Stikklestad Day

July (Haymoon - Æfter-Lithe - Heyannir) 29th
Stikklestad Day

Olaf the Lawbreaker (“St. Olaf”) was killed at the battle of Stikklestad on this date in the year 1280 R.E. Olaf acquired a reputation for killing, maiming, and exiling his fellow Norwegians who would not convert to Christianity, and for carrying an army with him in violation of the law to help him accomplish his oppression. Today many of us honor those who died because they did not wish to leave their ancestral ways and cultural traditions for the new God. We also honor the warriors who brought justice to the Lawbreaker.

On this day I try to remind myself of all of the gray slavery that exists around us every day. Remind yourself that laws that control what you do and how you live for your "own good" because others think they know what is better for you, then you do, is gray slavery. People that push you to do things that you would not normally do because its "better for everyone" or "its just easier" is gray slavery. These are just small examples of Slavery that others and governments push on us to every day. We may not be able to change the government or all of the laws of the world that we live in today, but we can take responsibility for the events and actions of our own lives and what we will do with the freedoms and liberties that we can control. Today I will do something that reminds me that I am a free man, and you are as well.

Remember we are all free folk. Live true, live well, live free.

Hail the folk,
--
Vincent Enlund
Chieftain, the Wanderer Kindred
Chieftain, the Asatru Alliance
[email protected]
www.wandererkindred.org
www.asatru.org

My name is not my own,
It is barrow from my ancestors,
I must return it unstained.
My honor is not my own,
It is on loan from my decedents,
I must give it to them unbroken.
Our blood is not our own,
it is a gift to generations yet unborn,
We should carry it with responsibility.