Teutonic Magick

TEUTONIC MAGIC
The Magical & Spiritual Practices of the Germanic Peoples By

Kveldulf Gundarsson

© 1990 by Kveldulf Gundarsson.All rights reserved. Originally published by Llewellyn Publications Inc. This PDF format electronic edition © 2002 by Kveldulf Gundarsson, published by Freya Aswynn. All rights reserved. This document may not be re-sold, reproduced, copied, freely exchanged, or distributed to others via the Internet or by any other means, without permission in writing from Freya Aswynn. No part of this document may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission in writing from Freya Aswynn, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Published by Freya Aswynn www.aswynn.co.uk The Wisdom of Odhinn
Here are written, for those who have the strength to grasp them, the hidden secrets with which our ancestors ruled wind and wave, fire and earth and the minds of men. For nine nights the great god Odhinn hung on the World-Tree, pierced by his own spear, the winds between the worlds blowing cold about him. At last he saw, in a blinding moment of might, the runes written at the great tree’s roots. He took them up: great in power, great in wisdom, growing ever in might and lore from the secret his sacrifice won him. He taught the mysteries of the runes to his children among the human race, and these songs of might were sung and carved on wood and stone from Ger- many to England, to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland, wherever the Teutonic peoples walked in their bright paths of battle and hidden wisdom. Though stilled by the kristjan church for a time, the secrets of magic lived on, passing in whispers through the ties of love and blood. Only in this last century, by the work of a few hid- den heroes, has this wisdom been recovered. Now, in this book, it is set out as fully as possible for those who dare. Learn how to use the ancient runic magic of Odhinn: how to read the future written in the

Bibliography: with occasional annotations Anderson, George (tr.). The Saga of the Volsungs. East Brunswick, NJ: Associated University Press, 1982. A good book which includes not only translations, but comments on the historical origins and backgrounds of the various versions of the Volsung Saga. Baring-Gould, Sabine. The Book of Werewolves. New York, NY: Causeway Books, 1973. Contains a vast amount of fascinating information presented in a well-organized and relatively unbiased fashion. Bauschatz, Paul. The Well And The Tree. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1982. The book to read for anyone who wants to understand the nature of Wyrd; no one attempting serious rumc divination should be without it. It can still be ordered. Baynes, H. G. Germany Possessed. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd., 1941. This book is marred from the heathen viewpoint by its rabidly Christian orientation. It was written by an Englishman during WWII, so its biases are only to be expected. Nevertheless it provides a fascinating study of the breakthrough of the dark side of the Odhinnic archetype. Bessason, Haraldur/Glendinning, R. short but very good essays. J. (eds.). Edda. Canada: University of Manitoba Press, 1983. A collection of Beyerl, Paul. The Master Book of Herbalism. Custer, Washington: Phoenix Publishing Co., 1984. A Wiccan or quasi-Wiccan work. His folklore and medical attributions are almost all found in Grieve. Although some of his modern magical uses are interesting and effective, a great deal of the work (particularly the attribution of various herbs to various gods) seems to be largely a product of his imagination. Warning: Beyerl does not identify poisonous or dangerous herbs as such, though he describes some of their uses. This book should not be used without external references of greater reliability and responsibility. Bord, Janet & Cohn. The Secret Country. London: Paladin, (c) 1978, 1985. An interesting study of the folklore of the British landscape. Branston, Brian. Gods of the North. New York: Thames & Hudson, Inc., (c) 1975, 1980. Branston ranges from brilliant to eccentric in this book, which should not be used as a single source for anything, but often provides startling insights or alternate perspectives on general problems in Germanic studies (such as the nature and identity of Heimdallr). Lost Gods of England. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1957, 1974. Generally more reliable than Gods of the North, although his comparisons of the Norse myths to Mediterranean cults in the latter parts of the book do not seem to me particularly well-founded. Chisholm, James (tr. and commentary). Poetic Edda. (c) 1989. An excellent literal translation which is exceedingly valuable to the study of Teutonic magic. This version was created specifically to aid magical and deep religious understanding among those who are not able to use the Old Norse original and is the only one recommended for purely magical use. Cooper, Jason D. Using the Runes. Wellingborough, Northampton-shire: the Aquarian Press, 1986. Not a terribly impressive book, although Cooper does offer some interesting thoughts on the relative developments of the cults of Tyr and Odhinn. Crossley-Holland, Kevin. The Norse Myths. