T day is probably the last really tough
Norse themed day to do, so I figure even if I start late, like seems
to be the case with all my posts lately; I'll probably not have to
cut too much content. Not like poor S that got totally shorted.
T is for Thegn, an Old Norse word for a
free person, that is someone who was neither a Thrall (serf) or a
Jarl (lord).
T is for Thor, a God of the Aesir, the
son of Odin and Jorð, easily the most popular god of the Viking age
among the Heathen Norse. He is the protector of Asgarð and Miðgarð,
and took pride of place in most temples, front and center, between
Odin and Frey. He is the patron of common born men.
T is for Thing, a combination of a
democratic assembly meeting and law court; usually with a wide
variety of social and religious functions thrown in for good measure.
T is for Thrall, the unfree class in
Norse society. They may have been born to this status, or they may
have been captured and had it forced upon them. It is an unpleasant
fact of history that many societies have relied on unfree labor, we
modern Americans associate this strongly with racism. There wasn't
really a strongly racist element to Norse Thralldom, and there was
upward mobility to freedom, although it was usually rather difficult.
I hesitate to translate Thrall as "Slave", because it is
more akin to "Serf", although the methods by which you may
have entered Thralldom may certainly have been similar to becoming a
slave, and, unlike Serfs, you could be sold along to someone else,
although that was really more a thing that happened in the actual
slave markets they set up for dealing with foreign slave traders, to
sell captured people. So it's a fuzzy distinction, if you were born a
Thrall in Norway, you were probably better off than if you were
captured in Scotland or Russia and sold off in Dublin or Kiev.
T is for Tyr, a God of the Aesir, the
one that sacrificed his hand to uphold his oath to Fenrir. He is
widely associated with order, justice, stability, courage, honor, and
truthfulness. Some say that he was once ruler of the Aesir, but he
lost his place to Odin. Some say he has a wife named Zisa, who shares
many of his traits.
T is for Trade, the activity for which
the Vikings are NOT widely known, yet indulged in at least as much,
if not more than the whole raiding thing.
T is for Thurs, a type of supernatural
being, a giant, that is strong, surly and generally stupid. They are
hostile to the Gods and to men, and to pretty much everything that
isn't their own kind. There are several "orders" of
Thursar, Fire Giants, Frost Giants and Trolls.
T is for Trolls, the most important
thing to remember about these guys, aside from what I said about
Thursar in general, is what Tolkien wrote about the in "The
Hobbit", these boys are extremely photosensitive. There was a
recent Norwegian movie called "Troll Hunter" that covered
the same topic.
This stuff came in the mail today-
