Author: vargr

I’ve just made my first foray into promoting my books via YouTube:

Voidworking is now available at voidworking.com, or on Kindle.

I have just made the final approval for the content and cover art for Voidworking, my second book, and sent the signed contract to my publisher. It’s going to the printer.

Voidworking is a system of practical sorcery that draws upon the primordial state of being as a source of power and inspiration for performing acts of Will. This work examines various conceptions of the Void, from ancient religion to modern pop culture to gain a better understanding of how this realm of limitless potential can be embraced rather than feared. Magical techniques, including binding, banishing, evocation, scrying, and others are described that tap into a largely overlooked wellspring of energy that has long been thought to be the purview of divinity. A discussion of ritual tools and practices relevant to the Void is accompanied by meditation practices intended to lessen the intensity of the spurious boundary between the self and the greater Universe. These techniques may be used as a compete magical system on their own or incorporated into your own personal paradigm or practice. Through these methods, something can be made from nothing, and order brought forth from disorder.

Coming soon from Immanion Press.

Vargr, June, 2006

This was originally written to be included in Weaving the Fringe, an anthology that unfortunately never came together.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

– Arthur C. Clark’s Third Law of Prediction

It seems to be an innate human desire to seek to extend our awareness and perception of the environment around us, as well as expand our control over it.  Over previous millennia it has often been the purview of magic to achieve these goals, but as technology has developed, it has been moving into the niche in our personal spheres that used to belong to magic alone.  The encroachment of technology into this realm is not limited to individual space. It has also changed the way in which individuals interact and collaborate.

In place of the fetishes and charms carried by pre-industrial cultures, we now sport an array of electronic devices which allow us to communicate over long distances, capture the images and sounds of our environment, and store information in ways unimaginable to our ancestors.  We rely on them to feel safe.  They have become our talismans and amulets.  In a broader scope, we have also used technology to create new ways of storing and using information itself.  We have rendered the mnemonic methods of the orators and alchemists of the past obsolete with our new capabilities. 

Nowhere is magical technofetishism more pronounced in contemporary

culture, then in the ‘magick’ rituals practiced by technopagans.

– Amanda Fernbach, Fantasies of Fetishism

It is not an unusual thing that many magicians have begun to assimilate a wide range of technology into their practices.  Despite some appearances to the contrary, magic is an innately practical activity.  It seeks to instantiate the will of the magician in the phenomenal world, and in many traditions, the results are far more important than the methodology.  In both the physical and virtual worlds, we create and use tools in order to extend our capabilities.  The nature of these tools can range from physical artifacts to mathematical algorithms.  Whichever tools are the most effective, and produce the greatest return for the energy expended are the ones which will naturally be used.  It is not necessary to expend energy and time toward achieving results through esoteric means when the use of technology will accomplish the same ends.

The incorporation of technology into magic is by no means a 21^st-century phenomenon.  One of the most prolific, if often over-looked, chaos magicians of the 20^th century, William S. Burroughs, documented the incident in which he used audio tape recordings to project a desired reality upon his environment.  After receiving terrible service and treatment at a restaurant, he dubbed discordant sounds over an ambient base track he recorded on the street nearby.  He then played the composite tape outside of the restaurant, which resulted in it going out of business.[1] The techniques Burroughs used are still applicable today, but there is obviously a far wider array of technology available to execute them.

A prominent side-effect of the ubiquity of personal communications technology is the emergence of a vast human intelligence network.  The phenomenon of emergence itself has become an increasingly popular topic of study even as this has occurred.  Emergence, simply explained, is the effect which occurs when a number of discrete units of intelligence or capability interact with one another in a network in order to produce behavior or capabilities which exceed the predicted sum of the contributing units.  One of the best real-world examples of this is the bee hive.  The hive mind which results from the coordinated fashion in which bees work together is greater than the sum of its parts.   This super-organism is capable of feats of exploration, engineering, and memory that far exceed the capabilities of singular insects.  For example, the collective memory of a hive possesses a memory of three months.  This is twice as long as the life of an average bee[2]

The behavior of insects and their hives have also been studied in order to create swarming machines.  These relatively simple and autonomous machines are programmed to seek out and interact with others of their own kind.  This can produce a number of complex, unanticipated behaviors.

The human being is a machine.  An automated machine.

– Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth

The human intelligence network comprises a powerful parallel-processing supercomputer in which the brains of the human beings who contribute to it serve as the processors.  It is not synonymous with the Internet, though the Internet is often seen as the most prominent infrastructure upon which this network of human bio-computers interacts.  The problem-solving capacity of large numbers of human collaborators can be seen in a number of arenas, but one of the most interesting is the way in which players of alternate reality games (ARGs) cooperate via online message boards to quickly solve complex puzzles. 

The effectiveness with which this network can function across the arbitrary political boundaries which divide the earth into ultimately ephemeral sovereign nations is an illustration of its capability.  The joke goes that on the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog.  In reality, the capability of the network to obfuscate the nationality, gender, religion, and other demographic factors which frequently contribute to discrimination serve as an egalitarian force which levels the playing field between participants in the collective.  In this collaborative information space, the mental capability and unique life experience of each human node becomes more important than the physical form and location of that person in meat-space.

