JOE KITTINGER, FLYING THE ATLANTIC BY A GAS BALLOON

Today, Joseph de Ca'th Lon, Claire Fontaine and The Grandma have travelled from Barcelona to Òdena to prepare their monthly trip by balloon. They want to spend a beautiful morning enjoying Catalan counties from the air and a special and sacred place, Montserrat. 

Before arriving to Òdena, they have talked about Joseph Kittinger, the American pilot who became the first person to fly a gas balloon alone across the Atlantic Ocean, on a day like today in 1984.

Joseph William Kittinger II (July 27, 1928-December 9, 2022) was an American military pilot who was an officer in the United States Air Force. He served from 1950 to 1978 and earned Command Pilot status before retiring with the rank of colonel. He held the world record for the highest skydive -31.3 km- from 1960 until 2012.

Kittinger participated in the Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior high-altitude balloon flight projects from 1956 to 1960 and was the first man to fully witness the curvature of the Earth.

A fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, Kittinger shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-21 jet fighter. He was later shot down as well, subsequently spending 11 months as a prisoner of war in a North Vietnamese prison before he was repatriated in 1973.

In 1984, Kittinger became the first person to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon.

In 2012, Kittinger participated in the Red Bull Stratos project as capsule communicator at age 84, directing Felix Baumgartner on his 39 km freefall from Earth's stratosphere, which broke Kittinger's own 53-year-old record. Felix Baumgartner's record would be broken two years later by Alan Eustace.

Born in Tampa, Florida, and raised in Orlando, Florida, Kittinger was educated at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, and the University of Florida. He became fascinated with planes at a young age and soloed in a Piper Cub by the time he was 17.

After racing speedboats as a teenager, he entered the U.S. Air Force as an aviation cadet in March 1949. On completion of aviation cadet training in March 1950, he received his pilot wings and a commission as a second lieutenant. He was subsequently assigned to the 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing based at Ramstein Air Base in West Germany, flying the F-84 Thunderjet and F-86 Sabre.

In 1954, Kittinger was transferred to the Air Force Missile Development Center (AFMDC) at Holloman AFB, New Mexico.

Captain Kittinger was next assigned to the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. For Project Excelsior, meaning ever upward, a name given to the project by Colonel Stapp as part of research into high-altitude bailouts, he made a series of three extreme altitude parachute jumps from an open gondola carried aloft by large helium balloons.

Kittinger retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1978 and initially went to work for Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) Corporation in Orlando, Florida. He later became vice president of flight operations for Rosie O'Grady's Flying Circus, part of the Rosie O'Grady's/Church Street Station entertainment complex in Orlando, prior to the parent company's dissolution.

Still interested in ballooning, Kittinger set a world distance record for the AA-06 size class of gas balloons of 3,221.23 kilometers in 1983. The record has since been broken. 

In 1984, he completed the first solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic in the 3,000 m3 Balloon of Peace, launched from Caribou, Maine, on September 14 and landing on September 18.

The flight was organized by the Canadian promoter Gaetan Croteau. An official FAI world aerospace record, the 5,703.03-kilometer flight is the longest gas balloon flight in the AA-10 size category.

Kittinger died at the age of 94 on December 9, 2022. He is interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

More information: The New York Times

The most fascinating thing is that it's just black overhead 

-the transition from normal blue to black is very stark... 
I was struck with the beauty of it. 
But I was also struck by how hostile it is: 
more than 100 degrees below zero, no air.

Joseph Kittinger

SONDERBUNDSKRIEG, SWITZERLAND AS A FEDERAL STATE

Today, The Grandma has received the visit of one of her closest friends, Joseph de Ca'th Lon.

Joseph is Swiss and they have been talking about the establishment of Switzerland as a federal state, on a day like today in 1848.

The rise of Switzerland as a federal state began on 12 September 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution in response to a 27-day civil war, the Sonderbundskrieg. The constitution, which was heavily influenced by the United States Constitution and the ideas of the French Revolution, was modified several times during the following decades and wholly replaced in 1999.

The 1848 constitution represented the first time, other than when the short-lived Helvetic Republic had been imposed, that the Swiss had a central government instead of being simply a collection of autonomous cantons bound by treaties.

In 1847, the period of Swiss history known as Restoration ended with a war between the conservative Roman Catholic and the liberal Protestant cantons (the Sonderbundskrieg). The conflict between the Catholic and Protestant cantons had existed since the Reformation; in the 19th century the Protestant population had a majority.

The Sonderbund, in German separate alliance, was concluded after the Radical Party had taken power in Switzerland and had, thanks to the Protestant majority of cantons, taken measures against the Catholic Church such as the closure of monasteries and convents in Aargau in 1841. When Lucerne, in retaliation, recalled the Jesuits the same year, groups of armed radicals (Freischärler) invaded the canton. The invasion caused a revolt, mostly because rural cantons were strongholds of ultramontanism.

The Sonderbund was in violation of the Federal Treaty of 1815, which forbade separate alliances, and the Radical majority in the Tagsatzung dissolved it on 21 October 1847. A confederate army was raised against the members of the Sonderbund, composed of soldiers of all the other states except Neuchâtel and Appenzell Innerrhoden, which stayed neutral. Ticino, while a Catholic canton, did not join the Sonderbund and fought alongside the Protestants.

The war lasted for less than a month, causing fewer than 100 casualties. Apart from small riots, this was the last armed conflict on Swiss territory.

At the end of the Sonderbund War, the Diet debated a new federal constitution drawn up by Johann Conrad Kern (1808-1888) of Thurgau and Henri Druey (1790-1855) of Vaud. In the summer of 1848 this constitution was accepted by fifteen and a half cantons, with Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Valais, Ticino and Appenzell Innerrhoden opposing. The new constitution was declared on 12 September 1848.

The new constitution created, for the first time, Swiss citizenship in addition to cantonal citizenship.

A federal central government was set up to which the cantons gave up certain parts of their sovereign rights. The Federal Assembly was made up of two houses: Council of States (Ständerat), composed of two deputies from each canton (44 members at the time) and the National Council (Nationalrat) made up of deputies elected three years, in the proportion of one for every 20,000 citizens or fraction over 10,000 from each canton.

The Federal Council or executive (Bundesrat) consisted of seven members elected by the Federal Assembly. In the 1848 Constitution, the Federal Council was granted the supreme executive and directorial authority of the Confederation. Each member of the Federal Council heads one of seven executive departments. The chairman of the Council also holds the title of President of the Swiss Confederation for a one-year term, with the position rotating among the members of the Federal Council.

The judiciary (Bundesgericht) was made up of eleven members elected for three years by the Federal Assembly. The Bundesgericht was chiefly confined to civil cases in which the Confederation was a party, but also took in great political crimes. All constitutional questions are however reserved for the Federal Assembly.

A federal university and a polytechnic school were to be founded. All capitulations were forbidden in the future. All cantons were required to treat Swiss citizens who belonged to one of the Christian confessions like their own citizens. Previously, citizens of one canton regarded citizens of the others as the citizens of foreign countries. All Christians were guaranteed the exercise of their religion but the Jesuits and similar religious orders were not to be received in any canton. German, French and Italian were recognized as national languages.

