Hail Odin

13/10/2026

Modern Heathenry doesn't mean trying to live as though it's still the year 900. We live in a modern world, with modern lives and modern challenges.

We can honour the gods, remember our ancestors and learn from the old ways without pretending to be our ancestors.

Our roots may reach backwards, but we're still growing forward.

How do you practice modern heathenry...

13/10/2026

12/10/2026

Odin loved a good riddle, so let’s see how you lot get on with this one.

A slightly darker one for October...

Drop your answer in the comments. I’ll reveal the answer in 48 hours.

12/10/2026

Meet Elli, the Old Woman Who Defeated Thor...

Thor has fought giants, monsters and some of the most terrifying beings in Norse mythology. But one opponent brought him to his knee.An old woman.

The story comes from Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda, when Thor and his companions visit the hall of Útgarða-Loki. Thor is put through a series of challenges and eventually asked to wrestle an elderly woman named Elli.

It sounds almost insulting. Thor is the strongest of the gods. Surely this little old woman isn't going to give him much trouble?
Except she does.

Thor tries with all his strength, but Elli simply will not go down. Instead, Thor begins to struggle until eventually she forces him onto one knee. Later, Útgarða-Loki reveals what was really happening. Elli wasn't simply an old woman. She was Old Age itself.

And the fact Thor lasted as long as he did was considered remarkable, because nobody can overcome old age.

I really like this story because Norse mythology does this so well. Thor isn't suddenly weak. He hasn't lost what makes him Thor. He's simply been put against something that strength cannot defeat.
It doesn't matter how powerful you are, how wealthy you become, how many battles you've won or what name you leave behind.
Time still comes for you. there's something rather nice about Old Age being represented by an elderly woman who quietly puts the mighty Thor in his place.

Even the strongest god eventually had to bend his knee to Elli.

12/10/2026

A little shout-out to our fellow Heathen pages!
There are some brilliant people out there putting their time into sharing history, mythology, practice, discussion and keeping our wider Heathen community connected.

Social media can sometimes feel like every page is competing for the same space, but it really doesn't need to be that way. Different pages bring different knowledge, perspectives and personalities to the table, and I think that's worth supporting.

So here are a few fellow Heathen pages worth checking out and showing some love.

I'll tag them below. And if you run a Heathen page yourself, feel free to introduce it in the comments. Let's help people find each other. If ive missed anyone let me know in the comments!! Also love crafts and Arts so please share that also!

The Rune Weaver
The Furious Viking
NorCal Heathen
The Roots Of Yggdrasil
Axe and Seax
Axes to Ashes: Axe Imperium - Colne
The Daily Pagan
Viking Heritage Kitchen
Viking Memes
Northern Black
Norse Mythology
Myss Tree
ᚫᛚᛞᚷᚫᛚᛖᚫᛒᛟ - The Ancient Faith
Valhyr

12/10/2026

As October settles in, it’s a good time to remember our ancestors and learn about the Norse traditions associated with autumn.
Here are the names, what they mean and what the sources tell us.

VETRNÆTR - WINTER NIGHTS
Marked the beginning of the winter half of the year, broadly around October. People gathered for feasting and offerings, although dates and customs varied. Winter Nights was a seasonal turning point, rather than one ceremony with identical rules everywhere.

HAUSTBLÓT - AUTUMN OFFERING
Blót means sacrifice or ritual offering. Autumn offerings concerned prosperity and the coming season. Ynglinga saga describes a sacrifice towards winter for a good season, while Gísla saga describes a Winter Nights feast with an offering to Freyr.
The name shouldn’t be taken as proof that everyone celebrated a separate festival on the autumn equinox.

DÍSABLÓT - OFFERING TO THE DÍSIR
Honoured female supernatural powers associated with protection and fate. Some accounts place this rite in autumn or at Winter Nights; Uppsala’s public celebration belonged to late winter.
Many heathens honour female ancestors through this rite today, but the historical dísir were a broader category than deceased female relatives.