The capability to network effectively also leads to a greater production of information.  The rate at which humanity is creating information is growing exponentially.  Researchers at the University of California have predicted that humanity, assisted by the machines that we have created, will have created more new information between 2003 and 2006 than during the prior 300,000 years of human history.[3]  The availability of resources such as distributed computing over high-speed fiber-optic networks, particularly between computers which are composed themselves of numerous CPUs working in parallel, have given mankind the ability to model the workings of the physical universe at both ends of the scale of existence. 

I believe that the human intelligence network is merely a waypoint on the larger collective human journey toward some level of singularity.  This event has been proposed by a number of authors and philosophers under various names.  One interpretation of this concept is the Omega Point described by Jesuit philosopher Teilhard De Chardin which emphasizes a growing connection among humanity as our population increases:

Pushed one against the other by the growth of their number and by the proliferation of their connections, approached one to the other by the reawakening of a common force and by the feeling of a common anxiety, the future human kind will form nothing but an unified consciousness. [4]

A less spiritual, more mechanistic interpretation of this union is the Technological Singularity described by mathematician and science fiction author Vernor Vinge.  This scenario assumes the creation of artificial intelligence, which Vinge suggested would likely occur sometime between 2005 and 2030 in his 1993 essay The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era.[5]  This interpretation is based on the earlier work of physicist John Von Neumann, among others. 

Whichever is the preferred vision of the future of mankind, there seems to be a recurring undercurrent, that there will come some point in the future at which man, like so many other animals before us, will either embrace our potential or become extinct.  The argument as to whether or not our technology will ever be capable of creating artificial intelligence is still not settled.  Some researchers in the field have come to consider it an inevitable occurrence, while others have become disillusioned after so much work in the field has still not produced it, that they believe at this point that it will never happen.  If the principle of emergence does in fact apply to humanity as it does to other organisms and machines, then AI is not required for this to happen, and a purely biological state of unity may be our ultimate future as a race.

Ultimately, I believe that the attainment of human singularity, if it is to occur at all, will be through the use of technology rather than spiritualism.  In the real world, a human relationship with the divine is most often manifest through monolithic religions which are based upon rigidly codified dogma.  Regardless of their intents, the effect of these faiths is not to unify humanity as a species, but rather to fragment us into competing factions, each bent on spreading the tenets of that particular faith to as many others as possible.  The directive to engage in this dissemination is itself often a requirement of membership.  When several large religions which incorporate this belief come into conflict with each other, the results can be catastrophic. 

Technology can be customized and packaged differently in various regions in order to have broad appeal across demographic groups.  In addition to this fact, despite jokes to the contrary, brand loyalty is seldom a strong enough motivator to lead to holy war.  Communications protocols and broadly supported data standards are capable of uniting users into groups of global scope, crossing language and religious barriers in a way that allows an unacknowledged commonality to piggyback along with commercial motives like a remora on a shark.

“We may think we’re connected to the universe, we may well be in control of our personal space as a result of these technologies, we may think we’re networking, but it’s in a one-on-one system. It’s a fetishization of connectedness, an illusion.”

– Graeme Turner, University of Queensland

Ironically, the same technology which empowers us, extends us, and has the potential to unite us can also isolate and distract us.  The above quote is from an article which reviewed the 25^th anniversary of the Sony Walkman.[6]  I also think that it makes an appropriate introduction to an examination of the view which opposes the concept of singularity through technology.

The virtual personal space which is created by the use of headphones on portable music players has been lamented as being detrimental to social interaction since the introduction of the aforementioned Walkman.  This space does not invite interaction. A similar phenomenon is evident in the use of cell phones in public spaces.  Although communication is taking place, it does not leave the speaker open and approachable for interaction with others in their immediate environment.  The device which offers constant connectivity paradoxically also acts as a barrier to face to face conversation.

There are cultural factors other than religion and technology itself that will impact the possibility of attaining a human singularity of any type.  Whereas some cultures actively promote a sense of social solidarity among their citizens, others emphasize the sanctity of the rugged individual.  Besides a purely social force, this is also a side-effect of certain marketing practices which seek to instill in consumers a sense of isolation which can then be satisfied by the advertised product.  Besides these general factors, any number of special interests might have their own reasons for keeping the status quo and preventing humanity from achieving its apex.  A perusal of the wide range of conspiracy theories available online will provide a deep pool of potential spectres to fill this role.  Again in this matter there are no absolutes, as the commercial and governmental entities which may be perceived as opponents to unity have also invested a great deal of money in the creation of the most likely infrastructure through which it may occur.

References:

De Chardin, Teilhard. (cited in) “The Noosphere Concept.”

http://noosphere.cc/noosphere.html, accessed 6/22/06.

Kelly, Kevin. Out of Control. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. 1994.

P-Orridge, Genesis Breyer. “Magic Squares and Future Beats.” in Richard Metzger ed.

Book of Lies. New York: The Disinformation Company Ltd. 2003.

