heroes on the battlefield and in particular, Sigurd the Volsung. Odin appeared to Sigurd in the guise of a one-eyed old man wearing a broad brimmed hat similar to that of J.R.R. Tolkein's character, Gandalf. Mythologists explain that Odin's lost eye lays at the bottom of the wisest man's, Mimir, well which rests at the foot of the World Tree. Odin apparently disfigured himself in order to gain Mimir's wisdom and ability to communicate with the dead. And, it is in the form of this crotchety old man that Odin walked the earth and cleverly manipulated the life of his great-great-great-grandson who was the bravest of Viking heroes: Sigurd the Volsung.
Sigurd the Volsung is a most intriguing character and his timeless appeal repeats itself in Tolkein's trilogy as well as influencing the legends of King Arthur and Sleeping Beauty. Sigurd was born to King Sigmund Volsung in a time of chaotic restlessness when the warring Vikings set about conquering the Norse territories. Sigurd, like King Arthur, was of noble lineage beginning with his father drawing the magical sword, Gram, from the oak tree in which Odin impaled it. Odin exclaimed that he who drew the sword would have no better friend in time of need and Sigmund skillfully wielded the instrument becoming King of Hunland. However, as with all great Vikings warriors, Odin came to him in battle taking his life and destroying the sword. In his last words, Sigmund explained to his wife that she must save the pieces of the sword and pass them to his unborn child. As dawn approached, Sigmund was taken to Valhalla and his wife was taken by the King of Denmark to become queen thereby retaining nobility for her famous son.
The child Sigurd grew to be the best of men as he naively walked in the steps of his unknown father. He was honorable, intelligent, strong, gentle, fair, and courageous and these traits did not go unnoticed by Odin, who gave him the magical steed, Grani, resembling Tolkein's Shadowfax. Accompanied by his horse and newly resmithed sword, Gram, Sigurd vaulted into his future completing legendary adventures and brave deeds while immortalizing his name forever. Beginning with his clever slaying of the dragon, Fafnir; the necessary murder of his evil tutor, Regin; and the usurpment of the dwarf Andvari's cursed hord of gold and mystical ring which the beast protected, the shadow of Sigurd's destiny was cast. After killing Fafnir, Sigurd searched the land for the sleeping Valkyrie, Brunhild, whom he and Grani crossed the ring of fire to rescue. Upon awakening her by removing the sleeping thorn from her finger, Brunhild empowered Sigurd with the knowledge necessary to live an honest, faithful life filled with wisdom and courage as known by no other mortal man. Loved immediately bloomed between these two most valiant of humans; however, their fate had already been predetermined by Odin and Brunhild warned Sigurd that their marriage would never transpire. Unwittingly, Sigurd left the Valkyry's castle and embarked on a journey which would end in the fulfillment of Brunhild's unsettling prophecy and his untimely death.
Having come upon the palace of King Giuki, Sigurd was tricked with the mythological love potion of the ages and married the king's daughter. After being treacherously led astray, Sigurd goes as far as to promise Brunhild's hand in marriage to another man. The end result being Brunhild's terrifying jealously and ultimate suicide, Sigurd met his destiny in the guise of murder by one whom he trusted. And, here, centuries passed I live to retell the skeletal version of Sigurd's story and am awestruck by the imagination and love that went into its creation. The Vikings were not a group of bumbling, barbaric idiots. They were a people riddled with pain and hardships dealt by the hand of an unforgiving nature god who also existed at the whim of the most divine of forces, fate itself. Like Hercules, King Arthur, Bilbo Baggins, or Luke Skywalker, although Sigurd realized his life force could be squelched at any moment, he continued to strive for the best in himself and gave willingly to those around him. The honor, love, passion, magic, cursed treasure, violent hatred, jealously, treachery, and ultimate death in Sigurd's adventure story rests in totem or in part within every popular movie or book of our time. And, it doesn't take a mythological scholar to recognize this represents a powerful force beyond our normal level of consciousness that binds different cultures and eradicates the constraints of time.
As intriguing as the Volsung saga is the legend of King Arthur and his search for the Holy Grail. Within this story exists a wealth of spiritual, metaphorical lessons that Christian monks and French poets devoured and recreated. Scholars theorize that the Celts are responsible for the original mythological motifs within the legend and state that even King Arthur himself was of their lineage. However, the Christian influence in the versions we read today cannot be ignored as Arthur seems to have become a sacrificial, Christ-like figure. Similar to Sigurd the Volsung in his honorable, selfless nature, King Arthur ruled a kingdom with fairness and honesty while his ignorance of Merlin's prophecies resulted in his ultimate death and the destruction of his realm.
Perhaps the fact that Celts, like Vikings, were strangers in a strange land they put faith in the forces of magic to help take control over their harried lives. Celts shared the same acceptance and love of war as the Vikings and are famous for going into battle naked, only wearing tattoos and blood matted hair. In fact, this fierce if not insane presence is what shocked the Roman soldiers into defeat. Maybe it is this mix of spiritualism and murder that makes these people so mystifying and appealing, catching the imaginations of authors who evolved an unknown warrior into the once and future king, Arthur.