ÁLFABLÓT - OFFERING TO THE ÁLFAR
The álfar are usually translated as “elves”, although that word doesn’t capture all their associations. Sigvatr’s early eleventh-century poem Austrfararvísur describes being turned away from a household holding álfablót during an autumn journey to Sweden.
Connections between the álfar, the dead and burial mounds support ancestral interpretations. However, the poem doesn’t explicitly describe an ancestor festival or tell us how the ceremony was performed.

VǪLSI - AN AUTUMN HOUSEHOLD RITE
Vǫlsa þáttr describes a household passing a preserved horse’s p***s between its members during an evening ritual, accompanied by spoken verses. This survives in a later Christian conversion story. It is evidence worth discussing carefully, rather than proof of a widespread October holiday.

WHAT ABOUT SAMHAIN AND HALLOWEEN?
Samhain is Gaelic, rather than Norse. It marks the beginning of winter around 1 November, with celebrations on the evening before. Irish Halloween traditions include beliefs about the dead returning home. Halloween takes its name from the Christian All Hallows’ Eve. These traditions have seasonal similarities with Norse autumn observances, but they shouldn’t all be treated as the same festival.

REMEMBERING OUR ANCESTORS TODAY
You might speak their names, share their stories, visit a grave, cook a remembered meal or make an offering according to your practice. These are suggestions for remembrance today, rather than a surviving Norse ritual instruction.

You can also acknowledge difficult family histories without feeling obliged to praise everyone who came before you. Do you observe any of these traditions, or have your own way of remembering the dead?

10/10/2026

Met these lovely folks today! Take a look and a follow. Cant ship to America directly,, but if youre absolutely desperate I can purchase and send for you.

10/10/2026

ᚦ THURISAZ
Sound: TH, as in thorn
Historical meaning: Giant • Þurs
Related Old English rune name: Thorn
Modern interpretation: Force • Resistance • Boundaries • Directed Power

Thurisaz is the third rune of the Elder Futhark. Its reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *þurisaz, generally understood as meaning a giant or a þurs, a threatening supernatural being. The later Norwegian and Icelandic Rune Poems call the corresponding rune Þurs. Their verses associate it with suffering and danger. The Old English Rune Poem instead calls it Þorn, meaning thorn, and describes something sharp and painful to touch or sit among.
These poems belong to later rune traditions, rather than the Elder Futhark itself, but they provide evidence for the names and imagery connected with the rune.

This gives us a firmer historical starting point than simply calling Thurisaz the “protection rune.” Modern rune practice often associates it with boundaries, defence, conflict and powerful forces. Those aren't straightforward historical definitions. They are interpretations developed from the threatening giant and the sharpness of the thorn. From that historical foundation, Thurisaz can be understood in modern practice as representing force that needs careful handling, whether you're facing it or using it yourself.

What it's about...
Recognising danger or resistance.
Setting and maintaining boundaries.
Handling anger or powerful reactions.
Knowing when to act and when to pause.
Understanding that force can cause harm as well as prevent it.

How to use Thurisaz, use it when you're...
Thinking about a boundary you need to set.
Facing conflict and deciding how to respond.
Noticing that anger is starting to direct your actions.
Dealing with something that needs caution.
Considering the consequences before making a forceful decision.

Thurisaz doesn't have to mean attacking something or expecting trouble. A useful modern way of looking at it is to ask where do I need a boundary, and how can I hold it without causing unnecessary harm?

3 runes that pair well with Thurisaz
These pairings are suggestions for modern practice.
ᚢ Uruz - strength, endurance and the ability to withstand pressure
ᛏ Tiwaz - courage, responsibility and directed strength
ᛉ Algiz - protection, awareness and personal boundaries

Modern Associations - Optional, not historical.
Element: Fire
Colour: Red
Crystal: Obsidian

For this series, these associations reflect force, intensity and boundaries. They are optional choices for modern practice, rather than a universal system. There is no historically attested system assigning Thurisaz an element, colour or crystal, and different practitioners use different correspondences.

Disclaimer - The elemental, colour, crystal, chakra, divinatory and similar correspondences commonly found in modern rune practice are modern spiritual interpretations. They are not recorded as a system in surviving Elder Futhark inscriptions, the rune poems, the Eddas or other early Germanic sources. Different modern traditions may therefore give different associations to the same rune.