Disability in Heathenry

A limping man can ride a horse,

a handless man can herd,

a deaf man can fight and win.

It’s better even to be blind

than fuel for the funeral pyre;

what can a dead man do?

Translation by: Dr. Jackson Crawford : The Poetic Edda, Stories of the Norse Gods and Heroes

You’ve all seen the pictures, large men with washboard abs,  braided hair and beards, with some sort of weapon in their hands, wishing to go to Valhalla. There is no room in that image for the realities of life as a farmer, and how this practice should and does reflect farmers and their families.

I grew up on a tiny farm/ranch in Northwest Montana, surrounded by people who worked in farming or ranching or logging. All of those people were disabled. All of them.

Years of repetitive picking and planting and picking again wears down joints and builds fingers knobby with arthritis. An eight second ride in the rodeo can bust up a person so bad they are more metal than bone. A bad cut on a tree can cause it to fall on a person, smashing their ribs and spine to splinters.

Disability in Old Norse Literature, Life and Religion

• Our ancestors knew that a fall, a raid, an illness could end their ability to do heavy work. As verse 71 of the Havamal tells us, disability didn’t end their value to the community.
• Our Gods are portrayed as disabled. Odin is missing an eye, a sacrifice for wisdom, and Tyr is missing a hand, a sacrifice for honor. Hod is born blind and that blindness is what touches off the death of Baldr…
• Famous characters from Norse Pagan history and literature were disabled. Ivar the Boneless, Njall from Njall’s Saga and Egil from Egil’s Saga once he got old. (I’m sure there are more and I would love for you to tell me about them!)

But most importantly, this practice was created by people who understood that they were a cat’s whisker away from being disabled themselves. Our people knew that everyone could contribute to the community to make it stronger. That community building included people with disabilities.

Disability in Heathenry Today

Today, that community building at the Troth includes people with disabilities and should always include people with disabilities. Not as inspiration porn, not as a second class citizen, but as beloved and valued members.

Our stories are due for a critical disability studies analysis.(If there is one, tell me, I would love to read it!)  I think we would find an acceptance of disability and accommodation that belies the Folkish worship of toxic masculinity’s ideals of ‘manliness’, that pop culture dish we choke down, that twisted ideal so many of us try to emulate, steeped in ableism with a sauce of misogyny.

Those washboard abs and slogans of constant battle, violence and an unhealthy obsession with ‘fitness’  are directly opposed to the lives of our ancestors. They are also directly opposed to the majority of us now, with new disabilities brought on by new ways to wear on our bodies.

Let us remember: Accessibility is a minimum requirement for Heathen hospitality.

Designing accessible spaces and accessible events creates no difficulty for people who aren’t disabled. But for those with disabilities it is the key that gets them in the door. Without it, they stand outside, like Odin waiting for the door to open. If we say that doesn’t matter, then we deny that they have any wisdom to share with us or any gifts that they can bring to our communities. This is simply not true. People with disabilities are a vital part of our Heathen community; they are our loved ones, our neighbors and our friends.

Designing spaces and events to include people with disabilities, including people with disabilities in the design process from the very beginning, is a vital part of how we demonstrate compassion, hospitality and inclusivity.