followers of the old ways, be it Norse, Anglo-Saxon, or even further back in time, often don’t know what to call themselves. Is it Pagan, Heathen, Asatruar, Wodenist or some other term that best defines your belief? When I first began to see myself as a follower of our ancient understandings, I went for “Northern European Heathen”. Although a bit “formal” and bland sounding, it seemed to best define my journey, as in my quest to fully understand my forebears I often go back much further than Anglo-Saxon or Viking times.
In these times though everyone has an opinion on what is correct, so I soon had people telling me that “Heathen” was a derogatory term and that I shouldn’t use it. If you look for the definition of “Heathen” in the dictionary you can see why too. Although they vary, they mostly contain three meanings, that of,
Someone not belonging to a major faith (by major faith they mean Semitic one, I.E Abrahamic)
A term used for someone uncivilised, lacking in culture and morality.
Or simply a “pagan”, connected to definition one, a follower of a polytheistic faith.
Most people first come across the word in the bible, where it is obviously used exceptionally negatively. Even when abandoning Christian ideas though, people still carry this derogatory meaning over into their new understandings. Some even using it exactly as defined in the bible as a sort of “f**k you!”, and behave in a manner befitting of its negative definition.
Even defined as “pagan” it doesn’t get much better, I mean it’s quite a vague definition. Essentially coming to mean anything not in the big three, of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. So even with this meaning, my belief would lack any special nature to it, as its just lumped in with “everything else” from the beliefs of African pygmies to South American Indians.
So should I use the word “Heathen” to define me? Well, although the dictionary definitions are rather damning, none of them seem to be able to shake the Christian understanding of the word. As a firm believer in the power and wisdom of the words, before I make any hasty decision, maybe we should see what the word itself has to say.
Given most of these definitions are rooted in the biblical use, before we continue it is important we look at what the bible was actually saying. Although I have read the bible I am certainly no biblical scholar, but from my research it appears that two words are the most commonly translated as “heathen” in English bibles. In the old testament, the word heathen is normally a translation of “Goyim”, where as in the new testament it is “Ethne”. Both these words basically mean “nation, or ethnic group”, Although the word Goyim does take on some more derogatory meanings by association in other Jewish texts, much as “heathen” has in Christian texts. What’s important to understand here, is that the word “heathen” is not the word used, and that it is just an interpretation.
Some do believe that the word “heathen” itself originally comes via the Greek “ethnos” much like “ethne” in the new testament. There is a strong case for this given that the Greeks themselves in later times began using the word negatively to talk about peoples from other lands, much like Jewish and later Christian texts did about none Jews/believers. The Greek word “ethnos” though doesn’t have the “heathland” connection . This makes this idea slightly problematic, as nowhere in the north does the word heathen not directly relate to heathland. It is possible that the word “heathen” and ethnos share a common root, and that later Christian writers just appropriated it as the closest word they had. Either way though, the word heathen has much more to say, in the north at least.
At the time Christianity was trying to conquer northern Europe, the word heathen most likely like the word Ethnos was not seen as derogatory. The best place to find out what the word originally meant is from the old Norse, as in this crossover period we have many copied down writings not yet (fully) corrupted by Christian thinkers.
Heiðr
The most common etymological understanding of the word “heathen” is essentially “heath-dweller” . In old Norse this is no different, where heathen is spelled, heiðinn, but is best seen in the term heiðnir menn, meaning “heathens” and literally translates as “men of the heath”. For reasons I will explain later, this in of itself is exceptionally interesting, but there is a little more to lay out first. The word for heath in old Norse is Heiðr, and this is where the words begin to dance, as “heath” is not its only meaning. Heiðr has two homonyms, thus can also mean “Honour, worth/value”, or “Bright, cloudless, clear”. It doesn’t end there either, those of you more familiar with old Norse texts will also note it is the given name of several mythical characters. One of which is a Völva mentioned in the Völuspá, Heiðr here being seen as an alternative name for the Völva Gullveig. This gets further complicated and for us more interesting as many believe Gullveig is none other than Freyja.
It is clear the word has much more to say than the simple definitions in the dictionaries. Before we can fully get to grips with the wisdom of the words though, it is essential we take a brief look at them on their own.
