materthorn

Meanwhile his grown-ass-woman beloved is off somewhere screaming into a pillow like a teenager because damn it all if that man doesn't have a vice grip on her heart.

Just Dorn worrying about his own incompetence and inexperience - As a primarch he never expected to engage in such matters and he can't really talk to his brothers about it and he's bad with expressing himself already!- meanwhile it's the utter earnestness and care of this man that makes her fall in love with him.

Edit this is obviously a more long term relationship since there's kids involved but TELL ME Dorn doesn't do shit like this

There's no right answers because it's honestly more just theory and interpretation, but I think about it sometimes and I want other perspectives

So, when you research Norse paganism and it's afterlife, you get three options (not getting into the idea of multiple soul parts and how they can go to other halls and the main 3 aren't the ONLY options, that's another discussion)

1. Valhalla

2. Fólkvangr

3. Helheim

Everyone knows the rules, you die on a battlefield as a warrior, you get to go with Odin or Freyja to Valhalla or Fólkvangr but if you die of sickness or old age, like most common folk, you get to go to Helheim

Where does that leave people who aren't really soldiers, but they do die fighting? And by that I mean people who die in riots or are killed while protesting? They didn't die of sickness or old age, they died fighting, just not on a battlefield in the traditional sense. What about people who died in like, one on one fights of some sort? It's no battlefield, but again, they went down swinging or weilding some sort of weapon.

But...I am not sure how much of the 'warriors go to Valhalla/Folkvangr, and the rest of you schmucks go to Hel' is a traditionally held belief and how much is a weird hybrid of the modern faux-warrior cult bullshit, the historical Odinic schema that might have been grafted on to older beliefs (1), and the Christian perspective that warped what little survived contact.

If we are going to go with that perspective, I would take it as a 'people who drink life till it's empty are gonna do the same in the after' rather than as a literal injunction to die in a formally declared war.

There is evidence that it may have been thought that most Aesir/Vanir/etc had their own halls or places (2). I have read speculation based on that for a belief that, for example, working class folks maybe end up with Thor, etc, etc.

I would also dispute the commonly held notion of Hel as a place of punishment/shittiness (I'm not saying you said that, just that I see it a lot, even in Heathen writing). After all, if Norse Wesley Crusher Baldr goes there in the stories when he dies, it's probably fine. And, as Lokeans, we are friends of the owner.

But (oh yea, another but) I am also not sure how much of the 'detailed picture of the afterlife' thing is authentic. My sense is that there is sort of a 'you live a good meaningful life so you live a good meaningful life' vibe to the whole endeavor. (3)

If you ask me though, Lokeans probably still end up as wanderers in whatever comes after this. Hell, you got an infinite number of yous in an infinite number of parallel universes. You might as well experience a few of them.

(1) Gunnell, Terry. 2015. Pantheon? What Pantheon? Concepts of a Family of Gods in Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religions. Scripta Islandica 66: 55–76.

(2) Grímnismál in particular seems to say this, and perhaps implies that people end up in many of these.

Whether or not someone was a warrior by trade really has nothing to do with it; it's just that those who enlisted in armies were more likely to find their death on the battlefield. Remember, going to Valhalla, Fólkvangr, etc. were consolation prizes for people who couldn't be reunited with their ancestors in their family burial mounds because they died far from home.

It was only after Scandinavia was Christianized that Valhalla was thought of as a "warrior's paradise" and envisioned as the best possible afterlife. But this is probably not the way the pre-Christian Norse thought about it.

Consider what a "hall" actually is within Norse cosmology. "Halls" represent distinct physical and cognitive environments we experience during our lifetimes: Thor's hall is the faculties and feelings of strength and courage. Frigg's hall is the creative mindset or "zone" we get into with fiber arts and crafting. Odin's hall and Freyja's hall are both environments found on battlefields. Ægir's hall is the sea. Njord's hall is the cabins and decks of ships and the faculties associated with sailing and navigation. Presumably, Skadi's hall is the mountainous wilderness. Loki doesn't have a hall because he personifies play and humor and therefore darts around everyone else's.

Hel's hall represents the state of grief, which is something we commonly experience with the loss of a loved one. This is evident in the fact everything about Helheim symbolizes what being in a state of grief is like—food has no taste, you feel cold and numb, everything's dull and gray, there's no mirth or warmth, etc. Even Hel herself represents this emotion since she's literally half-dead and half-alive. (In English, we might use the phrase "feeling dead inside" to describe the sensation.)

While Helheim is part of Norse cosmology for certain, I think its depiction as "the underworld" is a post-Christianized literary device more than anything. Sure, Snorri claims it's where the average person went, but Snorri intentionally uses claims as a way lie to Christian readers about Norse cosmology, while he preserves the cosmology's true nature within allegories. And the allegory of Helheim is that it's a place where the living tend to go as a result of grief.

Viking-age graves suggest that the Norse people believed they'd do in death the same things they did in life. It's probably safe to assume they thought the average person would spend their afterlives reunited with their loved ones doing what they enjoyed in life.

I like this response a lot, thank you!

I especially enjoy the idea of "you go in death where you lived in life" because I know a few people irl who have shared that perspective with me as an in general belief system, and I've half adopted it for myself

something that I've noticed in neo-pagan/polytheist spaces is this focus on one or a few deities. while this is a valid approach and seems to be working amazingly for many people, i wanted to write a short defence of a different form of polytheism that, while maybe less visible on social media, is equally viable.

the poly in polytheism necessitates the belief in multiple gods however modern forms of worship take many different forms on top of that. from my years being in pagan spaces on social media I have noticed that to many, being a polytheist means worshipping one or a handful of gods and having very close relationships with them. which deities someone chooses to have this kind of relationship with stems from multiple possible sources, for example, personal interest, the deity's domain being somehow related to a person's life or an inexplicable draw to them.

to me, this seems to be the dominant view on social media of the form that neo-paganism takes, however, after years of exploring my spirituality and practice, I have come to the conclusion that this is not how I want to worship. I am writing this post for more people like me, who are interested in exploring this often less mainstream approach.

Definitions Worshipping a deity is all about respecting them, honouring them, living in a way that represents their domains and aspects. Working with a deity is exactly as the word suggests, a working relationship plus worshipping. A more personal and in-depth back and forth between you and the deity you work with on a long-term goal or in life generally but the specifics are between you and the deity.

Do you need to ask to worship? No. Deities are just that, deities! You can worship whoever you want and feel drawn to. You can ask them for favours, provide offerings, and pray to them.

Do you need to ask to work with a deity? Yes, but you don’t need to wait for them to reach out first. You can always express interest in working with them for whatever reason, provide an offering, and either ask for a specific sign or perform divination. A no now doesn’t mean no later, so if a deity says no to working with you, don’t worry. It doesn’t mean never, just not right now!

Can you make an altar for a deity you don’t work with or only worship? Yes, and as always, make sure you respect that space if you are dedicating it to a deity.

Working vs Worshipping example You work with Apollo in the musical aspects of your life, having more personal guidance and support on learning your chosen instrument and playing in a band. You worship his twin sister Artemis by lighting candles to honour her and care for wildlife with bird feeders, hedgehog homes, birdhouses, and an outdoor ceramic water bowl.