Taliesin's Map

The Great Lunar Cycle: The Horse Twins and the Grail: Part 7 of 12 < Part 6    Part 8 > Freyr's Horse Twin Characteristics          Does Freyr then match any of these common Horse Twin elements? He is  brother to the centrally important (possibly Dawn) goddess  Freyja, just as Aengus is brother of the centrally important Dawn goddess Brigid. A full explication of t he theory that Freyja could be the Dawn goddess is beyond our scope and was first suggested by Angriff along with Redbeard, to be elaborated in the future. Our framework does not rely on Freyja necessarily being the Dawn goddess, as it is perfectly possible for a different goddess to be in this same role in the Norse myths without disrupting the overall structure. We merely leave open the very real possibility that Freyja will be shown on a deeper level to have a connection to the mythos usually attached to the Dawn goddess. Among other things, Angriff points to the shining n...

The Great Lunar Cycle: The Horse Twins and the Grail: Part 6 of 12 < Part 5    Part 7 > Myth Grouping 2: Freyr = Oengus         Myth Grouping 2: Freyr = Oengus Secondly in our groupings of parallel myths, we have two figures who we have proposed to be the Northwestern European manifestations of (and this is crucial)  one  of the Horse Twins. Each of these figures sees a maiden, wastes away with love for her, and this is followed by the maiden being wooed for the first figure by an intermediary. This parallel compares the Norse poem  Skirnismal  with the Irish prose tale “Dream of Oengus,” and equates Scandinavian Freyr with Irish Oengus.    Freyr = Oengus 1. Sees Maiden From High Seat or Dream - Freyr sees the beautiful Gerðr from the High Seat Hliðskjalf which he has sneaked onto. ( Skirnismal ) - Oengus sees the beautiful Caer in a dream. ( Dream of Oengus ) 2. Wasting Away From Lovesickness - Freyr wastes away from g...

The Great Lunar Cycle: The Horse Twins and the Grail: Part 5 of 12  < Part 4    Part 6 > Gullveig, Hei ðr   and  Mímir  as Lunar Aspects         The lunar theme surrounding the Vanir does not seem to end with the identification of Njörðr as Soma, and a few of the other figures surrounding the Aesir-Vanir War itself must each be (much more speculatively) looked at from the perspective of this great lunar cycle. For there are others involved in the lead up and aftermath of the Aesir-Vanir conflict who seem to make no appearance in the Indian version and who it would be prudent to attempt to account for in the context of the lunar theme.   First is Gullveig, a mysterious personage who is suggested to have had some unspecified role in the inciting events of the war. She is killed three times for some unstated offense, being born again each time. Dumezil notes her similarity to the Roman Tarpeia, a Sabine woman who betrays the Sa...

The Great Lunar Cycle: The Horse Twins and the Grail: Part 4 of 12 < Part 3    Part 5 > Njörðr and Soma We would be left then with Njörðr as the primary repository of the Soma mythos in Norse mythology, as the presumptive “ soma”  plant (whatever its Norse equivalent was) and moon god and, if the Norse model matches the Indian, lord of the liquid of immortality, and a lord of the liquid element generally, of the waters. This would connect very well with Njörðr's close association with the sea, the moon seen as the master of the waters of the ocean and of waters generally. Encyclopedia Britannica describes the deity Soma thus:   The personified deity Soma was the “master of plants,” the healer of disease, and the bestower of riches... The pressing of soma was associated with the fertilizing rain, which makes possible all life and growth.   Njörðr is repeatedly associated with wealth as well as the sea, as when he and Skadi go to live at the sea periodical...