It has been said that the earliest "Vikings" had no written language. For purposes of this discussion we will substitute Northern tribes for the term "Vikings". Most of what we know about these tribes has come through Roman records and has been influenced by Greco-Roman Pantheon. Additionally there are Runic artifacts and some surviving poetry and prose. We are all familiar with those. But there is more, much more. I propose to you that with a bit of discerning research, one can see an actual language in the inscriptions of other objects that are somewhat uncommon. Specifically in talismans that have been uncovered and sequestered in museums and art collections. Naysayers will attest that all theses tribes were limited to Runes but if they had the ability to record Runes, why not other things? There is nothing else just because we haven't found anything? Maybe we have become complacent and are not looking hard enough.
So let's jump right in to the meat of the theory. Thanks to People like Caitlin Barrett and Cornell University and the Berlin Museum, there is a great collection of inscripted and iconographic artifacts from Roman and pre-Roman times that bear languages that no one has completely deciphered. There are also scripts called papryi that contain the spells and incantations of Roman and Egyption magicians and sorcerers. What makes all of these things most interesting is that they name and describe a plethora of dieties, spirits and demons. Not all of these descriptions are Roman, Egyptian or Hebrew. The empire was quite vast. Not everything was cooked up in the back of an Athenian temple so to speak. Some of these things came from the tribes of the North and sit idle awaiting explanation.Most researchers are satisfied with what they have discovered and constructed to explain the Northern tribes and there is little interest in delving deeper.Especially when it comes to magick. These "Abraxas" stones and their constituents hold the hidden written history of the North. What will spark scholarly interest is when some of these are unearthed in a region that scientifically and geologically records their finding.
Most likely, the newly found "Abraxas" stones will come from Kievian Russia. Presently, there is a lot of commercial archeology being done there in old "Viking" settlements. A lot of artifacts are being sold to the art collectors world. Hopefully, the ones we are looking for will end up in the hands of museums so this work can be continued. Perhaps a Rune set with accompanying magickal incantation. It is out there somewhere.
I'm wondering. Is the situation with neo Norse paganism then similar to neo Druidism? Are the practitioners sort of winging it? I don't mean to offend, I'm just trying to understand.
You are right on track. There are many paths to Norse paganry and to Druidism. The term “Neo” really should be applied to the “reconstructionist” versions of the two paths. Reconstruction meaning post 1960 scholarly hypothesis of what each of these paths likely were about. One can include wicca to this also. Theistic analogy of all of these “religions” are that they are polythiestic but based on the ways that correspond to earth nature. There are gender based dieties and each has control over a specific aspect of life on earth. Our interaction with earth and these dieties are part of the cycles of life. We choose our path according to what we are conditioned to or to what we feel closest to.
