by Ryan Smith
So, I read some of the other reviews on Goodreads, where they said it was anti-fa trash masquerading as heathenism. Being, myself, anti-fa and a sometime heathen, I, of course, had to check it out. And, well, it is unabashedly anti-fascist heathenism, or, rather, Norse Paganism, as Smith terms it.
While chapters two through nine are a fairly basic primer on paganism in a Nordic context, the first chapter lays out the difference between The Way of Fire and Ice and mainstream Asatru... namely, The Way of Fire and Ice is concerned with being a living tradition in the modern world, rather than being a strict reconstruction of the beliefs and lifeways of medieval Scandinavians. When presented with a problem or social issue, a reconstructionist will say "What would Uncle Einar the Viking have done", while someone involved in a living tradition will ask "What should I do, in a modern context, learning from the lore and the examples of the Powers."
The intent is to establish Norse Paganism as a modern faith, with something to offer to modern people, rather than a conservative throwback. It's also avowedly anti-folkish, which is a pernicious strain of racism that terns to be common (though not universal) among more reconstructionist heathens... the idea that, since our image of Vikings is white men with blonde hair, that those who are not white are not allowed and should "seek their own gods, not ours"... funnily, that never seems to apply to anyone white enough, regardless of their actual ancestry. And, so, Smith lays out the reasons why faith in the Aesir, Vanir, or the assorted wights and spirits must move beyond reconstruction and into modernity.
This is an excellent book. I have been involved in heathenry for more than twenty years, including some time, as a young man, when I was on the fringes of folkishness, myself. But Smith lays out the whys and wherefores of a moral and ethical heathenry that can address the modern world, looking forward, while drawing strength from the past; reaching outward, while drawing strength from within.
So, I read some of the other reviews on Goodreads, where they said it was anti-fa trash masquerading as heathenism. Being, myself, anti-fa and a sometime heathen, I, of course, had to check it out. And, well, it is unabashedly anti-fascist heathenism, or, rather, Norse Paganism, as Smith terms it.
While chapters two through nine are a fairly basic primer on paganism in a Nordic context, the first chapter lays out the difference between The Way of Fire and Ice and mainstream Asatru... namely, The Way of Fire and Ice is concerned with being a living tradition in the modern world, rather than being a strict reconstruction of the beliefs and lifeways of medieval Scandinavians. When presented with a problem or social issue, a reconstructionist will say "What would Uncle Einar the Viking have done", while someone involved in a living tradition will ask "What should I do, in a modern context, learning from the lore and the examples of the Powers."
The intent is to establish Norse Paganism as a modern faith, with something to offer to modern people, rather than a conservative throwback. It's also avowedly anti-folkish, which is a pernicious strain of racism that terns to be common (though not universal) among more reconstructionist heathens... the idea that, since our image of Vikings is white men with blonde hair, that those who are not white are not allowed and should "seek their own gods, not ours"... funnily, that never seems to apply to anyone white enough, regardless of their actual ancestry. And, so, Smith lays out the reasons why faith in the Aesir, Vanir, or the assorted wights and spirits must move beyond reconstruction and into modernity.
This is an excellent book. I have been involved in heathenry for more than twenty years, including some time, as a young man, when I was on the fringes of folkishness, myself. But Smith lays out the whys and wherefores of a moral and ethical heathenry that can address the modern world, looking forward, while drawing strength from the past; reaching outward, while drawing strength from within.
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