(Part 2) Best products from r/asatru

Here is a variation of a dice game that was said to be played throughout Scandinavia during the time of the vikings. I am not sure how accurate it is but it is something to look into:

http://chrisvnh.bizland.com/mjollnir.html



Here is a rather beautiful Valknut pendant:

http://www.amazon.com/Valhalla-Valkyrie-Valknut-Pendant-Necklace/dp/B002DXMI1Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1321818713&sr=8-2



A beautiful pendant with a Viking longboat on it:

http://www.amazon.com/Pewter-Valhalla-Longboat-Protection-Talisman/dp/B004D56HBY/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1321818728&sr=8-17



A decent DISPLAY ONLY sword: (The blade is not properly connected to the hilt and it wiggles a little.)

http://www.amazon.com/Bud-K-Classic-Viking-Sword/dp/B000UVW2GY/ref=pd_sim_misc_17



Now if you can afford to spend a little more I would recommend some of these beautiful statues. They range from $46-$73, most with free shipping. I own the Freyja statue and it is absolutely beautiful.

Thor: http://www.amazon.com/Norse-Bronzed-Finish-Statue-Hammer/dp/B004D5VW3W/ref=pd_ys_qtk_general_recs_4?pf_rd_p=1286318242&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_i=home&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0RQMVB6KN9ZPDJGXTH4D

Thor: http://www.amazon.com/THOR-GOD-OF-THUNDER-STATUE/dp/B001FK63DW/ref=pd_sim_hg_8

Odin: http://www.amazon.com/Norse-Bronze-Finish-Statue-Viking/dp/B004D6DZYA/ref=pd_sim_hg_1

Frigga: http://www.amazon.com/Goddess-Frigga-Bronzed-Statue-Weddings/dp/B0047EQ7IE/ref=pd_sim_hg_2

Loki: www.amazon.com/Goddess-Frigga-Bronzed-Statue-Weddings/dp/B0047EQ7IE/ref=pd_sim_hg_2

Freyja: http://www.amazon.com/Freyja-Goddess-Beauty-Fertility-Bronze/dp/B001UHM5IW/ref=pd_sim_hg_3

Heimdall: http://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Giftware-Heimdall-Statue/dp/B004D679IS/ref=pd_sim_hg_4

Freyr: http://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Giftware-Freyr-Statue/dp/B004D679FQ/ref=pd_sim_hg_6

Denmark's Ribe center has resources for period foods including cheese (fermentation of milk for preservation and taste) and smoked meat and fish (which, while this is not fermentation, it is preservation). Bread, especially sourdough, is also a form of fermentation and so, obviously, are traditional alcohols (beer, mead, fruit wines). Here's another resource with period recipes.

Look toward modern fermented fish recipes—they likely have not changed much. Asia continues to have a vibrant culture (HAR) of fermentation but fermentation is a Thing that most cultures developed—yeast, after all, one of the main requirements for fermentation, is in the air just about everywhere.

You asked for "something similar but more close to home". What is "home" (do you mean ancestrally or currently)? It's very likely that you can find a local pickling group that can help you learn how to pickle things and, once you've pickled one thing, you can pickle just about anything. You can also hit up Amazon for pickling.

Or, y'know, ask your elders, especially the women. Most people who are in their 80s–90s now pickled. Most people in their 60s–70s learned to pickle from them. This is due to WWII and is pretty much going to be true regardless of country.

If "close to home" means "my family is from [Germany/England/Sweden] but I live in [France/South Africa/Mexico]", a solid google search in the language in question should lead you to local modern recipes. For the most part, pickling has only changed with regard to the technology not with regard to the recipes.

Share what you make! Remember that your dísr are at your elbow as you ferment! Honor them and ask for their luck in your success.

Hey there!

There are some books referenced in HeathenTalk that are not included, or are included as supplementary reading, in the reading list here. I'm early on in the podcast--I am just behind you, listening to the LGBT* episode--and just ordered A Piece of Horse Liver as it was mentioned in the podcast and sounded interesting. So you might keep a list running as you listen to check out those books/sources later and see if they would be of interest.

