iasc herald june 09 (1)

8/2/2019 IASC Herald June 09 (1)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/iasc-herald-june-09-1 1/24

International Asatru-Summer camp 2009

I A S C H E R A L DSaturday July 25th - Saturday August 1st 2009

Imagine then what could happen

when asatruars rom across theworld come together and meet.Imagine all those strengths com-ing together to make a whole.

Because in Denmark 2009 this iswhat will happen. And we inviteyou to be part o it !

Will you be with us?

The rst International Asatru

Summer Camp (IASC) will take

place July 25

th

- August 1

st

2009in one o the loveliest areas o Denmark.

Bogensholmlejren,

Jutland, Denmark

This will be a week during whichasatruar rom all over the worldcan get together and enjoyeach others company, leav-ing not only unorgettablememories, but also creatingeverlasting riendships. It willprovide a unique opportunity

to meet other asatruar in sur-roundings o beauty, joy andlearning.

The combination o rec-reational, educational andsocial activities make this

camp an exciting opportunity orboth individuals and amilies withchildren. Amongst the wide range

o activities we will be oering orboth children and adults there willbe games, blots, bonres, a va-riety o arts and crats, as well aslectures and workshops on asatru,runes and seidr.

This rst international summercamp is hosted by an independ-ant workgroup rom a wide rangeo the Danish Asatru environmentin cooperation with the ollowingasatru groups:• Eldaring-Germany• VereinfürGermanisches Heidentum-Germany• HetRad-TheNetherlands• DeNegenWerelden -TheNetherlands

• Åsatrufellesskapet-Norway• GotlandFornSed-Spain• SverigesAsatrusamfund -Sweden• TheKithofYggdrasil-UK

Runes spread out on a cloth

Bogen sholm Camp. Phot o: Arild Hauge.

Do n’t waste

pa pe r!

P lease pr in t

on bo t h s ides

i you c hoose

to pr in t

t he maga z ine.

T ha nk yo u!

Photo: Ar ild Hauge .



Content Programme and Pratical infoWe proudly present the programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Preliminary programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Mols - not only the center but also the top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5A list o nearby accomodations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Eco-theology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Exploringseidr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7WhataretheEddas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

How to create a heathen burial place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Presentations of the organising groupsThe danish workgroup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9SverigesAsatrosamfund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10AlittlehistoryofpaganismintheUK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11DeNegenWerelden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12HetRad:Anintroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13ÅsatrufellesskapetBifrost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14WellcometotheEldaring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15VereinfürGermanisherHeidentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15GotlandFornSed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Code o conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Articles from the different countries about Meeting Landwights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17RunesandLandwights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18OeringstotheNorns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20OnGodandGods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21OnCeltsandVikings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Map o Bogensholm camp and surrounding areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Separate signs with strength and meaning. Yet togetherthey are the Futhark - strong, powerful and whole. Likethese runes asatruars are spread across the world; likethese runes each asatruar has his own strength.



While this is being written theprogramme is still in the makings.What we present here is what

we have so ar. There might verywell be changes. We might put insome more, something may showup so that we will have to skip another thing. One never knows orsure with these things.

But the way it looks in the begin-ning o June is like this:

SATURDAY JULY 25th

The big day o arrival.All that is happening this day ispeople arriving rom 5 pm and

on, and the camp being created.There will be special places orparking and others or the tents.People sleeping indoor will begiven their bed.We will serve potato soup oreveryone, this night we needsomething that can be kept warmand served all night as people arearriving.The oce table will be open allevening so thatyou can regis-

ter your arriv-al and getyour task.We havea

lot o people working on creatingthis camp, but we don’t have anythralls. This means that we will

all have to participate in the di-erent tasks o making this campa nice and enjoyable place to be.Everyone will be given specictasks to perorm while participat-ing. And yes, it is all something todo with cleaning.Sonowthatyouarehere,justen -

joy yoursel and get acquaintedwith olks around you.

SUNDAY JULY 26th

Still creating the camp. At onethirty pm the camp will ocially

be opened, this will be ollowedby an opening blót. We are look-ing at suitable sights in the areaor this blót to be held at, theproblem mostly being thereare so many beautiul spots tochoose rom. Ater the blót thereis a coee break and then it’s back to building the camp. In the eve-nings we expect spontaneous

Partytime!

Games, theatre, music, dancing,lms, storytelling, whatever you

choose!

MONDAY JULY 27th

The day when the actual pro-gramme starts.Atnineo’clockHetRadwillleadus all in common powersinging.NowanyonewhohaseverbeentoagatheringwhereHetRadwaspresent knows what this means!ThevoiceofFriggaisfamous.Weare into a powerul start o theweek. We are keeping the morn-

ing ree or a lecture we are hop-ingtoget.Unfortunatelywestilldon’t have a nal agreement, buti we succeed it is well worth at-tending.Keepyoureyesopenforprogramme updates.Ater lunch there are severalthings.FirstofallMathiasNordvig,MA-student in “norrønt” at the uni-versity o Aarhus, will be talkingabouttheEddasandwhatwecanlearnfromthem.Youmightgetalittle hint o the topic by reading

his article elsewhere in this maga-zine.At the same time Henrik Hall-gren, chairman of the SverigesAsatrosamund, will be talkingabout Asatru and ecology. Asubject he knows well. Henrik isan archaeologist and storyteller,living in a small cottage in themiddle o the midswedish or-est. A man who actually walkshis own talk. Henrik also held aspeech about the topic at the

2nd

International Conerence andGathering of Elders -“Spiritual-ityBeyondReligions2006”--5th to 10th February 2006 atJaipur,

India. Check out the articleabout Henrik, Asatru and

ecology in this magasine.And or the childrenEldaringen has put on a

workshop in sel-deence.Curious? Well come and

check it out!And who knows maybe we willsucceed in bringing on some-

thing or the more practical peo-ple here, perhaps something todo, instead o just listening to.That is another joker in our game,something we are working on.Let’s see.Evening.Well:Partytime!Games,

theatre, music, dancing, lms, sto-rytelling, whatever you choose!

TUESDAY JULY 28th

We have more or less dedicated toseidr, the old norse way o tellingthefuture.Somesaythisistheoldnorse shamanic way, some claimit is not. This day two elders, twowomen o knowledge and expe-rience, will give us their view o this. Annette Høst rom Denmark andSylviaHildfromSwedenhaveboth been working with seidr orover twenty years. Please see An-

nettes own presentation o theday in this magazine.But we do have other things onthe programme as well. Haimoand Ingmar from the VfGH willbe holding a blót practice introand workshop in the aternoon.Something a lot of people havebeen asking or, since this is oneo the most important corner-stones in our aith, the practice o the blót.AndGotlandFornSedfromSpainwill be having tales and theatre

or children.Evening.Well:Partytime!Games,theatre, music, dancing, lms, sto-rytelling, whatever you choose!

WEDNESDAY JULY 29th

A more diverse programme isplanned for this day. Starting inthemorningwithPetertheSmithfromtheEldaringhavingasmithworkshop or grown-ups only.Any children eeling let out, don’tworry. The Danish smith Bent

Dahlin has promised to come andlead the smith’s children work-shop he normally gives at schoolsin the area. We still don’t knowwhen he will come during theweek, but he’ll be here.Coming back to the grown-upsthinking o participating, you’rein or quite an experience here.Don’t miss it.At the same time Sveriges Asat-rosamund will be talking aboutAsatru and racism. It is still notclear who will be talking, but the

ones possible are all well worthlistening to. Again look out orprogramme updates.After lunch it is time for FriggafromHetRadtotalkaboutances -tor constellations. A topic wherepeople oten have dierent opin-

We proudly present – The programme!One of the things that have been clear to us all alongis the importance of a solid fun and interesting pro-

gramme, a programme with relevant topics.There should be things to learn and get wiser from,thing to have fun with and enjoy, things to participatein, something for the mind, something for the hand andsomething for the feelings – a various range of topicsso there would be something for everyone, and whilesomeone will enjoy a certain topic others would ratherskip it. This, so there will be free time for everyone to just do nothing.

Photo: www.sxc.hu



ions.Somesayitisanimportantpart o our aith, others claim it

has no place in todays modernasatru.Hear Friggas view of thisand the way she works with it.Earlyintheafternoon,theEldar -ing will be baking salt-dough-runes with the children and laterGotlandFornSedwillbepaintingand drawing with the grown-ups.Evening.Well:Partytime!Games,theatre, music, dancing, lms, sto-rytelling, whatever you choose!

THURSDAY JULY 30th

GotlandFornSedwillbespend-

ing time with the children thismorning. From morning untilearly aternoon it is all about tra-ditional games or children.The adults will be busy withdeath in the morning. SolvejVikkelsø will be talking aboutcreating a heathen burielground.SolvejisamemberofDanishFornSiðrandtheonewhohasallthephotos, plans, architect drawingsand others things in digital ormoftheburialplaceofFornSiðrin

Odense-SørenFiskerandSolvej

Vikkelsøaretheoneswhodidallthe planning and work up to and

including the actual making o the stone-ship (skibssætning). Inotherwords,Solvejknowsexact-ly what she is talking about whenshetellsyouwhatittookforFornSiðr to have their own heathenburial ground.Ater lunch we’re in or some-thing completely dierent. Ar-thistorian Teresa Østergaard romÅrhusBlotlaugwillbetellingyouabout medieval and precristianart. A topic she wrote her nish-ing paper about, and not very

oten looked into. A lecture notto be missed i you are in any wayinto history and/or art.At the same time Haimo Gre-benstein from VfGH will be talk -ing about Germanic heathenryin modern times. As it is statedon the website of VfGH “Tradi-tional Germanic spiritual expe-rience, means and techniques.Necessarychangesonlyinlinewiththe spirit o the tradition.” We are alllooking orward to this lecture.

Ater a day with heavy topics likethis something else is called or.intheafternoonHetRadwillbehaving a workshop in powersing-ing. Time to make sounds insteado just listening; time to expressyoursel in tune with the others.Ater the coee break it’s againpainting and drawings or adultswithGotlandFornSed.Evening.Well:Partytime!Games,theatre, music, dancing, lms, sto-rytelling, whatever you choose!

FRIDAY JULY 31st

The last day beore the big goodbyedayonSaturday.In the morning it’s painting andtales mostly or children and oth-er childish people with GotlandFornSed.

Ater lunch it’s games and stusor all ages. Amongst otherswe are working on creating a“horse”raise,ledbyHetRad,andwe haven’t given up yet.Ater the coee break we’ll havethe nal ending blót, led bygydjes and godis rom the dier-ent organisations. Final supperand a big smashing party to end

it all with.Evening.Well:Partytime!!

SATURDAY JULY 1st

Is or departures – don’t orgetto exchange acebook proles,email addresses and other impor-tant contact inormation.There will be people with thingsto sell, several merchants haveasked or a good spot or theirtent.And we will be having one o the

best pierces in Sweden at thespot. Poul Chin rom Malmö isboth asatru and very skilled withthe needle and scalpel. He start-ed out at “Barbarellas” piercingstudio in Malmö back in the nine-ties, then moved on to “Copenha-gen body extreme” and now hashis own studio, “Anatomorph”,in Malmö. He will be brining hisbasic tools or piercing and some

jewellery in birch wood. And oth-erwise just hang around and talk to people, any wishes or larger

stu, you can always make a laterappointment. For further infor-mation just google the namesmentioned here.

Things we are not yet sure o

We are hoping to have HenningKuretoleadalecture/workshopon source texts. The problem isthat so many others want him to.Henning is busy with completing

his book which will be publishedbyGyldendal,andhealsoneedsto prepare or the lecture he willbegivingattheSagaConventinUppsalatheweekafterthesum -mer camp. He won’t know untilthe last moment i he will be ableto come.WhoisHeningKure?Theauthorof the Valhalla comics (Peter

Madsen is the drawer). Anyonereading the membersmagasineofFornSiðr;Vølse,willknowhimas the author o several articlesabout what’s really in the sourcesand what is not. Gro Steinslandand Preben Meulengracht Sø-rensen gives him a special thanksin the oreword o their book ”Vølvens spådom”, “not only forhaving translated the chaptersof Gro Steinsland to Danish butalso or his good advice and sug-

gestions and his overall generoushelp in making the manuscriptready or print.”Maybe we should have a smallblót to make the powers ease hisburdens and make it possible orhim to come.There might be morning medita-tions with one o the members o Sveriges Asatrosamfund as well.This is also in the makings.Oh yes, there was this idea abouta belly dancer too … But we can’treally nd the asatru angle o it, so

… we dropped it.And then there are all the greatideas we have that we are work-ing on to come true. It will not bea boring week, we can tell youthat. And don’t wait or the au-tumn paper to read about it, joinus on the last week o July andparticipate in it. Be one o thoseable to tell the story or yoursel.

See the preliminary

programme on the

next page


Cooking on bonre. Photo: www.sxc.hu

Fri ends . Photo: www.sxc.hu



Preliminary programme

We hope you all have a great week!

Saturday July 25th

From17.00 Arrival-Therewillbeguidesonthecampand in the house

From18.30 Soupwillbeservedforthoseinneedofnourishment

Sunday July 26th

7.30 - 9.00 Breakast9.30 - 10.00 The oce is open

12.00 - 13.00 Lunch 13.30-14.30 OcialopeningbyTheDanishWorkgroup,DK

14.30-15.45 OpeningblótbyHetRad,NLandothers15.45 - 16.30 Coee break 18.30-20.00 Supper From20.30 Games,theatre,music,dancingandlms

Monday July 27th

7.30 - 9.00 Breakast 9.00-10.30 CommonPowersongbyHetRad,NL

9.30 - 10.00 The oce is open12.00 - 13.00 Lunch

13.30-16.00 Self-defenceclassforchildrenbyEldaring,DE 13.30-17.00 TheEddabyMathiasNordvig, TheDanishWorkgroup,DK(Incl. coee break)

13.30-17.00 EcologyandasatrubyHenrikHallgren, SverigesAsatrosamfund,SE(Incl. coee break)

15.00 - 15.45 Coee break 18.30-20.00 Supper From20.30 Games,theatre,music,dancingandlms

Tuesday July 28th


10.00-11.30 SeidrbyAnnetteHøst,DKandSylviaHild,SE12.00 - 13.00 Lunch

13.30-15.00 TalesandtheatrebyGotlandFornSed,E 13.30-17.00 SeidrworkshopbyAnnetteHøst,DK andSylviaHild,SE(Incl. coee break)

13.30 - 17.00 Blót practise - intro and workshop by Haimo andIngmar,VfGH,DE(Incl. coee break)

15.00 - 15.45 Coee break 18.30-20.00 Supper From20.30 Games,theatre,music,dancingandlms

Wednsday July 29th


10.00-11.30 Racismeandasatru bySverigesAsatrosamfund,SE 10.00-11.30 Smithworkshop byPetertheSmith,Eldaring,DE12.00 - 13.00 Lunch

13.30-15.00 Bakingsalt-doughbyEldaring,DE 13.30-17.00 AncestorconstellationsbyFrigga,HetRad,NL

(Incl. coee break)

15.00 - 15.45 Coee break 15.45-17.30 PaintinganddrawingbyGotlandFornSed,E18.30-20.00 Supper From20.30 Games,theatre,music,dancingandlms

Thursday July 30th


10.00-11.30 CreatingaBurialplacebySolvejVikkelsø,DK 10.00-11.30 SmithWorkshopbyEldaring,DE 10.00-13.00 TraditionalGamesforChildren byGotlandFornSed,E12.00 - 13.00 Lunch13.30 - 15.00 Medieval Art (Brakteater)

byTeresaØstergaard,DK 13.30-15.00 GermanHethenryinModernTimes byHaimoGrebenstein,VfGH,DE

15.00 - 15.45 Coee break 15.45-17.00 PowersongWorkshopbyHetRad,NL 15.45-17.00 PaintingandDrawingbyGotlandFornSed,E18.30-20.00 Supper From20.30 Games,theatre,music,dancingandlms

Friday July 31st


10.00-12.00 PaintingandtalesbyGotlandFornSed,E12.00 - 13.00 Lunch 13.00-15.00 TraditionalGamesbyGotlandFornSed,E

15.00 - 15.45 Coee break 15.45-17.30 Horseraceongo-cartsbyHetRad,NL

17.30 - 18.30 Blót by various18.30-20.00 Supper From20.30 BigFarwellParty!

