The Germanic Warrior Ethos

Just when I think I’m moving beyond Paganism and Christianity, I keep getting dragged back into the fray. The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity by James Russell is the latest catalyst. This I dare say is an important book, as important as Kris Kershaw’s The One Eyed God which was the subject of a couple of essays on the Warrior Religion. It’s of my opinion that the lack of religious fervor comes from the reality that we’ve strayed too far from the doctrines of nature. In a sense, we’ve been abandoned by God. The task of the Warrior Religion is to make man worthy of The Gods again. A part of achieving this task is something I call The Way of the Fathers which is focused on our ancestors’ greatness and the continuation of our bloodlines.

In this book by Russell is a statement that’s very interesting and important for our project. He says that as much as 50% of our religious attitudes and beliefs are determined by our genetic makeup. This is big for those who believe in eugenics and racism. With this in mind, the Germanic tribes which Russell classified as those hailing from the Visigoths, Lombards, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, and others who were on the tail end of the Indo-European expansions. These peoples like the rest of the Indo-Europeans were distinct in that the WARRIOR played an important part of society, not just on the cultural level, but in religion itself. War and religion were tied together.

What if you’re biologically predisposed for certain religious beliefs and values? I’ve long said that the man is a warrior and hunter. He’s made for this role. His body and mind pulls him toward it. If he chooses to ignore it, he runs the risk of depression, mental illness, or worse. If you have Germanic blood — American, English, French, German, etc — you may be genetically predisposed to the Germanic Warrior Ethos. The way of the Indo-Europeans sounds right to you, in the blood.

This Germanic Warrior Ethos which was etched into the foundation of these peoples, made them the most vital force on the earth by the time the Christians found them. The story we’re told is that Christianity — the superior universal religion— converted the barbarians, but Russell’s book gives a different story. Friedrich Nietzsche has an aphorism warning you to not look too long into an abyss for the abyss also looks back into you. Oswald Spengler too, has a related quote to what I believe actually happened, “Every act alters the soul of the doer.” Christianity didn’t just change the Germanic peoples, the Germanic peoples changed Christianity in turn. It took the “world rejecting” universalist religion and made it a “world accepting” folk religion. The claim that the vitality strong Germanics were converted as early as they were held no water. Paganism continued long past it’s supposed expiration date.

The Germans for example, did end up becoming Christian, but their understanding of Christianity was fundamentally Pagan. The same goes for the Anglo-Saxons who were some of the last to finally “convert.” This process however, gave Christianity the VITALITY we admire from it today. The Indo-European warrior brotherhoods were the origin of the Christian crusaders. Everything the Christian warrior believes STRONG and WARLIKE came from Pagans. I don’t mean to stir up more trouble between Christians and Pagans. You can make the argument that Christianity and Germanic vitality ended up destroying each other in the end. This infighting is time you could be attacking your real enemies.

The Germanic Warrior Ethos is in our blood.

When I speak of The Way of the Fathers, I speak of their understanding of the way of the world and their mastery of the doctrines of nature. Our ancestors conquered well beyond anything the other races have done. They understood how to live, how to organize their society for their own benefit, and how to crush their enemies. We’ve been separated from their ways on purpose, so that we don’t catch on to what they’re doing to us. Even the greatest race can be conquered if they don’t keep their head, if they don’t keep to the frontier. Setting down, getting comfortable, leaves openings for your enemies to capitalize on.

What we understand about the Indo-European mannerbund, warrior brotherhoods, gangs, and war bands is they are more essential to our people than we realize. If you’re looking for a primer on the mannerbund, read Kris Kershaw’s The One Eyed God. He touches not just on the Germanic, but also Indic, Roman, and Hellenic mannerbunds. The brotherhood of armed men is the franchise, the basic unit of a people. Without which, the people have no hope of surviving. The way out of the hell we find ourselves in is through the brotherhood. You must not forget this.

What is the Germanic Warrior Ethos? There is still much research to be done on this, but Russell boils it down to three main values: strength, courage, and loyalty. Strength and courage are pretty self-explanatory. Loyalty however, is something less talked about on our side. The loyalty of the warrior brotherhood was on a whole different level from the definition of loyalty you’ve probably heard of. The Germanic warriors swore OATHS of allegiance to each other and their lord.

The lord of the war band was a fearless leader and the men serving him swore absolute loyalty to the man. The lord was supposed to be the best and hardest fighter. If he should fall in battle, his war band were duty bound to die with him. To walk away alive was to be dishonored. It wasn’t just the war band that kind of loyalty, but the whole tribe to each other. They were a closed society. They practiced true racism.

There was only the mannerbund. This mannerbund was your life. What you did, what you accomplished, what you conquered, was through the mannerbund. This you must do. Take oaths with your friends. The mannerbund started as a group of youths who went out into the frontier to make their marks on the world. The ones that did so, carved out lands and fortunes. The best among them received undying fame.

The Belief Structure of the War Band

Germanic peoples had two kings. One was a king in politics and law. He was more involved in the everyday life of his people as well as diplomacy with foreign entitles. This king was usually a devoted of a God like Tyr. The second king was a war king and devoted to a God like Odin. This king took command in times of war. It should be noted that the young mannerbund on the prowl was different from the mannerbund that’s made it’s mark. To what extent we might never know, but there are some differences in their belief structures that are apparent.

The One Eyed God speaks on the young mannerbund and their known initiation rites. The nature of Odin in this mannerbund however, appears different from the Odin talked about in The Germanization of Medieval Christianity. Odin of the young mannerbund is a God of death, war, and religious ecstasy. He’s symbolized by the wolf. The mannerbund is the pack of wolves. This is deeply Indo-European. You see it with the mannerbunds of Apollo, Mars, and Indra.

The Germanic peoples that established themselves and maintain their war band, held a different view of Odin. Odin was their solar sky father and War God. It’s interesting to note from that the Romans saw Odin as Mercury however, not Jupiter. Why is their a discrepancy between the Germanics and the older Indo-Europeans like the Greeks and Romans? There’s some theories out there. I haven’t found an answer yet. The best explanation that could be given is the Germanic tribes may have been changed on the religious level from their migrations across Europe. Maybe their conflicts with the Romans? One interesting theory I’ve heard was that warriors serving the Romans as mercenaries learned the secrets of the Runes and overthrew the priestly class.

Nietzsche spoke much on the evil of the priestly class. Maybe this is the reason for the powerful vitalism of the Germanics during the early medieval period. What can the disciple take from this? Should he make a shrine to Odin? It’s still my contention that God isn’t there to listen to your prayers or take your offerings. And he won’t until you make yourself worthy of The Gods again. Only then will He reveal himself to you.

The Germanic Warrior Ethos is part of The Way of the Fathers. It’s likely we have a genetic affinity to it. You must look to make the brotherhood of armed men the foundation of the Warrior Religion.