Asyniur: Women's Mysteries in the Northern Tradition

by Sheena McGrath

Unlike other titles in this area, this book looks at all aspects of women's lives, their magic and their religion in the Northern Tradition. Topics covered include the nature of women's activities from the 'traditional' position of housewife to those of scald and warrior, the role of female figures in creation and Ragnarok myths, a comprehensive coverage of Northern Tradition Goddesses, rituals specific to women, runes and the female power of foreseeing events, Seidr - the combination of witchcraft and shamanism, its connections with Freya as well as the connections between her, fertility magic and Seidr itself.

Genres: Paganism

204 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved and disliked this book at the same time. If you're already familiar with the Norse deities then you may skip to page 133. This is where all the useful information is located.

What I loved about this book:

Sheena McGrath believes that Freya and Frigga are separate entities and Goddesses. Even if I wasn't a polytheist I would argue the same. Clearly two different Goddesses that for some reason people keep grouping as one. It's just not possible. One is a Mother Goddess. She is a sky Goddess and Aesir. The other is a warrior, Vanir (that makes her a fertility/crop Goddess), and goddess of sex. How does this even keep happening? It blows my mind. McGrath also acknowledges that Freya is also a death Goddess and leads the Valkyries. Many fertility Goddesses are also death Goddesses. I also liked that the author compares Freya to the Morrighan of Irish mythology/Paganism.

McGrath also discusses other Goddesses and not just Frigga and Freya. I would have liked for McGrath to discuss Loki's wives and daughters since they're always left out. She also includes German Goddesses or their equivalent name and skills/powers. The author also dedicates a section on Jotun goddesses like Norns, Desir, Valkyries, etc.

The author also has a section about the Norse Gods so they're not overlooked. But it is short section.

Sadly, what I loved the most about this book was the few pages on the runes. The author prefers the Elder Futhark as do I. She also hates the blank rune like I do. The blank rune means nothing! It is something that Blum made it up. It also messes up the order of the runes. Lastly McGrath includes rune spreads/layouts.


What I heavily disliked about this book:

Firstly, the title is very misleading because this book is about the author's retelling of the Edda and her opinions and very little about women's mysteries or spells/magick.

As a feminist this book annoyed the piss out of me. I get that this book was written in 1997 and honesty people still treat women who want equal rights like we're freaks of nature, but there is absolutely no need to start getting on the I hate men train. If you're going to include feminism in your book please by all means describe what feminism means for all the men and women who think that being a feminist means hating men. This book should be about Goddesses in Norse mythology, that's why I picked this up to read.

Another thing I could do without are the authors complaints. McGrath doesn't like that scholars and readers often compare the Norse deities to the Greek pantheon yet she does it herself several times. The author thinks that Odin is like Zeus who sleeps around with whomever he wants whenever he wants and gets away with it. She then continues to make comparisons with the two panetheons throughout the book. She also includes comparisons to other pantheons from around the world.

There are a lot of inaccuracies in this book. Too many for a book that was published. Sheena McGrath claims no one links Odin to other Gods. Plenty of heathen and scholars believe that Heimdall is an aspect of Odin, other believe that Loki and Odin are also one deity. The author also says that a Roman writer Saxo Grammaticus see Norse Gods as immortal humans and that he is incorrect. Yet many Heathen/Odinists/Asatru/Norse Pagans believe the Gods were human before they became Gods or that they were Gods, but are also ancestors to humanity. Even though throughout the book she gives evidence that many royals in Norway, Sweden and Denmark claim to be descendants of Jotuns, Gods and supernatural creatures. McGrath argues that Norse culture was sexist and that women did not play a role in Norse creation story yet when Ymir was dismembered and the world was formed and the Gods came to be they created a man and a woman out of trees and mud. Ymir is also genderless. Unfortunately, McGrath argues many times that the Norse were sexist and many times she ends up contradicting herself and supplying information on how they're more egalitarian than other cultures. She also says herself that the Norse were gender flexible until their pride is hurt.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book, which challenges several well-established paradigms regarding Norse myth. For example, McGrath draws a clear line between the Aesir goddess Frigg, who is the archetype of the wife and female head of household in a warrior society, and the Vanir goddess Freya, who is a goddess of wealth, witchcraft and sexuality, probably stemming from an older peasant culture who merged with the warrior culture - which means they are not easily interchangeable with each other. She also draws attention to the fact that creation (of the universe as well as of man) doesn't seem to be a female job since it's mostly done by nature itself, giants and/or Odin. She describes how Seithr (witchcraft) seems to be a specialty of women, which "feminizes" the male user and became something like "low magic", unlike Odins "high magic" spell singing (which are called Galdrar). She also refutes the view of the Norns as past, present and future and instead says that Skuld is not a norn of "future" but of working out what was set in place. All in all, a very readable book, but sadly with quite a lot of typos. There is definitely something to gain by reading.