Æsir

“ At the time of the dispute between the Æsir and Vanas, when peace had been agreed upon, a vase was brought into the assembly into which both parties solemnly spat. From this saliva the gods created Kvasir, a being renowned for his wisdom and goodness, who went about the world answering all questions asked him, thus teaching and benefiting mankind. ”

“ Hyndluljod says there were twelve (“there were eleven Aesir when Baldr went down into the howe”) . Snorri gives a list of fourteen Aesir or Gods (Odin, Thor, Baldr, Njörd, Frey, Tyr, Bragi, Heimdal, Höd, Vidar, Vali, Ullr, Forseti, Loki) , and adds Hoeni in another list, all the fifteen occurring in the poems; and sixteen Goddesses (Asynjor) , the majority of whom are merely personified epithets, occurring nowhere else. Of the sixteen, Frigg, Gefion, Freyja and Saga (really an Page 12epithet only) are Goddesses in the poems, and Fulla is Frigg's handmaid. ”

“ The word is commonly used of the Aesir in Völuspa; in Alvissmal the Regin seem to be distinguished from both Aesir and Vanir. The whole story of the Aesir is overshadowed by knowledge of this coming doom, the time when they shall meet foes more terrible than the giants, Page 31and fall before them; their constant effort is to learn what will happen then, and to gather their forces together to meet it. The coming Ragnarök is the reason for the existence of Valhalla with its hosts of slain warriors; and of all the Gods, Odin, Thor, Tyr and Loki are most closely connected with it. ”

“ Tegnér, Frithiof Saga (G. Stephens’s tr.) . [329]
[Contents] Chapter XXVIII: The Twilight of the Gods
The Decline of the Gods
One of the distinctive features of Northern mythology is that the people always believed that their gods belonged to a finite race. The Æsir had had a beginning; therefore, it was reasoned, they must have an end; and as they were born from a mixture of the divine and giant elements, being thus imperfect, they bore within them the germ of death, and were, like men, doomed to suffer physical death in order to attain spiritual immortality. ”

“ Ása-Thor, 5 9, 64, 6 5, 8 5, 116.
Ásgard, abode of the Æsir, citadel of the gods, 14, 15; 21, 22, 25, 74, 83, 89-91, 96, 107, 109, 116, 143, 145, 146.
Ásgrímr, an Icelandic Skald, 141.
Asia, 5, 8, 9.
Askr ("Ash"?) according to pagan tradition the first created man, 21.
Áslaug, daughter of Sigurdr Fáfnisbani and Gudrún, 159.
Ásynjur, the goddesses corresponding to the male Æsir, 33, 45, 48, 89, 129, 143.
Athra or Annarr, 7.
Atli, son of Budli, brother of Brynhildr, and second husband of Gudrún, 156, 157, 212, 230.
Atli, a skald, 223.
Atrídr or Atridi, a name of Odin, 34, 211. ”

“ Commencing with the adventures of a mythical king Gylfi and the giantess Gefion, and the miraculous formation of the island of Zealand, it tells us that the Aesir, led by Odin, invaded Svithjod or Sweden, the land of Gylfi, and settled there. It is from the Ynglingasaga and from the Gylfaginning that we gain all the information we possess about the conquering deities or heroes who set their stamp upon the religion of the North. ”

“ But when Christianity came in, and heathendom fell; when the godlike race of the Aesir became evil demons instead of good genial powers, then all the objects of the old popular belief, whether Aesir, Giants, or Trolls, were mingled together in one superstition, as “no canny”. They were all Trolls, all malignant; and thus it is that, in these tales, the traditions about Odin and his underlings, about the Frost Giants, and about sorcerers and wizards, are confused and garbled ”

“ In the very center of the sacred space, which from the beginning of the world had been reserved for their own abode and called Asgard (home of the gods) , the twelve Æsir (gods) and twenty-four Asynjur (goddesses) all assembled. They decreed that no blood should ever be shed within the limits of their realm, or peace stead, but that harmony must reign there forever. ”