Saturday July 1st

From7.30 Brunch9.00 - 15.00 Packing and cleaning up.



The peaceul looking landscapeo Mols has a dramatic past, de-

signed as it was by the climate,and constructed by the latest ice-age glaciers that roamed aboutlike gigantic bulldozers or some10.000 years.In advancing they pushed upgiga-tons o sand, clay, graveland stones and, withdrawing,they dumped whatever they hadpicked up, letting the meltwateradd the nal touch to the surace.At last they dwindled into rudi-mentaryice-lumpsinfarNorway,

and let the mess to be invaded. *Waiting in the wings, we invad-ed as soon as the pioneers - theluxurious variety o animals - hadsettled in, ready to be hunted. Be-cause o the richness in prey, weeventually named the land Djurs-land - land o deer/animals - andto this day it is a hunter’s paradise.

Djursland as a whole bears themarks o our whereabouts sincethe stone-age, and so does thepeninsula of Mols. You nd the

garbage o the rst human set-tlers - heaps o cockle- mussle-and oystershells and the skeletono an occasional whale or seal - allover the place close to the coast-line of that time. You nd thefint-smith´s work and waste eve-

rywhere,andtracesoftheVikingscomings and goings are evident.

Climb the 137m o Agri Baunehøj(fuckEverest!)thehighestoftheMols Mountains - on which ourancestors, when dubious vesselswere spotted, lit the beacon as awarning to the city o Aros, snuglyplaced inside the bay - and you´lldiscover that you actually dostand on the top o the world. It´sall just a matter o context!From here you have the grandview o the world o the Molboeso all times.

On the ar side o the westernbay the skyline o Aarhus and thewood-clad coast o Jylland ormthe western boundary.To the south you have the south-ern part of Kattegat - the mainsea o this island-realm - wherethe island Samsoe can be ob-served, and on a clear day evenSjælland is detectable on thehorizon. The smaller peninsula,Helgenæs, is linked to Mols onlyby a narrow dam-like strip o land,andheretheVikingstowedtheir

ships rom one bay to the other toambush or waylay those dubiousvessels they were warned about.TotheeastisTheCoveofEbel-tot with the 700 year old townon the ar side. The city-centre ismonstrously cute, with its hal-

timbered, hollyhock decorated

dolls-houses, and its narrow cob-blestone-paved streets.To the north is the main DjurslandwiththeruinofTheCastleofKa-loe, rom c. 1300, at the bottom o the cove, and all around the bar-rows o our bronze-age-ances-tors in the landscape. The mostmonumental are Tre Høje (ThreeMounds) south o Agri, but thereare 22 barrows on Mols alone andOdin knows how many in all o Djursland.

The Mountains o Mols are at theheart o a recently proclaimednational nature-park, and withgood cause. Nature is rich, var-ied and spectacular in the wholearea, but is as threatened as Den-mark in general, by greedy arm-ers´ monocultural escapades.Sheep,goats,andaspecialbreedo robust cattle have now beenemployed to maintain the vastgrass-land with its decorativeblotches o heather, juniper and

modest, but colourul fowers,with horses too participating inthe gnawing in some areas.The woods are let to take care o themselves, unless a storm turnsover a tree and sets a trap or therolicking hiker. Then the lumber-

jack comes along with his chain-saw, and cuts the tree down toharmlessness.Wetlands have been liberatedrom the above mentioned arm-ers, who stubbornly persisted in

trying to cultivate them, got stuck in the mud every spring and au-tumn, and made rogs and am-

phibians homeless.And streams and rivers, that you-know-who straightened out torationalize things, have now beenallowed to twist and curl againand take their sel-appointedcourses.

We love that, and so do the ani-mals. You´ll need a great dealo bad luck not to spot at leasta deer or two, when you take astroll in the nature-park, but most

likely you´ll see a lot more. Wecan´t oer mammoth, aurochs,wol or bear these days, but therisk o seeing hawks, alcons, buz-zards, kites and even eagles ishigh, and i you are able to keepquiet or a while, and pretend tobe an old mossy stump, the big-gest wild animal in Denmark, thestag or red deer may pass youby, or the ox may choose to playwith its cubs in the vicinity, whilethe red squirrel busies itsel with

the ruits o the trees, and theeld vole devours what it spills.In any case a walk in the ‘wild’ isalways an experience and The

frst International Asatru Sum-

mer camp is situated right on theedge o it with the camp-groundsstretching down to the beach.It doesn´t get much better thanthat, and we, the Danish IASC-workgroup are looking orwardto welcoming you to the camp.

*www.akira.ruc.dk shows the movements of

the ice in a quite informative, animation.

Mols - not only the centre of the world but also the top By Else-Juli e Nordvig

- Pretentious you might say, but if you are a ’molbo’,

that´s how it is. And, born in Ebeltoft the ’capital’ of Mols, I must insist.

Mols bje rge - Mols mountains. Photo: Aril d Hauge.

Mols bje rge - Mols mountains. Photo: Arild

Hauge .

Tre høje - Three Mounds. Photo: Arild Hauge.



There are precious ew who stilltalk about the sulphate emissionsrom cars or actories these days.However, the environmentalmovement have an ally in anoth-

er growing movement: Heathens(and indeed other pagans) whoreveretheEarthassacredgener-ally tend to be more environmen-tally aware than others.

Holy land

Henrik Hallgren is the chairmanoftheboardoftheSwedishAsa -tru Association, and a member o theSwedishGreenParty.Tohim,being a heathen and being envi-ronmentally aware goes hand inhand, and has done rom the very

beginning.- My involvement in and commit-ment to both the heathen andthe environmental movementsgrew along side, he explains.

His interest in the old religiongrew through experiences o theholiness o nature and the land-scape. Being out in nature gavehim a strong eeling o seeinghistory in the landscape, and thatthe landscape refected the gods

and entities there.- It inspired me to discover theholy landscape, he says. I stud-ied anthropology and read aboutaboriginal peoples around theworld, and their relationship withthe landscape around them - andI realised that the place namesaround med showed me our holylandscape:Torsberg,Friggasåker,Närlunda.

For Mother Earth

It wasn’t a big leap to make rom

seeing the holiness o the landaroundhimtoviewingtheEarthhersel and nature as holy. Thiso course uelled his interest inenvironmental issues, and they inturn only intensied his passionor the heathen religion.

- To me heathen religion andpolitics can’t be kept separate, hesays. I don’t mean that you haveto belong to a particular party tobe heathen, but being a heathen

eects how you look at and relateto the world and thereore yourpolitical views.

He believes that our religion hasthe power to eect the environ-mental movement in a positiveway. As a religion that does notdisregard science, heathenry canadd poetry and soul to pure actand statistics. Seeing the worldaround us as our holy MotherGoddessgivesusareasontoghtor her, he points out.

- We have the language or it, hesays. We allready talk o the WorldTree and the interconnectednessand interdependence o all thingsinthewebofUrd.

Three theses o Eco-Theology

All heathens know o and ac-knowledge the connection be-tween our gods and the naturalworld. The gods and entities areo and in the world, they live inthe woods, hills, mountains and

lakes around us. We know this,but what does that mean to us?Where do we go rom there?- We must acknowledge that sucha view o the world has conse-quences, says Henrik. When roadsare build across land that hasbeen considered holy or thou-sands o years; when orests areclear cut and destroyed we musttake action.

To take political action to preventthe destruction o the natural

world is, to Henrik, part o the es-sence o what it is to be heathen.At the core o this eco-spiritualityare three ideas that to him de-nes the heathen worldview andmakes it in truth an ecological re-ligion:

Eco-theologyReligion in the age of global warming By Markus Skogsberg

Over the last forty-odd years the consequences of thehighly industrialised western lifestyle has been madeabundantly clear over and over again without everreally staying in the public consciousness. Mercury,DDT, acid rain and ozone depletion have their modernequivalent in global warming, and CO2 is on the lips of everyone - but for how long?

Blushøj Camping

– is gentle action, taking into ac-count the original landscape.Most o the space is not organ-ized or numbered. It providessome special opportunities, butrequires taking into account siteuse and the other campers beore

you turn up.We have 4 cabins o 20 m² each(Cat. 5) with 6 beds. Huts aredivided into 2 bedrooms, lotwith 2 beds and kitchen / livingroom. In the kitchen there is hot

/ cold water, oven / stove, ridge / reezer and equipment or 6persons.Blushøj CampingElsegårdevej53·8400EbeltoftTel. +45 86 34 12 38Fax:+4586341238www.blushojcamping.dk

Blushøjgård FeriecenterJust150metersfromtheKattegatand in the midst o the unique na-ture of Djursland is BlushøjgårdFeriecentersituated.12 apartments, o which 7 haveseaview. A good and comortablebase or a holiday with the wholefamily-only4.5kmfromEbeltoft.We look orward to receiving youatBlusHøjgårdFeriecenter.

Hosts: Niels, Dorte, Silke, LærkeandFredeBrandtBlusHøjgårdElsegårdevej58·8400EbeltoftTel. +45 86 34 10 13www.blushoj.dk

Danhostel - Ebeltot

Opening periods in 2009:01. 02. - 31. 10. (holiday)02. 01. - 30. 11. (groups)Beds: 72Roomswithoutbath:20

Host:KnudPederHansenSøndergade43·8400EbeltoftTel. +45 86 34 20 53Tel. +45 86 34 25 88Fax:[email protected] www.danhostel.dk/Ebeltoft

DCU-Camping Mols

This is one o the Danish Camp-ing Union’s most well-equippedplaces. The camp is surroundedby beaches and nature. There is aswimming-pool and water slide atthe open year-round camp that hasmade this area one o Denmark’s

most popular holiday areas. Thereare fast ferries directly toSealandand the motorways to most o Denmark not ar rom the site.ContactDCU-CampingMols:Anni&HaraldVenshøjDråbyvej13·8400EbeltoftTel. +45 86 34 16 [email protected] www.camping-mols.dk

Ebeltot Strand Camping

(earlierVibækCamping)10 luxury cabins in the category o full-year.12hutsnearEbeltoftVigwith a lovely child-riendly sandybeach. Cabins or rent through-outtheyear.6beds.Kitchenandbathroom / toilet. All necessarykitchen equipment available.Tel. +45 86 34 12 [email protected] www.ebeltotstrandcamping.dk

And or those wanting a little extra:Mols inn

In the middle o Denmark at theoot o Mols Mountains with di-rect access to a clean, wide andchild-riendly beach - 10 km romMols-Linien erries, 10 km romAarhus International Airport, 6kmfromEbeltoftcityand45kmrom Aarhus.All rooms are comortably ur-nished. The large beautiul bath-room, all equipped with urnitureby Philippe Starck. Comfortable

and well-appointed with the bestofWonderlandandGeorgJensen.The suites and rooms are all large,spacious, richly urnished andmost o them have our beds.PricesfromDKk1.295,-andup.www.molskroen.dk

List of acco-modations

in the area – just in case …



Introduktion talk

Norse Seidr. Annette will take uson a journey through the history,tradition and method o seidr.What do saga, myth and archea-logical sources tell? What can beadded o understanding romother shamanic traditions? Wetake a keen look at the crat o sei-

dr, the purposes, the power. Wewill also look at the hottest issuesaround seid, that is the questiono ethics, and the mystery essenso seidr known as ergi.New Seidr. During the last 20years, dierent groups have com-bined a study o the sources withpractical experiments with seidr.What have we learned? AnnetteandSylviarepresenttwoslightlydierent branches o the newseidr. We will each sum up theresults and present them or you.

What worked, what didn’t work?What does it take to do a good,clear, powerul seidr, and whichskills does it demand rom us?

The purpose o this morning isnot to have a discussion club. Weexplore seidr in order to nd outwhat its nature is, how it works,which possibilities it oers ushere and now.

Seidr workshop

This is the chance to experiencethe power o the seidr in action,including preparing, learning thesongs, and aterwards drawingunderstanding rom our experi-ences.

We will probably do a big com-munity seidr or two smaller seidr

rituals. It all depends on howmany we are, and which job ortopic is wanted and chosen orthe seidr work. Let us know i youhave wishes/ideas.

To participate in the aternoonworkshop, you must have donethe morning introduction. When

we are perorming seidr, there areonly participants, no spectators.In the evening we might continuewith more reestyle singing andlearning songs suitable or seidrand other rituals

Annette Høst, Denmark, hasstudied and practised seidr ormore than 20 years, rom a basiso shamanism, and has taughtshamanism including seidr oralmost as long, in several NorthEuropeancountries.See

www.shaman-center.dk

Sylvia Hild, Sweden, has prac-tised seidr or 25 years, with a sha-manic basis in the Swedish net-work Yggdrasil. Sheis rådsgydjaintheSwedishAsatrosamfund.Forthepurposeofthisday,we,SylviaandAnnetteseeourselvesin the function of Elders in theareaofthenewSeidr.Ourwishisto seize a great opportunity in avery special group o people, to

hand over what is learnt, to buildurther on. We both love and re-spect the seidr, and think it isworth an eort to do it well.“The steps we take today, shape the

tradition o tomorrow .”

What is seidr?For the purpose of introducingthe Seidr day on the summercamp, I will just say this.

SeidrisaveryoldNordictraditiono magic with strong shamanic

traits. In act so strong that wecouldalsocallitaNorseformofshamanism. In the norse mythi-cal poems and in the sagas, thepractitioners o seidr were calledseidr-women or seidr-men, or vol-va or just cunning olk, and they

were oten proessional.In the seidr you use a combina-tion o sta, singing/chantingand a “seat between the worlds”,a seidhjaell. This combination isunique or seidr, and is used in-stead o drumming as means orcalling power and spirits , and orthe soul to journey.

The seidr ritual, when done orand by a group can go like this:the seidr-worker sits on the seidr-

hjaell, surrounded by the sing-ers. The song carries the volva orseidr-man into the other world.There she/he meets with spirits,gods or orces and puts orwardthe request or help or knowl-edge. When the main task isdone, and the song ends, the per-ormer is still “between worlds”and in this state can give oracular /spådomsanswerstomembersinthe group.

