Heathenry (new religious movement)

No central religious authority exists to impose a particular terminological designation on all practitioners.[27] Hence, different Heathen groups have used different words to describe both their religion and themselves, with these terms often conveying meaning about their socio-political beliefs as well as the particular Germanic region of pre-Christian Europe from which they draw inspiration.[28]

Academics studying the religion have typically favoured the terms Heathenry and Heathenism to describe it,[29] for the reason that these words are inclusive of all varieties of the movement.[30] This term is the most commonly used option by practitioners in the United Kingdom,[31] with growing usage in North America and elsewhere.[32] These terms are based on the word heathen, attested as the Gothic haithn, which was adopted by Gothic Arian missionaries as the equivalent of both the Greek words Hellenis (Hellene, Greek) and ethnikós – "of a (foreign) people".[33] The word was used by Early Medieval Christian writers in Germanic Europe to describe non-Christians; by using it, practitioners seek to reappropriate it from the Christians as a form of self-designation.[34] Many practitioners favor the term Heathen over Pagan because the former term originated among Germanic languages, whereas Pagan has its origins in Latin.[35]

Heathen ritual space marked out by an engraved wooden pillar, located on The Wrekin in Shropshire, England

Further terms used in some academic contexts are contemporary Germanic Paganism[36] and Germanic Neopaganism,[37] although the latter is an "artificial term" developed by scholars with little use within the Heathen community.[38] Alternately, Blain suggested the use of North European Paganism as an overarching scholarly term for the movement;[39] Strmiska noted that this would also encompass those practitioners inspired by the belief systems of Northeastern Europe's linguistically Finnic and Slavic societies.[40] He favored Modern Nordic Paganism, but accepted that this term excluded those Heathens who are particularly inspired by the pre-Christian belief systems of non-Nordic Germanic societies, such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Goths.[40]

Another name for the religion is the Icelandic Ásatrú, which translates as "Æsir belief"—the Æsir being a sub-set of deities in Norse mythology. This is more commonly rendered as Asatru in North America, with practitioners being known as Asatruar.[41] This term is favored by practitioners who focus on the Nordic deities of Scandinavia,[42] however is problematic as many self-identified Asatruar worship entities other than the Æsir, such as the Vanir, valkyries, elves, and dwarfs.[43] Although initially a popular term of designation among practitioners and academics, usage of Ásatrú has declined as the religion has aged.[44]

Other practitioners term their religion Vanatrú, meaning "those who honor the Vanir", or Dísitrú, meaning "those who honor the goddesses", depending on their particular theological emphasis.[45] A small group of practitioners who venerate the Jötnar, refer to their tradition as Rokkatru.[46] Although restricted especially to Scandinavia, since the mid-2000s a term that has grown in popularity is Forn Siðr or Forn Sed ("the old way"); this is also a term reappropriated from Christian usage, having previously been used in a derogatory sense to describe pre-Christian religion in the Old Norse Heimskringla.[47] Other terms used within the community to describe their religion are the Northern Tradition, Norse Paganism, and Saxon Paganism,[48] while in the first third of the 20th century, commonly used terms were German, Nordic, or Germanic Faith.[49] Within the United States, groups emphasising a German-orientation have used Irminism, while those focusing on an Anglo-Saxon approach have used Fyrnsidu or Theodism.[50]

Many racialist-oriented Heathens prefer the terms Odinism or Wotanism to describe their religion.[51] The England-based racialist group Woden's Folk favored Wodenism and Woden Folk-Religion,[52] while another racialist group, the Heathen Front, favored the term Odalism, coined by Varg Vikernes, in reference to the odal rune.[53] There is thus a general view that all those who use Odinism adopt an explicitly political, right-wing and racialist interpretation of the religion, while Asatru is used by more moderate Heathen groups,[54] but no such clear division of these terms' usage exists in practice.[55] Gregorius noted that Odinism was "highly problematic" because it implies that the god Odin—who is adopted from Norse mythology—is central to these groups' theology, which is often not the case.[53] Moreover, the term is also used by at least one non-racialist group, the British Odinshof, who utilise it in reference to their particular dedication to Odin.[53]

A detail from Gotland runestone G 181, in the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm. The three figures are interpreted as Odin, Thor, and Freyr, deities which have seen their veneration revived among modern Heathens.

