Contents
Preface
1. Becoming Heathen
Mapping the Neopagan Landscape
American Heathenry 101
American Heathenry in Scholarship and the Media
The Influence of “the Political”
Researching American Heathenry
2. Fleeing the Cross and the Pentacle: Resistance and Opposition in the Maintenance of Collective Identity
Not Like Them: Constructing Identity Through the Not-Self
Resisting Oppression: Opposition to the Mainstream
Negotiating Authenticity: Opposition to the Alternatives
Boundaries in Contradiction
3. Neo-Heathens and Reconstructionists: The Project and Problems of Constructing a Heathen Nomos
Authenticity Wars: Innovation Versus Historical Accuracy
The (De)Construction of Community and Equality
Heathen Practices: Creating a Socioreligious Foundation
Heathen Fluff: Contested Realms of Authenticity
The Hammer Rite: (In)Authenticity and Community Practice
The Nine Noble Virtues: Authenticity and Community Norms
The Loki Debate
Patron Deities and Spiritual Seekers
4. Cyber Hofs and Armchair Vikings: Building Community through Social Networks (but Not without Problems)
Religion and Virtual Spaces
The Influence of the Virtual on Modern Heathenry
Formal Heathen Organizations: Politics and Bureaucracy
Local Tribes
Diffuse Groups
The Virtual Hof
Virtual Battles and Community Politics
5. Valkyries and Frithweavers: Women’s Shifting Roles—from Warriors to Domestic Caretakers
Reframing Gender and Resistance
Reading History: Finding a Place for Heathen Women
Navigating Gender: The Masculine Ethic
No Fluffy Bunnies Allowed
Politicizing Gender: Feminism Meets Antifeminism
Resistance to Patriarchy
Frith and Domesticity: The Sacred Mundane
Wisewomen: Seidkonas and Völvas
6. Honoring the Ancestors: Dealing with Issues of Race, Ethnicity, and Whiteness in Constructing an Ethnic Folkway
Who Gets to Be Heathen? Race, Ethnicity, and Belonging
“White” Ethnic Identity
American Heathenry as an Indigenous Tradition
Honoring the Ancestors: Constructing Bloodlines
American Heathenry as a Spiritual System
Tribalism: Depoliticizing American Heathenry
American Heathenry as an Ethnic Folkway
Navigating Race: The Folkish versus Universalist Dichotomy
Identity: Textual Constructions of Antiracism and Belonging
7. The Long Journey
The Conundrum of American Reconstructionist Faith
Collective Identity and Belonging
When Heathens Go Virtual
Challenging Notions of Gender
Examining Whiteness and the “Folk”
Notes
Glossary of (American) Heathen Terms
Index