Although there was now a fully organized central government, Switzerland was a very decentralized federation. Most authority remained with the cantons, including all powers not explicitly granted to the federal government. One of the first acts of the Federal Assembly was to exercise the power given them of determining the home of the Federal authorities, the de facto capital of the newly created confederation, and on 28 November 1848 Bern was chosen. The first Federal Council sat on 16 November 1848, composed entirely of Radicals, predecessors of the Free Democratic Party.

Some of the first acts of the new Federal Assembly were to unify and standardize daily life in the country. In 1849 a uniform postal service was established. In 1850 a single currency was imposed to replace the cantonal currencies, while all customs between cantons were abolished. In 1851 the telegraph was organized, while all weights and measures were unified. In 1868 the metric system was allowed and in 1875 declared obligatory and universal. In 1854 roads and canals taken in hand were taken under federal control. The Federal Polytechnic wasn't opened until 1855 in Zurich, though the Federal university authorized by the new constitution has not yet been set up.

In 1859, Reisläuferei (mercenary service) was outlawed, with the exception of the Vatican guard.

In 1866, the rights granted only to Christians (free movement and freedom of religion) under the 1848 Constitution were extended to all Swiss regardless of religion.

More information: The Federal Assembly-The Swiss Parliament

 Switzerland is a small, steep country, 
much more up and down than sideways, 
and is all stuck over with large brown hotels built 
on the cuckoo clock style of architecture.

Ernest Hemingway

ARE YOU IN THE NORTH OF THE COUNTRY THEN?

Det e ikkje alltid det går
Sånn som du hadde tenkt
Det e ikkje alltid du når
Den ferga du kunne ha trengt

Du ser når han lyse der ute
På vei til et anna sted
Og du som var fire minutter i fra
En ny begynnelse

E du Nord i landet vårt
Har du meir enn ei ferje og miste
Du e ikkje den første som ho går i fra
Og du bli ikkje heller den siste

E du nord i landet da?
E du nord i landet da?

Ser ikkje sol i desember
Sola har da
Natta spis av dagen din
Og blir visst aldri mett

Himmelen har ikkje nordlys
Stjernen har brent for seg sjøl
Selv alle butikkan
Og du ser ingen stjerne å følg

E du nord i landet da?
Ska du bare la mørke rå
For ein kveld en kveld tek oss teppe fram
Og det kommer et lys av guds nåde

E du nord i landet da?
E du nord i landet da?

Det ekkje alltid du når
Landet før vindhalsen
Det ekkje alltid det går
Sånn som du hadde tenkt

Men der er du ikkje allein
Der er det mange som ror
Og krysser hverandre i mørket
Over en åpen fjord

E du nord i landet da?
E du gjennom den svarteste tidå?
Våren har sett dæ og skjøvve dæ fra
Snart på den andre sia

E du nord i landet da?
E du nord i landet da?

It's not always possible
As you intended
It's not always you reach
The ferry you could have needed

You see when he's bright out there
On the way to another place
And you who were four minutes away from
A new beginning

Are you North in our country
Do you have more than one ferry and lose
You're not the first one she's dating
And you will not be the last either

Are you in the north of the country then?
Are you in the north of the country then?

Do not see sun in December
Night cooker of your day
And will probably never be full
The sky does not have the northern lights

The star has burned for itself
Myself -everyone shop
And you see no star to follow
Are you in the north of the country then?

Should you just let darkness raw
For one night one night take us blanket out
And there comes a light of God's grace

Are you in the north of the country then?
Are you in the north of the country then?

It does not always reach you
the land before the wind neck
It does not always work out
as you intended

But there you are not alone
There are many who row
And cross each other in the dark
Over an open fjord

Are you in the north of the country then?
Are you through the blackest time?
Soon on the other side

Are you in the north of the country then?
Are you in the north of the country then?

 

Men der er du ikkje allein
Der er det mange som ror
Og krysser hverandre i mørket
Over en åpen fjord

But there you are not alone
There are many who row
And cross each other in the dark
Over an open fjord

Kari Bremnes

ASTÉRIX LE GAULOIS, VIRTUTE DUCE ET COMITE FORTUNA

Joseph de Ca'th Lon, Claire Fontaine and The Grandma are coming back to their homes. After spending some days in Tromsø living the experience of the Vikings, and before returning to Basel and Barcelona, they have done a little stop in Lyon to visit another viking who is building her future there.

They are accompanied by Astérix and his friends, some local inhabitants who know Lyon perfectly and who are the best guides you can have in these lands. 

Astérix le Gaulois, in English Astérix the Gaul, is a French comic story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. First published by Dargaud as a serial for Pilote magazine in October 1959, it was later released as a comic album in 1961. The story focuses on a Gaul named Astérix, whose village resists Roman rule, as he attempts to rescue his village's druid from a Roman garrison when its commander seeks to secure the secret of the village's superhuman strength.

The story proved hugely popular with French readers, leading to Goscinny and Uderzo writing further stories that would go on to form the Astérix comic strip series, with international versions of the comic helping to broaden its appeal outside of France. Dargaud later developed an animated adaptation of the comic for theatrical release in 1967 with its own production company, though Goscinny and Uderzo disapproved of the poor animation quality; they later blocked a sequel based on their next story. Alongside the film, an audiobook adaptation was created by EMI Records.

In 50 B.C., all of Gaul is under the control of the Romans, with the exception of a small village in Armorica (present-day Brittany), whose inhabitants constantly hold back their forces through superhuman strength. 

Determined to uncover their secret, Centurion Crismus Bonus, commander of the camp of Compendium, sends a spy into the village. His spy soon reveals that the village's druid, Getafix, periodically supplies the villagers with a magic potion that is the source of their strength. Amazed by this, Crismus Bonus orders Getafix to be captured, in order to gain control over the magic potion.

Astérix, a warrior from the village, learns of Getafix's kidnapping from a cart-seller and decides to infiltrate the Roman camp to rescue him. Once inside the camp that evening, Astérix overhears Crismus Bonus talking with his second-in-command, Marcus Ginantonicus, about his plans to use the magic potion to initiate a rebellion against Rome that will overthrow Julius Caesar. When Astérix finds Getafix, he informs him of what he learnt and comes up with a plan to prevent this from happening.

The following morning Astérix lets himself be captured and pretends to give in to torture, whereupon Getafix pretends to give in and agree to make the potion. After securing the ingredients he needs, Getafix tricks Crismus Bonus that he needs strawberries, only for him and Astérix to consume them all once the Romans find some. Eventually, Getafix uses the ingredients he collected to brew a potion which he tricks Crismus Bonus and the Romans to drink, unaware it will cause their hair and beards to grow at an accelerated rate for at least a day.

After tricking Crismus Bonus to let them gather ingredients for an antidote to the potion, Getafix supplies the camp with vegetable soup. However, he secretly collects what is needed for the magic potion, which Astérix uses to help them escape from their captors. Before they make for their village, the pair discover Roman reinforcements have arrived, led by Caesar, who becomes suspicious about what has recently occurred in Compendium. Astérix soon exposes Crismus Bonus' intentions, prompting Caesar to exile him and his men to Outer Mongolia for their treachery, while allowing the Gauls to leave on the grounds of a truce. Astérix and Getafix eventually return to their village, which celebrates by holding a banquet for their success.

The story was first published as a serial in Pilote magazine, a Franco-Belgian comics magazine founded by Goscinny and a few other comic artists.