The historian of religion Mattias Gardell noted that there is "no unanimously accepted theology" within the Heathen movement.[56] Several early Heathens like Guido von List found the polytheistic nature of pre-Christian religion embarrassing, and argued that in reality it had been monotheistic.[57] Since the 1970s, such negative attitudes towards polytheism have changed.[58] Today Heathenry is usually characterised as being polytheistic, exhibiting a theological structure which includes a pantheon of gods and goddesses, with adherents offering their allegiance and worship to some or all of them.[59] Most practitioners are polytheistic realists, referring to themselves as "hard" or "true polytheists" and believing in the literal existence of the deities as individual entities.[60] Others express a psychological interpretation of the divinities, viewing them for instance as symbols, Jungian archetypes or racial archetypes,[61] with some who adopt this position deeming themselves to be atheists.[62]

Heathenry's deities are adopted from the pre-Christian belief systems found in the various societies of Germanic Europe; they include divinities like Týr, Odin, Thor, Frigg and Freyja from Scandinavian sources, Wōden, Thunor and Ēostre from Anglo-Saxon sources, and figures such as Nehalennia from continental sources.[15] Some practitioners adopt the belief, taken from Norse mythology, that there are two sets of deities, the Æsir and the Vanir.[63] Certain practitioners blend the different regions and times together, for instance using a mix of Old English and Old Norse names for the deities, while others keep them separate and only venerate deities from a particular region.[64] Some groups focus their veneration on a particular deity; for instance, the Brotherhood of Wolves, a Czech Heathen group, center their worship on the deity Fenrir.[65] Similarly, many practitioners in the U.S. adopt a particular patron deity for themselves, taking an oath of dedication to them known as fulltruí, and describe themselves as that entity's devotee using terms such as Thorsman or Odinsman.[66]

Heathen deities are not seen as perfect, omnipotent, or omnipresent, and are instead viewed as having their own strengths and weaknesses.[67] Many practitioners believe that these deities will one day die, as did, for instance, the god Baldr in Norse mythology.[68] Heathens view their connection with their deities not as being that of a master and servant but rather as an interdependent relationship akin to that of a family.[69] For them, these deities serve as both examples and role models whose behavior is to be imitated.[70] Many practitioners believe that they can communicate with these deities,[71] as well as negotiate, bargain, and argue with them,[72] and hope that through venerating them, practitioners will gain wisdom, understanding, power, or visionary insights.[73] In Heathen ritual practices, the deities are typically represented as godpoles, wooden shafts with anthropomorphic faces carved into them, although in other instances resin statues of the divinities are sometimes used.[74]

Many practitioners combine their polytheistic world-view with a pantheistic conception of the natural world as being sacred and imbued with a divine energy force permeating all life.[75] Heathenry is animistic,[64] with practitioners believing in nonhuman spirit persons commonly known as "wights" (vættir) that inhabit the world,[76] each of whom is believed to have its own personality.[15] Some of these are known as "land spirits" (landvættir) and inhabit different aspects of the landscape, living alongside humans, whom they can both help and hinder.[77] Others are deemed to be household deities and live within the home, where they can be propitiated with offerings of food.[78] Some Heathens interact with these entities and provide offerings to them more often than they do with the gods and goddesses.[79] Wights are often identified with various creatures from Northwestern European folklore such as elves, dwarves, gnomes, and trolls.[80] Some of these entities—such as the Jötunn of Norse mythology—are deemed to be baleful spirits; within the community it is often deemed taboo to provide offerings to them, however some practitioners still do so.[81] Many Heathens also believe in and respect ancestral spirits, with ancestral veneration representing an important part of their religious practice.[82] For Heathens, relationships with the ancestors are seen as grounding their own sense of identity and giving them strength from the past.[83]

Heathens commonly adopt a cosmology based on that found in Norse mythology—Norse cosmology. As part of this framework, humanity's world—known as Midgard—is regarded as just one of Nine Worlds, all of which are associated with a cosmological world tree called Yggdrasil. Different types of being are believed to inhabit these different realms; for instance, humans live on Midgard, while dwarfs live on another realm, elves on another, jötnar on another, and the divinities on two further realms.[84] Most practitioners believe that this is a poetic or symbolic description of the cosmos, with the different levels representing higher realms beyond the material plane of existence.[85] The world tree is also interpreted by some in the community as an icon for ecological and social engagement.[73] Some Heathens, such as the psychologist Brian Bates, have adopted an approach to this cosmology rooted in analytical psychology, thereby interpreting the nine worlds and their inhabitants as maps of the human mind.[73]

Heathen cemetery in Gufuneskirkjugarður, Reykjavík, which was established in 1999

