Heathenry

Heathenry, a modern Pagan, or Neo-Pagan, religion. Its followers, Heathens, are inspired by the pre-Christian religions of Europe’s linguistically Germanic societies—most commonly those that spoke Old Norse. Heathens have assembled their new religion from a range of historical and archaeological sources, and many perceive Heathenry as either a revival or a continuation of the extinct religions that inspire them. Internationally, the number of Heathens is probably in the low tens of thousands, centred in Europe and North America.

The term Heathenry derives from the English word heathen, a synonym for pagan which has historically been used, usually in a derogatory way, to designate non-Christians. Variants of the term heathen have been widely used in Germanic languages, having first appeared as the Gothic term haiþno in the 4th-century writings of the Christian bishop Ulfilas. In the modern Pagan context, embracing the term heathen is an act of reappropriation. While Heathenry is the most common name for the religion, some practitioners instead call their practice Ásatrú, Forn Sed, Odinism, Wodenism, or the Northern Tradition.

Origins and history

During the Iron Age and early Middle Ages, Germanic languages spanned much of northern Europe. Communities speaking these languages practiced various polytheistic traditions, but all converted to Christianity over the course of the medieval period. In the 19th century, scholars influenced by Romantic cultural nationalisms typically believed that the peoples speaking Germanic languages had shared an underlying racial and cultural identity, along with an accompanying religious pantheon. Although this perspective has been criticized by subsequent scholarship, this perception of Germanic unity influenced Heathenry’s formation.

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Having been preserved in medieval Old Norse texts, largely of Icelandic origin, Old Norse mythology became increasingly popular in art during the 18th century before being further popularized by Richard Wagner’s 19th-century operas. In the 1900s and 1910s this cultural appreciation fed into the formation of small völkisch groups, primarily in Germany and Austria, that claimed to be reviving the pre-Christian religion of a Germanic or Nordic race. Although sharing key elements of their worldview with Nazism, their influence over Adolf Hitler’s government was largely negligible.

Heathenry gained renewed impetus in the 1970s, spurred on largely by the spread of other modern Pagan religions like Wicca and the growing appetite for spiritualities that offered an alternative to Christianity. Established German groups saw a revival in interest, while new groups emerged in the United States, Britain, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Like their early 20th-century forebears, many of these groups presented Heathenry as a racial religion, suited only for the biological descendants of ancient Germanic-speaking peoples, a viewpoint that came to be called “folkish.”

The 1990s and 2000s saw further change in the Heathen scene. The rise of the Internet helped spread the religion, causing growth in the number of solitary practitioners unconnected to existing groups. Many Heathens increasingly emphasized greater fidelity to the historical and archaeological evidence for pre-Christian religion than had been characteristic of earlier Heathenry. Perhaps most importantly, growing numbers of Heathens disapproved of the racial ideas that had long dominated the movement; according to an international survey, by 2015 most Heathens had rejected folkish ideology. In countries like the United States and Britain, considerable tensions arose between folkish Heathens and those promoting a nonracial, “universalist” vision of their religion.

Beliefs and practices

There has never been a single authority in charge of Heathenry, which has resulted in much diversity in Heathen belief and practice. Many Heathens meet in groups, typically called “kindreds” in English, that are sometimes affiliated with national organizations. As in many other modern Pagan religions, it is also common to find Heathens operating solitarily.

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Like the adherents of the pre-Christian religions they wish to imitate, Heathens are usually polytheistic, believing in various gods and goddesses. Most Heathens regard these divinities as having an independent existence, but some practitioners perceive them only as symbolic figures. The most commonly worshiped deities among Heathens are those recorded in Old Norse sources, such as Odin, Thor, and Freyja, although other Heathens favour deities adopted from pre-Christian societies that spoke other Germanic languages, like Old English, Old Frisian, or Old High German. Many Heathens have also adopted other concepts from Old Norse sources—for instance, belief in lesser spirits of the natural world or the cosmic world tree Yggdrasill. Old Norse sources also inform attitudes to behaviour. These attitudes have been codified in a list called the Nine Noble Virtues, which many Heathens follow. Practitioners nevertheless differ widely on many social issues—especially regarding race, gender, and sexuality—espousing viewpoints often informed by their commitment to either the folkish or the universalist branch of the religion.

Heathens often identify themselves by using symbols borrowed from archaeological sources. Best known is Mjöllnir, the hammer of the god Thor, although runic letters and a set of three interlocking triangles called a valknut are also common.