Arith Härger | Similarities Between Icelandic Magic Staves and Umbanda Symbols @ArithH%C3%A4rger | Uploaded August 2021 | Updated October 2024, 1 day ago.
On this video we shall explore the similarities between some of the symbols found in the Brazilian folk religion called Umbanda, and the Icelandic Magic staves, especially the Aegishjalmr-type of magic-symbols.

Bibliography by the end of this video.

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The oldest recorded reference to a symbol also called Ægishjálmur is mentioned in Fáfnismál 16, 17 and 18 (Codex Regius of Poetic Edda), although there are no visual representations of the symbol, nor any description of how it would look, and from this source it is deduced that the symbol itself would be placed on an helmet for protection. As said before, the visual representation of the Ægishjálmur only appears in the early 15th century in Greek context, as the result of the magical symbols/sigils found in Hygromanteia (Greek: Ὑγρομαντεία) also known as "The Key of Solomon" ("Clavicula Salomonis") also known as "The Magical Treatise of Solomon", which was a cultural influence from the Middle East, mainly Jewish, and the symbol would be reproduced in Iceland between the 16th and 17th centuries.

The name "Ægishjálmur" has been translated to "helm of terror" or "helm of awe", as well as "helm of Ægir", the latter in relation to the sea-giant of Norse mythology. However, this seems to be late medieval (and Modern) mistranslations. The symbol consists of eight (8) arms in the form of tridents, which resembles the wheel rudder of vessels, and this visual representation in relation to the sea was easily associated with the trident of Neptune, which in turn was associated with the sea-giant Ægir of Norse mythology. However, this symbol has no relation to the sea or any mythological account related to the sea. As we can see from the sources, it is associated with a dragon or serpent (Fáfnir) and its treasure which will belong to Sigurðr after defeating the dragon. The first part of the term Ægishjálmur ("Ægis") was misinterpreted, and believed to originate from the Old Norse word “œgr”, meaning "terrible", hence often the translation of "Helm of Terror/Awe". However, "hjálmur" means "helmet" and not a wheel rudder of a vessel (such a nautical instrument only used in Scandinavia by the end of the 13th century), which coincides with the account of Fáfnismál, as it states that the symbol is placed on a helmet and gives protection in battles. Also, since the symbol itself (as we know it from the manuscript "Harley 5596" which contains the oldest surviving documents of the tradition of "The Key of Solomon") derives from Jewish-Greek magical symbols, the likely origins of "Ægis" comes from the Greek "Aegis" ("aigís"; Ancient Greek: αἰγίς). "Aegis" ("αἰγίς") means "shield", and in Greek myths is interpreted as an animal skin or a shield, and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon, the Gorgon itself being a creature from Greek mythology having hair made of living, venomous snakes that turned those who beheld them to stone. Again, the symbol in question within Fáfnismál, belongs to the treasure hoard of the Dragon Fáfnir, being itself the representation of a serpent (Dragon as a winged-serpent, alluding to its magical and Otherworldly characteristics). This account also reports to the Greek tradition of Dracontite/Draconite (snakestone) which is a specific type of stone with healing powers to be found in the heads of dragons. So the likely translation of Ægishjálmur is actually "αἰγίς-hjálmur", in other words "shield-helmet", making the Ægishjálmur indeed a symbol (or a snakestone) placed on a helmet ("shield-helmet" / "protection helmet"); Ægishjálmur in early sources is, therefore, not a symbol but rather a snakestone as a jewel placed on an helmet to give protection in battles. In Iceland, much later, during the 17th century, Ægishjálmur appears as a specific symbol, derived from the early 15th century magical sigils of "The Key of Solomon", giving the same name to the Icelandic stave of protection as the snakestone jewel of earlier sources.

#umbanda #icelandicmagicstaves #religioussymbols