More information: Astérix

Key Lessons From Astérix The Gaul

-Strength in Unity. One of the key lessons that can be derived from Astérix the Gaul is the importance of coming together as a community and supporting one another. The Gauls in the book, led by Astérix and Obélix, demonstrate that by working together and pooling their strengths, they are able to overcome many challenges and adversaries.

-Embracing Diversity. The book also teaches us the significance of embracing diversity and appreciating different cultures. Astérix and Obelix encounter numerous characters from various parts of the Roman Empire, all with their distinct customs and traditions. The Gauls learn to respect and understand these differences, highlighting the beauty of diversity.

-Courage and Perseverance. Through Astérix's unwavering courage and Obélix's determination, the book conveys the importance of never giving up, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. The Gauls face numerous obstacles, but their resilience and perseverance guide them towards victory.

-Humor as a Tool. Astérix the Gaul intelligently uses humor as an effective tool to convey its messages. The book uses satire, puns, and witty exchanges, making it enjoyable for readers of all ages while also conveying important lessons about history, power dynamics, and societal norms.

-Challenging Authority. Astérix the Gaul subtly encourages readers to question authority and challenge oppressive systems. The Gauls' resistance against Roman occupation showcases the power of standing up against injustice, inspiring readers to question societal norms and fight for freedom and equality.

Download Astérix The Gaul by René Goscinny & Albert Uderzo

 I may be the smallest, 

but I'm also the smartest!

 

Astérix

THE VIKING PROPHECY (VII), THE POEM VÖLUSPÁ (EDDA)

Is this truly the end? With humanity lost and the gods defeated? No, according to the poem the world will rise again, because there are still a few gods remaining and they gather and talk about the recent events and the fall of the master of runes, Odin. 

 

His son Baldr returns, the fields are once more filled with ripe fruit, the nephews of Odin dwell in heaven. On the mountain Gimle, one can see a great golden hall with a mighty unnamed ruler. It seems like quite an intense story, but like many other aspects of Norse mythology, many pieces are missing from the puzzle and it has been suggested many times that Christianity might have influenced the last part of the poem. 

While this is difficult to sort out, the poet was more probably heathen, as suggested by the tone, the images, archaic language features, and style of the poetry. It must also be said that a lot of the Norse creation and destruction myth also living in popular culture nowadays actually comes from Snorri's interpretation, who turns all those hints in the poem into a much more coherent story.

The original poem, the Völuspá, might seem quite mysterious to both us and late medieval Icelanders, but not to the people it was intended for. On the other hand, it has a unity lacking in many of the other poems, casting a shadow of a doubt whether the myths presented are indeed authentic or whether the author embellished them or added his own thoughts. After all, mythology by its nature is subject to creative reinterpretations. 

The Northmen themselves probably imagined their major mythical events in different ways than we do today. It is uncertain whether they were indeed thinking of a rebirth after that destructive final event, the Ragnarök. The story of their universe goes in one clear direction, and no one could do anything to prevent the destruction. What was there left to do? Fight with dignity until the very end.

(Source: Word History Encyclopedia)

 

Þá kemr inn mæri mögr Hlóðynjar, gengr Óðins
sonr við orm vega, drepr af móði Miðgarðs véurr,
munu halir allir heimstöð ryðja; gengr fet níu
Fjörgynjar burr neppr frá naðri níðs ókvíðnum.

Sól tér sortna, sígr fold í mar,
hverfa af himni heiðar stjörnur;
geisar eimi ok aldrnari,
leikr hár hiti við himin sjalfan.

Geyr nú Garmr mjök fyr Gnipahelli,
festr mun slitna en freki renna;
fjölð veit ek fræða fram sé ek lengra
um ragna rök römm sigtíva

Sér hon upp koma öðru sinni
jörð ór ægi iðjagræna;
falla forsar, flýgr örn yfir,
sá er á fjalli fiska veiðir.

Finnask æsir á Iðavelli
ok um moldþinur máttkan dæma
ok minnask þar á megindóma
ok á Fimbultýs fornar rúnir.

Þar munu eftir undrsamligar
gullnar töflur í grasi finnask,
þærs í árdaga áttar höfðu.

Munu ósánir akrar vaxa,
böls mun alls batna, Baldr mun koma;
búa þeir Höðr ok Baldr Hrofts sigtoftir,
vé valtíva. Vituð ér enn -eða hvat?

Þá kná Hænir hlautvið kjósa
ok burir byggja bræðra tveggja
vindheim víðan. Vituð ér enn -eða hvat?

Sal sér hon standa sólu fegra,
gulli þakðan á Gimléi;
þar skulu dyggvar dróttir byggja
ok um aldrdaga ynðis njóta.

Þá kemr inn ríki at regindómi
öflugr ofan, sá er öllu ræðr.

Þar kemr inn dimmi dreki fljúgandi,
naðr fránn, neðan frá Niðafjöllum;
berr sér í fjöðrum, -flýgr völl yfir,-
Niðhöggr nái. Nú mun hon sökkvask.

In anger smites, the warder of earth,
Forth from their homes, must all men flee;
Nine paces fares, the son of Fjorgyn,
And, slain by the serpent, fearless he sinks.

The sun turns black, earth sinks in the sea,
The hot stars down, from heaven are whirled;
Fierce grows the steam, and the life-feeding flame,
Till fire leaps high, about heaven itself.

Now Garm howls loud, before Gnipahellir,
The fetters will burst, and the wolf run free;
Much do I know, and more can see
Of the fate of the gods, the mighty in fight.

Now do I see, the earth anew
Rise all green, from the waves again;
The cataracts fall, and the eagle flies,
And fish he catches, beneath the cliffs.

The gods in Ithavoll, meet together,
Of the terrible girdler, of earth they talk,
And the mighty past, they call to mind,
And the ancient runes, of the Ruler of Gods.

In wondrous beauty, once again
Shall the golden tables, stand mid the grass,
Which the gods had owned, in the days of old,

Then fields unsowed, bear ripened fruit,
All ills grow better, and Baldr comes back;
Baldr and Hoth dwell, in Hropt's battle-hall,
And the mighty gods: would you know yet more?

Then Hönir wins, the prophetic wand,
And the sons of the brothers, of Tveggi abide
In Vindheim now: would you know yet more?

More fair than the sun, a hall I see,
Roofed with gold, on Gimle it stands;
There shall the righteous, rulers dwell,
And happiness ever, there shall they have.

There comes on high, all power to hold,
A mighty lord, all lands he rules.

From below the dragon, dark comes forth,
Nithhogg flying, from Nithafjoll;
The bodies of men on, his wings he bears,
The serpent bright: but now must I sink.

Stormen stilnar, hugen fer
Hovslagtromma takten slær
Hjartet fylgjer, tveim blir ein
Rir meg fri med raske bein
Ridande
Raido

The storm is stilled, the mind it flies
The drum of hoofs lay the beat
The heart, it follows, two are one
Sets me loose with speedy feet
Riding
Raido

Wardruna

THE VIKING PROPHECY (VI), THE POEM VÖLUSPÁ (EDDA)

After describing the homes of the frightening enemies of the gods, not only giants and dwarves but also the wicked dead from Hel's realm Nastrond (corpse-strand), the völva warns of another sign of destruction, the stealing of the moon. It would not be wrong to understand this as an eclipse.

The final battle is announced by the two apocalyptic roosters: Fjalar and Gollinkambi. Perhaps one of the ultimate signs of the impending doom would be the escape of Fenrir the wolf, the one kept in chains by the sacrifice of the god Tyr, who willingly let him bite off his hand.