Well, this is how it is told in saga

hints and –stories, most clearlyin Eric the Reds saga. Our writ-ten sources are all from late Vi-king age or early medieval times.They illuminate only the latestragment o the liespan o theseidrtradition.ForseidrismucholderthantheVikingage.Muchevidence suggest that seidr orits orerunners have root in theearlier ertilitycult o iron og evenbronzeage.

Seidrcanbeusedfordivination,nding knowledge, as well as orchanging things, using power. Itcan be done as a big communityaair, or as a simple ritual withone or a ew participants.

I you want to read a bit more, seemy article “the sta and the song”on www.shaman-center.dk, ori you read Danish, this article“I Vølvens Spor” is better, samewebsite.

Exploring seidrIntroduction and workshop on thetradition and craft of seidr By Annet te Høst and Sylvia Hild

A morning session with introduction talks, focusing onknowledge. An afternoon seidr workshop, focusing onexperience. No alcohol on either.

• TheviewthattheEarthandallnature is holy - and that all thebeings residing there are worth

consideration and respect• That mankind is not separate

rom nature, but part o the thewhole-wedonotruletheEarth

• Thatnatureisnotanobstacletospirituality - indeed we nd in-spiration and power in nature. The Norns by H. L. M. Photo: wiki.commons.



During the discussion it turned

up that apparently many o themembersofFornSiðrwereafraidto leave the Christian state church,because they were araid o trou-bles when it came to their utureburial, (Note. Forn Siðr doesn’tobject to membership o otheraith communities while being amemberofForn Siðr). Itcan’tbethat dicult to be buried outsidethe Christian church I said, butsince nobody actually knew, I took it upon mysel to investigatie this.That was the starting point to a

very long but never the less veryexciting process that ended withFornSiðrhavingtherstheathenburial place in Denmark in many,many years.One o the rst phone calls I madein order to investigate burials out-side o the Christian state churchwas to the municipal church o-ce in the city o Odense, where Ilive. During the conversation I gotto ask a lot o other question too,like i they could tell me were my

grandmother, grandather andgreat grandmother was buried,even though they were buried inthe grave o the unknown. Oh yesthat was no problem at all and theman would straight away send mea nice sketch o the burial groundwith red crosses at the amilygraves.

In some way or another I man-

aged to lead the conversationin the direction o non-christianburial places, which again led toa casual remark rom me abouthow dicult it actually was to“have” a piece o a grave yard ora certain non-christian aith com-munity. Again the burial groundmanager turned out to be remark-ably cooperative and very serviceminded and straight away he saidthat was no problem at all andinvited us to pop by and have achat about this. It almost sounded

as i this just was a question o some small ormalities and then itwould all be okay.Okay, I became wiser. At this pointin time it was August 2006, and itlooked as i this could be arrangedbeore the graveyard managerwould retire in March 2007. But oh,the very thing that gave me thisidea in the rst place, the act thatit was a municipal burial ground,and not one owned by the churchitsel, became the big obstacle – it

was so very municipal. Things didtake time …

As you might know we got ourburial place in the autumn o 2008, and what happened in themeantime, well that is exactlywhat I’m going to tell you about atmy lecture at the summer camp.

How to createa heathenburial place By Solvej Vikkelsø

Once upon a time back in 2006 we were sitting at ameeting in the steering committee of Forn Sið r discuss-ing burial procedures and other exciting things.

Snorra Edda is a unique master-piece o medieval literature. Itcomprises Old Norse mythology– the tales o Odin, Thor and all

the other gods – into a compre-hensible and structured story o ancient heathen belies. It makesuse o learned Christian theorieson heathenry and the existenceo pagan gods to explain and un-derstandOldNorsemythology.Itis based on traditional knowledgethatSnorriknewfromskaldicandeddic poetry.ThisstoryofOldNorsemythologyin Snorra Edda is revealed in ourchapters: a prologue that explainshow there could even be heathen

belies rom a Christian point o view; the chapter called Gylagin-

ning (DeludingofGyl),whichex-plainsOld Norse myths and theirworldview; Skáldskaparmál (PoeticDiction), which is a didactic sec-tion explaining the metaphors andmetonyms (kenningar and heiti )o traditional skaldic poetry; andHáttatal (Enumeration of Metres),whichisa‘skaldic’poemthatSnor-riwroteinhonouroftheNorwe -gian king Hákon Hákonarson and

hisearlJarlSkúli.

Because Snorri Sturluson took itupon himsel to write this cleverwork, we today have a uniquewindow into Old Norse mythol-ogy. While Snorri did not knowthe ancient pagan belies to thepoint, and he did use the materialrom the traditional poems in hisown way, there is good reason toassume that several o his explana-tions o the traditional mythic ma-terial hold value in terms o what

Scandinavian heathens actuallybelieved beore they converted toChristianity.Furthermore, it is quite obviousthat without his work, modernScandinavians would know verylittle o the historical heathen be-

lies beore the Conversion. It is theonly source rom the Middle Agesthat makes an attempt to explainand understand pagan belies, and

several o the myths rom SnorraEdda are ound nowhere else. It iseven believed by some modernresearchers in Old Norse mythol-ogy that without Snorra Edda therewould have been no writing downo the so-called Eddic poems.

The Eddic poems are anothersource to Old Norse mythology.In modern days we know themmainly rom editions called The

Elder Edda or The Poetic Edda. Thisis a little misleading as it gives us

the notion that they were all writ-ten in the same book. While thisis true or most o them, some o them are ound in other manu-scripts. The main manuscript iscalled Konungsbók (CodexRegius),and it is a structured compilationo poems about gods and heroesofOldNorsemyths.This manuscript was writtenaround 1270 – at least orty yearsater Snorra Edda – but some o the poems here are quoted by

Snorri in his work, so it is obvi-ous that at least those that werequoted by Snorri existed beforehe made Snorra Edda. We do notknow who wrote them down, butit is clear that whoever it was, theperson had some idea how tostructure the poems and what tothink o them – several o themcontain small prose introductionsand post-scripts which sometimesreveal what the author thought o the contents.Mostly the other manuscripts

contain variants o the poems inKonungsbók , but some o them arealso separate poems. It is gener-ally believed today that the reasonthe poems exist in dierent ormsin various manuscripts is becausethey were transmitted orally rom

What are theEddas? By Mathia s Nordvig

The main reason there is such a thing as modern hea-

thens today, is on the most basic level thanks to oneman. His name was Snorri Sturluson and he lived inIceland some 800 years ago. He was a learned Chris-tian man, who had a specic interest in the originaltradition and culture of Icelanders and Scandinaviansin a broader sense. In the decade 1220-30, this inter-est brought him to write the work that has later beenknown as Snorra Edda (Snorri’s Edda).

person to person, and this wouldgive certain variations in the mate-rial when it was written down.

Inmypresentationof‘TheEddas’I will explain more o the back-ground or their existence andwhat they tell. I will address someo the main problems concerninghow pagan belies are represented

in them, and how variations anddierences in the inormation onOldNorsemythologycouldbeun -

derstood. Moreover, I will discusswhat modern heathens can usethese works or today, and howmodern heathenry in general canbenet rom taking an interest inthe medieval Icelandic literaturethat tells o historical heathenry.



The idea was presented in Vølse,theFornSiðrmembers’magasine,in September 2006 by Martin P.Hansen, but there had previouslybeen a lot o discussion aboutsuch an idea among various asa-tru both in Denmark and abroad.Approximately two weeks aterthe September Vølse was pub-lished, Martin presented the ideaontheyahoogroupAsatru-EU-alist where several European asa-

tru organizations communicatewith each other. It turned out thatHaimo Grebenstein from VfGHontheallthingofEldaringenhadbeentalkingabouthowVfGHhadorganized summer camps andhadinvitedEldaringentothelat-estone.HetRadinHolland,haveor several years held midsummerweekends, where they have in-vited guests rom abroad, just asAarhus Blótlaug in Jutland everyEastersince2000haveheldopenhouse or other asatru, with guests

rom both Denmark and abroad.The attitude was generally verypositive towards the project.

AtFornSiðrsAlting2007apropos-al was thereore submitted thattheBoardofFornSiðrshouldtakeon the task to create such a camp.Everyone thought the camp wasa good idea, but no-

body wanted to impose this task on the board. The proposal waswithdrawn, and the board askedor help rom people who werenot board members, to createsuch a camp.Martin took up this invitation,and the talks continued on theEUlist,andinphysicalmeetingsbetween asatruars rom dier-ent countries. The project pro-gressed. It was agreed that the

rst camp should be located inDenmark because it is geographi-cally well-situated in relation tothe other northern Europeancountries, a country where it iseasy to book a suitable hut, andthecountrywhereFornSiðr,theorganization having the best -nancial situation, had its home.A Danish workgroup o volun-teers rom both outside and in-side Forn Siðr, was created. Fol-lowingthewishesoftheFornSiðrAlthing none rom the board o

FornSiðrwasinthegroup.

Out o a range o dierent alterna-tives Bogensholm at Mols, east-ern Jutland were selected. It wasa suitable size and, rom a northEuropeanperspective,itwaseasyto reach. The rst real prepara-tions or the camp were made and

HaimoGrebensteinsetupaninternational website, withall the inormation about thecamp.

Everything was progressingaccording to the plan whensuddenly, in November2008, a subject turned upwhere opinion went in sev-eral dierent directions. Tomake a complicated storyshort,it endedwithFornSiðr,onthe8thDecember,withdrawing rom co-operation with the camp.Martin P. Hansen contin-ued as co-ordinator orthe project, since the

other groups still want-ed him to do this.

Several asatruar inDenmark contactedthe Danish work-group with support

statements or the summer campand a desire to ensure its contin-ued existence. A week and a hal

later, the Danish workgroup hadincreased rom ve to ten per-sons. This group had quickly tond an internal co-operation pol-icy and a sensible way o sharingthe labour. The Workgroup didn’t,as the other involved groups,have an already established co-operation, or common ground onaith, statutes and years o knowl-edge o each other. The Danishgroup only had its enthusiasm orsummer camps and the act that

we all, in our own way, put ourfaithintheNordicgods.

From time to time the questiono racism comes up. It is a actthat some racist oriented groupsalso favour the old Norse faith.All o the organising groups havea clear statement in their bylawsthat clearly states they do not a-vour this approach to our aith.The Danish Workgroup has nobylaws, and no statement aroundthe aith itsel. We decided to keep

it that way, leaving everyone inthe group ree to have their ownopinion. On the topic o racism,however, we denitely do agreeand to make it absolutely clearwhere we stand, we made the ol-lowing statement around this:“The Danish workgroup or IASC

2009 will not in any respect or on

any level be associated with either

groups or persons who equate be-

tween religion and race – blood

– genes – ethnicity or in any way

embraces one o these actors as a prerequisite or one o the others, or

in any other way speak or, or sup-

port such attitudes.”

Apart rom that we simply ollowthe code o conduct created orthe camp. This code makes it sovery easy to co-operate.

The Bogensholm camp is bookedin the name o the Danish work-group and all entries rom Den-mark are carried out through theDanish workgroup on their web-

site.

As rom January 2009 the work around the summer camp is run-ning smoothly again and we ex-pect an overwhelming success inthe last week o July - when we -

nally all meet in real lie, in one o themostbeautifulareasinFrejashall (as Denmark is called in the

Danish national hymn).We think it’s a great strength orthe summer camp that the peo-ple working with the camp in thehosting country are rom this verywide range o dierent groups inthe asatru environment in thecountry. It creates a very broadand strong oundation or thecamp to lean on. This is indeed a

joint venture.

Members o the workgroup

The members o the Danish work-group are the ollowing individuals:Claus, member o the group

around the Yggdrasil orest - R e-sponsible or ood during thecamp week.

Else-Julie, member o Aarhus

Blótlaug – Responsible for theprogramme - editing the week’splan concerning the programme-translationsDanish-English.

Frans, member o Forn Siðr - Our

contact with the grocery retailers.

Helena, member o Aarhus Blót-

laug, and Friðland – Creating thewebsite or the Danish work-group, co-ordinating the summercamp magazine.

Jørgen, administrator at Kindir.dk – working with the music

Martin, member o Forn Siðr,

Aarhus Blótlaug and Friðland -

Back up for Else-Julie as a pro-gramme organiser - summercamp head co-ordinator.

Mathias, Danish asatru -Contact with the lecturers

Odd, member o Aarhus Blótlaug

and administrator at Kindir.dk –Overall responsibility or the bar.

Ole, member o Forn Siðr and

Aarhus Blótlaug - Treasurer.

Peter, member o Forn Siðr and Uias blótlaug - Labororce - knowhow – eedback.

Peter T., member o Gullinkambi

and Holmgængerne–Responsibleor marketing.

The Danish workgroup – background history and presentation By Helena Valorinta

The rst International Asatru Summer Camp is an olddream that has been talked about in several different contexts, by several different people.

S hou ld you be t h in k

ingo f

ma k ing an y fnanc ia l dona t ions

to t he summer camp - p lease use

t h is accoun t i you are a broad:

J ys k e Ban k

I BA N: D K 6 8 7 8 35 0 0 0

1 4 2 7 0 4 8

S w i f t Code: J Y BA D K

K K

I you are in Denmar k

p lease use t h is accoun t:

J ys k e Ban k

Reg. no. 7 8 35 Accoun t n

o. 1 4 2 7 0 4 - 8

Remem ber toc lear l ys ta t

e w ho ’s

ma k ing t he transac t ion, and t ha t

i t ’s a dona t ion.

W a nt to make

a do nat io n?



The Swedish Asatru Assembly

·Ishereforthosewhoareinter-

estedinourOldGodsandan-cient olkbelies.

·Ishereforthosewhofeelthatspirituality is missing rom to-day's world.

·IshereforthosewhothinkthatNordic Heathenism or Asatru,adapted to the relevance o modern society, is an importantand positive religious alterna-tive.

· Is here for those who believethat it is easier to meet other

cultures and their traditions,when one knows onesel ully.

Modern Asatru

The Swedish Asatru Assemblyaims at reviving the kind o Asa-tru that takes nourishment romthe past, works in the present,and looks towards tomorrow.Asatru should be o use to one’severyday lie, so that one can livein harmony with nature and withother people.We intend that Asatru supports

good moral behaviour and worksas a natural way o linking our-selves to tradition and roots. TheSwedishAsatruAssemblytakesarather spiritual stance, however,our view is to allow each individ-ual to nd their own understand-ing o personal spirituality. Anykind o dogma on how or whatone should believe does not existand is something we completelyreject, as pagans.Spirituality is apersonal matter and a undamen-

tal right o the individual, this is apagan view. Since theoldmythsdo not solely relate to the AesirbutalsotheVanirandnaturespir-its, we preer to reer to our aithas ‘den orna seden’ (The Old Way)rather than Asatru. In our old olk-lore there is much that is relevanttoday, rom there we also gain agood deal o our inspiration.

