One of the oldest runic inscriptions ever found has just been announced in the Norwegian media. Krister Vasshus at the University of Bergen has a welcome break-down of the major points of the find in a Twitter thread that starts at twitter.com/KristerVasshus/status/1615236531689607169
while it may not be a viking era symbol its more than likely that the symbol itself was created by those who kept the old norce faith of the viking era which would mean that it is still as valid as any other symbol of norce paganism
@JacksonCrawford I would not call this a sigil, it's a stafgaldur, staf (letter) and galdur (spell), as in a written spell instead of a chanted spell. I do agree that the it seems very reminiscent of the grimoire sigils, and the "letters" seems likely to have been made using the mysticism of the nine chambers from kabbalah. Interesting enigma.
@@fangslore9988 I know, I'm born in and live in scandinavia, and my family still keeps viking traditions. But your answer is not an answer to what I said.
_"So it's the path finder sigil, it's supposed to help you find your way. What is can't do is find it's way all the way back to the Viking Age."_ My sides.
I can point out that 1860 is the time period when the Grimm brothers were alive and had become popular as a result of their having collected German folklore into the 'tales' we know today. Also, right at this time, Wagner was writing his Ring cycle based on Germanic mythology. If there were one time in history when the psychological ground would have been most fertile for the generation of spurious Nordic emblems, this would be the time.
Spurious? Because it's not ancient and...maybe....influenced by an 1800's European culture? We all know that the Vikings of 'The Viking Age' were eager to explore other cultures and easily assimilated elements into their own. It's a Viking cultural process...if you will....that hasn't changed. Spurious?...nay....I say in line with a long tradition.
@@JACK_TheAllSeeingEye you know the « Viking age » was so short relative to the ages that happen before a well as after , that sometimes I can’t compute why some people either don’t care to search or learn about of what remains of the long evolution of the Cultures that became the « Viking Nations » or they dismiss any folkloric evolution that happened after cause it might be tainted by Christianity or inaccurate to « the Viking age « ! Folklore is really important, it literally is the adaptation of pre-Christianity beliefs , myths , legends , customs , practices to a Christianized society ! Folklore is literally how some beliefs , myths and cultural practices survived , so I don’t get the fuss about it not being old enough, still folk magic tho !
Stumbled upon Cowboy Norse historian Bob Ross giving a lesson amongst the happy trees. Excellent video straight to the point no fluff with references and similarities provided to further research and investigate yourself. Very good sir.
My assistant Stella reminds me to direct viewers to the Icelandic Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft at galdrasyning.is/ for more about Vegvísir and other "galdrastafir" ("magical staves").
A fascinating museum, well worth a visit for those traveling in the Westfjords. They also offer online lectures and have an excellent bookstore and restaurant.
For those of us who seek to understand and recreate the ancient Heathen worldview, this sort of objective historical analysis is crucial. There is nothing to be gained by believing demonstrable historic falsehoods or fanciful interpretations with no basis in reality. That being said, I do have a Vegvisir sticker on my windshield, and so far I have not gotten lost while driving. ;)
Haaaalarious! I love your sense of humor…I laugh because at times that’s life right? It’s difficult to know the truth and still fit into the norm, but sometimes it’s just fun to play along.
I appreciate that your content is straightforward and educational but never disrespectful. I think it's why so many people who believe in magic recommend you as a source on Old Norse literature even though you yourself do not believe in it. Thanks for the great information, keep up the great work!
I feel like the closer a topic is to the historic-romantic kind of Viking stuff, the more meme-y the good Dr. Crawfords videos become. And I'm all for it.
How awesome that you are talking about this too, I just did a video 3 days ago talking about the same thing! Weird coincidence. I will watch and see your take on it! Thank you.
I was taught school that the word staves ("staver" in Norwegian) was the lines that make up a rune. Interestingly the word for "letters" in Norwegian/Swedish/Danish today is bokstaver (book staves/book lines).
I view ignorant people looking back at ancient Norse in a similar way to people looking at ancient Egyptian writings. They add magic to it since they want to romanticize it.
I'm not sure I understand why people find it interesting that words used today are the same or similar to those used at some point in history. All the romance languages are based on and would be relatively understandable to someone who spoke Latin 2-3000 years ago. Similarly, Germanic languages should find many of the words used today derive from ancient Norse (and whatever preceded it). Many of the names used across Western European cultures are ancient Hebrew - as much as 6000 years old. Seraphim derives from Seraph, an ancient Hebrew word for serpent that almost precedes the written word! If a word has no reason to be replaced, it won't be. You should expect that more than 50% of the words you use can be found in use, or derived from words in use, thousands of years back.
Just to add on to the point about runes not being inherently magical to the vikings, long before the viking age people had been using inscriptions in our own Latin alphabet to cast spells. They would even write words on a surface, scrape off the ink and mix it into water to make a potion. And yet at the same time people were using those same letters to write books. The letters are a tool with which magic could be practiced, but not necessarily magical in and of themselves. This is likely what is being referred to in old Norse literature when they say that one aught to "learn runes" or "know runes," they need to learn the spells that can be created with those runes.
Even our language, our own alphabet, is considered kind of magical today by numeroligists. We use the letters of our alphabet to do divination. Our own alphabet. There might not be any good evidence that the Nordic people considered their own alphabet to be magical, but it's a lot more probable that they did. It matches human nature. A lot of the conjectures that he makes, or some at least, tend to go against human nature.
@@jessiehermit9503 The problem with arguments based around human nature is that you have to claim that you have a full understanding of human nature. If you claim to do so you should write a book because few would have such confidence.
I don’t know about human nature, but I think it’s interesting that Devanagari, Tibetan, and Hebrew alphabets are all used for regular writing and also have long traditions of using the letters for magical practices (as well as writing out spells, and combinations of the two). Obviously that doesn’t mean the runes were used that way historically (they are almost certainly used that way nowadays because the techniques were taken from eastern practices at the beginning of the 20th century), but the regular writing doesn’t inherently invalidate the magical purposes of individual letters.
A sidenote; in relation to Finnish tradition, the word «rune» can refer to a spell, not a symbol (these spells weren’t written at all until the 19th century), but a story/statement of knowledge/prowess and/or intention.
I recently found a paper on a new body of medieval textual information in Denmark: Latin-alphabet lead strip amulets (folded and crimped into squarish lumps). The metal-detecting hobbyists/amateur historians over there had been handing over the ones with runes on them under the assumption that the rune-amulets were the old, and the Latin-alphabet were more recent (18th-century +), and therefore of less consequence. When an archaeologist gave a presentation on these amulets, they realized that the Latin-alphabet amulets and the rune amulets were actually contemporaries, and started reporting them in droves. The paper in question is Lumps of Lead - New Types of Written Sources from Medieval Denmark by Lisbeth M. Imer.
I've been wanting to get a vegvisir tattoo for a while now because of its meaning, glad to know that it isn't from the Viking age! At least now I won't pretend that it's Viking, but I can still appreciate it for its symbolism and beauty
@@Larrypint Interessant, so hab ich das Wort "Vieh" noch gar nicht gesehen, generell vermeide ich es eher, wegen seinem eher beleidigenden Charackter, aber das macht schon irgendwie Sinn und klingt schon etwas besser. Schade dass wir so viele Wörter einfach für gegeben nehmen und gar nicht mehr über deren Herkunft und ursprüngliche Bedeutung nachdenken.
I have a couple questions: What about Aegishjalmur; is it from viking era or after? Is Viking mythology the same as Norse mythology? (Odin, Valhalla, Yggdrasil, Valkyrie, etc..) Im curious because I am designing my second tattoo related to Norse and Viking. I just want to get my facts correct.
@@zejo65 Yeah, that comment felt kind of strange. Maybe he's had trouble with people trying to find where he lives? It's a problem a lot of RUclipsrs face, so I get it, but it came across as jarring since it was unexpected in this context. People who live in rural areas need to take a different set of precautions since law enforcement or even just help in general is much further away than in suburban or urban areas.