Dark times will come, wind-age, wolf-age / soon the world shall fall / not even men / shall spare each other. Odin, no matter how much wisdom he has gathered, will still be slain by Fenrir. Yggdrasil is shaking.

The name ragna røk, Ragnarök, used to describe this major event, can be translated as the fate of the gods and is found in stanza 50. Other elements of chaos include Hrym, the leader of the giants, the sea-serpent encircling the world, Midgardsorm, and the terrifying ship made of dead men's nails, Naglfar.

The giant Surt brings fire from the south and fights the god of prosperity Freyr, whereas Odin fulfills his fate in front of his misfortunate wife Frigg. Thor, son of Odin and the earth, is also destined to fall in this great battle, against the sea-serpent that will kill him with its venomous breath.

The apocalypse gains momentum after the episode involving the most popular of the gods, as the sun turns black / the earth sinks in the sea / hot stars are whirled down / from heaven.

 

Leika Míms synir, en mjötuðr kyndisk
at inu galla Gjallarhorni;
hátt blæss Heimdallr, horn er á lofti,
mælir Óðinn við Míms höfuð.

Skelfr Yggdrasils askr standandi,
ymr it aldna tré, en jötunn losnar;
hræðask allir á helvegum
áðr Surtar þann sefi of gleypir.

Hvat er með ásum? Hvat er með alfum?
Gnýr allr Jötunheimr, æsir ro á þingi,
stynja dvergar fyr steindurum,
veggbergs vísir. Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?

Geyr nú Garmr mjök fyr Gnipahelli,
festr mun slitna en freki renna;
fjölð veit ek fræða, fram sé ek lengra
um ragna rök römm sigtíva.

Hrymr ekr austan, hefisk lind fyrir,
snýsk Jörmungandr í jötunmóði;
ormr knýr unnir, en ari hlakkar,
slítr nái niðfölr, Naglfar losnar. 

Kjóll ferr austan, koma munu Múspells
of lög lýðir, en Loki stýrir;
fara fíflmegir með freka allir,
þeim er bróðir Býleists í för.

Surtr ferr sunnan með sviga lævi,
skínn af sverði sól valtíva;
grjótbjörg gnata, en gífr rata,
troða halir helveg, en himinn klofnar.

Þá kemr Hlínar harmr annarr fram,
er Óðinn ferr við ulf vega,
en bani Belja bjartr at Surti;
þá mun Friggjar falla angan.

Geyr nú Garmr mjök fyr Gnipahelli,
festr mun slitna, en freki renna;
fjölð veit ek fræða, fram sé ek lengra
um ragna rök römm sigtíva

Þá kemr inn mikli mögr Sigföður,
Víðarr, vega at valdýri.
Lætr hann megi Hveðrungs mundum standa
hjör til hjarta, þá er hefnt föður.

Fast move the sons, of Mim, and fate
Is heard in the note, of the Gjallarhorn;
Loud blows Heimdall, the horn is aloft,
In fear quake all, who on Hel-roads are.

Yggdrasil shakes, and shiver on high
The ancient limbs, and the giant is loose;
To the head of Mim, does Othin give heed,
But the kinsman of Surt, shall slay him soon.

How fare the gods? How fare the elves?
All Jotunheim groans, the gods are at council;
Loud roar the dwarfs, by the doors of stone,
The masters of the rocks: would you know yet more?

Now Garm howls loud, before Gnipahellir,
The fetters will burst, and the wolf run free
Much do I know, and more can see
Of the fate of the gods, the mighty in fight.

From the east comes Hrym, with shield held high;
In giant-wrath, does the serpent writhe;
O'er the waves he twists, and the tawny eagle
Gnaws corpses screaming; Naglfar is loose. 

O'er the sea from the east, there sails a ship
With the people of Muspell, at the helm stands Loki;
After the wolf, do wild men follow,
And with them the brother, of Byleist goes.

Surt fares from the south, with the scourge of branches,
The sun of the battle-gods, shone from his sword;
The crags are sundered, the giant-women sink,
The dead throng Hel-way, and heaven is cloven.

Now comes to Hlin, yet another hurt,
When Othin fares, to fight with the wolf,
And Beli's fair slayer, seeks out Surt,
For there must fall, the joy of Frigg.

Then comes Sigfather's, mighty son,
Vithar, to fight, with the foaming wolf;
In the giant's son, does he thrust his sword
Full to the heart: his father is avenged.

Hither there comes, the son of Hlothyn,
The bright snake gapes, to heaven above;
Against the serpent, goes Othin's son.

 

 

 Gygrefuggel

Gav meg vingar
Kvite korpa
Gav meg sjon
Galdrekråka
Gav meg songen
Kvite vingar
Fylgjer meg

Spirit-bird
Gave me wings
White raven
Gave me foresight
Chanting-crow
Gave me the song
White wings
Follows me

Wardruna 

THE VIKING PROPHECY (V), THE POEM VÖLUSPÁ (EDDA)

Would you yet know more? (Hildebrand, stanzas 27, 29, 34, 35, 39, 41, 48, 62) This question pops up periodically, reminding us that Odin is the god who always seeks to gain knowledge. 

The horn of Heimdall, which will announce the final battle, is hidden under the holy tree, where we find another curious object, namely Odin's eye. He sacrificed his eye to the spirit Mímir to gain more wisdom. It seems as if it was then used as a drinking vessel. After being rewarded by the god with rings and necklaces, the völva continues with the real prophecy of the poem. She sees valkyries assemble, so as to join the ranks of the gods for the final battle. Valkyries are the female warriors assigned by Odin to pick up dead brave fighters from the battlefield and take them to Odin. Their name actually means the choosers of the slain.

Before this great event where fates are to be fulfilled, we are reminded of the catastrophe which was Baldr's death, the beloved, fair and innocent son of Odin and Frigg. More details on this are to be found in a particular poem, Baldrs Draumar.  

Frigg demanded that all creatures swear not to harm Baldr, which they all did, except for the mistletoe, hurled by Baldr’s blind brother under the guidance of Loki. After Baldr got killed with the arrow made out of mistletoe, Loki was punished, and we have a more complete image of his punishment in the Hauksbók manuscript: he was bound to a rock with the bowels of his son Narfi, mauled by his other son Vali, with a serpent dripping poison on him and his loyal wife attempting to collect it in a bowl.

 

Á fellur austan um eitrdala
söxum ok sverðum, Slíðr heitir sú.

Stóð fyr norðan á Niðavöllum
salr ór gulli Sindra ættar;
en annarr stóð á Ókólni
bjórsalr jötuns, en sá Brimir heitir.

Sal sá hon standa sólu fjarri
Náströndu á, norðr horfa dyrr;
falla eitrdropar inn um ljóra,
sá er undinn salr orma hryggjum.

Sá hon þar vaða þunga strauma
menn meinsvara ok morðvarga
ok þann er annars glepr eyrarúnu;
þar saug Niðhöggr nái framgengna,
sleit vargr vera. Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?

Austr sat in aldna í Járnviði
ok fæddi þar Fenris kindir;
verðr af þeim öllum einna nokkurr
tungls tjúgari í trölls hami. 

Fyllisk fjörvi feigra manna,
rýðr ragna sjöt rauðum dreyra;
svört verða sólskin um sumur eftir,
veðr öll válynd. Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?