According to a common Heathen belief based on references in Old Norse sources, three female entities known as the Norns sit at the end of the world tree's root. These figures spin wyrd, which refers to the actions and interrelationships of all beings throughout the cosmos.[86] In the community, these three figures are sometimes termed "Past, Present and Future", "Being, Becoming, and Obligation" or "Initiation, Becoming, Unfolding".[87] It is believed that an individual can navigate through the wyrd, and thus, the Heathen worldview oscillates between concepts of free will and fatalism.[88] Heathens also believe in a personal form of wyrd known as örlög.[89] This is connected to an emphasis on luck, with Heathens in North America often believing that luck can be earned, passed down through the generations, or lost.[90]

Various Heathen groups adopt the Norse apocalyptic myth of Ragnarök; few view it as a literal prophecy of future events.[91] Instead, it is often treated as a symbolic warning of the danger that humanity faces if it acts unwisely in relation to both itself and the natural world.[91] The death of the gods at Ragnarök is often viewed as a reminder of the inevitability of death and the importance of living honorably and with integrity until one dies.[92] Alternately, ethno-nationalist Heathens have interpreted Ragnarök as a prophecy of a coming apocalypse in which the white race will overthrow who these Heathens perceive as their oppressors and establish a future society based on Heathen religion.[93] The political scientist Jeffrey Kaplan believed that it was the "strongly millenarian and chialistic overtones" of Ragnarök which helped convert white American racialists to the right wing of the Heathen movement.[94]

Some practitioners do not emphasize belief in an afterlife, instead stressing the importance of behaviour and reputation in this world.[95] In Icelandic Heathenry, there is no singular dogmatic belief about the afterlife.[96] A common Heathen belief is that a human being has multiple souls, which are separate yet linked together.[97] It is common to find a belief in four or five souls, two of which survive bodily death: one of these, the hugr, travels to the realm of the ancestors, while the other, the fetch, undergoes a process of reincarnation into a new body.[98] In Heathen belief, there are various realms that the hugr can enter, based in part on the worth of the individual's earthly life; these include the hall of Valhalla, ruled over by Odin, or Sessrúmnir, the hall of Freyja.[98] Beliefs regarding reincarnation vary widely among Heathens, although one common belief is that individuals are reborn within their family or clan.[99]

A 2011 Heathen blót in Humlamaden near Veberöd in Lund, Sweden

In Heathenry, moral and ethical views are based on the perceived ethics of Iron Age and Early Medieval Northwestern Europe,[100] in particular the actions of heroic figures who appear in Old Norse sagas.[101] Evoking a life-affirming ethos,[102] Heathen ethics focus on the ideals of honor, courage, integrity, hospitality, and hard work, and strongly emphasize loyalty to family.[103] It is common for practitioners to be expected to keep their word, particularly sworn oaths.[104] There is thus a strong individualist ethos focused around personal responsibility,[105] and a common motto within the Heathen community is that "We are our deeds".[106] Most Heathens reject the concept of sin and believe that guilt is a destructive rather than useful concept.[107]

Some Heathen communities have formalized such values into an ethical code, the Nine Noble Virtues (NNV), which is based largely on the Hávamál from the Poetic Edda.[108] This was first developed by the founders of the UK-based Odinic Rite in the 1970s,[109] although it has spread internationally, with 77% of respondents to a 2015 survey of Heathens reporting its use in some form.[110] There are different forms of the NNV, with the number nine having symbolic associations in Norse mythology.[111] Opinion is divided on the NNV; some practitioners deem them too dogmatic,[111] while others eschew them for not having authentic roots in historical Germanic culture,[112] negatively viewing them as an attempt to imitate the Judeo-Christian Ten Commandments.[113] Their use is particularly unpopular in Nordic countries,[114] and has been observed declining in the United States.[115]

Within the Heathen community of the United States, gender roles are based upon perceived ideals and norms found in Early Medieval Northwestern Europe, in particular as they are presented in Old Norse sources.[116] Among male American Heathens there is a trend toward hypermasculinized behaviour,[117] while a gendered division of labor—in which men are viewed as providers and women seen as being responsible for home and children—is also widespread among Heathens in the U.S.[118] Due to its focus on traditional attitudes to sex and gender—values perceived as socially conservative in Western nations—it has been argued that American Heathenry's ethical system is far closer to traditional Christian morals than the ethical systems espoused in many other Western Pagan religions such as Wicca.[119] A 2015 survey of the Heathen community nevertheless found that a greater percentage of Heathens were opposed to traditional gender rules than in favor of them, with this being particularly the case in Northern Europe.[120]

