#folketro

Inspired by these from children books

St. Olav - An Echo Of Thor?

A red bearded warrior, hunting trolls with his axe on his travels does not require us to make a huge leap of imagination in order to note similarities with the norse god Thor. However, there is far more to the comparison that St. Olav may have been used to reimagine pre-Christian beliefs surrounding Thor if we look a little deeper...

Following Christianisation in Northern Europe, many Scandinavians kept their heathen beliefs alive through syncretism with Christianity. A strong case can be made for this practice being evident with the Catholic saint and former king of Norway, Olav Haraldsson, celebrated each year on 29th July.

In Scandinavia, from long ago through until more recent times, St. Olav’s day was the day when the people would pray for thunder (named directly from Thor) and (as they referred to it) “the rain of the Æser” to prepare the crop for harvest, which they so eagerly awaited to come to fruition at this time of year.

St. Olav, like Thor, could control trolls and giants, according to legend.  When he travelled around Norway on his Christening mission, the trolls often tried to block the way for him. He then used his power to turn them to stone, as if he was the sun, using a cross instead of Thor’s hammer, mjølner

One story, from the area of Ringerike, tells us that when St. Olav tried to pass a place called Krokkleiva, an angry giantess jumped out of the mountainside and said: “Saint Olaf with the red beard, you are riding too close to my cellar wall!” But St. Olaf replied: “Stand you there in wood and stone until I return!” Whereupon the giantess was turned into stone. Similar stories are told about various landscape features throughout Norway. People also saw other traces of St. Olaf in the landscape, such as footprints of his horse. A stone in Setesdal is said to be his chair, two rocks near Stiklestad are his bowl and cup, etc...

It's interesting to see how nobody seems to agree on which eye he is supposed to have sacrificed. A very interesting folkloric tidbit regarding this, is that in many places in Scandinavia Odin is seen as the crop spirit (or as a precursor to the crop spirit, or the crop spirit is seen as Odin, or etc...) to whom the last sheaf is sacrificed (sometimes at yule [1] - since Odin, as Jolne or Jolner, is the lord of yule - sometimes it's left on the field for him, and sometimes the sheaf is said to be for his horse Sleipner, and sometimes... well, you get the picture, tradition vary), and whose characteristics some places - and in Västernorrland in Sweden in particular - seem to have been mixed up or merged with that of the house- or farm spirit [link], giving the latter only one eye that is placed in the middle of his forehead.

Some years ago (2009), a survey was made to find the number of Norwegians above the age of 15 who made offerings to the farm spirit during yule, a custom that is believed to be well over 1000 years old, and it showed that over 400 000 individuals do (of a total population that at the time of the survey had not yet reached 5 millions). 350 000 do it every yule, and 75 000 do it every other yule - I will assume these latter are divorsed parents who have the children over only every other yule.

The farm- or house (or barn or stable) spirit has also merged with the more modern Christian Father Christmas or Santa Claus figure, so it is also he who brings gifts to most Norwegian children on yule eve. However, some places it is the yule goat who does this. The yule goat is related to the customs with the last sheaf, which often was made into a billy goat (you probably know the kind: [link]), a character that features in our mumming traditions, or some other straw figure or -toy as a representation of or offering to the yule goat (I never really understood which, since a goat and a billy goat have different names in Norwegian, so maybe it's both...?), and is therefore related to the customs and beliefs surrounding the crop spirit, which is related to the figure of Jolne, who is Odin...

And, I'm back where I started, with the one-eyed-god.

You know, the guy that looks like a female at the Ascot races... uhm... what's-his-name...

In Scandinavian folk tradition Odin can be called by different names depending on the situation in which he is talked about or encountered. He is also known by different names in different regions. He is rarely spoken about by the name Snorri Sturlasson and the 19th century national romantics have made popular, and he is also understood quite a bit differently from the character that some old-timers call "Odin from the books".

