Germanic Faith

Tacitus speaks of a common history and religion of the Germanic people for the first 27 chapters of his Germania. The surviving eddic poems are traditional songs of this type. Both Snorri and Saxo considered them native history and used them as the basis for their fictional histories of their homelands, recasting the gods as ancient men from the Classical city of Troy and retelling their stories in the context of Roman Catholic history. Snorri limited his overtly Roman Catholic material to the opening chapters of his work, but then interpreted the old poems as if the gods really were just men living on earth in Troy-Asgard. This seriously distorts his interpretations of the old verses, shatters the mythic history into a collection of loose fables, and makes nonsense of the mythic geography. Snorri himself clearly states gods were men from Asia who pretended to be gods, that the only God is the Christian god and retells the old myths tall tales told by a juggler, which should not be believed. He had no obligation to retell them accurately. He tells just enough of the mythology to explain the kennings he teaches Christian poets in the main portion of his Edda, known as Skaldskaparmal (Diction of the Poets). The Prose Edda is a textbook to teach poetry and NOT intended as a religious or historical text. Snorri contradictins much of what he says in his Edda in the open chapters of this historic work Ynglingasaga, which gives another similar version of the story of Odin and the Asia-men as a prelude to his historic sagas.

William Reaves, author and researcher gives a great explanation on how to view the Germanic lore. Understanding what a primary and secondary source is will greatly help to dispel the vast amount of misinformation being presented as historically accurate regarding the Germanic tribes. There is a lot more material found in our mythic poems than many realize. The scholars have interpreted the Poetic Edda using Snorri's later Prose Edda as a primary source for the last 300 years, this assumes Snorri was correct, despite the many contradictions between the two works, even when Snorri directly quotes old poetic verses he attempts to explain. The scholars typically treat such blantant contradictions as "mythic variants" and gloss over them. Yet the oldest manuscripts of both Eddas, the Poetic and the Prose, are both written in the Icelandic language and date less than 50 years apart. So how much variation in the local myths would we expect in that short of time on such a small island? Despite the manuscript of the Poetic Edda being slightly younger than those of Snorri's Edda, we know the Poetic Edda is older than Snorri's work since he quotes and paraphrases many of its poems in his work. Most modern scholars date the eddic poems to between 800 and 1000 AD, based on internal and linguistic data in the poems themselves, making it at least 200 years older than Snorri's fictional Prose Edda, composed in the 1200s. The old heathen poems were designed to be cryptic and conceal sacred mythic knowledge. They were not intended to be written down, but memorized. They call one figure or thing by many names, and typically brief evoke word-pictures that allude to whole mythic stories. To understand them better, you simply need to compare the eddic poems to one another, since they were all composed by heathens who knew the original stories as their own world history. By comparing names, words, and "pictures" we find in the poems, we can get a fuller understanding of the mythic figures and stories referred to in the poems. Only then can we turn to secondary sources like Snorri and Saxo looking for information that agrees with what we find in the old poems, which were Snorri and Saxo's primary source of information. We cannot assume they are correct in their understanding. Instead we must test what they say against their own sources. The idea that there was great local variation in our myths arose in modern times to explain the numerous contradictions and inconsistancies between the works of Snorri Sturlusson and the Poetic Edda. When we realize that the Poetic Edda was Snorri's primary source, we understand there should not be such a wide range of obvious contradictions and inconsistences. These inconsistencies can most often be explained by this Roman Catholic framework, which recast the gods as human men living on earth. Both Snorri Sturlusson and Saxo Grammaticus, writing in Denmark a generation before Snorri, used Icelandic poetry as their source to tell a fictional history of their homelands, making the old gods into ancient men. Both provide useful information about the old mythic stories of the northern peoples. Saxo is harder to use, because he often breaks up stories and renames mythic figures using their epithets in Latinized forms. But we can recognize the myths he uses when we analyze the stories and compare the names and bynames of the figures involved. To understand the Poetic Edda, we must first realize that the poems do not tell stories, they allude cryptically and briefly to stories the original audience knew well. The poems refer to a mythic history of the gods and people, providing many temporal clues as to how the stories were chronologically arranged. This history is most obvious in Voluspa, which tells the whole of mythic history in short sound-bites, evoking whole myths, from the beginning to the end of time. Tacitus in 98 AD said the traditional songs of the Germanic tribes were their only history, this includes the Scandinavians.

