Northern Tradition

This is the general name given to the modern revival of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Germanic pagan religions. It is also sometimes called Odinism after the god Odin, or Asatru after a group of gods called the Aesir, or Vanatru after a group of gods called the Vanir. The main sources of information about northern myths and deities are the thirteenth-century Eddas, one prose and one poetry. Norse myths are a mix of gods, giants, elves and dwarfs. Dead warriors who are spared from the underworld realm of Hel go instead to Valhalla in Asgard. The runes, the Norse magical script, were discovered by Odin after he spent nine days and nights hanging upside down from Yggdrasill, the World Tree. Like other pagans, followers of the Northern tradition time their festivals by the sun and the moon. There are three types of magic used, one using runes, another talismans and a third more intuitive and shamanistic methods.