The old way and

the world o science

Our modern age o science and

technology has changed irrevo-cably our comprehension o theworld around us. Where the so-called great religions are con-cerned, e.g. Christianity and Is-lam, these have created religiousdoubt. Religions that follow the

letter o their ancient scripturesseem obsolete when they canno longer relate to people’s livesin the the modern world. Na-ture religions on the other hand,which means the Old Ways o all cultures, are built up aroundmyths, not scriptures, which holduniversal relevance and commonconcepts deeply rooted in theessence o human nature. Mythssuit mankind as biological and

social entities. Thereore mythsfrome.g.TheEddacanevento-day be o use to humanity. Theold ways constantly speak o cre-ation, not as an isolated incident,but as an eternal ongoing proc-ess. According to the old ways,humanity is actively engaged inthis whole. The world is not onlycreated by, ofor for God(s) andhumanity is not a passive by-stander in creation.

Religion and societyIn the light o history we can seethat religion and politics have o-ten gone hand in hand. This situ-ation has been due to the way inwhich society has been organised.I a religious movement is con-trolled by a belie system whichis institualionised into the abrico a society, it cannot then be ex-pected to survive the develop-ments that occur in that society.A religion that is based on the in-dividual, such as the myth-based

religions are, has a greater possi-bility o lling basic human needso spirituality regardless o society.In the old way, there is a broadspectrum o myths. The orces o light and dark co-exist, not leastamongst the gods and goddess-

es. In the myths they solve theirproblems in dierent ways eachaccording to their needs. This hasenabled us as people to identiywith them and nd wisdom there-in. The old ways gives one thepossibility to see the world rommany dierent aspects, which inturn means that one is not lockedinto a single all powerul truth. Itaids in attaining personal devel-opment and helps to understand

the views o others. It is a asset to atruly democratic society.

DuringtheVikingAge,theTing,or parliament, was the manner o governing the people. Even theking was voted in. As the sayinggoesinanoldby-law“SvearägaKonungtagaochvräka”(Swedescan choose a king, and reject aking). Through history we knowor a act that it was a truth withsome modication: that it was

rom among the great landown-ers that the king was chosen. Thisrelationship shows that despitea ‘democratic’ Ting and generalelection, democracy itsel is not aclearconcept.Sweden’smodernstate o government, with parlia-ment and elected assembly, is notitsel a clear democracy. The con-cept o democracy must be con-stantly updated. The old ways,independent o society and its in-stitutions are unlike ‘democracticgovernments’, eternally relevant.

Man and nature

According to the Old Ways, man-kind is not the king o creation.Humanity cannot claim priorityover the whole world. Human-ity has not been set here to be

thegardenerofEarth.Themythswarn about greed and excess,

that nature’s resources should beused with care and responsibil-ity. Natureisnotjusta resource,which in the best case scenariowe should protect, the old waysteach us that we too are parto nature, we are quite simply,natural. The ecological balanceis a undamental principle o life.Frey,Freya,andfertilityritesamongst other things remind usthat a humble and lie armingapproach to all nature is the way

to live on this planet.

How do we worship?

As in most other religions, it is pos-sibletoasktheGodsforhelp.Yetnothing can be taken or granted,

just because one has the “rightaith”. It is widely viewed that i one wishes to increase the chanc-es that the Gods listen to yourprayers, you should be damn wellprepared to do something aboutthose things yoursel. In addition,one should give oerings, which in

theNordiclanguagesiscalledblót,directlyrelatedtotheOldEnglishword Bless or Blessing, whichoriginally means ‘to bleed or drawblood’. This sounds grizzly, but itis a matter o act that in order toeat meat one must take the lie o an animal. This was the drawing o blood or ‘blót’. The thanks given tothe gods or giving ood and lieby the taking o another lie wasshared with the gods by a part-o-ering o the animal, as one might

share ood with a guest. Withoutthe same need or meat in modernlie, blots or blessings have devel-oped. Nowadays it is commonlyconsidered that to give time, en-ergy or general material objectso dierent personal meaning orworth are adequate gits to thegods.Sweden’sAsatruSocietyforexample openly encourages bless-ings o fowers, ood and mead. Inour organization it is not allowedto kill animals as a part o our pub-lic ceremonies.

Sweden’s Asatru Society is ananti-racist body which is basedon the oundation o commondemocratic principles.

Blót at Ales Stenar at the Alting of S As 2008. Phot o: Lars- Er ik Löfg ren.

Sveriges Asatrosamfund – The Swedish Asatru Assembly. What are we about? From the website www.asatrosamfundet.se



TheEnglishpeopleociallycon-verted to Christianity under theinfuence o Augustine, amongstmany others, who gained prec-

edence or their religious ideol-ogy by ‘converting’ the kings.Naturally, this meant that hereas elsewhere, Christianity wasenorced rather than universallywelcomed, but Odinism survivedwithin the Church, and unocial-ly outside it, until a revival o in-terestintheNineteenthCenturychampioned by William Morrisand his circle.

It is also possible to see the con-tinuedexistencethroughoutEu-

rope o non-standard Christianbelie systems as a cauldron o independent thought which was

just waiting or its time to come.Nowwecanreapthebenetofthis underground or suppressedcontinuity, but with it comes thediculty o sorting out what istrulyAsatrufromwhatisGnostic,Egyptian,earth-basedlocaltradi-tion and the multiplicity o othersystems such as Hinduism andBuddhism which have become

part o our thought over the pastthousand years.

Looking at the various revivalso traditional spiritual paths intheUK,itbecomesverydicultto say how each path resuracedand how, or i, they aected oneanother. I think that without thedruids o the early 19th century,the reemasons, the alchemistsand all the others, Asatru wouldnot have been able to nd its wayback to our consciousness, but

this means that there is, to myway o thinking, no ‘pure’ tradi-tion to be ound. As others havesaid, we can’t return to the 5th century but we can take what wenow have and through a mixtureo scholarship and, maybe more

importantly, personal gnosis re-claim our inheritance and onceagain seek out the guidance o our gods.

The big question is about howwe integrate such ideas with ourown path, without destroying itsuniqueness.

It is also interesting to consider theeco-revival which has changedrom being regarded as the rant-ings o cranks (and probablyvegetarians) to being seen as theonly way to preserve our planetor itsel, its many species and orour uture generations. I think itis air to say that the majority o

Asatruar would see this as a vitalpart o their path, since it belongswith our relationship with land-wights,ourconnectionwithFreyandFreya,ThorandSif(tonameonly our) and our understandingo our interconnectedness witheverything around us.

It has oten seemed to me thatthe day St Boniface (a saint re-vered near to where I live in thesouthwestofEngland)cutdown

Thor’s oak he was initiating arupture between ourselves andthe world around us, rather thanreconnecting us with heaven. Toreplace a living tree with a deadwooden cross has proound im-plications or the spirituality o those involved.However, the connection withthe earth and the need to learnhow to live as part o it has con-tinued, even when the industrialrevolution began to sever us romthe land.

At that point the druids begantheir return, ollowed by Morrisand his cohorts, the Boy Scoutmovement and its more earth-based fellow the Kibbo Kift, to-gether with the 1930s revival o

paganism, which was temporar-ily suspended by the war and itsatermath, then the next paganrevival o the 1960s and, at thatpoint, us - made visible at last bypeople like Stubba whose writ-ings had a proound eect on theprevious generation o AsatruarintheUK.

It has seemed at some points asi the heated Heathen argumentsabout what we should be called,

and about how we should ollowour chosen path would nish uso beore we had really got start-ed. Justiable ears about rightwing thugs made anyone callingthemselves an Odinist automati-cally suspect, and I think it waslargely this concern which madeany name or our aith opento suspicion. Calling ourselvesOdinists has certainly come withproblems and it is perhaps trueto say that although the inspira-tion behindtheKithwasOdinic,

with Odin being seen as the godwithin who acted as guide andexample or us on our individualpaths, it is equally true to say thatour members also have deep rela-tionships with the other gods andgoddesses o the northern pan-theon. Odin didn’t turn up alone,usually needed the help o theothers and would not have aredwell had he not integrated withthe eminine and with the quali-ties o his ellow gods.

TheKithofYggdrasilwasstartedbytwo ormer members o the OdinicRite, who wanted to concentrateon the spirituality o Odinismrather than on the outward ormit took (although those set Blotshave proved helpul, especially oremotionally raught occasions likeunerals), and also wanted to makeOdinism less o a tough boys’ cluband more like something which in-cluded the other 50% o the popu-lation, not to mention the children.

This opened the whole conceptout in ways which I think wereprobably unoreseen by the ound-ers, and which perhaps made thema bit uncomortable, but change ispart o any lie and is a necessarypart o growth.

Concentrating on spirituality wasa brave and a tricky course to take,as deep thinking about (and act-ing upon) spirituality is not some-thing which is sexy. It also meansthat the mysterious ways o per-sonal gnosis makes it likely thatwe will naturally take widely di-erent paths to the same stream– down here in the south westwe have a meditation hearth, inother places people are into re-enactment, in yet others we still

ollow the typical blót ormat. Butall o this is about discovering ourown path rom the backgroundo Asatru and with it as the solidoundation rom which anythingcan happen.

One ofour founders, Mike Rob-ertson, said that we were theOdinic equivalent o monks andnuns – although I have to say thatwe are pretty odd monks sincewe seem ond o our partners, arenot averse to downing one or two

pints o ale and don’t seem to bethat cut o rom the world. Weare even odder in that we each goour own way, trusting to our com-mon ground to keep us together.

The beauty o our land inspiresus to remember who we are andwhere we draw our strengthrom, and o the need to celebratethe many dierences betweengroups and individuals, whetherwithin Asatru or outside o it.

Anyway, against all the odds we

are still here, still thinking, stillarguing, still ollowing the patho Odin, regardless o the myriadorms he takes and, like him, un-able and unwilling to managewithout the other gods and god-desses o Asgard.

A little history of paganismin the UK Or how the Kith of Yggdrasil nearly didn’t happen By Alan Nash and Siegrune

Odinism in the United Kingdom began with the comingof the Germanic tribes to England in the 4th Century.However much of what we know is inherited from theScandinavians, particularly the Danes, who inhabitedparts of Britain alongside the Anglo-Saxons, Angles and Jutes. Thus the foundation of our belief is a mixture of Saxon and Norse (using these terms in their broadest sense).



The name o your organisation

is “The Nine Worlds”. Isn’t oneworld enough?

Aswul: Well, don’t we all live indierent worlds in the courseo just one day? And yet thoseworlds – work, amily lie, sports -are all part o the same reality; justas the nine worlds o our mythol-ogyarealllinkedbyYggdrasil.More seriously, though, we wantto underline that “The NineWorlds” is an organisation wherea broad variety o approaches are

welcome. We are open to peoplewho honour the dwars and thegiants, just as we welcome thosewhose ocus is more on the an-cestors and the land spirits. TheAesirandVaniroccupyacentralposition in our aith, but Asatrugoes deeper than that – and thatis what we try to convey.

Stilleward: Nope, one world isnot enough! We want all o them!Alright, that was too easy, butI could not resist. A saying I am

quite ond o is that there are asmany orms o asatru as there areasatruar. It is something I quoteand which gives me the reedomto believe as I see t, to worshipas I see t, to stumble and alteras I do, to nd a home in asatruasIdid.Nineworldsoccupiedbymany dierent beings, each withtheir own desires and thoughtsand perhaps dreams. And all con-nected by the World Tree. Youcould say that each asatruar is

a little world, but that we are allconnected by this one tree called‘asatru’. Like the nine worlds con-nectedbyYggdrasil.

Etje:No,oneworldisnotenough,notfor‘DeNegenWerelden’.Nine worlds signies thepluriormity o our belie, thatcharacterises itsel by so manyvarious aspects, beings, manies-tations and ways o experiencing.Our name not only harks back tothe world view o nine worlds as

depicted in the Edda. For us, italso indicates that all asatruar, de-spite the commonalities, (must)orm their own views o the worldand their aith; that they have toexperience their own world. Yetall those worlds are connected

by their shared traits and by the

community. Indeed, all theseworlds o ours are linked by thismagnicent, majestic Ygg-bear-ing tree.

But your logo is

a picture o a boat…

Aswul: A boat, yes, but a boatwith a tree on it. Our inspirationis rom a recurring moti in theScandinavianrockcarvingsfromtheBronzeAge.Forme,itsym-bolisesthe world tree Yggdrasil,sailing orth rom our past to ex-plore the uncharted waters o the21st century. It encompasses atthe same time the notion o roots

providing saety and steadiness,and the challenges and reedomassociated with sailing the openseas.

Stilleward:Also,weliketothinkoftheNineWorldsasasortofsafehaven, a port o call rom wherepeople can start their journeyinto asatru. In that sense eacho us is a ship seeking its waythrough sometimes stormy wa-ters, or uncharted waters, or arriv-

ing in amiliar waters and ndinga home – a port o call. I know itelt like that or me, when I rstcame across asatru.Not only that, another purposeof the Nine Worlds is to furtherknowledge about asatru andshare it with those who are in-terested. The tree on board isYggdrasil, the world-tree thatconnects all the worlds. Perhapsyou could see it as a sort o am-bassador sailing to show peoplethat just as there is place or all

the worlds in the Tree, so is thereor all those who believe in asatru.

Etje:Aboatandatree,thatisright.Our logo stands or this area o land andwater, theNetherlands. 1. In the rst days that our lands

were inhabited, they mostly con-

sisted o marsh, which still can beound. More to the point: marshesand bogs played an important roleas residences o gods and beingsand through that as places o wor-ship and sacrice. This primevallandscape o swamp, marsh andbog can be seen as the usion o land and water. Our logo reers tothis landscape and our core layers.

2. Already, long ago, the inhabit-ants o our lands interered with

nature in order to be able to livewith both land and water. Terps*and canals have been oundthat ensured dry eet, drainageand transportation-possibilities.Through these interventions o our early ancestors, land and wa-ter co-existed in this area, togeth-er but separated. Our logo reersto this as well. 3. Later, but still beore writ-ten history, land was embankedand settled. And later again ar-

eas were diked in. Because o thispeople could live below sea-level,live on the bottom o the sea, onland that actually belongs to thesea (and which it still tries to re-claim). This dichotomy o wherewe live is refected in our logo. 4. Also, the eternal ght be-tween land and water, so typi-cal or our lands, is refected init as well – or is it an alternatinggoing together? This division as

well is expressed by our logo.

And what about your motto,

then? Where does that ft in?

Aswul: We very much eel thatwe are treading “in the ootstepso our ancestors”. As we ollowthe path that our orebears havetrodden beore us, we discovervistas and sights that are new tous, but we also stop to drink romthe pool which has slaked thethirst o many beore us...

Stilleward:Well,letusbehonest.We did not invent asatru. The rea-son we know o it is that enoughpeople thought it importantenough to keep it alive throughtheages.NotonlytheEddasforinstance, but also people who

kept old uses and olklore alive,

who remembered and retold oldstories, who kept aith in the oldbelies and so passed them on us.Notonlythat,footstepssuggestatrail, a direction. Not necessarilyone you can dene in the sense o a wrong direction or a right direc-tion, but at least and hopeully aorward direction.We live in the 21st century. Webelieve, but in a world that can’tbe compared to that o our ore-bears. We do not wish to re-enact

what little we may know o whatour ancestors believed and howtheyworshipped.Forasatrutobea viable belie it must be rooted inthe 21stcentury.Sowedonotdoas they did, but continue in theirootsteps to add our own beliesand ideas to asatru, so that thosethat come ater us have some-thing they can add their thoughtsto. We add our ootsteps to thepath so that it will continue andeventually consider ours ‘theootsteps o our orebears’.