Sadly soo many people are far more interested in the modern mythological reimagining of the past, than the actual as it was. Which is why i appreciate this channel, because for every person trying to understand the past, there are 9 or more trying to talk about their own headcanon mythology.
Den der intro var faktisk fantastisk. Jeg kan ikke stoppe med at grine. Det var så uventet fra en person, som kalder sig selv for en "teknologisk neandertaler", hvis jeg husker rigtigt.
Heh… «grine». 😅 Morsomt hvordan norsk og dansk har det samme ordet for to så veldig forskjellige betydninger. Samtidig som vi bruker nedertysk alle sammen. Språk er gøy! …eller «sjovt». 😊
@@binker__nor9907 Both are actually correct. In Old Norse "grina" means to show teeth as a reaction eg grin, laugh or cry. In modern times, this has become grin/laugh in Danish, Swedish and in fact English. In Norwegian, this has turned into crying. In German, they have the related variant "greinen" which means to whine.
@@Hvitserk67 Swedish contains both meanings. Grina is laugh/smile in the south and southwest, but it means cry/whine in the rest of the country. It can cause some confusion (or more likely amusement). Grina illa means to make a pained face.
@@binker__nor9907 Ja, det er faktisk ret "gøy", heh. Men der er en forskel på "at grine", altså verbet, og "et grin" altså substantivet, som godt kan betyde grimasse i en mere bred forståelse. F.eks. hun havde et fælt grin.
It's like using Latin today as a magical language. It's old (dead) and sounds exotic to us that don't speak it, so it's easy to make whatever associations we want to it. Thanks for your knowledge and candor, Dr. Jackson!
Vatican still uses it as an official language so technically not dead. Also it’s taught still to priests around the world and in colleges for law and medical degrees ect. It’s not that long ago that people had to understand Latin to read the bible also so even though it may have not bin a main language in places like Ireland and Mexico it definitely was practiced and used in worship before it was “okay” to translate it for lower classes and made profitable by the Gutenberg press
@@BigpapamoneymanMVPtypebeat If the inhabitants of the vatican are passing on latin to their children as their mother tounge something has gone seriously wrong. A language taught only at secondary or tertiary level is a dead language.
Seafaring folk of any culture are a superstitious lot, even today .. and they are prone to grasping on to talismans and rituals that they use to put aside the otherwise rational fear that taking a sea voyage should engender. Vegvisir might not have any 'magical' power, but the power to banish a crippling fear and enable a man to do his work is real - it originates in the mind of the man, not from the talisman, but it is still very real, and very powerful. As a retired sailor, I can tell you that I have no intention of ever going down to the sea again; eventually, you get the feeling that the sea *wants* you .. those infinite mouths with their infinite teeth waiting to devour you in the crushing darkness of the deep can't be put off forever, you know .. If I needed to go to sea, and tattooing some symbol on my body was a way that I could diminish that fear, I might do it. Problem is, I know the trick, so that 'magic' won't work for me.
The Vikings converted for a reason, and it's not as if they'd forget "runes" all of a sudden. It's just another alphabet-writing system, like Ogham or the Latin script. Great video!
Just another idea caused by things that have been said. Our alphabet could be said to have power to save lives, because they are used to convey life saving concepts, or can bring to mind "magically" things that been forgotten, or cause certain sounds over long times or distances, the record the same sound! Dang it, the Roman alphabet is magical, too. 😀
One of the oldest concepts, knowledge is power and a man who could write/record when many couldn't would indeed be considered magical/wise/powerful or similar.
The Latin alphabet, as well as the Greek and Hebrew alphabets, have long been associated with church ritual or apotropaic "magic". They were f.e. used during the dedication of churches in a ritual known as the abecedarium (where the bishop writes the Alphabet in sand or with holy water). There are also some medieval abecedarium inscriptions to be found in German churches. Scholars assume that the inscribed Latin or Greek alphabet was thought to have apotropaic power, meaning having the power to repulse evil.
I have the Vegesir tattooed on my back...I knew when and where it is from when I decided to get the tattoo. I have it because it is Icelandic. Because I like Iceland. The Icelanders seem to not mind it. I travel a lot. I prefer not getting lost. I never did care about the Viking-ness at all
Well said, and I'm planning on getting mine soon for the reason of I LOVE ICELAND and maybe too about helping me find my way along my winding path of life....
@@jenniferahillesheim2285 mine does have dragon heads on either side and a interlacing flame above. Need some light if you wanna go where " there be dragons" 😉
Magic is the technology of the gods. A light switch is magic to a 3 year old child. Just because we don't understand the technology, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. The gods work in coincidences and they surely are magic, or at least mini miracles if we are paying attention to them. IMHO, Great video and explanation, thank you.
Thank you for this information. I have a Vegvísir tattoo on my arm and it gets a fair number of questions, like, "what in the world is THAT???" I have always said that it is an old Icelandic magical stave that I wear as a salute to my Scandinavian roots and as a reminder to myself not to stray from my path in life. If I get a blank stare then I just stop right there unless they want to know more.
I have one in the back of my vest and people always think it's a Viking symbol and I tell them no it's an Icelandic sigil but came way after the Viking age. Some people get upset that that cool symbol isint Viking but I hate missinformation so I'ma just bluntly say what it is even if it upsets people
I got one on my arm as the gentleman says “will not get lost through storms and bad weather” stay on the right path! I’m half Celtic half Viking My Celtic surname means guardian of the sea!
Those would be fanfiction, like the biblical apocrypha, but that does not make them any less true than original scriptures like the Granth or the Book of Mormon.
@@senacht "Truth" is not an attribute of fiction. It's up to us whether we choose to suspend our disbelief while hearing, reading or watching it. Doing so gives us an emotional work-out. Afterwards, we may recollect those emotions in tranquillity, but there's no point in looking for Camelot or Hogwarts on the map.
In The Netherlands they are often used as tattoos espicially in the Nothern provinces, which for some time in the past had Viking Kings, runes, sigils and vegviflsir.. Den Mark is very close-by by land and Norway only a bit further by sea or land. We still use words like wegwijzer and vizier, which are dirived from Nordic/German
I have both tattoos. I know they are modern sigils, which is wonderful, because I am a modern human! They still bring me meaning. Humanity is always changing, and it is more fascinating to think modern people had enough curiosity to try to come up with something new is cool as heck. I love science and history.
I have no Scandinavian blood in me, I do not claim to be a Viking and never will. I’ve taken the time to learn and converse with a lot of people before I got a “Vegvísir” tattoo. The meaning of “finding one’s path” is what got me to get it. Not anything to do with Vikings and I got a raven over it for “If I ever get lost again the raven will guide me”. I know my intentions and I also know that I may get a lot of turning heads or conversations about it. The biggest reason I got it, is because in 2017 I felt lost as a person and failed a suicide attempt and after years of recovery for my mental and finding peace is the reason I got it. And I know that it may not actually mean that, because there is no true way of finding out. But, I’am glad to converse and have open dialogue with anyone who may question my intentions. I say all of that, to say thank you for your video, this is was very helpful and also very enlightening thank you.
Honestly the fact that some of the old writing for any language or civilization are just shopping lists, notes to remember things or just letters to friends or family makes history all the more real. No matter the age people were people who had lives, hopes, dreams and just the normal day to day stuff like needing to remember what to get at the market. It's a shame the language wasn't more preserved so the memory of those people could live on abit longer. That is one thing I dearly love about old Norse or "viking" culture is how you are remembered like they knew the closest thing to immortality you can get is to leave memories with those you leave behind.
I was on an archaeological dig one time and my favorite thing I ever found was a smooth rock. There were no rivers near by meaning somebody, probably a kid, picked up a smooth rock by a river and brought it home. It was a small stone so it wouldn’t have had use beyond a trinket. It had no real archaeological value and nobody would ever do anything with them but to me it was always one of the coolest finds. That somebody 2500 years ago thought it was cool.
