Of Women, Wenches… and Wicca

In Norse tradition, there are two types of women: The good woman and the wench. The good woman is the woman of honour and truth. While they are somewhat few, his type of woman you generally find who possesses true Asatru/heathen beliefs: honest, strong-willed, and virtuous in her conduct.

The wench uses deceit and sexual wiles to manipulate and use a man. In the words of Odin in the Havamal 90 (Bellowes translation):

The love of women fickle of will
Is like starting o'er ice with a steed unshod,
A two-year-old restive and little tamed,
Or steering a rudderless ship in a storm,
Or, lame, hunting reindeer on slippery
rocks.

Odin teaches in the Havamal 102 (Bellowes translation) that a man may amuse himself with these deceitful wenches, but should never give his heart to them.

Many fair maids, if a man but tries them,
False to a lover are found;
That did I learn when I longed to gain
With wiles the maiden wise;
Foul scorn was my meed from the crafty maid,
And nought from the woman I won.

One form of wench is the witch or house-rider. They are so harmful that Odin devised a rune charm (runagaldr) against them in Havamal 156 (Bellowes translation):

A tenth I know, what time I see
House-riders flying on high;
So can I work that wildly they go,
Showing their true shapes,
Hence to their own homes.

In modern days, the Asatru/Heathen man may find himself similarly deceived by those of the Wiccan traditions. However, this deception may be totally unintentional on the part of the wiccan and based in the core spiritual wiccan philosophy. Wiccan women often come to Asatru-based gatherings looking for partners, as Asatru is predominately male. The wiccan woman is particularly appealing from the start, as the Wiccan views of sexuality are far more open than Asatru. Moreover, the lack of defined religious beliefs in the wiccan traditions may cause the man to believe the woman will be easily swayed to the Asatru way. After all, Asatruar have very egalitarian treatment of women.

However, the wiccan comes from a goddess-centered and woman-dominated belief system. They are not seeking equality with men; they are seeking supremacy over men. The best way to achieve this supremacy is through sexual manipulation. Soon the Asatru man who is consort to a wiccan will find himself being badgered into avoiding his “obnoxious, beer-swilling” comrades, and going to more New Age happenings. He soon becomes an appendage to the coven gathering. You may think this is an exaggeration, but I have seen it happen way too many times, even in the local area. There have been many instances where an Asatru man connects with a Wiccan in a more permanent arrangement, such as marriage. They have even established kindreds of mixed tradition (wiccan and Asatru), but soon these kindreds die out, as evidenced by outdated contact information (telephone, addresses) broken web links, etc.


A lot of relationships like this occur because the Asatru and Wiccan do not understand the differences between their philosophical views or the way they communicate. The deception is a part of this difference and usually is not intentional. This article titled The Pentagram and the Hammer gives more information on the differences between Wicca and Asatru, and the resulting communication difficulties.

Bottom Line: Just because Wicca and Asatru are lumped under the same “Pagan” heading don’t assume commonalities: These two groups are (nine) worlds apart.