Quill, Greg. “Walls of Walkman.” Toronto Star, Jul. 25, 2004.

Vinge, Vernor. “The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-

Human Era”. http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/vinge/misc/singularity.html,

accessed 6/21/06.

Von Baeyer, Hans Christian. Information: The New Language of Science. Cambridge:

Harvard University Press. 2003.

---

[1] P-Orridge p. 106

[2] Kelly p. 12

[3] von Baeyer p. 4

[4] De Chardin,

[5] Vinge, 1993

[6] Quill, 2004.

I’ve been reading a great deal about pop magick lately. Richard Metzger’s Book of Lies from Disinformation press brought the topic up with me, and my subsequent readings of Grant Morrison’s writings have kept it active in my thoughts. I realized at some point in my reading that I had been employing a bit of pop magick myself for a number of years.

“Bitch, be cool!”

This magnificently concise and easy to comprehend command was spoken by Jules Winnfield (portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson) in the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction.

It is also incredibly effective as a minor banishing. Take few moments of deep breathing to focus Chi, then speak the phrase in a short, sharp, directed burst of energy in the direction (if possible) of whatever it is that you wish to effect. Minor annoyances will abate completely, and greater manifestations will “dim their fire” and tend to leave off whatever it was that was vexing you

You might think this is a joke. It certainly reads like it could be, doesn’t it? But it’s not. It works. Whether the entities that it effects are real, and the focus and intent of your Will is assaulting them, or they are imagined, and the result is achieved simply by centering and focusing is irrelevant. Either way, you will be left in a better state of mind, and the resultant irony of having just used a piece of action film dialogue as an incantation will redirect your ambient mindset.
Vargr
03.18.04

This night is chilled by ghosts
And the woods are full of werewolves

• Enshrined in Crematoria, Cradle of Filth

I listen to a lot of Cradle of Filth, and sometimes I am driven to ponder the more esoteric (and silly) aspects of their lyrics. The above made me wonder: What does Dani mean by “full of werewolves?” What actually constitutes a forest full of werewolves? What is the size of their territory? Do they hunt in packs like wolves, or as solo predators? What kind of an ecosystem is necessary to support these werewolves? Do they dine primarily on villagers? On deer? Some of these questions I cannot answer, but there is one that I can take a stab at, so to speak.

A quick Google search reveals that a wolf’s territory can range from 13 – 2,400 mi². Let’s use this as a basis. I’ll take the extreme low in an attempt to maximize the number of werewolves in the woods. Too, the median wolf pack size seems to be 5, so we’ll use that too, and assume them to be pack hunters. If the pack spreads out to cover the maximum amount of area in their hunt, this will lead to a werewolf/ mi² value of 0.384615 (repeating, of course) werewolves per square mile.

I don’t know where exactly the song is set, so I’m going to assume it’s in Romania. The website http://www.fao.org asserts that 6.249 million ha of Romania is covered in forest. A hectare is equivalent to 0.00386102 square miles. That means that there are 24,285.8158‬ square miles of forest. Since we know how many werewolves per square mile there are, we can calculate that there are a total of 9,340 (rounded down) werewolves in the woods.

This article originally appeared in the Yule 1994 issue of Idunna, the journal of the Ring of Troth.
It was also submitted as the first research project in my Elder training in the Ring.

Of all the Aesir, Tyr is among the least understood. This is due to the scarcity of material from early pagan times, and due to the misconceptions and contradictions present in much of the material that is available.

From his beginnings as Tiwaz, the sky god of the early Indo-Europeans, to his remembrance as the Viking god of the thing and of warfare, to his place in Asatru today, this article will attempt to give a greater understanding of this enigmatic god.

The name Tiwaz, in Germanic, means “Shining One” or is also a generic term for “god” (Daly 1991). In Old High German, this became Zio, and in Old Norse, Tyr. The word Tiwaz is the cognate to the Sanskrit word “dyaus”, the Greek “Zeus”, and the Roman “Jupiter”. Each of these terms relates to a divinity which is the personification of the sky (Grimm 1882).

Under the name of Ziu, Tyr was the chief diety of the Suebians (Guerber 1895). The Suebians were an early Teutonic tribe, and were a part of the Alemanni who were a confederation of peoples of the Upper Rhine around the third century C.E. (Spence 1985). The modern German city of Augsburg was the Suebian capital, and was then called Ziusburg.

The wide-spread worship of Tyr throughout Northern Europe is indicated by the abundance of place-names (Tisvelde, Tysting, Tisdorf, Ziesburg etc.) and plant-names (Tyviër, Tyrhialm, Tysfiola, Tistbast etc.) which are found (Grimm 1882). These names can be found throughout the Rhine region, Upper Germany, North Germany, Saxony, and Scandinavia (MacCulloch 1930). It must be noted however, that the largest number of these place-names are concentrated in Denmark (Jones 1984).