Etje:‘Inthefootstepsofouran -cestors’ or us means that wehark back to customs, beliesand knowledge of old. Not thatwe ollow everything unthink-ingly, but rather that we testthese ootsteps against our ownhonour and morality and givethem our own interpretation.Though we ollow in older trackswe also add our own ootprints.Because o that, asatru or us

means we tread ‘in the ootstepso our ancestors’, but not neces-sarily on the beaten tracks.

De Negen Werelden – answer questions about the organisationand their beliefs

* A ‘te rp’ is a term cognat e with the English word ‘thorp’, which could be

translated as ‘mound’ or ‘knoll’. A terp

is a specic type of mound, used to create

a dry surface mostly for buildings such

as farms or strongholds, to protect them

from the water.



Het Rad isspinning well for boththe raddraaiers themselves and orriends and the people o varioustraditions joining our gatherings.It might be useul to explain thename o our blotgroup and theword raddraaiers, a pet name givento the members of Het Rad by aparticipant at one o our rst pub-lic gatherings. The Dutch word rad

means ‘wheel’ and raddraaiers lit-erally translated would be ‘wheel-turners’ but usually means ‘trou-

blemakers’.O course we don’t see ourselvesas troublemakers, and we use itmore in the sense o reethinkersand pioneers when it comes toAsatru and heathenism/paganismin general.But, beore going on, let me rstintroduce the raddraaiers:

Frigga Asraa was born andraised in Holland. She came toMidgard in 1960 in Rotterdam,on ‘Hillegersberg’ (Mountain o Hillegonda). A olktale states thatthis hill was raised by the giant-ess Hillegonda. Ater wanderingaround Holland, moving to sev-

eral towns and villages, Frigganow lives in Dordrecht, alreadyor more than ve years.Frigga is a creative and talentedwoman: skald, writer and skilledwith seidr and runes. Amongst herspecialities in this eld is workingwith sound and singing.Friggahasbeeneditorinchiefofthe quarterly magazine ‘Balder’since 1997. Meanwhile, our bookshave her name on the cover andshe is writing articles and poemsformagazinesintheNetherlands

as well as internationally. Sincethebeginningof2009Friggahasbeen part o the inormal Heidens/

Paganistische Ronde Tael (‘Hea-then/Pagan Round Table’) for in-teraith and intraaith, mainly orTheNetherlands.

Pauline Tuymelaar is a workingmother and lives in Ermelo withher husband and two children.As payroll administrator she is

employed by a temporary work-ersagency.ShestartedherlifeinMidgard in a small town in Hollandin the year 1970.In 2000 she joined a private yulegatheringofHetRadforthersttime and this was her introductiontoAsatru.Sheneverleftandgrewslowly into being a raddraaier .For most gatherings she is incharge o the ood department.The recipes in ‘Balder’ are romher hand and beside that shealso writes an occasional article.

Pauline also is a skilled seidrwom-an and seeress.

Michiel de Nijs was born and

raised in Heemskerk, a village nextto the dunes, near the coast o theNorthsea.Asawriterandart -ist Michiel is also known as Draak or Dreki. He uses both names tooon the internet as nicknames.Amongst his skills as an artist aredrawing and horn and bone carv-ing. Michiel also has a strong in-terest in seidr and runes and hasound his own way o workingover the years. He is a trained seer.Michiel has written articles andshort stories or the quarterly

magazine ‘Balder’ since 2003. Heprovides illustrations or all kind o things, such as articles and poems.Also he has made some illustra-tions or books and is the designerand webmaster o the website o HetRad.

Wilco and Rachèl Belgraver-

Thissen were both born in 1982.Wilco is a child o the fat landsof Holland and Rachèl came toMidgard in the hills o Limburg.Wilco is nishing his bachelor’s de-

greeincomputerscienceatEind -hoven University of Technology,and has already started to studytobecomeanEmbeddedSystemsmaster.RachèlisstudyingArtHis-tory at the university o Leiden.They became raddraaiers midsum-mer2006.Sixmonthsbeforetheyregistered at Het Ho , our messageboard, and Rachèl told us abouttheir in search or somebody whocould assist them with their mar-riage ritual. Hal seriously, hal orfun, Frigga mentioned that they

could stop looking as she wouldprobably be able to help them.The three o them ound out theyall lived in the same city and onething led to the other. Wilco andRachèl occasionallycontributeto‘Balder’ with articles, clippings andother things.

Without even the slightest hin-drance o any knowledge, soto speak, about our own pointin time we all jumped into thenine worlds, and our paths havecrossed. Over the years it becameclear that Het Rad and the rad-

draaiers developed their own stylewith Asatru, runes and seidr. One

o our present slogans is: Asatru Anders! (‘Alternative Asatru!’).Unocial as we are our ocialmoment o coming into being wasmidsummer 1997. Now after 12years, 48 magazines, 6 midsum-mer weekends, many public and

private gatherings, workshopsand visits to other Asatru organisa-tions abroad, we are really proudofwhatHetRadhasachieved.These have been turbulent years,

and were even really rough or aperiod, but as we say in Dutch: in

nood leert men zijn ware vrienden

kennen ‘in times o need one willnd out who is a true riend’.We have survived and this year,2009,attheageoftwelveHetRadis even more lively than ever andwe see an increasing interest inAsatru, seidr, runes, our blotgroupand our gatherings. Every threemonths around 45 copies o ourmagazine ‘Balder’ are nding their

way to subscribers, even one toNewZealand,andbesidethiswehave an exchange o magazineswith riendly organisation o vari-oustraditionsinTheNetherlandsas well as abroad.We as raddraaiers are very proudtobepartofAsatru-EUandIASC2009 and are thrilled with the ideao spending a whole week withasatruars rom many parts o theworld. We hope to welcome a lotofvisitorstoIASCtoourparty-tentor a chat, to share a horn, sing-

along and to the workshops wewill provide throughout this week as ‘Ancestor constellations’ and‘Powersongs and runes’. Just look or a tent with cheerul prayer fagsand you can be sure it will be us!

Some words rom

two riends o Het Rad:

We, Ap and Dolly, are a couple andwe are living in Amsterdam. Oneo us was born on the banks o theriverRhineandtheotheroneon

the banks o the river Amstel, bothin 1952. The heathen heritage wehaveinEuropeisvastandbeauti-ul! We are discovering our rootsand about two years ago we ‘ac-cidently’ stumbled across some-thing called Asatru. We have beenreading about it on the internet,took on a basic training shaman-ism and halway through we heardabout a rune-workshop by FreyaAswynn organised by Het Rad.Shegaveafantasticworkshop.Weimmediately elt at home, and Het

Radhasbecomeanewspiritkin-dred or us!Now we have a chance to learn,experience, laugh and socialize(the latter not our real talent).And o course we are looking or-wardtotheAsatruSummercamp

Het Rad: An introduction By Frigga Asraaf

Although the postal address of blotgroup Het Rad is in thecity of Dordrecht only three of its members actually livein this town, the two others are to be found further northnear the coast and in the wooded middle of the country.



in Denmark - at such a beautiullocation - workshops about seidrand runes (yummy), a walk by thesea, a big campre, resh air …and many asatruar to extend ourspirit kindred! The workshops o Het Rad sound promising againand we know they are alwaysworthwhile!

Workshop ancestor constella-

tions: For those of you who areamiliar with amily-constellations:Ancestor constellations is a vari-ation o this method ocused onconnecting with the ancestors.The core o constellation work ispeople presenting amily mem-bers. An ancestor constellation is a

way to look at the ancestral amilyline and, i needed, bring back bal-ance. It as a way to seek strength,comort and support rom onesown ancestors, but also rom ouroremothers and oreathers ingeneral. We will demonstrate vari-ous constellations with people, aswell an alternative with pebbles.

Workshop powersongs and

runes: Sound is one of the mosteasy and powerul ways to con-nect with the other worlds and thespirits. We will explore both sing-ing and chanting with and withoutwords and runes. The songs wewill sing during this workshop aremainlycomposedbyFriggaAsraaf.

The organization was approved byNorwegianauthoritiesin1996and

connects blotslag (local or region-al groups o practitioners) andindividual members. The blotslagare largely sel-governed and havedierent points o ocus within theaith. Members may be connectedto a blotslag or directly to Birost.No kind of discrimination basedon origin, sexual orientation orother personal trait is acceptablewithin Birost – or anywhere else,if you ask us. Unfortunately andsadly, Norse symbols have beenheavily abused in the past and

even today by ar right-wingersand outright nazis. One o our mis-sions is reclaiming the expressionso the old customs so that theyshall no longer be associated withhateul ideologies. Though dier-ent, all human beings possess in-dispensable intrinsic value, as doall living things.Birost brings together peoplewho wish to worship the oldNorsegodsandkeeptheoldtra-ditions alive and strong, as a living

community or anyone interestedin asatru. We strive to be a orumor practice and discussion o theheathen understanding o his-tory, myths and the divine orces.We aim to increase the awarenessand understanding o arts, cultureand traditions with roots in pre-Christian times. We want to keepthe heathen cultural and religiousheritage alive as an updated aithor people o today, through studyo historical sources and adaptionsto the modern way o lie.

Asatru, the way it is practiced inBirost, is based on an individualunderstanding and interpretationo what it means to ollow heathencustoms. Opinions people have,how they understand the histori-

cal sources and their personal re-lationship to the orces o nature,

is none o Birost’s business. Thistolerance and reedom to think oronesel is in our opinion a centralpart o asatru. There are no reli-gious dogmas in Birost.

The religious practice is mainlymaintained locally in the dierentblótgroups.Everygroupisledbya Hovgode/gydje (priest/priest-ess) chosen by their group. Theirresponsibility is to arrange andlead the blots. Most goder/gydjeraremembersoftheRåd(council).

The main activities o the Birostumbrella is keeping membershiplists updated, distributing eco-nomical support rom the govern-ment and arranging the annualmeeting, the Thing. The Thing isthe supreme organ o the organi-sation and all matters o impor-tance are discussed and decidedhere. All members are encouragedto take part, orward their causesand give their votes. The Thing is

led by the høvding (chietain) whois also the person responsible tothe ederal government.There is also an adminstration o currently three people, responsi-ble or the daily administration o Birost between the Things.

Anyone agreeing to ollow thelaws o Birost is welcome as amember.Youcannotbeamem-ber of any other Norwegianreli-gious organization due to ederalregulations.

Ethics and Mankind

ThesocietyoftheVikingagewasvery dierent rom that o today.Without any police orce, eachperson or kin was required to take

justice in own hands – acts o re-

venge were even largely expectedat the time. The act that a personbelieves in the Asatru does notmean they support or endorsesuch behavior in our time, or canbe taken to account o actionsdone by others a thousand years

ago. Though we let ourselves getinspired by thoughts and tradi-tionsoftheNorsesociety,weareo course children o our time,based in the ideas that shapemodern society. Our goal is notto recreate the morale o the oldsagas.

Heathen morale and ethics arebuilt on the relationships betweenpeople, and is not directed by anysupremeentity.Nothingisconsid -ered good or evil in its own right,

but actions may lead to good orbad consequences. Signicantly,there was no word or “evil” in oldNorse.TheChristianshadtoinventone! There are no absolute com-mandments, no concept o guiltor sin, no salvation, and every indi-vidual is responsible or their ownactions and have to bear the con-sequences themselves. This is thebasic principle o the part o thelaw that is considered the ethics.

I anything could be consideredthe basic idea in the heathen tra-dition it must be the concept o balance; the way creative anddestructive orces in the worldbalance and equalize each other.This principle is seen in the inter-personal moral as expressed inHávamál, with its emphasis onmoderation and ollowing a mid-dle course. The principle o bal-ance applies also to the interpreta-tion o Hávamál: The rules are notto be ollowed so strictly that they

turn into commandments; on theother hand, do not interpret themso loosely they lose their contentand intention.

Honour is another central conceptinthe Norseway ofthinking. All

people start out having a dignityand the right o receiving respect.However, they may lose this righti their actions limit the dignityand reedom o others. In our tra-dition, humans are not separatedrom the rest o nature, but a part

o it. This view educates us thatnobody can exist independentlyo nature, and we all need to nd away to live in and with it. This doesnot necessarily make all asatruersnature preservers, but most o uswill be conscious that the ruthlessexploitation on nature is an unbal-anced and thereore destructiveact. Asatruers reap rom naturebut strive to give back sucientlyor the cycle to continue.

Traditions and

religious practiceOne o the most important goalso Birost is to carry on old cus-toms and traditions, and establishnew ones when there is a need.Traditions perormed in a groupgives a sense o community. Thisis as much a task or each singlemember, as a task or the organi-sation.Notleastbecausemostofthe activity in Birost takes placein the blót groups and privategatherings. It is important that we

manage to adjust the customs toour own modern everyday lie, sothat they continue to be mean-ingul actions, also to people o today. We want to live the wisdomand knowledge o the old onesthrough ollowing their customs,but we do not necessarily want tolivelikeVikings.Like languages evolve with chang-ing needs, any viable communityneeds to adapt new customs tot new needs. Minor tweaks andmore comprehensive adaptions

are introduced requently in Bi-rost, in and around blots and oth-er communal activities. The valueo customs is not necessarily theirage or origin, but the cultural val-ues they express.

Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost From the website www.bifrost .no

The asatru fellowship Bifrost, is a religious organi-zation for modern asatru in Norway. Our religion isbased on the religious tradition in Scandinavia and Ice-land before the Christian era.



Our members mainly comes romGermany, Austria and Switzer-land, but also rom other partsof the world. The Eldaring wasounded in August 2000. The rstAlting took place in 2002.It’s time or people to gather. Weare called by the country and thesky. Attracted by the majesty o themountains, the deep beauty o theorests and the vastness o the sea.The deep roots, which connect uswith our ancestors, are waiting or

us to rediscover them. The time isthe dawn o the Old Way, the timewhen this way again will emergein the hearts o men and women.Gather to once again forge thehammer of the North. There aremany ways. TheEldaring oers avariety o signs and paths to theold gods and goddesses, becausetheir very nature is diverse.

We expect rom everyone that joins us that this is done or reli-

gious and cultural reasons andthat you will respect all otherswho have joined to. This commu-nity, its publications and activitieswill not be tolerated as a platorm

or political or racist activities inany orm.

The nine heathen virtues

CourageTruthHonourLoyaltyDisciplineHospitalityIndustriousnessSelf-condencePerseverance

About the name “Eldaring”

“Eldr” in Old Norse means “re”in many meanings. “Elda” is thegenitive pluralform, so Eldaringcan be translated with “Ring ofFire”or“rering”.Thisisanamal -gamation o “re”. O course itshould strictly speaking be HringrEldaorEldaHringr,butthenameshouldbeeasyforamodernGer-man tongue to pronounce andalso have a pleasant sound to it.

