Rainbow Runes

We have the literary curse that Skirnir casts on Gerd in Skirnismal. Anna Solovyeva talks about the structure of that curse as a bargaining tool and narrative device in “Fear, Superstition, and Bargaining: A Curse As A Threat in Old Norse Literature.” Its an interesting literary analysis, but my main take away for our purposes here is that academics take for granted that of course its a curse. In a nutshell, Skirnir cursed Gerd with unfulfillable desires and then walked it back when he got what he wanted.

We have archeological examples that use the exact same logic as that curse, sometimes for completely different purposes. For example, an 11th century copper amulet found in Sigtuna, Sweden, heals the wearer by cursing the thurs causing the disease with unfulfillable needs, and then offers the thurs ice runes to cool that raging desire if it will oblige the witch by fucking off.

(Thurs of the wound fever, Lord of Thursa, Flee now. You are found! Have for yourself three pangs, wolf. Have for yourself nine needs, wolf. iii These ice runes may grant that you be satisfied, wolf. Make good use of the healing charm.)

And we have lust curses that follow that formula too, both archeological examples and in medieval runestave grimoires. In the runestave grimoires, in particular, the lust curses that have instructions are very obviously curses. This tradition has a lot of symmetry with the story of Saint Cyprian, though I can't tell if that's parallel evolution, or if this style of cursing has one origin. Saint Cyprian was a wizard doing goetia (I think) and he took a job casting a lust curse on Justina to make her sleep with the client. This curse had the structure of "make her crazy with unfulfillable lust until she gives in and sleeps with this dude," it was just powered by demons, not runes, because he was a Christian. Anyway, her purity and her prayers protect her, and he's so impressed that he swears off black magic and they go around preaching together.

There are a lot of "into to asatru" type books, and I've loaned all mine out, so I can't tell you what they are 😅 I remember that Patricia Lafayllve is a good, accessible writer (and I know her in person enough to testify that she's a kind lady and not a dick to lokeans). Pagan Portals puts out many small, into-style books on a broad range of topics.

Loki, specifically

I liked Dagulf Loptson's stuff the best. (I read Playing With Fire; he's also got a shorter Pagan Portals intro to Loki) Some of his theories are controversial, but I've also found academic papers that back him up, so he's not pulling things out of his ass. He marks his upg. Frankly, I enjoy an author that's willing to put forth new, interesting theological ideas. It's also nice to have books written by an actual lokean that doesn't apologize for it. Accessibly priced and available digitally on Kindle, if you don't want a physical book lying around. He's also got some blog posts

Beyond Reason by Heather Freysdottir. She's a lokean too. It's a lot less academic, more a record of her adventures in mysticism and her devotional poetry. I'll admit I didn't like it, but I'm not a mystic, and I hate reading other people's devotional poetry (no good reason, I just don't enjoy it). You may feel differently. Also available on Kindle.

God in Flames, God in Fetters by Stephen Grundy. Frankly, a waste of time. His thesis is milktoast and his conclusions are uninspiring. It's a decent source if you want to understand the history of Loki's worship in the modern pagan revival, but honestly, just go listen to The Heathen History Podcast. It's free, more entertaining, and put out by decent people.

Grumpy Lokean Elder no longer posts, but his tumblr is still available. He was really kind to me when I was a baby pagan. I hope somewhere out there, he's living his best life.

Academic Books and Heathen Theology

You can get the Eddas and a lot of other original sources for free at voluspa.org

The Saga Thing podcast is a fun, accessible introduction to Saga literature, done by the most dad-energy academics. If reading the sagas is overwhelming, maybe start there.

Trickster Makes This World by Lewis Hyde. I'm not a soft polytheist or a Jungian, and this still Made Me Feel Things. Also, it's an academic book, not a religious one, so you can probably make excuses for having it. Available digitally for free at archive.org

Heathen Soul Lore by Winifred Hodge Rose. I would argue that her research is academic-tier, even if she doesn't have a degree. I would also argue that any serious Heathen should care about questions like "what even am a soul?" It's a very accessibly written two-part book, and her work is all free on her website.

I've heard great things about Neil Price's book, but haven't gotten to it yet.

