About the journal
The distaff holds the unspun wool. Everything that will become thread begins there. We named our journal for it because this is where our thinking begins: raw, plentiful, and waiting to be worked.
Every essay is read by two members of the editorial board before it appears, and checked against the sources. Opinions belong to their authors. Claims about the lore have to stand up.
This page carries a selection of recent essays. Members can read the full archive, back to our first issue in 2019, through their hearth circles.
September 3, 2026 / Ingrid Fjellvang
The Seeress Speaks: Reading the Voluspa as a Woman's Voice
The greatest poem of Norse mythology is spoken from first line to last by a woman. What happens when we pay attention to her, and not only to what she says?
Read the article: The Seeress Speaks: Reading the Voluspa as a Woman's Voice
June 8, 2026 / Katrin Vogelsang
Freyja Is Not Only a Love Goddess
She is routinely reduced to love and beauty. The sources show a chooser of the slain, a mistress of magic, and a power whom giants covet and no one commands.
Read the article: Freyja Is Not Only a Love Goddess
April 20, 2026 / Tamsin Wray
The Myth of the Obedient Viking Wife
Some now claim that Norse tradition calls for submissive wives and fixed roles. The sagas and the law codes describe something very different.
Read the article: The Myth of the Obedient Viking Wife
February 9, 2026 / Elspeth Carrow
The Horn-Bearer: Women and the Rite of Symbel
In the old poems the horn is carried through the hall by a woman, and it is an office of power. What the sources show, and what that means at symbel today.
Read the article: The Horn-Bearer: Women and the Rite of Symbel
December 1, 2025 / Hedda Thorsen
Mothers' Night: Honoring the Disir at Midwinter
What we know about the Night of the Mothers, and a simple way to honor the Disir and the women of your own line at the opening of Yule.
Read the article: Mothers' Night: Honoring the Disir at Midwinter
August 18, 2025 / Elspeth Carrow
Spun Thread and Woven Fate: Textile Work and the Sacred
Spinning and weaving filled the lives of women in the old North. It is no accident that fate, memory, and magic are so often imagined as thread.
Read the article: Spun Thread and Woven Fate: Textile Work and the Sacred
April 14, 2025 / Imani Lindahl
Who Gets the Word-Fame? Invisible Labor in Heathen Communities
Heathens say that a good name never dies. So it is worth asking who is being named. On invisible labor, and some practical ways to give credit where it is due.
Read the article: Who Gets the Word-Fame? Invisible Labor in Heathen Communities
October 28, 2024 / Jorunn Maki
Voices from the Hearth: Five Members on Living Heathenry
Five members, from five countries, answer the same questions about how they found Heathenry, whom they honor, and whether they have been heard.
Read the article: Voices from the Hearth: Five Members on Living Heathenry
May 6, 2024 / Celina Prado
Alone at the Altar: Notes for the Solitary Heathen
Most Heathens practice alone, and many live far from the lands where the lore was written. Notes on building a practice that holds.
Read the article: Alone at the Altar: Notes for the Solitary HeathenWriting for The Distaff
We welcome proposals from members and from other inclusive Heathens. We are looking for essays of 800 to 2,000 words that tell the reader something true and useful: a close reading of a source, a piece of history, an account of a practice, or an honest reflection on community life. Write to the editor through our contact page with "Journal" in the subject line.