Heath (Heiðr/Heiði)
This needs little explanation, but it is important to highlight exactly what the word is saying. Heathland is uncultivated land, and much like I point out in my article “Woden of the Wild Wood” this is essential to understand. The word heath therefore speaks of that outside of man’s control. In its proto Indo-European root “kayt-” it covers all areas of “untilled” land, from forests to moors. If you haven’t already I would recommend reading the above article if you want to understand this concept better, but there is enough here for this piece.
Honour (Heiðr)
Although as followers of the old ways, this word is very familiar and important to us, there is an interesting deviation in the old Norse, compared to that of the English. The English word is said to originate from the old Latin “Honos”, where as the old Norse, from a very different route. The proto Germanic origin is “haiduz” meaning “Manner, character, rank, condition and kind”. Unlike the word “honour” as something to be earned, the proto Germanic seems to suggest an original glory inherent in the man. The proto Indo European route of “Heiðr”(honour) is “(s)kayt-” meaning “clear, bright Shining”. This further highlights the idea of some inherent good.
Bright (Heiðr)
This word originates in the proto Indo Europe “(s)kayt-” to, as you could of guessed. This word meaning “bright, shining, clear” through its earlier proto Indo-European origin gives us the English word “shine”. You may of also noticed that the proto Indo European word “(s)kayt-” is almost identical to the proto Indo-European word “kayt-” for heath above. This connection I would assume comes via the idea of “clear”. “shining” is often associated with good character, and places in mythology associated with paradise. An example of this is the beautiful Baldr who is known as the shining one and interestingly is said to survive Ragnarok in the aforementioned Völuspá
Gullveig (Heiðr)
So this article doesn’t get to unwieldy, as whole pieces could be written on Gullveig alone, I will try to keep this section quite simple. Gullveig is instrumental in the “war of the Gods”, it after we hear of her mistreatment that the Æsir-Vanir war is first mentioned. She is said to of been put on a spike and burned three times, each time though she was reborn. Although this is a contentious issue, considering she was burned on a stake, and the fact she is a Völva whose practices
seiðr , something which would later be called “witchcraft”, we have an almost classical witch burning. Thus I am inclined to believe there is Christian corruption within this writing. In the poem it also states that she is “the joy of evil people”, with this in mind and the fact she is oft associated with Freyja, I cannot help but think it is symbolic of the destruction of the feminine forces, as was seen with the arrival of Christianity. There is much to these few versus of old Norse text though, especially in connection to the Fehu poem, I will though have to save all of that for another time. there is enough here already to bring together an understanding of the word “heathen”.
Summery
So now let’s try and bring all of this together. In the common definitions of the word heathen we see how influenced they are by Christianity. They place the word Heathen as an opposite to them, and make themselves all that is moral and just, thus the word heathen becomes all that is immoral and unjust. Now, I am not going to contend that the word heathen is not in opposition to Christianity, but I will contend who is the most just.
In the word for honour this can be seen quite clearly. The word gives the idea of an original glory, quite the opposite from the Christian concept of “original sin”. Here we see the man being born with inherent qualities of good and value, not evil, which are quite unlike the ideas given in the old testament.
We also see in the word for heath, the heathen unlike the God fearing Christian, is untilled, or untamed by man. He still inhabits and lives outside of “civility” and all the vices that come with it, in short he lives a simple but honest existence. He is undomesticated, thus he does not fold easy to insincere laws of domination. He holds true to the original idea of himself, and fiercely defends his freedoms. In doing so he preserves not only his own dignity, but also keeps natures glory in reverence. He does not force nature to submit to him, he lives in harmony with his surroundings, unlike the cities which pollute, both land and taste. contrary to the civilized, he does not force himself upon nature, but dances in harmony with her.
In the word bright the heathen in his innocence is the true light of the world, and through the ideas within “the shining one” Baldr, he is destined to inherit it.
The domination of nature is further made clear in the Völuspá. We see the masculine domination and attempted destruction of the feminine in brutal imagery, the “witch” being “impaled” and burned at the stake. Much like the heathen ideas now being reborn, the Völva or Freyja, the great mother, cannot be destroyed. She only returns stronger, as shall we.
The words above sharing the same proto Indo-European route, were all sprouted from the same seed. Their connections are from the origins of our language, each being only part of a greater whole we must see them together to understand them in their full glory.
We see the Heathen standing on the edge of the “civilized” world, his honour and dignity intact, not yet demoralised he shines like a beacon to others. He calls them back to the old ways, before the corruption, to a time of harmony with oneself and nature.