Sat þar á haugi ok sló hörpu
gýgjar hirðir, glaðr Eggþér;
gól of hánum í galgviði
fagrrauðr hani, sá er Fjalarr heitir.

Gól of ásum Gullinkambi,
sá vekr hölða at Herjaföðrs;
en annarr gelr fyr jörð neðan
sótrauðr hani at sölum Heljar.

Geyr nú Garmr mjök fyr Gnipahelli,
festr mun slitna, en freki renna;
fjölð veit ek fræða, fram sé ek lengra
um ragna rök römm sigtíva.

Bræðr munu berjask ok at bönum verðask,
munu systrungar sifjum spilla;
hart er í heimi, hórdómr mikill,
skeggöld, skalmöld, skildir ro klofnir,
vindöld, vargöld, áðr veröld steypisk;
mun engi maðr öðrum þyrma. 

From the east there pours, through poisoned vales
With swords and daggers, the river Slith.

Northward a hall, in Nithavellir
Of gold there rose, for Sindri's race;
And in Okolnir, another stood,
Where the giant Brimir, his beer-hall had.

A hall I saw, far from the sun,
On Nastrond it stands, and the doors face north,
Venom drops, through the smoke-vent down,
For around the walls, do serpents wind.

I saw there wading, through rivers wild
Treacherous men, and murderers too,
And workers of ill, with the wives of men;
There Nithhogg sucked, the blood of the slain,
And the wolf tore men; would you know yet more?

The giantess old, in Ironwood sat,
In the east, and bore, the brood of Fenrir;
Among these one, in monster's guise
Was soon to steal, the sun from the sky.

There feeds he full, on the flesh of the dead,
And the home of the gods, he reddens with gore;
Dark grows the sun, and in summer soon
Come mighty storms: would you know yet more?

On a hill there sat, and smote on his harp,
Eggther the joyous, the giants' warder;
Above him the cock, in the bird-wood crowed,
Fair and red, did Fjalar stand.

Then to the gods, crowed Gollinkambi,
He wakes the heroes, in Othin's hall;
And beneath the earth, does another crow,
The rust-red bird, at the bars of Hel.

Now Garm howls loud, before Gnipahellir,
The fetters will burst, and the wolf run free;
Much do I know, and more can see
Of the fate of the gods, the mighty in fight.

Brothers shall fight, and fell each other,
And sisters' sons, shall kinship stain;
Hard is it on earth, with mighty whoredom;
Axe-time, sword-time, shields are sundered,
Wind-time, wolf-time, ere the world falls;
Nor ever shall men, each other spare.

 

Ved andre stad der stiar krossar, biar du
Legg frå deg tida, tunge tankar med
Der du er på veg, er dei til ingen nytte
Børa letnar, framom ventar tyngre veg.

At the second stop where paths cross, you pause
Leave time behind, and weighty thoughts
Where you are headed, they’ll be of no use
The burden lightens, but heavy is the trail ahead.

Wardruna 

THE VIKING PROPHECY (IV), THE POEM VÖLUSPÁ (EDDA)

The prophetess then tells what she remembers as the first war in the world, between the godly families of the Æsir and the Vanir.

The latter is rather linked to fertility and prosperity, although it must be said that Norse gods, in general, cannot be limited to well-defined characteristics. Either way, the story in the Völuspá mentions the goddess Gollveig (gold-might) as a reason for the war, as she was accused of bewitching the gods. The outcome of this war was that all gods received equal right to worship, possibly an allusion to the acceptance of other regional deities into their system of beliefs.

In a sudden change of topic, we then get a glimpse of other major mythical events, such as the rebuilding of Asgard, the fortress of Odin and his family, and possibly one of the nine worlds the prophetess was speaking of. When the giant assigned the task demands the love goddess Freyja as a reward, Loki is requested to play a trick on him to prevent this from happening. As expected, the giant ends up slain by Thor, the mightiest of the gods, which infuriates the giants who eagerly battle the Æsir. The giants were in fact another family of gods -their name does not refer to their size- and many were romantically involved with the gods of the Æsir family.

 

Þórr einn þar vá þrunginn móði,
hann sjaldan sitr er hann slíkt um fregn;
á gengust eiðar, orð ok sœri,
mál öll meginlig er á meðal fóru.

Veit hon Heimdallar hljóð um fólgit
undir heiðvönum helgum baðmi;
á sér hon ausask aurgum forsi
af veði Valföðrs. Vituð ér enn eða hvat?´

Ein sat hon úti, þá er inn aldni kom
yggjungr ása ok í augu leit. Hvers fregnið mik?
Hví freistið mín? Allt veit ek,
Óðinn, hvar þú auga falt, í inum mæra Mímisbrunni.
Drekkr mjöð Mímir morgun hverjan af veði Valföðrs.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?

Valði henni Herföðr hringa ok men,
fekk spjöll spaklig ok spá ganda,
sá hon vítt ok of vítt of veröld hverja.

Sá hon valkyrjur vítt of komnar,
görvar at ríða til Goðþjóðar; Skuld helt skildi,
en Skögul önnur, Gunnr, Hildr, Göndul ok Geirskögul.
Nú eru talðar nönnur Herjans, görvar at ríða
grund valkyrjur.

Ek sá Baldri, blóðgum tívur,
Óðins barni, örlög folgin;
stóð of vaxinn völlum hæri
mjór ok mjök fagr mistilteinn.

Varð af þeim meiði, er mær sýndisk,
harmflaug hættlig, Höðr nam skjóta;
Baldrs bróðir var of borinn snemma,
sá nam Óðins sonr einnættr vega.

Þó hann æva hendr né höfuð kembði,
áðr á bál of bar Baldrs andskota;
en Frigg of grét í Fensölum
vá Valhallar. Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?

Þá kná Váli vígbönd snúa,
heldr váru harðgör höft ór þörmum.

Haft sá hon liggja und Hveralundi,
lægjarns líki Loka áþekkjan;
þar sitr Sigyn þeygi of sínum
ver vel glýjuð. Vituð ér enn -eða hvat? 

In swelling rage, then rose up Thor,
Seldom he sits, when he such things hears,
And the oaths were broken, the words and bonds,
The mighty pledges, between them made.

I know of the horn, of Heimdall, hidden
Under the high-reaching, holy tree;
On it there pours ,from Valfather's pledge
A mighty stream:  would you know yet more?

Alone I sat, when the Old One sought me,
The terror of gods, and gazed in mine eyes:
"What hast thou to ask? why comest thou hither?
Othin, I know, where thine eye is hidden."
I know where Othin's, eye is hidden,
Deep in the wide-famed, well of Mimir;
Mead from the pledge, of Othin each mom
Does Mimir drink: would you know yet more?

Necklaces had I, and rings from Heerfather,
Wise was my speech, and my magic wisdom;
Widely I saw, over all the worlds.

On all sides saw I, Valkyries assemble,
Ready to ride, to the ranks of the gods;
Skuld bore the shield, and Skogul rode next,
Guth, Hild, Gondul, and Geirskogul.
Of Herjan's maidens, the list have ye heard,
Valkyries ready, to ride o'er the earth. 

I saw for Baldr, the bleeding god,
The son of Othin, his destiny set:
Famous and fair, in the lofty fields,
Full grown in strength, the mistletoe stood.

