The Nine Values
A summary
One has probably heard of the Nine Noble Virtues of Ásatrú; less familiar are the Nine Values, ordained by the Herald of Óðinn, Steve McNallen. Together, the two form two separate, but complementary, ethical theories within Ásatrú. They were initially published as nine separate articles across various editions of The Runestone, from 1982’s spring to 1985’s spring, and then gathered into a single work: a pamphlet titled The Values of Ásatrú. The Nine Values were finalized in the publication of that document. This article is the preface page and summary page of the pamphlet, and as further articles go live it will be edited to have links to the article for each Value. The original work survives to us today on microfilm, and the text was produced via optical character recognition. The formatting and layout are setup to match the Herald’s initial writing (or, at least as much as Substack will let me try to match it). While I corrected any errors produced from OCR, I have otherwise left the text untouched; if I accidentally altered the text in doing so, I apologize.
As further articles in this series go live, they will be linked in this article such that it acts as a table of contents.
This specific list shows up in the final collection text. Some, but not all, of these summations are directly stated in the initial articles themselves.
Hail the Aesir, hail the ancestors, hail the Herald.
-Folkbuilder Chris Savich
Preface
This booklet is made up of a series of articles which appeared in “The Runestone" over a period of more than two years. These essays were designed to answer frequent questions about what we believe not in terms of theology, but as expressed in the values by which we live.
We are a people cut off, in many ways, from our ancestral wisdom. Recovering that birthright is a task which can be approached from several angles - not the least of which is daily adherence to the moral traits honored by our forebears, those heroes of old who pleased the gods with their noble conduct. Maybe we cannot all be heroes, but all of us can live better, more elevated, and more fulfilling lives. The Values of Asatru is a tool toward that end.
There is a companion volume to this booklet, The Lessons of Asgard, which studies the stories of the gods and goddesses and offers an analysis of just what they have to tell us about the essential code of Asatru. Together, these volumes give a solid grounding in the principles of our religion.
Stephen A. McNallen
Breckenridge, Texas
Summary
. STRENGTH IS BETTER THAN WEAKNESS. . .
Let others revel in their vulnerability! We are not ashamed to be strong. The cult of the anti-hero will find no support in us, and the gods we follow are not for the weak.
. COURAGE IS BETTER THAN WEAKNESS. . .
By facing life’s struggles with courage, we constantly extend our capabilities. Without courage, nothing else can be done!
. JOY IS BETTER THAN GUILT. . .
Let us take pleasure in our humanity, rather than being ashamed of who we are. Misplaced guilt - because of our sexuality, or our strength, or our greatness - has enslaved us long enough!
. HONOR IS BETTER THAN DISHONOR. . .
We must be true to what we are, and we must insist on acting with high nobility rather than baseness. Our interior standards must be banners held high in our hearts.
. FREEDOM IS BETTER THAN SLAVERY. . .
We have no master! Those who would enslave us, whatever their excuse, are our enemies. The totalitarian ant nest is repugnant to us. We demand the free, bracing wind of the Northlands.
. KINSHIP IS BETTER THAN ALIENATION. . .
The isolation and loneliness of modern life is foreign to us, nor is it a necessary evil. We call our Folk to return to kith and kin, to family, clan, and tribe.
. REALISM IS BETTER THAN DOGMATISM. . .
Blind faith has no place in Asatru. Our ancestors may have been sublimely mystical, but they were at the same time severely practical. No pie-in-the-sky; we must act in this world rather than calmly wait for the next.
. VIGOR IS BETTER THAN LETHARGY. . .
Let us dare to be all that we can be! Let us take risks and taste the richness of life. Passivity is for sheep. We refuse to be mere spectators in life.
. ANCESTRY IS BETTER THAN UNIVERSALISM. . .
Asatru is not for all. It is a product of the soul of the Northern peoples and is suited by its very nature to our needs.
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A Great work by Steve ,Hail the Founders!