Question: Is Fyrnsidu the same thing as Asatru?
Answer: The short answer is “no”. The longer answer is– sort of. Asatru “The Troth of the Æsir”, is a mainly Icelandic and American reconstruction of the Scandinavian folk religion, with particular emphasis on the egalitarian social structure of early Iceland. Also related to Fyrnsidu is the more broadly Scandinavian Forn Sed. However, Fyrnsidu is more properly used to describe the old ways of England, and the English. Due to the fact that the English nation was actually comprised of many tribes which migrated from Europe to the British Isles, we also accept the religious and cultural input of the British Celts, Danes, and other Germanic tribes which had a strong cultural influence on the modern “Anglo-Saxon” world view and ethos.
Question: What does Fyrnsidu mean?
Answer: Fyrnsidu is an Old English word meaning roughly “The Ancient Way” or “Ancient Customs”. Fyrn- is old or ancient, sidu means customary law or tradition.
Question: Is Fyrnsidu the same thing as “Theodish belief”?
Again, this is a “yes” and “no” answer, since it requires some disambiguation. Theodish Belief, or Theodism as it is sometimes called, is derived from an Old English word þéodisc, which is cognate to the German Deutsch. Essentially, it is an adjective that describes the language, customs or other distinguishing features of one’s nation, or tribe, and is often used generically to denote that something is distinctly Anglo-Saxon, as Deutsch is used to describe something uniquely German. In old times, it would often have been used to speak of one’s own tribe specifically. In this sense, Fyrnsidu is absolutely theodish. It is a folk-way that is intrinsically Anglo-Saxon or Germanic in nature.
However, the terms Theodish Belief (OE þéodisc geléaffulnes) and the recently coined term Theodism, have been more or less co-opted by certain reconstructionist groups, to describe their own particular orthodoxy to the exclusion of other Anglo-Saxon pagan sects. While this usage of the word is arbitrary and ambiguous, it is now common enough to cause a great deal of confusion as to the word’s true meaning. Thus, the GFS doesn’t use it much in order to avoid confusion. In short, our faith is þéodisc, but it is not Theodism.
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