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The Vanir

Jackson Crawford

89,141 views

A look at the evidence for and against the traditional idea that the Vanir were considered a truly separate group of gods from the Æsir in pre-Christian Scandinavia.

Jackson Crawford, Ph.D.: Sharing real expertise in Norse language and myth with people hungry to learn, free of both ivory tower elitism and the agendas of self-appointed gurus. Visit JacksonWCrawford.com (includes bio and linked list of all videos).

Jackson Crawford’s translation of Hávamál, with complete Old Norse text: https://www.hackettpublishing.com/the...

Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Poetic Edda: https://www.hackettpublishing.com/the...
Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Poetic...

Jackson Crawford’s translation of The Saga of the Volsungs: https://www.hackettpublishing.com/the...
Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Saga-o...

Latest FAQs: https://vimeo.com/375149287 (updated Nov. 2019).

Jackson Crawford’s Patreon page: Patreon: norsebysw

Music © I See Hawks in L.A., courtesy of the artist. Visit http://www.iseehawks.com/

Logos by Elizabeth Porter (snowbringer at gmail).

20 Comments

@JacksonCrawford Creator 5 years ago Pinned

This video from 2018 references a Discord channel connected to my Patreon community. This was a short-lived experiment in 2018 that did not last.

@sashapetrenko74 6 years ago

Though ripe with rich commentary, my favorite part of the video is "I'll eat my hat if you can make me think otherwise," followed closely by "by his feet alone, which surely excites some corners of the internet."

@DonV-95 5 years ago (edited)

"She chose her husband by his feet alone"
"..... I'm sure that excites some corners of the internet"

Broooo that was just so abrupt and nonchalant it totally caught me off guard 😂😂😂

@kokofan50 8 years ago

This reminds me of European royal families. The families are so intermixed that you can talk about them as on big family, but you can also talk about them as different entities with different statues.

@Isaiah-tp1nc 8 years ago

I'm so glad to have came across this youtube channel, Dr. Crawford is a reliable source of information regarding Norse history, language, and culture without being spoiled by any sorta political agenda, I've been a fan for only two months but I'm already excited for his translated book of the Volsung Sagas, keep up the good work Dr. Crawford, I'm excited to learn more.

@gizmogoose.2486 8 years ago

"The Sun, the Moon, the Earth, ...Beer.
Nordic Priorities!

@traditionaltaekwondoramblings 8 years ago

My favourite part of this video? When he casually says that he will have more works published soon :-D I just finished the Volsung and Ragnar sagas (which I read just after finishing his Poetic Edda translation). I LOVE this mans work!

As a Norwegian I have in my possession quite a few translations of the Poetic Edda as well as a few sagas, but they’re all translated into a very archaic form of Norwegian which makes it difficult to read. It was a whole new experience reading through his translations :-) I can not recommend people checking out his books enough.

@SatyaVenugopal 6 years ago

Tiny correction re: pronunciation - The 's' in the Sanskrit 'asura' is a regular s, as an Aesir, not an 'sh' sound (so it would be transliterated asura rather than aśura).

PS: You're certainly correct that asura is nowadays seen as meaning a class of demonic beings. This association comes from later (i.e. Epic and Puranik) Hindu mythology. In the Rigveda where the term first appears, the term seems more ambiguous, as some divine and some demonic beings are both called asuras.

@gweiloxiu9862 8 years ago

"Rudy's a great guy". Hearing Crawford talk about Simek is like listening to Iron Man talk about Wolverine. Glad to be alive and so heavily invested in this field in a time of such titans.

@TheDreamSyndicateArts 8 years ago

I enjoyed the video and the Colorado landscape.

@mysticalgraveknocker9464 6 years ago

Reminds me of my family's discord. The Norwegian side calls the Swede's "giants" and the Swede's label the Norwegians "stubborn and ignorant".

@luise.j 8 years ago

Simek is my professor at university, he is amazing. We actually talked about this exact controversy. Meaning whether there are different families of gods or not. I really enjoy watching your videos, and I think it's great to get a second, also well-educated opinion on matters like these. Thank you.

@LooniJoose 5 years ago

Dt. Crawford is a national treasure and we must protect him with our lives. 👑

@raymondfink9580 2 years ago

Thank you for being as accurate as you can be, making the distinction between what’s thought, what’s believed and what’s known, some content creators are not that accurate when they say things that they are obviously just copping onto their channels, one I can think of is northwoods kindred, they don’t make the distinction between things that are definitely understood and myths, I appreciate accurate information.

@nikhiljoshiPi 8 years ago

Hello Professor! Former CU graduate student here. I absolutely loved this video. Just wanted to give some Vedic parallels to the Norse story. The Vanirs are called Panis in vedas and they bargain with the messenger of the king of Gods. The messenger isn't flying as she is a female dog. But there is a hint of exchange just like the Norse story. The aesirs are called asuras in Vedic form and they are not necessarily demons in old versions. Even the king of gods, Indra is called an asura. I think the word means powerful. Secondly, the asuras do follow non incest rule. In 10th Mandala of Rgveda, there is a Yama-Yami Samvad which outlines what practice is to be abhorred and incest is listed as one.

All in all, a great video. Just wanted to add my 2 cents.

@colinp2238 8 years ago

You have explained to us, in the past, that the Jotunn should be regarded, not as typical giants but as a separate tribe or clan similar to the Aesir, so why not regard the Vanir in the same way?

@bradm.3775 2 weeks ago

I really appreciate these explanations of the Aesir and Vanir...I have spent some time researching this and connecting to their Energy.Thanks for mentioning Seider magic

@ArithHärger 8 years ago

I enjoyed the video, it's the first time I come across this channel and I've subscribed! The landscape is beautiful btw :p

@joshuae8169 8 years ago

That exit was pretty smooth.

@cosmasindico 8 years ago

Dang. What doesn't Simek write on? The guy's everywhere. He published a paper on the pre-Christian pillar cults of Syria that was indispensable. Incredible range, that guy. Also completely jealous that you appear to be on a first name basis with em. Rudy. heh. Thanks for the great videos.