I have been an avid reader of blogs for quite some time and realize the time has come for me to start my own blog. Now why did I name this Valhallian?
Well, for starters, I am of Norwegian heritage and all my life I have always prided myself in being a “viking”. In Norse mythology, Vahalla has been known as the “Hall of the Slain” and is the hall of Norse mythology’s primary god, Odin. Back in the viking days, vikings prided Valhalla as its utmost honor, in other words, they felt it was higher and better than heaven itself. The only way that they could get into Valhalla is to be slain gloriously in battle.
Now am I naming this blog Valhallian because I have a strong desire to be slain in battle like in the days of the vikings? Absolutely not, however, I am willing to die fighting for a cause that I beleive in. Is this to say that I am willing to put myself in front of a gun or look for a knife fight, unfortunately for some of you, the answer to that is no ;)
If I die for medical reasons, or by some freak accident, I want to go out fighting for a cause, not with a gun, knife or a sword, but with a simple pen. The pen is mightier than the sword, especially in these wonderful days of internet technology, only that instead of a pen, I use a keyboard.
Now you may wonder, what is the cause that I am striving for? I may be a rebel at times, but I certainly am not a rebel without a cause. The cause that I am striving for is unity among the deaf communities.
I grew up being oral and did not learn to sign until when I went to college. I did not have a whole lot of exposure to the “real” deaf world until I was in college. Boy, it was a huge eye-opener for me, but guess what? I loved it and I would do it all over in a heartbeat. Especially the partying days as I did party hard back then like a viking would, but thats not the point here 
Point here is that at first, I was basically rejected by many signers, simply because I could not sign, and they made fun of me. Many people probably would have turned their tail and ran off, but not me. Its the viking genes in me as my mother used to say many times in the past. I took the incentive to try to learn sign language and met signers who had the patience to try to teach me how to sign, and bless their hearts, they succeeded. It took me a long time, I started out using SEE and throughout a period of time evolved into ASL.
Many years have gone by since my college days, however, English is still my primary language, unfortunately ASL will never be my primary language and I am perfectly content with that too. Yet, I love and adore the language of ASL and the dominant portion of my life is spent with deaf people these days, although I do still speak and read lips and am around hearing people on occasions. If I had to make a choice between hearing people and deaf people, deaf people would win me over in a heartbeat!
Why is that? Simple because of the fact that I am deaf, I accept my deafness, and I accept the deafness of other people. Ok, so you may think, ok great so whats the problem here?
The problem is that there are deaf people out there that do not accept other deaf people for different reasons. Such as “he’s deaf, but doesn’t know sign”; “he has a cochlear implant, eewww”; “he doesn’t come from a deaf family”; and many many more lame excuses. That needs to stop, we need to start uniting the deaf communities so that we all can become a much more powerful force.
Now that is a cause that I am willing to fight to the death for, big question here is are you? Are you willing to do the same and strive to join the modern day and deaf version of Valhalla? Where vikings in the old days fought gallantly for their cause because they strived to join Valhalla too. Only difference here is that its over a thousand years later, and I’m speaking of the deaf version of valhalla and who cares if you’re not norwegian too
Come join the cause for unity among deaf people! Strive for the deaf version of Valhalla!
July 17th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Forgive the layout, I’m just starting on learning how to do a blog, it will change over time as I learn more.
July 17th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Interesting way of getting your point across.
So,… who are the Valkyries? In order to have a Valhalla, you must have the Choosers of the Slain, too. This throws a bit of a wrench into your metaphor, eh? LOL
By the way… I am also a descendant of the Norse, but I am no Berserker.;-)
Shel
July 17th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Valkyries, as I understand it are those who chose the heroes that died in battle and carried them off to Valhalla in the viking days. Naturally in this case, they are those that beleive in the cause of unity and have already died fighting for this cause already
Nothing wrong with being a beserker if you do it right and for the right reasons
July 17th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Welcome to the blogosphere as a blogger!!
