The old gods of the North, honored again.
The modern revival of Norse and Germanic religion, organized from 1972 in Iceland and now worldwide: Odin, Thor, Freyja and their kin honored with the blót offering and the sumbel toast, the ancestors remembered, and right action measured by honor and hospitality rather than creed.
Why it is filed this way
Reconstructed in the twentieth century from medieval Icelandic texts, archaeology and comparative work — not handed down. Practitioners differ on how much of the gap is filled by scholarship and how much by invention, and say so.
DeitiesThe Æsir and Vanir; land-spirits and ancestors besides
Founded1972 CE · Iceland
FounderNone — no founding moment
AfterlifeVaried halls — Valhalla for some, the family mound for most; the lore holds many fates
TextsThe Eddas and sagas — lore, not scripture
The map
Heathenry (Ásatrú)’s corner of it — solid lines are descent; dotted lines are resemblance only, ideas held in common across unrelated faiths. Click a node to recenter; ✕ returns here. All 171 faiths →
The gods are kin, not kings.
Odin, Thor, Freyja and their kind are honored as elder family — gifted and toasted, not groveled to. A gift for a gift.
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Honor is the measure.
Right action is reckoned in courage, hospitality, truthfulness, and troth — the Nine Noble Virtues in some halls, plain decency in others.
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The lore guides; it does not bind.
Eddas and sagas are the record of the old ways, read seriously — but Heathenry has no scripture and wants none.
held by most
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O
Odin — the Allfather.
One-eyed for wisdom, hanged nine nights for the runes: the god who pays for knowledge and expects his people to.
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T
Thor — the defender.
Thunder as protection: the common folk's god, whose hammer was worn against the new god's cross — and is worn again.
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F
Freyja — lady of seiðr.
Love and war in one figure: teacher of Odin's own magic, owed half the battle-dead, driven by cats and unbothered by opinion.
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Blót and sumbel.
The offering shared with the gods, then the horn passed three rounds — to the gods, the ancestors, and the oaths. Words spoken over the horn are binding.
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