Shaun
Brassfield-Thorpe was born on the 25th August 1968 in Hertfordshire, England.
His ancestry is varied, including English, Irish, Scots, Welsh, German,
French, Scandinavian and Native American (mainly Cherokee-Choctaw) roots.
He was largely self-educated
as a child and from an early age developed interests in mythology, folklore,
martial arts, ancient history and magic.
He graduated from the
University of Hertfordshire with an Honours Degree in Literature, having
specialised in Pre-Modern Literature. He wrote his final year Dissertation
on a comparison of the Old Norse, Icelandic, Anglo-Saxon and other Rune-Poems,
the first time such a detailed study had been undertaken in such a way.
Whilst at University
he also studied History, Linguistics, History of the English-Language and
undertook private tuition in Anglo-Saxon language and literature.
Shaun became a personal
student of Ivar Hafskjold in 1992. Shaun has a Konge personality, and therefore
rather than concentrating upon one specific area of the Hafskjold-Stav
tradition, he studied all aspects of Stav including the martial arts, healing
and esoteric traditions. He is now one of only four individuals recognized
as Stav Masters worldwide and has a unique understanding of the tradition
from a Konge perspective.
Shaun has approximately
twenty years experience in martial arts. Prior to training in Stav he studied
predominantly traditional Chinese martial styles and Qi Gong, although
he spent some years in traditional Muay Thai (full contact Thai Boxing)
and other combat sports.
Shaun also spent some
years training in Native American traditions and worked with medicine people
from various tribes.
Due to Shaun's Konge
personality he has studied and teaches both Galder and Seid, in other words
both the more structured / analytical and spontaneous / shamanism aspects
of the esoteric sides of Stav.
Shaun's interests include
poetry and he has performed and had published some of his original compositions,
as well as translating many mythological and runic poems. He has also had
published articles and books on the runes, and numerous articles on these
and other areas including Norse mythology, martial arts, health and healing,
the historical development of the runes, historic and pre-historic weaponry,
shamanism and both historic and contemporary magical practices.
Shaun has an international
reputation and is respected as an authority on the runes, Norse Mythology,
Northern Traditions and North European Esoteric practices.
Shaun Brassfield-Thorpe
was the founder of the Valgarth Stav Hov and Co-founder of the Stav Academy.
The Valgarth Stav Hov was formed at the suggestion of Ivar Hafskjold to
represent Shaun's development of the Stav tradition. The Stav Academy was
formed to make the traditions of Stav more widely available to the general
public. The Valgarth Stav Hov now has active members in Europe, the USA
and Australia.
Shaun now lives in
Orkney where he is researching Orcadian folk traditions while continuing
his own Stav research and his teaching of Stav. Shaun lives with his wife
Katharine and their daughters Karadis and Alruna.
