Book Review: Goddess of the North

Lynda C. Welch in Goddess of the North makes the mistake of many authors in which they set out to prove a theory and everything they find proves their theory no matter the stretch.  I was going to recommend this book up until about 3/4s of the way through.  Now that I have finished this book, save your money and your time for better material.

Someone once told me to look for the pearl among the poo.  There are pearls in this book.  Welch divulges a lot of material.  Good material even.  In my opinion, its not worth it though with amount of books available that are worth the time.  Too many books even so why waste time.  Listen... go read something good.  :)

What is the book about?  Welch seeks to prove a primordial Goddess.  Why? 

"The purpose of this book is to present factual, intuitive, and spiritual evidence for the existence of a primordial Norse goddess. Before we begin, however, we must address the motivation behind this task. Why, indeed, is the need for a primordial Norse goddess so important? For many years, the Nordic worldview has been seen as male-dominated by many academics, heathens and pagans alike, so why should we even bother to explore the ostensibly negligible feminine aspect?

The answer to both of these questions is fairly simple. First, the search for the primordial Norse goddess is of utmost importance as She indubitably exists. She has been forced into the dim shadows of our thoughts by ill-used words that have caused many misconceptions and misinterpretations. This situation has gone on far too long, and it is time to join others in re-examining the long-ignored facts."  (p. 3).

I do not believe any culture needs a primordial Goddess to make it a valid spiritual practice.  I do not believe that every culture has had a primordial Goddess.  Why do so many pagans feel the need to apply rules to the spirituality of our forebears?  Why can't the Norse have believed what they believed and we can appreciate it for what it is?

Welch spends almost half of the book distilling the female spirits (Goddesses, Valkyries, Disir, etc...) down into 3 roles.  Daughter, Mother, Grandmother.  It feels as Welch goes along that she is seeking to prove that the primordial Goddess is found by further distillation.  Does she do that?  No. 

I actually had to laugh at this part.  She then switches tracks and talks about the World Tree.  Yggdrasil.  It isn't named.  That's because... it's the primordial Goddess.  Right before she makes this announcement she mentions it as Odhinn's horse.  Hrm... maybe because shamanic cultures often call their method of journeying their "horse", i.e. the many cultures in and around the Norse lands that call their drums their horses.  Odhinn's hung himself upon Yggdrasil in a classic vision quest to receive wisdom (runes).  Hello?  Lynda C. Welch.  grrrr....

Academically the purpose of this book is a failure.  The Goddess isn't involved in their creation stories.  It isn't needed.  I do not feel de-valued as a female of Germanic origins for not having a primordial Goddess.  And I don't feel her wonderful correspondences of the many female spirits of the Norse is worth the unreliable and incomplete stretches in her theories. 

I read crap all the time.  Crappy literature.  Decent material from a crappy writing style.  I can't think of the last book I've read that I would NOT recommend in some way.  And I read a couple to a few hundred books a year.  (Or I have over the last few years with my past health issues, won't be reading quite so much since I am much healthier now :) positive mental speak!)  (~1100 books in under 3 years)  Now, that by no means am I an expert on books or books on the Norse, but as an avid reader.... read something else.