Anglo-Saxon Paganism: Gods

What were the pre-Christian religious traditions of England like? This two part series serves as an introduction to Anglo-Saxon paganism. In this video we will look at the evidence we have for the pagan gods of the Anglo-Saxons and will compare them to what we know about the Norse equivalents that Vikings worshipped. At times it is also necessary to use Indo-European comparative mythology to understand the gods and goddesses of the Anglo-Saxons. “Anglo-Saxon paganism” refers to the Germanic pagan traditions brought to Britain in the 5th century and which persisted in surprising ways even after the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England over the 7th and 8th century.

Thanks to Wulfheodenas for modelling their Vendel era Germanic weapons and clothing.

This channel depends on your support:

Art:
Alex Cristi - Erce.
Andrew Whyte - Nehalennia.
Christian Sloan Hall - Eastre
.
Gramanh Folcwald - Hengist and Horsa.
Hungerstein - Tiw
.
Robert Molyneaux - Yeavering temple
.
Ryan Murray - Modra.
1st Aquarian - Migration map.

Music:
Aethelruna - Modraniht Overture
Bark Sound Productions - various
Borg - compositions from The Triumph of Spring
Cefin Beorn - various
Doug Maxwell - various
Elegiac - Ashwind interlude
Halindir - Hedelandet II
Kevin McLeod - various
Ormgård - Sjálfsforn
Sean O Rourke - Contentment is wealth
Sjhof - Loki’s meditation
Stark von Oben - Rise of Tiamat
Sun and moon dance - Hymne til Freyja
Torulf - Rite of the Heart
Wolcensmen - Sunne
Wolcensmen - A fine Way to Die
Xuriuos - Steppe expansion

Sources:

Chaney, W. A. 1972. The Cult of Kingship in Anglo-Saxon England: The Transition from Paganism to Christianity, The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory, 47:2, 141-143
Das, R. et al. 2016. Localizing Ashkenazic Jews to Primeval Villages in the Ancient Iranian Lands of Ashkenaz, Genome Biology and Evolution, Volume 8, Issue 4.
Dowden, K. 2000. European Paganism: The Realities of Cult from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. London and New York: Routledge. p. 229.
Dumezil, G. 1988. ‘Mitra-Varuna: An Essay on Two Indo-European Representations of Sovereignty’
Ealdorblotere, T. 2020. To Hold the Holytides.
Faussett, B. 1856, Inventorium Sepulchrale. An Account of Some Antiquities dug up at Gilton, Kingston, Sibertswold, Bafriston, Beakesbourne, Chartham, and Crundale, in the County of Kent, from A.D. 1757 to A.D. 1773 (London 1856).
Helmbrecht, M. 2012. A winged figure from Uppåkra Helmbrecht
Nordberg, Andreas. 2006. Jul, disting och förkyrklig tideräkning: Kalendrar och kalendariska riter i det förkristna Norden. Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur: Uppsala
North, R. Old English 'wopes hring' and the Old Norse myth of Baldr
Rowsell, T. 2011. Woden and his Roles in Anglo-Saxon Royal Genealogy.
Schiffels, S., Haak, W., Paajanen, P. et al. Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon genomes from East England reveal British migration history. Nat Commun 7, 10408 (2016).
Werner, J. 1964. Herkuleskeule und Donar-Amulett. Jahrb. RGZM 11, 176–197.

00:00:00 What is Anglo-Saxon paganism
00:07:51 Woden
00:25:42 Thunor
00:32:20 Tiw
00:35:59 Ing
00:43:00 Frig
00:44:02 Erce
00:48:19 Hretha
00:53:00 Modra
00:56:06 Hengest and Horsa
01:02:09 Nehalennia
01:03:56 Wada
01:07:33 Wayland
01:12:01 Seaxneat
01:14:09 Eostre
01:20:22 Bældæg
01:28:16 Scyld and Sceafa
01:34:38 Sigel
01:36:16 Earendel
01:38:15 Pagan calendar

[albionmyl]

Hello English people... Greetings from Germany.... I am a native German Saxon from Westphalia northwest Germany.... Anglo-Saxon ties never die... ❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇩🇪👍

[CustardCream]

If the BBC made content like this I might consider paying the TV license

[parchment]

The best video I’ve ever seen on Anglo Saxon paganism. PLEASE keep this series going!!!

[EuanWhitehead]

I'm so proud of my British English heritage, I think most British people forget about their rich ancestry. It's so deep, interesting and vast I don't know how people forget it.

[Samdegraff]

Lost it at: "Until they found this one that said "This is a Hammer"."

[m.s.-z.b.V]

Thomas is one if not the most important person in the struggle to reconnect our people with our traditions and faith. This video is your masterpiece in terms of knowledge and production value in my opinion, and in a righteous world you had a TV show and your videos were shown in school classes all over europe. It was a pleasure to watch and I am greatly thankful for your work.

[jamesblobb]

Odin's/Wotan's abillity to make statues speak is absolutely fascinating in regard to his connection to Hermes/Mercury/Thoth, as Hermes is said to possess the very same abillity in the Corpus Hermeticum.

[DanDavisHistory]

Feature length! Nice one. This is the quality historical content we need.

[norsemagicandbeliefs]

Love it! People should be doing more of this. So many people cling on to the Norse gods. Its good for Scandinavians, but its amazing when we can use this info to reconstruct paganism for the Anglo Saxons or other Germanic peoples.

[halbeholt]

"Although some skeptical people questioned if they even represented hammers at all, until 2014, when this one was found (...) with a runic inscription that says 'this is a hammer'."

Hahaha

[kingofthemoon]

Production quality and value of this is insane for a youtube video, excellent work!

[richardmangelmann]

German here, its pretty sad we don't know that much about our very ancient ancestors and will maybe never really regain that knowledge or tradition. I don't know why it makes me a bit down but for some reason it really gets me. So I really appreciate the effort you put into your videos!

[MrMaltasar]

This was fantastic.
Also so interesting how close the Anglo-Saxons were in religion to their cousins in Scandinavia, considering how they become mortal enemies come the viking age.
In a sense they were vikings before the vikings.
Brilliant video! Can't wait for part 2!

[zenchiro]

The left wing said they’d abolish poverty; right wing said they’d abolish bureaucracy. Odin said he’d abolish ice giants. Where are the ice giants? Vote Odin 2024!

[LynxSouth]

Impressive. Jaw-droppingly, staggeringly impressive. The attention to detail, the tracking everything back so far, the correlating of X to Y to Z and beyond, the listing of such a list of sources. It's intellectually and spiritually orgasmic. My heart leaps and my brain dances (or vice-versa). You are an exemplar of the proper combination of intelligence and passion.

[celticsaxon]

I've been researching this topic just recently so thanks a lot tom.

[JackSardonic]

The information you've provided and sequenced on deities like Hretha is extremely enlightening.

[caoimhingibson]

As someone who grew up Christian and has spent years coming to grips with my Pagan calling....thank you for your videos. They have been well received by me.

[kyledavisnorroena]

It's safe to say STJ is one of the most important voices in AS heathenry. These videos are great. Well done Thomas.

[Glassandcandy]

This video is a hidden gem. Fantastic research. Kudos for looking into the etymological evidence as well. I’ve seen many historians just wave off ænglisc paganism as unknowable because of lack of evidence, and it always bothers me because there’s actually quite a bit to be known both from probing the old English corpus and through archeological evidence. We don’t necessarily need an English equivalent of the sagas in order to reconstruct the basics of Anglo Saxon cult beliefs and practices.