This is a long overdue review of Diana Paxson’s Essential Ásatrú, a book mentioned by S.M. Stirling as a resource for his Emberverse series (previously reviewed here). Diana Paxson is both a Pagan and an author – not only of speculative fiction but of nonfiction works relating to various aspects of Paganism.

Essential Asatru: Walking the Path of Norse Paganism (Citadel Press 2006) is billed as an “accessible guide” to Ásatrú, as well as a “practical guide for its modern followers.” Obviously there is need for such a book. It cannot be denied, as the back cover says, that Heathenism is “often misunderstood.” It is no secret that I feel many works by Heathen scholars fall far short of the mark.

Obviously, there is wide latitude in the reconstruction or revival of any ancient religion. Our sources are always incomplete (in the case of Heathenism deplorably so) and people come at it from a variety of directions, including Germanic (often Saxon) and Scandinavian. Ásatrú has been classified as “Wicca with homework” and I think this fairly assesses the degree of dedication to reviving ancient customs existing in modern Heathenism as opposed to say, Wicca, which is a new religion, or a “reincarnation” as one Wiccan priestess has put it. For that reason alone no single guide can be everything to everyone. That does not mean it cannot provide a useful (and necessarily general) starting point, and that’s what I’m really interested in here.

Essential Ásatrú is divided into three parts:

1) Heroes and Ancestors (which I think is a very good place to start as a Heathen);

2) Gods and Goddesses;

3) Toasts, Boasts and Oaths (which any Heathen knows is very much a part of our ancestral customs – and oaths are generally holy, not only to Heathens but to Hellenes and others as well).

Ms. Paxson begins at the beginning, as it were, tracing history from the Stone Age through the Migration Period and Viking Age before looking at the “conversion” and the modern revival. Again, I think this attention to the historical record is something that sets Heathenism (as well as Hellenism and others) apart from more modern religions like Wicca.

I thought her treatment of our gods and goddesses to be good. Ms. Paxson correctly points out that a man is effeminate if he is submissive in sexual matters, not if he is attracted to men. This is a point often missed even by Pagans today (the same is true of the Romans, where the male is seen as the penetrator). Again, this is a topic I have covered here in some depth.

She also points out that Loki is not necessarily a god at all, though some Heathens treat him as such. On the other hand, I do have a problem with Ms. Paxson’s discussion of “Hella.” There are interesting gaps in Ms. Paxson’s bibliography; for example, she completely ignores Rudolf Simek’s Dictionary of Northern Mythology. This, to me, is inexplicable. As Simek points out, Hel (or Hella as Paxson calls her) is “probably a very late poetic personification of the underworld Hel.” Simek concludes that “On the whole nothing speaks in favour of there being a belief in a goddess Hel in pre-Christian times.” Granted, Davidson states that “a we have a persistent tradition for a goddess of the dead” but this only goes to demonstrate that the matter is far from an open and shut case.[1]

Ms. Paxson admits that Hella is a “shadowy figure in the lore” but points out that “she has become an important deity to a number of heathens today.” This may be, but it seems to me that we should not ignore evidence that Hel was not a goddess at all in the minds of our ancestors, but a late poetic device. People interested in returning to the customs and traditions of their ancestors ought to know where there are doubts about the existence of specific deities (as with Loki). Obviously, there is room for both interpretations and if people want to include Hel in the pantheon an argument can be made for this but equally, an argument can be made that Hel is no goddess at all. In the interest of historical accuracy both possibilities should have been mentioned.

In the second part of Essential Ásatrú, Ms. Paxson offers a brief discussion of sacrifice. I’m not entirely satisfied by this, not only because it is very brief – a mere five pages are devoted to sacrifice and 25 to magic – and sacrifice – not magic, unless you consider all religion magic – was the essence of ancient religion. Ms. Paxson admits this, saying (p. 100) that sacrifice “was universal in the ancient world” and correctly points out that most modern Heathens lack the requisite skills to kill animals and that therefore “our festal food usually comes from the grocery store.”

The discussion of a Heathen altar includes a “Thor’s hammer” which seems here to substitute for a Wiccan“ wand”. I suppose people can put what they want on heir altars but there is no historical evidence for hammers that I am aware of. Gold ring dedicated to Thor, yes. His hammer, no. There can be no doubt that the hammer as an altar implement is a modern, not an ancient, convention.