The name King Arthur connotes chivalry, loyalty, bravery, humility, honor, fairness, and justice. More than just a man, he has come to stand for the quintessential hero who must live a mortal's life as though he were a god. This fact is what strikes a chord in all who recognize the divinity within themselves. King Arthur symbolizes the attainment of wholeness through accepting responsibility for our place on the planet and the understanding that all creatures, great and small, are worthy of respect. Although he suffered extreme pain and injustice at the hands of loved ones, Arthur's refusal to allow rage to eradicate the remembrance that all humans error instilled an almost god-like, angelic quality within him that rivals that of Jesus Christ and helped create the persona with which Western culture has come to identify him. However, unlike his Christian admirers, the original King Arthur spoke of nurturing individuality and a type of illicit, selfish love, amour, which changed the course of romance forever.
There are never-ending lessons in the Arthurian legend regardless of what facet one chooses to study. Beginning with the mythological, sacred symbols or graals we have all come to identify - the stone, the sword, and the grail - one can trace their history back to second century BCE then up to the nineteenth century because so many cultures have acted to enrich their meaning. Mythologists trace the three graals back to the Celtic stone of destiny, spear of Nuada, and Daghdha's cauldron. The stone of destiny was to have let out a cry when a true king sat upon it and has been transformed into the boulder where Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, impaled his famous sword, Excalibur. The spear of Nuada was believed to be a magically animated sword which never missed its target and actually had to be doused in a special potion to keep it tame. This spear became Arthur's Excalibur which helped him defeat several armies whose origins depend on the version you read. Daghda's cauldron provided fallen Celtic warriors resurrection when drank from and the Christians took this rebirth motif and funneled it into perhaps the most widely known mythological symbol ever, the Holy Grail.
What is the Grail and did it really exist? The answers of to these questions have stumped historians and theologians for eons. However, mythologists and even psychologists claim to have the definitive answers. Based on the fact that differing cultures respond to the same themes of holiness and resurrection, mythologists propose that the Grail is actually a symbolic motif and the journey Arthur takes to attain it is that which all humans should endure. The Grail quest in and of itself is an adventure one takes completely out of the ordinary because of its spontaneity and potentiality for movement beyond social constructs. Also, part of succeeding in the quest lies in the understanding that honor and loyalty in love and war propel one to the highest state of consciousness thereby stripping away the ego which stifles our spiritual awareness. By joining the good and bad within, one can find a peaceful existence through inner-balance and only when this neutrality is present can the Grail be reached. There is also an element of personal risk involved in opening one's heart to this enlightenment because one must be willing to question the norm regardless of the consequences.
The Grail represents the attainment of highest consciousness by realizing the importance of living one's life to marry the masculine and feminine halves of the psyche to create a unified Self. Within this construct the Arthurian legend utilizes believable characters and universal experiences to weave a story filled with love, loss, wisdom, sorcery, infidelity, and triumph. King Arthur symbolizes the unrealized potential in us all and the fact that any man can become King if he is pure of heart and brave in action. He also represents human folly and strength in his blindness to obvious deception and his refusal to discredit the purveyors. Although Arthur's wife, Guinevere, is unfaithful and her lover is his most loyal knight, Lancelot, the tragic pain resulting evokes compassion and humanity within his heart. Regardless of the wrongs he committed, the dying Lancelot is held by Arthur who tells his unfaithful friend that he is the best in men. This ability to unconditionally forgive may also have attracted the Christians as it certainly lifts Arthur to a god-like state that so many of us may never achieve. Likewise, his forgiveness of Guinevere is remarkable if not saintly considering Arthur's unrequited love for her resulted in the demise of his kingdom.
Arthur must break the cultural, societal code of conduct to enter the magical Grail Castle and ask the Grail King what can be done to help heal his wounds and whom the Grail itself serves. Arthur learns that the Grail serves him and all men and that the secret of the Grail is that the land (feminine) and the king (masculine) are one. How deep the implications of this statement plummet and how timelessly profound its truth. Within this idea lies the universal, mythological lesson the Arthurian legend provides. We are all Arthur in our vulnerable, human form and our quest for identity and self-assuredness takes us on the Grail adventure within our daily lives. However, only those who recognize the divinity within themselves and the awesome responsibility accompanying it, grasp the knowledge that we are all kings. And, as kings, we must nourish and protect the land which binds us and makes us grow because without it there would be no life. Unfortunately, our society has lost this sense of respect and awe toward nature as is seen in the raping of the earth for needless strip malls and the never-ending deluge of endangered species. One day it will become all too clear to those without kingly vision because there shall soon be an absence of natural resources necessary for our sustainment.
Mythology conveys metaphorical, universal truths that guide the soul and comfort the heart. King Arthur and Sigurd the Volsung are symbolic figures representing the ideal human being who willingly faces adversity, triumphantly defeats evil, and compassionately forgives injustice. Their victories are foreshadowed by their immortality which even the bravest hero or wisest god, such as Odin, cannot elude. Arthur and Sigurd's allure comes from our desire to attain the elements which make them kings, and by studying their myths we can gain knowledge from their achievements as well as mistakes negating the necessity for their physical existence or realness because the actual process of understanding their history is what spiritually enlightens us and emotionally personifies them. As with all mythologies, there is an undercurrent of collective thinking within Viking and Celtic stories evidenced in the resemblance of these myths to each other as well as to heroes, gods and Jesus Christ. Found in the guise of god or devil, king or pauper, we can rediscover the potential for greatness within ourselves. The ability to long for and run from the divinity within are the most unique gifts given to humankind. And, the journey of life which takes us to or from our innerselves is what determines our quality of living and ability to face mortality - our humanness.
© Copyright Paula Vaughan
Not to be reprinted without permission.
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Resources for further study