In memory

A Nid Raised on the Terrorists Involved in the Horrors of September 11, 2001

I originally posted this nid the day after the attacks, and reposted it against last year. I will continue posting it each year on at least one of my sites until all of those who were responsible for the attacks and the deaths and destruction they caused have all been handed a full measure of Tyr's Justice for their dishonourable acts.

Part of my opposition to the war in Iraq has long been that there is no evidence at all that Saddam Hussein had anything at all to do with the 9/11 attacks. When we struck at the Taliban in Afghanistan, I supported that action because they Taliban was helping and sheltering Osama bin Laden and member of al-Qaeda. I do not, in any way, like how we've handled the situation since the Taliban fell - we've failed to provide the kind of funding necessary to actually rebuild Afghanistan, and there have been reports recently that not only is the Taliban in the process of reforming and getting ready to try and take control again in many parts of Afghanistan, but also that we may be in negotiations with them for their cooperation in running things there.

If we have any hope of ever making progress in the War or Terror™ then we must go about it in a much more intelligent way than we have been. If Saddam ever did have weapons of mass destruction - something I have yet to be convinced is true - we failed to protect the locations where we thought they'd be, and have no idea where they are now. They could easily be in the hands of the very people we were told we had to keep Saddam from giving them to (and if he never did have them, then we've wasted time, money and lives going after a target that was not an imminent threat to us.) Our actions are serving to do little but create more terrorists, and this nutball "flypaper" theory is doomed to failure as we can never attract all of the terrorists to one area so we can fight them there since there is a virtually limitless pool of new terrorists being created every day.

In addition, everytime the President or another administration official talks about how, by attracting "all" the terrorists to Iraq so we can kill them there and not have to fight them here, I have to wonder how they justify the idea that it's ok to put all the Iraqi people who may be caught in the acts of terrorism taking place now in their country in harms way just to save Americans. Do not misunderstand me - I do NOT want to see Americans killed or hurt - but I have to ask, what makes innocent American lives worth more than innocent Iraqi lives?

It is important to understand that the Nidstang does NOT stand against those who may have unknowingly aided in the training the terrorists obtained, such as those who worked at private and jet pilot training schools who were unaware of the terrorists goals and had no reason to be suspicious - they are, in their own way, victims of these criminals as well.

I also want to make it clear that this Nid is NOT intended to be placed against anyone on the basis or their race or religion alone. There are many, many, many in the Arab world and among the millions of Muslims around the world, who are every bit as shocked, saddened, sickened, angered and befuddled by these kind of actions as those of us in the US are, and who are hurting right now, not only for the obvious victims of these acts, but also for the name and honour of their people as a whole. Whether it is Osama bin Laden or someone else who is behind these atrocities, we need to remember that the reason "ordinary" citizens were targeted is that those who do these kinds of things believe that ALL Americans are "valid" targets, by virtue of our nationality alone - regardless of what our own personal beliefs may be. If we, in turn, take out our anger on Arabs and Muslims in general, rather than only taking it out on those who have earned the brunt of our wrath, we then act no differently than they have - and in doing so, we let them win.

"In the viking age the most spectacular way of cursing an enemy was by the Niding Pole (the Nithstong or Scorn-Post). They were poles about nine feet (2.75 metres) long upon which insults and curses were carved in runes. Ceremonies were performed to activate the destructive magic of the pole. A horse's skull was fixed to the top of the pole, and it was stuck into the ground with the skull facing towards the house of the accursed person. The pole channelled the destructive forces of Hela, goddess of death. These forces were carried up the pole and projected through the horse skull. The runes carved on the pole defined the character and target of the destructive forces. Among others, triple Thorn [Thurisaz] runes, 'the three Thurses], and triple Is [Isa] runes, were used to smite the enemy. when used maliciously, these had the effect of disempowering the accursed's will and delivering him or her to the forces of destruction. Here, the Thorn rune invokes the power of Thurs, the demonic earth-giant sometimes called Moldthurs. An example of this comes from Skírnismál, where the spell used by Skirnir against Frey's reluctant lover, Gerdhr invokes harm using the Thorn rune. This provides the power for three other runestaves: 'I shall inscribe Thurs for you, and three runestaves: lewdness, and rage and impotence.

