The Role of English in the Revival of Germanic Polytheism

Written by Dyami Millarson

While Latin, the Roman imperial language, has played a significant role in the decline of Northwest European polytheism in the past, English, planet Earth’s global language, is playing a significant role in the rise of Germanic polytheism.

The reasons why English is aiding the Germanic polytheist revival are threefold:

1. English is a Germanic language and therefore native to Northwestern Europe
2. English is the language of the world wide web (internet)
3. English is the first true global language in the history of mankind

The fact that English is originally a Germanic language plays a significant role in garnering sympathy from its speakers for Germanic lore. Being a speaker of English creates a sense of familiarity when one learns about Thor and Othin, for instance.

Therefore, the language that one speaks does matter for the revival of polytheism. The fact that a Germanic language became the world language is a boon to Germanic polytheism, which has, at least in its purest form, been a “dormant religion” for a long time. Of course, elements of the religion, which had become syncretised with the dominant Judaeo-Christian religion, lived on in folklore.

The natural consequence of English being the global language is that English is the language of scientific research and hence there is a wealth of scientific literature on Germanic religion published in the English language.

It is, after all, no wonder that there has been a particular interest in Germanic polytheism in the English-speaking world since that is the pristine religion of the Anglo-Saxon forebears, whose language would evolve into Modern English.

While English is a natural language that has been turned into a global language and it is not like Esperanto which is not associated with any particular cultural history, English is associated with a cultural history that has its roots in Germanic paganism.

The world wide world, where English is undoubtedly the most dominant language, allows everyone to host their own website and this enables anyone who is interested sharing information on Germanic polytheism to do so.

Furthermore, the internet allows its users to find information on any topic they are interested in, and so information about Germanic polytheism has become more easily accessible than ever and now the taboo surrounding the topic is dissipating.

Germanic polytheism has been demonised by the Church, but the sudden renewed interest in this topic during the 19th century has slowly started to create an environment that is favourable or conducive to the return of Germanic polytheism.

Last but not least: while the English language is linked to its pagan past in one way or another, it is quite inevitable that people’s curiosity will be sparked and read about this topic at some point on the internet. Germanic paganism is ubiquitous.

Speakers of English are more and more interested in their cultural and linguistic roots, and this is also making them interested in seeking out their religious roots. The natural result of this search for roots is that they will arrive at polytheism.

We are seeing the return of Germanic polytheism as a dominant player on the world stage and this is the result of English being the vehicle of international communication. The trend of the rise of Northwestern European folk religion will continue into the foreseeable future.