Revisiting this video because my wife and I were just discussing this topic the other day. As two other people who don’t have either of these symbols tattooed on us we appreciate your insight. Between you and us we have 30% of the hold outs who refuse to get these tattoos, but are deep interested in these topics in Colorado. Based on your presumption of 10 of course. I’d love to get your take on a work which off hand is from a few decades after that manuscript, Gronbech’s The Culture of the Teutons.
You are an absolute treasure Mr. Crawford for clearing these, to most people, muddy and strange perception of what these runes and sigils mean. You "skepticism" and practical stance when looking at these things is exactly what I miss in so much of the talk about the old cultures, so I appreciate your work greatly for that reason. It is so difficult to dive deeper into these subject through some channels, because it very quickly plunges into the (to me tremendously uninteresting) depths of mysticism; and the contrast of your academic approach is ever-refreshing! Tack så oerhört mycket!
Lovely vid of the hills, that is all. Joking, very thoughtful layout of what the "helm of awe" sigil and what runes represent. No, I don't have tat of it, but I just might have a tee shirt. I'm in the Springs and wish you all the best. I'm going to check out your Historical Runic Healing Spells next. Good day.
As someone who practices magic and follows the Norse pantheon, I would like to say that I highly value and appreciate your grounded, practical fact approach. Thank you!
In Germany, we have the word Wegweiser (astute observers with a basic knowledge of Germany language can already see how cognate it is) which, in modern days, is basically any map, object or signpost that gives indications as to where lies what destination and how far away. In oder times, the Wegweiser was more akin to the english version of pathfinder, a person who can direct you (i.e. find) to a path to your destination. A compass does not do that. A compass is merely a tool that shows you the general directions of North-suth-east and west, it cannot show you the precise path to whatever town or city you want to raid, for that you need maps (hence maps are commonly found on Wegweisern).
Dr. Crawford, would you ever consider doing a video where you react/review an episode of the show "Vinland Saga"? The show is an animated show from Japan based on a comic series of the same name which follows a fictionalize account of Thorfinn Karlsefni, including a fictionalized back story and his real life travels to Vinland. The show has so far only adapted the first arc of the comic, which acts as a prologue of sorts and is set during the last stages of the Viking incursions/war in England and the ascension of King Cnut to the throne. It would be very interesting to see your reaction to the depictions of Norse life and culture as depicted in the series.
In germany, for example for road signs that show directions leading to a specific place, we still use the word "Wegweiser". "Way-Shower" Metal road signs with arrows are just one example. A simple mark on a tree or stone on a forest trail is also a Wegweiser. In the middle high german language, spoken between 1050 - 1350 A.D. it was "Wegewiser"
In Sweden, we have "vägvisare" to describe a person showing somebody else the way. I could technically be applied to signs and things as well. It's not a commonly used word though.
@@Larrypint We still have a similar thing in Icelandic. "Fé" (I think that's pronounced similar to "Vieh" if you can make that one syllable) can mean "livestock" (and then we can make it more specific like "sauðfé" (sheep-fé) and "fiðurfé" (feather-fé) and "nautfé" (cattle-fé) - out of all the livestock, "fé" on its own most of the time refers to sheep, just because sheep were the most common animals kept through Iceland's history), but it can also just mean "money". "Reiðufé", at least today, means "cash" or more literally "ready-fé". Then there's word like "búpeningur". "Bú" means "farm", and "peningur" in modern Icelandic normally means "money" (I'm pretty sure it's related to "pfennig"), but combined it's "livestock of a farm". Which makes sense, as you say - before people got around inventing cash, a part of someone's wealth could well be counted by how many animals they had on their farm. You got 50 sheep and 2 milking cows, then you're kind of poor (didn't have much "fé" or "Vieh") but if you had 800 sheep and 85 milking cows, then you'd be rich. I guess, I don't actually know how much you'd need to have to be considered "rich" back then, but as far as I can remember, 2-300 sheep was considered a generous dowry. And as an aside - in Latin there's a word, "pecunia", and if I remember properly, that means both "money" or "flock", maybe even specifically referring to sheep.
@@Larrypint Oh, and we have a pun for "fé".... So, "fé" in the dative is "fjár". And "embezzlement" is "fjárdráttur" - literally meaning "drag away fé". But, since "fé" by itself mostly refers to just sheep, and since "dráttur" can also mean "sexual intercourse", we can say: "Tut tut, you naughty bankers, always shagging the sheep..."
"Rune" as a spell also has connection with recitation or rhyme, possibly as a homophone with rune the letter, or "runes" the writing system. In Kalevala (not Norse, obviously), the singer performing the poem is said to be "singing the runes," and Väinämöinen himself is a master at singing runes to perform magic.
Thank you for making this video, I can't believe how many people have "viking" tattoos and it's just a bunch of galdrastafir. Like come on people. No one bothers to research anything anymore.
It's not like people does not research, but to be honest, some information is not as easy to find. Ive been trying to learn about Norse mythology and viking age, but it's hard to find a website that I can trust 100% when there are so many misinformation everywhere
Its funny, the etymology for Vegvisir you present made me immediately realise the cognate words survive in my own native language (Afrikaans) and thus a cognate focused translation of vegvisir into Afrikaans would be 'Wegwyser', 'Weg' an antiquated word for road mostly used in words like 'Snelweg' (highway) as well as a word meaning _away_ and 'wyser' literally someone or something that shows. Very interesting!
I never understood when people talk about the "obvious" visual similarity between these two staves and the runes, because they seem far more similar visually to various sigils found in Early Modern Christian European Occult texts. Like you say, the only real similarity seems to be that they use straight lines a lot, but given how many runic inscriptions feature curved lines I don't think even that can really be called a particular similarity, and any that does exist may just speak to a shared medium (perhaps these particular sigils were intended to be carved in wood moreso than writtern on something and so became more angular)
@@SkogarmaorFeder I'm talking about surviving runestones. Most of those runes feature curved branches. Straight branches are more common in inscriptions on wood, bone, or antler which survive less well
I think, this is one of your better videos. I just don't get the hat and the snowy background. I appreciate the knowledge that you are shareing. Thank you
You may not believe in magic, but where you live is certainly magical! I like how you brought up contemporary restaurant signs that use fonts to instill in the patrons a sense of authenticity, and then the [comparatively] modern grimoires that try to sell their authenticity with viking fonts on symbols not remotely of older ages. People have a long history of making a buck by selling a notion of an idea.
Gotta say 1860 was legit shocking, I'd heard it wasn't as old as people act but dang that's nuts. Great video thanks for making it. "It can't find it's way back to the Viking age" got a good laugh
Christianity has huge influences from various "pagan" faiths, especially during the early conversion times. It being a vestige of the transitional period is a very valid hypothesis.
I am confused about something. In the IGN video called "Norse Mythology Expert Reacts to God of War", you mention that you were a consultant in Assassins Creed Valhalla. As many know, AC Valhalla is based on Vikings era and there are some vegvisir tattoo options for the character. In this video you say that there are no connections between vegvisir and Vikings era. So the vegvisir tattoo options in AC Valhalla were the studio's independent decision, or did you have an endorsement of the situation?
These videos have been awesome, and has allowed me to remember things I had forgotten, as well as remind of some great childhood memories. When I create the game and comic I am working on, I will have to thank you in the credits. ^_^
To put 1860 in perspective: It was 1 year before the American Civil War, and we do have photographies from back then. Including from American Presidents.
I'm not a believer in magic in any supernatural sense, though I'm super fascinated by magic systems. However, I'm also an amateur linguist, and I watch your channel mainly for that purpose. As far as I can tell, you're the most expert person around on Norse runes, language and literature. So it is baffling to me when I hear/read presumed heathens disclaiming your knowledge on the basis that you don't hold the cultural beliefs that they are trying to emulate. Anyway, keep up the good work.
i think its more than positive when a scholar keep behaving as a scholar, believer or not. Having "religious faith" on the matter of your study can lead to interesting points of view, but it can also bring some bias on your research
The lines in the poem allegedly about the runes being magic sound like they could just as soon be observations on the power of writing. Shades of "history is written by the victors"
When I decided to get a viking tattoo to commemorate my 'Viking Hiking' in Norway, I researched a lot of supposed symbols that turned out to be more-or-less modern garbage. I ended up getting a stylized version of a urnes-style beast from an existent runestone.
