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    Anglo-Saxon Gods

    I have been researching and looking into Germanic Heathenry for a while now. Despite my interest in it the Norse stuff has never felt quite "right" for me. The more I read about Anglo-Saxon Paganism however, the more I feel drawn to it. Maybe it's just due to my English ancestry I'm not too sure.

    I have a few questions to people who follow an Anglo-Saxon path, more on the gods than anything else. Do you feel that the Anglo-Saxon gods such as Woden, Thunor, Tiw and Frige are the same as their Norse counterparts? Some have stated that they feel they are different deities, whilst others have stated they are much "lighter". Would you agree with this?

    #2
    Re: Anglo-Saxon Gods

    The truth will always be that we don't really know. And that's not a cop - out, it's the truth. Also of course a deity will feel quite different from one person to another which is something else we need to take into account.
    Really, if you want to get into Anglo-Saxon paganism, then you need to read as much of their writings as you can and also get a sense of the context. It is quite different from what we know of Norse heathenism, but also curiously similar. If you would like a copy of Grendon's Anglo-Saxon charms, then please pm me with your email address and I'll emaIL it to you - it's a good start if you don't know much about how they thought and worked. I would also recommend Kevin Crossley-Holland's Anglo-Saxon world, an Anthology. This will show there is far more to the Anglo-Saxons than just Beowulf. Don't be put off by the apparent Christian tone of much of the writing you come across - all is NOT what it seems there.

    Also, I have to come clean and say that my own book 'The Magical World of the Anglo-Saxons' is a good start too. You can get it most cheaply as a Kindle download in Australia... and you should be able to preview inside it too.
    www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


    Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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      #3
      Re: Anglo-Saxon Gods

      Originally posted by Tylluan Penry View Post
      The truth will always be that we don't really know. And that's not a cop - out, it's the truth. Also of course a deity will feel quite different from one person to another which is something else we need to take into account.
      Really, if you want to get into Anglo-Saxon paganism, then you need to read as much of their writings as you can and also get a sense of the context. It is quite different from what we know of Norse heathenism, but also curiously similar. If you would like a copy of Grendon's Anglo-Saxon charms, then please pm me with your email address and I'll emaIL it to you - it's a good start if you don't know much about how they thought and worked. I would also recommend Kevin Crossley-Holland's Anglo-Saxon world, an Anthology. This will show there is far more to the Anglo-Saxons than just Beowulf. Don't be put off by the apparent Christian tone of much of the writing you come across - all is NOT what it seems there.

      Also, I have to come clean and say that my own book 'The Magical World of the Anglo-Saxons' is a good start too. You can get it most cheaply as a Kindle download in Australia... and you should be able to preview inside it too.
      Hi Tylluan Penry

      Thanks so much for the information. I have already read both Grendon's Anglo-Saxon Charms and The Anglo-Saxon World: An Anthology and loved them both. I've also read The Anglo-Saxons by James Campbell which taught me a lot also. I find Anglo-Saxon paganism quite an under appreciated tradition within Heathenry. There tends to be too much focus on Norse or Icelandic practices, mostly due to the amount of surviving lore I guess. Apart from Theodism (which is not a movement I wish to be apart of) there seems to be few others out there who practice the old Anglo-Saxon ways and it can be difficult to find information.

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        #4
        Re: Anglo-Saxon Gods

        You're very welcome. Campbell's book is lovely, isn't it? Pollington's Leechcraft is also a brilliant book, and if you can possibly beg, steal or borrow a copy I would recommend David Wilson's Anglo-Saxon Paganism too. (It tends to sell at horrendous prices because it was never reprinted. Well worth a read if you can access it through your library though.) Like you, I feel that books that start off about the Anglo-Saxons often try to conflate far too much with Norse and Icelandic Heathenry. The information about the Anlgo-Saxon IS out there... we just tend not to look in the right places. If there is anything specific you would like information on, just pm me with your email address and I'll see if I have any journal articles I can email to you (or anyone else reading this, by the way!) [Only be warned, the person, many years ago who commanded that I should send him 'all my research' didn't get anything!]
        www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


        Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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