Pagan Terminology
This is a glossary of terms you may see while reading about paganism, witchcraft, and/or the occult. Obviously not every single term will be present here, I'm mainly focusing on terms that appear on this site, with other additions when necessary. Hopefully this helps! Terms will be listed in alphabetical order.
A
Anglo-Saxon Paganism: paganism centered around the reconstruction, at least to some degree, of historical pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon religious practices. The term Anglo-Saxon can be a bit loaded. Also see: Heathenry
Asatru: Norse paganism primarily focused around the Aesir. More in depth definition here. Also see: Heathenry, Norse Paganism.
F
Forn Sidr: Norse paganism focused primarily around folklore. More in depth definition here. Also see: Heathenry, Norse Paganism.
Frankish Paganism: modern pagan religion focused around the pre-Christian religion of the Franks. Also see: Heathenry, Thia Franksk Aldsido.
Fyrnsidu: a name for Anglo-Saxon paganism. From my current understanding, Fyrnsidu is the name used by the more inclusive branches of Anglo-Saxon heathenry. Also see: Anglo-Saxon Paganism, Heathenry
G
Gothic Paganism: a form of modern paganism centered around the cultures of the Goths and Visigoths. Also see: Heathenry
H
Heathenry: an umbrella term for modern pagan religions influenced by historical pre-Christian Germanic religions. More in depth definition here.
K
Kenning: a figure of speech used in Old Norse and Old English poetry where nouns are described in figurative ways. ie "Baldr's bane" (mistletoe) or "Aegir's Daughters" (waves).
N
Norse Paganism: a pagan religion that aims to reconstruct, in some way or another, the religion of ancient Scandinavians (typically from roughly the Iron Age). More in depth definition here. Also see: Heathenry
O
Old Saxon Paganism: a variation of Heathenry centered around the culture of the Saxons, an ancient culture from what is now modern day Germany (roughly around what is now Lower Saxony). Also see: Heathenry
P
PIE: an acronym for Proto-Indo-European, a reconstructed language that is the ancestor of a great deal of modern languages (ie German, English, Spanish, Hindi, et cetera). The topic of Proto-Indo-European is vast and fascinating, but for the purposes of this website, knowing that PIE means Proto-Indo-European and that it is a reconstructed language is adequate.
R
Rokkatru: Norse paganism centered around the jötnar. More in depth definition here. See also: Heathenry, Norse Paganism.
S
Skald: basically, a skald is an Old Norse poet. Kind of like a Viking bard, I suppose. The most well known Skald is Bragi Boddason, or Bragi the Old. Fun fact! the English word "scold" is likely cognate with skald.
T
Theodism: a name for Anglo-Saxon paganism. My current understanding is that this is the name used by more Folkist (ie racist) branches of Anglo-Saxon Heathenry. Also see: Anglo-Saxon Paganism, Fyrnsidu, Heathenry
Thia Frankisk Aldsido: or just Aldsido. A specific group of Frankish pagans. Their research seems to be entirely full of shit. Just in case you see them out there. See: Frankish Paganism, Heathenry.
U
UPG: Stands for "Unverified Personal Gnosis". UPG is knowledge gained through spiritual practice than cannot be verified by existing sources, traditions or sacred texts (if a religion even has them). An example of UPG would be that Aphrodite greatly dislikes carbonated beverages and does not accept them as an offering.
Urglaawe: Heathenry through a Pennsylvania German lens. Also see: Heathenry
V
Vanatru: Norse paganism centered around the Vanir. More in depth definition here. See also: Heathenry, Norse Paganism.