It's important to remember that if something is "magical", people will find a way to attach other things to it in order get some free sunshine. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with each other. Since on of my names actually is Rune, I get this all the time :)
Good video, well-spoken. The so-called vegvisir bears uncanny resemblance to some of the sigils associated with the seal of Solomon, which has its origins in medieval western mysticism and beyond into the esoteric. None the less I've seen this one and the helm of awe on the shields of viking larpers who are otherwise pretty knowledgeable and serious about what they do. Maybe it's just because they like it. Keep up the good work Jackson.
I have a tattoo with Odin and vegvisir. To me, learning that it doesnt actually doesn't date back to the Vikings doesn't bother at all. The meaning is what matters to me, and it spoke to me when I was getting the tattoo designed.
I wish everyone knew it too. Ive seen a video very recently of that Icelandic girl that pronounces how some of the words are supposed to be. On top of all her other content. But in the comments a guy was arguing with so many people saying it is from the Viking era. Even tho there’s no evidence at all ever that said the Vikings used it. Because the symbol was used as a part of a Christian magic ritual that may have had some movements rooted in Icelandic culture, but was very common ritualistic practice across Christendom. It’s a Icelandic magical Sigil like Jackson says here. Just like people think Vikings had horns on their helmets when they found helmets that date back 2000 years even before the Vikings were around. Because for a festival a costume designer decided to put horns on the helmets. But I think the sigil is still cool and there’s a few others in the magical staves that are pretty aesthetically appealing too and their meanings. If it means something to you then by all means you know
Number 11 here, then… Nope, your channel is making a difference. I’m here (strange way to put it…) because I like to learn. And you’re scientific about language. I’m hearing phrases/words and can compare that to my dialect (which is dying out) and get an understanding of why I use certain words and phrases. Strange to get that insight from an American, but still very interesting. Btw, my brother has *one* tattoo and it says, in capital letters, “tatovering» (Norwegian). He’s a sceptic like me - and a metalhead… 😏
Greetings from Colorado Springs. I appreciate your pragmatic view of runes and all things Old Norse. I have not done near enough research, but it always made more sense to me that the runic letters were used like an alphabet is used today.
When a man speaks, the mountains listen. When the mountain speaks back, the man nods in agreement. With knowledge, he is able to fully understand the world around him.
At first I was confused about why you would think people would be upset that the symbol was not Viking age... then you mentioned the tattoos. Yet another reason to double check images before you get them injected into your skin.
Hello from Sweden! Yes you are absolutly right. In The area that I live the runes was in use way in to the 1900:s. And we still talk a language some say is related to old norse. Elfdalian, in northen Dalarna in Sweden, close to the Norwegian border. I have old buildings with carved runes in our local language.
I have the Vegvisir as a tattoo. I like how it looks and I like the meaning of "Don't get lost in the storms" That being said, I knew that there was a very good chance that it wasn't "old viking" cause my understanding was that a lot of what written down was written down and preserved with a Christian lens. However I did not know just how new this sigil was. That's an extremely interesting fact for me. It's newer than the United States. Lmao
Thank you for this. Ive had some heated discussions about this matter with many people. Takk kærlega fyrir þitt framlag. Have have you made an video about the stave Ægishjálmur? Mbk Ívar
I agree with you about Vegvisir, amazing that people are still tattooing this on their body in belief this is runes. But you mention Ragnar Lothbrok in text in the video, he is also more fantasy than real, there has been a Ragnar leading the siege of Paria but no references that his last name was Lothbrok. His last name first showed up in written sources 300 years after so called events.
Many "Viking fans" with their tattoos and undercut-hairstyles will be very upset and sad now... but then again even on Wikipedia and similar websites it is written that this symbol is modern era art. Nothing more, nothing less.
the "viking compass" actually looks a lot like demonic sigils found in solomonic tradition, actually it looks exactly like a combination of two or three sigils found in the lesser key or the solomon testament
One of the oldest runic inscriptions ever found has just been announced in the Norwegian media. Krister Vasshus at the University of Bergen has a welcome break-down of the major points of the find in a Twitter thread that starts at twitter.com/KristerVasshus/status/1615236531689607169
while it may not be a viking era symbol its more than likely that the symbol itself was created by those who kept the old norce faith of the viking era which would mean that it is still as valid as any other symbol of norce paganism
@@fangslore9988 *norse
@JacksonCrawford I would not call this a sigil, it's a stafgaldur, staf (letter) and galdur (spell), as in a written spell instead of a chanted spell.
I do agree that the it seems very reminiscent of the grimoire sigils, and the "letters" seems likely to have been made using the mysticism of the nine chambers from kabbalah.
Interesting enigma.
@@williamabrahamsson2945 norse paganism adopts many different sigles staves and symbology, it is only natural that it change over time
@@fangslore9988 I know, I'm born in and live in scandinavia, and my family still keeps viking traditions.
But your answer is not an answer to what I said.
_"So it's the path finder sigil, it's supposed to help you find your way. What is can't do is find it's way all the way back to the Viking Age."_ My sides.
laughed out loud at that one!
The intro of “not everything is a rune” as a story is hilarious. Keep it up, great work!
Omg the “can I see your tattoo?” Line dude you are cracking me up here
I spit my coffee out at this
I laughed so hard at that lol
This video has the perfect amount of sarcasm based on experience haha
@@stevenscott6658 haha, as a finn its the same as people tattooing some japanese phrase that actually means "chicken broth" on their skin
Love this- 1. Old is relative 2. Context is everything 3. Straight shooting appreciated 4. Stunning example of a Rocky Mountain winter day.
Knowing Colorado this was probably filmed in June.
I can point out that 1860 is the time period when the Grimm brothers were alive and had become popular as a result of their having collected German folklore into the 'tales' we know today. Also, right at this time, Wagner was writing his Ring cycle based on Germanic mythology. If there were one time in history when the psychological ground would have been most fertile for the generation of spurious Nordic emblems, this would be the time.
Well, Wilhelm Grimm died in 1859, :p but yes, it was after the rise of Romanticism which seems to be what you are alluding to.
1860, yes, the best bavarian Football Club!
Spurious? Because it's not ancient and...maybe....influenced by an 1800's European culture?
We all know that the Vikings of 'The Viking Age' were eager to explore other cultures and easily assimilated elements into their own. It's a Viking cultural process...if you will....that hasn't changed.
Spurious?...nay....I say in line with a long tradition.
@@JACK_TheAllSeeingEye you know the « Viking age » was so short relative to the ages that happen before a well as after , that sometimes I can’t compute why some people either don’t care to search or learn about of what remains of the long evolution of the Cultures that became the « Viking Nations » or they dismiss any folkloric evolution that happened after cause it might be tainted by Christianity or inaccurate to « the Viking age « ! Folklore is really important, it literally is the adaptation of pre-Christianity beliefs , myths , legends , customs , practices to a Christianized society ! Folklore is literally how some beliefs , myths and cultural practices survived , so I don’t get the fuss about it not being old enough, still folk magic tho !
@@mikejobstbulldog2020 sure, …lol
Stumbled upon Cowboy Norse historian Bob Ross giving a lesson amongst the happy trees.
Excellent video straight to the point no fluff with references and similarities provided to further research and investigate yourself. Very good sir.
My assistant Stella reminds me to direct viewers to the Icelandic Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft at galdrasyning.is/ for more about Vegvísir and other "galdrastafir" ("magical staves").
Thanks for another amazing and informative video ☺️
A fascinating museum, well worth a visit for those traveling in the Westfjords. They also offer online lectures and have an excellent bookstore and restaurant.
