Ægishjálmur (“The Helm of Awe”)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2020
- Ægishjálmur (older: Ǿgishjálmr), the famous symbol from Icelandic magical manuscripts, and the original texts of some of its surprising and unique lore.
Jackson Crawford, Ph.D.: Sharing real expertise in Norse language and myth with people hungry to learn, free of both ivory tower elitism and the agendas of self-appointed gurus. Visit jacksonwcrawford.com/ (includes bio and linked list of all videos).
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I recollected after posting this that there’s also a very similar prose-poem spell to the one I read from AM 434 a (“Fjón þvæ ek af mér...”) in the later manuscript printed by Lindqvist as “En isländsk svartkonstbok från 1500-talet.” I also left out this part that it says is to be read after making the Ǿgishjálmr between one’s eyes:
Ølvir, Óðinn, Illi!
Allt þit vilið villi!
Sjálfr Guð með snilli
Sendi okkr ást í milli.
“Ølvir, Odin, Evil!
May what you want, not come true!
May God himself quickly
Send love between us!”
The older manuscript AM 434 a itself was printed by Kålund as “Den islandske lægebog.”
These texts come from various different times, but I have mostly standardized the spelling I use here (as I often do) to be closer to the “classical” Old Norse of the 1200s that is more recognizable to most learners. As mentioned in the video, my pronunciation of many texts ended up being a mix of Old Norse and Modern Icelandic because of the “mixed signals” of the transitional language of these 1500s/1600s texts-which is an extra reminder that these texts were written down further away from when Iceland was pagan than we are right now from when England was Catholic.
i greatly appreciate these videos so much. they’re exactly what i was looking for and you make things so easy to understand! i’m just curious, do you know of any resources that could give me information on the Seidr or Pre-Christianization Norse magic?
In the old testament left handed archers and fighters were made note of in the text could that have something to do with the hands?
@@noriwebb6599 Dr. Crawford has two videos on it: "Seiðr Magic and Gender" (th-cam.com/video/LZFkPaoafBo/w-d-xo.html) and "The Vǫlva (Norse Seeress) and Seiðr" (th-cam.com/video/pPPWde7SVk0/w-d-xo.html) Probably the most extensive book I can recommend on it is Neil Price's "The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia" (www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/the-viking-way.html)-- it's a huge book, and well-sourced, including mention of where scholarly opinion is split or still being debated, so also a great reference for finding further resources and/or scholarly perspectives on the topic.
Wait England isn't Catholic anymore? Huh.
@@casthedemon it's anglican, since henry the XVIII, gas been a time already
I'll be honest. If my enemy carved and lead inlay-ed any of these symbols into their forehead, I'd think twice about fighting them.
I was thinking of Stargate Goauld and the metal symbols they pour onto the forehead of their Jaffa.
You are a very smart person.
Adds a lot of credence to the word berserker doesn't it!
@@wade4452 Pretty sure the word "berserker" comes from the old norse either for "without a shirt" or "bear-skin shirt wearer." It doesn't literally mean "someone who goes berserk," we have added that meaning much later.
@@northenby8288 Thank you.
“…May not be a perfectly canonical part of the gospels.” Got a laugh out of that. Love the dry quips.
“Hey, ready to make that bet?”
“Yeah, yeah, just give me a church and a week and a half.”
I would imagine that - to the extent that this is documenting actual practice, as opposed to being wildly ornamented by the author's flights of fantasy, which is always iffy with medieval grimoires - that it's intended as preparation for a special occasion on which one anticipates an opportunity to gamble, not as a response to one suddenly arising.
@@logitimate It's a joke.
About that church stuff: a lot of old Norse "Viking" spiritual places were destroyed by Christians to build their own holy places upon them (church). So the connection with the spiritual place would still be there even it now has a church on it.
It's the placing of the dice under the altar cloth without them being noticed through 3 masses, that's the hard part. You might have to let the priest in on it, maybe promise the customary 10% off the top...
I find it fascinating that this spell-rune was used to help you gain friendship and influence with other people, and to make your enemies fear you & consequently not want to fight you. A conflict-resolution rune, as it were.
poetic indeed
sigil*** but yes
Do you think that dice spell will work on my D20s.
Yes
My thoughts exactly
According to the automatically generated subtitles an 'old nurse specialist' .. Well if that makes you happy
Love your channel (;
Notice the wind picked up a lot when he read that second bit, frickin magical
Weather man said it would the day before😯 Magic🤣
😏👍🏽🔥👁🖐🏾👑
Could be stirring energy?
