Old Norse and Old English words are given here in plain letters, as they are throughout this site. Type in the box to narrow the list.
Showing all terms
- Aesir
- The larger of the two divine families in Norse myth, including Odin, Frigg, Thor, and Tyr. One god is an As; the goddesses are the Asynjur.
- Alfablot
- A sacrifice to the elves, held in the household in autumn. A Christian poet who traveled in Sweden around 1019 describes being turned away from farms where it was under way.
- Asatru
- A modern Icelandic word meaning roughly "trust in the Aesir." Widely used for Heathen religion based on the Norse sources.
- Asynjur
- The goddesses of the Aesir. See Goddesses of the North.
- Blot
- An offering to the gods, ancestors, or wights, and the rite in which it is given. The central act of Heathen worship.
- Dis plural Disir
- A female ancestral or guardian spirit attached to a family. See Disir, Norns, and Valkyries.
- Disablot
- The sacrifice to the Disir, held at Winter Nights in Norway and Iceland and in late winter in Sweden.
- Distaff
- The staff that holds unspun wool or flax for spinning. An old emblem of women's work, and the name of our journal.
- Disting
- The late-winter gathering at Uppsala in Sweden, where a sacrifice to the Disir, a market, and an assembly were held together. Also the name of the annual assembly of Heathen Women United.
- Edda
- Either of two Icelandic works: the Poetic Edda, a collection of mythological and heroic poems, and the Prose Edda, a handbook of myth and poetry written by Snorri Sturluson around 1220.
- Folkish
- A term for the view that Heathenry belongs only to people of northern European descent. Heathen Women United rejects this view. See our Statement on Inclusion.
- Frith
- The peace, security, and mutual obligation that bind kin and community.
- Frithkeeper
- In the Frith Standard, a person named by a kindred or event to receive concerns about conduct and see that they are acted on.
- Fylgja
- A "follower": a spirit that accompanies a person or family, appearing as an animal or as a woman.
- Galdr
- Sung or spoken magic; a charm.
- Godi feminine gydja
- A priest or priestess. In modern use, someone recognized by a kindred to lead its rites. The feminine form is also spelled gythia.
- Hamingja
- The luck or fortune of a person or family, sometimes pictured as a female guardian spirit.
- Havamal
- "Sayings of the High One," a poem of the Poetic Edda containing counsel attributed to Odin on hospitality, friendship, and conduct.
- Hearth
- A household of Heathens, or a small local group; some use the word much as others use kindred. In Heathen Women United, a hearth circle is a small group of members who meet regularly.
- Heathenry
- The modern religion that revives the pre-Christian beliefs and practices of the Germanic-speaking peoples.
- Hof
- A temple or hall used for worship.
- Inclusive
- Describes Heathens and groups who hold that the religion is open to everyone called to it, whatever their ancestry. Also called universalist.
- Kindred
- A local group of Heathens who worship and study together.
- Lore
- The body of sources on which Heathenry draws: the Eddas, sagas, poems, histories, laws, and inscriptions.
- Matronae
- "The Mothers." Female powers honored on more than a thousand votive stones from the Roman-period Rhineland and beyond, usually shown as three seated women.
- Modraniht
- "Night of the Mothers," kept by the heathen English at midwinter according to Bede. Modern Heathens call it Mothers' Night.
- Norns
- The female powers who shape fate. The best known are Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, who dwell at the well beneath the world tree.
- Orlog
- The "first layers": what has already been laid down by past deeds and so shapes what can come to be.
- Reconstruction
- The method of rebuilding religious practice from historical evidence, while being honest about the gaps.
- Runes
- The letters of the old Germanic alphabets, used for inscriptions on stone, wood, and metal from about the second century onward. Many memorial rune stones were raised by women.
- Saga
- A prose narrative from medieval Iceland. Also the name of a goddess.
- Seidr
- A form of magic and seership practiced chiefly by women. See Seidr and the Seeress.
- Spakona
- A woman who sees or foretells; a prophetess.
- Symbel also sumbel
- A formal round of toasts, boasts, and oaths spoken over a shared horn or cup.
- Thing
- An assembly of free people for making law and settling disputes. The Icelandic national assembly was the Althing.
- Utiseta
- "Sitting out": a night vigil outdoors to seek knowledge from spirits or the dead.
- Valkyrie
- A "chooser of the slain": one of the female powers who decide who falls in battle and bring the chosen to Odin's hall.
- Vanir
- The second divine family of Norse myth, including Njord, Freyr, and Freyja.
- Voluspa
- "The Prophecy of the Seeress," the first poem of the Poetic Edda, in which a volva recounts the making and ending of the world.
- Volva plural volur
- A seeress; most likely "staff-bearer."
- Wight
- A spirit or being, especially of a place. Land wights dwell in the landscape; house wights share the home.
- Winter Nights
- The festival at the start of winter, in mid-October, when the Disir and ancestors are honored.
- Word-fame
- Lasting good reputation; being well spoken of for what one has done.
- Wyrd
- The Old English word for fate as that which comes to be, shaped by all that has gone before.
- Yule
- The midwinter festival. The old sources speak of three nights of feasting; most Heathens today keep twelve, in late December.