This question is probably coming from reading a book written by a guy who is definitely on the racist side of pro-ethnic.
He puts inter-racial marriage as an equivalent to a deadly sin. Which makes me want to punch him in DE face.
So here is my Q. In Asatru the Germanic, Scandinavian and Galics are all descendant from the Gods. Then where did all the other people come from?
My personal explanation is that All of humanity is Indeed the children of the Gods. Being as we came from the same place. Its just that the Germanics, Scandinavians, etc. Stayed closest to them. Like how an eldest son tends to take up the trade of his father.
I reference for that the fact that We mostly all came from the middle eastern areas. (The Caucasians split, then the Africans split, then the Asians split.... multiple times, etc.)
I only mention whats up top because it really is the driving force of the question. I would really appreciate responses only from Asatruar. Based on the content...
Im not trying to promote a universalist adgenda, merely looking for an answer to a pretty dubious important question.
That and I would like to think that this guy is flawed from the get go.... He also has a bit of a fetish for Urd...He practically places her above the other Gods....but thats a different argument.
Want to give props to Kothless and Kevelduf.
Kothless for reminding me of my history, and Kevelduf for his, as always, very rational informed argument.
and as always props to everyone who took the time to answer seriously and sincerely. (which thus far has been everyone.)
In fact, there is a theory that the word 'Aesir', as in one of the groups of gods, is actually a reference to 'Asia', and that the stories were brought to the Nordic nations centuries and centuries ago.
There's nothing at all wrong with inter-racial marriage as far as ?satr? is concerned.
If you couldn't find a wife in your own tribe, you took one from another. This was a common practice all over the world with all manner of races. (tribe is analogous with race anyway)
Add to that the fact that a common way to secure peace was to marry someone from your enemy's tribe thus integrating the two tribes into one. Even the Gods did this with the marriages between Aesir and Vanir.
Historically since the Germanic people travel led a lot and settled AL over the place they were very good at integrating into other cultures, it wasn't really until Christianity came along and they started taking priests with them that integration became a problem (the priests would prevent them from interacting with "pagan" peoples, probably why the attempts to settle in Vinland didn't go well).
The whole ethnic purity debate isn't a debate to begin with anyway since we're all mixtures of various "races" and if you breed from too limited a gene pool all you end up with is a bunch of mutants (like the aristocracy Lil). Even the Australian aborigines knew this and thus created the skins system, regardless of what tribe you were born into you could only marry outside your "skin" thus encouraging genetic diversity
We of Nordic ancestry are indeed descended from our gods, as explained in the Eddas.
As to the rest of the world. Let's take the Greeks. THEY were created by the Greek deity Prometheus from river clay (later after most were killed in a flood the Greecian race was repopulated by being created from stone by the gods themselves as in the Story of Deucalion and Phyrra.)
Al of the various races of man were created by their gods. It was not until the spread of certain universalism belief systems that the idea that ANY group of gods had created ALL of humanity worked its way into more culturally-centric beliefs systems.
You have to remember that when the ancient Greeks spoke of "The World" they were referring to what they knew of it at the time...and MOST knew little more than Greece itself and a few surrounding areas and seas. Same for every OTHER culture, they only knew a small portion of the actually world but the them what they knew WAS the world, its just that certain groups decided that their creator had created EVERYTHING, even the things that they didn't know about yet and eventually that idea found its way into other belief systems and instead of recognizing that the various peoples AND places were created by the gods of those people and places that somehow THEIR god's created everything.
On the subject of interracial marriages...I am not saying that I am against the idea and while I do not think that such things are inherently any sort of "deadly sin", there are considerations that should be noted. Certain ethnic groups are more prone to certain ailments than others and people of mixed race tend to have higher instances of those ailments than those of non-mixed race. There are also cultural and religious considerations and sometimes the differences are so vast as to make the relationship less likely of enduring. I'm not saying not to get involved in a mixed race relationship, just that those who do need to be aware of all the possible aspects of it so that they can be prepared for the...challenges...they will face.
Well, if you look at the Elder and Prose Eddas, Odin, Villi, and Ve gifted the first people (two trees Ash and Elm) with ND or divine breath, Wood or moods/emotions, LA or appearance, and like or health. This is where all the other people come from. Later, those of Germanic descent came from the sons of the God Mannus who was son of Tuisto. Those sons gave rise to the tribes of the Ingvaeones, the Istvaeones, and the Hermiones. It is said he had other sons as well that gave rise to other Germanic tribes. This tale was told in Tacitus's "Germania," Finally, the kings of the ancient Germanic tribes were said to be descended from various Gods such as Woden, Freyr, and Seaxneat.
Asatru universalism.... kinda?
