There is no doubt that the most significant gods in the sunship are the
sungod Heimdall (guardian of the sanctuaries), the fertility god Ing-Frö, the summergod
Balder and the wintergod Ull. The heavenly powers of these well-known nordic gods have
since ancient times been representative for the numbersymbolic placings of the four
opposing sunrocks 1 and 15 in the ship's combined solar year calender and Zodiak (the
Zodiak, the star constellations, where the gods were believed to have their dwellings).
The sungod Heimdall's symbol
rock is clearly marked by the 3,2 m father's rock in the northwest, and that is the time
for the sundown during the summer solstice on the 22/6, when the sun symbolically enters
the constellation of Cancer, where Heimdall was believed to have his heavenly dwelling.
The sun symbol og the fertilitygod is marked with the opposing 2,4 m motherstone in the
south east, which marks the time for the sunrise of the winter solstice on the 24/12, when
the sunwheel turns and a new year begins in the solar year calender of Al. The sun enters
the constellation of Capricorn, where the sungod Ing-Frö was thought to have his
dwelling. The turn of the sunship is also marked by the sunset and sunrise in the center
of the sunship(see pictures).
The enormous importance of
the sungod Balder and the wintergod Ull is symbolized by the two opposing 15 sunrocks
amidships, counted from southeast and northwest. The sun rises, at these sunrocks, at 3.42
AM on the 23/5 and sets at 15.42 PM on the 24/11, which for the star constellation
watchers of ancient times marked that the sun had entered the constellations of Gemini and
Sagittarius, which are the heavenly areas for the opposing dwellings of Balder and Ull.
According to greek
mythology, the twins Castor and Pollux, one fair and one dark, lived in the constellation
of Gemini. They also represented the sunrise and the sunset in the two heavenly spheres,
i.e. the both halves of the Zodiak. The roman historian Tacitus indentifies in his book
about the Teutons, which he wrote in the year 98 A.D., Castor and Pollux with an ancient
nordic pair of gods by the name of Alcis. The name Alcis is identical with the germanic
and gothic word Ahls, which means sanctuary, the place where the sungod Heimdall ruled,
according to the poem "Grimnismal". But Alcis, Als, as in the rocks of Als, can
also be connected with the anglosaxon verb "ealzian" (elgian), which means
protect. This meaning also corresponds to the indoeuropean (arian and ancient-teutonic)
idea, that two protecting light-divinities, the two sons of the sungod Dyaus (the
avcinians, "sons of the sun"), ruled over one half of the solar year each: the
bright summer and the dark winter respectively. |
