Distance over Time: Rebranding the Sons of Heimdall blog

Of late, what was previously a minor annoyance has grated on my nerves and begun to irritate me beyond my tolerance. I am speaking of the "Vikingisation" of heathenry and other forms of nordic... well, nordic anything really. You can't express an interest in the history of Europe - northwestern Europe in particular - without someone bringing up the pesky raiders.

It has become abundantly clear that I am somewhat more viking-averse than a large proportion of heathens. Not for me the dressing up like Floki or Lagertha. Face paint doesn't make my heart flutter in anticipation of runic inscriptions across my less than angelic face. My personal brand of heathenry demands only civlian dress (often combats and a heavy metal band t-shirt) and my path is focused very much in the here and now.

The "viking age" gets way too much attention for what it is. A couple of hundred years in which some criminal-minded psychopaths decided to go stealing stuff from across the water. I appreciate the romanticised image of violence appeals to some people - but it's not like it's the only violent period in European history. Further, it's not even the most violent period. The crusades were pretty horrible. Innumerable wars have been fought in various places. What is so special about vikings? They wouldn't have looked like underwear models, like they do in certain popular tv shows. Spirituality existed prior to the viking age and evidence from the iron age and roman times arguably tell us more than evidence from the limited period in which those pirate raids were ongoing.

So, what I am half proposing to myself in my head, is to reduce the viking footprint in this site. Remove all reference to this as a "viking blog". That's not to say I won't mention vikings now and again. I won't forbid myself from referencing the viking age and its sources, either. But this will be a heathen/"pre-christian, indigenous European spirituality and culture" blog. Providing I can find a more catchy label.

Fear not, though! This will still be essentially my place to discuss heathenry, my path and everything else. The aesir and vanir, landvaettir and ancestors are as much a part of my path as they ever were. I'm just distancing myself from the whole "heathenry is the viking religion" fallacy.

Watch this space.

Post-pandemic reawakening and plans for the 2023 Year of Aun

We have, for a while, had tentative plans to reinstate our regular pub moots, starting in August this year.

Having just returned from a weekend's camping in Grizedale, we are exhausted.  We were there with members of NWHeathens for their Thorsblot.  We had a great time and we are now exhausted but inspired to plot similar events of our own.

For now, our moots will be much simpler affairs, and pub-based.  All are welcome, but the topic of conversation will be heathenry.  Later on, we intend to expand into wider events, such as museum visits, walks and activity days.  All events will strive to be as accessible as possible, family friendly and we plan to do our best to cater to any and all requirements of potential members.  

Ritual events will be by appointment only, but otherwise very relaxed, catering well for new or more introvert heathens.

Next year(2023), the Year of Aun festival will be upon us.  We have been formulating plans for events such as nature/spirit reconnections to Rivington, Pendle Hill and other areas, as well as a short break in Lincolnshire to walk sections of The Viking Way.

Watch this space for more information.  

For more information, feel free to contact:

 salgofnirscallheathenhearth {at} gmail {dot} com

Plans for the new normal

Assuming the UK Government's projected pathway back to normality stays vaguely on track, as a hearth we've started making plans as to what we might be able to achieve in 2021.

As a family and, by extension, this hearth as a whole, we are hoping to be able to attend Sumarrblot 2021 in August. With this goal in mind, it would be beneficial to be able to have held a couple of Salgofnir's Call moots before then. Not simply to get the ball rolling but also to open up the possibility of having met other heathens in the area before we attend the event.

We haven't really attended any heathen events since we stopped travelling to That London to attend the Kith of Yggdrasil moots just after the birth of our daughter. Similarly, we haven't really hosted any other heathens since we moved out of Manchester's Northern Quarter a few years later. Back then, we used to hold a monthly moot on a Tuesday in The Angel, in Angel Meadows, just off Rochdale Road. It was a historic pub with excellent ales and impromptu live music, thanks to some old instruments cluttering up the decor - so it very much suited our tastes.

Now, we live closer to Bolton, and so we have been forced to find an alternative venue for our heathen get-togethers. At the moment, this venue is The Beer School, in Westhoughton. Due to the limited seating and popularity of this, though, we also have a backup venue, The Brewery Tap, just down the road.

So, as Sumarrblot is in August, and we've decided on attempting a couple of moots before then, the provisional date for the next Salgofnir's Call moot will be Sunday, 27th June 2021. It will start around 2pm in The Beer School, Westhoughton and will continue for as long as people are willing to remain. Though no late nights, as we have work the morning after. ;)

If all goes well, there will be another, similar moot in July - though the usual August moot will not go ahead, due to Sumarrblot.

If anyone is thinking of attending and/or has any queries, either comment on this post or contact the organisers at: salgofnirscallhearth [at] gmail [dot] com

Salgofnir's Call - About our hearth

Ours is a family hearth based just outside Bolton in the northwest of England. Core membership consists of myself, my wife and my daughter. Having said that, we do accept visitors from around the local area. Though we haven't really welcomed any other members since we moved out of Manchester's trendy Northern Quarter to live the quiet life in the suburbs.

We are universalist and welcome all equally. We believe that heathenry is not limited by race, gender, ability or anything like that. We would love to meet and chat with anyone interested in heathenry, germanic mythology and/or history of the Viking Age. We aren't academics, only having very limited knowledge on most of these subjects. But we love to listen, learn and/or pontificate on these subjects and more. Quite often during moots, the topic of conversation will descend into non-heathen areas (most notably rock music) and this is something we don't mind at all. Our focus is on the social aspect of meeting heathens and enjoying good company.

Feel free to contact us whether you wish to attend a moot or not. We are happy to network with heathens and other flavours of pagan from around the area. Simply drop us a comment here and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

State of the Onion: Lockdown

We are itching to get our hearth hosting a moot as soon as possible.  Obviously, though the global pandemic and on/off lockdown has made that extremely difficult.

If this situation endures much longer, we will look into a monthly online moot hosted via zoom, teams or somesuch. 

Salgofnir's Call Heathen Hearth: Monthly Moot (September 2019)

(Copied from the Sons of Heimdall Heathen Blog) The first moot heralding the re-opening of the Salgofnir's Call Hearth to the public will take place on September 29th 2019 at The Beer School, Westhoughton, Lancashire BL5 3AZ. Starting around 2.30pm and ending whenever we get bored or too inebriated to continue. If you're thinking of attending, feel free to comment here or on the hearth's Facebook Group and we'll be happy to offer any advise and help we can. As stated in a previous post, the emphasis is on the social, so please don't consider lack of knowledge or experience an impediment to joining us. Just to reiterate, we are a universalist group and oppose racist and bigotry in all its forms.