Cat Heath writes about elves, heathen gods (especially Odin, Freyja, and Freyr) and historical heathen magic. I know them to be an incredibly talented witch and a top-tier academic researcher. They site their sources and then they go out and do the damn thing! Their blog is free and fantastic. They teach phenomenal classes. They have a mailing list. Their books are widely available both physical and Kindle.

Some academic papers that have made me Feel Something, in no particular order (I think these are all free on Academia.edu):

Mikkel Bille and Tim Sorensen. “Flames of Transformation: The Role of Fire in Cremation Practices”

Yvonne Bonnetain. “The Potentialities of Loki”

Marianne Hem Erikssen is an archeologist with a lot of awesome papers

Leszek Gardela is an archeologist who has a lot of interesting things to say about the cult of the dead.

Eldar Heide. “Loki, the Vätte, and the Ash Lad: A Study Combining Old Scandinavian and Late Material”

Henning Kure. “In the beginning was the Scream: Conceptual thought in the Old Norse myth of creation”

Annette Lassen, “Hodr’s Blindness and the Pledging of Odinn’s Eye: A Study of the Symbolic Value of the Eyes of Hodr, Odin and Thorr.”

Anatoly Liberman. “Some Controversial Aspects of the Myth of Baldr”

Anne Monikander, “Sleipnir and His Siblings: Some Thoughts on Loki’s Monsterous Offspring.”

Kevin Wanner. “Cunning Intelligence in Norse Myth: Loki, Odinn, and the Limits of Sovereignty” I've read three of his papers and they were all worth it.

Magic

I think it is worthwhile to study a broad range of different types of magic, to round out your personal practice, if you want to be a witch. Not every pagan has to be a witch!

Learn two divination methods. Most of us aren't super psychic, all the time, and "talking" to a spirit with tarot or dream journaling is more effective than trying to talk to them out loud and expecting to literally hear an answer, especially if you're garbage at trance work, like me. (If you're garbage at trance work, and a lot of pagan methods aren't working for you, and it's making you sad, consider looking into stage hypnosis. It's the exact same skill set, and the people that do it are most interested in efficacy, so they use a lot more varied techniques and modalities than pagans do.)

Get a book on defensive magic and protection spells. Amy Blackthorn has one. I have Jason Miller's and think its okay. Cat Heath's book touches on this, though it's not the main focus. Start by learning how to cleanse a space, ward, cast a circle, etc. Especially if you're trans or queer, or a lokean in Heathen spaces, or going to go meet other witches in public.

Runic Amulets and Magic Objects by Mindy MacLeod and Bernard Mees. It's an academic book about archeology but it's readable, and I think if more heathens had a historically grounded understanding of how runes were used, we'd be quicker to shed some Nazi bullshit. It's expensive, and the authors are living, so I feel bad pirating it, but if you truly can't afford it or can't safely have a copy in your home, dm me.

Inmaculada Senra Silva is a fantastic scholar on runes.

Rune staves are not the same as futhark runes. Rune staves are a medieval, Christian, folk magic tradition. You can get English translations of various rune stave grimoires. Christopher Alan Smith's “Icelandic Magic: Aims, Tools, and Techniques of the Icelandic Sorcerers” is a very good place to start.

Elves, Fairies, etc

I would argue that the cult of the elves is a massive part of pre- Christian Heathen belief. Heck, some gods are also elves. And Victorian England did a number on our ability to understand what even is an elf. Back when I was a baby pagan, I filled an altar with twee flower fairy statues and set out sweets for Them. It went very poorly for me! Worshipping something you don't properly understand, when that holy power isn't kind or understanding, can get you sick or hurt. And while alfar are nicER than the Celtic Shining Ones (or most indigenous North American fairy-ish spirits) they aren't exactly nice. (And, if you do what I did, there's no telling exactly what kind of spirit is even responding to the worship!) BUT I think understanding the elves is essential, especially if you want to have a relationship with Freyr, Freyja, Odin, Heimdall, or Ullr. Alaric Hall is a fantastic academic on historical elf and fairy belief in both a Heathen and Celtic context. Morgan Daimler primarily writes on Celtic topics, but they're an excellent and prolific writer, and I would consider them an excellent authority on all things fairy and elvish, as both a practitioner and academic. Same for Cat Heath - their work on elves is thorough and fantastic. (Take a class - you won't regret it!)

Get Right With Your Ancestors