A Way Forward:

The Circle of the Nation

And A Discussion of

Germanic Heathen Common and Tribal Law

Forward

The essays herein contained are the result of discussions among heathen chieftains looking for a way forward.  In their opinion, that which is commonly regarded as “Ásatrú” and by many other names has no common body of law, no common law underpinning it’s many, sometimes chaotic sets of expectations among the many kindreds, hearths, sippes, organizations and associations which claim the loyalty of many of our people today.

Ours are a people who have always had the utmost respect for law and it’s forms, recognizing that our common nature lends itself to anarchy, which can sometimes lead to wasteful strife and which lends itself to weakening our tribal people to outside influence and erosion.

This is a very personal work, ideas springing from discussions with wise people about a very important endeavor:  the regeneration of ourselves as a self-aware and genuine people.  The First Person used frequently in writing here is a reflection of this.  Still, this is not solely my work. Credit belongs to those fine folk who’ve taken time to dispute and discuss with me, and certainly to those who have worked for the betterment of our heathen people:  our chieftains, scholars and “foot soldiers”.

This is a very personal work, made up of both original essays and assembled from online responses.  Every effort was made to make the text as logical and readable as possible, but some nonsequiturs and oddities may still exist, as they might’ve escaped my attention.  While the inspiration may have come from others, the errors are strictly my own.

The essays presented here are offered for your consideration on the subject of law within the Circle of Our Nation, in hopes of stirring further discussion and action.

Böðvar Ásbjörnsson

Germanic Heathenry Today

•    A Thirty Years On
  

•    A Thorn In My Side
  

•    The “Un-Viking”
  

•    A Point of Law:  Religion or Folkway
  

•    A Fly In Amber
  

The Innangardh

•    The Circle of the Nation

•   On Who Is "Allowed In" The Innangardh
  

•   Commitment and Acceptance
  

Germanic Heathen Common Law

•    Heathen Common Law

•    Common Law v. Tribal Law

•   The Reach of Common Law

•   On The Formation Of Germanic Common Law

•    I Value The Law

•   The Law Creates “Context"

•    Lawlessness

•   Outlawry

•   Tribal And Civil Law

Luck

•    Taking Luck On Your Back

•    The Vessel Of Our Dreams

Afterward

Just because something is written on paper doesn’t mean that it’s carved in stone. 

This work has been a collection of suggestions.  They are suggestions only.  There has been no attempt to codify any form of law, just an attempt to suggest how important such a law might be.  Assembling and serving the law is the work of chieftains, and is the work of an assembly, not one lone scribbler.

Let this scribbler continue to hope that, with enough suggestions, action might one day result.

If the reader saw anything to agree with in the preceding, it is because most of this comes from discussions this writer has been privy to over the last few years.  So, one could say that it was actually written by the Folk, with this writer as a “recording secretary”.

We are only the second generation of the Vinnish Folk.  We are building for generations to follow.  Let’s set aside our modern prejudices and build something fine.

There’s no hurry, and the consequences of failure are great.  Let us build slowly, build carefully.  Let’s build something we can be proud of.  Let’s build as if our grandchildren’s cultural inheritance depended on it.  Let us build something that will last.

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