Thau

Part 3: The Role and Place of the Individual

By: Steve Anthonijsz

 

 

          We often hear references to “honour” bandied about the Heathen community. When asked how we ought to behave our values are often summarized as “living honourably.” While this is certainly true, it is also quite vague. What is “honour,” and how does one live honourably?

 

          The OHG equivalent to our NE honour was êra[1] or ehre. In ancient sources we see this term associated with Morality and Appropriateness. One author describes this term as:

 

“…adherence to those principles considered right, adherence to the law, adherence to what was good.”[2]

 

That is, one who lived according to thau was considered to be an honourable individual. A comparable term to êra in OHG was werd[3] from which we derive the MoHG Wert and the NE worth meaning “value.” Building one’s êra among the Volk is tantamount to investing in one’s own worth.

          Whether we consider our ancestors as far back as tribal times or in the townships of the medieval period it does not require much to realize that the community’s prosperity was only as strong as its weakest, most foolish, most cowardly and/or laziest constituent. One who contributed to the innergard of the community was seen as valuable, and one who contributed consistently would be valued consistently. The gift of “worth” to the community would be reciprocated by the community taking good care of the worthy individual which would, of course, be the sensible thing for the centre of population to do.

 

To his friend a man                            a friend shall prove,                       And gifts with gifts requite; But men shall mocking                       with mockery answer,                        And fraud with falsehood meet.[4]

 

Our modern host culture does not support these standards. We see businesses that promote employees because of politicking instead of an employee’s contributions; we see a welfare system the promotes growing families too lazy and irresponsible to indemnify their own well-being; we see educators who do not teach, hospitals that do not heal, and jails that offer no rehabilitation because of nonsense that goes on behind closed doors. In too many ways to count our host society attempts to crush—or at least ignore--honourable and worthy efforts.

On the other hand, revived Heathenry is rediscovering the value of these ethics and our collective communities are quickly learning how to live according to these principles again. How far does one’s reputation precede the travelling Heathen? How much praise does one receive for a good article written, an impressive piece of artwork, an inspiring song, or an event well run? How much effort is put into supporting Heathen-owned businesses or to causes championed by Heathen groups? How much does the individual contribute to a local gathering to insure that it runs smoothly, that everyone is fed, and that the gods are appropriately honoured?

 

But let us step back a moment. We have stated that the individual ought to build werd and êra (worth and honour) before the Volk. But who are the Volk? This is a multi-layered question that cannot be answered easily. Nor can it be completely answered to every individual’s satisfaction. For a working model we will have to look again to the pattern of our most ancient altmâgâ and see how their wisdom and custom may be translated into today’s social milieu.

This treatise is not the place to get into the long-established fólkish vs. völkisch vs. tribalist vs. universalist debate. The intention is to get beyond the limitations of ideological platitudes and to really consider issues from an Irminic perspective.

 

It has often been said that one should spend more time, money, and energy on the things that are more important than those things that are less important. But how does one determine what those things are that really bear more importance? The old adage, “Charity begins at home,” might as well have been taken straight from the Edda! One’s loyalties always must be prioritised, and the first priority is one’s sippâ, or hearth. Many modern writers have discussed this level of loyalty as one of “family,” but this is really an oversimplification; “household” would be a much more appropriate term. “Household,” although implying the nuclear family, is really broader than simply mother, father, and children. It also includes altmâgâ, pets, servants, the götter, and the local wihten. The sippâ is predominantly a genetic bond (gods, ancestors, parents, children) but it also includes those adopted/accepted into the hearth (servants, tenants, pets, livestock) as well as the hosts of the land who resided there before the family settled and who—hopefully—share in hospitality—a gift for a gift.

 

The second level of loyalty after the sippâ is the liut. The liut has also been referred to by other names including the Celtic clan, and the Germanic sib or kindred. Historically this institution was composed of a number of households in a particular geographic region (something like our modern “neighbourhood”), usually those under the jurisdiction of one lord. Today this is impractical because of our different socio-political reality, so the Liut now represents a union of like-minded individuals. Just as the blood of the family binds the sippâ, so the liut is bound by the oaths of its members. It exists as more-or-less an extended family, an assemblage of individuals/families that mutually support and defend one another, that offer the comforts of social bonds, and gather for certain religious and/or cultural activities.

 

In times gone by the next realm would have been that of the deot (tribe). The meaning of “tribe” has become very much convoluted in our modern, urbanized culture.

 

The tribe is not, strictly speaking, a genetic construct, but rather an aggregation of clans held together for widely varying purposes by any one of a number of possible governmental institutions—all of which seek to integrate the kindred units into the whole tribal body. … ¶ An individual or group could quite easily be taken in and assimilated to any given “nation” or “tribe”—often through marriage (i.e. through the nuclear family) or through other ritual forms such as “blood brotherhood,” or adoption. Whole groups could be assimilated into a given tribal structure through religious or politico-military alliances.[5]

 

Today’s equivalent to the deot is also built partially through an organic process and partially via agreed-upon alliances, although they are generally not called “tribes”. These have come into existence in the form of regional fraternities composed of smaller groups and individuals. Examples might include the Georgia Heathen Society or the Northeast Asatru Community. Such groupings are usually informal, having little or no governance, representing more of a particular set of customs and standards accepted in a particular region. The members that compose this assemblage may not be bound socially as tightly as the previously mentioned assemblies, but they do know each other and hold to ties of various degrees.

 

          More-or-less equivalent to the level of the deot was the band. The band was a voluntary, oath-based union usually formed for military reasons. Examples of well-remembered bands would include the Jomsvikings and the Varangians.