Looking forward to your blogs!
-Ben
July 17th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Hi brother. I am with you. Valhalla it is then! I come from a VERY BIG deaf family and have yet to meet other deaf person who came from a bigger deaf family than mine. So far I have not met any deaf person whose family members and generations exceeded mine. Having said this, I agree with you about unnecessary discrimination among deaf who reject other deaf based on their backrgound and on their method of communication. I, of all deaf people decry such discrimination. I welcome you as my equal.
Welcome to the blog sphere.
Barry
July 17th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Ben and Barry, it is an honor to you have both on this posting, as you both were major influences, as well as some others that I can see that beleive in the unity among deaf people, in my decision to venture forth as a blogger.
edit: oops another mistake, this was anonymous that came up, its actually me valhallian, im still learning heh
July 17th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
unity for the deaf community. mmm that’s a nice thought.
who should we pen-kill first in the name of unity?
July 17th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Hei Valhallian
Yes I have norsk blood (from my grandmother). She was born in Norway and moved to Canada when she was small girl.
I have been in contact with my second (once removal) cousin who is still living in Norway. I am learning norsk language
I am no expert in ancient Norsk history but I love to learn. I want to thank you for explaining about Valhalla. I really appreciate that very much.
Ha en god dag (have a good day)
Deafchip
July 17th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
who should we pen-kill first in the name of unity?, well I would imagine its fairly obvious that the answer would be the naysayers that do not beleive in unity among the deaf community
July 17th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Here I am joining the cause of unity. Welcome to the blogsphere. Hope you will join Vlogsphere as well.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
sweet! lets get started; who’s first?
July 18th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Uhhhh, Dog Food, I think he was referring to you…
Seriously, I hope this blog doesn’t turn out to be like some of the others. Stay even-keeled, don’t let the flamers drag you into the fray, and keep going. Interesting choice for a blog name.
July 18th, 2008 at 2:54 am
Another Deaf Viking?
http://www.rawlandcycles.com
July 18th, 2008 at 4:35 am
dog food, just so you know, in terms of “pen killing”, naturally it would be preferable not to go after specific names of individuals, as that is not the honorable way of doing so
against, the concepts and the like, if you feel the need to name a person, use a nickname for that person as opposed to naming him sor her specifically, kinda like a “dear abby” letter where specific names are not used.
eddie, no worries on flamers, i used to play MMPORGs a lot and am quite used to flamers on forums, theyre a dome a dozen and do nothing except to give me a chuckle
malba, aye indeed another deaf viking, and quite proud of it
July 18th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
hmm i see. Does this mean that should I make a target of someone, i’m automatically the guy that wants to saw unity to shreds?
How do you hold someone or some organization accountable for their actions? How do you give feedback without being labeled as a villain, audist, or a flamer?
So, at the risk of being put down as a worthless commenter, here are my thoughts to share on this entry of “unity”:
There is already a unity amongst everyone within this realm of the ear; when you’re talking about fighting for a cause, you’re only fighting for your own personal cause as a blogger. Just like how both organizations aptly named AGBell and DBC who fight for what they believe in. I never supported either organizations; just that the fact that both were passionate about their causes and what they thought was the best solution to how to live with the way we are.
I hope you will be one of these rare bloggers that can transcend the ignorance and overwhelming sensitivity of our horde and put your pens to a beautiful murder. I hope that this blog could go beyond the confines of Deafread and the worthless drama that follows. I also hope that you won’t down a commenter simply because I like to shake the bees out to get honey instead of smoking them sweetly to sleep.
July 18th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Dog food
You’re right there is some form of unity among everyone, but I’d like to see a higher form of unity achieved, for example pro-asl and CI users getting along better.
if you want to make a target of someone, that should only be at the last resort when everything else has failed
July 18th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
oooh, i like where you’re going with this. Keep it up! you have my support.
August 3rd, 2008 at 3:11 pm
That was a well written article, very interesting,thank you for a good read.