/asatru/ - Asatru / Heathenry / Paganism

Vikings Were Smarter Then You Are

From: facebook.com/norsemythology

Seriously, they were. In 1949, the broken remnant of the Uunartoq Disc was found in an 11th century convent in Greenland. Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary have been studying the disc & have a new theory.

The disc was used for navigation at sea: it is estimated to have been about 7 centimeters across with a central pin to cast a shadow showing the sun’s direction. The scholars now think that it was used with a pair of crystals & a wooden slab to navigate when the sun was low or even down below the horizon.

Balázs Bernáth is co-author of the new report. He believes that the Vikings used a domed object in the middle of the compass to create a wider shadow than a regular sundial post. He suggests that the wide hole in the middle of the disc (originally thought as a place to grip the dial) was a holding spot for this dome.

To find the sun after sunset, the Vikings used sunstones - calcite crystals that produce patterns when exposed to the sun’s polarized UV rays. These patterns can pinpoint the sun’s position even below the horizon.

Once the sun’s position had been determined with the sunstones, the Vikings used a shadow stick - a wooden slab designed to simulate the shadow of the dome-object, based on the angle of the hidden sun. The outer edge of this virtual shadow would then determine a solid compass-point direction for navigation.

Although sunstones and shadow stick weren’t found with the device, medieval records show evidence of both. Given the broken state of the disc, it’s not surprising that the complete set of objects was not discovered together.

< Vegvísir - a magical stave intended to help the bearer find their way through rough weather

Bernáth’s team tested the accuracy of this theoretical "twilight compass." It was accurate within 4 degrees – better than other types of celestial navigation and just as good today’s magnetic pocket compasses. Experiments run by the researchers found that the Viking device would have worked up to nearly an hour after sunset during the time of the Spring Equinox; etchings on the disc suggest that this was the time of year the compass was used.

Could YOU find your direction in the middle of the open ocean, an hour after sunset, using only a wooden disc, two crystals and a hunk of wood? Dang.

Source: facebook.com/norsemythology

Even the best Eagle Scout prefers to navigate during the day. The Vikings, apparently, would have laughed at such a preference—according to new research, the North Atlantic seafarers’ sun compass was so advanced it even worked after dark, thanks to clever engineering and mystical crystals.

In a Royal Society paper published this week, a team of researchers examined the Uunartoq disc, a fragment of a Viking sun compass discovered in a medieval convent in Greenland nearly 70 years ago. First thought to be a decorative object, the 2.8-inch disc was later assumed to be part of a compass that used a missing central piece to cast a shadow showing cardinal direction.

The Hungarian research team didn’t buy that hypothesis, for two reasons. First, they say the Uunartoq disc’s dimensions and markings make it "far from optimal" as a solar compass. Second, and perhaps more importantly, a simple solar compass wouldn’t explain the mythical "sunstone," a seemingly magical crystal mentioned in Norse folklore that could locate the sun’s position at night or on a cloudy day that scientists recently discovered actually exists.

Let’s dig into those crystals for a second. Made of a type of calcite known as Iceland spar, the birefringent mineral creates a unique pattern when exposed to the sun’s UV rays, even if those rays are coming from a sun that’s dipped below the horizon.

The Hungarian team theorizes that a pair of sunstones would help a Viking navigator locate the position of the hidden sun. Then, a specially-designed shadow stick would be placed on the disc to approximate where an actual shadow would fall if the sun was visible. The outer edge of the imaginary shadow would then be used for navigation.

In testing, the team was able to locate true north within a 4-degree margin of error using the twilight compass, comparable to the magnetic needle compass you might have in your pocket. What’s more, the team estimates the method would work for as long as 50 minutes after sunset, making the Uunartoq ring useful in sunlight and near-darkness.

Makes you feel a little bit spoiled using your smartphone to navigate your own town, doesn’t it?

Source: gizmodo.com

>>110
So? Promote an Asatru/Pagan spiritual path to other Mexicans. You can still admire and learn from the culture of other tribes without being from them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neopaganism_in_Mexico

Many religions and cultures share some things in common, like a code of honor similar to the noble virtues.

>>114
Not all mexicans are non-white though.

Never forget the fact that nationality is essentially a social construct. It's the blood and only the blood that counts.

Thor of Europe in the Ancient South Pacific
http://redicecreations.com/article.php?id=33103

Maori oral traditions clearly state that, upon arrival in New Zealand, Maori found that there was a large, well-established population already living in the country. The inhabitants were described as having skin complexion that was white to light-ruddy, with eye colours from blue to green to darker tints. Their hair colours ranged from white and dull-golden, with red being predominant in the general population. There were also shades of brown through to black and braided samples of this multi-coloured hair (taken from the Waitakere rock shelters) used to be on display at Auckland War Memorial Museum.

In physical stature most groups were about the same height as Maori, but there was one widely dispersed group described as being considerably smaller (white pygmies) with fine, childlike features, white-golden hair and large watery blue-green eyes. Around Port Waikato and distributed up the West Coast beyond the Hokianga Harbour to Mitimiti was yet another group who were very tall, achieving an average adult height of around 7-feet. Since early colonial times the skeletal remains of these people have been continuously observed as trussed, sitting position burials in coastal sand dunes or laid-out horizontally in caves. …