Recommended Reading

[feranaja]

I have been Pagan as you guys know, a long time now, but without a lot of calling towards the North. Recently, after picking up the runes, I began to feel more interest and decided I'd like to go deeper. I've started a wishlist based on the core recommendations from the troth.org site here: http://www.thetroth.org/index.php?pa...&pagestyle=mid


and would welcome what others have found useful, enlightening, on any aspect of Norse Paganism, art, culture. What would you consider the foundational reading, aside from the Eddas (already have).

[SunSister]

I would say Njal's Saga, the Kalevala, and the Völsunga Saga straight off the bat. They're pretty much the standard go-to for me outside of the Eddas, although the Kalevala is of Finnish origin and therefore very different in feel and intent. The most useful other things for me would be anything that dives deeper into the magical aspects as they tie in with the general way of life.. A very great part of the Norse spirituality, in my opinion, centres around concepts of honour and loyalty and family. Even the runes themselves have very clear and strong physical connotations, and working with these physical concepts as a way of life basically makes the used magic that much stronger. It's not enough to simply lay the runes or practice other parts of its magic -- I find that the Norse spirituality has a habit of permeating everything one does in life, setting a code of conduct if you will, and for this reason I attempt to adhere to the core texts rather than interpretations of the texts to ensure that its energy is as undiluted as possible.

[feranaja]

Originally Posted by SunSister

I would say Njal's Saga, the Kalevala, and the Völsunga Saga straight off the bat. They're pretty much the standard go-to for me outside of the Eddas, although the Kalevala is of Finnish origin and therefore very different in feel and intent. The most useful other things for me would be anything that dives deeper into the magical aspects as they tie in with the general way of life.. A very great part of the Norse spirituality, in my opinion, centres around concepts of honour and loyalty and family. Even the runes themselves have very clear and strong physical connotations, and working with these physical concepts as a way of life basically makes the used magic that much stronger. It's not enough to simply lay the runes or practice other parts of its magic -- I find that the Norse spirituality has a habit of permeating everything one does in life, setting a code of conduct if you will, and for this reason I attempt to adhere to the core texts rather than interpretations of the texts to ensure that its energy is as undiluted as possible.

You've nailed it here - a huge part of why I am currently drawn to this pantheon has to do with these codes - as I've bemoaned for so long, there doesn't seem to be nearly enough of that in neo-Paganism generally - - this is a big part of the appeal, for me. But I suspect, another topic. Shall I start it, or shall you?

[DrumWolf]

You could try this site:
http://www.norroena.org/

I found it after reading their introductory book a few years back:

Amazon

Amazon

[feranaja]

Oh...lookie here.

http://norse-mythology.org/the-love-...iny-dan-mccoy/