Read the sources. Check the interpretation.
The Old Ways is a free reading library and reference site covering Norse, Greek, Egyptian, Celtic and Zoroastrian traditions. It also introduces an optional iPhone app. Reading the website does not require an account or an app purchase.
Different kinds of evidence
A poem, a medieval narrative, a later retelling and a modern practical guide answer different questions. We keep these distinctions visible. A story can show how a writer portrayed a god; it does not by itself establish how every historical community worshipped, or prescribe what someone should do today.
The library contains older translations and later works about mythology as well as ancient and medieval texts. A translation has its own wording and interpretive choices. Prefaces, notes and commentaries are the editor’s or translator’s voice, rather than the words of the underlying work. Compare editions when the wording matters.
What a citation means here
A link to a chapter lets you inspect a passage in its context. A link to a book identifies a work for further checking; it is not the same as a passage citation. Names and section numbering can differ across editions.
Question-and-answer sections contain summaries and editorial interpretation. Some material was prepared with automated assistance. A recorded book reference is displayed where available, but it does not certify that every sentence is supported by a checked passage. Answers without an identifiable passage are labelled accordingly. Use the texts to check a claim before quoting it as historical evidence.
Transcriptions and missing information
The library is built from imported reading files. Those imports can contain OCR errors, missing passages, misplaced headings or incomplete bibliographic information. We do not fill missing translator or source fields by guessing. A copy should not be described as a verified complete edition solely because it has a contents page.
During the October 2026 audit, sections of Thrice-Greatest Hermes were found to contain contents fragments rather than the text promised by their headings. Those sections are marked as needing repair and excluded from search sitemaps. Substantial text remains available. We retain existing addresses so readers can understand the issue and find the edition’s contents.
Historical sources and living traditions
The traditions covered here are not interchangeable. Modern communities and practitioners may interpret the same sources differently. Practical guides are explanatory resources, not a claim that one uniform historical practice or one present-day authority exists. The site does not speak for every practitioner or religious community.
Corrections and contact
The Old Ways publishes and maintains this library. To report an error, email [email protected] with the page URL, the sentence or passage at issue, and a source or edition that helps check it. Please distinguish an inaccurate transcription from a disputed interpretation. We can then correct the text, qualify the explanation or mark the missing information.