Æsir

The Æsir appear in a 1994 statement associated with Absurd as the subjects of an explicitly secular, ideological reading of Germanic mythology. Rather than treating the gods as supernatural beings, the statement interprets them as archetypes and Germanic ideals, with Wotan described as a gracious and just ruler of the Æsir as well as of humanity. This makes the group significant less as a developed pantheon than as part of a worldview that turns myth into a model for identity and conduct.

Mythic Status and Archetypes

The statement proposes that DNA may be the seat of the collective subconscious, where enduring archetypes are sheltered; it also allows for an alternative, an eternal force-field that houses collective archetypes and projects them into human souls. The speaker considers the choice between these explanations unimportant. What matters is the claim that mythic gods can be understood as archetypal figures without belief in their supernatural existence.

Within this scheme, Wotan is identified as leader of the Æsir and as a ruler whose authority extends to humanity. The description places the gods inside a humanly intelligible pattern of ideals and governance, rather than presenting them through stories of particular divine deeds or conflicts.

Germanic Ideals and Mythic Heritage

The statement connects Germanic mythology to an ethic and a desired way of life. Its examples include Donar, presented as the ideal of an armed German peasant: diligent, brave, and sincere. Donar is also associated with fertility and with fighting the Ice-giants, which the statement interprets as symbols of uncontrollable natural forces. These examples show how divine figures are recast as ethical types and as embodiments of struggle against forces beyond human control.

The mythology’s esoteric dimension is associated with Yggdrasil, the Runes, and Valhalla. Yet the statement gives greater weight to inheritance and identification: German mythology is described as a heritage that cannot be denied, and its expressions as manifestations of Germanic identity. The Æsir therefore belong to a broader account of ancestral continuity, not simply to a supernatural cosmology.

Political Appropriation

The same statement extends this account of mythic inheritance to National Socialism, describing it as another expression of Germanic identity. It invokes Carl Gustav Jung’s interpretation of the movement through the archetype of Wotan, arguing that its dynamic could not be explained merely as political calculation. In this framing, the Æsir’s ruler becomes part of a modern political interpretation of collective archetypes. This is the statement’s ideological use of the group: the Æsir are made to connect myth, inherited identity, and a claimed source of political force.