“Non auro, sed ferro, recuperanda est patria.”
“Not by gold, but by iron, is the nation to be recovered.”
~Marcus Furius Camillus ᛏ

“There was not always an infernal element clinging to the appearance of the Wild Hunt, for emperors, kings, and celebrated heroes were amongst the representatives of the Father of the Gods. In Lausitz, in Altenburg, the great Ostrogothic king Theodoric of Bern was supposed to rush through the air, and vanish in the mountains.”
~Wilhelm Wägner
Painting by Angus McBride. ᚨ

“Either they stood connected with particular gods, and to some extent in their service, as the boar belongs to Fro, the wolf and raven to Wotan; or there lies at the basis the metamorphosis of a higher being into some animal shape, on the strength of which the whole species comes to be invested with a halo of honour.”
~Jacob Grimm ᛉ

Just watched The Ritual (2017). While there have been countless horror movies demonizing and misrepresenting European folk traditions (like the dumpster fire that is Midsommar), I was pleasantly surprised. Let’s take a look at it from a pagan perspective…
(Spoilers below)

The creature is revealed to be a child of Loki, and its worshippers devotees of Loki; we see an image of Loki based on the Kirkby Loki stone in the cult house. The creature has given them unnaturally long life, but at a terrible cost; while their life lasts, their health and youth doesn’t. The people look sickly, and in the attic of the house, more devotees are found, alive, but emaciated and decaying.

Yes, you can worship Loki and jötnar; but what they are willing (and able) to give will be paltry. While the Loki worshippers may have escaped temporary suffering by distending their lives, they are trapped, not only in their forest, but in a limbo where they will never reunite with their ancestors, reincarnate, nor reach the halls of the Gods.

In the Ynglinga Saga, king Aun sacrifices his sons to Odin to extend his life. He lives longer than natural, but his health deteriorates, and he finds himself unable to walk. As opposed to offering an honourable sacrifice of a defeated enemy, he selfishly sacrificed his own kin, for which he paid the price; perhaps this was part of the movie’s inspiration.

The Othala rune is used to mark the boundaries of the jötunn’s estate, and the sacrificial post is shaped like the Algiz/Maðr rune, the rune of life, for which its devotees worship. The creature design was very well done, and reminds me of a few Vendel Era animal brooches, which could depict all manner of vættir…or jötnar.

While there’s a lot of anti-European slop out there these days, overall, I think this was folk horror done right; enjoyable, but also respectful. Gonna give it my seal of approval.

On this day in 363, 1,662 years ago, Julian the Apostate went to the Gods after he was mortally wounded in battle.
“And as all around were weeping, he reproved them with still undiminished authority, saying that it was a humiliating thing to mourn for an emperor who was just united to heaven and the stars.”
~Ammianus Marcellinus
Painting by Angus McBride. ᛣ

A runestone from Västermo, Sweden, with Thor’s hammer. The inscription reads, 
“Ásmundr and Freybjörn had the rune-decorated landmark made in memory of Herbjörn, their father.”
“Ásmundr ok Freybjôrn létu gera merki sírún at Herbjôrn, fôður sinn.”
ᛅᛋᛘᚢᚼᛏᚱ × ᛅᚢᚴ × ᚠᚱᛅᛁᛒᛁᚢᚱᚾ × ᛚᛁᛏᚢ ᚴᛁᚱᛅ × ᛘᛁᚴᛁ × ᛋᛁᚱᚢᚾ × ᛅᛏ ×ᚼᛁᚱᛒᛁᚢᚱᚾ × ᚠᛅᚦᚢᚱ × ᛋᛁᚾ

From Julian’s Hymn to King Helios (Oration IV). 𐃏

An interesting runestone with a mask from Sjelle, Denmark. The inscription reads;
“Freysteinn placed this stone in memory of Gyrðr, his comrade, Sigvaldi's brother, … Tveggi's (Odin’s) on ... the heath."
“Freystein setti stein þenna ept Gyrð, lagsmann sinn, bróður Sigvalda, ... Tveggja á ... heiði”
ᚠᚱᛅᛁᛋᛏᛅᛁᚾ × ᛋᛅᛏᛁ × ᛋᛏᛅᛁᚾ × ᚦᛁᚾᛋᛁ × ᚢᚠᛏ ×ᚴᛁᚱᚦ × ᛚᛅᚴᛋ × ᛘᛅᚾ × ᛋᛁᚾ × ᛒᚱᚢᚦᚢᚱ × ᛋᛁᚴᚢᛅᛚᛏᛅ × ᛅ ×ᛏᚢᛁᚴᚬ × ᛅ × ᚢᛋ × ᛁᚦᛁ

Another composite wolf man figure from Stange, Norway; upright, a bearded figure, and on either side, a Salin-I style wolf. Could be a cultic wolf warrior, and/or composite image of Freki, Geri and Odin. ᚨ

An elaborate composite wolf warrior motif recently found in Denmark. ᚨ

Interesting new find from Denmark, possibly an early image of Odin’s battle with Fenrir. 5-6th Century. ᚨ

“A mighty payment the men must make
Who in Valthgelmir's waters wade;
On a long road lead the lying words
That one to another utters.”
~Reginsmál 4, Bellows
Painting by Carl Emil Doepler, 1905.
𐃏
“Ofrgjöld fáa gumna synir,
þeir er Vaðgelmi vaða; ósaðra orða,
hverr er á annan lýgr, oflengi leiða limar.”

The Sjellebro stone, with a detailed mask but no inscription. Perhaps a guardian spirit or an ancestor. ᛟ

“But when the Æsir would not loose him, then he bit off the hand at the place now called ‘the wolf's joint;’ and Týr is one-handed, and is not called a reconciler of men.”
~Gylfaginning
Painting by Carl Emil Doepler, 1905. ᛏ

“Guardian of the sun of battles, let every one of the horses of the evening-rider who is hungry go west to Fýrisvǫllr, to the enclosure of the stronghold. There Eiríkr has cut down the logs of the storm of the sun of the ski of the before wolves in the tumult of spears; that is without exaggeration.”
~Lausavísa by Þorvaldr Hjaltason
Painting: The Battle of Stamford Bridge by Angus McBride.
𐃏
“Vǫrðr tungls folka, fari hverr hesta kveldriðu, eshungrar, vestr til Fýrisvallar at garði virkis. Þar hefrEirekr hǫggvit elfar skíðs sólar hreggdrauga fyr ulfa ídyn geira; þat es hóll aust.”

“The god of the Gautar sent Göndul and Skögul to choose among kings, which of the kin of Yngvi should go with Óðinn and live in Valhöll.”
~Hákonarmál
Painting by Hermann Hendrich, 1906. ᚬ
“Gǫndul ok Skǫgul sendi Gautatýr
at kjósa of konunga,
hverr Yngva ættar skyldi með Óðni fara
ok í Valhǫll vesa.”