Members are ree to integratecontent and practices o othernaturebased traditions in theirpersonal and religious practice ,theVfGHasacommunityis,how-ever, dedicated to the pursuit o traditionalGermanicpaganism.

The VfGH was established inMarch 1995 in Cologne, and hasmembers in several Germanspeaking countries. We pursueexclusively religious targets and

is independent o other paganorganizations, but works withreputable and democratic groupsin joint projects.

General concepts

o the VGH at a glance

TheVfGHseesitstaskinrecon-structing a modern interpreta-tion o the traditional religion o theGermanicpaganisminavalidorm or the present and uture,based on the authentic traditionand the results o serious histori-

calresearch.TothisaimtheVfGHhas developed three concepts:

• TraditionalGermanicpaganismtoday

• GuidingfreePaganism• EthnicNaturalReligion

Traditional Germanicpaganism today means:

• ExperienceanddevotiontotheGermanicdeities.

• NatureReligiousworldviewandresponsibility or nature andthe home.

• Connectionwithancestors,landand homeland albums and DisesRootedinthemythicalandritu-al inheritage.

• Connectionwith the Germanicculture and history.

• Germanicethicsonthebasisofthe“NineNobleVirtues”.• Acceptanceoffateand thecir-

cle o becoming and passing.• Traditional Germanic spiritual

experience, means and tech-niques.

• Necessary changes only inlinewith the spirit o the tradition.

The idea o ree Paganism:• Free mediation, religion with-

out dogmas and doctrines.• Freedesignofpersonalreligios-

ity.• Freeformationof opinions on

ethical and political issues.• Equal rights of all members

without ranks and grades.• Equalaccesstothegodswithout

mediator and spiritual leader.

• Joint Ritual design throughreely chosen cult leader.

Forguidingfreepaganism,thereis an extended essay rom ourEwart pagan Yearbook 2006,published by Daniel Junker, used

here with permission o the pub-lisher: The reedom o a humanheath.

The concept o the ethnic

nature o religion means:• The Teutonic Paganism is the

religion o the gods who are inthenatureofNorthandCentralEuropeandinalllivingbeingsand things o this nature hasproduced.

• The Teutonic Paganism is the

religionofthehistoricGerman-ic peoples and their culture. Itdoes not claim to global valid-ity and does not missionise.

• The Teutonic Paganism is thereligion o today’s people whobybirthorrecordingofaGer-manic community and are com-mitted to their heritage.

What the VGH NOT represents:• ”FolkishAsatru”astheexclusive

religion of the people of Ger-manic descent.

• ”UniversalistAsatru”ascitizenso the country and detached”world religion”.

• Ceremonialmagic, Wicca andother teachings that are not tra-ditionallyGermanic.

• Ariosophie doctrines of the

popularandesotericlike”Neu-germanentums”.

• Mixingwithotherpagantradi-tions or neuheidnischen.

• Interpretations according toother traditions, mysticationand antasy lessons.

• Abuseof the Germanicpagan-ism at the service o politicalideologies, or or the purposeo personal proling.

The VGH is cooperating with:• Representatives of the tradi-

tional Germanic paganism inother associations.

• Representatives of other tradi-tional and reconstructed paganreligions.

• Representativesseriouslynatur-

religiös oriented ”neuheid-nischer” Teaching.

The VGH is NOT

cooperating with:• Satanists, and speculative

Rassenmystikern Esoteric andoccultists.

• Representative dogmatic inter-pretationsoftheGermanicpa-ganism.

• Missionarymovementsand”re-ligious leaders” o all kinds.

Verein für Germanisher HeidentumTranslated from the website www.vfgh.de

Verein für Germanisher Heidentum (The Associationfor Germanic paganism) (VfGH) is a religious commu-nity based on the traditional pre-Christian Germanicreligion and culture. We follow the idea of a free pagan-ism, the various individual values at a common goaltogether.

Translated from the website www.eldaring.de

Wellcome to Eldaring!The Eldaring is a young group that was created to bringinformation about Asatru to the German-speakingarea. With Asatru we mean the reconstruction of thepre-Christian religion of Europe and Scandinavia.



Our Blotlaug welcomes all peo-ple interested in the old lore o GothsandVikingandseekinginmodern interpretation or recon-structionism. Our organisationhas no political interpretation.We are against people who use

old germanic-gothic, scandinavi-an, celtic symbols to spread hate,racism, biggotry, xenophobia, sa-tanism or homophobia. We haveno autoritarian interpretation o ourlore.WetriedtheGothicFornSedwaybecausewewishtodif -ferentiateourselvesfromFolkishpeople(SomekindofOdinistandFolkishÁsatrú).

GotlandFornSedbeganin1992as a small collective called ”Colec-tivoÁsatrú”andwechangedthename to “Hermandad del anillo -KindredoftheRing”someyearsago. Today we are ormed in aBlotlaug.

Our path is reconstructionist and

traditionalist inspired by someScandinavian organisations. Ourprincipal way is the Viking way,because this is a path more seri-ously to reconstruct than Visig-othic. But, we have some infu-ences in our path of Visigoths,SueviansandVandals.OurSpan-ish History is joined to these goth-ic olk. However, we are not olk-ish. We believe that all people canbeÁsatrú,it’snotnecessarytobeof Germanic or Vikings origins.

We think that the main objectiveof Ásatrú is to follow the gods,goddesses, wights, hiddenolk,elves and the oreathers, and notto be a club o white people. Man-kind in general has the same rightasgermanicstobeÁsatrú

TheFornSedisaspiritualwayforthe practice o the religion called

Asatrú, Heathenry or Sed. We

honour and present oerings totheGodsandotherbeingsintheworld around us: Wights, Elvesand Ancestors. Our religion is aresponse to mankind’s encoun-ter with the spiritual through thegenerations, and these encoun-ters and our ancestor’s under-standing o them became thisreligion. Thereore we eel a spir-itual bond to all other religionsormed in this way, whether thatreligion is called Shinto, Hindu-

ism, Romuva or something else.We strive to create a close rela-tionshipwiththeGodsandotherenteties around us.

Gotland Forn Sed – Old Lore Of Gothic LandPresentation Of Catalan Blotlaug From the website www.fornsed.es

Gotland Forn Sed - Old Lore of Gothic Land is a Blotlaug

(Godord/Kindred) situated in Catalonia. We also havemembers from other sites of Spain. We are inspiredby the old way of Vikings and Goths in heathen time.Gotland Forn Sed is a member of Swedish Network of Old Lore (Nätverket Forn Sed).

TheInternationalAsatruSummercamp(IASC) hastheaimofbringing together asatruar or the urthering o understandingbetween asatruar, the knowledge o the dierent aspects andpractices o asatru and hence expanding our horison on asatrutoday.

AsaparticipantattheIASCyoucommityourselftocomplywiththeIASCCodeofConduct.• EachparticipantattheIASCisexpectedtotreattheotherpar-

ticipants with respect and to conduct him- or hersel honour-ably.

• Racistordiscriminatoryconduct,andmoregenerally:causinganuisanceattheIASCforotherparticipantsand/ortheareawhereintheIASCisheld,willleadtotheexpulsionfromtheIASCoftheperson(s)concerned.

• TheIASCCouncilreservestherighttoexcludeindividualsorgroups, o which it has reason to suspect that they might notcomply with this code o conduct or otherwise threaten to up-setthefrithgarth,oftheIASC.

• TheorganizationsinvolvedinsettinguptheIASCcannotbeheld responsible or the acts and/or deeds o individual par-ticipantsatthe IASC.The IASCandits organizerscarries nocollective responsibility. They are also not responsible ordamagearisingduringtheIASCandinictedonpersonsorpersonal property.

• PleasenotethatduetoDanishlawindoorsmokingisprohib-ited.

• Dogsandotherpetsareallowedatthecamp.Theyarealwaysthe responsibility o their owners and should be kept on aleash i necessary.

• AllproblemsandviolationswithintheCode ofConductwillbe taken care of by the IASC Council. (Matters concerningbreaking Danish law will be handed over to the police.)

The IASC Council

• TheCouncilconsistsofonerepresentativefromeach oftheorganizing organizations.

• TheCouncilwilltakecareofalldisputesthatmayarisewithinthe terms dened in the Code o Conduct.

• TheCouncilwillalsotakecareofotherdisputesthatmayariseamongst participants i these disputes in any way could ham-

per the camp. I a dispute arises the Council will assemble im-mediately.• Thingsbroughtbeforethecouncilwillbetakencareofbythe

ollowing procedure:• Thepeopleinvolvedinthematterareentitledtotellthever-

sion o the matter to the Council. They speak one at the timeand may not be interrupted.

• Themembersof the councilmaythenaskquestionstothecase.

• TheCouncilwillthenretireandndasolutiontothematter.• The solution will be announced through a spokesperson

elected by the council.

ThedecisionsoftheIASCCouncilarenal.

FaliuretocomplywiththedecisionsoftheCouncilwillresultinimediateexpulsionfromtheIASC.

The IASC Code of conduct - IASC Counsil



Actually, the ellows I meet havebeen cut out o tree-trunks, butthey refect the stories that weretold over here or a long time,and that have, or example, beendrawn up into some o the saga-books that were written in theNetherlandsattheendofthe18 th

and the beginning o the 19th cen-turies. Local olklore rom all overthe world usually is teeming withall kinds o lower mythologicalcreatures, as some mythologists

tend to call gnomes and othernature-inhabiting beings. As I seeit, these creatures can be reckonedamongst the landwights.

The naming ‘landwights’, or actu-ally landvættir , as they are calledin old-Icelandic, is Icelandic inorigin. They appear in some sa-gas and olktales as the creaturesthat the Icelanders encounteredwhen they rst colonised theirland and that have played a livingrole in olk belie or a long time.

Though the belie in landwightsmight have been strengthenedby the imaginative natural ea-tures o Iceland, traces o belie insimilar spirits can be ound all overthe Germanic world. All kinds ofcreatures inhabiting nature thatare connected to specic naturaleatures like hills, hollows, orestsand so on appear in olk talesthroughoutnorthwesternEurope.They show up as gnomes, elves,airies, trolls, giants or similar crea-

tures.Usuallytheformtheytakeinthe tales, and in ront o my mindseye when I search or them, isconnected to the surroundings inwhichtheyarefound.Giantsanddragons are usually connected tosome larger natural eature, like ahill, mountain or sometimes evena complete peninsula or island.Trolls live in dark and shady placeslike caves and canyons. And thereis a whole range o creatures, likegnomes and airies, that seem topopulate the orests.

Stories concerning landwights inmany cases seem to concentrateon natural eatures that stand outin their surroundings. A ree stand-ing tree, or example, will moreoten be haunted than some tree

that’s part o a orest. It is usuallythe lone hill or mountain where adragon or giant lives or once lived.In my personal experience I eelindeed a much stronger presenceo wights at such places, and I sus-

pect many people will.My explanation or this latter act isthat landwights are strongly con-nected to the identity o a place.A tree, hill or other natural eaturethat stands out will be more eas-ily remembered. In other words, itwill have a stronger identity. Plac-es that are easier to remember willmore oten play an important rolein tales told, as well. The atmos-phere a certain place or object hasaround it plays an important roletoo, o course. And oten these

places or objects standing outrom their surroundings can giveus an uneasy eeling, especiallywhen the weather gods play theirroles as light- and/or sound editorsin their most dramatic way. And itis just in this way that, in my opin-

ion, stories about spooky wightstend to stick to these places.

So, landwights are connectedto the identity o places, andthe stronger this identity is, the

stronger the presence, the eel-ing o landwights being there, willbe. I think it is interesting in thislight to call into mind a conceptI learned about in my studies onlandscape architecture: genius loci .This term literally means ‘spirit o theplace’.Nowadaysitisusedtodenote the identity, the soul, o acertainplace.TheancientRomansrst used this term or a kind o protective spirit, protecting a spe-cic person, somewhat similar totheNorseylgja. Later on the gen-

ius loci became a spirit that pro-tected a certain place or a house.In that way it is not dissimilar tothe Germanic house/landwights.In some stories they seem to pro-tect the land they’re connectedwith and all that lives on it, includ-

ing the people. A strong exampleo this is the story told in Landná-

mabók , in which the Danish kingHarald Gormsson, intending toinvade Iceland, orders a wizard totravel to this land and tell what he

sees there. When arriving at thecoast o Iceland, the wizard seesthat the land is ull o landwights.When he tries to get on shore, thewizard is attacked by a dragon, aneagle, a bull and a giant on each o the quarters o the island.But usually the landwights aren’tportrayed as being that benecentin stories. In many cases encoun-ters between humans and wightsend up in humans being scared,held captive or even killed. Thisespecially is the case when it con-

cerns landwights connected withplaces that are outside people’sdailysurroundings,let’ssayinUt -gard. Landwights are said to lurepeople into swamps or caves, theyare said to be the reason that peo-ple get lost in orests and so on.

Meeting landwights By Michi el de Nijs

When walking in the forests that cover part of the dunearea near the town where I live, I sometimes encoun-ter them: kabouters, bearded gnomes with a pointy hat that appear quite often in Dutch folklore.

Photo: Michiel de Nijs



Well, i we allow ourselves to con-sider this true in the real world,why would they do such things?I think it is simply because we areintruders in their land. We disturbtheir rest and, when we stay, theirlives. Many people just walk intoa place as i they own it. They didso in the past, and they do it evenmore so in the present. And when

you do that, nature, the land, thelandwights might just turn againstyou. When you step into a swampas i it is your back garden, youmight very well drown. Or be luredinto the water, to put it in the lan-guage o the tales.

But even i you live in a place ingood harmony with the land-wights, they might turn againstyou because o someone else’sdoings. An example o this can be

readinEgil’sSaga.Becauseofhisdispute with king Eirik Blodøks,theprotagonistEgil erects a nid-

stang (“curse-pole”) on the islandofHerdla,whereKingEirikhashishouse, saying the words:“Here I set up a nidstang against

King Eirik and Queen Gunnhild - and

I direct this against all the guardian

spirits o this land, so that every one

o them may go astray, neither to

gure nor nd their dwelling places,

until they have driven King Eirik and

Queen Gunnhild rom this country.”

The words in the curse make clearthat the nidstang is actually meantto upset the landwights, so that

they’lldriveEgil’sopponentawayrom the land. In this story thecurse seems to work, becauseshortlyafterthis,KingEirikleavesforEnglandtosettleoverthere.

The way the landwights are por-trayed and the way in which theyact in the stories mentioned abovecorrespond quite well with my

personal views on them. I considerit healthy to maintain good rela-tions with the wights that are parto the place where I live and withthose inhabiting places where I in-tend to stay or a while. When I rstmoved into the place where I livenow, one o the rst things I didwas to perorm a little ritual to in-troduce mysel to the landwightsliving here and honour them.Even if you don’t consider land-wights to be real living creatures,

this is a nice way to create a bondwith the place you live, to eel re-ally connected with it. A way to

maintain this bond is by makingsmall oerings to the wights regu-larly, like I do mysel in my smallgarden, sacricing some milk,beer, mead or ood.

