Asatru and Norse Pseudonyms

At the beginning of the Asatru revival in North America, it was common for us to take Norse names regardless of our family's ancestral homeland. Ernie Bidwell became Thorsteinn Thorarinsson, Joe Thomas transmogrified into Erik Odinsson, and so forth. I, too, took such a name for a short length of time. Choosing a Viking-style name was a little like naming a Sixties rock band...pick a word from Column A and another from Column B, put them together, and see if you like the result.

However, there were reasons for these names other than mere coolness. They provided a nom de guerre by which people could protect their professional lives from discrimination - Edred Thorsson, also known as Stephen Flowers, PhD., comes to mind. In some cases, these names hearkened back to genuine forebears; Stephen Flowers had a real ancestor named "Edred." Mike Murray became Valgard because of a specific spiritual obligation he undertook. But for many of us, it was an attempt to reject our Christian past or to identify more closely with Norse culture.

I ditched my pseudonym sometime in the late 1970's. I haven't missed it. In fact, the custom itself is less common than it used to be. Many of us have decided that the Gods don't much care whether we're named Arnbjorn or Bob.

A somewhat different matter is the use of a magical name when working ritual. This has good precedent. All Odin's nick-names probably serve a ritual function. I have such a spiritual monicker that I chose long, long ago...and it was only decades later that I realized how incredibly appropriate it was! Sometimes the Self knows more than the self.

Plenty of the folks reading these words have a Norse pseudonym, and that's fine. I respect that choice. There's no harm in it and it is not my intention to tread on anyone's toes. For me, though, I decided that my most recent ancestors named me Stephen Anthony McNallen, and in honor of those ancestors - my mother and father, not to mention Fergus, "son of Nellan" back in 563 AD - I wear it proudly. It's good enough for me.

Steve McNallen

Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org

More on Asatru and Names

Here are two web sites that tell you the meaning of names:

http://www.behindthename.com/ - first names

http://surnames.behindthename.com/ - surnames

Steve McNallen

Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org

Names, Culture-Loss, and the Soul of Asatru

Harvey...Harold...Matilda...Gertrude...Albert. Old fashioned names, not trendy and not Biblical. Dull names for dull people born in 1954, people on black and white TV screens...ketchup, rather than salsa.

We've bought in to the idea that we Euro-descended folk are dull,mayonnaise, vanilla so we don't even look behind the names. We would never guess that Harvey means "battle worthy." Harold is "war leader." Matilda has nothing to do with waltzing, but everything to do with "strength in battle." Albert means "noble bright one." Germanic names. Anglo-Saxon names from the day when the "P" in "WASP' stood for "Pagan" rather than "Protestant."

As we turn out backs on our martial heritage, we lose parts of our culture. More than that, we lose part of our soul.

See the fire below the ashes, the berserker within the bank teller, the hero that sleeps inside the auto mechanic. Let us be born again, with the water of the ancient Naming Rite, rather than the Jordan's murky water.

Steve McNallen

Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org