On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 11:35 AM, Patti (Wilson) <originalpatricia@...> wrote:

I have taken Psychology at College - and I invariably take CGJ's part in an argument and have been called a Jung's Maid because of my defence of his theories He was very knowledgeable  on Symbolism - and he even included the Tarot in his studies - I have much respect for him Kveðja Patricia aka Patti   you may be too Jung for Adler I'm A-Freud   -------Original Message-------   From: Ian Ragsdale Date: 17/04/2009 17:19:46 To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [norse_course] Re: whetstone     Totally stealing this from http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/mythology/myths/text/hrungnir.htm:   "One should not throw a whetstone, because doing so makes the whetstone in Þór's head move, causing him discomfort."   That seems like a superstition...   I can also use my imagination and say that, between the phallic shape of a whetstone and the fact that all whetstone was created from a shard of Hrungnir's broken weapon, there seems to be a procreative aspect to the story.  The sorceress who attempted to remove the stone from Thor's head was distracted when Thor decided to tell her that he had saved her husband's life and turned his frozen toe into a star - so distracted that she couldn't fully remove the stone.  Her relationship also gives a sexual aspect to the story.   I could be Jung-ing this up more than it needs to be, but we widely accept similar allegorical methods for reading German fairy tales.   -Ian       On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 7:30 AM, Ruarigh Dale <ruarigh@...> wrote: Could it not just be one of those things that parents used to say to try to make their children behave? You don't want them throwing whetstones across the hall because they could damage someone or break them, so you tell the kids a story about Thor getting a bit of whetstone in his head to make them stop doing that; sort of like Viking Age health and safety. This is pure speculation on my part but I like this idea even if it is a little prosaic. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stefano Mazza" <stefanomzz@...> To: <norse_course@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 12:06 PM Subject: [norse_course] Re: whetstone Good ideas from both of you, thanks! Anyway, I was wondering that "cast a whetstone across a room" is an odd expression, and that a whetstone stirrs in Thor's head is an even stranger thing. These sayings probably hide something that we cannot reconstruct at the moment. If are there any Icelanders in the group, could you please tell us if are there any expressions in modern Icelandic involving hones and whetstones? Thank you, Stefano --- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, Michael <oydman@...> wrote: > > The Giant Hrungnir used a whetstone as a weapon against Thor. While able > to shatter it with Mjöllnir, a piece of the whetstone is lodged in Thor's > forehead. Seems like whetstones might have been viewed as sacred to > Thor -- they were used to sharpen weapons for battle too. > > --- On Wed, 4/15/09, Fred and Grace Hatton <hatton@...> wrote: > From: Fred and Grace Hatton <hatton@...> > Subject: [norse_course] whetstone > To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com > Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 7:09 AM > > Just a guess, but the whetstone could break and that would not be a > good > > thing. They depended on them to sharpen all their weapons and every day > > tools. > > The type of stone suitable for a whetstone may not have been available in > > the area and perhaps needed to be imported? > > Grace > > Fred and Grace Hatton > > Hawley Pa