AlThing 30 Report
By Valgard Murray
Early on the morning of Haymoon 6th Kollr and I headed out for the AlThing. Before long we passed the old Thing site, a victim to a tragic forest fire years ago, and now being mowed down to accommodate two more lanes of car traffic on the highway (progress-not).
Another 6 miles and we passed the Thing site now used by the Arizona Asatru kindreds. Soon topping out the mountain at over 8,000 feet, we stopped at a site I call The Top of the World and we left silver to Njord for safe travel to all the Folk heading to the Thing.
We made good time heading across the picturesque high desert of New Mexico and into the panhandle of Texas, but were in for a bit of a surprise when we ran smack into the inland rain bands of hurricane Alex. Let's just say that the new camper top which I installed on the pickup a week earlier, saved our cargo from ruin.
Kollr and I eventually arrived at our destination in Watonga a little after midnight and got some much needed rest after our 921 mile sprint to Oklahoma.
After breakfast with kindred at the local restaurant we headed up to the Thing site and began to unload our cargo and start setting things up in the great hall. Before long there were many helping hands and out of chaos came a semblance of order. Tables and chairs were set up, kindred banners hung, vendors set up their wares, and campers set up in their cabins.
By early evening we had about 40 folks on hand and we served dinner from the kitchen. Later we held the traditional welcome ritual called Mead and Cookies where everyone had a chance to relax in the circle and introduce themselves while horns of mead and homemade cookies were consumed. Afterwards there was a lot of visiting going on as some of us haven't seen each other since the last grand gathering of the Folk in Arizona. It was late when we got home.
I skipped breakfast and did some rune work by carving a deer antler gander for my gythia. When I showed up for work at the great hall the first order of business was a meeting of the Asatru Alliance Corporate officers. Myself, Jerry Parker and Katherine Stewart were present, Ken Krill was absent. With regret we accepted the resignation of our President who after decades of service to our Alliance, finally had to resign over health concerns. Our Vice President, Katherine Stewart stepped up to serve as President, and Oskil Forengi was elected to serve as Vice President of the corporation.
By early afternoon we welcomed even more folks to the hall and we prepared to formally open AlThing 30 with the traditional Blot to Tyr. The ritual grove was prepared in advance with the altar installed and the Tyr banner hung from a massive oak tree.
Valgard assembled the folk and gave an explanation of Tyr's role in the Thing process and explained our unique relationship with Tyr as the Asatru Alliance is the only standing Law Body of the Asatru in Vinland and have been so for decades. We also discussed the other heroic attributes of Tyr so everyone had a clear mental picture of the God Tyr to whom we will soon offer sacrifice to.
I then asked the folk to prepare themselves both mentally and spiritually to accept the blessing of Tyr during the blot. The procession then began to the Blot site, of curious note, as we entered the grove the howling of a hound was heard in the distance.
I raised the shield wall in the traditional manner and did the dance of the Gothar with spear and swords held high. Specially brewed mead was then offered to Tyr while singing His praises. The assembled were then blessed and the honor round of toasting began, during this round of the horn the Blessing of Weapon Steel was performed and oaths taken on the sword Justice. It was also of note that at this time the sound of fighter jets in the sky could be heard in the act of a practice dogfight.
At the conclusion of the Blot I thanked Tyr for his sacrifice in binding the Fenris and granting the kindreds time to prepare for Ragnarok, I then led the assembled in a rousing salute to Tyr made with weapons high. The blot was ended.
We then headed back to the long house to prepare for the first session of the Thing. The hall was arranged with the officers and delegates to the north and observers seated to the south. Kollr Logmather served as Thing Speaker, Oskil Forengi as Law Gothi, and Jerry Parker as Secretary. As per protocol the law session opened with a blessing to Tyr performed by Amy Ahlberg. The session was then called to order and the seating of delegates occurred. Ten kindreds were represented at the Thing. The first order of business was the reading of the By Laws which were approved as read, followed by the reading of the financial report which was approved, and then The Tribal Law book was distributed to the delegates. The Thing was then called to recess until the following day.
We all then took a much needed break and spent the afternoon just visiting and the vendors did a little business. Of special note was the AlThing 30 commerative tee shirts provided by the Southeast Kindred which were just spectacular. World Tree publications purchased about 20 of the shirts to offer in our catalog for those who couldn't attend the AlThing.