Life as a demon must get irritating after a while. You always wait expecting to help with some grand task only for the most mundane of calls. "Another mortal summoned me. This is the tenth diceroll summoning this week." No wonder they don't talk to us anymore.
The standard medieval grimoire take is that they use those calls as an opportunity to try to seduce mortals in evil, to ruin their lives, or simply to kill them horribly. Hence why you need this grimoire, with its careful discussion of the elaborate precautions you must take, instead of just playing it by ear!
I really liked this. So many of my contemporaries don't understand how much of old Nores spirituality was crossed over into Christian practices even up into the 20th century. We are obsessed with duality & don't realize everything isn't black & white when it comes to Scandinavian religious practices.
I would make an educated guess, that victory "flat rock" is the center table( *where the currently mourned corpse was laid, in 1st Cen. AD Judaic tombs) in the borrowed tomb. As you are probably aware, the current decedent was laid out in honor, in his shroud. Later to be reduced, and have his ossuary interred in the wall niches, with his relatives. But of course he wasn't found there, only his empty shroud. Victory, referring to victory by ascension, as well as victory over death. Victory Flat Rock, here meant as a kenning. Perhaps therefore only used here, and not in other verse, or text
Amazing lesson about christian/pagan religious syncretism and its influence in medieval grimoires like the "Lemegeton" you cited.
Thank you, Professor.
People tend to forget that pre-Reformation and the rise in literacy, the common folks understanding of Christian canon was highly dependent on how well they paid attention in church, and all the important rites were performed in Latin. So their actual grasp of the gospels was probably about as vague and iffy and mutated through folksy re-tellings away from church as whatever understanding remained of the old pre-Christian ways.
Funny how Icelanders never really got rid of the ‘old Gods’ in their spiritual life. And that we kind of get this bastard religion where somehow Odin and Maria are in the same spiritual practice.
The same thing happened in some slavic countries where old pagan rituals are still practices (such as the Burning of Morena/Morana). There is also the invoking of Parom/Perun as a standin for "God Damnit" - the version used in my home country can be translated to "Render unto Perun" or "To Perun".
Since you pointed out this spiritual religious hybrid of Christianity and Norse mythology, and somebody below pointed out the same thing for more Eastern Europe, I wanted to add that really, Christianity and Catholicism, all of it's sects have adulterated the cultural religions and practices worldwide.
With the later slave trade in Africa and the Conquering of North, Central, & South America, all of this tropical areas slavery farming plantation stuff, they force Catholicism onto the slaves, right?
But they already had their own religion, obviously. It was Vodoun, commonly known today as Voodoo. So basically they renamed their spirits and deities after the Saints, so that in secret it would look like they were worshiping the saints, but they were still appealing to the deities of their own culture. And that is how Santeria and Candomblé came to exist.
I don't remember the differences between those two offshoots, but I know they are different and I know that they both exist because of what I just explained.
Today, those religions are still viewed as witchcraft by the larger judeo-christian and Muslim community, but at least those practitioners have the freedom to do so openly now/their religious freedom as well as personal freedom.
What I was trying to point out is that not only has Christianity and it's related religions (not including Judaism... I've never heard of a Jew trying to convert someone) but yeah these evangelical or holy war type religions adulterated pretty much every deeply rooted cultural tradition that existed before it, except for Judaism.
But, it seems that the damage to cultures' spiritual practices was most heavily weighed on ancient Europe and North Africa, as eventually Islam did to the Middle East as well.
It's sad that it's hard to find information on these ancient practices and symbols but also it is great that even a part of that history has survived to today, despite everything.
For me, learning this stuff is relevant bc I am working backwards from my Christian conditioning and like this symbol Helm of Awe, has attracted me since I saw it the first time, and I keep drawing it. So I'm researching it because it already is a mystic thing but knowing and understanding it's history will help know how to use it best. I'm not upset that it isn't necessarily Norse in origin, it is still a symbol used more than 100 years ago so to me it is still powerful. I keep drawing it on my left arm so it was interesting to learn the tie of the symbol to the left hand in particular.
I just found this vid while researching something related and wanted to share: Heilung, in their song "Traust" use the first two lines of AM 434 at 8:09
On of my favorite tracks.
I had no idea it was tied to the Ægishjálmur. Thank you for the education!
Such a beautiful language I could listen to this my entire life. I wish I knew where to learn it.
Be the change you want to see
In the same channel 😅😅, just check it out, there are lessons from him
Man.. America has probably the best views I've ever seen. What a beautiful country, forests, mountains, beaches, deserts, sun, snow, rain.. I'm kinda jealous
Its a large country. I would recommend going to Yellowstone, i think its closest you can get to magical landscape you can get to on earth.
