Read about Asatru and
Heathenry
RIGSPULA
The Lay of Rig or ‘Rigspula’
is from the Poetic Edda and is the story of “the
Whitest Ase”, Heimdall. Rig is another name for Heimdall who descends
to the world of men to awaken higher consciousness in man and so facilitate
evolution.
Heimdall guards the Bifrost bridge
that links Midgard (the world of men, Middle-Earth),
with Asgard (the realm of the gods). Bifrost (pronounced ‘bee-frost’) is depicted as a rainbow
and is sometimes called ‘the rainbow bridge’.
According to legend he never sleeps and he can hear everything –
even the grass growing. It is widely
believed that Heimdall sacrificed an ear to the Well of Mimir
to gain this extraordinary sense – in the same way that Odin sacrificed an eye
in order to see all things.
Heimdall heralds the coming of the Ragnarok
by sounding the Gjallarhorn to alert the gods to the
fact that the wild and dangerous wolf, Fenris (one of Loki’s
monstrous offspring), has broken his bonds.
Magickally, Heimdall can be appealed to for protection and
guidance. He is sometimes considered an
‘aspect’ or possibly a half brother of Odin.
Some people also associate him with the Vana-Gods
as he was famously ‘born of nine waves’ – and the sea is associated with the
Vanir in as much as the father of Frey and Freyja, Njord,
is a god of the sea.
As with most of the ancient Norse texts, there are many
translations. The following translation
is by Olive Bray.
The Lay of Rig
The Birth of Thrall
1.
Once walked, 'tis said,
the green ways along,
mighty and ancient, a god most glorious;
strong and vigorous, striding, Rig.
2.
Ever on he went in the
middle of the way,
till he came to a house with door unclosed.
He entered straight;
there was fire on the floor
and a hoary couple sitting by the hearth,
Great-grandfather
and mother in ancient guise.
3.
Well knew Rig how to
give them counsel,
he sat him down in the middle of the floor,
with the home-folk twain upon either side.
4.
Great-grandmother
fetched a coarse-baked loaf,
all heavy and thick and crammed with husk:
she bore it forth in the middle of the dish,
with broth in a bowl, and laid the board.
5.
Thence Rig uprose, prepared to rest; --
well he knew how to give them counsel --
he laid him down in the middle of the bed
and the home-folk twain upon either side.
Thus he tarried three
nights together,
then on he strode in the middle of the road
while thrice three moons were gliding by.
6.
Great-grandmother bore a
swarthy boy;
with water they sprinkled him, called him Thrall.
Forthwith he grew and
well he throve,
bur tough were his hands with wrinkled skin,
with knuckles knotty and fingers thick;
his face was ugly, his back was humpy,
his heels were long.
Straightway 'gan he to prove his strength,
with bast a-binding loads a-making,
he bore home faggots the livelong day.
7.
There came to the
dwellings a wandering maid,
with wayworn feet, and sunburned arms,
with down-bent nose,- the Bond-maid named.
8.
She sat her down in the
middle of the floor;
beside her sat the son of the house:
they chatted and whispered, their bed preparing --
Thrall
and Bond-maid -- the long day through.
9.
Joyous lived they and
reared their children.
Thus they called them:
Brawler, Cowherd,
Boor and Horsefly, Lewd
and Lustful,
Stout and Stumpy,
Sluggard, Swarthy,
Lout and Leggy. They
fashioned fences,
they dunged the meadows, swine they herded,
goats they tended and turf they dug.
10.
Daughters were there, --
Loggy and Cloggy,
Lumpy-leggy, and
Eagle-nose,
Whiner, Bondwoman,
Oaken-peggy,
Tatter-coat
and the Crane-shanked maid.
Thence ate come the
generations of thralls.
The Birth of Churl
11.
Ever on went Rig the
straight roads along
till he came to a dwelling with door unclosed;
he entered straight; there was fire in the floor;
Grandfather and
Grandmother owned the house.
12.
The home-folk sat there
hard a-working;
by them stood on the floor a box;
hewed the husband wood for a warp-beam;
trim his beard and the locks o'er his brow,
but mean and scanty the shirt he wore.
13.
The wife sat by him
plying her distaff,
swaying her arms to weave the cloth,
with snood on her head and smock on her breast,
studs on her shoulders, and scarf on her neck.
14.
Well knew Rig how to
give them counsel;
he sat him down in the middle of the floor,
and the home-folk twain upon either side.
15.
Grandmother set forth
plenteous dishes;
cooked was the calf, of dainties best.
Thence Rig uprose prepared to rest. --
Well he knew how to give
them counsel --
he laid him down in the middle of the bed
and the home-folk twain upon either side.
16.
Thus he tarried three
nights together,
then on he strode in the middle of the road
while thrice three moons were gliding by.
17.
A child had Grandmother,
Churl they called him,
and sprinkled with water and swathed in linen,
rosy and ruddy, with sparkling eyes.