For me, creating and maintain-ing a bond with the landwightsis a good way to get a connectionwith the land that I live on or the

place that I am visiting. It helpsme to understand the land better.Because o the way landwights arein my view connected to the iden-tity o a place, it helps me to getsome basic understanding o thatplace. And that in turn helps meto get more involved in the placeand eel more at ease in it, like itmight do or many other people aswell.Youcouldsaythattheland-wights work like an intermediarybetween humans and the land on

a symbolic and perhaps energylevel.

Photo: Michiel de Nijs

In my opinion, both scientic andesoteric knowledge are equallyworthy or those who want tolearn more about these signs.One o my mottos regardingrunes is: play with them as long asyou are ully aware o the act thatthey are not toys.

Wights I perceive as individualsand I also approach them that

way. The various lie orms in theother eight worlds are simply di-erent rom Midgard, our ownrealm and our human lie orm.Eachworldandgroupofwightshave their own possibilities andimpossibilities. The spirits I’mmost connected with, beside theancestors, are elves, thurses anddwars. To me, thurs is just a wordor these huge and powerul spir-itswhichinEnglishareknownasgiants.From my point of view, spirits

might be connected with runesinstead o the other way around.In act, this dierence could givea good opening or a debate onAnsuz, Tiwaz and Inguz sincethese three runes either meanliterally ‘god’, or there is a correla-

tion with the name o a god.My main rune row is the ElderFuthark, or Common GermanicFutharkanditisbyuseofthese24 symbols I want to share someo my thoughts concerning runesand wights with the readers o this unique magazine. The ollow-ing part has come rom my play-ul mind and experience.

How do all these dierent spiritsrelate to the runes? Do they evenknow them? Well, the Hávamál(143) tells us that elves, dwarsand giants are actually amiliarwith the symbols:

en yr alum Dáinn,Dvalinn ok dvergum yrir,Ásviðrjötnumfyrir,ek reist sjalr sumar.

and Dain or the elves,Dvalin or the dwars,

Asvid or the giants,I mysel carved some.

The runes have proven them-selves to be useul in many waysto me. Beside their use in thingsthat are common to me, such as

healing, insight and magic, theycan make it easier or the wightsto introduce themselves to us.Sometimes a new spirit shows

up, and since I preer to work withnames I ask or one. I they can’ttell me their name I ask them toshow themselves by using runes,letting them represent who andwhat they are. These runes, alongwith an old book with rst namesand a table o roots or early-me-dieval given names and bynamesinTheNetherlandsandFlanders,have given me and my co-seidr-worker Ellynn several names fordwars, elves and thurses. A name

given to us this way is Logwer ora re-dwar. The runes he showeduswereIsa,NauthizandAlgiz.Isaand Algiz gave us the impressiono protection and keeping and weound in the mentioned list ‘wer’withmeans‘keeper’.Nauthizfeltin this case as (need)re and orthis we ound loga ‘re’.

Turning to these wights orrunelore was a whole new expe-rienceforme.Singingtheruneswith dwars is more like grunt-

ing, with the jotnar it eels likeshouting and with the elves it isa mysterious whisper. As long aswe, human beings, respect thewights and their way o lie, wecan get along ne. Needless tosay that it is very important to

ask permission or roaming theirlands and it also takes some cour-tesy rom our part to wait and seewho amongst these groups are

willing to work with us. I wouldsay it’s just common sense, andother seidrworkers would prob-ably agree with me.

Everyrunecouldbeperceivedasa diamond with many acets, anddue to the changing lights andthe dierent angles rom whichwe look at a rune, it might revealan immense variety. Imagine, orexample,Geboasathree-dimen-sional sparkling blood red col-

oured ruby and step into it. Canyou eel the spokes o the signitsel as a connection to the eightworlds around us and throughthese worlds to the spirits whodwell there?

Gebo is one of the runes con-nected to relationships and in myopinion it could be seen as a gen-eral connection between man-kind and spirits. Thereore, it canbe used with all kinds o wights toestablish a connection with them.

I will take a little detour here be-ore continuing with runes andwights.Besides the earth we live on, rep-resented by Othila, other heav-enly bodies strongly infuenceour lives: the stars, the planets,

By Frigga Asraaf

Runes and WightsBoth runes and wights play a signicant role in my life.To me, runes represent primal powers, forces which gobeyond our imagination and perhaps even beyond ouruniverse. Runes are a key to the gates leading to all se-

crets, knowledge and wisdom hidden behind them.



the sun and the moon. Tiwaz canrepresent all stars or I see a rela-tion between this rune and thepolestar. The sun in all her powerandglorywehaveinSowulo.Al-though one might come up withsome valid arguments to explainthe act that there is no rune inwhich the power o the mooncould be ound, I sometimes miss

a moon-rune. I particularly lovethe ull moon and each month itis a surprise to discover what hewould look like and what kindo energy this phenomenon willbring.Ater some pondering I thoughtRaidoandLaguztobetwoprop-er runes when I want to call uponthepowersofthemoon.Raidoisconnected to the cycles o nature.One o these cycles is o coursethe turning o the moon which

has its infuence on another cycle:the tide, the cycle o water rep-resented by Laguz. The cycles o nature are also ound in Jera: thecycle o the year and the harvest.

Back to runes and wights: therune most related to giants is,of course, Thurisaz. The Flem-ish writer and Assyriologist Vin-cent Ongkowidjojo states thatthe etymological meaning o Thurisaz is ‘the powerul’ whichis, as he says, a typical quality o

the thurses. (Ongkowidjojo, Runenin de noordse traditie, p. 19) This issomething I can relate to. Becauseo their size and the way they aremainly portrayed in the myths itis amazing how gentle, careuland prudent they tend to be intheir contact with humans. Whenit comes to runes and riddles theycan be really good teachers. The elves seem like an intriguinggroup o beings to me, known

and yet unknown. I really like tospend time with them and maybesomeday I will really get to knowthem.SomehowImostlyconnectelves with the elements air andwater, because they oten eel sotenuous, especially next to jotnarand dwars. Thereore, I wouldsay that the obvious runes or theelvesareAnsuzandLaguz.SinceI preer to work with groups o three runes, a third rune wouldbe Berkana. Trees and healing arepart o eldom as well, in my opin-

ion, coming together in the runeBerkana, the birch tree known orits healing powers.In the rhythm o dwars ham-meringonironIcanhearRaido,sometimes even the ‘heartbeat’o the earth hersel. Ater all, the

inside o the earth is their dwell-ing. In their teamwork I can rec-ognize Mannaz and the earthlystrength of Uruz shows theirstamina. Singing these threerunes ater calling the dwarseels like being wrapped in theirenergy, their essence.

Wunjo, Nauthiz and Dagaz are

three runes I sometimes use tocall upon Loki, one o my avouritegiants. Loki in his own inimitableway can teach us about the joy o lie, one o the aspects o Wunjo.The paradox o lie, representedby Dagaz, is shared by the runeand this giant. Nauthiz standslike a bridge between these tworunes. The needre Nauthiz canbe the necessary change Lokioten brings. With some un andlaughter, the unexpected and ab-

surd sides o lie can become a bitmore bearable.

Let us go back to the beginningoftherune-row,toFehuand,inaway, also to time and tide.Amongotherthings,Fehurepre-sents the power o spring to meand in this aspect I connect theelves with this rune. ContemplateonFehu’srealittlelongerandice comes to mind. Fire and iceare to be ound in respectivelyFehuandIsa,bothprimalforces

o the universe. These powersbrought orth a giant they oncecameacrossinGinnungagap,soFehucanberelatedtogiantsaswell. If we see Fehu as a repre-sentativeofGinnungagapwhichis the home o Audhumbla, thepower o the primal cow is part o the power concealed by this sign.In Isa the rime-thurses can berecognized. These giants are ableto decorate the land so beauti-ully with hoarrost or snow in

wintertime. And, when asked ina riendly way, they are willing toleavebytheendofFebruarytomake place or spring.Hagalaz is related to ice as well, ashail is a strange phenomenon o nature and a giant power, I wouldsay. But, because o the in-be-tween state o hail, it can be elshas well, or it is elusive: once in ourhand it will melt to become fuidwater again.

In the runes Fehu, Uruz and

Ehwaztheanimalkingdomcouldbe recognized, including mythi-cal animals, animal spirits andpower animals. The literary mean-ingofFehuis‘cattle’,UruzstandsforthewildoxandEhwazcanbetranslated as ‘horse’. Algiz can be

a ourth rune in this row as it rep-resents another animal: the elk.There are many mythical animals,for example, Ratatosk the squir-rel, Heidrun the goat, AudhumblatheprimalcowandNidhöggthedragon, to name a ew.Originally, Ehwaz meant ‘horse’and, according to Rudolf Simek,the German scholar of Scandi-

navian Studies, the horse had aspecial meaning for Germanicpeoples, or the practical reasonofridingandbecauseofIndo-Eu -ropean traditions. (Simek, Diction-

ary o Northern Mythologie, p. 157 ).This signicance becomes ap-parent in horse sacrices as de-scribed by Adam von Bremen,orthemanyhorsenamesSnorrigaveusinhisProseEdda:atrstOdin’shorseSleipnirandhiso -springGrani,butalsoGladr,Skei-

dbrimir,FalhófnirandLéttfeti,toname a ew o them.I remember one time I usedEhwaz to calm down a horse. Iwas sitting next to a coachmanon the box o a coach. One o thehorses was still in training andrather nervous because o all thecity trac around him, and thecoachman had some problemscontrolling it. Ater I sotly andunnoticed by others sang theEhwaz-rune over the horse, itwalked much more at ease.

While Uruz and Ehwaz illustratethe animal kingdom, at leasttwo runes show the vegetablekingdom: Eihwaz and Berkana. Iwould add Inguz to make this seto three complete.Inguz could represent seed, abearer o lie. I’ve bumped intothe assumption that a translationor Perthro could be ‘ruit bearingtree’ or ‘apple tree’, again a tree.Laguz compared to laukar ‘look’,

is a plant orce.

Experimentsgavemetwocombi-nations o three runes to be usedor working with the ancestors.The rst combination I will men-tion here has something to dowith the direct amily-line: Wunjo,Inguz and Othila. The secondcombination would be Mannaz,Inguz and Othila which suit theancestors in general, every per-son that once lived beore us.The distinction between direct

oremothers and oreathers orancestors in general can be seenin Wunjo as the amily’s solidarityand in Mannaz, which is related tomankind in general.An important part o the orceof Inguz is DNA that has been

passed on rom generation togeneration and will be passed onas long as living organisms inhab-it this planet. This ongoing line o Inguz fows into Othila: the runeo the land to which we will giveback our blood. I we place the underworld be-neath the earth, it leads us to

another rune. The underworld isrefected in Hagalaz and thereoreit’s a runic orce that could be usedto dive deep into the collectivesubconscious o which ancestralpower and knowledge are signi-cant parts. Another rune ready tobe used or this kind o work isPerthro, which I mentioned be-ore with the possible meaning o a ruit-bearing tree, but which tome is oremost a representative o awell,specicallythewellofUrd,

the well o Mimir and Hvergelmir.In this way Perthro might rep-resent the ancestral part o thewholeGermaniceld.I work with a specic symbolism:everything comes orth rom thewell and everything will return tothewell(s).Soitisinthewell,Per -thro, we can nd ancestral lore,knowledge and skills. EspeciallywithalittlehelpfromKenaz,therune that lights our way to andthrough the well.

These are some o my thoughtsand experience with runes andwights so ar. One never getsbored with wights or runes, Iwould say. Due to my years o experience I’m convinced bothwights and runes will teach memany a thing yet beyond my im-agination, something to look or-ward to!

Bibliography

Lar ring ton, Carolyne (tran slation)

The Poetic Edda

Oxford University Press, Oxford, England 1996

Ongkowidjojo, Vincent

Runen in de noordse traditie

Ank-Hermes BV, Deven ter, Nederland 2007

Simek, Rudolf

Dict ionar y of North ern Mytholog y

D.S . Brewer, Woodbridge, England 1996

Internet

Kees Nieuwenhuijsen - Living History Studies

www.keesn.nl/names/en4_list_ele.htm

The Northvergr Foundation

www.northvegr.org



My husband Martin and I were ex-pecting our second child in May.Well it is my ourth, but it’s the sec-ond that we are both parents to.When I had the rst two ones in89 and 90, I was still searching ora spiritual home, when my third,our rst, came in 06 I had had oneor long.I gave it some thought then,about the norns and the liethread they are spinning or all o us. I wondered i anything could

be done to make them createa good and strong one or thebaby to come. But in the end allI did was to draw a rune to check i everything would be alright.The one in the beginning o thepregnancy was clear enough,but the one I drew in the end wasblank. I did ask specically aboutthe birth though, and I’m happyI wasn’t given a hint on beore-hand. It did end with a caesareanbirth.Anyway at that time I orgot

about the norns when we gotclose to birth.SincethenIreadapartinHelgeHundingsbanes saga where thenorns created his thread, thenight he was born. It is a verypowerul description, and onceagain I thought about how tobest contact them. This time,however, I thought about sharingmy thoughts and sent a questionon the summercamps messageboard, to see i anyone had any-

thing to say about it. This is whatI wrote:“Okay - entering the last our weeks,

or so o pregnancy. Being the ourthchild and my age being 42 - I know

this is the last time.

Weird.

I’m ed up with being this big - and

the baby is starting to take up so

much space, breathing is getting

dicult in certain positions, like ly-

ing fat on my back trying to sleep …

And still the eeling o someone

completely unknown movingaround inside o me … this will soon

be over never to be repeated …

Lie is a strange thing - I do hope

the Norns will spin a strong thread.

In the saga o Helge Hundingsbane

the Norns show up to “spin” the

thread the night he was born and

they created it with gold ribbons …

I wonder … are the Norns open to

sacrices like the gods are, or do

they just act?

And there were some answers in-deed.

From Holland came a personalgnosisabouttheNornsandhowa sacrice to them might work :The norns weave the threads o our

lives and so may present us with

events and occurrences we can-

not oresee or avoid. They do not,

however, tell us how to act in those

instances. That is our reedom and

responsibility. By our words and

actions do we make sacrice to thenorns, because by our words and

deeds we give them new threads to

weave into the tapestry o our lie.”

With the note that o course onecould always raise a horn to theirhonour.

From Sweden came a very spe-cicdescriptionofaSwedishtra-dition, that was unknown to me:“Here in Sweden there is an old tra-

dition to oer porridge to the Norns

on the night ollowing the birth.

That would suggest that they are

open to sacrice, at least according

to tradition.”

Nowthatwasinspiringnews.

From Holland there was also awish that Frigg would help meand the baby when the timecame. Thank you or that, I be-lieve she did.

Athen,fromGermanycamethisnote o plain common sense:“I would say, just do it.

Nobody, not even the Nornes, will be unhappy about a git - which,

or me, a sacrice is.”

The message thread did howeverevolve into an exciting discussionabout being true to the sourcesand old traditions today. Aboutpersonal views and what can ac-tually be said to be “true”.Not bad at all to see a threadevolving like this, while you arepondering about the norns andtheir work.

So with these messages fromaroundEurope,MartinandIwentahead and made a little ritual.We made some porridge romoatmeal, milk, butter, honey andsalt. We poured milk over it and

put in three spoons. We raisedour horn to the gods and powers,poured some mead and beer onthe stone or the Landwights andgave the bowl with the porridgeto the Norns, asking for a longand strong thread or the baby tocome. We let it all there on thestone, and went to bed.