It does help we’re as big as Europe😂
@@EasytheGoon that's my second dream land to visit, after South Africa (Savannas). Yosemite and Grand Teton also look amazing. And I know it's because USA is so so large, maybe that's the beauty of it. I live in Turkey, which has ridicilously amazing nature, I traveled in Europe a few times but my eyes are locked on America 😀
C'mon over! All welcome!
Aren’t you Turkish? I’d rather see Turkey. Wanna trade?
Thank you for making this video. It was enlightening and the scenery is amazing.
Damn brother. That's some righteous chest hair you got going on👍😄
I know it's a new video, but its definitely one of my favorites. Thank you I've been waiting for a video like this for a while 🖤
This is my favorite video of yours and I've been watching you since the beginning.
This channel is incredible!! Can’t wait to go through all the videos and learn all I can. Amazing insight into things I didn’t think I could find out myself.
I loved this video brother! The best part is that last tidbit about the ivory tower! Love that!
I love your videos! Thank you so much for your time and the heart you put into each one. I also really appreciate that you are so dedicated to a scholarly view of these runes and writings and teach context and critical thinking.
Thanks for coming out of the ivory tower Doc! Good information on the internet is hard to find.
Your videos have been very educational and enlightening
I saw this video recently and want to thank the author for his contributions to the discussion of these unique, cultural and spiritual texts.
Thanks a lot for making this available on TH-cam.
Mirco from Dortmund, Germany
I've been drawing the symbol on my left hand, just felt right, before watching this video... kinda gave me chills. Love the content.
That was AWEsome. Thank you.
Jackson is a brilliant teacher!
Thats so cool, thank you for this video and sharing your knowledge !
Thank you! Very appreciated topic
Thank you for this video professor.
Very informative, thank you! I just bought a ring that had this symbol on it and I was curious as to what it meant.
I used to dream of and doodle this symbol everywhere as a child. I've only recently been looking into it and I'm loving learning!
Me too
I used to draw this in middle and high school. I would put it on everything I wrote back in the late 80's early 90's. I finally got it tattooed on my forearm.
@@jokkermaxx1271 thats awesome!
@@roseannebowes8857 Did you do it knowing that it was the symbol Ægishjálmur or did you just do it unknowingly? Maybe you have Norse ancestors in you. We the Vikings traveled 4 continents. More than anyone else over 1000 years ago. Europe, Asia, Africa and America. Not even the Greeks or Romans found four continents. They only found 3. Europe, Asia and Africa.
@@Dyrlingur I did it unknowingly! I've only found out what it was within the last year. I wouldn't be surprised if I did, I have very celtic ancestors.
goddamn doc you´re really good at selling me trip to the rockies. stunning
Absolutely fascinating, thank you!
Thank you for the information; it is much appreciated.
Great video, I really enjoyed it. Thank you! :)
The tile caught my eye because one of my ancestors last name was Ægisdatter. Very interesting video!
Excellent content. Thank you!
Thank you. I loved this.
This is fantastic! I am kind of happy that this symbol has some connection to older Icelandic magic (and possibly in some other form all the way back to the Norse time?). I didn’t know that it might be even close to that old.
My closed captions were trying so hard when you were reading.
Fantastic video as always. Thank you for the truth!!!
The thing about the dice made me think of the significance of sets of three/nine in pre-Christian thought. So, instead of all four directions for three nights each, it's in three directions for three nights per direction. I could expound on the significance of at least two of the directions, but I don't have the scholarly references to support it at this time, so I won't try. Just thought I ought to point it out.
Three is a significant number in Christian theology too
@@sarahgilbert8036 it has been significant sense old testament times.
Very cool and interesting, thank you!
Would you be willing to explain more of these staves? I find them fascinating, as well as the mix of Christian and pagan beliefs in the writings.
love your videos, keep it up :)
it would be interesting to hear about Vegvísir symbol since it's related to the Icelandic magic and ægishjalmur!
Sounds like german Wegweiser which means way sign...
@@dershogun6396 It means the way-indicator, or that which will show you the way. It is a cognate to the German Wegweiser obviously. It is meant as a magical symbol to help guide those who are lost.
It's only known from an 1800s book of magical sigils, with no indication whatsoever of it having any prior roots in Old Norse or pre-Christian times. I'm just mentioning this because it's become quite fashionable for Viking-LARPers and enthusiasts to claim it as a "viking symbol", when there is no evidence of that.