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980. A very good introduction to Norse mythology. The Eddic stories have been competently rewritten here to appeal to the modern mind without mauling the stories themselves or their meanings. Give a copy to all your friends. 178 Crowley, Aleister. Book 4. Dallas, TX: Sangreal Foundation, Inc., 1972. Like all of Crowley’s books, this is greatly valuable to the experienced magician who understands Crowley’s work and mind, and quite dangerous to the novice. Cunningham, Scott. Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1985. A reference work dealing solely with folkloric and/or Wiccan magical uses of herbs and trees. Magical Herbalism.. St. Paul, MN: Llewehlyn Publications, (c) 1982, 1983, rep. 1985, 1986. A very good manual of practical instructions for anyone who is interested in magical herbahism, blending their own recels (incenses), etc. Davidson, H. R. Ellis. Gods and Myths of the Viking Age. New York:Bell Publishing Co., 1981. An excellent work and most highly recommended, as are all of Ms. Davidson’s writings. Her books are particularly informative concerning the mysteries of the Vanic cults. Pagan Scandinavia. London: Thames & Hudson, 1987. This book deals more with pre-Viking Age customs and artifacts. Dumezil, Georges. Gods of the Ancient Northmen. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press, 1973. A highly speculative work, dealing with Indo-European roots and comparisons of European myths to the Rig Veda. Scholarly Teutonic heathens tend to become either Dumezihians who go about talking about the tripartite functions of society (king/judge/priest, warrior, and provider) or anti-Dumezihians who froth at the mouth when this stuff is mentioned, claiming that these divisions could not be supported in any Teutonic society. I do not think much of Dumezil myself, but his work has been very influential. The serious student of Teutonic subjects should read it for him/ herself and draw her/his own conclusions. The very influential Edred Thorsson is a strong Dumezilian. Eliade, Mircea; W. R. Trask (tr.). Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Bohlingen Series 46. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1972. The book on shamanic initiation. Elliott, R. W. V. Runes. Manchester: Manchester University Press, (c) 1959, rep. 1971. A good book on scholarly runology. Glob, P. V.; Rupert Bruce-Mitford (tr.). The Bog People. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1969. A nice book on, as it says, the bog people (early sacrifices, possibly to Nerthus, preserved by the acids of the peat bogs in which they were buried). Valuable for information on and contemplation of the early Vanic cults. Glob, P. V. (Bulman, Joan tr.). The Mound People. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1970. Grieve, Mrs. M. A Modern Herbal (2 vols.). New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1971; Harcourt, Brace, & Co., 1931. The best collection of herbal folklore and medical uses available. Grimm, Jacob; James Steven Stallybrass (tr.). Teutonic Mythology (4 vols.). Gloucester, Mass: Peter Smith, 1976. A major collection of Teutonic religion, folklore, and etymologies, which I have found indispensable. Guerber, H. A, Myths of Northern Lands. New York/Cincinnati/Chicago: American Book Company, 1895. Gundarsson, Kveldulf. “The Northern Dragon” in Northways, vol.1, no. 1. (Yule 2238)/ Arlington, TX: North Texas Kindred, 1988. A brilliant article I think, but then I also wrote it. Gumdas. Gemm Elixirs and Vibrational Healing. Boulder, CO: Cassandra Press, 1985. Good information on the properties of stones and different ways to use them. As well as the channeled information, there is a great deal of legitimate folklore concerning gems in this book. Hastrup, Kirsten. Culture and History in Medieval Iceland. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985. An excellent work which thoroughly details several major elements of Teutonic thought, particularly concerning innangardhs and utangardhs. 179 Heaney, Seamus. North. London: Faber & Faber Ltd., 1975. Beautiful poetry, including a number of poems about the bog people. Hollander, Lee (tr.). The Poetic Edda. Austin: University of Texas Press, (c) 1962, rep. in paperback 1986. A beautiful poetic translation which is good for Teutonic liturgical use, especially when working with those who are less deeply initiated into the frequently obscure mysteries of Northern poetic usages. Unfortunately, Hollander was often forced to sacrifice accuracy for the sake of meter and alliteratio~ do not try to use this version for detailed magical study, especially when working with kennings and other aspects of the language used in these holy poems. What Hollander does offer is a stunning example of the use of Germanic English (as opposed to Latimzed) as it should be used in Teutonic rituals. Saga of the Jomsvikings. