Welcome to the (new) Old Gods

OldGods.org has existed since 2013 as a resource for those interested in Northern European heathenry. “Northern European heathenry” is used in the broad sense to mean the spiritual traditions practiced by peoples adjacent to the North Sea. Subdivisions of this group include Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and continental/Germanic, as well as an innumerable variety of local customs and traditions.

The problem most types of heathenry (including Northern European) face is the severe lack of historical records compared to most “organized” religions. Northern European traditions were wiped out by invading religions that burned, co-opted, or otherwise destroyed anything remotely heathen in nature. There is no central library or corpus that is agreed upon and practitioners are spread across a spectrum, from reconstructionists to those who are outright reinventing the system.

With no central authority, text, or praxis, what options remain for present-day heathens? We here at OldGods.org have made it our mission to focus on the endeavor of historical preservation and education. We do not seek to formally reconstruct the traditional belief systems of Northern European heathenry. Instead, we seek to provide resources. We commit to careful curation based on academic standards, with the goal being information that is as purely factual as possible, based on real sources. From this, we leave it to the reader to choose their own path, whatever that may be.

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