The Glossary
The words of the old ways
Every term defined from the primary sources — the Eddas and sagas, Homer and Hesiod — not from a dictionary's arm's length. What the words meant to the people who prayed with them.
ᚦ The Norse Path
Ásatrú
Literally 'faith in the Æsir' — the modern revival of the pre-Christian Norse religion, publicly refounded in Iceland in the 1970s and now practiced worldwide.
Blót
The central ritual of Norse paganism — a formal offering made to the gods, landvættir, or ancestors, historically a sacrificial feast and today most often an offering of mead, food, or craft.
Heathenry
The revival of the pre-Christian religions of the Germanic-speaking peoples — Norse, Anglo-Saxon, and continental — a polytheist tradition centered on the gods, the ancestors, and the exchange of gifts.
Sumbel
The ritual drinking-round of the Norse and Anglo-Saxon world: a horn passed in formal rounds of toasts to the gods, honored dead, and oaths — words spoken over it carrying binding weight.
Wyrd
The Old English and Norse concept of fate — not a fixed destiny but the ever-accumulating weave of past action out of which the present must arise; personified in the Norns at the Well of Urðr.
☙ The Hellenic Path
Hellenism
The modern revival of ancient Greek polytheism — the worship of the Olympian gods through the traditional acts of libation, offering, prayer, and festival; also called Hellenismos.
Kharis
The reciprocal grace between a worshipper and a god in Hellenic polytheism — goodwill built through consistent offering and returned in favor; the working principle of Greek prayer.
Khernips
The lustral water of Hellenic ritual, used to wash hands and face before approaching the gods — traditionally spring or sea water into which a burning brand or herb is quenched.
Miasma
Ritual pollution in Hellenic religion — a contamination incurred through contact with birth, death, or bloodshed (not moral guilt), removed by purification before approaching the gods.