His worship may have been even wider-spread than is indicated by these names, as other nations knew him by different names, many of which may now be lost. We do know that he was worshiped by the Saxons as Saxnot, or “Sword Companion”, and by the Cheruski under the name of Cheru. Other names under which he was worshiped include: Dings, Dis, Ear, Erias, Iertac, Ziumen, and Ziuwari (Sykes 1965). The Romans recorded his name as “Mars Thingsus”, which indicates that they perceived him as both a war god, and the god of the Thing, or assembly. This will be discussed shortly.

Probably the greatest indicator of his importance both in ancient, and even into modern times, is that one of the days of the week bears his name.

Some of what we know about the ancient importance of Tyr is contained in archaeological finds throughout Northern Europe. A set of golden runic horns were found in Gallehus, Denmark, which date to the early fifth century C.E.. These were destroyed by thieves during the 19th century, but they had been extensively studied before this occurred. Carvings on these horns depicted several figures, which have been interpreted to be either gods or godar. One of these is a one-handed man which some scholars have interpreted to be Tiwaz. Another find is a helmet plate from a Vendel grave in Sweden, which dates to the sixth or seventh century C.E.. This plate depicts a chained animal, which may represent the binding of Fenris (Davidson 1967). Proof that Tyr’s worship was carried abroad is found in the form of a Frisian altar found at Hadrian’s Wall in England in 1883 (Kauffmann 1903). The altar bears an inscription to Mars Thingsus, and was apparently used by Frisian mercenaries in service to Rome.

More reliable information than archaeological conjecture can be found in the written accounts of historians from that period, such as Cornelius Tacitus. Tacitus recorded much about the lives and religious practices of the Teutonic tribes in his Germania. The holy places of the early Germans were woods and groves (Tacitus 1970). The Suebians had a particularly holy grove in which human sacrifices were conducted. No man could enter the grove until he had been bound, to show his mortal inferiority. If someone fell while in the grove, they were not permitted to rise, but had to roll or crawl on the ground. This grove was considered to be the center of their entire religion.

By the time of the Viking era, Tyr’s importance had greatly diminished (Davidson 1988). In most areas, he was still considered to be one of the three primary gods, along with Odhinn and Thorr, but in some regions, especially Sweden, Freyr had superseded him in importance. He had come to be considered the son of either Odhinn, or the giant Hymir (Grant 1990). It is debated whether or not this was thought to literally be true, or to be simply an acknowledgment that Odhinn was now superior. It has been noted that Odhinn appears to be the successor of both the earlier Wodan, and Tiwaz, as he retained some of the qualities of both earlier dieties (Davidson 1964). The only other proposed origin for Tyr was that he was formed in Ymir’s sweat, along with the etins (Allardice 1991).

Even though his importance had diminished from earlier times, Tyr was still called on for help in battle. In the Prose Edda, (trans. Young 1954), we read:

He is the boldest and most courageous,
and he has the power over victory in
battle; it is good for brave men to
invoke him. …[he] is one-handed and
he is not called a peace-maker

Concerning the way in which he should be invoked, we find in the Lay of Sigrdrifa in the Poetic Edda (Hollander 1962):

Learn victory runes if thou victory wantest
and have them on thy sword’s hilt
on thy sword’s hilt some, on thy sword’s guard
some, and call twice upon Tyr.

This brings to mention the “T” rune that bears Tyr’s name. It was carved on weapons to insure their wielder victory. Its form has been interpreted to mean either a spearhead, or more esoterically, the vault of the heavens being supported by the universal world column (Thorsson 1984).

Besides being considered the god of battle, Tyr was also considered to be the god of law, order and justice (Davidson 1982). The dual attributes of battle and justice assigned to Tyr have caused much confusion. It is not until one considers that law transcends human definitions that this duality makes sense. In order to establish law and order within the cosmos, battle must be fought against the forces of chaos. By binding chaos, Tyr is seen as the bringer of order (Konung-Agnarsson 1994).

Understanding the transition from Tiwaz, the sky god, to Tyr, the war god, is easier when one considers that sky gods in general often have an aspect of war (De La Saussaye 1902). When one aspect of a god is removed, another will come to prominence. In this case, Odhinn and Thorr have taken over the aspect of sky god (Davidson 1982). This has left the warrior aspect as his primary role. Over time, all gods will change, depending on the attitudes and needs of their followers. This is how the law aspect came to be.

As previously mentioned, Tyr was known also as “Mars Thingsus”, or god of the Thing. The Thing was the assembly of men in which disputes were settled, laws were made, and all manner of matters decided upon. Tyr was connected with the Thing from the times of the earliest Germanic tribes. As Tacitus recorded, only the priests were allowed to mete out punishment, from floggings to death. These punishments were decided at the Thing, at first by the Godar, then in later times by the “holmganga” (trial-by- combat) (Davidson 1964). Both of these methods fall under the auspices of Tyr.