From the branch which seemed, so slender and fair
Came a harmful shaft, that Hoth should hurl;
But the brother of Baldr, was born ere long,
And one night old, fought Othin's son.

His hands he washed not, his hair he combed not,
Till he bore to the bale-blaze, Baldr's foe.
But in Fensalir, did Frigg weep sore
For Valhall's need: would you know yet more?

Then did Váli slaughter bonds twist:
made farily grim were those fetters of guts.

One did I see, in the wet woods bound,
A lover of ill, and to Loki like;
By his side does Sigyn, sit, nor is glad
To see her mate: would you know yet more?

 

Syster kjær
Vil du heim att vende?
Utan ande
Er livet stutt
Skogen er feigd
Utan sin hyrde

Dear sister
Will you come back home?
Without breath
Life is short
The forest is bound to die
Without its shepard

Wardruna

THE VIKING PROPHECY (III), THE POEM VÖLUSPÁ (EDDA)

According to the Völuspá, Odin, the leader of the Æsir gods, as the most important and mightiest family was called, was always eager for knowledge. 

He asks a völva, an ancient seeress, to rise from the grave and tell him, the father of the slain (Valfǫþr) -because he takes warriors into his famous hall of Valhalla- stories of the past. She answers him by mentioning the nine worlds that make up the universe and the ash-tree Yggdrasil, as well as Ymir, a giant out of whose limbs the universe was made.

There was a yawning gap at the beginning of time. The creation of the universe seems to have been the work of the sons of Borr: Odin and his brothers Vili and Vé, whose names we know from another poem called the Lokasenna. The three brothers shape the earth, take their assembly seats, and then name the stars in the skies, thus giving an order to the universe. The gods meet at Ithavoll, a mysterious place only mentioned twice in the poem, where they set forges and make tools and set up temples.

At their dwelling, three giant-maids arrive, a possible reference to the Norns. The Norns were creatures even more powerful than the gods since they decided the fate of everyone. A council is held during which we are given a catalogue of the race of dwarves; very few of them are mentioned elsewhere.

One of them, Gandalf, was turned into a wizard by Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings. Another one, Dvalin, is important, too, since he seems to have given the dwarves magic runes which made them very skillful, as told in the second poem of the Edda, the Hávamál. Then we have Andvari, the one who tells in a poem called Reginsmál about how Loki, the trickster god, stole his wealth, causing him to curse the treasure that brought the death of Sigurd. Sigurd is the tragic legendary hero who killed a dragon with a cursed treasure, inspiring many authors among whom, once again, Tolkien.

After this section with the many dwarves, three gods, Odin, Hönir, and Lothur, continue their work and create mankind out of two trees, ash and elm (Ask and Embla). The fates reappear in stanza 20, where they carved runes on wood and made laws.

 

Álfr ok Yngvi, Eikinskjaldi,
Fjalarr ok Frosti, Finnr ok Ginnarr;
þat man æ uppi, meðan öld lifir,
langniðja tal Lofars hafat.

Unz þrír kvámu ór því liði
öflgir ok ástkir æsir at húsi,
fundu á landi lítt megandi
Ask ok Emblu örlöglausa.

Önd þau ne áttu, óð þau ne höfðu,
lá né læti né litu góða;
önd gaf Óðinn, óð gaf Hœnir,
lá gaf Lóðurr ok litu góða.

Ask veit ek standa, heitir Yggdrasill
hár baðmr, ausinn hvíta auri;
þaðan koma döggvar þærs í dala falla;
stendr æ yfir grœnn Urðar brunni.

Þaðan koma meyjar margs vitandi
þrjár, ór þeim sal er und þolli stendr;
Urð hétu eina, aðra Verðandi,
skáru á skíði, Skuld ina þriðju;
þær lög lögðu, þær líf kuru
alda börnum, örlög seggja.

Þat man hon fólkvíg fyrst í heimi,
er Gullveig geirum studdu
ok í höll Hárs hana brendu;
þrysvar brendu þrysvar borna,
opt, ósjaldan, þó hon enn lifir.

Heiði hana hétu, hvars til húsa kom,
völu velspá, vitti hon ganda,
seið hon hvars hon kunni, seið hon hugleikin,
æ var hon angan illrar brúðar.

Þá gengu regin öll á rökstóla,
ginnheilug goð, ok um þat gættusk:
hvárt skyldu æsir afráð gjalda
eða skyldu goðin öll gildi eiga.

Fleygði Óðinn ok í fólk um skaut,
þat var enn fólkvíg fyrst í heimi;
brotinn var borðveggr borgar ása,
knáttu vanir vígská völlu sporna.

Þá gengu regin öll á rökstóla,
ginnheilug goð, ok um þat gættusk:
hverr hefði lopt allt lævi blandit
eða ætt jötuns Óðs mey gefna.

Alf and Yngvi,Eikinskjaldi,
Fjalar and Frosti, Fith and Ginnar;
So for all time, shall the tale be known,
The list of all, the forbears of Lofar.

Then from the throng, did three come forth,
From the home of the gods, the mighty and gracious;
Two without fate, on the land they found,
Ask and Embla, empty of might.

Soul they had not, sense they had not,
Heat nor motion, nor goodly hue;
Soul gave Othin, sense gave Hönir,
Heat gave Lothur and goodly hue.

An ash I know, Yggdrasil its name,
With water white, is the great tree wet;
Thence come the dews, that fall in the dales,
Green by Urth's well, does it ever grow.

Thence come the maidens, mighty in wisdom,
Three from the dwelling, down 'neath the tree;
Urth is one named, Verthandi the next,--
On the wood they scored, and Skuld the third.
Laws they made there, and life allotted
To the sons of men, and set their fates.

The war I remember, the first in the world,
When the gods with spears, had smitten Gollveig,
And in the hall, of Hor had burned her,
Three times burned, and three times born,
Oft and again, yet ever she lives.

Heith they named her, who sought their home,
The wide-seeing witch, in magic wise;
Minds she bewitched, that were moved by her magic,
To evil women, a joy she was.

On the host his spear, did Othin hurl,
Then in the world, did war first come;
The wall that girdled, the gods was broken,
And the field by the warlike, Wanes was trodden.

Then sought the gods, their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, and council held,
Whether the gods, should tribute give,
Or to all alike, should worship belong.

Then sought the gods, their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, and council held,
To find who with venom, the air had filled,
Or had given Oth's bride, to the giants' brood.

 

Soli ho kvervar beint i si bane
Honnigdraum lokkar mitt gap og mi gane
Vindane ular og elva ligg still
Eg lyt nok kvile litt til

The sun wheel is steady on her way
Honey dreams spark my throat and palate
The winds still howl and the river stands still
I guess I should return to my rest

Wardruna

THE VIKING PROPHECY (II), THE POEM VÖLUSPÁ (EDDA)

The Northmen of the 8th or 9th century CE whom we usually call Vikings did not really have any written sources for their religion. 

They carved some images in stone, they made some wooden idols, and they rather recited poems about what they thought the world was like. 

A few centuries after the age of these daring seamen, traders, and explorers, some Icelanders wrote down such poems remembered from ancestors.  

This collection of poems is called the Edda, and it is our most precious source of information about what the myths of the Northmen might have looked like.

It is written in Old Norse, the language people used to speak in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark up until the 15th century CE. 

These poems are found in two manuscripts, the Codex Regius (King's book) and another book called the Hauksbók, but the order of the stanzas, the groups of four lines making up the poems, seems more logical in the first book. 

