[gothic-l] Re: Odin No Myth - Heyerdahl's new book

[Troels Brandt]

--- In gothic-l at y..., "Bertil Haggman" <mvk575b at t...> wrote:
> Dear listmembers,
>
> An article from today's The Scotsman in Edinburgh.
>
> Gothically
>
> Bertil
>
> Heyerdahl declares Odin no myth
>
> Alister Doyle In OSLO
>
> THE Viking god Odin might have been a real king who lived
> in what is now southern Russia 2,000 years ago, the Norwegian
> explorer Thor Heyerdahl said in a book released yesterday.
>
> In The Hunt for Odin, Heyerdahl says his digs by the Sea of Azov
> in Russia backed evidence in 13th-century sagas by Snorre
> Sturlason that Odin was more than a myth.
>
> Heyerdahl, who won acclaim for his 1947 voyage across the Pacific
> on the Kon-Tiki balsa raft, said Odin was a king who lived around
> Azov before being driven out by the Romans and taking his followers
to Sweden.
>
> Ancient metal belt holders, rings and armbands from 100-200 AD
found
> near the mouth of the Don River were almost identical to Viking
equivalents
> found in Sweden some 800 years later, he said.
>
> "Snorre didn't sit down and dream this all up," Heyerdahl said
at
the launch
> of his book with his co-author, Per Lillestrom. "In ancient times,
people
> treated gods and kings as one and the same thing."
>
> Snorre's stories about Odin, viewed as the king of the gods in
Norse
> mythology, portrayed him as fighting battles. By contrast, Snorre
treated
> Thor, the god of thunder, as a mythical hammer-wielding figure
riding
> through the air.
>
> He said many of the place names in Snorre's sagas matched the
ancient
> Greek names for places around the Sea of Azov, such as Tanais.
>
> Heyerdahl's digs uncovered skeletons and ancient metal
objects. "It's
> obvious that there was some link between the Nordic region and
where
> we dug."
>
> Some historians have criticised the findings as based on
insufficient
> evidence and said Odin's name originated from the Germanic name
> Wotan. One likened Heyerdahl's quest for Odin to digging for
the
Garden of
> Eden. - Reuters

Bertil,
I agree this is interesting, but I have not seen anywhere yet how he
from his digging is able to state, that this "people of Odin" left
before Christ and not later. There are nearly 1000 years between the
cultures mentioned at the Sea of Asow and in Scandinavia, which under
all circumstances is unusual when comparing archaeological evidence.
A lot could happen in the time between, and we already know that
Goths and Heruls made different kinds of connections between these
regions.

No one will probably be surprised to hear me claim, that his
observations could be caused by the Heruls and their neighbours, but
we should read the book or at least know his arguments before our
comments are of any value.

Troels


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
See What You've Been Missing!
Amazing Wireless Video Camera.
Click here
http://us.click.yahoo.com/75YKVC/7.PDAA/ySSFAA/wWMplB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

You are a member of the Gothic-L list.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to <gothic-l-unsubscribe at egroups.com>.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/