😱😱😱😱😱
I don't have a tattoo either because I think they're unnatural.
I had the vegvísir tattooed on my chest about 3 months ago 🙄
Well this Icelander is happy to see such a common misconception explained, and would like to commend your Icelandic pronunciation!
Yeah, his Íslensk is pretty spot-on.
For those of us who seek to understand and recreate the ancient Heathen worldview, this sort of objective historical analysis is crucial. There is nothing to be gained by believing demonstrable historic falsehoods or fanciful interpretations with no basis in reality. That being said, I do have a Vegvisir sticker on my windshield, and so far I have not gotten lost while driving. ;)
Just because it doesn't come from the Vikings dosent mean it doesn't have meaning. It's just a sigal that came later then the Vikings age
@@lunawolfheart336 sigil* that came later than*...
@@feldgeist2637 That or you'd be considered a man connected with the gods.
Confirmed.
Haaaalarious! I love your sense of humor…I laugh because at times that’s life right? It’s difficult to know the truth and still fit into the norm, but sometimes it’s just fun to play along.
"not everything is a rune"
Not with that attitude
Hahhahah
LOL!
I appreciate that your content is straightforward and educational but never disrespectful. I think it's why so many people who believe in magic recommend you as a source on Old Norse literature even though you yourself do not believe in it. Thanks for the great information, keep up the great work!
@miller_6700 like turning water to wine ? Walking on water ? Raising the Dead ?
@miller What? You say magic is nonsense but then say its important to respect it? Make up your mind.
@@Alphardus you can not believe the principle without being cunty about it. like I don't believe in hinduism but I respect it
@@wolfodinson5303 I'm not religious or superstitious but there's a difference between a gods power and magic
I feel like the closer a topic is to the historic-romantic kind of Viking stuff, the more meme-y the good Dr. Crawfords videos become. And I'm all for it.
How awesome that you are talking about this too, I just did a video 3 days ago talking about the same thing! Weird coincidence. I will watch and see your take on it! Thank you.
I was taught school that the word staves ("staver" in Norwegian) was the lines that make up a rune. Interestingly the word for "letters" in Norwegian/Swedish/Danish today is bokstaver (book staves/book lines).
and Buchstaben in german, literally (pun intended) meaning staffs of beech-wood.
I view ignorant people looking back at ancient Norse in a similar way to people looking at ancient Egyptian writings. They add magic to it since they want to romanticize it.
@@timoadler6356 …. also literally meaning book-staves lol.
In denmark we are taught that bogstaver (letter) comes from the wooden staves that the old norse used for mail.
I'm not sure I understand why people find it interesting that words used today are the same or similar to those used at some point in history. All the romance languages are based on and would be relatively understandable to someone who spoke Latin 2-3000 years ago. Similarly, Germanic languages should find many of the words used today derive from ancient Norse (and whatever preceded it). Many of the names used across Western European cultures are ancient Hebrew - as much as 6000 years old. Seraphim derives from Seraph, an ancient Hebrew word for serpent that almost precedes the written word!
If a word has no reason to be replaced, it won't be. You should expect that more than 50% of the words you use can be found in use, or derived from words in use, thousands of years back.
There is a group I’m in on Facebook and this video was shared to it. And let me just tell you you’ve got a lot of ppl heart broke on that page 😂😂😂😂
Just to add on to the point about runes not being inherently magical to the vikings, long before the viking age people had been using inscriptions in our own Latin alphabet to cast spells. They would even write words on a surface, scrape off the ink and mix it into water to make a potion. And yet at the same time people were using those same letters to write books. The letters are a tool with which magic could be practiced, but not necessarily magical in and of themselves. This is likely what is being referred to in old Norse literature when they say that one aught to "learn runes" or "know runes," they need to learn the spells that can be created with those runes.
Even our language, our own alphabet, is considered kind of magical today by numeroligists. We use the letters of our alphabet to do divination. Our own alphabet. There might not be any good evidence that the Nordic people considered their own alphabet to be magical, but it's a lot more probable that they did. It matches human nature. A lot of the conjectures that he makes, or some at least, tend to go against human nature.
@@jessiehermit9503 The problem with arguments based around human nature is that you have to claim that you have a full understanding of human nature. If you claim to do so you should write a book because few would have such confidence.
I don’t know about human nature, but I think it’s interesting that Devanagari, Tibetan, and Hebrew alphabets are all used for regular writing and also have long traditions of using the letters for magical practices (as well as writing out spells, and combinations of the two).
Obviously that doesn’t mean the runes were used that way historically (they are almost certainly used that way nowadays because the techniques were taken from eastern practices at the beginning of the 20th century), but the regular writing doesn’t inherently invalidate the magical purposes of individual letters.
A sidenote; in relation to Finnish tradition, the word «rune» can refer to a spell, not a symbol (these spells weren’t written at all until the 19th century), but a story/statement of knowledge/prowess and/or intention.
I recently found a paper on a new body of medieval textual information in Denmark: Latin-alphabet lead strip amulets (folded and crimped into squarish lumps). The metal-detecting hobbyists/amateur historians over there had been handing over the ones with runes on them under the assumption that the rune-amulets were the old, and the Latin-alphabet were more recent (18th-century +), and therefore of less consequence. When an archaeologist gave a presentation on these amulets, they realized that the Latin-alphabet amulets and the rune amulets were actually contemporaries, and started reporting them in droves.
The paper in question is Lumps of Lead - New Types of Written Sources from Medieval Denmark by Lisbeth M. Imer.
I've been wanting to get a vegvisir tattoo for a while now because of its meaning, glad to know that it isn't from the Viking age! At least now I won't pretend that it's Viking, but I can still appreciate it for its symbolism and beauty
@@Larrypint Interessant, so hab ich das Wort "Vieh" noch gar nicht gesehen, generell vermeide ich es eher, wegen seinem eher beleidigenden Charackter, aber das macht schon irgendwie Sinn und klingt schon etwas besser. Schade dass wir so viele Wörter einfach für gegeben nehmen und gar nicht mehr über deren Herkunft und ursprüngliche Bedeutung nachdenken.
How about a Volknot?
@@Larrypint weisen=advise
This is pretty obvious. The vikings popularized the beliefs but the old gods were worshipped long before the vikings existed.
I have a couple questions: What about Aegishjalmur; is it from viking era or after? Is Viking mythology the same as Norse mythology? (Odin, Valhalla, Yggdrasil, Valkyrie, etc..) Im curious because I am designing my second tattoo related to Norse and Viking. I just want to get my facts correct.
Cant wait until future peoples find the english phonetic military alphabet and assume F stands for dancing
12:45 "I will continue to try to shoot as straight with y'all as I do at intruders in my residence" lmao
I almost quit my patreonship because of that. Maybe it's just a culture shock.
@@zejo65 Yeah, that comment felt kind of strange. Maybe he's had trouble with people trying to find where he lives? It's a problem a lot of RUclipsrs face, so I get it, but it came across as jarring since it was unexpected in this context. People who live in rural areas need to take a different set of precautions since law enforcement or even just help in general is much further away than in suburban or urban areas.
@@zejo65 its just dry middle-aged American humor. don't worry about it he wasn't serious.
Came for the hat stayed for the lesson. As a history buff turned LARPer and outdoors man I appreciate your entire style and teaching method.
I refuse to except this because my tattoo looks to cool!
Sadly soo many people are far more interested in the modern mythological reimagining of the past, than the actual as it was. Which is why i appreciate this channel, because for every person trying to understand the past, there are 9 or more trying to talk about their own headcanon mythology.
Den der intro var faktisk fantastisk. Jeg kan ikke stoppe med at grine. Det var så uventet fra en person, som kalder sig selv for en "teknologisk neandertaler", hvis jeg husker rigtigt.
Heh… «grine». 😅 Morsomt hvordan norsk og dansk har det samme ordet for to så veldig forskjellige betydninger.