He grew and throve, and
forthwith 'gan he
to break in oxen, to shape the harrow,
to build him houses and barns to raise him,
to fashion carts and follow the plough.
18.
Then home they drove
with a key-hung maiden
in goat-skin kirtle, named Daughter-in-Law.
They wed her to Churl in
her bridal linen:
the twain jade ready, their wealth a-sharing,
kept house together, and joyous lived.
19.
Children reared they thus they called them:
Youth and Hero, Thane,
Smith, Yeoman,
Broad-limb, Peasant,
Sheaf-beard, Neighbour,
Farmer,
Speaker and Stubbly-beard.
20.
By other names were the
daughters called:
Dame, Bride, Lady, Gay,
and Gaudy,
Maid,
Wife, Woman, Bashful, Slender.
Thence are come the
kindreds of churls.
The Birth of Earl
21.
Still on went Rig the
straight roads along
till he came to a hall whose gates looked south.
Pushed was the door to,
a ring in the post set:
he forthwith entered the rush-strewn room.
Each other eyeing, the
home-folk sat there --
Father and Mother, --
twirling their fingers.
There was the husband,
string a-twining,
shafting arrows and shaping bows:
and there was the wife o'er her fair arms wondering,
smoothing her linen, stretching her sleeves.
A high-peaked coif and a
breast-brooch wore she,
trailing robes and a blue-tinged sark.
Her brow was brighter,
her breast was fairer,
her throat was whiter than driven snow.
22.
Well knew Rig how to
give them counsel;
he sat him down in the middle of the floor,
and the home-folk twain upon either side.
23.
Then took Mother a
figured cloth,
white, of linen, and covered the board;
thereafter took she a fine-baked loaf,
white of wheat and covered the cloth:
next she brought forth plenteous dishes,
set with silver, and spread the board
with brown-fried bacon and roasted birds.
There was wine in a
vessel and rich-wrought goblets;
they drank and revelled while day went by.
24.
Well knew Rig how to
give them counsel;
he rose ere long and prepared his couch:
he laid him down in the middle of the bed,
and the home-folk twain upon either side.
25.
Thus he tarried three
nights together;
then on he strode in the middle of the road
while thrice three moons were gliding by.
26.
Then a boy had Mother;
she swathed him in silk,
and with water sprinkled him; called him Earl.
Light were his locks,
and fair his cheeks,
flashing his eyes like a serpent's shone.
27.
Grew Earl forthwith in
the halls and 'gan
to swing the shield, to fit the string,
to bend the bow, to shaft the arrow,
to hurl the dart, to shake the spear,
to ride the horse, to loose the hounds,
to draw the sword, and to swim the stream.
28.
Forth from the thicket
came Rig a-striding,
Rig a-striding, and
taught him runes,
his own name gave him, -- as son he claimed him,
and bade him hold the ancestral fields, --
the ancestral fields -- and the ancient home.
29.
Then on rode Earl
through the murky wood,
through the rimy fells till he reached a hall.
His shaft he shook, his
shield he brandished,
his steed he galloped, his sword he drew;
war he wakened, the field he reddened,
the doomed he slew, and won him lands --
till alone he ruled over eighteen halls.
Gold he scattered and
gave to all men
treasures and trinkets and slender-ribbed horses;
wealth he strewed and sundered rings.
30.
Along dewy roads his
messengers drive
till the hall they reached where Ruler dwelt.
A daughter owned he, dainty
fingered,
fair and skilful, Erna called.
31.
They wooed her and
brought her home a-driving;
to Earl they wed her in veil fine-woven:
husband and wife lived happy together,
their children waxed and life enjoyed.
The Birth of King
32.
Heir was the eldest, Bairn the second,
Babe, Successor,
Inheritor, Boy,
Descendent, Offspring,
Son, Youth, Kinsman;
Kon the kingly was youngest born.
33.
Forthwith grew up the
sons of Earl;
games they learned, and sports and swimming,
taming horses, round shields bending,
war shafts smoothing, ash spears shaking;
but King the youngest alone knew runes,
runes eternal and runes of life.
Yet more he knew, -- how
to shelter men,
to blunt the sword-edge and calm the sea:
he learnt bird language, to quench the fire flame,
heal all sorrows and soothe the heart;
strength and might of eight he owned.
34.
Then he strove in runes
with Rig, the Earl,
crafty wiles he used and won,
so gained his heritage, held the right thus
Rig
to be called and runes to know.
35.
Young King rode once
through thicket and wood,
shooting arrows and slaying birds,
till spake a crow, perched lone on a
bough:
"Why wilt thou thus
kill birds, young King?
'Twould
fit thee rather to ride on horses,
to draw the sword and to slay the foe.
36.
"Dan and Damp have
dwellings goodlier,
homesteads fairer than ye do hold;
and well they know the keel to ride,
the sword to prove and wounds to strike."
Read about Asatru and
Heathenry