Few myths survive which tell of Tyr’s exploits. The most important of these is the binding of Fenris. For a very readable rendition of this, see _The Norse Myths_ by Kevin Crossley-Holland, or for the original, see the Prose Edda. To summarize, the gods decided that the great wolf Fenris, son of Loki, had to be bound, for fear that he would become too destructive. The gods played on Fenris’ pride, and challenged his strength to break various fetters. When the gods brought forth the magical bond Gleipnir, Fenris feared a trick, and would not let the gods place it on him until one of them placed his hand in the wolf’s mouth. Of all the gods, only Tyr was brave enough to do so. When Fenris could not break the bond, he bit off Tyr’s hand.
In the myth of Aegir’s cauldron, Tyr is no more than a straight man for Thor. For a decent rendition of this myth, see Green’s _Myths of the Norsemen_. From the myths of Ragnarok, we know what ultimate fate awaits Tyr:

Against strong Tyr leaps Garm, the fierce
wolfdog, and in dread conflict they engage;
and one by the other is wounded so that both
fall dead (MacKenzie 1985).

From the eddic sources, we see that Tyr’s actions benefit the common good. We also strengthen the concept of Tyr as a god of oaths and law. Although he broke his oath, he also willingly paid the price.

If comparatively little is known of Tyr, then almost nothing is known of Zisa, his consort. We know that she too was worshipped by the Suebians, and that a festival was held in her honor on September 28th (Grimm 1882). It is possible that Zisa is actually Isis, as Grimm draws a possible connection between the names, and Tacitus reported that Isis was revered by the Suebians. There is also possible archaeological evidence that Zisa may be a female counterpart to Tyr (Bainbridge 1993). In addition to Zisa, there is some evidence that Tyr may have been married to Angrboda, the mother of Fenris. In Loki’s Flytting (Lokasenna), Loki states: “With thy housewife I slept so a son she bore; nor did a penny didst get to pay thee back for this wrong thou wretch (Hollander 1962).”

It is necessary in a study of any depth to address the comparisons and similarities between Tyr and the gods of other folk. There are several gods that Tyr has been often compared to. The first of these is Nuada, the king of the Celtic Tuatha De Danann (MacCana 1983). There are several notable similarities between Tyr and Nuada. According to Celtic myth, Nuada lost his hand battling the Firbolgs at the first battle of Magh Tuiredh. Although the method in which each god lost his hand is different, in each case it was done to benefit the greater good of the folk. For further commentary on the nature of these losses, see _Death, War and Sacrifice_ by Bruce Lincoln.

Another point of similarity between these two are their swords. Nuada’s sword was considered to be among the greatest treasures of the Celtic gods. Similar to this is the early myth of the sword of Cheru (Tyr), which was said to have been made by the sons of Ivaldi. Cheru entrusted the keeping of his sword to his people, the Cheruski. While they held it, they believed themselves to be invincible. Legend holds that is was the sword of Cheru which Attila found and used in his conquests (Guerber 1895).

In addition to Nuada, Tyr has often been compared to Mithra, the multifaceted Indo-European god (Turville-Petre 1975). Mithra, also known as Mitra in Vedic sources, was a god of contracts and agreements, as well as serenity. It may seem to be a contradiction, but he was a peaceful god who was also capable of leading hosts to victory in battle (Comte 1991). It is also possible that the early Germans knew of Mithra, as his cult spread as far north as the Rhine, and survived into the fifth century C.E..

Works Consulted

Allardice, Pamela. Myths, Gods, and Fantasy ABC-CLIO, New York, 1991.
Bainbridge, Bill. “Tyr and Zisa” Our Troth ed. Kveldulf Gundarsson. Ring of Troth, Seattle, 1993.
Comte, Fernande. Chambers Encyclopedic guide: Mythology Chambers, Edinburgh, 1991
Crossley-Holland, Kevin. The Norse Myths Pantheon, New York, 1980.
Daly, Kathleen. Norse Mythology A to Z Facts on File, New York, 1991.
Davidson, H. R. E. Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, 1988.
—. Scandinavian Mythology Peter Bedrick, New York, 1982.
—. Pagan Scandinavia Praeger, New York, 1967.
—. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe Penguin, London, 1964.
De La Saussaye, P.D. The Religion of the Teutons Trans. B.J. Vos. Ginn, Boston, 1902.
Grant, John. An Introduction to Viking Mythology Chartwell, Secaucus, 1990.
Green, Roger L. Myths of the Norsemen Penguin, London, 1960.
Grimm, Jacob. Teutonic Mythology Trans. J.S. Stallybrass George Bell & Sons, Covent Garden, 1882.
Guerber, H. A. Myths of Northern Lands American Books, New York, 1895.
Hollander, Lee M. Trans. The Poetic Edda University of Texas Press, Austin, 1962.
Jones, Gwyn. A History of the Vikings Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1984.
Kauffman, Friedrich. Northern Mythology Trans. M. Smith Dent, London, 1903.
Konung-Agnarsson, Rig. “Tyrianism” Fjallabok May 1994: 5-7.
Lincoln, Bruce. Death, War, and Sacrifice University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1990(?).
MacCana, Proinsias. Celtic Mythology Peter Bedrick, New York, 1983.
MacKenzie, Donald. German Myths and Legends Crown, New York, 1985.
McCulloch, John. The Mythology of All Races: Vol 2: Eddic Jones, Boston, 1930.
Spence, Lewis. Myths and Legends: Germany Bracken, London, 1985.
Sturluson, Snorri. The Prose Edda Trans. Anthony Faulkes. Tuttle, Rutland, 1987.
—. The Prose Edda Trans. Jean Young. University of California Press, 1954.
Sykes, Egerton. Everyman’s Dictionary of Non-Classical Mythology Dent, London, 1965.
Tacitus, Cornelius. The Agricola and The Germania Trans. H. Mattingly. Penguin, London, 1970.
Thorsson, Edred. Futhark Samuel Weiser, York Beach, 1984.
Turville-Petre, E. O. G. Myth and Religion of the North Greenwood, New York, 1975.

