Also there are a lot of heathens who emphasize the importance of doing heathenry right--it's very much built into the gestalt of the religion
This is an excellent point--and one brought up by one of my kindred members at Pagan Coffee Night tonight. And of course there are plenty of heathens ready and willing to tell you if they think you are doing it wrong! None of them speak for heathenry as a whole, though, and so the heathen community has developed into a fairly diverse group of people. For me, for example, the hierarchy built in to some varieties of Anglo-Saxon heathenry would be a hard sell; I guess it's the Icelandic model that seems to be so common (although I'm not sure how "Icelandic" the Icelandic model is! :)). For others it's something that enriches their religion in a very important sense and brings them closer to their spiritual roots. Both types have their standards, but they are not the same standards.
As far as languages go, I hope to gain enough knowledge to translate with help from references. It will help, I think, that I have some familiarity with Germanic languages (native English speaker, and had three years of mostly-forgotten German in college). I'd like to learn enough old Norse to figure out for myself which translations are most accurate, and Dan has an interest in old English, so I suppose in theory we have it covered!
I don't understand why a heathen would not wish to know more than many settle for
I think we all hit a point where we are comfortable enough with our knowledge base that we feel less need to push ourselves. Of course that point will fall in different places for different heathens. I know I'm no loremaster and probably never will be, but I do study it.
Actually I think the most interesting example of what you're talking about happened when I was among heathens and Eir was honored--several folks there hailed "him"!
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-07 05:45 am (UTC)This is an excellent point--and one brought up by one of my kindred members at Pagan Coffee Night tonight. And of course there are plenty of heathens ready and willing to tell you if they think you are doing it wrong! None of them speak for heathenry as a whole, though, and so the heathen community has developed into a fairly diverse group of people. For me, for example, the hierarchy built in to some varieties of Anglo-Saxon heathenry would be a hard sell; I guess it's the Icelandic model that seems to be so common (although I'm not sure how "Icelandic" the Icelandic model is! :)). For others it's something that enriches their religion in a very important sense and brings them closer to their spiritual roots. Both types have their standards, but they are not the same standards.
As far as languages go, I hope to gain enough knowledge to translate with help from references. It will help, I think, that I have some familiarity with Germanic languages (native English speaker, and had three years of mostly-forgotten German in college). I'd like to learn enough old Norse to figure out for myself which translations are most accurate, and Dan has an interest in old English, so I suppose in theory we have it covered!
I don't understand why a heathen would not wish to know more than many settle for
I think we all hit a point where we are comfortable enough with our knowledge base that we feel less need to push ourselves. Of course that point will fall in different places for different heathens. I know I'm no loremaster and probably never will be, but I do study it.
Actually I think the most interesting example of what you're talking about happened when I was among heathens and Eir was honored--several folks there hailed "him"!