“ On the other hand, it is clear that even in the ninth and tenth centuries the worship of the Æsir was gradually losing its hold. Some of the early settlers in Iceland were either wholly or partly Christian; among the latter were, for example, Helgi the Lean, who believed in both Thor and Christ, and the kinsmen of the Hebridean Örlyg, who 'believed in Columcille, though they were not baptized.' A belief 'in their own might and strength' was all the faith that some of the Scandinavians of this period would own to. ”

“ Hárr said: "Yet remains that one of the Æsir who is called Týr: he is most daring, and best in stoutness of heart, and he has much authority over victory in battle; it is good for men of valor to invoke him. It is a proverb, that he is Týr-valiant, who surpasses other men and does not waver. He is wise, so that it is also said, that he that is wisest is Týr-prudent. This is one token of his daring: when the Æsir enticed Fenris-Wolf to take upon him the fetter Gleipnir, the wolf did not believe them, that they would loose him, until they laid Týr's hand into his mouth as a pledge. ”

“ We also find them separated into two opposing camps, a division common to all the Aryan religions. Just as the Olympians struggled with the Giants, the Æsir fought the Jötuns, and the Devas the Asuras, so there is warfare in the Gaelic spiritual world between two superhuman hosts. On one side are ranged the gods of day, light, life, fertility, wisdom, and good ”

“ When they were arrived in the great city they found Odin descended from his throne, and sitting with the rest of the Æsir in the Judgment Hall of Gladsheim. Hermod flew in, saluted his master, and pointed to the dwarfs and elves hanging like a cloud in the doorway to show that he had fulfilled his mission. Then Odin beckoned the little people to come forward. Cowering and whispering they peeped over one another's shoulders ”

“ It is to the same period that I would ascribe the development of the theology of the Edda, though I do not mean to suggest that the poems which have come down to us were composed then.
[605] There is an unfortunate ambiguity about the history of the word Áss. In Old Norse it is applied both to Thor and Othin, as well as other gods, while Aesir (pl.) denotes the gods collectively and Ásgarðr their home (quite distinct from Valhalla) . In Gothic however the same word (pl. ansis) seems to have meant a dead hero (cf. p. 172, note) . ”

“ Now Skirnir grasped the magic wand, and waving it over her, spoke his last words of threat and anger. "The gods are angry with you, evil maiden!" he cried. "Odin sees your obstinacy from his throne, and will punish you for your cruelty to kind Frey. Frey himself, instead of loving, will shun you when the gods arm themselves to destroy you and all your race. Listen, Giants, Dwarfs, Light-Elves, Men, and all friends of the Æsir! I forbid any one to have aught to do with this wicked girl,—only the old giant who shall carry her to his gloomy castle, barred and bolted and grated across. ”

“ Be'al, the Source of All, may take us back to the Ph [oe] nician Baal: but the Gaelic Aes and the Gaulish Aesus (Hesus) take us, with the Scandinavian Aesir, further still: to the Persian Aser, the Hindoo Aeswar, the Egyptian Asi (the Sun-bull) , and the Etruscan Aesar. The Bhagavat-Gita says of Aeswar that "he resides in every mortal." [Pg 430]
Pages 199-203. This section, slightly adapted, is from an unpublished book, in gradual preparation, entitled The Chronicles of the Sìdhe.
Page 225. The Culdees. ”

“ The spelling of the name is against our connecting it with the word asiru, “he who blesses” or “consecrates,” from which the Assyrian asirtu, “sanctuary,” is derived, like the name of the Canaanitish goddess Ashêrah.289 On the other hand, the native Assyrian etymology is as inadmissible as the endeavours of our eighteenth century lexicographers to find Greek or Latin derivations for Anglo-Saxon words. The Assyrian scribes saw in Assur merely the old elemental deity Ansar, “the firmament,” who was himself nothing more than the Sumerian spirit of the “heavenly host.” ”

“ How can I endure to see the destruction of my relatives?"
7 Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, "See, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged on the gallows, because he laid his hand on the Jews. 8 Write also to the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring; for the writing which is written in the king's name and sealed with the king's ring may not be reversed by any man." ”