Vargr
6/16/94

Here is another article that I wrote 14 years ago for the original SpikeVision website.

Vargr: The Institution of Outlawry

Dave Smith, 2004

 The institution of outlawry for punishment of severe crimes was practiced throughout the Viking age.  Further, the concept of outlaws being equivalent to or associated with wolves was widespread throughout northern Europe.   This article will briefly examine this practice, both from an historical and a literary standpoint.

 What was Outlawry?

 Although practiced throughout northern Europe, many of the best historical and literary accounts come from Iceland.  For this reason, many of the examples will be of Icelandic origin. Outlawry was a complex social and economic punishment, which could be imposed for a number of crimes, and which consisted of several components. The root of outlawry was banishment from the country.  In the case of lesser outlawry, or Fjörbaugsgarður, it was for the term of three years. In the case of greater outlawry, or Skóggangur, the banishment was for life, and after three months, the outlaw could be lawfully killed. (1)

 Often, rather than leaving the country, the outlawed man would take refuge in the heath or forest.  For this reason, such men were often known as forest-dwellers.

 The term of banishment could vary widely.  A man’s friends and family could petition the Thing for removal of the penalty, while the family of the slain could urge its extension.

 Grettir decided to go on to the Thing, and to the Thing he went. The matter was taken up by the heirs of the man slain. Thorkell gave his hand to pay the compensation and Grettir was to be banished for three years. (2)

 In fact, Grettir’s banishment lasted a total of twenty years.

 In 982 Eric the Red was outlawed for three years and used his period of banishment to organize an expedition and explore Greenland.

 The outlawed man could not petition the Thing, nor could he be named as a defendant.  If he was encountered in the land from which he was banished, he could be killed without fear of reprisal, for he was literally outside of the protection of the law.  It was common for the friends or family of a slain man to put a price on the head of the slayer.  In addition, the outlawed man lost all property.

 Though I use the term ‘outlawed man’ throughout this essay, there is evidence that a woman could also be punished in this manner.

 “If a man slays a woman he shall be outlawed just as if he has slain a man. If a woman slays a man, she shall be outlawed, and her kinsmen shall remove her from the land” (3)

 Crimes

 There were a number of crimes and offenses for which a man could be made an outlaw.  These include:

 Murder (cited above)

 Theft:

“If a well-born woman steals, she shall be driven out of the land into another kingdom. (4)

 Harboring an outlaw:

 Grettir stayed but a few nights with Grim, for he did not want it to become known that he was about to travel North across the Heath. Grim told him to come back to visit him if he needed protection. “Yet,” he said, “I would gladly avoid the penalty of being outlawed for harbouring you.” (5)

 Grievously insulting another man:

 There are three words from maliced verse between men, which are punished with full outlawry. If a man calls a man ragr or stroðinn or sorðinn. And they shall be punished as fully slanderous words, and a man is given the right to kill for these words. (6)

 Going berserk (as stated in Christian law in 1123):

 If someone goes berserk, he is punished with lesser outlawry and the men who are present are also banished if they do not bind him. (7)

 Outlaws as wolves

 The association of outlaws and wolves is very strong in the Germanic cultures. The Old Norse word vargr (OSw: varghær, OHG: warg, OE: wearg ) has been translated in a number of ways, and several Indo-European root words have been claimed as its source. These include *wergh (“strangle”, via the Germanic *wargaz) (8) and  the Germanic “wacrer” (to wander).  The latter is the root for the modern English word vagrant.  From the fact that the major component of outlawry was banishment, this last option seems to be the most likely source.  Those who transgress against society are forced to wander from their homeland.

 After the Christianization of Northern Europe, an additional aspect of being outside of the faith as well:

 _Vargr_ is the same as _u-argr_, restless; _argr_ being the same as the Anglo-Saxon _earg_. _Vargr_ had its double signification in Norse. It signified a wolf, and also a godless man.(9)

 One author holds that the association between wolves and outlaws seems to be a later phenomenon particular to the Norse cultures:

 …it is only late, and mostly in Norse, that vargr (cognate with warg) acquires the meaning “wolf” along with “criminal.” In Old English, wearg means almost exclusively “criminal” or “accursed being.” (10)

 In Anglo-Saxon lands, the term “wolf’s-head” became an accepted term for criminals (11). This connection itself is not so simple as it may seem.  At first view, it seems to be made due to the similarity in temperament between wolves and criminals.  However, deeper meanings to this connection have been suggested.  Some authors have suggested that the condemnation of an outlaw as vargr is a symbolic pronouncement that the man is now a wolf, and is worthy of strangulation (12).

