An Introduction to Heathenism
By Patricia Lafayllve
| “Hear me, all ye | hallowed beings, |
| both high and low | of Heimdall’s children: |
| thou wilt, Valfather, | that I well set forth |
| the fates of the world | which as first I recall.”1 |
These words begin the Voluspa, also known as The Prophecy of the Seeress, found in the Elder or Poetic Edda. Heathenism, also known as Asatru, is primarily a reconstructionist religion. It is from texts such as the one cited above that one gleans the information needed to practice a revival of this ancient faith.
In brief, there are three main places where Heathens look in order to reconstruct this faith. First, naturally, is to seek records left behind from the “Viking Period” (approximately 800-1100 C.E.) Luckily, there are many archeological sites, place names, and rune stones in the Scandinavian countries to give us clues as to what life was like for our ancestors. The Norse peoples were widely traveled, so information can be gleaned from studies of historical sites in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, England (the Anglo-Saxon period and the Danelaw), Ireland, and Scotland as well as in Continental Germany and even France (the Franks were originally from the north). Second, there are writings left behind from sources outside of Scandinavian culture, particularly those of the Romans Tacitus and Saxo Grammaticus, but also Adam of Bremen and the Venerable Bede. Writings such as these must, of course, be read with an understanding that these were outsiders to heathen culture, often written by Christian authors, and are fraught with errors, but form a valuable contribution to understanding.
The third place, and perhaps the most important, is the surviving lore itself. Much of the lore is not whole, of course, and again is written by Christians, but it does exist. The Poetic or Elder Edda cited above is a collection of 29 poems dating from the second half of the thirteenth century. The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, was written by Snorri Sturrlson around 1220 C.E. and contains the myths, the saga of the Volsungs and the Skaldskaparamal (basically a list of kennings for the Icelandic skald, or bard). Additionally we have a wealth of sagas, Scandinavian and Anglo Saxon folklore, and the like. Taken together, these things tell us most of what we need to know about the ways of our ancestors. It is from these sources, combined in some cases with personal gnosis, that we delineate what is “Heathen” in today’s world.
-TRK-
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