Magically, the Niding Pole was intended to disrupt and anger the earth sprites (Landvaettir, Land-Wights or earth spirits) inhabiting the ground where the accursed's house was. These sprites would then vent their anger upon the person, whose livelihood and life would be destroyed. Niding Poles were also used to desecrate areas of ground. This technique is called álfreka, literally the 'driving away of the elves', by which the earth sprites of a place were banished, leaving the ground spiritually dead...

On the Niding Pole, the horse skull invokes the horse rune Ehwaz, using the linking and transmissive power of the rune for the magical working. The horse is sacred to Odin, god of runes and magic..."

Excerpt from Rune Magic: The History and Practice of Ancient Runic Traditions,
by Nigel Pennick. Harper Collins, 1993, ISBN=1855381052.

To put a "nid" on someone was a form of verbal curse, a magic ritual that was considered very powerful during the Viking age, and before that. The power of words was not taken lightly by these efficient warriors, so a curse of this kind was something very serious to send, not to speak of having a "nid" spoken over oneself.

In the Saga of Egil Skallagrimsson(an Icelandic/Norwegian story from the 10th century) a dispute is told about Egil and the King Eirik Blodyx ("Bloody axe"), who treated Egil wrongly, and also made him an outlaw. This turned out to become a rather bloody situation, with many dead on both sides.

When Egil has slain a large number of King Eiriks subjects and allies on the island of Herdla (outside Iceland), in anger he placed a hazelwood pole on the top of this island, and on the top of the pole he places a cut off horse's head, aimed towards land. On the pole he carves sacred runes, with a curse upon King Eirik. He also speaks this curse, this "nid":

"Here I place this "nidstang"("curse-pole"), and turneth it against King Eirik and Queen Gunnhild - turneth I this against all the gnomes and little people of the land, that they may all be lost, not finding their homes, until they drive King Eirik and Queen Gunnhild out of the country."

According to the legend, the curse soon had it's effect, and King Eirik and his Queen Gunnhild fled to the British Isles.

The Nid

Upon those who seek to strike
Under the cover of secrecy
Who will not show their faces
Or admit that they take these actions

Upon those who kill the innocent
Who consider "ordinary" citizens
Who do not make the decisions of the leaders
Who may or may not support those policies
Who may or may not even understand what those policies are
To be "valid targets" of their hatred and anger

Upon those who would trick other people
Into teaching them the skills they need to kill
Who take advantage of the willingness of strangers
To provide services that may not be available in other nations

Upon those who believe that to cut off the "head of the snake"
To strike at the heart of our symbols
To try and kill our leaders
To destabilize our economy
To break the spirit of our nation

Upon those who give knowing shelter and aid
Who protect these creatures of cowardice
And refuses to allow them to face the consequences of their action

Most specifically
Upon those who knowingly planned
Participated in
Sheltered
Or otherwise, with knowledge and intent,
Assisted those who brought about the decimation
of September 11, 2001, in the United States of America

I call upon these nithings the full wrath of Thor
The Protector and Defender of the common man
I call the fullest measure of the Justice of Tyr
Who allowed himself to be maimed in an act of courage and honour
In order to save the order of the Gods
I call the fullest judgment of Odin
The Allfather, the God of War
Who leads the Gods in the battles against the Jotuns
Including these Jotuns of hate
I call the dominion of Hella
Who keeps all nithings within the horrors of Nifelheim

May those who meet the criteria of this Nid
Never known the comfort and succor of their own God
Only the might, the wrath, the Justice and the punishment of mine

- Kriselda Jarnsaxa
September 12, 2001

Posted by thorswitch at September 11, 2003 06:25 PM | TrackBack