There are a couple places you can look for other heathens in your area--on the side bar there is a "Members Location" section, and some of the major heathen organizations in the US have regional breakdowns of groups affiliated with them. I'm not going to link to them here, but a little online searching will bring them up.

I'll leave the wight gift cycle to another user who is more familiar with it--currently I am more focused on ancestor veneration, though I give to the wights as well.

There is absolutely precedent for keeping an ancestral altar in your home. You may remember in the N00bcast (I believe), u/thatsnotgneiss mentioned her ancestor altar being within eye level during the broadcast. It's absolutely encouraged to remember them and offer them gifts, such as food or a drink they enjoyed in life. You can also honor them by telling their stories during sumbel and the like.

I understand completely. Sometimes the book itself just has an intrinsic value that transcends the information on it's pages. One of my prized possessions is a copy of the Elder Edda published around 1870, and it's written in Old Danish. I can't read Danish of any age, but that doesn't stop the book from having great value to me.

That said, if I were looking for reasonably priced physical copies of the Sagas and Eddas, I'd go with Sagas of the Icelanders published by Penguin, The Poetic Edda translated by Lee M. Hollander and maybe The Prose Edda By Snorri Sturlusson translated by Jesse L. Byock. Good translations, good editions.

Hello mate, I would recommend you this order: First of all, The Norse Myths:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394748468/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687622&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B002HLAF32&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=5ST3KMPDJ47HVWWV2AW4

The who´s who in nordic pantheon. Has the most known myths plus a superb introduction to cosmology. Myths are in chronological order, from Ginnungagap to Ragnarok. The writing is very good, adult-oriented with some touches of dry humor.

After it go for the 2 Eddas. Why is important to know about the myths or the gods? Because all the books you are going to read name or make references to the gods or to myths or both. You will want to know what on Midgard are they talking about.

After that, if you want to know more about Asatru specifically, read in this order:
The Asatru Edda
https://www.amazon.com/%C3%81satr%C3%BA-Edda-Sacred-Lore-North/dp/1440131783/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473832369&sr=1-1&keywords=asatru+edda

The Norroena Society made a superb job publishing this Edda taking away all the christian influence. Really great job. They made with the Eddas what Dr. Viktor Rydberg did with the teutonic myths.

Next in line:
A Practical Heathen's Guide to Asatru

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Heathens-Guide-Asatru/dp/0738733873/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8M3GCMHG28EVGP5090FX

Exactly what it says.

Now, if later on your path you feel the itch to learn more about teutonic myths, their social construct, history etc etc let me know that I can recommend more books depending on your needs.

Yeah to the Thur(s)day/Thorsday, I don't think that's wrong...it just changed over time. I'm not familiar w/ Lisa Peschel, but Llewellyn is not (ever) where you want to look for solid information. I don't doubt that you'll find the same thing repeated on the internet, that's how these things tend to work.

It feels to me like you might be rushing this, why not spend a little more time getting deeper into the subject? You could try the [Rune Primer] (https://www.amazon.com/Rune-Primer-Earth-Guide-Runes/dp/1847282466?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0) by Sweyn Plowright. I recently got the kindle version for $5 to replace my outdated pdf. It's not esoteric at all, not magical. After his explanations and translations of the rune poems, he gives some background of the Rune Gild, etc. and has a pretty thorough discussion of what/who to avoid in your rune studies. It's great background, I think.

I see that he gave [this book] (https://www.amazon.com/Way-Runes-Bernard-King/dp/000713603X) a strong recommendation for beginner esoteric studies. Maybe that would be a place to start?

Jesse Byock's unfortunately titled but very well-executed Viking Language course has been compared to Wheelock's Latin in terms of its quality, as has Michael Barnes's A New Introduction to Old Norse.

For Old English, I recommend Baker as mentioned below or, if you're like me and like a straight-up grammar, Sweet's A Primer of Anglo-Saxon.

I'm new to Ásatrú but an old hand at ancient languages. Sweet was my grammar in undergrad years ago. PM me if you'd like more info.

I'm a very rational person myself, so this should be a fruitful conversation. While culture plays an important in the development of many characteristics, it lacks the ancestral ties that determine who we are and how we react to such a culture. I'm sure you're familiar with nature vs. nurture debates and the heritability of traits such as intelligence for instance.