The Ǫndvegisulur. "They make, says he, those idols out of Birch, the Head out of the Root, the Body out of the Trunk. For Birch growing commonly in fenny Grounds, has its Root round, which sending forth some lesser Branches of Roots, may easily be fitted for the shape of a Man's Head. As a certain Token that this is the Image of Thor, they put a Hammer into his Right Hand, they make, says the afore-mentioned Author, this Idol out of Wood, with a Hammer in his Hand: This being his Ensign, which distinguishes him from the rest. They drive an Iron Nail, and a small Piece of Flint Stone into the Head of Thor, to Strike Fire with, if he pleases. A certain Anonymous Author has these Words upon this Subject; They drive a Nail of Iron or Steel into the Idol's Head, with a small Piece of Flint, to enable their God Thor to strike Fire.** Tho' in my Opinion the first intention of this was thereby to give us an Emblem of the Fire, which they worshipped at the same time in the Image of Thor. " Lapponia - The history of Lapland

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This diagram represents the relationship between the sacred (heilagr/hálíg) and the profane (vanhelgar/unhálíg) within a cosmological order. At the center are the gods (regin/godu), representing the highest level of holiness and authority. The concept of order (skipan/endebyrd) serves as the structure through which both the sacred and profane realms are balanced and governed by the gods. The diagram shows how, although the sacred and profane are distinct, they are not entirely separate. The divine order presides over both, ensuring that even the profane operates within the overarching cosmic framework, ultimately maintained by the gods. This illustrates the belief that all aspects of life, whether holy or mundane, exist under the influence and regulation of the divine.

This diagram represents the relationship between the sacred (heilagr/hálíg) and the profane (vanhelgar/unhálíg) within a cosmological order. At the center are the gods (regin/godu), representing the highest level of holiness and authority. The concept of order (skipan/endebyrd) serves as the structure through which both the sacred and profane realms are balanced and governed by the gods. The diagram shows how, although the sacred and profane are distinct, they are not entirely separate. The divine order presides over both, ensuring that even the profane operates within the overarching cosmic framework, ultimately maintained by the gods. This illustrates the belief that all aspects of life, whether holy or mundane, exist under the influence and regulation of the divine.

In the ancient traditions of Germanic heathenry, certain principles are immutable truths, woven into the fabric of existence by the gods. Honor, courage, and law are not mere ideals—they are the foundation of life, governed by divine authority and fate. These timeless truths form the dogma of our faith. One of the most serious offenses is being labeled a níðingr, a title reserved for oath-breakers, traitors, cowards, slanderers, and murderers. To be marked a níðingr is to be devoid of honor, judged by the gods at the Helthing, and doomed to Niflhel, where torment awaits. This is divine law—unyielding and uncompromising. Dogma, by nature, is a set of principles laid down by an authority, and in Germanic heathenry, the gods are that authority. Even they are bound by fate. Every man must die and be judged: the greatest warriors go to Valhalla, the honorable to Hel, and the dishonorable to Niflhel. This judgment reflects the cosmic order, established by the Norns, as seen in Völuspá 20: “Urth, Verthandi, and Skuld… Laws they made there, and life allotted to the sons of men.” These laws are not human inventions—they were handed down by the gods. As told in the Rígsþula, Heimdallr, the culture-bringer, gifted the runes of wisdom and life to mankind. Germanic heathenry is an honor-based tradition, and to be accused of being a níðingr is the gravest dishonor. Cowardice, treachery, and oath-breaking strike at the heart of society, punishable by divine and social law, as seen in Germania by Tacitus. In this tradition, law, lore, ritual, and family are the cornerstones of civilization. These are not guidelines, but divine mandates, handed down by the gods and bound by fate. Even kings and chieftains were held accountable to these sacred laws, as noted in both Germania and Hákon the Good’s Saga. Germanic heathenry is not without its dogma. Our laws and traditions are sacred, enforced by the gods in accordance with fate. To live by these divine principles is to live with honor; to break them is to fall into disgrace. This is the eternal truth of our faith, known by our ancestors and passed down to us by the gods themselves.

Germanic heathenry is not without its dogma. Our laws and traditions are sacred, upheld and enforced by the gods in accordance with fate itself. To live with these divine principles is to live with honor. To break them is to fall into disgrace. This is the eternal truth of our faith. The gods are real and they are our creators. Our ancestors knew this well.