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elenap's review against another edition
This was...fine. I have listened to it as an audiobook. It's very hard for a book to keep my attention, and this book didn't do a very good job of it.
I did learn a few new things about rituals and the fact that there are quite a few believers, but that's about it. Can't really rate it, so I'll leave it at that.
I did learn a few new things about rituals and the fact that there are quite a few believers, but that's about it. Can't really rate it, so I'll leave it at that.
godraed's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
3.5
Overall, a decent and informative introduction into Norse paganism with some hopeful examples of what a community built on this faith may look like. However, there are flaws.
The opening chapters feature misinformation regarding the origin of the Indo-European peoples. Paxton states that IE origins were in Central Asian peoples who migrated to the Pontic Steppe. AFAIK she is not an anthropologist or linguist, but this still incorrect. Academic consensus is that Proto-Indo-European (PIE) speakers were centered on the Ponto-Caspian steppe before migrating outwards. The origins of the Pre-Proto-Indo-Europeans is a matter of debate, but likely somewhere around the Caucasus.
Moving on, the frame story is a nice idea, albeit a bit cliche and forced in parts. I’m not quite sure how accurate the depictions of blot, sumble, and oathswearing are. I like the idea of sumble. I also like the idea of declaring a goal you wish to achieve in front of a group of people that have your back. But, I do not like the idea of swearing oaths - nor the idea that an oath sworn in my presence has an impact on my wyrd (fate).
There seems to be a lot of unverified personal gnosis (UPG) mixed into the book. For those unfamiliar with this phrase, this refers to personal religions revaluations that are not wider accepted or shared at large by others within the same religion. While there is not as much UPG as in her work on Odin, there’s quite a bit in the chapter on the Gods; especially in regards to the preferred colors and offerings. Some of what is suggested seems to be more like custom from her group rather than any sort of shared knowledge.
As a practitioner of Fyrnsidu (historical reconstructionist Anglo-Saxon heathenry) I found her coverage of non-Norse heathenry lacking. Particularly, her familiarly with Anglo-Saxon heathenry seems limited to the outmoded and problematic variant known as Theodism.
Much of her discussion about the different threads of heathenry is entirely limited to what is prominent in her part of the United States. I would have loved to seen her do some more research rather rely on her personal experience.
We also need to discuss the racism issue within heathenry. The major split in the faith is between folkish and inclusive strands. The folkish believe that you must have Norse blood to believe in the Norse goods (a foolish, ahistorical, and racist belief) while the inclusive heathens are those that allow anyone to practice the religion. This divide is seen in all forms of heathenry and must be openly discussed. The majority of heathens condemn folkish heathenry - their largest group is listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a white supremacist hate group. Sadly, they’re often the first group to come up when one searches for Asatru.
There also sadly seems to be a refusal by Paxton to tie folkishness with reactionary conservatism. Paxton does state why she disagrees with folkish heathens but doesn’t quite go far enough in condemning them. She gives a little too much credit to McNallen, Thorrson, and the Odinic Rite - some of these people whom she knew in the earlier days of American heathenry before the schism over folkishness began to widen.
This includes the Nine Noble Virtues That section on virtue feels like an afterthought and the origins of the NNN are folkish. The virtues themselves are fine, although the modern American concept of self-sufficiency would have been alien to a medieval people who relied so heavily on community; the issue is their provenance. While I understand there is a need to define heathen virtues with a simple mnemonic, perhaps we can do away with this one.
Overall it felt as Paxton was shooting the gap between the inclusiveness of the Troth and the folkishness of AFA types in order to not make the latter type upset should they read the book. To be clear - Paxton isn’t a folkish heathen, I just wish she was clear that folkishness is not only bigoted but also entirely ahistorical. Germanic paganism has always been about one’s deeds in life, not one’s skin color or ethnicity.
To recap, this is a good beginner overview. I focus a bit harshly on the negatives, but this review was originally meant for fellow heathens. I’ve adapted it for the public at large.
The opening chapters feature misinformation regarding the origin of the Indo-European peoples. Paxton states that IE origins were in Central Asian peoples who migrated to the Pontic Steppe. AFAIK she is not an anthropologist or linguist, but this still incorrect. Academic consensus is that Proto-Indo-European (PIE) speakers were centered on the Ponto-Caspian steppe before migrating outwards. The origins of the Pre-Proto-Indo-Europeans is a matter of debate, but likely somewhere around the Caucasus.