A 2010 outdoor altar at the Springblót at Gamla Uppsala, Uppland, Sweden

The sociologist Jennifer Snook noted that as with all religions, Heathenry is "intimately connected" to politics, with practitioners' political and religious beliefs influencing one another.[121] As a result of the religion's emphasis on honoring the land and its wights, many Heathens take an interest in ecological issues,[122] with many considering their faith to be a nature religion.[123] Heathen groups have participated in tree planting, raising money to purchase woodland, and campaigning against the construction of a railway between London and the Channel Tunnel in Southeastern England.[124] Many Germanic Neopagans are also concerned with the preservation of heritage sites,[125] and some practitioners have expressed concern regarding archaeological excavation of prehistoric and Early Medieval burials, believing that it is disrespectful to the individuals interred, whom Heathens widely see as their ancestors.[124]

Ethical debates within the community also arise when some practitioners believe that the religious practices of certain co-religionists conflict with the religion's "conservative ideas of proper decorum".[126] For instance, while many Heathens eschew worship of the Norse god Loki, deeming him a baleful wight, his gender-bending nature has made him attractive to many LGBT Heathens. Those who adopt the former perspective have thus criticized Lokeans as effeminate and sexually deviant.[127] Views on homosexuality and LGBT rights remain a source of tension within the community.[128] Some right-wing Heathen groups view homosexuality as being incompatible with a family-oriented ethos and thus censure same-sex sexual activity.[129] Other groups legitimize openness toward LGBT practitioners by reference to the gender-bending actions of Thor and Odin in Norse mythology.[130] There are, for instance, homosexual and transgender members of The Troth, a prominent U.S. Heathen organisation.[131] Many Heathen groups in Northern Europe perform same-sex marriages,[132] and a group of self-described "Homo-Heathens" marched in the 2008 Stockholm Pride carrying a statue of the god Freyr.[133]

The most important religious rite for Heathens is called blót, which constitutes a ritual in which offerings are provided to the gods.[162] Blót typically takes place outdoors, and usually consists of an offering of mead, which is contained within a bowl. The gods are invoked and requests expressed for their aid, as the priest uses a sprig or branch of an evergreen tree to sprinkle mead onto both statues of the deities and the assembled participants. This procedure might be scripted or largely improvised. Finally, the bowl of mead is poured onto a fire, or onto the earth, as a final libation to the gods.[163] Sometimes, a communal meal is held afterward; in some groups this is incorporated as part of the ritual itself.[164] In other instances, the blót is simpler and less ritualized; in this case, it can involve a practitioner setting some food aside, sometimes without words, for either gods or wights.[165] Some Heathens perform such rituals on a daily basis, although for others it is a more occasional performance.[90] Aside from honoring deities, communal blóts also serve as a form of group bonding.[166]

The Swedish Asatru Society holding a 2008 blót near to Österlen in Scania

In Iron Age and Early Medieval Northern Europe, the term blót was at times applied to a form of animal sacrifice performed to thank the deities and gain their favor.[167] Such sacrifices have generally proved impractical for most modern practitioners or altogether rejected, due in part to the fact that skills in animal slaughter are not widely taught, while the slaughter of animals is regulated by government in Western countries.[15] The Icelandic group Ásatrúarfélagið for instance explicitly rejects animal sacrifice.[168]

In 2007 Strmiska noted that a "small but growing" number of Heathen practitioners in the U.S. had begun performing animal sacrifice as a part of blót.[169] Such Heathens conceive of the slaughtered animal as a gift to the gods, and sometimes also as a "traveller" who is taking a message to the deities.[170] Groups who perform such sacrifices typically follow the procedure outlined in the Heimskringla: the throat of the sacrificial animal is slashed with a sharp knife, and the blood is collected in a bowl before being sprinkled onto both participants of the rite and statues of the gods.[171] Animals used for this purpose have included poultry as well as larger mammals like sheep and pigs, with the meat then being consumed by those attending the rite.[172] Some practitioners have made alterations to this procedure: Strmiska noted two American Heathens who decided to use a rifle shot to the head to kill the animal swiftly, a decision made after they witnessed a blót in which the animal's throat was cut incorrectly and it slowly died in agony; they felt that such practices would have displeased the gods and accordingly brought harm upon those carrying out the sacrifice.[173]

