#urglaawe
Aye I’m now an author/ editor on Amazon thanks to KDP! If you’re interested in Nordic stuff or HEMA (historical European martial arts), I’m publishing thoroughly edited editions of old grimoires and HEMA manuals!
If you’d like to support my work, purchasing from my Amazon page is a great way to do it, and if you’d be willing to support me by boosting this post, you’d have my eternal gratitude!
I’ll also do a giveaway soon of some copies of “Icelandic Wrestling” by Johannes Josefsson, and my folkloric compilation work “the Braucherei Grimoire”, so stay tuned for that and you might get a copy!!
Aye I’m now an author/ editor on Amazon thanks to KDP! If you’re interested in Nordic stuff or HEMA (historical European martial arts), I’m publishing thoroughly edited editions of old grimoires and HEMA manuals!
If you’d like to support my work, purchasing from my Amazon page is a great way to do it, and if you’d be willing to support me by boosting this post, you’d have my eternal gratitude!
I’ll also do a giveaway soon of some copies of “Icelandic Wrestling” by Johannes Josefsson, and my folkloric compilation work “the Braucherei Grimoire”, so stay tuned for that and you might get a copy!!
higurethestillwind requested further detail on branches of Heathenry. (Thanks to my good friends in the Heathen Scholars group for their assistance - particularly hedendom, @myriadhallauglokadis, den-frusna-eken, @thorraborinn, and Ryan Smith.
Keep in mind that these definitions are kind of fuzzy, so they are not going to get 100% agreement from the respective branches.
What falls under Asatru depends on what area you are in and who you are talking to. Many people use it as the default term for all of Norse-Germanic paganism, or do not know that there are terms for other branches. In some places, it represents generic Heathenry, while in other places it’s regarded as being a bit more new-age and occult-flavored than generic Heathenry (with some Asatru authors pulling ideas from Neo-Wicca and Ceremonial Magic while dressing them up as authentic Old Norse concepts). Additionally, Asatru tends to focus predominantly or exclusively on Icelandic source material. Many times the Aesir are given prime importance, and other Deities are given notice specifically because they joined the Aesir. There is a tendency I’ve noticed more towards a “warrior mindset” and a focus more on Gods and the community (and group politics) than there is on nature, the earth, local landvaettir and other vaettir, etc. (In the USA, at least. Asatru in Iceland itself seems to be very nature-focused.)
Vanatru is the branch of Heathenry that focuses more (though not necessarily exclusively) on the Gods who are members of the Vanir. Who is considered “part of the Vanir” gets debated quite a lot. Freyr, Freyja, and Njorðr are all considered Vanir without argument, and the list grows from there depending on who you are talking to. There’s a bit more of a focus on nature, the earth, seasons, and there can be more of a focus on fertility. Vanatru seems to pull heavily from Swedish sources (where Freyr was the “top god”) and some Anglo-Saxon sources, particularly regarding the alfar (who, given that they are ruled by and closely tied to Freyr, are featured heavily in Vanatru). For some people, Vanatru will look like “Vanir-flavored Asatru”, while for other people it might look like Northern Tradition Paganism or be closer to general Neo-Paganism. (If I was going to practice Vanatru, mine would basically be Swedish-focused Forn Sed/folketro.)
Continental Germanic (can include Gothic, Alemanni, Saxons, Cherusci, Cimbri, Heruli, Ingvaeones, Irminones, Istvaeones, and others. Information about many tribes is so sparse that more often you see a lot of combining what is known about different tribes into a sort of Pan-Tribal-Everything-That-Existed-In-The-Bounds-Of-Modern-Germany, or concentration on one of the more famous tribes that have more surviving information about them. Note that some tribes are both Continental and Germanic, but are broken out into separate groups further on in this list.) You’ll end up having to learn German for this, as much of the good information on the Germanic tribes is not available in English. Resource post here.
Frisian - aka Dutch Heathenry. This focuses on Frisian Deities, folklore and folk tradition, with a particular focus on the Netherlands. Wodan and the Wild Hunt, the veneration of oak trees for Donar. There is some overlap/importation of Deities from Celtic tribes to the south. These twolinks are to Wikipedia but give you a quick feel for some of this. I also have a list of reading resources here. You’ll have to learn Dutch for this, because most of the information is not available in English.
Frankish - French Heathenry, focusing on the Franks obviously, and the Merovingian kings. Again, there are some similarities with the related Germanic tribes, but given where France is, there was cultural exchange with local Celtic peoples (particular the Gauls). The upper classes converted to Christianity fairly early on, while old beliefs and practices persisted in the lower classes for quite some time and ended up having to have laws put in place to try to suppress them and expedite conversion. Resources post is here. You’ll have to learn French for this. Also be prepared to be digging around in a lot of Christian-oriented texts, ecclesiastical histories, etc, to find snippets about older folk beliefs and practices.
General Heathenry - doesn’t fit into any particular branch. May research many different areas but not concentrate exclusively on one particular region.
