“That counsel I tenth, that thou trust never oath of an outlaw’s son;”
A lot of people take this quote from the Havamal at face value. It could be taken to mean that a son is likely to be similar to his father, cut from the same cloth so to speak.
I suspect it goes far deeper than that. Our ancestors practiced a kind of reincarnation as did all the main tribes of Europe. It wasn't a literal reincarnation of mind and spirit as the fictional wicca / occult types would have us believe. When our ancestors died their spirit would stay nearby so that their descendants could find and inherit their honour that they had earned whilst living a worthy life. However, if your father / mother had not lived a worthy life, bringing shame upon the family name. The next generation would have to start again from scratch, living a worthy life to rebuild the families honour.
Don't be fooled into thinking that our honour is purely a matter for our own self interest. We are part of the natural world even if our ego tells us otherwise! Man's struggle 'against' nature is doomed to fail. We must return to the path that Odin would have us walk in balance with nature and reaching for the divine. We are not even limited by the stars in the night sky. The only limits are those we place upon ourselves by forcing the natural world to place barriers in front of us due to our own actions. If mankind carries on moving forward dysgenically and without honour the effect upon the natural world will be catastrophic.
This was a culture where nobility had to be earned and constantly put to the test. I wonder if our descendants will ever live in a high trust - honour based society again?
PS these words are just my way of thinking aloud. We should all explore our imagination when searching for a way to walk the path.
Wotan Mit Uns
