Taking the Lore literally?

[JeffSinger]

Do you know any heathens who take the lore literally i.e. thinking they are really made out of trees?

[Bathilde]

I've seen some say that the havamal is literally the word of odin. Some take the eddas as gospel as well. I know many(if not most) think that when we die we go to valhalla.

I haven't found any that think we're literally made of trees though.

[JeffSinger]

i dont touch afterlifes, because with all the strange forces in the world and the fact qauntum science has discovered other dimensions of space and time it could be possible, plus we also just DONT KNOW but shit like being made of trees being taken literally drives me a lil nuts.

Ya know as a man of science i still accept the possibility of gods and spirirts and after lifes, because frankly, this universe is to big and to weird to atleast not entertain the idea

[Bathilde]

I think many heathens realize the lore isn't first hand accounts, and that there've been christian and roman authors. And the lore should be judged taken everything into account. I suppose there might be a minority of people who, perhaps after recently converting to germanic paganism, are excited and eager to learn the lore and they take it literally as they might've done to the lore of their previous religion(like christianity).

I would think this behaviour would fade the more experienced and learned a heathen gets.

I would not put down a heathen for taking the lore literally, but I might discuss it with them, and challenge them on it. People have the right to believe what they want, after all.

[JeffSinger]

Yes they do, but imo taking something literally is counter productive. As far as the Lore goes and its christian influence, in my studys (In College and over my years ect) i have found it to be really light. Example: If the Christians were trying super hard to influence it, why would the Havamal contain instructions on rune casting, see what i meen?

[Wodenborn]

was it ever meant to be taken literally, the Lore comes down from a series of stories and not written accounts (until much later) told to re-enforce society values and teach people how to behave....and of course of what that was not acceptable....

Often it's more interesting to look at the various Anglo-Saxon laws and see what they are trying to prohibit - the remnant of the old religion still very evident in a so - called "Christian" country.

Chris

[Bathilde]

Give us an example.

[Karlsefni]

The lore is far too well detailed to be all taken historically. There are first-person embellishments on the size and grandeur of halls. Sagas have sea serpents, after all, and unlike older myths, the sagas are the sagacious.

I find that the literalist interpretation is a holdover from Evangelism, no matter the prior faith of the individual.

[MidwestHeathen]

The way I see it, there is a grain of truth with a lot of embellishment to any lore of all religions or at least a stab in the dark to fill in the unknowns. Like the bible has some historical info battles events with a lot of "extra" added in same with our own lore, like there are a few spots in Canada that are very close to what the description of vinland would be. Also stuff people had no idea how to answer and thus made a shot in the dark on stuff as in we came from trees and how a snake made a virgin eat an apple etc. While few things can be proven as fact and the rest taken as an act of faith i do believe in Valhalla as a real place not as in some one been there and back but as in the human mind can over come any thing and do amazing things with positive thinking and with 1000's of heathens over time putting stock in this place, that chances of nothing coming out of that kinda energy output to me seems a bit hard to believe.

[Bathilde]

Interesting view on valhalla.

I consider it to be an actual place, not a metaphor. But i think the stories take poetic license regarding whether or not common folk go there when we die. I think it's the hall of a god, and perhaps those of remarkable renown, such as heroes and kings, might go there upon death. For the rest of us, it's the barrow mound.

But I can understand your idea that the mind can perhaps produce something by sheer will of belief, and the more common a belief the more real it is. Interesting.