The first poem of the collection is the Völuspá, meaning the prophecy of the völva. 

Snorri Sturluson, a 13th-century CE Icelandic scholar, also wrote a version of these tales, quoting much of the poems in his book. The version he knew, however, seems different, indicating that the poems of the Edda were very popular among the Vikings.

 

Þá gengu regin öll á rökstóla,
ginnheilug goð, ok um þat gættusk;
nátt ok niðjum nöfn um gáfu,
morgin hétu ok miðjan dag,
undorn ok aptan, árum at telja.

Hittusk æsir á Iðavelli,
þeir er hörg ok hof hátimbruðu,
afla lögðu, auð smíðuðu,
tangir skópu ok tól görðu.

Tefldu í túni, teitir váru,
var þeim vettugis vant ór gulli;
unz þrjár kvámu þursa meyjar
ámátkar mjök ór jötunheimum.

Þá gengu regin öll á rökstóla,
ginnheilug goð, ok um þat gættusk:
hverr skyldi dverga drótt um skepja
ór brimi blóðgu ok ór Bláins leggjum.

Þar var Móðsognir mæztr um orðinn
dverga allra, en Durinn annarr;
þeir mannlíkun mörg um görðu
dvergar í jörðu, sem Durinn sagði.

Nýi, Niði, Norðri, Suðri,
Austri, Vestri, Alþjófr, Dvalinn,
Nár ok Náinn, Nípingr, Dáinn,
Bifurr, Bafurr, Bömburr, Nori,
Ánn ok Ánarr, Óinn, Mjöðvitnir.

Veggr ok Gandálfr, Vindálfr, Þorinn,
Þrár ok Þráinn, Þekkr, Litr ok Vitr,
Nýr ok Nýráðr, nú hefi ek dverga,
Reginn ok Ráðsviðr, rétt um talða.

Fili, Kili, Fundinn, Nali, Hepti,
Vili, Hanarr, Svíurr, Billingr, Brúni,
Bildr ok Buri, Frár, Hornbori, Frægr ok Lóni,
Aurvangr, Jari, Eikinskjaldi.

Mál er dverga í Dvalins liði
ljóna kindum til Lofars telja,
þeir er sóttu frá salar steini
Aurvanga sjöt til Jöruvalla.

Þar var Draupnir ok Dólgþrasir,
Hár, Haugspori, Hlévangr, Glóinn,
Dori, Ori, Dúfr, Andvari,
Skirfir, Virfir, Skafiðr, Ai.

Then sought the gods, their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, and council held;
Names then gave they, to noon and twilight,
Morning they named, and the waning moon,
Night and evening, the years to number.

At Ithavoll met, the mighty gods,
Shrines and temples, they timbered high;
Forges they set, and, they smithied ore,
Tongs they wrought, and tools they fashioned.

In their dwellings at peace, they played at tables,
Of gold no lack, did the gods then know,
Till thither came, up giant-maids three,
Huge of might, out of Jotunheim.

Then sought the gods, their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, and council held,
To find who should raise, the race of dwarfs
Out of Brimir's blood, and the legs of Blain.

There was Motsognir, the mightiest made
Of all the dwarfs, and Durin next;
Many a likeness, of men they made,
The dwarfs in the earth, as Durin said. 

Nyi and Nithi, Northri and Suthri,
Austri and Vestri, Althjof, Dvalin,
Nar and Nain, Niping, Dain,
Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Nori,
An and Onar, Ai, Mjothvitnir.

Vigg and Gandalf, Vindalf, Thrain,
Thekk and Thorin, Thror, Vit and Lit,
Nyr and Nyrath, now have I told
Regin and Rathsvith, the list aright.

Fili, Kili, Fundin, Nali,
Heptifili, Hannar, Sviur,
Frar, Hornbori, Fræg and Loni,
Aurvang, Jari, Eikinskjaldi.

The race of the dwarfs, in Dvalin's throng
Down to Lofar, the list must I tell;
The rocks they left, and through wet lands
They sought a home, in the fields of sand.

There were Draupnir, and Dolgthrasir,
Hor, Haugspori, Hlevang, Gloin,
Dori, Ori, Duf, Andvari,
Skirfir, Virfir, Skafith, Ai.

 

Hugsterk i hovud
Tеnkje som ti
Eg kunne òg trengе
Å fylgje din sti

Strong in mind
Think like ten
I might also need
To follow your path

Wardruna

THE VIKING PROPHECY (I), THE POEM VÖLUSPÁ (EDDA)

Claire Fontaine, The Grandma, Egil and his family (Astrid, Sigurd and Arne) have just arrived to Tromsø where Joseph de Ca'th Lon was waiting for them. 

In this Artic city, they are going to spend some days discovering Norse mythology and learning about it with the Völuspá. Join them in reading the medieval poem of the Poetic Edda, a literary experience that will transport you to the dreamlike and magical world of the Vikings.

In Germanic paganism, a seeress is a woman said to have the ability to foretell future events and perform sorcery. They are also referred to with many other names meaning prophetess, staff bearer and sorceress, and they are frequently called witches both in early sources and in modern scholarship. In Norse mythology the seeress is usually referred to as völva or vala.

The various names in North Germanic sources may give the impression that there were two types of sorceress, the staff-bearers, or seeresses (vǫlva), and the women who were named for performing magic (seiðkona).

The Völuspá, in Old Norse Vǫluspá, is a medieval poem of the Poetic Edda that describes how the world might have come into shape and would end according to Norse mythology. 

The story of about 60 stanzas is told by a seeress or völva, in Old Norse vǫlva, also called spákona, foretelling woman, summoned by the god Odin, master of magic and knowledge. According to this literary text, the beginning of the world was characterized by nothingness until the gods created the nine realms of Norse cosmology, somehow linked by the World Tree, Yggdrasil.

At the same time, the fate of everything was set in stone by a group of seeresses. In the very beginning, two families of gods were involved in a war, ending with a truce and a wall around their divine citadel of Asgard. However, they would not live in peace forever because the universe has been doomed since the very moment of its creation. Every god has a specific enemy with whom they will do battle and many will be slain, including the chief god Odin. 

 

Hljóðs bið ek allar helgar kindir,
meiri ok minni mögu Heimdallar;
viltu, at ek, Valföðr! vel framtelja forn spjöll fíra,
þau er fremst um man.

Ek man jötna ár um borna,
þá er forðum mik fœdda höfðu;
níu man ek heima, níu íviði,
mjötvið mœran fyr mold neðan.

Ár var alda þar er Ýmir bygði,
vara sandr né sær né svalar unnir,
jörð fannsk æva né upphiminn,
gap var ginnunga, en gras hvergi.

Áðr Burs synir bjöðum um ypðu,
þeir er Miðgarð mœran skópu;
sól skein sunnan á salar steina,
þá var grund gróin grœnum lauki.

Sól varp sunnan, sinni mána,
hendi inni hœgri um himinjódyr;
sól þat ne vissi hvar hon sali átti,
máni þat ne vissi hvat hann megins átti,
stjörnur þat ne vissu hvar þær staði áttu.

Hearing I ask, from the holy races,
From Heimdall's sons, both high and low;
Thou wilt, Valfather, that well I relate
Old tales I remember, of men long ago.

I remember yet, the giants of yore,
Who gave me bread, in the days gone by;
Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree
With mighty roots, beneath the mold.

