Our People and Our Culture - Links

We are a people - Germanic people, part of the Greater Family of European peoples, following the ways of our ancestors.

Only when we realize we are a river will we stop drowning in puddles.

Vikings want your vote! - The National Lottery in the UK periodically dishes out money for worthy causes, based on the amount of public support for the many projects in search of funding. One of particular interest to Asatruar is the Viking Unst Project. Unst is the northernmost island in the Shetlands, an island chain stretching north from Scotland. Unst, it turns out, was a place of some importance in the Norse world because of its strategic location. Modern-day Shetlanders are restoring some of the Viking finds and using them to attract tourism, which is of considerable importance as the economic situation in the islands is dire.

Now, since money from the UK National Lottery is at stake, they may not want votes from Americans and others outside the UK. Their web site indicates they screen votes, though they did not explicitly say “No Yanks need apply.” I accidentally voted for the project by accident, while poking around their site. I suppose they’ll reject me if they don’t like the location of my ISP. Voting ends on July 4^th.

At the very least, our friends and members in the UK can vote! This is yet another way to support our ancestral heritage and, at the same time, show some solidarity with the men and women trying to make a living in the Shetlands.

http://tinyurl.com/45aqvw for a story on the project and its need for funds

http://tinyurl.com/4nbal7 for information on how to vote for the Viking Unst Project

Work starts on Chicago Viking ship restoration - Some while back,the AFA and readers of the AFA Update pitched in to help get grant funds for restoring the Viking ship replica sailed across the Atlantic for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Restoration has finally begun! The ship also serves as a centerpiece for the local Swedish Day celebration.

http://tinyurl.com/4x7g5k

Sequentia brings the story of Sigurd to life - Sequentia got the attention of Asatruar several years ago by releasing CDs containing stories from the Elder Edda in the original language, accompanied by early medieval musical instruments. (This was especially valuable for those who want to pronounce Old Norse correctly.) Now the group has done the same thing with the poems surrounding the Germanic hero Sigurd. The result is The Rheingold Curse - A Germanic Story of Greed and Revenge from the Medieval Icelandic Edda. Benjamin Bagby and his accomplices combine the Eddic material with the Icelandic bardic style called rimur to make the ancient tale shine in all its glory.

http://tinyurl.com/46v73p

More on the Icelandic Thor movie - In our last issue, we noted plans for the Icelandic company Caoz to produce a movie about Thor, due to hit the theaters in 2010. Here are a few more details.

http://tinyurl.com/48tjuq

Top archeologists to discuss Tara roadway - Some of the world’s leading archeologists will meet in Dublin June 29 - July 4 to discuss the planned roadway through the Tara complex. The fight for the Irish soul is fought on many fronts: at the polling place (as in the Irish referendum rejecting the recent EU superstate treaty), and in the battle to save the ancient spiritual heritage of the people.

http://tinyurl.com/52jda3

Petition to save Tara Hill - This petition is sponsored by TaraWatch, the leading organization fighting to save Ireland’s (and Northern Europe’s) heritage from the materialistic “Celtic tiger syndrome.”

http://tinyurl.com/3uqbeo for the petition

http://www.tarawatch.org/ for the TaraWatch web site. There are many ways you can get involved.