Our Religion
Heathenry, Ásatrú and Norse Paganism are three different names for a set of religions based on the reconstructed practices of the pre-Christian religions of the Northern European world. These religions worshipped Gods like Odin, Thor and Freyja.
Heathenry
Heathenry is the preferred general English word for the religions that make up the tapestry of our faith. It comes to us from the Gothic word “haiþno” which was used as a their word for “gentile” (a neutral term for someone from around the area, a townsperson or a local, but the connotation was that they were unfamiliar with the Christian faith or with Jewish prophetic tradition). Comes from the Greek word ἔθνος (ethnos, nation), which was used as the translation for the Hebrew word “goyim” and has the same meaning as the Latin word “gens” (nation, people).
Heathen became the standard word in English to describe those of the old religion, but it wasn’t exclusively used that way. The English used it to describe the Viking raiders during the Scandinavian incursions into England, but it wasn’t always the case that these “Heathens” practiced the old religion. In some cases, especially towards the end of the Viking Age, many of those “Heathens” were actually Christians!
Today, most people who practice a faith based on the pre-Christian Germanic religions will accept the general term “Heathen.”
Ásatrú
Ásatrú is an Icelandic word which means “Faith/Trust/Belief” (trú) in the Gods (Ása). The origins of the term are murky, but it comes from late 19th century Scandinavian Romanticism. Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg seems to have coined it first in his opera on the life of ancient Norwegian King Olaf Trygvasson (Asatro was the word he used to describe the faith of King Olaf’s enemies). But the term was clearly in circulation around Scandinavia and was already used in Iceland as Ásatrú in 1885.
“Ásatrúar” today in the United States are divided on the use of the term and in general prefer “Heathen/Heathenry” because Ásatrú was adopted as the term of choice for white nationalist groups. Many also feel that the term means exclusive worship of the “Æsir” Gods and so neologisms like Vanatrú, Rokkrtrú or Thursatrú to refer to their particular tradition, but there is no reason to believe that the “Ása” in the word Ásatrú only refers to one particular class of deity.
Unlike the USA, Ásatrú or Asatro are the preferred terms among Europeans.
Norse Paganism
Norse Paganism is one of the more common terms you will see in English for these religions. “Paganism” is already well established as a term meaning someone who practices some form of reconstructed or revived European pre-Christian religion. “Pagan” comes from the Latin “paganus” which means “someone from a rural area.” This was more of a pejorative than the more neutral “gens” or “gentile.” As by the time “paganus” was coined, Christianity had become a dominant religion in the Empire and more urban areas had already converted.
The reason “Norse” is in there is because the names we use for the Gods as the rituals we do mostly come from Old Norse. This is because the largest literary corpus we have comes from early medieval Iceland, so most of the stories we have of the Gods and details of the old religion were written in Old Norse. It is not used as an ethnic identifier like “I am Norse and Pagan” or “The Pagan Gods are Norse.”
Not every person will appreciate this term and prefer “Anglo-Saxon Pagan” (ASP) or “Continental Pagan” instead.
Is Ásatrú the real Viking religion?
By the end of the Viking Age the “true faith” of the Vikings was Christianity. Let’s be real here.
But the fact is we talk too much about Vikings when it comes to our faith. But the depiction of Vikings in all kinds of media drives a lot of people to seek out our faith. They wonder about what Vikings believed and think it looks sort of neat, maybe they’d like to become a “modern day Viking.” Hey, we don’t want yuck somebody’s yum.
But imagine if someone told you they were a Christian and you said “Oh, so you’re like a Crusader?” Some Christians might fancy themselves that way, but most wouldn’t know what you were talking about or why you’d call them that. Or imagine if someone told you they were Muslim and you said “Oh, so you’re a Mamluk? Can you show me your lance?”
When most people think of Vikings they’re mostly thinking of a myth. This is by design.
Vikings occupy a lot of space in our imaginations, and they’re commonly associated with our religion. In truth, Vikings were a small part of the massive changes and migrations that took place in the Middle Ages. Their impact as traders who connected ports from Bergen to Constantinople and from Newfoundland to Delhi was massive in terms of the exchange of goods and the movement of people.
But the biggest impact they’ve had is culturally–in our imaginations.
What was in reality a wide network of different people, professions, languages and religions became fused into this image of the “blonde beast” in the horned helmet drinking blood out of the skulls of his enemies.
Modern Heathens don’t have to live up to this caricature. Not only because our cultural and religious context is different, but because these “Vikings” of fevered European imagination never really existed.
The goal of Heathenry isn’t to become someone else. We’re not trying to bring back the Viking Age. Most of us are just everyday people trying to pay rent, watch Netflix and promise to make jogging a habit this year.
What does it mean to be a Heathen?
Well, if we’re not drinking blood out of the skulls of our enemies and swinging battle axes until we pass out, what do we actually do? Just like in times of old, Heathenry is a diverse tapestry of beliefs and practices influenced by our unique cultural and personal circumstances. We live in a world where our religion isn’t just not the only game in town, it’s not a game most people know how to play.
We are a modern religion and as Heathens we strive to meet the needs of modern people.
We are not Heathen because it made sense to an ancient Viking or Saxon Warrior living in 543 CE. We are Heathen because it makes sense right now, in the world we live in today. We are a modern faith and as an organization we face modern issues. While history is interesting and it helps us get a better understanding of our present circumstances, we live in that present and we have no desire to go back.
The Gods are here with us now. The spirits of the world around us are around us right now. Your community needs you right now.
The world needs all the good we can do.
Three Basic Principles of Ásatrú
Ethics are much more complex than any one list of divine commands can encompass. We have a few essays here on ethics, which starts with our article on the Nine Noble Virtues.
But to keep things simple we have three basic principles you can set your watch to:
- Wisdom
- Kind Speech
- Good Deeds
You can find more expansion on that in our essay on prayer (where we talk about the interesting “rule of three”).