World Famous Comics: Elves, Wights, and Trolls: Studies Towards the Practice of Germanic Heathenry: Vol. I (v. 1)
Elves, Wights, and Trolls: Studies Towards the Practice of Germanic Heathenry: Vol. I (v. 1)
By: Kveldulf Gundarsson Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: iUniverse, Inc. Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 184 Publication Date: March 04, 2007 Release Date: March 04, 2007
Product Description: Elves, Trolls, and Wights is the most complete study yet made of the various beings with whom the Vikings shared their world, from the smallest spirits of stones and plants to the great giants who strive against or aid the Norse gods. Elves, dwarves, giants, wights dwelling in rocks, streams, and oceans: these beings have been friends, foes, and even lovers of humans, and often worked more closely with farming and fishing folk on a daily basis than did the gods themselves. In this book, Kveldulf Gundarsson, long-famed scholar of Old Norse religion and Heathen leader, looks closely at the history and folklore of these beings and offers a practical guide for dealing with them. Elves, Trolls, and Wights also includes Kveldulf’s new translation of the little-known Icelandic skaldic poem “Berg-Dweller’s Song”, in which the giant Hallmundr tells of his own folk and world-faring.
The Guy with the Difficult Germanic Name to Pronounce Does it Again! I have been a fan of Kveldulf (HOW do you pronounce that name?) since his first book, "Teuttonic Magic" came out back in the late 1980's. Later I bought his companion book, "Teutonic Religion" and enjoyed the chapter on the Wights as it had quite a bit of lore offered but I knew it was merely a scratch on the surface of what lay below. I had hoped Kvedulf would continue that aspect and lo and behold, he did!
This is one of the best printed books on the subject of Ghosts from an old Germanic perspective that I have yet to read. This is lore that's been difficult to locate (and I have looked!) Okay so what makes this book different? Information on HOW to deal with these sorts of Spirits.
Most of the material out there on the subject is academic and very little of it gives any sort of explanation as to WHAT something is let alone HOW to deal with it. The author though offers his advice that he's dug up on the subject - not that any of us are likely to run afoul of any 'trollkin' but with the weird way this world works, you NEVER know!
Further, you are given advice on how to conduct yourself should you ever happen to meet light alfs or dark alfs and what is acceptable behavior towards them and what is not. Consider this a Miss Manners training for the Metaphysical inducement of these sorts of Spirits.
He also does a fine job of giving you the old Scandinavian names of the creatures and where they're found in the sagas for you to go and investigate yourself. Like most Scandinavian authors, Kvedulf Gundarsson shows his research skills and sophistication in a subject that many New Agers are wholly ignorant of.
for instance, section 4.7 on page 52, "Friendship and Offerings to Water-Wights" is a terrific thing to put into a book! Think about it for a moment. We're not talking about made-up New Age nonsense but actual researched material that - who knows? - may one day save your life. How? Imagine that you've already given an offering of friendship to the Water-Wights and you just happen to be on a sinking water vessel. It's likely that you just may survive. Think I'm crazy? Ok I may be BUT I would rather at least TRY and be hopeful that I'll survive with their help than without it and beocme oNE of them.
There is a LOT of information packed into this little book and if y ou're a practitioner of ANY path of Occultism or Magical-Religion, then you should have this book in your library and reference it often.
I give this book five out of five possible stars for completeness and the fact the author includes a full Bibliography and well done index for specific research.
Elves Explained This is a comprehensive study of a subject not easily explained or traditionally documented. Easy to read, well researched, I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in other types of beings, whether you're a believer or not.
A serious (but entertaining) book for serious practitioners This was the first book by KvedulfR Gundarsson that I read and now I can't wait to read his other works. I have studied Northern magic and divination for many years and practised it (albeit in a small way), so have learned to distinguish, by and large, between genuine contributors to the tradition, bandwagon-jumpers and fantasists. I would class KveldulfR as a genuine contributor: while acknowledging inspirational predecessors such as Edred Thorsson and Frey Aswynn, he truly forges his own path and expounds the mysteries in a new, readable and entertaining fashion. This book contains a wealth of lore on the 'lesser' (but perhaps more significant in daily life) wights of the Northern belief-system and, what is more, it is all well researched and backed up by sound references to original sources. Following a thorough acquaintance with the alfs, wights and trolls, he suggests a number of rites - with appropriate cautions - for getting to know them, along with practical tips such as avoiding all use of iron when approaching alfs. For myself, I am eager to try these out but I would not recommend them to 'dabblers' or indeed to anyone who has not made a thorough and practice of the Northern tradition.
Good information, poorly written The author suffers, ironically, from knowing too much about the subject. The job of any writer isn't to put every single piece of information they could possibly conceive onto paper but to inform the listener in a way that assures the ideas will be absorbed, remembered and useful. Failing that, the author's job is to be entertaining. This book fails on all counts since it is tiresome to read and easy to lose track of what you're even reading about.
Common problems include:
1. The author partially translates words (maretorn means mara-thorn. Ah, of course! so what's a mara?) 2. He tries too hard to find cohesiveness about myths that aren't even consistent with themselves. He said towards the beginning that concepts about wights, alfs, trolls, et al greatly overlap and he should've left it at that. 3. Worst of all: each section will have countless information about the subject at hand, aspects of the subject often being separated into paragraphs! It makes the text hard to follow. 4. Use of parenthesis breaks up what are already long sentences. I personally would've preferred if those parenthetical statements, along with bottom-of-the-page captions, were all just numbered notes at the end of each chapter. But any system is better than the one that was used. 5. Since the author condenses so many stories into so little space, we are given only a taste of what are each, individually, very fascinating stories! The more I read the book, the more I feel all the author has to do is clean excesses out and expand on a smaller number of stories to illustrate his points.
Weak readability aside, this books is packed with information that any scholar of the history of religion or of Germanic peoples would find interesting. This book represents, in my opinion, the most prevalent and important aspect of ancient Germanic spirituality that is, at the same time, the most neglected. With countless books about the Gods and Goddesses, it's good that there's a book out about what people truly spent most of their time honoring.
The author shows a very complete knowledge of his field through a wide variety of sources (though I must complain that some of the more miraculous recent stories are hard to find in his sources.. I really want to know more about the story of the building of the Keflavik Air Base). Overall, this belongs in any heathen's bookshelf or that of anyone interested in the history of religion, particularly earth-based and animistic religions.
I dearly hope that the author of the book reads this review and makes a more readable next edition (pictures would be nice, too.. seriously!)
A Long Needed Book This book on the lore, folklore, and most importantly practical interaction with the spirits of Germanic religion is long needed. The author combines both ancient and modern lore about elves, land-spirits, and jotuns, and includes a few anecdotes of his own personal experiences to round the whole out. I would have liked to see a little more information about regional differences in the folklore between England, Scotland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, etc. and the author glosses over the problem of connecting the wight-lore of pre-Christian times with that of recent times, sometimes juxtaposing 19th and 10th century sources without consideration of the time differential (a problem for which there is an elegant solution, to be named later).
But the problems with this book are minor. It is most certainly required reading for any Asatruar or Theodsman wishing to expand their religion beyond the honoring of the Aesir. The plethora of practical examples and advice, culled from a variety of sources not ordinarily available to English-speaking audiences, is well worth the price alone.
I hope that the next volume in this series will deal as thoroughly with the house-spirits as this deals with the spirits of stone, spring, and tree. It is well worth the money; buy this book.
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