#fyrnsidu

[wip]

Notes: - Updates will be beyond infrequent. - Feel free to pop into my ask box requesting resource recommendations at any moment. - Resources do not reflect my personal beliefs or practice. I may include otherwise great resources that include theories and ideologies I do not support (such as the 'sign of the Hammer'), because I make extensive use of cross-referencing, reflection, etc to determine everything I incorporate into my craft. - I will never consciously add resources written by (Neo-)Nazis and the like. If you spot them, feel free to let me know.

Ancient and Medieval Sources

Beowulf Religion and Spirituality

Germanic Spirituality - Bil Linzie

The Elder Gods: The Otherworld of Early England - Pollington

Pagan Goddesses in the Early Germanic World: Eostre, Hreda, and the Cult of the Matrons - Shaw

Spirits and Animism

Elves in Anglo-Saxon England : Matters of Belief, Health, Gender and Identity - Hall

Glosses, Gaps and Gender: The Rise of Female Elves in Anglo-Saxon Culture - Hall

The Evidence for maran, the Anglo-Saxon "Nightmares" - Hall

Folk-healing, Fairies and Witchcraft: The Trial of Stein Maltman, Stirling 1628 - Hall

Historical Magic and Praxis

The Anglo-Saxon Charms - Grendon

Anglo-Saxon Magic - Storms

The Nine Herbs Charm

Contemporary and Folk Magic in England

The Black Toad - Gary

The Devil's Dozen - Gary

Secrets of East Anglian Magic - Pennick

Digital Libraries, Blogs, Organizations

Please engage with all of the following with extreme caution. Nazism and folkism are rampant in the Anglo-Saxon Polytheist community, and none of these libraries, blogs, et cetera are peer reviewed. They are meant to act as jumping off points, and nothing more!

Lārhūs Fyrnsida

Fyrnsidu.faith

Wind in the World Tree

Wednesbury Shire

Too often a newcomer arrives with honest hunger and is met with a gauntlet rather than a guiding hand. When the answer to sincere questions is a curt demand to “do your own research,” we turn a path of devotion into an academic obstacle course. Such gatekeeping does not strengthen the hearth; it chills it. It breeds exclusion where we ought to foster belonging, and it mistakes scarcity of knowledge for purity of spirit. If our revival is to endure, it must be nourished by patience, not guarded by pride.

Remember how we came to this place: many of us were guided, taught, and sheltered when we were raw and uncertain. The gods called us, and gave us counsel and care. To refuse that same divine charity to those who follow is to betray the lineage of compassion that made our revival possible. We who have labored to reconstruct the past, who have read and argued and pieced together fragments of what was lost, bear a responsibility greater than our own vanity. Knowledge is a torch; it is meant to be carried forward, not hoarded in a vault.

There is virtue in rigor and in the crucible that tests resolve; there is also virtue in mercy and in the slow, steady work of instruction. Let us be both guardians of truth and teachers of the way. Let us temper correction with explanation, and let our corrections be doors rather than gates. A patient answer, a kindly correction, a recommended reading and a shared ritual; these small acts convert curiosity into commitment far more surely than trials designed to exclude.

I do not call for proselytism; that is not our way. I call for hospitality. Let us welcome seekers with the same reverence with which we approach the gods. Let us guide them away from careless syncretism with wisdom and reverence, and teach them to stand where tradition and conscience meet. I have seen what patience can do: by answering questions and offering steady counsel, one may nurture true devotion. Imagine what a faith might become if such practice were common rather than rare.

Even when I am distant, wandering amidst the past, mimicking your mind, focused on finding my Truth, you guide me back home. Wanderer, O’ Woden, you hold a place deep in my heart. I feel the beat of your staff on earth, in time with the rhythm in my chest. Your runes are my comfort, your wisdom is my well. No matter how far I stray, O’ Woden, I always wander home.

Who are the Handmaidens?

In the Prose Edda, twelve Goddesses are listed after Frigga as Ásynjur: Fulla, Gefjon, Hlín, Syn, Eir, Sága, Gná, Vár or Vór, Snotra, Vör, Lofn and Sjöfn. Modern Heathens sometimes refer to Them as Frigga's Handmaidens. (This is a piece of shared gnosis, not an historically attested term.) For many of the Twelve, this is all that survives in the way of attestations.

What is the Project?

Gradually over several years, and more intentionally recently, I have been building a devotional cultus around these Goddesses. As part of that, I've been putting together primers on each of the Twelve on my longform blog -- detailing Their surviving attestations, Old English God-names and epithets for Them, my own personal experiences and upg, a prayer, and devotional icon art -- as well as essays and modern myths exploring other aspects of Them and my cultus to Them.

Although I use Old English names for Them and honour Them in a syncretic heathen practice drawing on influences from across the British and Irish Isles, I hope these may be useful and/or interesting for practitioners working in a Norse, Continental, or other context. Or for anyone worshipping and building cultus to lesser-known and lesser-attested Gods!

I will update this post periodically, but if you like you can subscribe to my longform Wordpress blog for updates when I post.

Primers

Fulla

Geofen (Gefjon)

Hlēowen (Hlin)

Ār (Eir)

Saga

Lofen & Siofen (Lofn & Sjöfn)

Snotor (Snotra)

Wearn, or Syn (Syn)

Wær (Vör)

Gnæ (Gnā)

Āþ (Vár)

Essays and other posts

Introduction to the Project

Essay on abundance, ānanda, and Fulla

Essay on Frīg and Her importance to my cosmology

The Wren and her sister: a myth of Frīg feat. Ār and Gnæ

There are gods in my belief that do not exist in the Norse one, and vice versa. For example, the god Saxnot does not appear in Norse paganism. That does not mean that Saxnot is lesser, it is simply a difference in religion. Just as Loki does not appear in Anglo-Saxon paganism.

In my polytheistic belief, I believe that the gods from all religions exist, but I do not worship them all. But given how closely related Anglo-Saxon and Norse paganism are, I draw gods and beliefs from Norse paganism.

I think that the Anglo-Saxon god Thunor and the Norse god Thor are related but not the same deity, for example. While I respect Thor, I do not worship him. I worship Thunor.

I have an animistic worldview and I worship my blood and heart ancestors, which can be found in both religions.

On a note, both Fyrnsidu and Asatru have unfortunately attracted racists and ethnonationalists, which is unacceptable. The gods do not belong to one group and I promise you that they do not want anything to do with your racist, xenophobic self.