Anglo-Saxon Religious Leaders - Part 4

Þingere
[thing-er-eh] • /θinɡ.e.re/

An Þingere is a noscript for an advocate or intercessor; a priest, who in his office intercedes for the folk. As a verb, to Þingian is to make terms & settle disputes and or finalize agreements. A Þingere presides over the Þing, i.e. an official meeting or court. Since time immemorial, we have always been of folk of law and order. It’s believed that an annual multiple tribe Þing was held every summer sunstead, so the role of the Þingere was highly respected & honored, as multiple mǽġþa, or clans, would be in attendance and follow the Þingeres verdict. Each mǽġþ likely had their own Þingera to settle local disputes, with the Fathers and or Grandfather’s filling the role within the inhírédas, or personal households.

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Anglo-Saxon Religious Leaders - Part 5

Árþeġn
[are-thane] • /ˈɑːr.θejn/

An Árþeġn is a noscript for a servant or minister. A compound word from Ár, a servant, messenger, helper, & or minister. The name carries with it a double meaning, as Ár also means honor, glory, rank, dignity, magnificence, respect, & reverence, which is fitting, given the religious connection. A Þeġn is a servant, i.e. one who does service for another. It’s possible that an Árþeġn is another noscript for a Weofodþeġn, but more likely it referred to either the assistant to the Weofodþeġn, or one in training to become a Weofodþeġn. As a priest, or priest-in-training, the Árþeġnas would help lead religious observances, as they’re trained in knowing, understanding, and practicing the folk-rituals and rites of the faith. In dedicating their lives to the gods & folk, they are the leaders, guides, teachers, & future judges; honorably servants of the folk.

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The reintroduction of a way of being which belongs to a people, that they didn’t know belonged to them is frightening at first. It is a foreign concept when the world says you have no culture and it is a shock that many will reject because of preprogrammed psychological disposition to actively reject it.
Cutting yourself off from your cultural roots forces you to take up cultural aspects from your surroundings, and in a multicultural setting, makes for cultural disorientation.

However..
Networking, lifestyle changes and action are needed to escape a carnivorous system that feeds on our people.
Reach out to others that have the same mindset and take action to return to a more simplistic, natural way of being.
We are primal and wild in nature, not meant to be captive to a society that is actively seeking our downfall.

Trúnaðarbók: The Loyalty Writings

By Folcweard Lárġyfa

With Foreword by Mark Puryear

Using the illustration of concentric circles, Trúnaðarbók is a series of essays discussing how we define and prioritize our levels of loyalty

Order here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09R3HG63K/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_b09r3hg63k

And be sure to check out Folcweard’s other platforms: https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

Anglo-Saxon Religious Leaders - Part 6

Ġeruna
[yeh-roo-nah-thane]
/je.ruːna/

An Ġeruna is a a Counselor. The prefix Ġe-, is a complicated prefix, but it’s often used to change the signification from literal to figurative, e.g. healdan, to hold > ġe-healdan, to observe or biddan, to bid, require of > ġe-biddan, to pray. Ġe-, in accordance with this meaning, often gives a collective sense to nouns. Ġe- brings completeness or collectivity. Runa comes from Rún, i.e. Rune, a whisper, mystery, secret, and or a letter (rúnstæf). Today, the runes are well-known symbols of our belief and well-known for their mysteries and secrets. A Ġeruna or counselor, is one who understands the mysteries of problems and therefore can work to bring resolutions and bring peace to conflicts .

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Religious, by any other name

We are a religious folk, a pious folk. When looking at the terms below, we see the roots that mean Law (Ǽ), and god (god), indicating the importance of following the Law and being like a god. Fest/Fæst means Fixed or Firm; hence, where we get our word (to) fasten. Cund means Kind or Likeness; thus, being godly. Fremmende is the present participle (a verb showing current action) of Fremman, meaning doing or accomplishing (something)

Ǽfest - Fast or firm in the law, religious, devout

Godcund - of the nature of God, divine, religious, sacred

Ǽfremmende - Fulfilling the law, religious

Árfæst - Honourable, honest, upright, virtuous, good, pious, dutiful, gracious, kind, merciful

Piety and religiousness is natural to our folk. May we continually strive to be like the gods, honor our forebears, and live a life worth of remembrance.