          Military excursions are no longer a modern need—at least not in this context. But we do have a modern equivalent to the band in the “association” or “society,” a level Irminen prefer to call a “Gesellschaft.” Such voluntary-membership organizations may be regional, national, or international in scope. Members are attracted because of an agreed-upon purpose and/or an ideological similarity. Such organizations exist to promote their particular schools of thought, to aid in community-building on the more local levels previously mentioned, and to provide literature and products to the Heathen community that would be difficult or impossible for most individuals and small groups to get without the aid of larger organizations. The Gesellschaft may also sponsor certain projects such as outreach endeavours or disaster relief programmes that, like literature distribution, would be much more difficult for smaller or less formal societies to accomplish.

 

          The greatest expansion—at least here on Mittigart-- is the nation. Nation was really a rather vague, nebulous concept in ancient times, and this has not changed today. It is interesting to note that the concept of “nation” is barely mentioned in ancient sources. Icelandic saga accounts may go as far as discussing loyalties to petty kings; but their kingdoms often overlapped, leaving the citizenry the opportunity to choose loyalty to one king or another. And there are no mentions whatsoever of anything remotely similar to empire building!

          The Asatru/Odinist community has dubbed all of revived Heathendom as “Odin’s Nation,” and most Heathenrys today have accepted this term including many Irminen. Any efforts one might make for the good of all Heathenry and/or for the promotion of our faith, culture, and community are the “taxes” paid to our nation.

 

A brief mention at this level ought to be made regarding the level of race. “Race” as we know it is a ninetieth century concept completely unknown to our altmâgâ. Despite the fact that we have written accounts of the ancients interacting with other cultures including Amerindians, Arabs, Celts, Romans and others there exists exactly zero mentions of race because the concept had not yet been invented. This is not to imply that modern scientific explorations in their field are moot or that racial differences do not exist—but that this was never a divisive criterion in the traditions of our Volk. One would be much more likely to identify oneself as a Saxon, a Burgundian, or what have you (and even these national identifiers, as previously stated, were vague) than to identify oneself by one’s race. It was taken as a given that a Volk from other regions would not necessarily look alike any more than they would live by the same standards.

 

An individual’s worth is precisely proportionate to his level of loyalty. The loyalty of the individual is demonstrated by his actions. It is not enough to have good intentions, as intentions do not lay layers in Urdabrunno, and the minnesingeren will have no songs to sing.

 

It is not enough for an Irminist to be known as “an upstanding person.” Neither is it enough for us to be considered “nice people.” It is simply not in our blood to sink into mediocrity and row the boat of life in sync with what all the other boats are doing. Irminen strive to be a cut above the rest! This does not imply that we feel any sense of derision for our fellow man; it only means that we are not willing to settle for less than we can be. To that end are the Principles of Irminenschaft, a list of concepts describing the facets of ourselves we believe ought to be developed and exploited in order to improve ourselves and build our werd for the good of the All. This is our holy mission, and in this we live within the precepts of rita. It is interesting to note that, whilst all these precepts are herein described with the individual in mind, that the same descriptions are appropriate for groups--ranging in size from the liut to the nation--as well.

 

Principles of Irminenschaft

 

Evolution~ An individual must mature and grow as life continues. If our sin[6] and our sela[7] do not develop just as our lichamo[8] does in as our lives unfold we may become spiritually dead. It is this state of affairs that leads to many of our modern world’s problems such as depression, anomie, and a general poor self-image. A more mature person should not be just like his younger counterpart despite what Hollywoood would have us believe. He should be wiser, calmer, beter read, and better established.

Ancestry~ “We are our ancestors” is often said in Heathen circles, and this is literally true. When a child is born he does not only receive his eye colour, the length of his nose, usw from his altmâgâ;  he also recives certain innate qualities: Opa’s smile, Oma’s comassion, and so forth. This is because when an individual dies his certain parts of his sela (zB the muot (“mood” or “lesser passions”), the wille (“will”), the Wizzi (“seat of perception”, “the wit”) usw.

Preservation~ The preservation of our familys and our faith is something obviously important to us. But how many of us would do so at the expense of not preserving ourselves? Physical, emotional, spritual, and mental fitness are not just advisable, but pertinent if we are to be all we can be for the Götter and the Volk.

Rita~ We discussed rita in Part 1 of this essay. The Irminist must know cosmic law and natural law as well as the laws and customs of the society in which he is a part and conform to these. This does not preclude, though the freedom to evolve, to institue change, and in other ways to lay layers in Urdabrunno.

Dynamism~ All of Irminenscahft is focussed on doing, on building and on achieving for no reason other than to increase one’s werd. We are an active Volk, and are proud of this! We do not sit around and watch life go by; we take charge of our tiny piece of Mittigart and our minuscule piece of history and take charge of it for the good of our Volk and in honour of our gods! In this we are also constantly able to celebrate one another’s victories and accomplishments, an activity that further builds the bonds of Volk.

Furtherance~ Today the community of Irminen is small. But this will not always be the case. All members of our Gesellschaft are interested in the furtherance of our faith and our influence and have made ourselves available to interested parties as we are able. This same principle we apply to our families, to the sippâ or liut, and so on up to and including the furtherance of our nations as we are able to contribute.

Virtue~ That which is considered “right action” may vary from place to place and from person to person. However, there are certain constants that have been passed down to us from our altmâgâ including, but certainly not limited to: Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self-Reliance and Perseverance.

 

 

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