{"product":{"product_id":"0815624417","title":"Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions","price":"19.95","image_url":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41uUtER8W7L._SL500_.jpg","url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0815624417"},"comments":[{"body":"These practices did have a lot in common to start with:\r\n\r\n[Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe](https://www.amazon.com/Myths-Symbols-Pagan-Europe-Scandinavian/dp/0815624417/ref=sr_1_1?crid=AOG9BPQS81D4\u0026amp;dchild=1\u0026amp;keywords=myths+and+symbols+in+pagan+europe\u0026amp;qid=1607794744\u0026amp;sprefix=myths+symbols+%2Caps%2C286\u0026amp;sr=8-1)","subreddit_name":"pagan","author":"DavidJohnMcCann"},{"body":"Traditionally speaking from a reconstruction perspective the gods care little about us and our lives and this is why blots are held in larger groups. An individual wouldn't want to draw the attention of the Gods for frivolous things and from what remains of the stories the only time the gods had interest in Humans were towards humans who held power, or had great influence over the events of their time. As a heathen the foremost important thing to an individual is family. It is what keeps us safe from the lawless wilderness. Dreams can certainly be omens, or visions of the future, or messages from ancestors, and even just plain meaningless with no significance. It would be very unlikely that the gods would try to contact you through dream and it is more than likely the influence of your ancestors or your Fylgjya. Fylgjur were believed to play a role in the dreams and visions one might experience. It was also strongly suggested that while seeing your fylgjya while you slept was okay, seeing them while you were awake was foreboding of one's impending death.\r\n\r\nWe do know that many dreams held an enormous significance within the culture but to what extent we might not ever be sure. Dreams were interpreted in a number of ways. Most often we see dreams interpreted as symbols. In which one part of the dream would be symbolic of something in someone's life.  In the Saga of Harald Fairhair in Heimskringla, Ragnhildr Queen of Halfdan the Black has a vivid dream in which she removes the thorn brooch from her tunic and as she holds it in front of her it took root into the soil and flourished into a mighty tree. She reveled in it's height as she could scarcely see over it. The hollow within the base of the tree was a deep madder in color while the trunk was a rich green. It's branches where as white as fresh snow. The tree was so massive that it's branches spread over all of Norway and farther still. At the time of this dream Queen Ragnhildr did not fully understand the magnitude of this dream. It wasn't until her son, Haraldr Finehair became the first ruler of all of Norway that she understood it's significance. The red basin of the tree represented the battles and blood from Haraldr's youth and the green had represented the prestige and honor in his rule. The white symbolized the age in which he would live and the ever reaching branches signified the reach of his descendants who would go on to provide Norway's rulers.\r\n\r\nHere are some great resources for further reading. I tried to include as many free resources as possible some of these you might need to purchase in order to read. If you need any help finding them let me know.\r\n\r\n[Nine Norse Studies by Gabriel Turville-Petre page 30](http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Text%20Series/Nine%20norse%20studies.pdf)(actual page 40 on the PDF). A lot of really great examples of dreams and the interpretations of that time. He also covers Fylgjur throughout this work but a good brief explanation begins at the end of page 36 (actual page 46 on the PDF).\r\n\r\n[The Dream Women of \"Gísla saga\" by P.S. Langeslag](https://www.jstor.org/stable/40920837?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents) \\- An academic essay on the function and nature of the women of Gisli's dreams.\r\n\r\n[Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions by H. R. Ellis Davidson](https://www.amazon.com/Myths-Symbols-Pagan-Europe-Scandinavian/dp/0815624417)(Amazon) Some good information around page 138 - 141 but an otherwise great book to add to any collection.\r\n\r\n[Baldr's Draumar (Baldr's Dream) translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936)](http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe13.htm) This is a shorter companion piece to the Voluspa. Odin rides to Hel to seek the meaning of Baldr's dreams from the Volva.\r\n\r\nIt's important to remember that due to cultural shifts, these interpretations may not be entirely accurate for similar dreams of our day in age. Symbolism changes through time and cultures and many times modern interpretations fall under UPG. This is not to say that you cannot establish what dreams mean for you or your kin.\r\n\r\nI hope this helps a bit. If you have any questions please feel free to ask!\r\n\r\n\u0026amp;#x200B;","subreddit_name":"heathenry","author":"Amerilys"},{"body":"[This](https://www.amazon.ca/Myths-Symbols-Pagan-Europe-Davidson/dp/0815624417) book is written in timeline and contrasts between belief systems.\r\n\r\nIt's dry, but is well researched and insightful to me.","subreddit_name":"history","author":"mollytime"},{"body":"It seems Odin was moving toward the concept of \"All Father\" or a single god worshiped as the ultimate god, much like Shiva for the Shaivists or Vishnu for the Vaishnavists among the Hindus.\r\n\r\nThe Ginnungagap sort of roughly approximates the transcendent form of Brahman, i.e. Nirguna Brahman, whereas Yggdrasil being the cosmos could perhaps closely approximate the Saguna Brahman.\r\n\r\nPerhaps you might find something of interest here:\r\n\r\nhttp://www.laurenhasten.com/edved.html\r\n\r\nThe correlations between the Celtic pagans and the Hindus are certainly striking:\r\n\r\nhttp://www.centrostudilaruna.it/europeanceltsvedichindus.html\r\n\r\nConsidering that is the case and that the Celtic pagan religion is seen as close to the Germanic one (see [this book](http://www.amazon.com/Myths-Symbols-Pagan-Europe-Scandinavian/dp/0815624417)), it is likely there is many shared between the latter and the Hindu traditions as well.","subreddit_name":"Norse","author":"Vidyaraja"}]}