This webstead is dedicated to Woden Allfather, and all the Old Heathen Gods and Goddesses. I have made Woden's Harrow (altar 1) as a loving service to the Bright Ones, that They be known, honoured, and remembered by the peoples of the Middle World. It has been my purpose in creating this shrine to celebrate the Godly nature of our ancient Deities, to remember the Land Wights, Alfar (elves),and Ancestors, and to make available both old Heathen lore and modern Heathen creations. My offerings of art, poetry, and essays on Heathen themes are in honour of the Old Gods and good wights (beings). Here also you will find Germanic/Norse source texts containing ancient lore about the Gods, historic Rune poems, FUTHARK sound files, Heathen symbols, and classic Germanic art images, and much more (see Site Menu for complete index). This site is offered with love and in the hopes that our ancient Old Religion will be restored to its rightful place among the world's faiths. It is also my purpose here to reveal and refute, whenever possible, misrepresentations of and propaganda against our beliefs and our Gods, and to speak out against the vocal few who abuse and misuse our holy symbols in an attempt to use the Heathen religion to promote base ideologies of hate.

An 'eccentric' convention that I use on all my websteads is the capitalisation of pronouns and nouns that refer to the Heathen Gods and Goddesses. Although I believe that the Norse/Heathen way is to have a personal relationship with the Deities, I believe also that They are Entities of a higher order than we humans are...for the present. We are Their children, yes, and we partake of Their nature. One day we will evolve into beings like Them. This indeed is our birthright. Capitalisation is merely my way of showing respect, of remembering the unimaginable power and responsibility our Gods and Goddesses have embraced, and of reminding those of "other" religions that their 'God' is not
the only one who deserves to be "capitalised!"

May all those who visit this Harrow be refreshed by the Holy Mead of Galdorfather, Granter of Divine Inspiration, and may all those who visit Woden's Harrow find the lore, learning, inspiration, and wisdom that they seek.
Bright Blessings on the Wayfarer, walk with the Bright Ones!

Most of the art on this webstead was created with a camera and Adobe Photoshop. These images are created out of many different photos, sometimes as many as twenty. Most of the source photos in these collages are my own, but I have also used friends' contributed photos. Most images have been extensively modified. As Ymir was torn asunder to create the world, so I have created new worlds out of these photo- graphic pieces of another.

There are also a few pencil drawings, many Heathen graphic designs, diagrams, and a few paintings and sculptures of mine to be found here. There are also several animations, including lightning storms.

I have taken inspiration from three main sources: First, the Eddas and other early works that preserved the Norse myths; Second, my personal experiences of faring through the worlds; Third, and most overwhelmingly, from Woden Allfather, whose breath inspires all my creations that have life. This Website is a celebration of Woden's ecstasy, and of the gifts of all the Heathen Gods and Goddesses.

See the Site Menu for a complete listing of the art image offerings on Woden's Harrow.

The verse found herein is my first attempt at composing Old Lore meter poetry in Modern English. If at times I have deviated from the ancient original forms, it is for the sake of clarity and to accommodate the structure of Modern English. I have, to the best of my ability, endeavoured to stay true to the poetic parameters within which I have chosen to work.

To as great an extent as was possible for me at the time of composition, I have used only words of Germanic origin in these poems. This, I believe, gives the poems a certain distinctive northern "flavour". I have at times revived Middle English or even Anglo-Saxon words for use in these poems when appropriate Germanic words have not survived in Modern English. I think it is very significant just which Anglo-Saxon words were replaced with Latinate ones. Often these are words referring to religion, culture, and the
soul. Of course, these are the first words a conquering culture wants to replace with their own. I refer of course to the great additions and modifications to the original English tongue by the influence of the Latin and French languages of invading forces.

