Tales from the Ironwood

This largely autobiographical piece was written on Memorial Day 2020 with minor edits performed on 28 May 2022 and 24 May 2024. As a preface to this article, it is useful to consider the etymology of the word memorial . Memorative was the Middle English word for "having to do with memory." It was derived from the Old French word memoratif which in turn came from the Latin memorativis . All suggest "of, or belonging to, memory." The Proto-Indo-European (PIE) term is *(s)mer- "to remember." ********* As I sit here on Memorial Day 2020, I’ve just read a report in The Sun that less than half of the American population knows the true meaning of Memorial Day. It is not really surprising, but it is certainly a sad statistic. While I never considered my family to be a military family, I was raised with a respect for those who served in the Armed Forces—even if the wars they fought were the result of some politician’s failures or foibles. Memorial Day always ...

This is an edited version of an article that I originally wrote in May of 2019. My thoughts on the  fractures within Ásatrú coalesced following a viewing of the Penny Lane documentary, Hail Satan? This 2019 film reminded me of the importance of  educating people about our religion, reducing irrational fears, addressing  defamation, and protecting the civil rights of Heathens. ********* Ásatrú has a public relations problem. Most people aren’t even aware that anyone practices the pre-Christian religion of Northern Europe. Those who have heard the news are likely to have a negative view since the vast majority of stories mentioning the subject do so in a pejorative way. Perhaps we Heathens should be used to it by now. The early Church persuaded many Europeans to adopt the new faith by recasting our gods as devils. Indeed polytheists have long been a persecuted minority –at least since the days of the witch trials and the obligatory burnings that followed. While such me...