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

Anglo-Saxon Sacred Places
Part 1

Hearga
[hærg-ah] • /hæ͜ɑrɣa/

A Hearga is a place sacred to a god, or gods, and usually contains an altar with idols placed upon it. Such sacred places can be a grove, hill, field, or even a temple; however, temples usage came later, which are called Heargtræf. A Træf is a building, so Heargtræf is a building used for religious purposes. A common Hearga altar feature is a formation of piled stones. Hearga today is pronounced Harrow; although, it’s usage has been narrowed to typically refer to sacred hills, such as Harrow on the Hill and Silbury Hill. Hearga hills often predate the Anglo-Saxons, but were still venerated as sacred places nonetheless. Today, our folk still utilize the Hearga, as our ancient forebears before us, as descendants of a living faith, native, sacred, and alive.

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Follow The Sacred Stew for a deep dive into authentic Germanic theology, history, philosophy and theology for the modern pagan.
he Sacred Stew-Episode 8

Konr "The King" - Aryan? Hyperborean? Or Teutonic?

James and Anthony have a special guest on today and begin discussing how we should identify ourselves in the modern era; we examine popular terminology in the modern age and discuss how we should see ourselves and what terminology best describes who we are as a broader folk. Join us for a deep dive into authentic germanic theology for the modern pagan.

Listen now on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6HsZ6FQv4Pw

Or Listen on your favorite podcast player here: https://anchor.fm/the-sacred-stew/episodes/Konr-The-King---Aryan--Hyperborean--Or-Teutonic-e1esn43

Anglo-Saxon Sacred Places
Part 2

Alh • Ealh
[all-ks] • /ɑlx/ • [æ͜all-ks] /æ͜ɑlx/

Alh, later spelled Ealh, is a temple, used for religious purposes, dedicated to the gods. Temple usage is a later development, likely from outside influence. Today, we’d call an Ealh a ‘Church’; however, Church, although attested in OE as Ċiriċe, is a Greek-derived term arriving to our folk post-conversion. Interestingly, Ealh is derived from the PGmc *alhs, which also means temple, but has a sense of protection, being possibly derived from PIE *h₂lek-, to protect. In Yeavering, Northumberland, building D2 is believed to be an Ealh. Below are links discussing the Anglo-Saxon Yeavering Ealh, as well as an article by Dagaz Issa discussing a theory linking Ealh with ALU.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeavering#Anglo-Saxon_settlement

https://pnwkindreds.com/alu-understanding-its-sacred-priniciples/

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

It isn't really true that Europe became Christian 1000 years ago. That is generally true as a broad statement but there have been pagans since then:

-1385 in Lithuania, Jogaila agreed to adopt Christianity, the last country in Europe to officially convert. Nobles converted but paganism still practiced in Lithuania covertly until at least 1600’s.

-Gemistus Pletho c. 1355/1360 – c. 1453 was a pagan Platonist who believed Byzantium should be Hellenic again. In 1431 Pletho was so respected for his wisdom and morality that he was chosen to accompany John VIII Byzantine emperor to the Council of Florence to discuss a union of the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

-1484 in Sweden - in a trial a thief named Ragvald Odinskarl confessed that he had served Odin for seven years.

-1492 in Sweden Erick Clauesson confessed to worshipping Odin.

-Thomas Morton (c. 1579–1647) was an American colonist from a noble Devonshire family. In his colony of Merrymount he revived pagan customs from Greece and Rome and combined them with English pagan traditions such as the Maypole and invited native American pagan women to join in the dances.

-1598 in England, a German lawyer Paul Hentzner witnessed a harvest festival in Windsor where he says the people carried an idol of the goddess Ceres in a wagon.

-1632 in Småland, Sweden court records describe how a man was advised to call out for Odin at a crossroads on a Thursday night in order to acquire wealth.

-1693 in Sweden Petter Rudebeck describes how many people in Småland believe Odin gives them wealth if they invite him as a guest on a Thursday night.

-1776 in England, topographer William Hutchinson described how people in Northumberland decorate an idol of Ceres with a crown of flowers and grain and carry it to the fields while playing music.

-19th century Swedes are reported to still have dragged an idol called the “corn god” around fields to bless crops. Montelius provides similar earlier evidence of Thor worship in 17th century Sweden.