Anglo-Saxon (Fyrnsidu and Theodish) - obviously, concentrates on Anglo-Saxon practices and beliefs. Anglo-Saxon Heathenry is quite distinct, culturally, due to the history of the area and the cultural exchange. Several variants of this branch exist, including Fyrnsidu (which seems to be the AS version of Forn Sed, concentrating on folklore and folk traditions) and Theodism, which is very very different. Differences in Theodism are a highly hierarchical structure including thralldom (which may have labor duties and not simply signify “learner/seeker/probationary member”), rigid adherence to thew (local customs) to dictate ethics and proper practice and ritual observance, sacral kingship, and a focus on community (you cannot be solitary). Theodism, in my experience, has a very hierarchical and legalistic, rigid feel to it in comparison with… pretty much every other branch of Heathenry, as it tries to reconstruct pre-Christian social order as well as religion. I believe it was founded by Garman Lord as a reaction to traditional Gardnerian Wicca. Honestly, I would contact hangedwoman for better information about Anglo-Saxon Heathenry, as someone who practices ASH will be better informed than someone who does not. This post has a resource list for Anglo-Saxon Heathenry.
Folketro/Forn Sed - many variants throughout Scandinavia, each according to their geographical region (and the name changes slightly accordingly). This is more focused on folk belief and practices in the respective country. There is more inclusion of later folklore and traditions, less inclusion of New Age beliefs and practices, and less of a focus on the Iron Age (or pre-Iron Age). You are also more likely to find people practicing folk magic than ceremonial magic that’s been dressed up in Norse clothing and terminology - so, more traditional trolldom, klogefolk techniques and so on. Here too, you’re going to have to pick which country you want to focus on and start learning the language because otherwise most of the materials will be inaccessible to you. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden all have official groups (some of which you cannot join unless you live in that country - Norway’s is that way due to the legal system in Norway regarding religious groups). I am uncertain whether there are formal groups in the Faroes and Orkneys. There may be a more traditional group in Iceland but Iceland is mostly dominated by the Asatruarfelagid.
Urglaawe - Pennsylvania Dutch Heathenry. There is a concentration of the goddess Holle. Honestly, I would rather you read their introduction to their tradition rather than trying to summarize them, since I have very limited knowledge of this branch. Resources on this post. You will need to build contacts with the existing Urglaawe group in Pennsylvania, and likely will also have to learn Deitch. A lot of this tradition is still oral.
Alps - I don’t have much information about this branch. The only group I’ve seen that is accessible online is Firner Situ. Alps Heathenry is more of a blend considering that the area was a blend of Germanic, Celtic, and Roman peoples. There was a lot of cultural diffusion. This was possibly the entry point area for Germanic peoples on the continent using Hercule’s Club amulets to represent Donar, the use of bracteates, the presentation of and worship of the Matrones, and other things that suggest Roman influence or cultural exchange.
Visigothic - like it suggests, a concentration on the Visigoths. This is a branch that is particularly popular in Latin America. I unfortunately don’t have ready-made resources for this, as I haven’t ever interacted with the Visigothic branch before. I have been told Valmir Vala and Esteban Sevilla from Kindred Irminsul in Costa Rica are both good people to contact for more information. You’ll need to know Spanish for this branch.
Rokkatru (sometimes) - there are actually a couple of variations of this, all going under the same name. Abby Helasdottir’s original version of Rokkatru is really not very Heathen at all. Some people use the term Rokkatru when they fit more into Northern Tradition Paganism (see below). Others are, more or less, for all intents and purposes the same as Asatru or General Heathenry, except with a focus on Deities that have been termed “Rokkr” and the Jotnar. This seems to be much more of a thing in the USA and UK, as Scandinavian Heathens don’t have such a taboo on dealing with Jotnar.
Not Heathen:
Northern Tradition Paganism - founded by Raven Kaldera, this tradition explicitly and repetitively states that it is not Heathen. There’s a lot more utilization of UPG (unverified personal gnosis. If you are familiar with fandom, the idea of headcanon will be very useful to understand this term) and acceptance/proliferation of ideas if a group of people finds that enough people agree on a UPG concept (so, enough people have the same headcanons that it becomes accepted as sort-of-canon by the group). This is much more like Norse General Neo-Paganism. There is not as much concern over history. Innovations and borrowing from other places are readily accepted, and sometimes there are cultural appropriation problems.
Norse Wicca - just like it sounds. (Sometimes it is Seax Wicca.) This is a branch of Wicca (or sometimes of Neo-Wicca) that tends to have Freyr as the Lord and Freyja as the Lady.
Waincraft, which split from Vanatru, it’s more pan-European than strictly staying within Norse/Germanic boundaries. (thanks to answersfromvanaheim for pointing out that I missed this one)
Thursatru - this is a very, very tiny sect. This is a sort of Neo-Gnostic Left Hand Path 2 Spooky 4 U branch that seems to dislike and rail against every other branch of Heathenry. They don’t like the Aesir or the Vanir. They think Rokkatruar are fluffy and wrong. There’s less of an idea that “many jotnar have been painted as enemies but are not actually that bad or evil” and more of a “yeaaaaah, chaotic darkness, no rules, humanity is worthless and the human body is a prison, become your own God, bring on the Ragnarok, I worship spooky evil and isn’t that awesome and edgy?” They have their own Facebook page. Gullveigarbok by Vexior seems to be the main text outlining their ideas. Rokkatruar seem to get mistaken for Thursatru (which is also occasionally called Jotnatru.)
A note about Lokeans: Lokeans are not a separate sect, per se. There’s a weird idea floating around that Lokeans are all monotheistic or henotheistic and only and exclusively worship Loki. A Lokean can belong to any Heathen branch, or even a non-Heathen faith, as the only thing the term signifies is that Loki is included in that person’s praxis and doxa. (Their personal practice and beliefs.) It is not a separate religion.
