**** Something every Odinist should have*****
The attached picture is a Seax knife engraved with runes.
**** Our ancestors wouldn't leave the house without one of these knives strapped to their backs. If they did, they would be failing in their duties as a man.
**** Even children would have a smaller version of this for bushcraft, chores, preparing food etc. When a child becomes a man he would be given an adult version of the Seax. he would go out into the woods with his father and brothers, uncles etc to speak oaths. Being presented with his Seax was a sign that he was ready to take and uphold his own oaths as a man now.
**** In the woods under the full moon with brothers, uncles, cousins etc present, it is thought that the full moon is a time when the Gods can bare witness. The newly made man would do a ritual where he hangs from a tree and his uncle or father would would pierce his skin with a spear. Our newly made man would ensure that this scar doesn't heal quickly to make sure it leaves a mark on the skin. 'A mans scar'. It would often be on the chest area. This was symbolic of Odin gaining wisdom by hanging from Yggdrasil and sacrificing himself to himself to gain wisdom.
**** The father would then preside over his son swearing oaths as a man to his family and tribe. For those that could afford it a family sword would be used for this but for most people our newly made man would swear his oaths on his Seax.
**** One of the reasons men always carried their seax on their person was to 1. To show that they are a 'freeman' (Thralls with no recognised honour could not carry a weapon). 2. be able to swear oaths upon it in the future. 3. Use it to protect their honour, safety and the safety of those whom they owe allegiance to.
**** You might consider engraving your family name in runes on the blade.
**** If, later in life, if the man was to lose his honour e.g. by committing a crime or failing badly to keep an oath etc it would be up to the head of the family to strip him of his seax. To become a thrall after being a freeman was very shameful in the eyes of all of the tribe. It would be very hard to earn that trust back again and become a freeman once more. Some people would even chose banishment over living as a thrall. Honour is central to life.
**** Here in England and in some places on the continent some of our ancestors were Saxons. The Saxons worshipped a God called Seaxneat. It is believed this type of knife with the broken back blade design is named after Seaxneat. We know very little about Seaxneat as christian extremists did their best to destroy any evidence of him over the centuries. He is named as a son of Odin in one text that lists the kings of Essex but it is hard to say how accurate that is. I speak his name during Blot each year and I honour seaxneats name whenever I 'blood' a new blade to make it mine. Some of us will NEVER forget our Gods!
Ps in our every day lives it might not be possible to carry a Seax. Where I live in England we can get arrested for carrying a sharp pencil lol, check the laws in your country. We can still own one of these and use it when swearing an oath.
Some people might suggest that I have mixed Norse and Anglo Saxon lore in my thoughts here. Well, I'm English, it is who we are.
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