Another common ritual in Heathenry is sumbel, also spelled symbel, a ritual drinking ceremony in which the gods are toasted.[174] Sumbel often takes place following a blót.[175] In the U.S., the sumbel commonly involves a drinking horn being filled with mead and passed among the assembled participants, who either drink from it directly, or pour some into their own drinking vessels to consume. During this process, toasts are made, as are verbal tributes to gods, heroes, and ancestors. Then, oaths and boasts (promises of future actions) might be made, both of which are considered binding on the speakers due to the sacred context of the sumbel ceremony.[176] According to Snook, the sumbel has a strong social role, representing "a game of politicking, of socializing, cementing bonds of peace and friendship and forming new relationships" within the Heathen community.[177] During her ethnographic research, Pizza observed an example of a sumbel that took place in Minnesota in 2006 with the purpose of involving Heathen children; rather than mead, the drinking horn contained apple juice, and the toasting accompanied the children taping pictures of apples to a poster of a tree that symbolized the apple tree of Iðunn from Norse mythology.[178]

One religious practice sometimes found in Heathenry is seiðr, which has been described as "a particular shamanic trance ritual complex",[179] although the appropriateness of using "shamanism" to describe seiðr is debatable.[180] Contemporary seiðr developed during the 1990s out of the wider Neo-Shamanic movement,[181] with some practitioners studying the use of trance-states in other faiths, such as Umbanda, first.[182] A prominent form is high-seat or oracular seiðr, which is based on the account of Guðriðr in Eiríks saga. While such practices differ between groups, oracular seiðr typically involves a seiðr-worker sitting on a high seat while songs and chants are performed to invoke gods and wights. Drumming is then performed to induce an altered state of consciousness in the practitioner, who goes on a meditative journey in which they visualise travelling through the world tree to the realm of Hel. The assembled audience then provide questions for the seiðr-worker, with the latter offering replies based on information obtained in their trance-state.[183] Some seiðr-practitioners make use of entheogenic substances as part of this practice;[184] others explicitly oppose the use of any mind-altering drugs.[185]

A 2010 Heathen rite at the Storbuckasten boulder in Sörby parish, Västergötland, Sweden

Not all Heathens practice seiðr; given its associations with both the ambiguity of sexuality and gender and the gods Odin and Loki in their unreliable trickster forms, many on the Heathen movement's right wing disapprove of it.[186] While there are heterosexual male practitioners,[187] seiðr is largely associated with women and gay men,[188] and a 2015 survey of Heathens found that women were more likely to have engaged in it than men.[189] One member of the Troth, Edred Thorsson, developed forms of seiðr which involved sex magic utilizing sado-masochistic techniques, something which generated controversy in the community.[190] Part of the discomfort that some Heathens feel toward seiðr surrounds the lack of any criteria by which the community can determine whether the seiðr-worker has genuinely received divine communication, and the fear that it will be used by some practitioners merely to bolster their own prestige.[191]

Galdr is another Heathen practice involving chanting or singing.[192] As part of a galdr ceremony, runes or rune poems are also sometimes chanted, in order to create a communal mood and allow participants to enter into altered states of consciousness and request communication with deities.[193] Some contemporary galdr chants and songs are influenced by Anglo-Saxon folk magical charms, such as Æcerbot and the Nine Herbs Charm. These poems were originally written in a Christian context, although practitioners believe that they reflect themes present in pre-Christian, shamanistic religion, and thus re-appropriate and "Heathanise" them for contemporary usage.[194]

Some Heathens practice forms of divination using runes; as part of this, items with runic markings on them might be pulled out of a bag or bundle, and read accordingly.[195] In some cases, different runes are associated with different deities, one of the nine realms, or aspects of life.[196] It is common for Heathens to utilize the Common Germanic Futhark as a runic alphabet, although some practitioners instead adopt the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc or the Younger Futhark.[197] Some non-Heathens also use runes for divinatory purposes, with books on the subject being common in New Age bookstores.[198] Some Heathens practice magic, but this is not regarded as an intrinsic part of Heathenry because it was not a common feature of pre-Christian rituals in Iron Age and Early Medieval Germanic Europe.[199]

Members of the Ásatrúarfélagið preparing for a Þingblót at Þingvellir, Iceland

Different Germanic Neopagan groups celebrate different festivals according to their cultural and religious focus.[104] The most widely observed Heathen festivals are Winter Nights, Yule, and Sigrblót, all of which were listed in his Heimskringla and are thus of ancient origin.[200] The first of these marks the start of winter in Northern Europe, while the second marks Midwinter, and the last marks the beginning of summer.[201] Additional festivals are also marked by Heathen practice throughout the year.[201] These often include days which commemorate individuals who fought against the Christianization of Northern Europe, or who led armies and settlers into new lands.[160] Some Heathen groups hold festivals dedicated to a specific deity.[160]

Some Heathens celebrate the eight festivals found in the Wheel of the Year, a tradition that they share with Wiccans and other contemporary Pagan groups.[202] Others celebrate only six of these festivals, as represented by a six-spoked Wheel of the Year.[203] The use of such festivals is criticized by other practitioners, who highlight that this system is of modern, mid-20th century origin and does not link with the original religious celebrations of the pre-Christian Germanic world.[201]

