Sworn beneath the old gods (and new).
Carried like iron under the cloak.
Personal writing on faith, family, politics, and life. Discussion is welcome. Debate is not the purpose.
Life · 2022-05-22
I sat down to watch The Northman in a nearly empty theater in Arizona not knowing what to expect. What it going to be Viking movie? You know the sort. Longships cutting through cold water. Axes catching the light. [more]
Faith · 2021-04-13
Most people meet the Norns as three women sitting beneath a tree, spinning the lives of men. It’s a familiar picture. Three sisters. Past, present, and future. Thread passing between pale fingers while the rest of us stumble around above them, unaware that the length has already been measured. [more]
Faith · 2021-03-16
A storm rolls over the mountains and somebody points toward the clouds. Thor must be busy. It’s the sort of thing people say when they know you spend too much time reading old Norse poetry. [more]
Faith · 2021-02-16
If you've spent any time around modern Heathenry, you've probably heard Týr described as the god of war. Or justice. Or law. Or honor. The reality is both simpler and more complicated. Germanic gods are not really "gods of" single things in the way modern people often describe them. [more]
Faith · 2021-01-19
Ask most people what happens after death in the old Norse world and they will give you one answer. Valhalla (or Valhöll for the purists). A roof of shields. Benches crowded with warriors. [more]
Faith · 2020-12-15
At Ragnarök, Fenrir kills Odin. The wolf breaks loose from his bonds, crosses the ruined field, and swallows Odin. None of the time he spent gathering the dead, seeking wisdom, and preparing for this day saves him. Then Víðarr steps forward. [more]
Faith · 2020-11-17
Most mornings, after I claw my way back to consciousness, I sling a worn leather sheath around my neck. Inside it is an iron knife. That is usually followed by pants, a shirt, my Gibb’s knife, and my EDC. [more]
Faith · 2020-10-06
Heathenry has no clean little filing cabinet where every god, ghost, oath, and doom sits waiting under proper labels. It is older than that. Messier. Recovered from sagas, ruins, folk memory, family instinct, and the quiet pressure felt when a man stands alone and knows he is not entirely alone. [more]
2026-07-07 | life
2026-07-05 | life
2026-07-03 | life
2026-06-21 | faith
2026-06-16 | faith
2026-02-24 | faith
2026-01-20 | faith
2025-12-23 | faith
2025-11-25 | faith
2025-10-28 | faith