“ So put your faith in Asher,
And come along with him.' He's an odd bird,
Yet I could wish for the world's decency
There might be more of him. And so it was
I found myself, at first incredulous,
Down there with Asher in the wilderness,
Alive at last with a new liberty
And with no sore to fester. He perceived
In me an altered favor of God's works,
And promptly took upon himself the credit,
Which, in a fashion, was as accurate
As one's interpretation of another
Is like to be. ”

“ It means the time when mankind first learned the use of fire, and to have fixed habitations. Etym.: arne (hearth) , ild (fire) , and tid (time) .
ASA, pl. ASAR, name given to the gods of the Scandinavian mythology; the principal Asar are Odin, Thor, Frey, Balder, Vidar, Ægir, etc. The word seems to be derived from the word As or Az, which in the Zend or ancient Persian language, which forms the link between the Gothic dialect and the Sanscrit, means elevated, powerful, sublime.
ASYNIA, pl. ASYNIOR, name given to the goddesses ”

“ Whether the Aser were gods, or mortals only, or men who had been deified, has been long and zealously disputed. Each party gives elaborate reasons for its own hypothesis, and they have been convincing to itself if not to others. ”

“ Asher was the supreme god of the Assyrians, 20the Vedic Mahadeva, the emblem of the human male structure and creative energy. The same idea of the creator is still to be seen in India, Egypt, Phœnicia, the Mediterranean, Europe, and Denmark, depicted on stone relics.
To a rude and ignorant people, enslaved with such a religion, it was an easy step from the crude to the more refined sign, from the offensive to a more pictured and less obnoxious symbol, from the plain and self-evident to the mixed, disguised, and mystified, from the unclothed privy member to the cross. ”

“ Chapter 11 1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. 2 The king said again to Esther, on the second day at the banquet of wine, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be performed." 3 Then Esther the queen answered, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. ”

“ To perish and be slain.
Ahasuerus
[Surprised and dazed.]
O where is he—
Oh, who is he, that dare presume to lay
The hand of violence upon my queen!
[41] Esther
There stands this adversary, O my king,
The wicked Haman!
Ahasuerus
Haman! Haman! What
Can be the meaning of this speech? This man
I have advanced to be my premier?
Esther
I mean this craven whom you have advanced
To put to death with your own royal seal
The queen, as well as every other Jew
That breathes the Persian air, both young and old
Alike, the laughing child and gray-haired sire.
Ahasuerus
What! ”

“ As we look at the book of Esther, through the long dark vista of intervening ages, we are presented with a beautiful picture of a past period. Nations have perished and left no memories; and while all the other portion of our world, at that day, is shrouded in darkness or buried in forgetfulness, the light of revela [291] tion falls upon the court of Ahasuerus, and we see it in all the gorgeous splendour of oriental magnificence. ”

“ Asher is somewhat strange. The parallel with verse 10 alone suggests that we should read of Ephraim; and this is the more probable if the real significance of the reference is for the Chronicler’s period (see the head-note, and xv. 9) . It is not likely that Judaism at that time could claim many adherents in the old territory of Asher (see Hölscher, Palästina, p. 32) . ”

“ Now, Kitty, from Ees or As our ethnological speculator would derive not only Asia, the land, but Æsar or Aser, its primitive inhabitants. Hence he supposes the origin of the Etrurians and the Scandinavians. But, if we give him so much, we must give him more, and deduce from the same origin the Es of the Celt, and the Ized of the Persian, and—what will be of more use to him, I dare say, poor man, than all the rest put together—the Æs of the Romans, that is, the God of Copper-Money—a very powerful household god he is to this day! ”

“ Is on his throne. I go, and if I die,
I can but perish. Peace to Israel.
[Exit Mordecai.]
[The curtain back rises and discloses Ahasuerus on his throne surrounded by court. Esther approaches to center of hall before the king, and extends her hands as though supplicating. The king seems dazed for a moment and then deeply moved; slowly he lifts the golden sceptre and extends it toward the queen who approaches and touches it.] ”

“ So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
17. And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.
18. Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king. ”