1. Introduction

  Oaths

Shild

Frith

Luck and Wyrd

2. Oaths: What They Mean and Why They Matter

Kinds of Oaths and Boasts

Oaths, Wyrd, and Luck

Oaths and the Heathen Soul

Oaths and the Community

Between the Fire and the Ice

3. The Practice of Oathing

First Steps in Oathing Practice

• Breaking bad habits or addictions

•  Long-term and open-ended oaths

Oaths of Relationship

• Marriage / domestic partnership oaths

• Unspoken kinship commitments

• Adoption and fostering

• Friendship and blood-siblinghood

• Working partnerships

Oaths of Office or Duty

Oaths of Self-Commitment

Wording your Oaths

Oathing Precautions

Breaking an Oath

4. Threads of Wyrd and Shild: A Ninefold Rite of Life-Renewal

The Symbolism of the Ninefold Rite

Shild and the Actions of the Norns

‘Turning’

Step One: Forming your Intent

Step Two: Paying your Shild

• Examining your shild

• Going deeper

• Restitution

The Shild-Rite

Step Three: Weaving Anew

  5. Heathen Frith and Modern Ideals

  Frith and Kinship

The Bond Between Leaders and Folk

Frith Between Folk and the Holy Ones

The Role of Frith in Religious Conversion

From Elder Days to Today

Frith-Pitfall 1: Group Dynamics

Frith-Pitfall 2: The Tolerance Dilemma

‘Distinctions’ versus ‘Triggers’

Heathen Frith Today

Friendship Verses

6. Webs of Luck and Wyrd: Interplays and Impacts on Events

The Nature and Role of Luck

Downsides of Luck

The Roots of Luck and Unluck

Givers and Mediators of Luck

• A word about the Fylgja

• Deities and Luck

Luck and Wyrd

Wyrd, Luck and ‘Karma’

Luck, Wyrd, and Olaf Tryggvason

Luck and the Ordeal

Belief in Luck Led to Forcible Conversion

Luck, Ethics, and Troth with the Gods

Luck, Rede, and Wisdom

Conclusion

7. Weaving It All Together

Distillation

• Commitment and the fulfillment of commitments

• Clear sight and resolve

• Wisdom and good rede

In Closing

Final Chapters:

Afterword: Ethics, Ideals, and Vilhelm Grønbech

Word-Hoard / Glossary

Book-Hoard / Bibliography

About the Author

A Word about Wordfruma Press