Scientific studies show that siblings adopted at birth, raised in the same environment, have no more similarity in IQ than that of strangers. It's genetic. Personality traits are very easily studied in identical twins switched at birth, even though each of the twins are raised in very different environments they maintain an astonishing similarity. If we have studies that scientifically prove the relationship of intelligence, personality, creative ability etc.. to genetics, how do you find the disposition to a certain spirituality not genetically linked?

There are many well-written psychology books out there that discuss behavioral genetics, you can buy this one shipped to your door for under 15 bucks.

It was an interesting time, especially when you also factor in the Icelandic reformation and the first translation of the Bible into Icelandic and the witch trials in Kirkjuból.

The specific publication I am talking about is not the Galdrabok, but another manuscript of healing and charms that would be more reflective of low magic. It was only recently translated into English as "Norse Magical and Herbal Healing" in 2011 by the illustrious and amazing Ben Waggoner. (I am required to engage in puffery when speaking of my beloved kindred brother.) His research (which is summarized in his 40 placed introduction) has information on more low magic that does sometimes include the runes along with prayers to angels. It's actually a really good read if you have interest in herbs, medicine, or low magic from that era.

I am the author of "The Serpent and the Eagle: An Introduction to the Elder Runic Tradition.".

I am not anti-Thorsson. However I am going to offer my view here also as an author on this topic as well.

First, the criticism regarding his Left-Hand-Path views I think are not entirely on the mark. If you read his LHP and Runic books you will see a sharp difference of viewpoint. I don't think it is accurate to say these are merged. I also know from personal discussions with him that his Runic views are not the same as his LHP publications. So let that sink in. Some of us do follow multiple traditions and some of us can keep the teachings separate. Thorsson does a decent job here.

The Good:

Thorsson is immensely knowledgeable and well studied. Of the authors in this area, he is probably the one who has had the strongest academic background in this area. In my conversations with him he has always been respectful, knowledgeable, remarkably humble, and open to disagreement and debate. His books are worth reading. Particularly "Green Runa" if you can find a copy. I actually think his LHP works are less well done than his Runic works (he gets core aspects of LHP HInduism wrong in Lords of the Left Hand Path).

Additionally the books are essentially the foundation of contemporary Runic practice even for a lot of people who dislike Thorsson (Mr Plowright is no exception).

The Bad:

Every book that is out there is worthy of critique, even mine. Heck I am even happy to critique my own book if you like (though I still think you really should read it). Thorsson's books are no different. Reading his major Runic books, there are a few things I personally think a reader should bear in mind.

The first difficulty is you can see a strong evolution in his writing between Futhark and Runelore. Futhark was his first book and is far more Armanen-influenced than Runelore. But Futhark is a practical book and Runelore is not so much, so the reader is somewhat left trying to navigate an evolving understanding. But as authors our viewpoints evolve. I remember reading my own book shortly after publication and realizing how much my own viewpoint had changed during the editing process..... Frankly you are better off using Northern Magic as a practical book and then reading Futhark later (after Runelore and others).

A second major problem that a lot of the commentary doesn't really cite sources. This makes it difficult for a student to decide whether or not to accept his interpretation of the staves. I don't actually know if this is deliberate or not (it could be a starting point, to be rejected and hopefully returned to later) but I don't personally find this helpful. He is clear (I think) that this part is subjective but I didn't feel like there is an adequate framework communicated to allow a student to evaluate the subjective bit itself.

So those are my two major critiques. The books are certainly worth reading, though they don't fit well into the sort of "strict reconstructionism" that has become trendy in some Asatru circles -- esoteric practices never will and for good reason. Naturally I think my book should be read first but then I won't call myself unbiased.

Additionally, I think it is a bad idea to only read books from one author or another. If you really want understanding you want to get a few different author's takes on the topic and then think about how they go together or not. Under no circumstances should you limit yourself to THorsson's works.

(BTW, may I also recommend reading Christopher Smith's Icelandic Magic)

What does r/asatru think of "The Asatru Edda"?
http://www.amazon.com/%C3%81satr%C3%BA-Edda-Sacred-Lore-North/dp/1440131783/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412042558&sr=8-1&keywords=asatru+edda