Of old was the age, when Ymir lived;
Sea nor cool waves, nor sand there were;
Earth had not been, nor heaven above,
But a yawning gap, and grass nowhere.

Then Bur's sons lifted, the level land,
Mithgarth the mighty, there they made;
The sun from the south, warmed the stones of earth,
And green was the ground, with growing leeks.

The sun, the sister, of the moon, from the south
Her right hand cast, over heaven's rim;
No knowledge she had, where her home should be,
The moon knew not, what might was his,
The stars knew not, where their stations were.

 

Fjölð veit ek fræða, fram sé ek lengra
Um ragna rök römm sigtíva.

I know many things, I see further ahead
About the arguments of the wise, the wise man.

Wardruna

ASAPH HALL DISCOVERS PHOBOS, ONE OF MARS'S MOONS

Today, The Grandma has received the wonderful visit of Joseph de Ca'th Lon, one of her best friends. Joseph loves Astronomy, and they have been talking about Asaph Hall, the American astronomer who discovered Phobos, on a day like today in 1877.

Asaph Hall III (October 15, 1829-November 22, 1907) was an American astronomer who is best known for having discovered the two moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos, in 1877. 

 

He determined the orbits of satellites of other planets and of double stars, the rotation of Saturn, and the mass of Mars.

 

Hall was born in Goshen, Connecticut, the son of Asaph Hall II (1800-42), a clockmaker, and Hannah Palmer (1804-80). His paternal grandfather Asaph Hall I (June 11, 1735-March 29, 1800) was a Revolutionary War officer and Connecticut state legislator. His father died when he was 13, leaving the family in financial difficulty, so Hall left school at 16 to become an apprentice to a carpenter. He later enrolled at the New-York Central College in McGrawville, New York, where he studied mathematics. There he took classes from an instructor of geometry and German, Angeline Stickney. In 1856 they married.

In 1856, Hall took a job at the Harvard College Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and turned out to be an expert computer of orbits. Hall became assistant astronomer at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. in 1862, and within a year of his arrival he was made professor.

On June 5, 1872 Hall published an article entitled On an experimental determination of π in the journal Messenger of Mathematics. In this article, Hall reported the results of an experiment in random sampling that Hall had persuaded his friend, Captain O.C. Fox, to perform when Fox was recuperating from a wound received at the Second Battle of Bull Run. 

 

The experiment involved repetitively throwing at random a fine steel wire onto a plane wooden surface ruled with equidistant parallel lines. An approximation of π was then computed as 2 m l / a n, where m is the number of trials, l is the length of the steel wire, a is the distance between parallel lines, and n is the number of intersections. This paper, an experiment on Buffon's needle problem, is a very early documented use of random sampling (which Nicholas Metropolis would name the Monte Carlo method during the Manhattan Project of World War II) in scientific inquiry.

In 1875, Hall was given responsibility for the USNO 26-inch (66-cm) telescope, the largest refracting telescope in the world at the time. It was with this telescope that he discovered Phobos and Deimos in August 1877. Hall also noticed a white spot on Saturn which he used as a marker to ascertain the planet's rotational period.

In 1884, Hall showed that the position of the elliptical orbit of Saturn's moon, Hyperion, was retrograding by about 20° per year. Hall also investigated stellar parallaxes and the positions of the stars in the Pleiades star cluster.

Hall was responsible for apprenticing Henry S. Pritchett at the Naval Observatory in 1875.

Asaph Hall discovered Deimos on August 12, 1877 at about 07:48 UTC and Phobos on August 18, 1877, at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., at about 09:14 GMT (contemporary sources, using the pre-1925 astronomical convention that began the day at noon, give the time of discovery as 11 August 14:40 and 17 August 16:06 Washington mean time respectively).

 

Hall retired from the Navy in 1891. He became a lecturer in celestial mechanics at Harvard University in 1896, and continued to teach there until 1901.

 

Hall was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1878. He won the Lalande Prize of the French Academy of Sciences in 1878, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1879, the Arago Medal in 1893, and was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur (French Legion of Honor) in 1896.

In 1885, he was President of the Philosophical Society of Washington. Hall crater on the Moon as well as Hall crater on the Martian moon Phobos are named in his honor. 

 

More information: NASA

One lesson astronomy tells us is that 
we're a tiny mote in a hostile void, 
and help is too far away.

 

Sandra Faber

F.V. EUGÈNE DELACROIX & THE FRENCH ROMANTIC SCHOOL

All good things have and end, and The Grandma and her friends have returned to their homes: Corto Maltese to somewhere along the ocean, Joseph de Ca'th Lon to his beloved Switzerland, and Claire Fontaine and The Grandma to Barcelona.

During the trip from Sant Feliu de Guíxols to Barcelona, The Grandma has been reading about Eugène Delacroix, the French Romantic artist who died on a day like today in 1863.

Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (26 April 1798-13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school. In contrast to the Neoclassical perfectionism of his chief rival Ingres, Delacroix took for his inspiration the art of Rubens and painters of the Venetian Renaissance, with an attendant emphasis on colour and movement rather than clarity of outline and carefully modelled form.

Dramatic and romantic content characterized the central themes of his maturity, and led him not to the classical models of Greek and Roman art, but to travel in North Africa, in search of the exotic. Friend and spiritual heir to Théodore Géricault, Delacroix was also inspired by Lord Byron, with whom he shared a strong identification with the forces of the sublime, of nature in often violent action.

However, Delacroix was given to neither sentimentality nor bombast, and his Romanticism was that of an individualist. In the words of Baudelaire, Delacroix was passionately in love with passion, but coldly determined to express passion as clearly as possible. Together with Ingres, Delacroix is considered one of the last old Masters of painting and is one of the few who was ever photographed.

As a painter and muralist, Delacroix's use of expressive brushstrokes and his study of the optical effects of colour profoundly shaped the work of the Impressionists, while his passion for the exotic inspired the artists of the Symbolist movement. A fine lithographer, Delacroix illustrated various works of William Shakespeare, the Scottish author Walter Scott, and the German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Eugène Delacroix was born on 26 April 1798 at Charenton-Saint-Maurice in Seine, near Paris. His mother was Victoire Oeben, the daughter of the cabinetmaker Jean-François Oeben.

Delacroix drew inspiration from many sources over his career, such as the literary works of William Shakespeare and Lord Byron, and the artistry of Michelangelo. But, throughout his life, he felt a constant need for music, saying in 1855 that nothing can be compared with the emotion caused by music; that it expresses incomparable shades of feeling. He also said, while working at Saint-Sulpice, that music put him in a state of exaltation that inspired his painting. It was often from music, whether the most melancholy renditions of Chopin or the pastoral works of Beethoven, that Delacroix was able to draw the most emotion and inspiration. At one point during his life, Delacroix befriended and made portraits of the composer Chopin; in his journal, Delacroix praised him frequently.

At the sale of his work in 1864, 9140 works were attributed to Delacroix, including 853 paintings, 1525 pastels and water colours, 6629 drawings, 109 lithographs, and over 60 sketch books. The number and quality of the drawings, whether done for constructive purposes or to capture a spontaneous movement, underscored his explanation, Colour always occupies me, but drawing preoccupies me.

On 13 August, Delacroix died. He was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

More information: The Art Story

 Do all the work you can; 
that is the whole philosophy 
of the good way of life.

Eugène Delacroix