ARVEL: Arvals or Arvels, primarily the funeral dinner, and later, especially in the north of England, a thin, light, sweet cake, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, served to the poor at such feasts. The funeral meal was called the Arvel-dinner. The custom seems to have been to hold on such occasions an informal inquest, when the corpse was publicly exposed, to exculpate the heir and those entitled to the property of the dead from all accusations of foul play. Also, it should be noted, the Arvel was a ritual drink.

BALE: Literal translation would be “woe” or “sorrow”, however bale is often referred to as any poison.

BARROW: A barrow or “Hof” is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves or may even refer to an earthen grave itself.

BLOT: Historically, the Blót was an event that focused on a communal sacrifice at various times of the year for a number of purposes. Families and extended family organizations would gather to participate in the communal event. These were often feasts.

BYRNIE: From Old Norse brynja, it is a chain-mail shirt or coat.

DRIGHTEN: Literally translated as “Dread Thane”, equal to (or just under) the courtly powers of a Theodin. These men were the leaders of warbands and would act as surrogate king when not under the hall of a Theodin. Could also be the name of a King who had once gone a viking.

DRAKKAR: The Norse Long-ship were ships made and used by the Vikings to raid coastal and inland settlements during Viking era. The vessels were also used for long distance trade and commerce, and for exploratory voyages to Iceland, Greenland, throughout the Mediterranean, etc. Long-ship design evolved over several centuries and was fully developed by about the 9th century. The character and appearance of these ships have been reflected in Scandinavian boat-building traditions even today. The fastest they could go was about 5 knots, and could hold as few as 20 to as many as 120 men.

ERGI: a word that could variously be used for cowardice, passive homosexuality, cross-dressing, and the practice of dark seith-magic. It is basically anything that the average Viking might have considered “unmanly”.

FRITH: From Old Norse friþ, it means ” fruitful peace”.

FRO: An Old Norse term that ment peacetime ruler or land-ruler.

FROWE: The womanly form of Fro. It has survived in Modern German languages as “Frau”.

GALDR: An Old Norse word that is derived from a word for singing or chanting incantations. It was mastered by both women and men.

GARTH: From the Old Norse word garthr, it is an enclosure that is often used more generally to suggest a specific holding or even realm of being (for instance: The Middle Garth, or Midgard is the human world.)

GELD: Geld simply means “payment”. The most common of this was Weregeld. In early Germanic law, Weregeld was a reparational payment usually demanded of a person guilty of homicide or other wrongful death. The payment of weregild was an important legal mechanism in early Germanic society; the other common form of legal reparation at this time was blood revenge. The payment was typically made to the family or to the clan.

GOTHI: From the old Norse Goði (or Gyðja for women) means priest.

JARL: equal to the English “earl” or “lord”, a “land holder” who had court standing above the powers of a Karl.

KARL: a free-farmer who worked the land and had rights that set himself apart from a Thrall. Karl’s could be called to a Thane or Jarl in times of need to be Houskarls or “house karls” and could be made, for a time, into militia men.

KNARR: A type of Norse merchant ship famously used in the Viking era. The knarr (also known as knorr or knörr) is of the same clinker-built method used to construct longships, karves, and faerings.
The Knarr is the norse term for ships that were built for Atlantic voyages. They were cargo ships with a length of about 54 feet (16m), a beam of 15 feet (4.5m), and a hull capable of carrying up to 24 tons. It was primarily used to transport trading goods like walrus ivory, wool, timber, wheat, furs and pelts, armour, slaves, honey, and weapons. It was also used to supply food, drink, and weapons and armour to warriors and traders along their journeys across the Baltic, the Mediterranean and other seas.

HOF: Hof means “courtyard” however was often used to denote a temple. In architecture, the word “Hof” denotes an area that is surrounded by buildings or walls.

NITHLING: literally meaning “nothing”, it was a horrible dishonorable, despicable person.

ORLOG: “primal layer or law”, fate as shaped by Wyrd by ones own actions. What you do will come back to you and ether bolster or damage your Luck.