Samtidig som vi bruker nedertysk alle sammen. Språk er gøy! …eller «sjovt». 😊
@@binker__nor9907 Both are actually correct. In Old Norse "grina" means to show teeth as a reaction eg grin, laugh or cry. In modern times, this has become grin/laugh in Danish, Swedish and in fact English. In Norwegian, this has turned into crying. In German, they have the related variant "greinen" which means to whine.
@@Hvitserk67 Swedish contains both meanings. Grina is laugh/smile in the south and southwest, but it means cry/whine in the rest of the country. It can cause some confusion (or more likely amusement). Grina illa means to make a pained face.
@@binker__nor9907 Ja, det er faktisk ret "gøy", heh. Men der er en forskel på "at grine", altså verbet, og "et grin" altså substantivet, som godt kan betyde grimasse i en mere bred forståelse. F.eks. hun havde et fælt grin.
@@Hvitserk67 And the English "cringe" is likely related to this "greinen", though I must confess that my understanding of German is rather poor.
It's like using Latin today as a magical language. It's old (dead) and sounds exotic to us that don't speak it, so it's easy to make whatever associations we want to it. Thanks for your knowledge and candor, Dr. Jackson!
Vatican still uses it as an official language so technically not dead. Also it’s taught still to priests around the world and in colleges for law and medical degrees ect.
It’s not that long ago that people had to understand Latin to read the bible also so even though it may have not bin a main language in places like Ireland and Mexico it definitely was practiced and used in worship before it was “okay” to translate it for lower classes and made profitable by the Gutenberg press
@@BigpapamoneymanMVPtypebeat
If the inhabitants of the vatican are passing on latin to their children as their mother tounge something has gone seriously wrong. A language taught only at secondary or tertiary level is a dead language.
Just found this channel. Amazing information. Also the setting is so peaceful. Can we get a snowy night camp fire story segment this coming winter?
Seafaring folk of any culture are a superstitious lot, even today .. and they are prone to grasping on to talismans and rituals that they use to put aside the otherwise rational fear that taking a sea voyage should engender. Vegvisir might not have any 'magical' power, but the power to banish a crippling fear and enable a man to do his work is real - it originates in the mind of the man, not from the talisman, but it is still very real, and very powerful. As a retired sailor, I can tell you that I have no intention of ever going down to the sea again; eventually, you get the feeling that the sea *wants* you .. those infinite mouths with their infinite teeth waiting to devour you in the crushing darkness of the deep can't be put off forever, you know .. If I needed to go to sea, and tattooing some symbol on my body was a way that I could diminish that fear, I might do it. Problem is, I know the trick, so that 'magic' won't work for me.
Thank you for this!! It’s so hard, where I live, to try to get others to understand the actual truths of what you speak.
It's very important to know this little facts because the misconceptions of old norse culture are currently everywhere.
The Vikings converted for a reason, and it's not as if they'd forget "runes" all of a sudden. It's just another alphabet-writing system, like Ogham or the Latin script. Great video!
I have to pause before I continue watching this video to tell you how much I appreciate the introduction. I laughed aloud and I was not expecting to
Same! hahaha Love it
Just another idea caused by things that have been said. Our alphabet could be said to have power to save lives, because they are used to convey life saving concepts, or can bring to mind "magically" things that been forgotten, or cause certain sounds over long times or distances, the record the same sound! Dang it, the Roman alphabet is magical, too. 😀
One of the oldest concepts, knowledge is power and a man who could write/record when many couldn't would indeed be considered magical/wise/powerful or similar.
The Latin alphabet, as well as the Greek and Hebrew alphabets, have long been associated with church ritual or apotropaic "magic". They were f.e. used during the dedication of churches in a ritual known as the abecedarium (where the bishop writes the Alphabet in sand or with holy water). There are also some medieval abecedarium inscriptions to be found in German churches. Scholars assume that the inscribed Latin or Greek alphabet was thought to have apotropaic power, meaning having the power to repulse evil.
That's the power of squiggles!
@@maxgruntgens9000 that comes from the idea that Latin, Greek and Hebrew were consecrated by the blood of Christ during his crucifixion.
I have the Vegesir tattooed on my back...I knew when and where it is from when I decided to get the tattoo. I have it because it is Icelandic. Because I like Iceland. The Icelanders seem to not mind it. I travel a lot. I prefer not getting lost. I never did care about the Viking-ness at all
Well said, and I'm planning on getting mine soon for the reason of I LOVE ICELAND and maybe too about helping me find my way along my winding path of life....
@@jenniferahillesheim2285 mine does have dragon heads on either side and a interlacing flame above. Need some light if you wanna go where " there be dragons" 😉
Magic is the technology of the gods. A light switch is magic to a 3 year old child. Just because we don't understand the technology, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. The gods work in coincidences and they surely are magic, or at least mini miracles if we are paying attention to them. IMHO, Great video and explanation, thank you.
Was that ending... Who tried to go there uninvited?
Thank you for this information. I have a Vegvísir tattoo on my arm and it gets a fair number of questions, like, "what in the world is THAT???" I have always said that it is an old Icelandic magical stave that I wear as a salute to my Scandinavian roots and as a reminder to myself not to stray from my path in life. If I get a blank stare then I just stop right there unless they want to know more.
I have one in the back of my vest and people always think it's a Viking symbol and I tell them no it's an Icelandic sigil but came way after the Viking age. Some people get upset that that cool symbol isint Viking but I hate missinformation so I'ma just bluntly say what it is even if it upsets people
I got one on my arm as the gentleman says “will not get lost through storms and bad weather” stay on the right path!
I’m half Celtic half Viking
My Celtic surname means guardian of the sea!
@gabemore1766 you can't be half viking...
I'd like to see an episode about some of the "non-canon" or "hoax" Eddas that may have been written in the 1600s like the Hrafnagaldr Óðins
Those would be fanfiction, like the biblical apocrypha, but that does not make them any less true than original scriptures like the Granth or the Book of Mormon.
@@faithlesshound5621 By the same token, that doesn’t make them any more ‘true’ at all.
@@senacht "Truth" is not an attribute of fiction. It's up to us whether we choose to suspend our disbelief while hearing, reading or watching it. Doing so gives us an emotional work-out. Afterwards, we may recollect those emotions in tranquillity, but there's no point in looking for Camelot or Hogwarts on the map.
In The Netherlands they are often used as tattoos espicially in the Nothern provinces, which for some time in the past had Viking Kings, runes, sigils and vegviflsir.. Den Mark is very close-by by land and Norway only a bit further by sea or land. We still use words like wegwijzer and vizier, which are dirived from Nordic/German
As a Swede I thank you for your work and your skepticism.
as a finn I also thank him. Tja västra grannen
@Jackson Crawford - You earned my subscription with this video. I’ll be going through the rest of your catalogue catalogue because of it.
I have both tattoos. I know they are modern sigils, which is wonderful, because I am a modern human! They still bring me meaning. Humanity is always changing, and it is more fascinating to think modern people had enough curiosity to try to come up with something new is cool as heck. I love science and history.
The fact you stood in the cold to give us this video is much appreciated
I have no Scandinavian blood in me, I do not claim to be a Viking and never will. I’ve taken the time to learn and converse with a lot of people before I got a “Vegvísir” tattoo. The meaning of “finding one’s path” is what got me to get it. Not anything to do with Vikings and I got a raven over it for “If I ever get lost again the raven will guide me”. I know my intentions and I also know that I may get a lot of turning heads or conversations about it. The biggest reason I got it, is because in 2017 I felt lost as a person and failed a suicide attempt and after years of recovery for my mental and finding peace is the reason I got it. And I know that it may not actually mean that, because there is no true way of finding out. But, I’am glad to converse and have open dialogue with anyone who may question my intentions. I say all of that, to say thank you for your video, this is was very helpful and also very enlightening thank you.
