When amateur archaeologist and metal detectorist Morten Skovsby uncovered this tiny silver figurine near the village of Hårby in the southwest part of the Danish island of Funen, he knew exactly what to do. He documented the findspot immediately, and then took the artifact to the City Museum in nearby Odense. When the museum’s curator, Mogens Bo Henriksen, saw the figurine, he knew what it was. “There can hardly be any doubt,” he says, “that this depicts one of Odin’s valkyries.”

Norse myths, called sagas, tell of female figures called valkyries (from the Old Norse valkyrja meaning “chooser of the slain”). The valkyries were sent to battlefields by the god Odin to select which fallen warriors were worthy of afterlives in Valhalla, filled with feasts of wild boar and liquor milked from goats. Despite their prevalence in the sagas, depictions of valkyries are relatively rare. They are confined to Swedish picture stones dating to about A.D. 700 and a handful of Early Viking fibulae (brooches) from Sweden and Denmark. So this three-dimensional representation is unique.

The figurine, which would probably have been a pendant, is partly gilded, while other areas are colored black by niello, a mixture of copper, silver, and lead sulphides used as an inlay. The valkyrie wears a long patterned dress and carries a double-edged Viking sword in her right hand and a shield protecting her body in her left. Dating to about A.D. 800, the figurine was recovered near an excavated area known to have been a metal workshop. Perhaps, says Henriksen, it was discarded as waste. Or maybe it was raw material on the way to the melting pot. “For some unknown reason it didn’t make it that far—and that’s our good luck.”

Source: JA Lobell. Archaeology Magazine

The Blót Kindred Gungnir held their winter nights blót at Ale Vikingagård (Ale Viking village), Sweden. 15 people gathered and the blót was conducted by Uwe Pötter assisted by Lena Svensson.

Read more at:
https://asa-samfundet.se/utforda-blot-2024-blotlag-gungnir-holl-vinternatterblot-19-oktober-2024/

Many years ago I collected tiny soldiers. I painted them and participated in tabletop wargames, (a hobby I picked up when my partents shipped me off to a military academy to whip me into shape). I still receive periodic adverts from the companies who create these miniatures. I am very tempted to acquire these RUS figures. Most of what History I have seen is of the NORSE culture. My family emigrated to America in the late 19th century from Finland, having been forced to leave Sweden for reasons my grandparents would never disclose. The family legend was that they were plotting against the King of Sweden but I Have a feeling the reason was more criminal than political.

A new interview with our NBR (National Blót Responsible) Thommy Vähäsalo about the first burial site for norse heathens in Sweden in modern times.
The interview is done with national swedish radio (Sveriges Radio) and it's in swedish.

In swedish:
Ny intervju med RBA Thommy Vähäsalo om den planerade begravningsplatsen för Asatroende.

"I Värmland kan Sveriges första begravningsplats för asatroende - i modern tid - komma att anläggas. Det är Nordiska Asa-samfundet som vill att de som är asatroende ska kunna begravas i en skeppssättning intill Nyeds kyrka i Molkom."

https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/efter-ansokan-om-en-asa-begravningsplats-fler-samfund-kan-komma-ansoka-om-egna-begravningsplatser

Björn Järnsida's (Ironside) burial mound in Sweden
In the early 18th century, a burial mound on the island of Munsö was claimed by antiquarians to be Björn Järnsidas hög or Björn Ironside's burial mound.
The runestone crowns the burial mound of him in Uppland. The stone is a fragment and has the no. U 13 in the index list. The runestone was actually in a different location, but was moved here to give the place a mystical impression.
The runes are translated as:
… Þorgautr, they … spirit and God's …
Today the place has become a small pilgrimage site for us pagans, which, as you can see, is often visited and large and small offerings are left behind. It was one of my favorite places to visit this year.

#Rock #Folk #Norway #Sweden #Demo #Sketch

This day (9/9) last year (2023) we held our 9-year blót at Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala) in Sweden.