@@nakenmil I remember hearing this I thought in one of Mr Crawfords videos but I'm having trouble finding a source.
@@nakenmil Yup, there are a lot of Neo-Vikings getting the vegvisir tattoo not realising it was more than likely created 800 years after the Viking age.
Amazing . Very cool . Thanks !
You are absolutely right about the closed circle of communication within science and that it is challenged by social media influencers with far less scientific approaches to knowledge. Anyway, regarding the Fafnismal excerpt, it makes perfect sense to interpret Øgishjalmur as a tattoo or inscription you "wear", as much as a physical helmet. But I wonder whether the term is rooted in a story long long gone....
Hey Dr. Crawford awesome video! I watched this a few weeks ago and am just now commenting because I was reading a section of the Bible and something caught my eye. In The Book of Revalation 9:4 'They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.' (New Living Translation 2nd Ed.) Do you think this is perhaps an ancestral practice to Ægishjálmur? or perhaps these practices/ideas have a common ancestral practice?
Hey Jackson, I've lived my whole life in rural Colorado, working as a ranch hand through my 20's but always a nerd at heart, programming video games in my spare time with influences from Norse mythology. It's crazy that there's another cowboy viking nerd out there. I thought I was the only one!
Yes!I see it (the wind,perhaps the Alf "Windir"?)as a possible Vinlandic Landwight response to the Aegishalmur "invocation".
I noticed you mentioned 13:21, "Galdrbokr, the famous books of spells" - google doesn't really seem to be yielding particularly historical texts, could you elaborate on that? Or maybe there's already a video that talks about these?
Sacred places now being flooded with RPG players digging holes
Great subject
Nice one. Thanks.
Wow how informative thank you
I'm sorry Jackson, I'm sure that you did not intend to illicit humor, but the last bit about empowering dice with magic was, to me, hilarious! Thank you for that!
Amazing, thank you
When I searched for Ægishjálmu with the Æ, you old video is 1st. but when i search with Ae, the new one is first.
This one has almost passed the old one in views.
Having the symbol on a helmet and on the forehead reminds me of the presblik found in iron age helmets with depictions of weapon dancers and a possible Odin, ulfhednar and berserkers.
I mainly watch for the awesome vistas in the background.
Thank you for the video! It’s very interesting.
Greetings from Ukraine
What an amazing location!
Could you by any chance react and or talk about how Týr uses ancient poems in their songs and the like? If not, that's ok. The channel is great, thanks for everything.
Jackson, thanks for the video. If possible answer me this question: The Magnus Robinson you quote at minute 5:16, is Magnus Lewis Robinson 1852-1918 - Prominent leader of the African American community in Alexandria, Virginia?
I enjoy how you demonstrate the connection tween Christian and Pagan histories. Magic is the fabric of reality, we cannot escape it; might as well embrace it.
How lovely 💛🌻
Just bought your two audiobooks on Audible, can't wait to hear them. Being Danish myself, it depresses me how little I understand of Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish. It makes it doubly impressive how fluent you sound in all these languages (from what I can tell). I hope you're doing ok Jackson, despite all the chaos right now.
Thank you very much for sharing. I am thinking of the plant mellifolium mentioned, do you know what species it is? Is it possibly yarrow, Achillea millefolium? Because it is similar in latin name and yarrow is widely used among several branches of traditional medicines.
People have always been very opportunistic when it comes to getting ahead in life, willing to call to whatever (officially) forbidden power they can. I recall from my folklore-studies that in general people in the Nordic countryside believed that if you prayed for something from God and didn't receive it, then the Almighty had His reasons for it and the matter was closed. But you could always bargain for the same thing from various nature spirits, but if you still didn't get what you wanted, then it was your own fault. I vaguely recall a witch-trial document, where two men were accused of trying to trade favours from the Devil with a barrel of beer. Popular wisdom of the time said that the pair didn't receive anything in return because they had only bought the beer, rather than actually make it themselves.
thank you sir
im gonna start doing that dice prayer for all my new dice sets haha
Dr. Crawford, where do you get those shirts?
@JacksonCrawford "Victory-flatrock" is likely a reference to calvary/golgatha... It was an (very) old battlefield. The imagery conjured is of a mother who has found her son after he defeated torture, death, and all that life had to throw at him. It has a certain gravitas worthy of a nod of respect and aknowledgment of the human condition. I suppose it may have been a ritual incantation and ward against "the id".
Thank you for your interest and wealth of information from our ancestors who left us a very good legacy, be it for a pagan or judaic construction
I’m interested in hiking the granite divide near pagosa springs. Have you ever been?