Moving on, the frame story is a nice idea, albeit a bit cliche and forced in parts. I’m not quite sure how accurate the depictions of blot, sumble, and oathswearing are. I like the idea of sumble. I also like the idea of declaring a goal you wish to achieve in front of a group of people that have your back. But, I do not like the idea of swearing oaths - nor the idea that an oath sworn in my presence has an impact on my wyrd (fate).
There seems to be a lot of unverified personal gnosis (UPG) mixed into the book. For those unfamiliar with this phrase, this refers to personal religions revaluations that are not wider accepted or shared at large by others within the same religion. While there is not as much UPG as in her work on Odin, there’s quite a bit in the chapter on the Gods; especially in regards to the preferred colors and offerings. Some of what is suggested seems to be more like custom from her group rather than any sort of shared knowledge.
As a practitioner of Fyrnsidu (historical reconstructionist Anglo-Saxon heathenry) I found her coverage of non-Norse heathenry lacking. Particularly, her familiarly with Anglo-Saxon heathenry seems limited to the outmoded and problematic variant known as Theodism.
Much of her discussion about the different threads of heathenry is entirely limited to what is prominent in her part of the United States. I would have loved to seen her do some more research rather rely on her personal experience.
We also need to discuss the racism issue within heathenry. The major split in the faith is between folkish and inclusive strands. The folkish believe that you must have Norse blood to believe in the Norse goods (a foolish, ahistorical, and racist belief) while the inclusive heathens are those that allow anyone to practice the religion. This divide is seen in all forms of heathenry and must be openly discussed. The majority of heathens condemn folkish heathenry - their largest group is listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a white supremacist hate group. Sadly, they’re often the first group to come up when one searches for Asatru.
There also sadly seems to be a refusal by Paxton to tie folkishness with reactionary conservatism. Paxton does state why she disagrees with folkish heathens but doesn’t quite go far enough in condemning them. She gives a little too much credit to McNallen, Thorrson, and the Odinic Rite - some of these people whom she knew in the earlier days of American heathenry before the schism over folkishness began to widen.
This includes the Nine Noble Virtues That section on virtue feels like an afterthought and the origins of the NNN are folkish. The virtues themselves are fine, although the modern American concept of self-sufficiency would have been alien to a medieval people who relied so heavily on community; the issue is their provenance. While I understand there is a need to define heathen virtues with a simple mnemonic, perhaps we can do away with this one.
Overall it felt as Paxton was shooting the gap between the inclusiveness of the Troth and the folkishness of AFA types in order to not make the latter type upset should they read the book. To be clear - Paxton isn’t a folkish heathen, I just wish she was clear that folkishness is not only bigoted but also entirely ahistorical. Germanic paganism has always been about one’s deeds in life, not one’s skin color or ethnicity.
To recap, this is a good beginner overview. I focus a bit harshly on the negatives, but this review was originally meant for fellow heathens. I’ve adapted it for the public at large.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Death, Racism, and Xenophobia
fieldofhats's review against another edition
4.0
Very good and accessible base-level information. Some information isn’t great, but as a beginner-level book, it’s a great one to start with. It loses one star for not condemning the AFA, but Paxson does not mention them more than a couple of times and she is not affiliated with them.
mseyre13's review against another edition
4.0
As a beginner resource, I found it very informative and helpful. The terms were well explained, but not much detail was gone into. I didn't mind how the beginning of each chapter started with a part of the example of a kindred gathering, but the italics eventually got on my nerves, so I eventually skipped them. The chart in the section on the gods is a handy thing, and I plan on utilizing that in the future (especially in regards to the halls of each god, that is absolutely useful). I may need to read it a second time, as I read some reviews for the book before I had finished, and did not totally see what they were talking about. But that won't be a problem, if I intend to make it apart of my library at some point. Regardless, though it was a little short and offered the beginner info, I think I will definitely invest in a copy, more for general ideas a structure. The sources were also a plus.
csarakas's review against another edition
3.0
A nice primer for the Norse paganism faith. I appreciate that there's quite a bit of attention paid to the history of these cultures, and found myself wishing that the second half of the book, which deals with the actual practice aspects of the religion, were fleshed out a bit more. There's a good section of further reading suggestions, however, to encourage the reader to go more deeply into the subject.