 Thus it is well seen that Sigi has slain the thrall and murdered him; so he is given forth to be a wolf in holy places , and may no more abide in the land with his father (13)

 Völundur, Egill and Slagfinnur, the third son of Ívaldi, chose to become outlaws, and travelled all the way to the northernmost edge of the world, to Úlfdalir (Wolf-dales), where Gods never go. (14)

 One author has suggested that there is also a symbolic connection between the transformation of men into wolves, and the feminization of men through the practice of Seidr magic and in playing the passive role in sodomy.  The term ergi, may have applied to both of these receptive roles (15).

 Conclusion

 Outlawry as a social institution allowed society to pass judgment and punish criminals while avoiding the authoritarian and logistical dilemma of incarceration.  In a family-based society without clearly defined leaders, it provided a social mandate for punishment that was well-suited to the temperament and attitudes of the people. The threat of being placed outside the bound of society’s protection and ejected from the homeland was a strong deterrent to discourage anti-social or destructive behavior.

 The association between wolves and outlaws is a complex one, which is not necessarily clarified by analysis of linguistic structures.  The relationship comes in part due to the temperament and unpredictability attributed to both entities, but also carries an aspect of unholiness.  As the wolf threatens the safety of the flock, so does the outlaw threaten the stability of society. Both were dwellers in the literal and metaphorical wild lands, or utangards.  Both were to be regarded with a sense of dread, as both were outside of the social construct of normal behavior.  The inability to predict the motives or actions of such protean beings would greatly unnerve members of a culture based on established social, familial and traditional patterns of conduct.

 References

 (1) ‘Ordered Anarchy: Evolution of the Decentralized Legal Order in the Icelandic Commonwealth’, Birgir T. Runolfsson Solvason, 1992.

(2) Grettir’s Saga, Section XVI, (14th c. A.D.) G. H. Hight trans.

(3)   The Earliest Norwegian Laws,  Lawrence M. Larson trans. 1935.

(4)   Ibid.

(5) Staðarhólsbók of Grágás, Selvårv Stigårð trans. 1999.

(5)   Grettir’s Saga, Section XLVII.

(7) The Viking Achievement, P.G. Foote & D.M. Wilson.

(8)   ‘Hellhounds, Werewolves, and the Germanic Underworld’, Alby Stone, 1994.

(9)   ‘The Book of Were-Wolves’, Sabine Baring-Gould, Project Gutenberg, 2002

(10) ‘Wolf and Werewolf’, Online Etymology Dictionary.

(11) ‘Bums in Brigantia: Sacred Gender-Variance in Ancient Germanic and Celtic Cultures’, Phil Hine.

(12) ‘Hellhounds, Werewolves, and the Germanic Underworld’, Alby Stone, 1994.

(13) Volsunga Saga, ch. 1 (13^th c A.D.) William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson trans.

(14) Rydberg’s Edda, ch. 43, 1889 trans.

(15) ‘Bums in Brigantia: Sacred Gender-Variance in Ancient Germanic and Celtic Cultures’, Phil Hine.

I originally wrote this article for the Red Company website within the Society for Creative Anachronism in 2000. In October of 2018, the Middle Kingdom website was re-launched, and the Red Company site is no longer there.  I am re-posting this so that it remains accessible.

Combat Awareness, or Zanshin (‘reserved mind’, among other translations) in Japanese, is a state of alertness, balance, and control, both physical and mental, which can have a profound positive impact on an individual who possesses such skills.

This article is a brief, and by no means comprehensive look at how this principle can be applied to SCA armored combat. I’m sure that some will read this, and think it rudimentary and over-simplified, and others might have no desire to make this type of training part of their regimen. Both of these are perfectly acceptable reactions. It is for those who are looking for something more from SCA combat, and who have not had other appreciable martial arts training that this article is directed. There is much more to learn about this and its related concepts such as meditation and breathing exercises.

Mental preparation is a vital part of any martial art or athletic endeavor. It seems that relatively few armored combatants in the SCA have a physical training regimen outside of fighting itself, and fewer still go beyond to examine the mental aspects of our combat. It’s often fairly easy to identify those who have mastered the mental aspects of our combat, as they are often adorned with coronets or white belts or baldrics. When two combatants are equally matched in physical skill, the one with a better mental state will usually win the fight. Even against a superior opponent, a less experienced fighter can often make up the difference mentally.

First it should be understood that this kind of awareness is not a mystical and unobtainable state, but can be learned through repeated practice. By following a few simple steps on a regular basis, good habits that promote awareness and mental focus can be developed.

Preparation:
The level of mental preparation required by any given fighter will be different, and the same fighter might need different degrees of preparation in different circumstances. A pre-fight regimen of stretching and clearing the head of obstructions is a good first step. (If nothing else in this article sticks with you, believe me on the stretching. Always stretch out before fighting. Lack of this is probably the single largest cause of preventable injuries in our combat.) Duke Moonwulf’s article The Metaphysics of Fighting has a good example of this, using visualization as a preparatory ritual. Make the donning of armor into a ritual of its own. Spend as a little as few minutes paying attention to the details of your actions. Let extraneous thoughts drain away. Be present in the moment.