Honestly the fact that some of the old writing for any language or civilization are just shopping lists, notes to remember things or just letters to friends or family makes history all the more real. No matter the age people were people who had lives, hopes, dreams and just the normal day to day stuff like needing to remember what to get at the market. It's a shame the language wasn't more preserved so the memory of those people could live on abit longer. That is one thing I dearly love about old Norse or "viking" culture is how you are remembered like they knew the closest thing to immortality you can get is to leave memories with those you leave behind.
I was on an archaeological dig one time and my favorite thing I ever found was a smooth rock. There were no rivers near by meaning somebody, probably a kid, picked up a smooth rock by a river and brought it home. It was a small stone so it wouldn’t have had use beyond a trinket.
It had no real archaeological value and nobody would ever do anything with them but to me it was always one of the coolest finds. That somebody 2500 years ago thought it was cool.
@@Dougy359 did you keep the rock?
Revisiting this video because my wife and I were just discussing this topic the other day. As two other people who don’t have either of these symbols tattooed on us we appreciate your insight. Between you and us we have 30% of the hold outs who refuse to get these tattoos, but are deep interested in these topics in Colorado. Based on your presumption of 10 of course.
I’d love to get your take on a work which off hand is from a few decades after that manuscript, Gronbech’s The Culture of the Teutons.
You are an absolute treasure Mr. Crawford for clearing these, to most people, muddy and strange perception of what these runes and sigils mean.
You "skepticism" and practical stance when looking at these things is exactly what I miss in so much of the talk about the old cultures, so I appreciate your work greatly for that reason.
It is so difficult to dive deeper into these subject through some channels, because it very quickly plunges into the (to me tremendously uninteresting) depths of mysticism; and the contrast of your academic approach is ever-refreshing!
Tack så oerhört mycket!
Your integrity is delightful and greatly appreciated. Good upon you JC.
Lovely vid of the hills, that is all. Joking, very thoughtful layout of what the "helm of awe" sigil and what runes represent. No, I don't have tat of it, but I just might have a tee shirt. I'm in the Springs and wish you all the best. I'm going to check out your Historical Runic Healing Spells next. Good day.
Thanks for the video in the freezing cold snowy mountains.
As someone who practices magic and follows the Norse pantheon, I would like to say that I highly value and appreciate your grounded, practical fact approach. Thank you!
In Germany, we have the word Wegweiser (astute observers with a basic knowledge of Germany language can already see how cognate it is) which, in modern days, is basically any map, object or signpost that gives indications as to where lies what destination and how far away. In oder times, the Wegweiser was more akin to the english version of pathfinder, a person who can direct you (i.e. find) to a path to your destination.
A compass does not do that. A compass is merely a tool that shows you the general directions of North-suth-east and west, it cannot show you the precise path to whatever town or city you want to raid, for that you need maps (hence maps are commonly found on Wegweisern).
I love the weather. You look like a character form red dead redemption.
Dr. Crawford, would you ever consider doing a video where you react/review an episode of the show "Vinland Saga"? The show is an animated show from Japan based on a comic series of the same name which follows a fictionalize account of Thorfinn Karlsefni, including a fictionalized back story and his real life travels to Vinland. The show has so far only adapted the first arc of the comic, which acts as a prologue of sorts and is set during the last stages of the Viking incursions/war in England and the ascension of King Cnut to the throne. It would be very interesting to see your reaction to the depictions of Norse life and culture as depicted in the series.
In germany, for example for road signs that show directions leading to a specific place, we still use the word "Wegweiser".
"Way-Shower"
Metal road signs with arrows are just one example. A simple mark on a tree or stone on a forest trail is also a Wegweiser.
In the middle high german language, spoken between 1050 - 1350 A.D. it was "Wegewiser"
In Sweden, we have "vägvisare" to describe a person showing somebody else the way. I could technically be applied to signs and things as well. It's not a commonly used word though.
@@Larrypint We still have a similar thing in Icelandic. "Fé" (I think that's pronounced similar to "Vieh" if you can make that one syllable) can mean "livestock" (and then we can make it more specific like "sauðfé" (sheep-fé) and "fiðurfé" (feather-fé) and "nautfé" (cattle-fé) - out of all the livestock, "fé" on its own most of the time refers to sheep, just because sheep were the most common animals kept through Iceland's history), but it can also just mean "money". "Reiðufé", at least today, means "cash" or more literally "ready-fé".
Then there's word like "búpeningur". "Bú" means "farm", and "peningur" in modern Icelandic normally means "money" (I'm pretty sure it's related to "pfennig"), but combined it's "livestock of a farm". Which makes sense, as you say - before people got around inventing cash, a part of someone's wealth could well be counted by how many animals they had on their farm. You got 50 sheep and 2 milking cows, then you're kind of poor (didn't have much "fé" or "Vieh") but if you had 800 sheep and 85 milking cows, then you'd be rich. I guess, I don't actually know how much you'd need to have to be considered "rich" back then, but as far as I can remember, 2-300 sheep was considered a generous dowry.
And as an aside - in Latin there's a word, "pecunia", and if I remember properly, that means both "money" or "flock", maybe even specifically referring to sheep.
@@Larrypint Oh, and we have a pun for "fé"....
So, "fé" in the dative is "fjár". And "embezzlement" is "fjárdráttur" - literally meaning "drag away fé". But, since "fé" by itself mostly refers to just sheep, and since "dráttur" can also mean "sexual intercourse", we can say:
"Tut tut, you naughty bankers, always shagging the sheep..."
Called 'vejviser' in Danish and Norwegian. Because you know, Germanic languages.
@@Larrypint Goes for the Scandinavian languages as well.
"Rune" as a spell also has connection with recitation or rhyme, possibly as a homophone with rune the letter, or "runes" the writing system. In Kalevala (not Norse, obviously), the singer performing the poem is said to be "singing the runes," and Väinämöinen himself is a master at singing runes to perform magic.
Great video Dr. Crawford. Great way to start the day. Thank you!
My buddy just laser engraved this on a flask I got at Christmas 🎄 nice.
Thank you for making this video, I can't believe how many people have "viking" tattoos and it's just a bunch of galdrastafir. Like come on people. No one bothers to research anything anymore.
I’ve been doing tattoos for over 20 years I can assure you they never did
It's not like people does not research, but to be honest, some information is not as easy to find. Ive been trying to learn about Norse mythology and viking age, but it's hard to find a website that I can trust 100% when there are so many misinformation everywhere
Its funny, the etymology for Vegvisir you present made me immediately realise the cognate words survive in my own native language (Afrikaans) and thus a cognate focused translation of vegvisir into Afrikaans would be 'Wegwyser', 'Weg' an antiquated word for road mostly used in words like 'Snelweg' (highway) as well as a word meaning _away_ and 'wyser' literally someone or something that shows. Very interesting!
Well it's all germanic languages..which is why English, scandanavian, German, French, ect. Have so much in common
Thank you, Jackson. You do such great work.
I never understood when people talk about the "obvious" visual similarity between these two staves and the runes, because they seem far more similar visually to various sigils found in Early Modern Christian European Occult texts. Like you say, the only real similarity seems to be that they use straight lines a lot, but given how many runic inscriptions feature curved lines I don't think even that can really be called a particular similarity, and any that does exist may just speak to a shared medium (perhaps these particular sigils were intended to be carved in wood moreso than writtern on something and so became more angular)
Yes most that survived time were carved in stone, wood and bone, therefore very straight edged. Anything fancier would have rotted away long ago.
@@SkogarmaorFeder I'm talking about surviving runestones. Most of those runes feature curved branches. Straight branches are more common in inscriptions on wood, bone, or antler which survive less well
I think, this is one of your better videos. I just don't get the hat and the snowy background. I appreciate the knowledge that you are shareing. Thank you
Vegvisir sounds very similar to the German "Wegweiser", which literally means "way/path guide/marker" (or signpost as the direct translation)
If you're ever in Hesperus CO, I would count our potential meeting as a blessing! Come to the ⛽ and I'll cook for us!
You may not believe in magic, but where you live is certainly magical!
