Norse-Gaelic Paganism: Viking and Irish Myth and Magic

About this book

Discover the roots of Norse and Irish Pagan spirituality • Explores the syncretism of Gaelic and Norse cultures and the spirituality that flourished while the Vikings were settled in Ireland • Examines the roots of Norse and Irish heathenism, including ancestor veneration and a relationship with household and nature spirits • Reveals the Gaelic involvement in Iceland’s settlement, including Irish incantations in Icelandic grimoires and Norse-Gaelic ghosts that appear in Icelandic literature Dyflin, now modern Dublin, was founded by the Vikings in the 9th century. Through archaeological and historical research, scholar and Pagan practitioner Annie Humphrey explores connections between Celtic/Gaelic and Norse spiritualities of the time and reveals how this cultural relationship still informs Paganism today. Humphrey shows that Norse and Irish heathen beliefs were uncorrupted by Roman influence and ultimately syncretized to form a set of deeply spiritual practices and a regional worldview that involved veneration of ancestors and the dead and a transactional relationship with household and nature spirits. This book follows the spread of this unique Paganism through Northern Europe and the North Atlantic, identifying Norse settlements in areas that popular history has misidentified as purely Gaelic or Anglo-Saxon. Humphrey reveals Gaelic influence in the settling of Iceland and also looks at Irish incantations from Icelandic grimoires, showing how Norse influences reshaped Irish writing.