The next morning all the porridgewas eaten and all three spoonswere gone!Well, I did expect the porridge to

be eaten, living in a small ham-let there are plenty o animals toappreciate that kind o oerings.But the spoons?! And all o them?!

Well, we decided to make thatmean that our oering had beenaccepted.

On the 12th o May our second lit-tle daughter was born. All wentwell and the baby is healthy,strong and beautiul. We decided

tonameherAlvaSolrunandtimewill show how her thread doeslook.

But I would like to say thank you,to the people responding to mymessage, it was really ruitul.Both the answers and the actthat we are so connected in aiththough separated in geography.

HailUrd,VerdandiandSkuld,thethree emales rom beneath theTree.

ÅrogfredHelena, Martin,Ronja,Jonatan,DisaandAlva Disa G unnbjørg and Alva Solrun. Phot o: Helena Valorint a.

From the spring equinox blót. Photo: Helena Valorinta.

Offering to the Norns By Helena Valorinta

In this process of creating the summer camp, a wholenew community has been established. A Europeancommunity. Let me tell you about one of my experienc-es during this spring.



On the third side the trees con-tinued like a spreading blanket.Only on the ourth side, the sea-ward side, there were no naturalbuers, but the rugged palisadeon top op a modest earthenwall took most o the brunt o the erce winds. And the houseitsel was sturdy and had stoodthrough worse storms already.

The inside o the house was instark contrast. In the middleo the main room the dancingfames o a big re gave o heatand light enough. Part o the rewas in use or cooking, with a ket-tle on an iron stand. A tall, blond-haired woman stirred the con-tents and shot a warning look at aman who approached with bowland spoon.

“You’ll wait until I tell you!”,Gudrunsaidsternly,butthespar -

kle in her eyes belied the tone o her voice.“But it smells good!” Thorgil com-

plained. “Almost as good as you”he added with a smile.“Oh, so my cooking smells sec-ond-grade, huh?”“Compared to you anythingsmells second grade.”Shemadeaswattingmotionandhe retreated to a seat outside herreach. He put bowl and spoondown and leaned back againstthe ur-covered rest. His eyes

weredrawntohiswife’ships.See-ing the direction o his gaze, sheshook her head.“Lei’s coming, so behave.” Helooked back with a brave attemptat sad eyes, but all he got or histroubles were a grin and ater amoment a teasing sway o thehips.Thorgil rose again, though thistime not to pester his wie orood or other things. He elt rest-less. He always was when he ex-pected guests. He knew he would

eel better again when his riendhad arrived, especially with thisweather. Lei’s arm was only a

short walk away and Lei him-sel was a stout man who hadseen his share o bad weatherand storms, so there really wasnothing to worry about. But the

knock startled him nevertheless.He hurried to the small room thatwas the buer between the coldoutside and the warm hall. Whenhe opened the door it struggledagainst the wind, but Thorgil hadstrength in his arms. He was moresurprised by the act that Lei wasnot alone. And that in itsel wasno problem; the people o Lei’ssib were as welcome as Lei was.But, unless Thorgil had missedsomething, a Christian priest was

not part o his riend’s sib.“I ound him wandering alongthe road” the sturdy armer said.“He asked or a roo.”“I… cla…claim… hospatilaty…”the priest stammered throughclattering teeth.His grasp o the language was notaultless, but the meaning wasclear. Thorgil stepped aside sothat the two men could enter.“Be welcome then, both o you.Guestswillndwarmth,foodanddrink, and company” he spoke

more ormally than he wouldhave with just Lei.The two men did not have to be

told twice. Thorgil closed thedoor and took the mantles o hisguests. He was not surprised thepriest was cold. His woollen man-tle was old and worn thin and

made him wonder what the manwas doing here in the rst place.But he wondered that anyway. Heopened the door to the hall andthe warmth rolled in as a welcom-ing wave.“Gudrun, we have guests!” hespoke to warn his wie.He stepped aside to let them stepinside. Closing the door behindthem so no warmth would belost, he introduced his wie andhimsel.

“This is Gudrun HrothgarsdottirandIamThorgilEgilsson.”“I am Father Ignatius. May theLord bless your house or yourwelcome” the priest said.He spoke slowly, but it was clearhe was no stranger to the lan-guage and Thorgil appreciatedthe eort.“ForyourwordsIthankyou.Ahotmeal will be ready soon and I willdraw you beer. I you wish, I havedry clothes too.”Foramomentitlookedasifthe

man wanted to object, but hisown teeth, still chattering, per-suadedhimnotto.Gudrunbusiedhersel with the beer and Thorgilwent to etch kyrtle and trousers.Lei settled himsel on the benchand rubbed his hands apprecia-tively. He took the wooden mugo beer and raised it silently. Thepriest too took it.“Thank you, good woman” hesaid.Gudrun had to restrain her-

sel rom saying something like‘But you wouldn’t know a goodwoman i she sat on your lap’ andsimply nodded. Thorgil returnedwith the tunic and only ateran awkward moment o silencedid the priest realise he wouldhave to change here. Recognis-ing his sensibilities were a littlener than a longhouse allowedor, the three others turned awayuntil the rustle o clothing hadstopped. Thorgil took the soak-ing wet habit and hung it on a

wooden rod suspended rom tworopes. It was close enough to there to dry out, but out o reach o the hungry fames. Thorgil drewhis wie and himsel a mug o beer as well and sat down, look-ing at the priest.

On God and gods By Sti lleward

It was a cold, dark evening. Outside the wind howledand someone inclined to go out would have seen foam-crowns on the waves in the bay. Rain fell in stinginggusts and nothing outside remained dry. The long-house though was shielded on two sides by the rising

hills, tree-covered slopes with rock for bones.

Photo: www.sxc.hu



“It is a bad night to be out on theroad” he commented.Hospitality did not only meanood and drink, but also attentionor a man’s story, i he wished toshare it.“TheLordprovides”FatherIgna -tius said. “Though he provided

me with a mantle or warmer cli-mates than this.”The second part came out withwry humour. It made him rise anotch in Thorgil’s esteem. MostChristians he knew, were eithertoo ull o themselves, or hypo-crites.“What brings you here then?”The priest looked at his beer. Hisexpression betrayed a measure o discomort.“I am here to tell people about

God”henallyanswered.“Whichone?”Gudrunasked.Her tone was one o interest i you did not know her, but Thorgilcaught the sharp edge.“Well, God, of course” he saidwith a smile.“Ah,theStraw-God,”shenodded.Their guest looked at her ques-tioningly.“Because his son was born in astable” Thorgil said quickly.“Ah” Father Ignatius nodded.“YouknowofGodandJesusour

Saviour?”“I know some o the stories” hesaid.He did not add, ‘It pays to knowyour enemy’, although he, unlikehis wie, did not consider eachand every Christian his enemy.

“Whom do you believe in?” theFatherasked.“Freya, and Tyr!” Gudrun saidercely, the challenge clear.“Freyaisthegoddessoffertility”Thorgil explained, casting a warn-ing look at her. “Tyr is the Ting-god.”

“And you?”“I ollow Thor and Odin. Thor isthe god o thunder. He ghtsagainst giants. And Odin is thegod o wind and words.”Thorgil smiled.“You should pray to him. He’s atraveller too.”FatherIgnatiuslaughedandtooka swig o beer. He smacked hislips contentedly.“Good beer”he spoke apprecia-tively.

He returned his attention to hishost.“Goddoesnotneedtotravel.Heis in our hearts. He is everywhere.”“Notinmine”Gudrunspokefromthe kettle.I their guest took oence at hertone he did not show it.“Perhaps he does. Have you everconsidered that what you call‘Freya’or‘Tyr’aresomeofGod’smany acets? Or Thor, or Odin?”“We are ree people” Thorgil an-swered him. “Our gods and god-

desses are ree, except rom wyrd.They do not serve your god.”“Nonono”, the man shook hishead hastily.He was well aware that the north-men were a proud and otenerce people.

“Notserve.Err…”He struggled or words.“Like a sib” he said ater a moment.“A sib consists o many people,but they are a whole. You couldsay that the sib is a gem and eachperson in it is a acet o that gem.What you call Tyr or Odin are but

someofthemanyfacetsofGod.”The sound o a good spoonul o stew being ladled into a bowl waseither an interruption or a point-ed comment.“It smells delicious” Father Igna-tius said.“It certainly does” Lei agreed.

The meal signalled a shorttruce and while they all ate therewas little talk and none o gods,or God. Father Ignatius, for allthat he was not a very big man,

proved a worthy eater. He evenaccepted a second helping, whichwas served with a modicum moregrace. Gudrun had always ad-mired a healthy appetite and thattheFather certainly had. Thorgilpoured them all another tankardof beer while Gudrun cleanedaway the bowls. It was short work and when she was done she set-tledbehindaloom.Usingsmall,carved plates o bone, each with ahole in all o the corners, the resultwas a decorative band that could

be sewn onto the hem or collaro a dress or tunic. With det mo-tions she turned the bone cards,running the thread through it,adding extra lines to the weave.Thorgil watched her work andknew she was ar rom happy. He

got up and ran his hand along herspine. He saw the corner o hermouth twitch in a smile meant orhimandhimalone.Gladforithesat down again, though he nowdearly wished they had the house

just to themselves. “Youmadeanicecomparison,Father” Thorgil returned to theprevious topic.

It was slightly against better judgement, but there was onepointhewantedtomake.FatherIgnatius inclined his head.“But I have a comparison o myown” Thorgil continued. “Youhave saints, yes?”“We do.”“And people worship them.”“People can dedicate a prayer toa saint” the church-man nodded.“So, you have a many gods aswell. God, saints, many.” Thorgil

shrugged his shoulders easily.FatherIgnatiusburstoutinlaugh-ter and the north-man whoseguest he was grinned. Both meninclined their head at the other,wordlessly speaking their appre-ciation. Since both Father Ignatiusand Thorgil were well-travelledmen the rest o the evening waslled with the much saer storiesoffarawayplaces,suchasRomeor the church-man and Mikla-gard or the north-man. As the

evening progressed and stayedwell away rom urther religiousdiscussions,evenGudrunrelaxedand joined the others at the re.

The next morning the worsto the storm at least had passed.A watery sun hung in a cloudedsky and it was be clear therewouldberainduringtheday.Fa-ther Ignatius astened the muchthicker and warmer woollen cloak Thorgil had given him around hisshoulders. He turned to his host.

“MayGodwatchoveryourfam -ily.”His smile and eyes showed thewish was sincere and Thorgillaughed. The tone and mirthmade it clear no sting was in-tended.“For you one god may beenough” he said merrily. “But Ihave love or many. I will ask themall to watch over you while youare here in these lands.”The traveller raised a hand in sa-lute and set out down the road.

Thorgil shook his head, still grin-ning,andfollowedGudrunbackinside.

Photo: www.sxc.hu



I consider mysel an agnosticspiritually, and have had some

fewstrongmeetingswithNorseGods soI know they’re there insome sense or another, in addi-tion to experiences with crea-tures rom other pantheons, so Iknow there’s more than one truthout there. My rsthand experi-enceislimitedtonorthernScot-landandeasternNorway,butI’vehad enough contact with spiritualgroups and individuals in bothplaces to eel the question is realand worth discussing. Other than

this I have no ormal backgroundor my claims.

I consider the Norse and theCeltic pantheons to be equiva-

lent and coexisting. Also I eelstronglythattheNorwegianandthe Scottish mentality – whatsome call heritage – are strik-ingly similar. And I can see somereasons why. Although I believewe are all citizens o the worldand that nations and borders willslowly outplay their roles, wherewe’re born and grow up will al-ways play a large part in deningus, and I will do some broad gen-eralizations to make my point:

Both peoples have been targetso much domination throughout

history and have acquired a simi-lar sturdy quality, which becomes

visible in comparison to moredelicate Continental citizens justa ew borders south (who on theirpart might consider the northern-ers bit crude). Both communitieshave gone rom relative pov-erty to knowledge and resource-based prosperity in the last cen-tury or two (but the notion o theScotsasgreedymustcomefromthe naughty jokes people makeabout their neighbours, becausethey really are very sharing).

Also - this is important - both areblessed with incredible naturalareas and know to use them wise-ly, reconnecting and absorbingthe purer energy ound in areaswith little human activity. Thesethings all play parts in shaping usas rational and real peoples.This down-to-earth-ness shouldbe a good oundation or contactwith deities in nature, right? Whythen did I encounter more every-day reerences to old gods and–essesduringsixmonthsinScot-

landthaninalifetimeinNorway?References abound in children’stales and proverbs, and non-spiritual individuals show theirawareness through exclamationslike “I hope Brigit will be headingthis way soon, I’m sick o winter!”The solstice estival o Hogmanayis a bigger celebration thanChristmas, and active re-enactorgroups keep traditions running.Nottosaywedon’tuphere,buttheNorsedeitiesarerarelymen -

tioned outside o the community.I will skip the obvious act that

the largely Celtic-based Wic-can movement rom overseashas had some infuence, and the

stigma which doubtless ollowedrom association with a certainascist regime, and go straightto another interesting aspect o the matter, what I in lack o lessuzzy wording could call a higherenergy state. To expand on this:Walking in mountains has alwaysuplited me, but in the Highlandsit elt as though I was physicallygrowing. I I could eel presencein nature beore, I could com-municate with it now. Hal a yearsince I’ve been there, I still get

emotional whenever I think ortalk about it. The sense o beinggreeted warmly welcome is sostrong it’s poetic.NewAgerswillhavemanythingsto say here but I won’t go there.I will only say there is a huge di-erence in the subtler interactionsbetween humans and nature andthat this dierence shapes us ona more or less conscious plane,infuencing our abilities to have arelationship with other nonphysi-

cal entities.

On Celts and Vikings – a personal note By Agnethe Ouren, murmeldyr.no

For this International Asatru Summer Camp I wouldlike to explore a question that’s been on my mind re-

cently. One that would be very rude to post within thestrong, viable Norse community: Why do the descend-ants of Celts in Britain have a closer relationship totheir pantheon than we have to ours?

Tunhovd fjord, Numedal. Photo: Agnethe Ouren.

Dram Nam Bo, Eastern highlands. Photo: Agnethe Ouren .

Mounta in vegetation . Photo: Agnethe Ouren.

High pla in, Ruigh Aitea chain . Photo: Agneth e Ouren .



• Helena, Denmark – coordinat-ing the magazine and gather-ing material rom Denmark.

• Lynn,KithofYggdrasil–proof -

• Frigga,HetRad–writingandgathering materials rom HetRad.

• Markus, Sveriges Asatrosam-

• May-Britt ,Bifrost–Norwegianliaison and gathering materialfromNorway.

• Michiel,HetRad–creatingand

Spanish liaison and gatheringmaterialfromSpain.

• Stilleward, De 9 Werelden –gathering material rom De 9

The Editorial group of the camp magazine IASC Herald

www.bogensholmlejren.dk

Map of Bogensholm campand surrounding area

iasc herald june 09 (1)

Documents