Heathen festivals can be held on the same day each year, however are often celebrated by Heathen communities on the nearest available weekend, so that those practitioners who work during the week can attend.[160] During these ceremonies, Heathens often recite poetry to honor the deities, which typically draw upon or imitate the Early Medieval poems written in Old Norse or Old English.[160] Mead or ale is also typically drunk, with offerings being given to deities,[160] while fires, torches, or candles are often lit.[160] There are also regional meetings of Heathens known as Things. At these, religious rites are performed, while workshops, stalls, feasts, and competitive games are also present.[204] In the U.S., there are two national gatherings, Althing and Trothmoot.[205]

Guido von List, who promoted an early form of Heathenry

During the late 18th and 19th centuries, German Romanticism focused increasing attention on the pre-Christian belief systems of Germanic Europe, with various Romanticist intellectuals expressing the opinion that these ancient religions were "more natural, organic and positive" than Christianity.[242] Such an attitude was promoted by the scholarship of Romanticist intellectuals like Johann Gottfried Herder, Jacob Grimm, and Wilhelm Grimm.[243] This development went in tandem with a growth in nationalism and the idea of the volk, contributing to the establishment of the Völkisch movement in German-speaking Europe.[244] Criticising the Jewish roots of Christianity, in 1900 the Germanist Ernst Wachler published a pamphlet calling for the revival of a racialized ancient German religion.[245] Other writers such as Ludwig Fahrenkrog supported his claims, resulting in the formation of both the Bund fur Persönlichkeitskultur (League for the Culture of the Personality) and the Deutscher Orden in 1911 and then the Germanische-Deutsche Religionsgemeinschaft (Germanic-German Religious Community) in 1912.[246]

Another development of Heathenry emerged within the occult völkisch movement known as Ariosophy.[247] One of these völkisch Ariosophists was the Austrian occultist Guido von List, who established a religion that he termed "Wotanism", with an inner core that he referred to as "Armanism".[248] List's Wotanism was based heavily on the Eddas,[249] although over time it was increasingly influenced by the Theosophical Society's teachings.[250] List's ideas were transmitted in Germany by prominent right-wingers, and adherents to his ideas were among the founders of the Reichshammerbund in Leipzig in 1912, and they included individuals who held key positions in the Germanenorden.[251] The Thule Society founded by Rudolf von Sebottendorf developed from the Germanenorden, and it displayed a Theosophically-influenced interpretation of Norse mythology.[252]

Jakob Wilhelm Hauer, leader of the German Faith Movement in the 1930s

In 1933, the eclectic German Faith Movement (Deutsche Glaubensbewegung) was founded by the religious studies scholar Jakob Wilhelm Hauer, who wanted to unite these disparate Heathen groups. While active throughout the Nazi era, his hopes that his "German Faith" would be declared the official faith of Nazi Germany were thwarted.[253] The Heathen movement probably never had more than a few thousand followers during its 1920s heyday, however it held the allegiance of many middle-class intellectuals, including journalists, artists, illustrators, scholars, and teachers, and thus exerted a wider influence on German society.[254]

The völkisch occultists—among them Pagans like List and Christians like Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels—"contributed importantly to the mood of the Nazi era".[255] Few had a direct influence on the Nazi Party leadership, with one prominent exception: Karl Maria Wiligut was both a friend and a key influence on the Schutzstaffel (SS) leader Heinrich Himmler.[255] Wiligut professed ancestral-clairvoyant memories of ancient German society, proclaiming that "Wotanism" was in conflict with another ancient religion, "Irminenschaft", which was devoted to a messianic Germanic figure known as Krist, who was later wrongly transformed into the figure of Jesus.[256] Many Heathen groups disbanded during the Nazi period,[257] and they were only able to re-establish themselves after World War II, in West Germany, where freedom of religion had been re-established.[258] After the defeat of Nazi Germany, there was a social stigma surrounding völkisch ideas and groups,[259] along with a common perception that the mythologies of the pre-Christian Germanic societies had been tainted through their usage by the Nazi administration, an attitude that to some extent persisted into the 21st century.[260]