Mental State:
There are multitudes of factors that can affect your performance mentally. Sleep deprivation, anger, hunger, and numerous others. Many of these factors cannot be directly countered. Awareness of their presence is often the best that can be hoped for. Some factors, however, can and should be dealt with. Never fight if you are angry. It leads to injuries, either yours or your opponent’s. Even if no one is injured, you will still not fight up to your true capability if your mind is preoccupied. It is better not to fight, than to fight unsafely.

Not everyone can maintain a state of calm while fighting, especially during large tournaments, but even a small amount of attention paid to settling yourself can go a long way. Between rounds, try to relax. If you have pieces of armor that are restrictive or uncomfortable, and can be easily removed, do so. Breathe deeply. Shallow, panting breaths are not as efficient in supplying oxygen to the bloodstream. Deep breathing also promotes a more relaxed physical state.

Focus:
Too often in armored combat, we lose focus and become distracted. This can include anything from falling prey to a feint, to something outside of the listfield catching our attention. The key to avoiding this is to look broadly rather than deeply. Don’t fixate on any one thing visually. Scan continuously. Take advantage of your peripheral vision by looking through your opponent rather than at them. This will give you a better overall ability to detect minute movements or changes in direction. It should go without saying, but concentrate entirely on the fight you are in. Never look past your current opponent in a tourney until you have helped them up from the ground to shake their hand.

Awareness:
Awareness includes awareness of your surroundings, of your opponent(s), and of yourself. Study your own movements, and those of your opponent. This will provide maximum efficiency in both offensive and defensive movement. The ultimate goal is to have complete control of your own timing and movement. This will allow you to control the fight. If you know where you are in relation to the borders of the listfield at all times, and your opponent lacks this awareness, it can give you a distinct advantage.

Awareness of the self can include factors such as your range of motion, your exact weapons range, and the ability to determine if you have been injured, even through a good dose of adrenaline. Your body knows when its hurt or overheating, so listen to what its telling you. If you practice slow work, or with a pell (and I highly recommend both), learn how correct stances and movement feel to your body. How do the muscles in your arm feel as the blow goes through its range of motion? How does your weight transfer as you move? How are your feet positioned relative to each other? Can you feel the point at which you must decide to recover to a ready stance, or to continue movement into a combination? If you can develop enough body awareness to feel these things, they can become second nature to you. The key is not to expect too much too soon. Pick different aspects to concentrate on each time you practice. One instructor I have trained with outside of the SCA emphasized the mantra: “Grace before speed.” In practicing these techniques, this is of utmost importance. Learn your moves slowly, deliberately, and correctly, and your body will remember them.

Application:
The ideal defensive situation is to be able to focus on the immediate threat, neutralize it, and forget about it. Analyze the details of the fight after it is over.
Whether you win or lose, analyze how and why the fight ended. Another side to awareness is concealment of your own intentions. Part of this is not revealing weaknesses in your own style to an opponent. Don’t give anything away. If you can’t block a rising wrap shot to save your life, don’t put yourself into a position where you have to. If you are losing to a particular person, or against a particular weapons form, train to adjust your techique appropriately. Remember that an experienced opponent will be trying to do the same things to you that are to him or her.

One of the offensive uses of awareness is noticing and capitalizing on weaknesses in your opponent’s technique. Sometimes these openings are immediately noticeable, sometimes it requires several exchanges, or even several losses to a particular opponent before you can see the patterns. Look at how your opponent moves. When you’re not fighting, watch others who are. The things you learn by observation can pay off greatly.

In the literature of Mizoguchi’s ITTO-RYU school of kenjutsu, it says:

“Zanshin means to reserve one’s mind and is the principle of never letting one’s guard down, even when one’s victory seems to be complete. It is very difficult to judge whether the opponent has any other trick ‘up his sleeve’, even when you feel that your cut or thrust has had a good effect. There are many examples of unexpected defeat in history. When you strike down the opponent and cut his head off, you should still never let down you guard, and this is Zanshin.”

You may perhaps have seen the application of this principle. Has an opponent in mid-drop whose legs you have just taken ever hit you in the head? Have you ever been certain that a shot you threw was good, only to hesitate just long enough to watch a sword rebounding off your face plate? These are only two examples. Until you are certain that the fight is over, never drop your defenses.

Conclusion:
I hope that this article has shown the importance of the mental aspects of our combat, as well as the benefits of cultivating a sense of combat awareness.
Once learned, these skills have a broad range of applications outside of combat activities as well.

One of the fun things about producing content on the Internet and Web for almost 25 years is when I come across something that I wrote nearly two decades ago, and can reflect on what I learned from writing it. Tonight I ended up reading my article on Combat Awareness that I wrote for the Red Company website 18 years ago. The Red Company is an order in the Middle Kingdom of the Society for Creative Anachronism that serves to recognize leadership and proficiency in heavy weapons combat. The article can be found on the Red Company website, which I originally created back in 1998.