In the third part of her book Ms. Paxson addresses the subject of toasts, boasts, and oaths. Here she leads us on a discussion about Norse cosmology, wyrd and orlog and afterlife, where she correct points out that “In the lore, we find a variety of possibilities depending on time, place, and even individual preference.” She also discusses the all important virtues, courage, truth, honor and the rest. She does make an interesting comment at the end of chapter 10: “Heathenism is a religion that prizes self-reliance and personal responsibility.”

This is a rather broad and general statement and it does not pay enough attention to the historical record, in my opinion. If you’re speaking of the Viking Age, I would say the focus on self-reliance is closer to true but even then, as Robert Ferguson writes, “Viking Age ethics were based on the opposition of shame and honour.”[2] Our ancestors lived in small communities and the myth of the rugged individualist would have struck them as alien. These small isolated communities put people in great dependence upon each other. It was an age where in the law a family member was responsible for everyone else in that family. You could not be a “rugged individualist” and get by. If you did something wrong, anyone in your family could suffer as a result; the whole community could suffer. The Viking Age broke these old barriers down and so yes, speaking of that later Age I would find some truth in her words.

As James C. Russell writes,

Since the early Germans could not rely upon the protection and assistance of a bureaucratic empire when they were threatened with attack or famine, it was incumbent upon each man and woman of the community to adhere to the fundamental sociobiological principle of group survival embodied in the bonds of familial and communal solidarity. One’s status in society depended upon how closely one adhered to this fundamental  principle. Those who behaved honorably, thereby contributing toward the advancement of their community, were materially rewarded and thus increased their wealth, power, and influence. It is likely that the coalescence of honor, wealth, influence and power within Germanic society inhibited the spread of status inconsistency and its potentially anomic effects, and served to further reinforce Germanic group solidarity.[3]

If there is something modern Heathens ought to be bringing into the present it is this idea of group solidarity and community, not to mention family.

In Chapter 11 she moves on to a discussion of questions and conflicts, discussing UPGs and lore and variation in practice due to time and place, as well as the applicability of the term “earth religion” – all important topics of discussion. She concludes the chapter with a discussion of various approaches to Heathenism, from folkish to tribalist to universalist and makes a comparison of Asatru and Wicca. I find myself in agreement with her statement that while some Heathens denigrate Wiccan-style practices as “Wiccatru” she doubts that “the gods themselves care about the style in which they are worshipped” though she believes (as I do) “that they can be more completely understood and perceived more clearly when honored in a Germanic cultural context.”

The book concludes with an examination of Heathen organizations, online and elsewhere, and she includes a useful piece called “Surviving Your First Heathen Event.”

On the whole, I find Essential Ásatrú to be, if not essential, then close to it – certainly very helpful. Ms. Paxson presents a clear, coherent picture of one possibility of modern day Heathenism and while she picks and chooses from among her sources, which of us do not, for one reason or another? If we know little about the details of ancient Heathen worship, we do know that there were many different types of Heathenism based on considerations of chronology and geology. It would be impossible in the span of two hundred pages to discuss every possibility. In the end, we must all make decisions about what we do and why. We must do the best we can.

If you are new to Heathenism and are looking for a helpful guide to get you started, you can do far worse than this introductory work. It is a step above – several steps in some instances – of some of the books put out by Llewellyn, and better too than some of the books Ms. Paxson includes in her bibliography, which only goes to show that the results of her work are greater than the sum of its parts. Buy the book, read it, use it, and don’t be afraid to broaden your studies outside of it lest you lock yourself into one particular way of being a Heathen without examining the alternatives.

Perhaps best of all, the book is short and easy read, and Ms. Paxson illustrates her points with modern day examples, of how a group of Heathens go about being Heathen. And that, after all, is what Heathenism is all about – not philosophical discussions, not talking about it – but doing it, being it. As I have always said when asked for advice, the best way to become a Heathen is to go out there and be one, and this book, I think, will help you with that.

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[1] Rudolf Simek, Dictionary of Northern Mythology (D.S. Brewer 1993), 138; H.R.E. Davidson, The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature (Greenwood 1968),  75.

[2] Robert Ferguson, The Vikings (Viking 2009), 31.

[3] James C. Russell, The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity (Oxford 1994), 120.