The völkisch movement also manifested itself in 1930s Norway within the milieu surrounding such groups as the Ragnarok Circle and Hans S. Jacobsen's Tidsskriftet Ragnarok journal. Prominent figures involved in this milieu were the writer Per Imerslund and the composer Geirr Tveitt, although it left no successors in post-war Norway.[261] A variant of "Odinism" was developed by the Australian Alexander Rud Mills, who published The Odinist Religion (1930) and established the Anglecyn Church of Odin. Politically racialist, Mills viewed Odinism as a religion for what he considered to be the "British race", and he deemed it to be in a cosmic battle with the Judeo-Christian religion.[262] Having formulated "his own unique blend" of Ariosophy,[263] Mills was heavily influenced by von List's writings.[264] Some of Heathenry's roots have also been traced back to the "back to nature" movement of the early 20th century, among them the Kibbo Kift and the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry.[265]

Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, leader of the Icelandic Ásatrúarfélagið, at a blót in 1991

In the early 1970s, Heathen organisations emerged in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Iceland, largely independently from each other.[266] This has been partly attributed to the wider growth of the modern Pagan movement during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the development of the New Age milieu, both of which encouraged the establishment of new religious movements intent on reviving pre-Christian belief systems.[267] Further Heathen groups then emerged in the 1990s and 2000s, many of which distanced themselves from overtly political agendas and placed a stronger emphasis on historical authenticity than their 1960s and 1970s forebears.[268]

Heathenry emerged in the United States during the 1960s.[269] In 1969 the Danish Heathen Else Christensen established the Odinist Fellowship at her home in the U.S. state of Florida.[270] Heavily influenced by Mills' writings,[271] she began publishing a magazine, The Odinist,[272] which placed greater emphasis on right-wing and racialist ideas than theological ones.[273] Stephen McNallen first founded the Viking Brotherhood in the early 1970s, before creating the Asatru Free Assembly in 1976, which broke up in 1986 amid widespread political disagreements after McNallen's repudiation of neo-Nazis within the group. In the 1990s, McNallen founded the Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA), an ethnically-oriented Heathen group headquartered in California.[274] Meanwhile, Valgard Murray and his kindred in Arizona founded the Ásatrú Alliance (AA) in the late 1980s, which shared the AFA's perspectives on race and which published the Vor Tru newsletter.[275] In 1987, Stephen Flowers and James Chisholm founded The Troth, which was incorporated in Texas. Taking an inclusive, non-racialist view, it soon grew into an international organisation.[276]

In Iceland, the influence of pre-Christian belief systems still pervaded the country's cultural heritage into the 20th century.[277] There, farmer Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson founded the Heathen group Ásatrúarfélagið in 1972, which initially had 12 members.[278] Beinteinsson served as Allsherjargodi (chief priest) until his death in 1993, when he was succeeded by Jormundur Ingi Hansen.[279] As the group expanded in size, Hansen's leadership caused schisms, and to retain the unity of the movement, he stepped down and was replaced by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson in 2003, by which time Ásatrúarfélagið had accumulated 777 members and played a visible role in Icelandic society.[280] In England, the British Committee for the Restoration of the Odinic Rite was established by John Yeowell in 1972.[281] In 1992, Mark Mirabello published Odin Brotherhood, which claimed the existence of a secret society of Odinists; most British Heathens doubt its existence.[282]

American Heathens Stephen McNallen (left) and Michael "Valgard" Murray (center), with Eric "Hnikar" Wood (right) at the 2000 Althing

In Sweden, the first Heathen groups developed in the 1970s; early examples included the Breidablikk-Gildet (Guild of Breidablikk) founded in 1975 and the Telge Fylking founded in 1987, the latter of which diverged from the former by emphasising a non-racialist interpretation of the religion.[283] In 1994, the Sveriges Asatrosamfund (Swedish Asatru Assembly) was founded, growing to become the largest Heathen organisation in the country.[284] The first Norwegian Heathen group, Blindern Åsatrulag, was established as a student group at the University of Oslo in the mid-1980s,[285] while the larger Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost was established in 1996; after a schism in that group, the Foreningen Forn Sed was formed in 1999.[286] In Denmark, a small group was founded near to Copenhagen in 1986, however a wider Heathen movement would not appear until the 1990s, when a group calling itself Forn Siðr developed.[287]

In Germany, various groups were established that explicitly rejected their religion's völkisch and right-wing past, most notably Rabenclan (Raven's Clan) in 1994 and Nornirs Ætt (Kin of the Norns) in 2005.[288] Several foreign Heathen organisations also established a presence in the German Heathen scene; in 1994 the Odinic Rite Deutschland (Odinic Rite Germany) was founded, although it later declared its independence and became the Verein für germanisches Heidentum VfgH (Society for Germanic Paganism), while the Troth also created a German group, Eldaring, which declared its independence in 2000.[289] The first organised Heathen groups in the Czech Republic emerged in the late 1990s.[290] From 2000 to 2008, a Czech Heathen group that adopted a Pan-Germanic approach to the religion was active under the name of Heathen Hearts from Biohaemum.[291]

