Folkish Wodenism: Daily Press - Smears and Lies

Folkish Wodenism: Daily Press - Smears and Lies:

Our supporters will no doubt have seen the sensationalism of the press in action, starting with the Daily Telegraph. An article about Woden's Folk was full of smear-by-association, distortion and downright lies. It went as far as to try a smear-by-association with terrorists from overseas who were labelled 'Odinist', even though one claimed himself to be a 'Christian' and the other I know little of to comment. 

• We are not a 'neo-nazi' or 'fascist' group, both of these being politically orientated: we are a Religious Movement. In fact we are a Religious Movement that is recognised in English Law through a tribunal case.
• We have never stated that Adolf Hitler was the 'Second Coming of a Norse God', merely pointed out the archetypal symbolism brought up by Carl Gustav Jung, the Swiss Psychologist. 'Second Coming' is not a phrase used within Wodenism, it is a Christian concept. We have also gone into the archetypes of Hengest, Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan. 
• In regard to the carving of 'Swastikas' at the site of Wayland's Smithy no Wodenist or Northern Heathen would ever do such a thing, this being a Sacred Site. If there are 'Swastikas' carved into the trees there I suggest that these be investigated for criminal damage as this is not the first time a Heathen Sacred Site here in England has had this done in order to smear Wodenism or Odinism. We have never done damage to this or any other site; indeed on one occasion we cleared THREE bin-bags full of rubbish from the site and took it home with us. Contrast this with the tons of rubbish collected from Stonehenge each Midsummer!
• Even where individual supporters (we have no membership) may involve themselves in political action, we do not do so and have always stuck to our Folkish Religion which has its own rites and rituals. We hold Folk-Moots which are concerned with rituals and religious rites (as can be seen from the photos in the press). 
• We are most certainly not a 'racist' group since on many occasions I have stated clearly that we are willing to work with other peoples of the world who oppose globalism and the destruction of nations and lands. We have never espoused 'racist' views nor any form of 'race hatred' - we uphold a love of our own folk.
• Most of the conversation between myself and the 'undercover reporter' concerned gardening, but this was completely ignored in favour of attacking us for our interest in the Martial Arts, Bushcraft and Survivalism, things done by millions of people today. Our work as a Nature Religion and concerns with ecology and our Sacred Land were ignored, even though this forms a great part of our work. Our work within the sphere of Bushcraft and Survalism is not done through the Wodenic Hearths (not 'cells' as stated by the press) but by individuals doing this on their own initiative. This work has actually been justified by the headlines in the same issue of the Telegraph which told of power-cuts due to outdated generators, and floods around England. This is the reason we do these things, as clearly stated in our work. 

We shall make a full statement later on this subject.

Wayland the Smith

"Wayland's Smithy", by Ethan_Doyle_White , licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayland%27s_Smithy This image has not been changed and the image owner does not endorse this blog.






Wayland to me is a curious entity for He does not rank amongst the Aesir in the Eddas and yet there is a tendency to consider Him as a divine personage. He is certainly a pan-Germanic entity as He appears right across the ancient Germanic world from the Anglo-Saxons to the Norse and the Germans.

The relevant sources are Volundarkvida (Poetic Edda), Thidrekssaga (based on original Low German material), various  German legends concerning Theodoric the Great and Deor, Waldere and Beowulf  (Old English). I would encourage my readers to read the aforementioned sources to get a fuller picture of Wayland (Old English Welund) who is known as Volundr or Velentr in Old Norse, Wieland in Modern German and Wiolant in Old High German. The Proto-Germanic has been reconstructed as *Welandaz, meaning 'battle-brave' (see Der Name Wieland, Beitraege zur Namenforschung, Hellmut Rosenfeld, 1969).

The legend of Wayland appears also in sculpture, eg the Franks Casket, a small chest made from whale bone and dating to the 8th century. It features scenes from both Germanic and Roman mythology as well as the Bible and is covered with Anglo-Saxon runes. It is certainly culturally and religiously a hotchpotch! The onset of the Viking Age in England also reintroduced this figure to the  Christianised English. A panel featuring Wayland holding Beaduhild above His head is to be found on the 10th century Leeds Cross found in the now demolished Leeds Parish Church. The cross is now housed in Leeds Minster.


In England Wayland is better known for his association with a Neolithic long barrow-Wayland's Smithy in the Berkshire Downs. Archaeologists have dated its construction to around 4500-3800 BCE. Curiously this is used as an argument to state that as the barrow predates the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons it must therefore have nothing whatsoever to do with either the Anglo-Saxons or their Gods. This is an ignorant and ill-informed 'argument' that flies in the face of the facts that there has been two way migration between England and continental Europe for millennia and that a form of English or Germanic was spoken in England many centuries before the official date of 449CE given in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles for the arrival of the English tribes. Regardless of this even if they were correct that does not gainsay the sanctity given to the site by our Anglo-Saxon ancestors and this is why it is still sacred to us heathens today.


There is a well known legend attributed to the site referred to in A Letter to Dr. Mead Concerning Some Antiquities in Berkshire by Francis Wise, 1738:

"At this place lived formerly an invisible Smith, and if a traveller's Horse had lost a Shoe upon the road, he had no more to do than to bring the Horse to this place with a piece of money, and leaving both there for some little time, he might come again and find the money gone, but the Horse new shod."

Curiously in 1921 during an excavation two iron bars were discovered which is an indication that at some point in the distant past this burial chamber was indeed used as a smithy.


Whilst the Viking settlers certainly breathed new life into the Wayland legend His memory had not been eradicated by a couple of centuries of Christianity for even the Christian King Alfred the Great makes reference to Him in his translation of Boethius:

"Where now are the bones of Wayland the wise, that goldsmith so glorious of yore? Who now wots of the bones of Wayland the wise or which is the low where they lie?"

In the Thidrekssaga it is revealed that the father of Wayland is a giant called Wade. Wade was the son of King Wilkinus and a mermaid. Wade's Causeway in the North York Moors is a 6,000 years old monument which is associated in folklore with the giant Wade and its more ancient name is Waddes grave. It is tempting to draw a link between Wade and Woden, whose most ancient name was Wode, a storm giant. I am also reminded of Merovech who according to legend was the son of the Quinotaur, the beast of Neptune and the wife of Chlodio, King of the Franks. There is a recurring theme in European mythology of great heroes and kings being born from otherworldly creatures or Gods. Sometimes the Gods would take the form of a beast. We have the example of the birth of Alexander the Great who was according to legend conceived on his mother Olympia by a snake who was Ammon, the Egyptian form of Zeus. Alexander identified closely with Zeus-Ammon and certainly seemed to be convinced of the veracity of the legend of his descent from Him.

The sources make it clear that Wayland was made lame due to being hamstrung by King Nidhad and this provided the motivation for His revenge. I am reminded of the Greek Hephaestus (possibly a son of Zeus) who was made lame following His fall from the heavens. He was of course the smith of the Gods and also like Wayland of apparent divine parentage.