Disabilities are Stigmatized

Týr is missing one hand from bravely engaging Fenrir to protect all Æsir and the nine worlds, and Óðinn has lost an eye in order to learn wisdom. Two instances of men risking life and limb to stand by their values and their own. These actions, based on bravery and sacrifice, demonstrate the hyper-masculine aspect of Norse culture, and the glorification of the most fundamental and core evolutionary features and characteristics of men.

Norse culture indeed otherwise greatly stigmatizes disabilities. You can't be a warrior who fights exceptionally and win wars if you are disabled. Valhöll is not an hospice for disabled or injured men, but a hall for the best warriors on earth (see “Valhöll”). As a matter of fact, warriors whose injuries will heal completely every night, specifically eliminating any disability. Even a decrease of performance inherent to aging is unacceptable, as per Jómsvíkingalǫg (The Laws of Jómsvíkingar).

Any perceived sympathy for disabilities in public texts is either a mistranslation (when the focus is in fact on sacrifice and bravery, someone who doesn't speak Old Norse and is not well versed in Norse culture will clearly not understand), or Christian propaganda trying to integrate Christian values of mercy, charity and the like into Norse culture. Remember indeed that the majority of public texts, if not all, have been written by Christians, and after the facts.

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