Most of the verse on this site is in the form of Rune Poems. I have placed the poems in the various Worlds of Yggdrasil as I have seen fit. There certainly are more than one world appropriate to each rune, but in most cases I have placed the poems on the world that was my first choice for that rune. Each is a twenty-four line poem, each line being made up of two half-lines (read horizontally across the page). In each half-line, there is at least one accented syllable, upon which the alliteration falls. There can be two accented syllables in either half line also. However, alliteration must not fall upon the last syllable of the second half line. All vowels are considered to alliterate with one another. In each poem I try to use a great many alliterations of the sound of that particular rune. For instance, when you listen to the Sigel poem, you will hear a great many S sounds, and when you listen to the Ansuz poem, you will hear A's and O's. Whenever possible, in the other lines I also use alliterations of runes that are related to the subject of the poem by kindred meaning and energy. For example, in the Ansuz poem you will also see alliterations on O (Othalaz), W (Wunjo), and G (Gibo), as they are runes I see as kindred runes to Ansuz.

There are some poems I call "yew-staves" in which the alliterated sounds follow the FUÞARK order. Thence, the first line has an alliteration on F, the second line on U, et cetera. Since the rune-sounds "ei", "z", and "ng" rarely or never occur initially, I have used internal alliterations (the alliteration falls on other than the initial letter). These rune poems contain as much lore and personal experience as I could get into them, with Woden's help. There are also some other poems on these pages that are not rune poems, but that are in the old Germanic style. Not as constrained as the rune poems by length, these poems are more free-flowing. You can find these poems under Art and Poetry for Woden, and among the Worlds of Yggdrasil.

Also available here are the ancient collection of Norse Mythological poetry the Elder (or Poetic) and the Younger (or Prose) Eddas, and the Historic Rune Poems, as well as the Merseburg Charms, Abecedarium Nordmanicum, and the Elder FUTHARK with sound.

*Coming soon: As an aid to those unfamiliar with Old and Middle English vocabularies, I will be providing definitions and origins of the words I have "revived".

I believe links are a very important aspect of a website. Of links is the World Wide Web made. I have over 600 pages online and I use part of that web presence to list information resources of use to Heathens and to stand up for causes I support. Along with links collected for their informative content, creativity, sincerity, resources, and spiritual depth, I link to sites I believe further true Heathenry, human rights, religious freedom, ecology, personal spiritual development, tolerance, and anti-hate. I have chosen with care the links offered here.

Woden's Harrow is my personal Asatru website, and is not associated with any kindred, hearth, or Asatru organisation. I am not a member of any group myself, nor have I ever been, but I am in alignment with those groups which promote Heathenism, knowledge, spirituality, freedom, and stand opposed to racism and hate-mongering. I believe, along with many others, that anyone who is called by the Old Ones is welcome in Asatru or Heathenry. My personal belief is that it is ridiculous and insulting to the Gods to try to tell Them who can and cannot honour Them. It is also my belief that promoting hatred and destruction is Jötun work which breeds chaos and irrationality, and is thus in opposition the Gods, Who protect and preserve life and order. I try to link to sites I consider to be the very best of Asatru/Heathenry on the WWW, divided into Asatru / Heathen Personal Websites, and Asatru / Heathen Organisations Websites. The inclusion or the omission of a link here does not mean that I either totally endorse or repudiate a Website's contents. If you have a site you would like to see linked to from Woden's Harrow, please E-mail me.

As an aid to students of Germanic History, Language and Culture, as well as Celtic History, Language and Culture, I offer links to relevant resources on the internet.

I also have Germanic / Norse source E-texts links, and Celtic source E-texts links, for those who might otherwise not have access to original texts in these fields.

Because I believe that nature religions are spiritual paths that are of benefit to all beings and to Mother Earth, I offer as well Links to World Ethnic, Indigenous, Pagan and Neo-pagan Religions. A belief system that acknowledges the soul in all things can truly aid in the healing and preservation of Mother Earth, as well as the spiritual development and individual freedom of human beings.

In the belief that individual religious freedom, tolerance of differences, and respect for humanity are fundamental to the survival of the human race and Mother Earth, as well as necessary to the development of personal nobility, I offer a collection of Anti-hate, Religious Freedom, and Human Rights Links. It is also my belief that Fundamentalism -- of any kind, in any religion -- has been and still is responsible for untold human suffering. It is therefore my sincere hope that the world's peoples can be freed of the yoke of totalitarian and dogmatic religions.

I support Pagan Crafts people and our blossoming Pagan culture with Crafts of Heathen Interest Links. I have found some wonderful merchants online, from blade smiths to sculptors, from jewellers to makers of ancient musical instruments. I hope you enjoy these Websites as much as I do!