-Thomas Taylor (1758 – 1835) was a pagan Platonist from England who translated many of the ancient works of platonists and is said to have led pagan rites and processions in rural England.

@All The PNW Wolfpack is in the process of building the first heathen Hoff from the ground up on land that we own. We are breaking ground on March 5th. We currently have a fundraiser to purchase some building material that we need to complete the build. We are currently at about 45% of our goal. I wanted to share this fundraiser with this group and if you are able to help us build something great for our folk in the Pacific Northwest and The children to come in the future, please consider donating and helping us reach our goal.

You can donate here: https://pnwkindreds.com/campaigns/pnw-wolfpack-hof-fundraiser

The Staffordshire Saxon.

The Frithstead is officially apolitical, but given the circumstances, European folk need to let it go & stop the bloodshed. Let us unite in our diversity and preserve & strengthen ourselves in all our cultural expressions. Hail our folk, for we are all one extended family and if we continue to kill, or play power-politics with each other, then all hope is lost and I, for one, choose to remain hopeful.

Traditionally, if a woman wore a Mjölnir pendant it would be on her belt as a fertility rite.
A woman's grave excavation in Guilton in England’s southeastern county of Kent, showed this. These were dated to 6th century the women had miniature Thor's hammers on their belt.

A Teutonic Symbol of Death? - Part 1

Flateyjarbók records that in times of grief, our forebears hung a mourning banner:

“The men sat drinking as long as they liked that night, and then went to bed ; but after they had left the hall Queen Thyri took down the hangings, and instead put up black and grey cloth until all was covered. She had done this because it was the custom in those days when tidings of grief came to do as she did."

Our sources tell us that a “black and grey cloth” was used, but was there a symbol that represented death & mourning?

Culturally, the Yew tree has served this purpose.

What does the past say of these symbols?

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A Teutonic Symbol of Death? - Part 2

The Yew Tree in the Rune Poems

The Anglo-Saxon rune poem:
ᛇ Eoh byþ utan unsmeþe treow,
heard hrusan fæst, hyrde fyres,
wyrtrumun underwreþyd, wyn on eþle

ᛇ The yew is a tree with rough bark,
hard and fast in the earth, supported by its roots,
a guardian of flame and a joy upon an estate

The Icelandic Rune Poem:
ᛦ Ýr er bendr bogi
ok brotgjarnt járn
ok fífu fárbauti.
arcus ynglingr

ᛦ Yew
bent bow
and brittle iron
and giant of the arrow.

The Norwegian Rune Poem:
ᛦ Ýr er vetrgrønstr viða;
vænt er, er brennr, at sviða.

ᛦ Yew is the greenest of trees in winter;
it is wont to crackle when it burns

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

A Teutonic Symbol of Death? - Part 3

In looking at the Yew tree within the rune poems, they speak of its strength, “Bent bow” and “Giant of the arrow”, of “Greenest of trees in winter” and of its strength, “hard and fast in the earth”, & when burned, a “Guardian of flame”. Yews are associated with the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth, as not only does it live for thousands of years, but its drooping branches of old yew trees can root and form new trunks where they touch the ground. Since ancient times, Yews were planted around religious sites and cemeteries, to both keep out wandering livestock and the believe that the trees’ toxic needles would prevent the appearance of ghosts or apparitions by sucking the nourishment from the dead. Carrying over into medieval times, the dead were buried with yew shoots, with yew leaves covering the graves and bodies.

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

A Teutonic Symbol of Death? - Part 4

The Yew as a symbol of death?

The English, in agreement with the Icelandic rune poem, “bent bow
and brittle iron and giant of the arrow”, used the Yew to make their famous longbow, which was the driving force behind major military tactical changes during the Hundred Years War (1337 CE –1453 CE). So strong is the cultural connection of the Yew tree with death, Shakespeare, in his play, The Tragedie of Macbeth, described a poisonous drink from the Yew’s toxic needles being brewed - “slips of yew, silvered in the moon’s eclipse”. And Germany, the ᛦ Ýr (Yew) rune was placed on death certificates and headstones beside the date of death (with the upright Younger Futhark ᛘ Maðr rune next to the person’s birth date).

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