In late afternoon we settled in for a hot meal of bratwurst, hamburgers, baked beans and dinner rolls served up by our ever industrious and friendly kitchen staff. We all took a little break after dinner, but as dusk approached, preparations for the grand Sumbel began, Richard Nicholson prepared the bonfire in the ritual grove and rounded up a crew to bring down about 40 chairs from the longhouse for the use of the folk, and the Gothar brought out their mead to share with the Gods, ancestors, and the folk.
When the folk were ready, Valgard raised the large horn to the North and invited AllFather Odin to pour his wisdom into the mead to share with Odin's Folk. The Valkyries then took over to offer a drought of sacred mead to each in turn. Aundrea served the God Round, Karon the Memory Round, and Nikki the Inspiration Round. As always Sumbel can be solemn and jovial at times but always focused on the spiritual connection between us, our, Gods and Goddesses, and our ancestors. The Sumbel concluded with a blessing of the Folk. After visiting with the folk for another hour or so, Kollr and I went back to our room for some much needed rest.
On Friggasday morning after breakfast the folk were summoned to the Great Hall for opening of the formal Law Session of the AlThing. After the Invocation to Tyr offered by Gothi Justin Robson, Thing Speaker Kollr Logmather then called the session to order. Old business consisted of proposed changes to the Asatru Alliance web site spearheaded by our Chieftain Vince Enlund.
New business then was announced which included the petitions of two Formational Kindreds for Probationary status; the second step in becoming a full voting kindred of the Alliance. Viking Folk Kindred and Southeast Kindred were sequestered with the delegates answering a wide array of questions from the Thing. At the conclusion of this part of the proceedings, voting commenced and the result was that both kindreds passed the first test for full membership.
Further business was voting on the site and host kindreds for AlThing 31. The site will be Tyr's Grove at Sharp Creek Arizona hosted by the Arizona Kindreds of the Alliance in late September 2261Runic Era. With no other business brought before the Law Body, the Thing was declared closed. There was a photo session following with a formal picture of the delegates under the Tyr banner of the Alliance.
The rest of the afternoon was free time, but I should mention here that we had a special guest, Lauren Pond who is filming and producing a documentary on Asatru in America, and Lauren used this time to conduct interviews of many of the Gothar who were present for this AlThing. Lauren's still photos are featured in this AlThing Report and will also be featured in our 2261 Runic Era calendar produced by World Tree Publications.
In late afternoon our intrepid cooks serves a hot meal featuring roast chicken, vegetables, rolls, and dessert. I might mention Bobbie's special dry rub for the meat which comes in two flavors, hot and hotter!
Following dinner, preparations were made in the ritual area for Ceremonies of the Folk.
As per our traditions, Valgard officiated in the sacred Oath of the Gothar where gothi Steve Olson of Viking Folk Kindred and then gythia Nikki Chumsky of Eagle Kindred of Idaho took their oaths before the Gods, Ancestors, and the Folk on the ring and the spear as is our custom.
Soon Amy Ahlberg and Karon Hartshorn of Blood Eagle Kindred performed the rite of Blood Sisterhood again in the customary manner of the Asatru, they each in turn left their blood in the bowli while reciting their oaths, then with the spear their blood was mixed with the soil of the ancestral homelands, Amy's from Uppsala Sweden and Karon's from Ireland. This last act concluded the Ceremonies of the Folk.
The last event of the evening was the 26th Annual Mead Brewers Competition sponsored by the Brewer's Guile of the Asatru Alliance. Kollr Logmather served as master of ceremonies and has great experience both as a brewer and as a judge. Kollr has won many awards over the years for his brewing excellence and often very unique recipes, chocolate mead comes to mind…
The benches for the judges were set up on the back patio and a "dead line" marked to the north, and there the mead hogs packed up waiting for their turn to swill the meager leftovers from our esteemed and almost noble judges. The deadline in theory keeps the hogs from rushing the mead bench and "Viking" the mead before it's their turn.
I know that the Mead Contest is serious business, but it is quite a show and the best way to describe it is "you have to be there."
There were twelve judges and about an equal amount of hogs with fourteen bottles of mead to judge and consume, you can see from the numbers that this could be fun as well as serious work. I decided to crossover to the hogs this year to see things from their perspective. As it turned out it was a good thing I did because Karon and I shouldered the responsibility of actually keeping score for the Mead Hog Choice Award while the other hogs just made pigs of themselves.