REDE: Rede is an archaic word meaning, among other things, “counsel” and “advice.”

RIST: To scratch or carve, often appearing in the standard phrase “I [name of carver] risted the runes.” Varients of this word inclue rister [a carving tool], risted [I have carved], and risting [I am carving].

SAX: in Old Saxon stands for knife or cutting tool. In modern archeology, the term seax is used specifically for the typically large knives that were worn by men in the 5th to 11th century, in the region roughly enclosed by Ireland, Scandinavia and Northern Italy. The seax was used for anything from a common tool, and eating utensil, to a weapon.

SKALD: The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry (the complementary aspect being the anonymous Eddaic poetry).
The most prevalent meter of skaldic poetry is dróttkvætt. The subject is usually historical and eulogic, detailing the deeds of the skald’s king.
The technical demands of the skaldic form were equal to the complicated verse forms mastered by the Welsh bards and Irish ollaves, and like those poets, much of the skaldic verse consisted of panegyrics to kings and aristocrats, or memorials and testimonials to their battles. The kings and nobles, for their part, were not only intelligent and appreciative audiences for gifted skalds; some of them were poets in their own right.

SEIðR: a very basic translation of this would be a form of magic that consists chiefly of the manipulation of someone else’s consciousness through magic, and sometimes also involving the summoning of spirits in order to question them about the future. It also had heavy relations with creating charms and objects for warding and heavy herb-lore.
Thought to be particularly unmanly, though the question of whether this view was related to associated sexual practices, possible elements of ritual trans-genderism, or the simple belief that men should settle their disputes with swords rather than secret magics, is open to discussion.

SPAE: Vision or Prophecy. Distinguished from seith in that it does not involve apparent magic, seems to be based solely on the spae-wife or spae-man’s innate psychic ability, and does not require, for instance, the interrogation of spirits or necessarily call for elaborate ceremony. However, there are several accounts of women practicing both seith and spae, and the same word “volva”, is used for practitioners of both crafts, so there may have been some relationship between the skills.

SYMBEL: (or Sumbel) is a ritual drinking feast. A horn is passed around over a course of a number of rounds. The purpose of a Symbel is usually agreed in advance. The three main things which a symbel deals with is : toast, boast, and oath. The act of speaking over the horn symbolize taking publicly spoken words into the body. Within Symbels these brags are devoted to toasting gods, ancestors, and friends, as well as making promises of great things for the year to come.

THANE: Equal to a Jarl in courtly standing, the thane was a warrior in a warband, bound to high drighten by the exchange of gifts and oaths.

THEODIN: From the Old Norse þjóðann meaning meaning “leader of the people”. This was the highest form of royalty and was a name for Kings alone.

THRALL: a slave or bondsmen bought or won into the service of any free-born man who could afford them. Unlike many of the forms of slavery throughout human history, the state of being a thrall could be entered into voluntarily, as well as involuntarily. An example of this sort of slavery could include a person becoming a thrall by giving himself up because of starvation, being captured and sold, or being born into a thrall family.

TROTH: Literally “truth”, it was associated with the words belief, oath, trust, and pledge.

UNHOLDEN: Literally “non-holding” in reference to dark or “evil” spirits or people in Germanic culture.

WARG: a wolf and/or outlaw (outlaws were often perceived metaphorically as wolves or, literally, werewolves).

WOMANISH: This term was used as an insult that basically meant being “unmanly”. However, for those people who use this as a way to promote sexism from history should think again. When telling a man he is being womanish, it is not because the man is acting like a “girl” that makes the insult; its actually because the man is not doing what he is supposed to in the world (i.e: providing for his family, doing jobs that were better suited for women because of their experience, etc.)

WYRM: simply meaning “snake” the word holds much more meaning to the viking culture. Wyrm specifically referred to many of the ancient powers that other cultures might call Dragons. Wyrm’s were often creatures created ether by ones greedy actions (and thus turning them into a creature who horded their goods) or of great powerful forces (such as Nidhogger and Jormundgandr).

On Ralph Blum