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1955. A good translation of an interesting saga. Ingramsson, Ragnar Solve. “Some Ideas for Sacralizing Regular Events” in Northways, vol. 1, no. 1 (Yule 2238). Arlington, TX:North Texas Kindred, 1988. Jones, Gwyn (tr.). Vatnsdaela Saga.. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1944. Keyser, Rudolph (Pennock, Barclay tr.). Religion of the Northmen. New York: Charles B. Norton, 1854. An excellent book, dealing with the actual practice of the religion and music in Viking times. Lehmann, Ruth P. M. (tr.). Beowulf. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1988. A really beautiful poetic translation. List, Guido von; Stephen Flowers (tr.). The Secret of the Runes. Rochester: Destiny Books, 1988. A fascinating book by the father of modern runology and creator (discoverer?) of the Armanen futhark. Although sometimes von List ranges into the romantic, airy, or downright bizarre, his intense depth of understanding and brilliance of approach make this an important book to any student of runic magic. MacCullough, John. Mythology of All Races, vol. 2: Eddic. New York, NY: Cooper Square Publishers, Inc., (c) 1930, 1958, 1964. One of the best books available on Teutonic religion as viewed from an Eddic standpoint, although MacCullough also works quite a bit with folklore. Highly recommended. Magnusson, Eirikr/Morris, William (trs.). G rettir the Strong. Totowa, NJ: Cooper Square Publishers, 1980 (facsimile reprint of the first edition 1869). Magnusson, Magnus/Palsson, Hermann (trs.). The Vinland Sagas. New York: New York University Press, 1966. Marwick, Ernest W. The Folklore of Orkney and Shetland. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1975. A good guide to the survivals of Teutonic metaphysical views in a relatively isolated area. Munch, Peter Andreas. Scandinavian Classics, vol. XXVII: Norse Mythology. New York: The AmericanScandinavian foundation, 1942. Osburn, Marijane/Longland, Stella. Rune Games. London/New York: Routledge & Kegan, Paul Ltd., 1982, 1986, 1987. This book deals solely with the Anglo—Saxon futhark; a number of their interpretations of the Rune Poem are very good. The attempts to set the runes on the Qabalistic Tree of Life are wholly ludicrous, but their generally experimental attitude seems a very good thing, and they do offer some valuable alternate perspectives. Page, R. I. An Introduction to English Runes. London: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1973. A wholly mundane work of scholarship which should be read by magical runologists to keep their historical fantasies in perspective. Page is quite skeptical of magical interpretations in general. Pennick, Nigel. The Ancient Science of Geomancy. London: Thames & Hudson, Ltd, 1979. Sebastopol: CRC Publications, Ltd. 1987. Raphaell, Katrina. Crystal Enlightenment. New York, NY: Aurora Press, 1985, 1986. The basic New Age crystal text. Schutz, Herbert. The Prehi story of Germanic Europe. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1983. Storms, Dr. G. Anglo-Saxon Magic. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1948. The only book that I have yet seen 180 analyzing the charm spells; a text that is both fascinating and infinitely informative. It contains a great deal of material which can be found nowhere else. Sturlusson, Snorri (Hollander, Lee tr.). Heimskringla.. Austin: University Press, 1964. Sturlusson, Snorri (Young, Jean I. tr.) Prose Edda.. Cambridge: Bowes & Bowes Publishers Ltd., 1954. Tacitus; W. Hamilton Pyfe (tr.) Dialogus Agricola and Germania. Oxford: Clarendon Press., 1908. a major source of information on the lives and practices of the continental Germanic people, although its reliability may be questioned because of the didactic purpose and natural biases of the author. Thorsson, Edred. Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc., (c) 1984. The first book ever written dealing with the magical uses of the Elder Futhark. Thorsson cornbines the German Armanic studies, which are not available in English, with a great deal of his own work and development. An essential work. Runelore. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1987. The theory of which Fut hark is the practice, Turville-Petre, E. 0. G. Myth and Religion of the North. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1964. An excellent reference work. Tyson, Donald. Rune Magic. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1988. Tyson is primarily a ceremonial magician, best known as the author of The New Magus. Rune Magic shows a great deal of research and thought. It also is written from the perspective of someone who is at best a little dubious about heathen deities and at worst sees them as unpredictable and dangerous beings which must be controlled by a transcendental “All-Father.” Many of his practices, such as the use of the pentagram in ritual, are taken directly from ceremonial magic and have little place in Teutonic workings. However, Tyson is a very good practical magician; some of his suggestions in that department and some of his insights into the runes make this book worth the trouble, though it is recommended to check his interpretations against those of other writers. 181