Ása' trú: [Old Norse] a modern reconstruction of the ancient pre-Christian Heathen religion of Northern Europe. Here is Gamlinginn's definition of Ásatrú.

Hea' then: haithno [Gothic], hæðen [Anglo-Saxon], heide [German], mistranslation by the Gothic Bishop Ulfilas (4th century c.e.) of hethanos [Armoric], heathen, by association with haithi [Gothic], heath, thence the folk etymology of heathen as 'wasteland dwellers' developed by other Germanic languages. Then, heathen refers to anyone not of the Abrahamic religions, especially a member of a tribe, nation, etc. worshiping many gods. Historically used by Christians to describe others with different beliefs (including other Christians) as barbaric, godless, and irreligious. In the modern revival of the pre-Christian religion of Northern Europe, many of us prefer to be called Heathens, although some shudder at the mere hint of so-called negative connotations.

Seax' net: one of many spellings [East Saxon] for Saxnôt, a deity of the ancient Continental Saxons, their eponymous ancestor, possibly Freyr, or Tiwaz/Tyr. Means something like 'Friend of the Saxons', or 'Sword Companion'. A sax/seax was a short sword or long knife used by the Germanic tribes.

Blæd Ðrægan Barhelm
[Old English or Anglo-Saxon]
Blæd: blowing, blast, inspiration, breath, spirit, [breath of Woden?{Oðin}], (stroked 'æ', Hyper Text Impared)
Ðræ'gan: strong; to go, journey, etc.; [(poetic) to run]
Bar'helm: helmet with sacred Wanic boar image (stroked 'a', Hyper Text Impared).

"The mythology of a people is far more than a collection of pretty or terrifying fables to be retold in carefully bowdlerized form to our schoolchildren. It is the comment of the men of one particular age or civilization on the mysteries of human existence and the human mind, their model for social behaviour, and their attempt to define in stories of gods and demons their perception of the inner realities. We can learn much from the mythologies of earlier peoples if we have the humility to respect ways of thought widely differing from our own. In certain respects we may be far cleverer than they, but not necessarily wiser.

We cannot return to the mythological thinking of an earlier age; it is beyond our reach, like the vanished world of childhood. Even if we feel a nostalgic longing for the past, like that of John Keats for Ancient Greece or William Morris for medieval England, there is now no way of entry. The Nazis tried to revive the myths of ancient Germany in their ideology, but such an attempt could only lead to sterility and moral suicide. We cannot deny the demands of our own age, but this need not prevent us turning to the faith of another age with sympathetic understanding, and recapturing imaginatively some of its vanished power. It will even help us to view more clearly the assumptions and beliefs of our own time."

Hilda R. Ellis Davidson
Gods and Myths of the Viking Age
(also as Gods and Myths of Northern Europe)

There is an ash tree--   its name is Yggdrasil--
a tall tree watered  from a cloudy well.
Dew falls from its boughs  down into the valleys;
ever green it stands  beside the Norns' spring.

Much wisdom  have the three maidens
who come from the waters  close to that tree;
they established laws,  decided the lives
men were to lead,  marked out their fates.

Völuspá,
Patricia Terry trans.

Blessed are the rich, for they possess the earth and its glory.
Blessed are the strong, for they can conquer kingdoms.
Blessed are they with strong kinsmen, for they shall find help.
Blessed are the warlike, for they shall win wealth and renown.
Blessed are they who keep their faith, for they shall be honored.
Blessed are they who are open handed, for they shall have friends and fame.
Blessed are they who wreak vengeance, for they shall be offended no more, and they shall have honor and glory all the days of their life and eternal fame in ages to come.

Jones, George Fenwick
Honor in German Literature

Barhelm Graphic by Erik Campbell.

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