(Originally published in The Jotunbok: Dealing With The Giants Of The Northern Tradition.)
The short story Mother of Gods is the result of a
vision I had late one night, of a beautiful white-haired woman dressed all in
white tucking her three newborn babies into their cradle. When I realized who the woman was and who the
babies were, the rest of the story came in a flash. This experience also marked my introduction
to Bestla and the forging of a relationship with Her. Odin's mother is a formidable lady—gracious
and queenly, yet iron-willed and with a piss-and-vinegar personality that
tolerates no nonsense whatsoever. When
She looks at you, you can sense the deep, calm, solid sense of knowing that is Hers,
a trait shared by many of the great Jotun seeresses. I feel greatly privileged to know Her, as I
have had the impression that She does not involve Herself much with humans—not
even humans who belong to Her son.
(Although I may have to revise that assessment, in light of new
evidence. Last week I received a
wonderful letter from a reader praising my new book, and in it he told me of a
vivid dream experience he’d once had with a woman all in white with long
snow-white hair who made it clear to him that he was to follow Odin. He assumed the woman was Frigga, but his
description of both Her appearance and Her manner said “Bestla” loud and clear
to me. It makes me wonder now how many
people encounter a queenly matriarchal figure during visions or dreams and
assume they have met Frigga when it is really Her.)
Bestla has considerable magical skill, especially in scrying and working with plant spirits, and taught these skills to Her son in His childhood, long before His other explorations in search of wisdom began. This early exposure to His mother's witchcraft later contributed to accusations that He was tainted by “womanly ways,” (as Loki teases Him in Lokasenna), but Odin is the ultimate pragmatist, and uses whatever power or wisdom He can get His hands on, without regard for what anyone else may think. Odin has a closer relationship with His mother than most people realize, and relies a great deal on Her wisdom and experience, especially during crises. Although She spends a good deal of time at Her own residence in Jotunheim, She is quite secure and honored in Her position as Queen Mother of Asgard.
Although there isn’t much to be found in the lore on Bestla, I’ve done quite a bit of scholarly detective work to back up some of my UPGs concerning Her. Most people are familiar with the passage in the Havamal which mentions that in Odin’s youth He was taught nine magical songs by “the son of Bolthorn, Bestla’s father.” Since most mythologists agree that the son of Bolthorn mentioned here can be none other than Mimir, in a roundabout way this passage confirms Bestla’s identity as Mimir’s sister. But things get more speculative from there on in. According to Viktor Rydberg, the origin of Her name may stem from beizl or beisl, which means bridle. This is interesting when compared to one of Mimir’s epithets, Narvi, meaning “the one who binds.” Mimir and Bestla are also closely related to the Norns, the three Jotynur who weave and bind the threads of Wyrd. As Mimir definitely has his own ties to the Well and to Wyrd, it seems fairly safe to assume that Bestla may also. On a smaller scale, In Germanic tradition a family’s norns bind the wyrd of a child to it at birth, during a naming rite that involves sprinkling the child with water using a sprig of birch. If Bestla has a similar role, it would be appropriate to call on Her not only for the blessing of children, but also for all matters concerned with binding—such as naming rites, the formation of a kindred, blood brotherhood or sisterhood oaths, and even marriages.
But Rydberg’s etymology of Bestla’s name suggests even more than that. A bridle both constrains and guides a horse, directing it according to the will of the rider. This association calls to mind the runes Raidho and Ehwaz, as well as the partnership between Odin and His steed Sleipnir. So much attention is focused on Odin’s ravens and wolves that we sometimes forget that the horse is also sacred to Him, and that His own horse is crucial to many of His activities. Sleipnir carries Odin in the Wild Hunt, is His companion on many of His journeys throughout the nine worlds, and bore Hermod to Hel to seek the return of Baldur at His behest. Far more than a mere vehicle, a horse is power, companionship, and support, an extension of the might of its rider. A bridle leashes and directs that power, much as Bestla—as Odin’s mother—must have helped Him direct and control His own power in His youth, setting Him on the path that led to His continual journeys and explorations.
Rudolf Simek’s Dictionary of Northern Mythology offers a different, yet not incompatible, translation for Bestla’s name; according to him, it means “bark,” as in the bark of a tree. The lore tells us that Bestla was married to Borr, the son of the first of the Aesir. By him, she gave birth to three sons, known in the Prose Edda as Odin, Villi and Ve, and in the Poetic Edda as Odin, Hoenir, and Lodurr (who some Heathens identify with Loki). In both sources, the three sons of Bestla murder the proto-etin Ymir and use the pieces of his corpse to construct the nine worlds, after which they create the first man and woman by breathing life, spirit and form into two tree trunks. The connection between this story of the origins of life and the meaning of Bestla’s name is intriguing, and adds weight to my previous speculations about her involvement with birth and the blessing of children.
The translation of Bestla’s name as “bark” also calls to mind the World Tree. The nine worlds are often envisioned as being connected by or enclosed in the branches of Yggdrasil, and many practitioners of seidhr use the Tree as a vehicle or conduit for journeying between the worlds. In the prophecy of Ragnarok, the Tree will survive the end of all the worlds, and will ensure the continuity of life by sheltering a man and woman within its branches. And the Well of Wyrd, over which the Norns preside, is said to sit at the foot of the Tree and to provide water for it, so that the worlds that rest within its branches are continually being fed and formed by the layers of past, present and probability contained within the Well.
And yet, Yggdrasil is perhaps best known for being the Tree on which Odin sacrificed himself for nine nights in order to gain the runes, a set of symbols that encapsulate all the mysteries of creation, destruction and rebirth. Turning my attention to the runes provided me with still more insights into Bestla. The runes with the closest associations to the Norns are Perthro, which some see as representing the Well of Wyrd, and thus fate or destiny, and Nauthiz, which means constraint or need, and is often used as a rune of binding. My little bit of research has shown me that these (possibly in addition to Raidho, as mentioned previously) would both be appropriate runes to use when working with Bestla. In my own UPG, I have also come to associate Bestla with the rune Berkano, which means birch and is thus connected with the birch twig used in naming rites. Berkano is a rune of birth and renewal, as well as the transformative period of concealment that precedes rebirth; as such, it can also be interpreted as a rune of the symbolic death and rebirth that accompanies shamanic initiation. While it is more traditionally linked to other Goddesses such as Frigga and Freyja, it seems especially appropriate--especially considering that one meaning of her name is “bark”--to associate it also with the mother of Odin, the God who endured death and rebirth on the World Tree. As Odin’s mother, Bestla herself could be seen as embodying the roots from whence his wisdom sprouted, the wellspring of His might, and the protective bark that sheltered him until he was able to grow to the pinnacle of his strength and power. As Odin is considered All-Father of the Northern Gods, Bestla can in a very real sense be viewed as the All-Mother, the Mother of the Norse pantheon.
Sources:
- Caroline Larrington, The Poetic Edda, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University Press, New York, NY 1996.
- Viktor Rydberg, Teutonic Mythology, available online at: http://www.northvegr.org/lore/rydberg/086.php
- Rudolph Simek, A Dictionary of Northern Mythology, D.S. Brewer, 2000.
- Snorri Sturluson, Anthony Faulkes, Edda (The Prose Edda), Everyman’s Library, Tuttle Publishing Group, North Clarendon VT, 1987.
- Diana Paxson, Taking Up the Runes: A Complete Guide to Using Runes in Spells, Divination, and Magic, Weiser Books, 2005.
Photo by Bengt Oberger.