I always thought the printing of the symbol upon the forehead with something made of lead was using a forged lead seal, dipped in paint, then stamped on the forehead.
3:06
Oh man, SICK BURN Mr. Crawford! I laughed heartily about the tattoo comment.
Neat ovo
Is there evidence this was influenced by Athena's aegis in anyway, or is it a cognate, or are the similarities entirely coincidental? The connection to helms, dragons, protection against enmity, symbols, and eyes seems pretty suggestive. The focus on "powerful men", too, kinda reminds me(at a stretch) of all the help Athena gave Odysseus(and his son) in dealing with nobles he met in his travels, tho obvl there's no symbol, spell, or ritual involved with it in those stories, just the goddess herself.
"Between the eyes" may very well relate to the Estern Teachings of the "Third Eyes'. Activating this is said to bring more Light into one's Life that can be 'shared' to 'raise the vibration' of the individual and maybe those around him/her that dispels anger, hatred and the like.
I lost it at 12:05 everything makes so much sense now xD
From what I understand (which is insanely little) the only known historical reference we have that the old norse people had tattoos was from Ibn Fadlan’s manuscripts. Could this potentially be a second source. Again, Ibn’s manuscript & from what this sounds like, is the phrase “painted” comes up. Now I’m pretty sure in this time period, the Arab people were familiar with tattoos. I just don’t know if this is lost in translation in Fadlan’s texts. My only thinking is if the people of Scandinavia had travelled & met with so many cultures, surely they would have picked up on this art form.
TLDR: it’s frustrating to not know if these old text refer to body paint or to tattoos.
I was wondering this too, or even if warriors possibly branded the symbol onto their forehead?
I think the practitioners that authored the dice rolling ritual and the verbal aspect to the spell was looking to maybe capitalize on what he foreseen and we now know today as "Gambling Addiction"? I have no idea why I found this part of the video as comical as I did, but that is kind of how that played out in my head as I listened to your translation as well as your explanation of it. I hope my comment find you well my brother.
Have you done a video on vegvisir?
thank you so much for this. I have the symbol tattooed on me, not on my forehead but on the right side of my chest, being a practitioner of Asatru for many years I was well aware of the meaning around this symbol thus why I had it tattooed on me to begin with but I wasn't aware the history behind it so with that I appreciate the lesson, thanks again
I will be curiousnto know what is your thought on vegvisir ?
Scandinavian, Icelandic and Norse pronounciations are surprisingly on point for someone not native to the area. Then again, it is *you*, so not sure what i expected.
I think the syncretization of Christianity and pagan faiths was a regular practice in the 1600-1800s all over the world. Similar to the diasporan faiths of Haitian Vodou, American Hoodoo, Palo Mayombe, Macumba ...etc. Much of the Roma folk witchcraft in Romania and Bulgaria is similar, as well as the hereditary witchcraft practices in Russia and Ukraine.
Is syncretism like the dice chant at around 14:30 common in medieval literatur? really makes me wonder. or is it more or less something only the weirdos and outcasts of sorts make use of "just to make sure" and to please both sides
Drucken can be associated with the word press, as in "press that button"
Just a minor quibble: Lbs 143 8vo is foliated not paginated
what book are you reading the staves from?
...can anyone tell me why Master Boot Record puts this on his album art?
Amateur guess here, but might the 'Victory Flatwalk' be the space before the cross on Calvary? I'm thinking of the kenning for the cross itself as the 'Victory-Beam' in The Dream of The Rood as a point of comparison... it's tenuous, I know!
My thought was Mary supposedly carried Jesus' body away from the cross for burial, so carrying the dread of the helm's wearer as heavy as that corpse sounds suitably morbid.
Dr. Jackson.
Since you have educated me many times, let me return the favour.
There is an old nursery rime in swedish for learning the names of the different fingers.
I will write in swedish but you can figure it out. Because I have no idea how to translate this.
Tummetott, slickepott, långeman, gullebrann och lille vicke vire som satt i askan och spann.
Then I want to share a lose theory why men do not like getting cloaks from other men.
Could it be that a nice coat is a traditional courting gift? Kind of what a fur coat is today.
Something a man gives to someone he wants to, marry.
Thank you for your great work.
Its the OG version of LORD HELP ME FIND MY CAR KEYS.
I'm investigating bind runes and their meanings, and this one keeps showing itself to me. I'm taking it as some kind of sign I should figure out what it means. Happy to see the Grim Frost sponsorship too! That's where I got my first Mjolnir necklaces.