Should I just go to the poetic eddas second? or what is a good read to help get a better understanding of heathenism in general?
Any suggestions would be awesome, thank you for your time
Reccomendations for Heathen reads
Reccomendations for Heathen reads
I been considering getting into heathenism, looking into kindreds, into history, lore, I have bought a book called The Rites of Odin. Personally, it wasn't fantastic, and reviews on amazon said the same. It did have the rituals pretty right, but everything else seemed hazy.
Should I just go to the poetic eddas second? or what is a good read to help get a better understanding of heathenism in general?
Any suggestions would be awesome, thank you for your time
Should I just go to the poetic eddas second? or what is a good read to help get a better understanding of heathenism in general?
Any suggestions would be awesome, thank you for your time
-
Bathilde
- Egil
- Posts: 672
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:59 pm
- Belief System: Fyrnsidu
- Title: Thegn
- Location: Boston, MA
- Contact:
Re: Reccomendations for Heathen reads
I recommend "Our Troth" vol 1
then Pollington's Meadhall
then Sagas of the Icelanders
then bede, saxo grammaticus, and tacitus
then the eddas(various translations).
Also, the Hex magazine and Odroerir journal editions are good to supplement.
then Pollington's Meadhall
then Sagas of the Icelanders
then bede, saxo grammaticus, and tacitus
then the eddas(various translations).
Also, the Hex magazine and Odroerir journal editions are good to supplement.
-
schwarzesonne
- Loktar
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 11:11 am
- Location: Bangor, Maine
- Contact:
Re: Reccomendations for Heathen reads
Ed Fitch's work is garbage-- essentially it's just Wicca in Heathen drag.
For good primers I would recommend Odinism: What is It? (http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos183.htm) By Stubba and, of course, Germanic Heathenry: A Practical Guide by James Hjuka Coulter. A Book of Troth by Edred Thorsson isn't bad either, although it does include a bit too much anti-christian bias for my taste. For something a bit more focused, We Are Our Deeds (a book on Heathen moral principles) by Eric Wódening is indispensable.
For history I'd recommend The Barbarians: Goths, Franks and Vandals by Malcom Todd despite its unfortunate title; The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity: A Sociohistorical Approach to Religious Transformation by James C Russell; Nordic Religions in the Viking Age by Thomas DuBois; Culture of the Teutons by Vilhelm P Grønbech (http://gamall-steinn.org/text/cot-index.htm) and perhaps The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke if you can get passed the author's obvious political bias.
Good mythological sources (outside of the obvious Eddas and Saxo) would include Investigations in Teutonic Mythology by Viktor Rydberg; and An Overview of the Germanic Mythology's Epic Order (http://www.germanicmythology.com/ugm2/ugm2overview.pdf) by William P Reaves. Although it can be rather pricey, Jakob Grimm's Teutonic Mythology is a virtual encyclopedia of Heathen mythology, beliefs and customs.
For good primers I would recommend Odinism: What is It? (http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos183.htm) By Stubba and, of course, Germanic Heathenry: A Practical Guide by James Hjuka Coulter. A Book of Troth by Edred Thorsson isn't bad either, although it does include a bit too much anti-christian bias for my taste. For something a bit more focused, We Are Our Deeds (a book on Heathen moral principles) by Eric Wódening is indispensable.
For history I'd recommend The Barbarians: Goths, Franks and Vandals by Malcom Todd despite its unfortunate title; The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity: A Sociohistorical Approach to Religious Transformation by James C Russell; Nordic Religions in the Viking Age by Thomas DuBois; Culture of the Teutons by Vilhelm P Grønbech (http://gamall-steinn.org/text/cot-index.htm) and perhaps The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke if you can get passed the author's obvious political bias.
Good mythological sources (outside of the obvious Eddas and Saxo) would include Investigations in Teutonic Mythology by Viktor Rydberg; and An Overview of the Germanic Mythology's Epic Order (http://www.germanicmythology.com/ugm2/ugm2overview.pdf) by William P Reaves. Although it can be rather pricey, Jakob Grimm's Teutonic Mythology is a virtual encyclopedia of Heathen mythology, beliefs and customs.
~~Steve Anthonijsz
Triuwa enti êra!
Triuwa enti êra!
Re: Reccomendations for Heathen reads
Took a little bit of effort but I found Our Troth on the web,http://ourtroth.weebly.com/ although the one I got is the first edition, I have a feeling it won't be a dramatic difference.
And yeah Ed fitch was disappointing. Suprised how many sources there are, thank you both for having adequate information for me, checking out http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos183.htm as well.
I'm going to start getting into the readings, if I stumble across questions, questions that I can't find on the internet, then I probably will pester you all again thanks!
And yeah Ed fitch was disappointing. Suprised how many sources there are, thank you both for having adequate information for me, checking out http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos183.htm as well.
I'm going to start getting into the readings, if I stumble across questions, questions that I can't find on the internet, then I probably will pester you all again
thanks!-
schwarzesonne
- Loktar
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 11:11 am
- Location: Bangor, Maine
- Contact:
Re: Reccomendations for Heathen reads
Don't think of it as pestering-- that's what forums like this are for!
~~Steve Anthonijsz
Triuwa enti êra!
Triuwa enti êra!
-
Bathilde
- Egil
- Posts: 672
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:59 pm
- Belief System: Fyrnsidu
- Title: Thegn
- Location: Boston, MA
- Contact:
Re: Reccomendations for Heathen reads
The online version of Our Troth is an illegal copy, FYI.
Re: Reccomendations for Heathen reads
Oh really? I wasn't actually aware of that. Hmm damn.
Re: Reccomendations for Heathen reads
Elves, Wights and Trolls is pretty good
Rune Magic by Edred Thorson, but be careful of other rune books, much of rune stuff out there is wiccan dribble
saga of the jomvikings is mostly just a fun tale but it has some value for history and religious practices (theres a part where a chieftain sacrifices his son to an island goddess whose name is similar to thor )
heimskringla is a giant tome of a book and is quite dry, but if you can get through it its a fascinating history of the nordic people and their religious practices
the poetic edda has much more wisdom than given credit, not enough people read much of it
the nibelunglied, the dream of the rood and the saxon baptism prayer are all christian, but very heathen in theme and subject (the dream of the rood is a story about christ and the cross, but the cross speaks to christ and has animist aspects)
Rune Magic by Edred Thorson, but be careful of other rune books, much of rune stuff out there is wiccan dribble
saga of the jomvikings is mostly just a fun tale but it has some value for history and religious practices (theres a part where a chieftain sacrifices his son to an island goddess whose name is similar to thor )
heimskringla is a giant tome of a book and is quite dry, but if you can get through it its a fascinating history of the nordic people and their religious practices
the poetic edda has much more wisdom than given credit, not enough people read much of it
the nibelunglied, the dream of the rood and the saxon baptism prayer are all christian, but very heathen in theme and subject (the dream of the rood is a story about christ and the cross, but the cross speaks to christ and has animist aspects)
