A nithing pole sometimes normalized

Old Norse orthography

The orthography of the Old Norse language was diverse, being written in both Runic and Latin alphabets, with many spelling conventions, variant letterforms, and unique letters and signs. In modern times, scholars established a standardized spelling for the language. When Old Norse names are used in...

 as nithstang or nidstang, was a pole used for cursing

Curse

A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...

 an enemy in Germanic pagan tradition

Germanic paganism

Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples of north-western Europe from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period...

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History and usage

A nithing pole consisted of a long, wooden pole with a recently cut horse head at the end, and at times with the skin of the horse laid over the pole. The nithing pole was directed towards the enemy and target of the curse. The curse could be carved in runes on the pole.

Attestations

A nithing pole event appears in Egils saga

Egils saga

Egils saga is an epic Icelandic saga. The oldest transcript dates back to 1240 AD. The saga is centered on the life of Egill Skallagrímsson, an Icelandic farmer, viking and skald...

:

"And when all was ready for sailing, Egil went up into the island. He took in his hand a hazel-pole, and went to a rocky eminence that looked inward to the mainland. Then he took a horse's head and fixed it on the pole. After that, in solemn form of curse, he thus spake: 'Here set I up a curse-pole, and this curse I turn on king Eric

Eric Bloodaxe

Eric Haraldsson , nicknamed ‘Bloodaxe’ , was a 10th-century Scandinavian ruler. He is thought to have had short-lived terms as the second king of Norway and possibly as the last independent ruler of the kingdom of Northumbria Eric Haraldsson (Eric, anglicised form of ; died 954), nicknamed...

 and queen Gunnhilda. (Here he turned the horse's head landwards.) This curse I turn also on the guardian-spirits who dwell in this land, that they may all wander astray, nor reach or find their home till they have driven out of the land king Eric and Gunnhilda.' This spoken, he planted the pole down in a rift of the rock, and let it stand there. The horse's head he turned inwards to the mainland; but on the pole he cut runes, expressing the whole form of curse." - Egils Saga, Chapter LX (60

60

Year 60 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Afer...

)

The Icelandic Vatnsdæla saga

Vatnsdæla saga

Vatnsdœla saga is one of the sagas of Icelanders. It is essentially a family chronicle, probably written just after the middle of the thirteenth century.It relates to the valley that runs south from Hunafloi in the north of Iceland....

records that when Finbogi failed to show up for a holmgång

Holmgang

Holmgang was a duel practiced by early medieval Scandinavians. It was a recognized way to settle disputes....

 (duel), Jökul raised a nithing pole against Finbogi for his cowardice by carving out a human head which was placed on a post with magic runes, killing a mare, and then placing the post into the mare's breast with the head facing towards Finbogi's dwelling.

Contemporary use

Modern pagans have used the nithing pole as a curse against white supremacists, to reclaim pagan symbolism.