Elven Time Travel

Heathenry, Norse Paganism, Ásatrú, or Norse Polytheism?

When first looking into working with the Norse gods, you might run into those who go by different titles such as Heathen, Norse Pagan, Ásatrúar, or Norse Polytheist. While all these identities can be grouped under the same umbrella of those who work with the old gods, they each come with their own differences. These differences are all complex and come with their own histories and while I highly encourage you to look further into the topic, I will only be giving a very brief explanation of each.

Heathenry

The name Heathenry comes from the idea that it is derived from the religion of Heathens (the people of the Heaths). It is primarily what is called a reconstrucionist religion in which Heathens attempt to reconstruct and base their beliefs and practices on historical evidence of the old religions that worshiped the old gods. Heathenry tends to also blend together the beliefs and practices of various Germanic cultural practices (mostly Anglo-Saxon, Frisian, Norse, Goth, Frank).

Ásatrú

Ásatrú has a bit of a complicated history, but was originally started as an organized religion around worship of the Æsir (the Norse gods of Asgard) in Iceland. At some point it was stolen and bastardized by North American White Supremacists. Later non-racist Ásatrúar split of from that North American group and formed their own. Most Ásatrúar focus their practice on the Æsir and tend to be part of a more formal, organized group.

Norse Paganism

Norse Paganism is a general title that could be used to describe any of these groups, but tends to be used by those who are not as concerned with the reconstructionism of Heathenry or the formality and focus on the Æsir that comes with Ásatrú. Norse Paganism is a very broad term and generally just means you work with the Norse gods. In my personal experience, most Norse Pagans work with one or a few of the gods, not necessarily with all of them.

Norse Polytheism

Norse Polytheism is very similar to Norse Paganism. It is generally an umbrella term for those who work with the Norse gods. The main difference between those who tend to identify as Norse Polytheist vs Norse Pagan is that Norse Polytheists work with all the Norse gods. They may not have specific gods that they continuously and specifically work with, but instead honor and work with all of them.

Vanatrú

Though it's not as common, Vanatrú is another practice within Norse Paganism. Those who identify as Vanatrú are those who's work tends to be very nature based and work primarily with the Vanir gods over the Æsir.

An Introduction to The Gods

When starting out it's always a good idea to get yourself familiar with the stories of the gods. While the best things to read are The Eddas, they can be a bit overwhelming; especially if you're not used to reading old translated texts and completely unfamiliar with the Norse gods. A book that I often recommend for an introduction to the stories of the Norse gods is Myths of the Norsemen by Roger Lancelyn Green. It's a pretty good collection of re-tellings of stories from both the Poetic and Prose Edda. The book is written for a younger audience as well, so it's a super easy read. (If you've ever thought of picking up Neil Gaimen's book Norse Mythology: Don't. Gaimen mentions in his introduction that he used Roger Lancelyn Green's book and inspiration and as someone who has read both, I'd argue that he simply re-wrote Green's book, leaving out a story or two.)

Once you have a basic understanding of the Gods and their stories, I highly suggest picking up H.R. Ellis Davidson's book Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. It's a fantastic in depth academic look at the gods and their stories put into cultural and historical context.

"Primary" Sources: The Eddas

When it comes to stories and information about the Norse gods we do not have any written primary sources. The closest thing we do have to a primary source is The Poetic Edda (also known as the Elder Edda). It's a collection of anonymous texts that was compiled and translated in the early 13th century though the texts are believed to be much older and from the 10th and 9th centuries. While the Prose Edda (also sometimes called the Younger Edda) is also a great source, when reading it you have to remember that it was written down by a Christian, Snorri Sturluson, over 150 years after the end of the viking age and therefore it's written with a Christian lens and Sturluson tends to come up with alternative "explanations" for the gods, suggesting that they were not gods but living people who became legends (there are other clear Christian influences as well like the vilification of Loki in the myths that we don't see any evidence of in the Elder Edda...but I digress). I mention this because it's important to know where a translation or text came from and to understand how that can influence the interpretation of a text especially when it comes to something like Heathenry/Norse paganism because so much of our historical information about the religion of the Norse people was completely eradicated during the Christian conversion and therefore there are no actual primary sources.

Now, let's discuss translations: When it comes to translations of the Poetic and Prose Eddas there are quite a few to choose from, all with different merit and some easier to read and more accessible than others.

The Poetic Edda

One of the most widely available translations is Jackson Crawford's. You can find it in most books stores and there is an audiobook read by Crawford available as well (though I personally find Crawford to be a bit monotone, which is unfortunate because he has some really good lectures and videos on youtube). Crawford is a professor of Old Norse literature and linguistics so his translation mostly focuses on that and less on the religious and cultural influences in the text (he also has little interest in modern Norse Pagans, but has nothing against us) One of his main goals with his translation was to maintain the feel and meter of the Skaldic poetry while also making the text more digestible to a modern reader, though his translator notes mostly focus on understanding the language of the poems and not on the cultural and religious influence. One of the most highly regarded translations within the Heathen and Norse Pagan communities is that of Carolyne Larrington as Larrington's translation has a plethora of translator notes and does take the culture and religion of the Norse people into account. Her translation is fairly easy to obtain and is published by Oxford World Classics. There is also an auiobook of this translation as well, but it's not as easy to find or common as Crawford's. I also think that Henry Adams Bellows' translation is worth mentioning because I think it's one of the easiest to read as a modern reader despite some of the translator note being outdated. It's also available for free on Internet Archive.

