"Eitr means the lowest degree of cold and poison at the same time ... tongues were made speechless with cold. In Saxo’s descriptions of the regions of misery in the lower world, it is only the torturing demons that speak. The dead are speechless, and suffer their agonies without uttering a sound; but, when the spirits of torture so desire, and force and egg them on, they can produce a howl."
I don't know why but I'm kind of obsessed with this passage. I've been interested in Norse and Germanic for a long time and there is a rich bleakness about a lot of the world described in the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda. Maybe this is me getting ready for fall and looking forward to the cold?
What's cool is that "Eitr" is the mythical substance that all life comes from, is the word for poison, snake venom, anger and also the deepest purest cold. I think there are many things that encapsulate diametric qualities, life and death, chaos and order. Part of being human is deciding which is which, all based off our own perspective.
Goodnight and Happy Saturday!
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| Photo: Not Mine |
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