Heathen influences were apparent in forms of black metal from the 1990s, where lyrics and themes often expressed a longing for a pre-Christian Northern past; the mass media typically associated this music genre with Satanism.[292] The Pagan metal genre—which emerged from the fragmentation of the extreme metal scene in Northern Europe during the early 1990s[293]—came to play an important role in the North European Pagan scene.[294] Many musicians involved in Viking metal were also practicing Heathens,[295] with many metal bands embracing the heroic masculinity embodied in Norse mythological figures like Odin and Thor.[296] Heathen themes also appeared in the neofolk genre.[297] From the mid-1990s, the Internet greatly aided the propagation of Heathenry in various parts of the world.[298] That decade also saw the strong growth of racist Heathenry among those incarcerated within the U.S. prison system as a result of outreach programs established by various Heathen groups,[299] a project begun in the 1980s.[300] During this period, many Heathen groups also began to interact increasingly with other ethnic-oriented Pagan groups in Eastern Europe, such as Lithuanian Romuva, and many joined the World Congress of Ethnic Religions upon its formation in 1998.[301]

A Heathen baby naming ceremony in British Columbia, Canada in 2010

The United States likely contains the largest Heathen community in the world.[326] While deeming it impossible to calculate the exact size of the Heathen community in the U.S., in the mid-1990s the sociologist Jeffrey Kaplan estimated that there were around 500 active practitioners in the country, with a further thousand individuals on the periphery of the movement.[327] He noted that the overwhelming majority of individuals in the American Heathen community were white, male, and young. Most had at least an undergraduate degree, and worked in a mix of white collar and blue collar jobs.[328]

The Pagan Census project led by Helen A. Berger, Evan A. Leach, and Leigh S. Shaffer gained 60 responses from Heathens in the U.S. Of these respondents, 65% were male and 35% female, which Berger, Leach, and Shaffer noted was the "opposite" of the female majority trend within the rest of the country's Pagan community.[329] The majority had a college education, but were generally less well educated than the wider Pagan community, and also had a lower median income.[329] From her experience within the community, Snook concurred that the majority of American Heathens were male, adding that most were white and middle-aged,[330] but believed that there had been a growth in the proportion of female Heathens in the U.S. since the mid-1990s.[331] Subsequent assessments have suggested a larger support base; 10,000 to 20,000 according to McNallen in 2006,[332] and 7,878 according to the 2014 census.[307][333] In 2018, the scholar of religion Jefferson F. Calico suggested that it was likely there were between 8000 and 20,000 Heathens in the U.S.[334]

In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 300 people registered as Heathen in England and Wales.[135] Many Heathens followed the advice of the Pagan Federation (PF) and simply described themselves as "Pagan", while other Heathens did not specify their religious beliefs.[135] In the 2011 census, 1,958 people self-identified as Heathen in England and Wales.[335]

A 2009 blót held by Heathens in Iceland

By 2003, the Icelandic Heathen organisation Ásatrúarfélagið had 777 members,[336] by 2015, it reported 2,400 members,[337] and by January 2017 it claimed 3,583 members, constituting just over 1% of the Icelandic population.[338] In Iceland, Heathenry has an impact larger than the number of its adherents.[339] Based on his experience researching Danish Heathens, Amster stated that while it was possible to obtain membership figures of Heathen organisations, it was "impossible to estimate" the number of unaffiliated solo practitioners.[340] Conversely, in 2015, Gregorius estimated that there were at most a thousand Heathens in Sweden—both affiliated and unaffiliated—however observed that practitioners often perceived their numbers as being several times higher than this.[341] Although noting that there were no clear figures available for the gender balance within the community, he cited practitioners who claim that there are more men active within Swedish Heathen organisations.[342] Schnurbein observed that most Heathens in Scandinavia were middle-class professionals aged between thirty and sixty.[320]

There are a small number of Heathens in Poland, where they have established a presence on social media.[343] The majority of these Polish Heathens belong to the non-racist wing of the movement.[344] There are also a few Heathens in the Slovenian Pagan scene, where they are outnumbered by practitioners of Slavic Native Faith.[345] Exponents of Heathenry are also found on websites in Serbia.[346] In Russia, several far-right groups merge elements from Heathenry with aspects adopted from Slavic Native Faith and Russian Orthodox Christianity.[347] There are also several Heathens in the Israeli Pagan scene.[348]