Asatru and Hermann's Victory: Some Resources

In a previous post, I briefly described the battle between the Germans and the Romans in the Teutoburg Forest, and noted that the two thousandth (!) anniversary of that battle is the three-day period from September 9 to September 11. I wrote that we who are Asatru ought to celebrate this occasion - not so much with festivities, though there's no harm in that, but in a spiritual mood of thanksgiving and a determination to serve our people in the future.

Today I want to give a few varied resources on the battle, for those who need to get a better idea of what happened and why it matters. Here goes:

The Wikipedia article is a convenient starting point. It's scholarly, and a bit deconstructionist; the cynics and the German-bashers can find plenty of ammunition here.
http://tinyurl.com/5r9r48

Then there's the Victorian view, as recorded by Sir Edward Creasy in Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World from Marathon to Waterloo. Here's a link to the chapter on Teutoburg Forest - http://tinyurl.com/nr8lxc .

Finally, there's the web site for the museum that now stands by the battleground - http://tinyurl.com/n2uao2 .

None of these, standing alone, can tell the story of Hermann's victory. The museum site must conform to certain social and political expectations if its officers are to keep their jobs. Sir Edward's work is idealistic, simplistic, and reflects his era. Wikipedia is ready to deconstruct "myths" and continue the never-ending war against everything German.

It seems that from one end of the spectrum to the other, the battle at Teutoburger Forest never fails to elict strong opinions.

As for opinions...I'll offer some of mine in a future post.

Stephen A. McNallen

Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org