This is the short story of mankind. Just to remind us.
00-04.00 o´clock: Nothing
04.00-20.30: Life forms with only one cell
20.30: Sea plants
20.50: Jellyfish and diacrara fauna
21.04: Trilobites
22.00: Plants on land and first land animals
22.24: Forests and the first flying insects
23.00: Dinosaurs
23.40: Dinosaurs dies out, era of mammals begins
23.59: Humans enter the world.
Oden was the wisest of all asa gods, and sad just because of that. He knew the end of time was close. He also knew that even the gods must die when Ragnarök, the twilight of gods, would come. Oden had power and wisdom but he also had unpleasant traits and was strongly associated with death. Among grave findings in the Oseberg ship in Norway (ad 850) there were woven pictures showing sacrificial offerings to honor Oden. He was sometimes called “the god of the hanged”. He even offered himself, to himself. In Havamal you can read that he hanged in the sacrificial-tree for nine nights.
It was through his own suffering that he, like a shaman, could get hold of his great knowledge and magical skills. His power was great. He could kill fire, calm the waves of the sea, turn swords around in the air, and seduce any woman and many other remarkable things. He could, like so many other mythological beings, change his appearance and transform himself to anything. But also he, the greatest of them all, must perish one day.
Loke was a complex figure in Nordic mythology. He was born the son of a giant but used to hang around the gods in Asgård. He was beautiful to look at but he could never be trusted. Often he put the asagods in embarrassing situations although he could sometimes be helpful to them with his cunning schemes.
Loke was married to Sigyn although it seems he had it going with lots of other women. With the giantess Angerboda (the one who causes fear) he got three horrible children, one worse than the other. They were Hel, The Midgårdssnake and the wolf Fenrir. From these three awful beings the asagods could only expect misery. To keep track on them they were taken from the giant world Jotunheim where they lived. The snake was thrown in the deep that surrounded the whole world. The girl, Hel, was sent down to the underworld with the dead. The wolf was kept in shackles in Asgård, where the gods themselves could keep an eye on him.
Loke, the father of destructive forces, is complex in nature as most trickster figures are. He was the great joker amongst the gods, always with mischief in his mind. He is witty and obscene. He is not afraid of authorities and boldly insults the all the time, especially about their morally shortcomings.
Lokes worst crime was his involvement in the gruesome murder of the noble, good god Balder, the son of Oden. Loke was severely punished for the deed. After the murder he fled from the gods and built himself a house near the river. In daytime he transformed himself to a salmon to elude his pursuers. But they tracked him down anyhow and captured him. Loke was put in a cave where he was tied firmly with the intestines of one of his own sons. A venomous snake was hanging down over him with its poison dripping in Lokes face. Lokes wife Sigyn held a bowl over his face to stop the poison from hurting her husband, but every now and then the bowl was full and had to be emptied. Then the poison hit Lokes face and the whole world quivered when Loke cried with pain.
And there he had to remain until Ragnarök, the doom of gods.
Jordens undergång
År 536 var solen kraftlös, ingen värme nådde fram och på sommaren kunde inget gro. Mycket förändrades i Norden vid mitten av 500-talet, gravskicket ändrades och gamla boplatser övergavs. Perioden innan verkar ha varit en välmående tid med guldföremål, internationella kontakter och relativ fred. Men så sinar fornfynden och historiker tror att hälften av Skandinaviens befolkning svalt ihjäl inom loppet av tio år. De ceremoniella solskivorna försvinner från bildstenarna. I stället fylls de med bilder av asagudar och krigare.
Forskare tror att klimatförändringar var orsaken, sannolikt det stora vulkanutbrottet i El Salvador. I senare tid är utbrotten som Pinatubo 1991 och Krakatau år 1883 de mest kända utbrotten. De släppte ut enorma mängder aska och svaveldioxid i luften och som sedan omvandlas till svavelsyra som kan sväva omkring i stratosfären i åratal. Solljuset får svårt att nå oss och temperaturen sjunker. Vulkanutbrottet år 536 beskrivs av antika författare och nutida klimatforskare på Grönland kan borra sig ned i isen och se bakåt i tiden. De grönländska islagren är som globala årsringar. Just kring åren 540 fann forskarna ett lager sulfat som kunde vara nedfall från ett stort vulkanutbrott. Också trädens årsringar kan vittna om katastrofen.
Allt har dessutom beskrivits i den fornnordiska mytologin. Skurken här är inte vulkanutbrottet utan Lokes värstingbarn Fenrisulven. Mytologin har på ett poetiskt vis bevarat minnet av den stora klimatkatastrofen. I Eddan kan man läsa om Fimbulvintern som ska föregå Ragnarök, gudarnas skymning. ”Det blir tre vintrar i följd och ingen sommar emellan” Fenrisulven slipper lös .Ulven slukar solen.” I Codex Regius texterna kan man läsa ”Sól Tér Sortna”. Solen syns svartna. Fenrisulven kommer loss, midgårdsormen söker sig mot land och skeppet Nagelfar seglar ut med Loke i fören. Asken Yggdrasil skälver och alla strider mot varandra. Nästan alla går under. Det är gudarnas skymning och inte ens asarna kan göra något åt det. Men två människor har gömt sig undan världsbranden. De heter Liv och Livtraser och ur dessa två, små människor uppstår en ny och mycket bättre värld.