I like how you brought up contemporary restaurant signs that use fonts to instill in the patrons a sense of authenticity, and then the [comparatively] modern grimoires that try to sell their authenticity with viking fonts on symbols not remotely of older ages. People have a long history of making a buck by selling a notion of an idea.
Is there an ancient type of symbolic graphic that is similar that would have given reason for presenting vegvisir as a Viking Stave?
I greatly enjoy your content. It’s great receiving pieces of lore from the history of my culture.
Gotta say 1860 was legit shocking, I'd heard it wasn't as old as people act but dang that's nuts. Great video thanks for making it. "It can't find it's way back to the Viking age" got a good laugh
Christianity has huge influences from various "pagan" faiths, especially during the early conversion times. It being a vestige of the transitional period is a very valid hypothesis.
Very much appreciate your knowledge and expertise (and skepticism) on this. Thank you for another wonderful video!
I am confused about something. In the IGN video called "Norse Mythology Expert Reacts to God of War", you mention that you were a consultant in Assassins Creed Valhalla. As many know, AC Valhalla is based on Vikings era and there are some vegvisir tattoo options for the character. In this video you say that there are no connections between vegvisir and Vikings era. So the vegvisir tattoo options in AC Valhalla were the studio's independent decision, or did you have an endorsement of the situation?
He was consulted on Old Norse language, not any character designs or art.
As someone who is interested in the Viking age and Norse mythology, I’m extremely happy to have found this channel.
These videos have been awesome, and has allowed me to remember things I had forgotten, as well as remind of some great childhood memories. When I create the game and comic I am working on, I will have to thank you in the credits. ^_^
thx for your macro view of "norse magic", have you talked about ratatoskr?=> i love squirrels :)
Up the tree, down the tree carrying gossip and insults.
ha! thats funny! hes like the monkey, in chuck berry's song, Jo Jo Gun
It's really great to see a Norse Scholar that doesn't look like a Guitarist for a Death Metal Band😂 Thanks for your knowledge!!
A big hello to all the dorks who got tattoos because of a tv show! 😂
A big hello to your mother from me ;)
To put 1860 in perspective: It was 1 year before the American Civil War, and we do have photographies from back then. Including from American Presidents.
I'm not a believer in magic in any supernatural sense, though I'm super fascinated by magic systems. However, I'm also an amateur linguist, and I watch your channel mainly for that purpose. As far as I can tell, you're the most expert person around on Norse runes, language and literature. So it is baffling to me when I hear/read presumed heathens disclaiming your knowledge on the basis that you don't hold the cultural beliefs that they are trying to emulate.
Anyway, keep up the good work.
i think its more than positive when a scholar keep behaving as a scholar, believer or not.
Having "religious faith" on the matter of your study can lead to interesting points of view, but it can also bring some bias on your research
@@regnbuetorsk The same can easily be said for those who are disbelievers/anti-theists. Inherent bias is not a one-way street
@@chuckn4851 Agnosticism is a thing.
It's natural. Many Christians get very upset with historians who aren't talking about Jesus as being a deity. Religion gets people in their passions.
The lines in the poem allegedly about the runes being magic sound like they could just as soon be observations on the power of writing. Shades of "history is written by the victors"
When I decided to get a viking tattoo to commemorate my 'Viking Hiking' in Norway, I researched a lot of supposed symbols that turned out to be more-or-less modern garbage. I ended up getting a stylized version of a urnes-style beast from an existent runestone.
It's important to remember that if something is "magical", people will find a way to attach other things to it in order get some free sunshine. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with each other. Since on of my names actually is Rune, I get this all the time :)
Good video, well-spoken. The so-called vegvisir bears uncanny resemblance to some of the sigils associated with the seal of Solomon, which has its origins in medieval western mysticism and beyond into the esoteric. None the less I've seen this one and the helm of awe on the shields of viking larpers who are otherwise pretty knowledgeable and serious about what they do. Maybe it's just because they like it. Keep up the good work Jackson.
I got a tattoo of this…just because my favorite Icelandic singer Björk had one. Still love it
Yep! Best reason yet.
Vegvisir sounds similar to the German word "Wegweiser", which is contemporary referring to any kind of sign, showing the way to a location.
So what I got is basically, "Runes are an alphabet, vegvisir is an emoji."
I have a tattoo with Odin and vegvisir. To me, learning that it doesnt actually doesn't date back to the Vikings doesn't bother at all. The meaning is what matters to me, and it spoke to me when I was getting the tattoo designed.
I wish everyone knew it too. Ive seen a video very recently of that Icelandic girl that pronounces how some of the words are supposed to be. On top of all her other content. But in the comments a guy was arguing with so many people saying it is from the Viking era. Even tho there’s no evidence at all ever that said the Vikings used it. Because the symbol was used as a part of a Christian magic ritual that may have had some movements rooted in Icelandic culture, but was very common ritualistic practice across Christendom. It’s a Icelandic magical Sigil like Jackson says here. Just like people think Vikings had horns on their helmets when they found helmets that date back 2000 years even before the Vikings were around. Because for a festival a costume designer decided to put horns on the helmets. But I think the sigil is still cool and there’s a few others in the magical staves that are pretty aesthetically appealing too and their meanings. If it means something to you then by all means you know
i am getting a tattoo which have vegvisir included and this doesnt bother me. Im not gonna change it even i could. Going to get it
How do you always have the most picturesque filming locations, geez! Love the content as usual
Number 11 here, then… Nope, your channel is making a difference. I’m here (strange way to put it…) because I like to learn. And you’re scientific about language. I’m hearing phrases/words and can compare that to my dialect (which is dying out) and get an understanding of why I use certain words and phrases. Strange to get that insight from an American, but still very interesting.
Btw, my brother has *one* tattoo and it says, in capital letters, “tatovering» (Norwegian). He’s a sceptic like me - and a metalhead… 😏
Greetings from Colorado Springs. I appreciate your pragmatic view of runes and all things Old Norse. I have not done near enough research, but it always made more sense to me that the runic letters were used like an alphabet is used today.
When a man speaks, the mountains listen. When the mountain speaks back, the man nods in agreement. With knowledge, he is able to fully understand the world around him.
That opener..nice
At first I was confused about why you would think people would be upset that the symbol was not Viking age... then you mentioned the tattoos. Yet another reason to double check images before you get them injected into your skin.
Hello from Sweden! Yes you are absolutly right.
In The area that I live the runes was in use way in to the 1900:s. And we still talk a language some say is related to old norse.
Elfdalian, in northen Dalarna in Sweden, close to the Norwegian border.
I have old buildings with carved runes in our local language.
I have the Vegvisir as a tattoo. I like how it looks and I like the meaning of "Don't get lost in the storms"
That being said, I knew that there was a very good chance that it wasn't "old viking" cause my understanding was that a lot of what written down was written down and preserved with a Christian lens. However I did not know just how new this sigil was. That's an extremely interesting fact for me.
It's newer than the United States. Lmao
Wow, you're pronounced it very well!
Thank you for this. Ive had some heated discussions about this matter with many people. Takk kærlega fyrir þitt framlag. Have have you made an video about the stave Ægishjálmur? Mbk Ívar
Yes. I believe he has a card for it in this video when he mentions it.
He opens the video explaining his video about the ægishjálmur.
I agree with you about Vegvisir, amazing that people are still tattooing this on their body in belief this is runes. But you mention Ragnar Lothbrok in text in the video, he is also more fantasy than real, there has been a Ragnar leading the siege of Paria but no references that his last name was Lothbrok. His last name first showed up in written sources 300 years after so called events.
You sir, are a damned national treasure.
Many "Viking fans" with their tattoos and undercut-hairstyles will be very upset and sad now... but then again even on Wikipedia and similar websites it is written that this symbol is modern era art. Nothing more, nothing less.
the "viking compass" actually looks a lot like demonic sigils found in solomonic tradition, actually it looks exactly like a combination of two or three sigils found in the lesser key or the solomon testament
I got my ægishjálmur back in 2002 before it became mainstream.