Balder Ex-Libris

Author : Woden’s Folk Kindred
Title : Nine noble virtues
Year : 2010

Link download : Nine_noble_virtues.zip

In the early days of the revival of heathenry, there was a dearth of material for common consumption. What resources existed were tailored toward scholars of history and mythology and therefore impractical for the layman. Though then, as now, heathens lean as heavily on such texts as they do the lore, something else was needed. Out of this need came the Nine Noble Virtues. The first generation of heathen revivalists drew from their studies of the Eddas and sagas the common thread of honor that bound our ancestors' society together. From these studies the concept of the Virtues was born. The Virtues are not rules, but the absence of a defining list of "thou shalt nots" does not mean that heathenry is a bastion of the moral relativism that pervades much of western culture today. On the contrary, heathenry demands upright conduct from its people, but that demand is enforced by the strength of our internal honor, not the disapproval of a divine judge. What is written here about the Virtues does not purport to be the only correct presentation. A casual reader of heathen literature will find the concept of the Virtues presented in a variety of ways, and so it should be. What follows is merely one heathen's interpretation of our Folk inheritance. Hopefully it will be the beginning of the acceptance of that inheritance for others. So as the All-Father sang to the sage in the lines of the Havamal: Hear thou, Loddfafnir, and heed it well, learn it, 'twill lend thee strength, follow it, 'twill further thee." ...