Arkeolog Bo Gräslund skriver att den blodröda himlen som beskrivs i de gamla Eddatexterna påminner om de spektakulära solnedgångar som ofta kan ses efter stora vulkanutbrott. Det var en sådan glödande solnedgång som Edvard Munch fick se en kväll efter vulkanen Krakataus utbrott år 1883. Så här skriver Munch i sin dagbok. ”Himlen blev plötsligt blodigt röd. Jag kände att det gick ett stort oändligt skrik genom naturen”. Denna upplevelse fick honom senare att måla Skriet.
Finns det nuförtiden någon vilande vulkan vars utbrott skulle kunna få liknande katastrofala följder? Alla forskare är eniga. Yellowstone.
Underlag till den här texten har jag delvis fått från en artikel i Svenska dagbladet, författad av Håkan Lindgren.
When you dream some parts of your brain are very busy. The blood pressure rises and so does the pulse. But the big muscles in the body are fast asleep. Luckily, considering how crazy some of your dreams can be. During dream sleep the frontal lobes of your brain, the ones that control order, planning, time concept, impulse inhibition and many other good mechanisms, are shut off. They sure need a rest!
On the other hand the parts of the brain that consists of feelings, memories, sight and hearing are working at its maximum level. No wonder your dreams are so wild and unreal. It is this absurd mix of uncensored impressions because the controlling front lobe area is having a break. So many strange scenes can roam freely and crazy. You miss your flight; you lose your teeth and make a fool of yourself. But you can also fly like a bird and visit beautiful places.
The dwarf Regins brother used to fish in the stream in the guise of an utter. One day Oden, Loke and Höner were out strolling around. They saw Utter who was feasting on a salmon. Loke killed Utter right away and thought it was extra fun to succeed in killing two creatures with one stone. At night the three of them arrived at someone´s house. It was suppertime and Loke gave his catch to the host. The host was, as it turned out, the dwarf Regin and his father Reidmar. Reidmar was not so pleased when he recognized his own son Utter on the dinner table. The dinner was quickly called off and Oden, Höner and Loke became prisoners and had to promise Reidmar to fill the empty otter skin with gold to get released. Loke was sent away to arrange this. He went to Ran, the sea god Aegir´s wife. Ran lures drowning men with a fishnet and keeps them with her at the bottom of the sea. Ran lent her fishnet to Loke who went to a certain stream where he knew a big treasure was kept. The golden treasure was watched carefully by a dwarf in the transformed shape of a big pike. Loke caught the dwarf and took the gold away from him. The dwarf warned him; the gold would only bring unhappiness to whoever stole it.
Loke gave Reidmar the treasure and they were thus free again, all three of them. The dwarf Regin had a brother, Fafne, who could also master the art of transformation. He took the shape of a snake (or dragon). He wanted to be the sole owner of the gold, so he took it and kept watch over it. Before that he made time to kill the present owner of the treasure, his father Reidmar. Regin told the story to Sigurd, his foster son. He then forged a sword to Sigurd because he wanted him to kill his evil brother Fafne. Sigurd did as he was told and together they roasted the heart of Fafne. Sigurd got some blood from the meat and suddenly he was able to understand the language of birds. A titmouse talked to him and warned him of the falsehood of Regin. He strongly recommended Sigurd to cut the head off his foster father and thus be the owner of the gold himself. Sigurd did again as he was told. He owned the treasure now but as it was prophesized it would only bring unhappiness. And sure enough, only bad things happened to him in later years.
The dragonflies crowd together in the dense aspen forest. They sure have lots of things to do before their short lives are over.
In the dark night we saw the moon change its colors. An astronomical phenomena or simply effects of a late summer party in 2007.
If a shark misbehaves you can always hypnotize it a little. Then it will be compliant as a little lamb.
För några år sen var jag i Turkiet för att kolla på andras textilkonst och också besöka en plats där man gjort utgrävningar som visar hur livet kanske såg ut för väldigt länge sen. Det var ett egendomligt landskap där vi var mitt i Turkiets bergslandskap.
I en grottlokal i en liten by fick vi beskåda en grupp dervischer som dansade sig till trance. De snurrade runt en osynlig axel med ett egendomligt uttryck i sina kroppar och i sina ansikten. Det var väldigt vackert och gripande. Dervischerna tillhör en mystisk gren av islam som kallas sufism. När de virvlar runt, runt, runt kommer de i kontakt med gud säger de. Hunden som virvlar runt med de andra dansarna fanns inte med i verkligheten. Inte just den kvällen i alla fall.
