On Strength

By Steven, Dróttnari RFU

"Oh how the piglets would grunt if they knew how the old boar suffered."

Those were the reported last words of Ragnar Lothbrok, the viking king who died a horrible death in the snake pit of the king of Northumbria. He meant to threaten and warn of the coming of his mighty sons who would lead the great heathen army to ravage the lands of the christian kings who had dishonored him with a death so cruel. Vengeance, he knew, would not be served by his own hand but by the hands of his sons and those who came after him.

The greatest strength a man has is not always within his own arms but sometimes it is his lineage, his sons and daughters who carry on his legacy and who may enact his revenge long after he is gone. To the heathen man family is not a burden but a power beyond himself. We have a duty to carry on our lineage, but with that great responsibility also comes a great power. When we walk the halls of Valhalla and the fields of Folkvangr our goals and our struggles continue after us, as our sons fight in the battles we can no longer enter and they bring us glory and honor we could never have earned ourselves.

If they should take our lives then our sons will take our vengeance, if they should take our lands then our sons will take them back and more as repayment for the slight. As long as we continue our bloodlines and forge sons who know their worth we can never be truly defeated. The great boar who Lothbrok invoked stands for us as a symbol of strength, of wild ferocity, and of fertility. Our fertility is as much of a weapon as the other two and good heathens should remember that. Raise your sons so they may raise your banner, bring life that yours may not end easily, create a strong lineage and find in it immortality.