The Prose Edda

(I have less much to say about this because I have only really read one translation of this text) It seems to be a general consensus that one of the best translations we have currently of the Prose Edda is that of Anthony Faulkes, though I will warn you that it's a rather dry, academic read.

The Hávamál

The Hávamál is a section of The Poetic Edda that is supposed to be wisdom and advice from Odin. A lot of Heathens/Norse Pagans like to study The Hávamál. While it will be included in most translations of the Poetic Edda, Jackson Crawford has a publication that is just The Hávamál (titled "The Wanderer's Hávamál) and includes what Crawford calls "The Cowboy Hávamál" which is a translation of the first part of The Hávamál in the voice of his Cowboy Grandfather and I think it's a great way to relate the text to our modern world!

The Sagas

In addition to the Eddas, there are some really good Sagas that might be something you consider reading as you get deeper into your practice. Some of the most famous Norse Sagas are: Völsunga Saga, Njáls Saga, and Egil's Saga. There are many more sagas, some of which the names of may be familiar to you.

Understanding Cultural Influences: Helpful Academic Texts

Like I mentioned in the earlier section: understanding the culture of the people from whom these stories of the gods came from can give you a deeper understanding of not just the stories, but the gods themselves. I've also always found that learning about the lives of the people that came before us makes it very clear that we are not that different. Just as they connected with nature and honored the old gods, so do we...

Two of the top books I recommend when it comes to historical academic texts on the Norse people and the Viking age are: Children of Ash and Elm and The Viking Way" by Neil Price. Price is an archeologist who focuses on Scandinavian history and his writing is very highly regarded in both historical/archeological circles and modern heathen/Norse Pagan circles.

Modern Takes on Heathenry and Norse Paganism

Heathenry and Paganism are living practices, meaning that they change and evolve as those of us who practice them change and evolve. The ways we worship, despite the attempts of many reconstructionists, will never be exactly like the ancient people as will our interpretations of and relationships to our gods never be the same. We live in a modern world with modern lives and modern influences. And I personally feel that Hethenry and Paganism's ability to change and grow alongside humanity is something beautiful and worth celebrating! That being said, I think there is a lot we can learn from other modern Heathens and Pagans and I'd like to share some of my favorite contemporary Heathen/Norse Pagan books:

Both Ásatrú for Beginners by Dr. Mathias Nordvig and The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith are really good looks at some modern takes on the religion, though be aware that they are coming from those who are part of more formal and organized groups and know that you don't have to follow any of the "rules" or rituals laid out in these books, but it's a good place to start to get an idea of how you want to practice.

Beware! What to look out for: Identifying Dog Whistles

Unfortunately Norse Paganism/Heathenry and Norse/Viking culture in general has a long complex history with racist, bigoted, white supremacist Nazis using a bastardized version of the religion and culture to justify their horrible actions and opinions and spread misinformation. This history is a bit too long for me to get into in full here, but it stems back to Nazi Germany.

It is imperative that we, as legitimate Norse Pagans and Heathens make it clear that these people have no place in our communities and call them out when we see them! (Ryan Smith, the author of "The Way of Fire and Ice" is a particularly vocal opposer of fascists and Nazis trying to hide in the community - he has a whole section in his book about it)

Though, they do like to hide in plain sight, using dog whistles. Try to familiarize yourself with some of these dog whistles and if you're not sure about an author or creator, please feel free to ask the community! I know that early in my practice I had picked up a book or two that, as I was reading, I realized had some Nazi rhetoric and I dropped those books immediately.

Be extra careful and on the look out for this when looking at modern texts on Odin specifically because these types of people love to claim themselves as followers of Odin. Stay far away from anyone who claims to be "folkish" or an "Odinist" (especially anyone who says they're part of the "Odinic Rite") or talks about "viking blood." As I mentioned in the section on Ásatrú, if you are in North America or interacting with an Ásatrúar from North America, please be on the lookout for Nazi/white supremacist rhetoric since there is a group that claim to be Ásatrú in North America that are simply using the label to hide harmful racists ideation.

It's hard to know all the harmful groups and their many dog whistles, but we must stay vigilant!

Apart from here on tumblr, a great place to ask about this topic is over on the Norse Paganism subreddit. There is also this extremely useful list of known Nazi/white supremacist creators and groups to avoid within the community here.

I would like to end this section with a common way that many of us Norse Pagans/Heathens declare our stance against Nazis, White Supremacists, and Fascists:

⚒️No Frith with Fascists!⚒️

An Ending Note:

Heathenry/Norse Paganism is joked about as the religion of homework because there are a lot of books to read, but I think it's very important to listen to your intuition, do what feels right. You don't have to be a reconstructionist (I'm not) and you don't have to take anything written as law.