When all was consumed and judged, the First Place Winner who was awarded the coveted Silver Bee Award was Justin Robson from Southeast Kindred, and Amy Ahlberg was awarded the Mead Hogs Choice Award which was an engraved mead horn donated by World Tree Publications. Third Place Honorable Mention went to Valgard Murray.
This last event ended the Frigga's Night schedule for the AlThing, but the folk continued the mood of kinship and wunjo for a few more hours.
On Satyrday after breakfast there was a live demonstration of the Kreiger and Ve fighting techniques demonstrated by Vince Enlund and a number of students of Norse wrestling techniques. This was followed by live steel sword techniques. All I can say is that everyone involved gave it their very best, and it says a lot for the dedication, skill, and strength of our younger warriors.
At 11 AM the Sports Field was prepared for the 26th Annual Viking Games which consisted of events for adults as well as children. There was the hammer toss, spear throwing, archery, heavy and light caber, and wrestling.
During the Games we had some activities for the Asakids in the Great Hall which included a coloring contest utilizing the Runic Era coloring book donated by World Tree, the grand prize winner received a nice Thorrs Hammer also donated by WT.
We also show cased the auction items which would be auctioned off that evening. Two eight foot tables were covered with a huge array of goods which included exquisite original framed artwork, hand crafted mead, ritual items, edged weapons, Viking era furniture, tee shirts, fine aged wines, a superb collection of Spam cans including one with the actual Spammer attached, and numerous other items all waiting for the high bidder.
The raffle items were also put on display which included a large hand crafted wooden hof bowli and a beautiful statue of AllFather Odin, all donated by World Tree.
While the afternoon events were taking place, our highly motivated cooks were cooking up the grand feast for the evening which would be the last meal which they have been asked to prepare.
At 5PM the feast was Hammer signed and the folk helped themselves to beef steaks, bbq chicken, cowboy beans, pasta salad, tossed green salad, dinner rolls, and a number of fine desserts. During the meal the awards for the Viking Games and Mead Contest were distributed to the champions and participants and the winners of the raffle items was announced.
After a short break to clean up the Great Hall, the fund raising auction to aid the Asatru Alliance began, hosted by our veteran auctioneer Jerry Parker known to the Asatru as Hraesvelg and with Valgard and Karon keeping the ever important records of sale and the tallies of the bidders. As always the enthusiasm was high and the bidders generous, in spite of the ever worsening economy, the folk as always dug deep and did their part to support the Asatru Alliance, over $2,500 dollars was raised for the operating fund of the Alliance. My sincerest thanks to all who donated items and to all of those who bid for them. Since the Asatru alliance does not charge membership fees like all other Asatru groups do, this is essentially our only source of income and allows us to publish Vor Tru magazine, prepay AlThing expenses, as well to cover office expenses. Mange Takk to all of you who participated in this project.
Following this event there was a lot of work to be done in cleaning up the hall and packing up non essential items, for tomorrow the AlThing would come to a close.
Early Sunnasday morning Kollr and I checked out of our motel room and headed up to the Thing site. The first order of business was preparing the grand Spam breakfast for the travelers. With the ever skilled and enthusiastic help of Justin Robson and Karon Hartshorn we cooked over 120 sandwiches for the folk to sustain them for the long road ahead.
It was soon time to say our goodbyes to all our kinsmen and friends, and to give my blessing to the travelers. A small crew stayed to properly clean the grounds, the Great Hall and the kitchen to ready it for inspection for the Park Ranger. Following that, we paid the site fee in full and headed for the long road back to Arizona.
By pushing ourselves and in spite of heavy rains on the interstate, Kollr and I made it to Albuquerque that evening and after getting our room for the night enjoyed a delicious Mexican food dinner at a great restaurant nearby.
We got up early on Mannisday and took the scenic route so Valgard could visit his property near Pine Hill New Mexico. We managed to reach Payson around 2PM and Kollr helped me unload the truck and headed home to a long awaited reunion with his family.
In conclusion I offer my thanks to the Great Plains Kindred of Oklahoma for producing another spectacular AlThing, to the small army of volunteers who always pitched in when needed, and to our great Asatru Alliance for proving the endurance after all of these years and for providing a beacon of hope to our people everywhere on Midgard.
Hail the Asatru Alliance!
Feel free to visit our Althing website for information on all future Asatru Alliance Althing Events. www.asatrualthing.com