Aldsidu is against all forms of bigotry and hate.  However, I have realized that too many “Asatruar” are not actually Heathens having new ways or Old Ways as their faith.  Anti-racism is their religion, not Heathenry.  A true Heathen would not try to change other cultures.  Historical Heathens did not have beliefs of conversion. The world was fine being multi-cultural, and multi-religious.  When Saxon Heathens traveled in pre-christian times, they used terms like “landuuise” to describe the customs of the people living in other lands.  They did not try to change o ..read more

While this is not necessarily a topic of Saxon Heathenry, the Saxons did have trade and an economic infrastructure before forced Christianization which came along with the Saxon Wars. The Saxons, before christianization, did not mint coins. While they certainly came across coins minted elsewhere, metal was the common form of currency. The Saxon merchants had developed a so-called bullion economy. When paying, silver (sometimes other metals, silver was the most common) was cut into the form of ingots and weighed with scales and weights. The same was done with coins and jewelry. [Walther Haupt ..read more

Widukind was a Saxon Heathen noble, without a doubt the most famous Saxon Heathen in history. Widukind was known as one of two Saxon nobles who fought Charlemagne and the Frankish forced christianization of the Heathen Saxons in Saxony. Many scholars are unsure if Widukind was captured, killed in battle, or if he surrendered. Frankish christian writings claim that Widukind freely surrendered and was baptized after fourteen years of fighting, with Charlemagne being his "godfather." Scholars debate how "christian" and "propagandized" the Frankish writings are. What is for sure, is the Frankish w ..read more

The word "rune" (or "runes") occurs 43 times in the Elder Edda, as opposed to 4 times in the Younger Edda. Most scholars, like Dr. Jackson Crawford consider the Elder Edda to be a Primary Source on Norse Heathenry, and the Younger Edda a secondary source. I agree. The attestations of Runes do occur more in the Codex Regius (The Elder Edda) than in Snorri's Edda, even if one were to take into account that the Elder Edda is almost four times the size of the Prose Edda. Snorri's frequency (or lack thereof) continues into his Heimskringla, where Snorri uses the word "Runes/Runes" a whopping one ti ..read more

Let me start with post by thanking Snorri for his Edda and his Sagas. We would know less if it were not for Snorri's efforts. Snorri Sturluson (born in 1179, died in 1241) was elected law-speaker of Iceland's Althing for two different terms. In addition to being a politician, Snorri was a poet, credited with writing the Prose Edda, the collection of Sagas known as Heimskringla, and many scholars feel Snorri is the author of Egil's Saga. There is high praise for Snorri amongst historians. Halvdan Koht described Snorri's work as "surpassing anything else that the Middle Ages have left us of hist ..read more

Historical Pre-christian Heathenry, has the same weakness that modern Heathenry has. Historical Heathenry's Weakness The tribes in Northern Germany who became the Saxons were united twice in history: 1. The pre-Saxon tribes allied with Arminius to defeat the Romans. These tribes had no kings, and eventually, Arminius was killed for trying to be a Kaiser (king) over these tribes. The unity was short lived. 2. The Saxon Tribal Confederation was born in response to Christian Frankia to the south and west of Saxony. The Frankish King Clovis, of the Merovingian family who united the Frankish people ..read more

My goal is to be accurate and not a spreader of misinformation. If I were practicing reconstructionist Druidy today, you would not find me at Stonehenge, as the site pre-dates the Druids. I would be looking at studies by scholars like Jennifer Uzzell, a Doctoral Researcher at Durham University, and others for example. I am not (and would not be if I were a Druid) against people linking Druidry to Stonehenge for modern practice, as long as people state that Stonehenge had nothing to do with the Druids. (We know "next to nothing" on the Iron Age Druids, and Stonehenge is a Neolithic site.) This ..read more

The Saxons are not mentioned in the Poetic Edda. The Saxons are mentioned a great deal in the Prose Edda, and in the Sagas. In this article, I am going to focus on how the Saxons are presented in the Prose Edda and Heimskringla. The Saxons in the Prose Edda The Saxons (and Saxland) first appear in the Prose Edda in chapter 10 of Snorri's introduction to the Prose Edda. Snorri says the following: Prose Edda Introduction. ch 10: "Odin had the power of divination, and so had his wife, and from this knowledge he found out that his name would be held high in the north part of the world, and honored ..read more

Most who come to Heathenry were not born to Heathen parents. While I became Heathen around the age of 30, I was born into a christian home myself, and went to a christian seminary, completing a Masters Degree at the age of 25. I studied in Israel at 59 digs/tels as part of that program. While biblical archaeology is different from Germanic archaeology, the fields are not that different. One obvious difference is that Runic carvings in beechwood made in Old Saxon lands, would not survive the Germanic weather and forests for 1,900 years, but in Israel, scrolls like the Dead Sea Scrolls can survi ..read more

Heimdallr (Heimdall) is one of the few Gods mentioned several times in the Eddas, proving Heimdall's importance. He is called "gold toothed," and most likely is the mysterious Rígr of the Rigsthula.  Heimdall is called "the whitest of the Ése (Aesir)" in the Þrymskviða due to his purity, the Prose Edda calls him the "White God." His hall in Ésagard (Asgard) is called Hevenburg (Norse, Himinbjorg) which means "Heaven Mountain."  And he bears the Gjallarhorn, a horn with which he will notify the Gods that Mudspelles (Norse: Ragnarök) is beginning. To the Angles and the Old English ..read more