Some of Odin's names in folk tradition

In alphabetical order

Asagrim - masked god Asagrå - grey god Goi or Go'en - South Swed. and Dan. dial. the good one Noa and Noak - the same as the Biblical Noah as it is spelled in the Scandinavian languages - however, it is actually derived from the name Odin (Norw./Dan.)/Oden (Swed.), see below how come Noen - Norw. and Swed. dial. somebody, variant Nåen/Nå'n (see below), but it actually derives from han Odin/Oden = lit. he Odin (You can't find them in our written languages, but the majority of Scandinavian dialects use something I have been taught are called preproprial articles in front of nouns (in certain cases) and personal names (almost always), and often - as in this case - they are homonymous with the weak forms of personal pronouns. Examples on this pdf: [link] show what it can look like). Nåen and Nå'n - the dead one or the corpse, see above Ode ("oo-duh") - South Swed. and Dan. dial., derived from Odin/Oden Oen - South Swed. and Dan. dial. derived from Odin/Oden Oske - the chosen one or the wished for. Interesting tidbit unrelated to Odin, but related to the word oske: adopted children used to be called oskeborn - literally children who are chosen or wished for.

How to invoke him for an exchange of services according to folk tradition

If you want to meet Odin and ask him for a favour you can go after sundown on yule eve to the last of three gates that all open in the same direction and wait for him to come riding out to hunt. You can also meet him at crossroads, on gravemounds, or under giant oaks. In these cases you go to the place after the proper preparations on a Thursday after sundown, dedicate yourself to him, and call out, "Ode come, Ode come, Ode come! Give me [what you seek and he can give]. I will put you into service!" [2] In return for what you ask of him he will want a three course meal - and beer to drink to that - every ninth Thursday night, so his services aren't all that expensive (although I have heard some say a three course meal every ninth week is the least he will want). Of course, you will have to be an excellent cook.

Notes

[1] Not to be confused with the neo-pagan Yule. In Scandinavia we never changed name on our midwinter celebrations after the Christianisation processes [link]. Possibly because the name was connected to a whole month of ritual feasting and holy days, and therefore was difficult to transfer to the one mass the Christians reserved to celebrate the birth of Christ - the Christ mass. We still call this period yule - or jul/jol as we spell it - and many of us have never really seen it as a particular Christian holiday.

[2] Yeh, I am sure many of you now are reminded of several other powers that are worshiped or called on in similar ways on/by graves, at crossroads, and under trees. Odin is in later tradition often confused with these other powers, and they share many bynames and characteristics with him - or he with them. Some people even insist they're actually all the same power, only in different disguises, but I think that's a bit like saying that all of you who read this really are the same individual, you just look and behave different depending on which name I call you by or in which culture I am finding myself.

Oskoreia

In Scandinavia, Oskoreia (also called Åsgårdsreia, Julereia or Odens Jakt in other regions) meaning “Asgard Riders” is the modern folk belief related to Christmas that traces its roots back to the Old Norse tradition commonly known as The Wild Hunt.

Oskoreia is a Yuletide tradition viewed as a phantasmagoria of dream-like images of hunters (usually led by Odin) and hunted engaging in battle, typically signalled by the howling of Odin’s wolves, always one louder and the other quieter. The group of riders may be alive or dead, real humans or deities, insignificant or noble, male or female and with many regional variations. It is said to have foretold changing weather in many regions but it could also mean imminent war and unrest. According to some reports, the forest turned silent and only a whining sound along with dog/wolf barking could be heard.

The pursuit can span across the sky but it is said that the hunt may never get closer to the ground than an “ox can wear its yoke”. If caught in the path of Oskoreia it is believed that a person may be swept up into the mayhem and so a good strategy to keep safe is to jump to the ground, thus making oneself lower than the height of an ox’s yoke and allowing the hunt to pass above.

In some regions, folk wisdom advised that people should carry some iron/steel and some bread with them as they walked during the Yule season in case they might encounter Oskoreia. If one should find themselves face to face with Odin, then they should throw down the iron/steel in front of them to ward off trouble. Further, if the person should meet his wolves then they should throw the bread, which they will eat instead of the person.

Another tradition stemming from Oskoreia is the “Christmas goat walk” (”Gå julebukk” in Norwegian) in which masked and costumed people (now usually children) go from door-to-door, singing carols for rewards of sweets.