Drengsiðr Heathenism draws its foundation from a wide and varied body of historical sources rooted in the pre-Christian cultures of Northern Europe. Unlike later centralized religions, there exists no single canonical text. Instead, what survives is a fragmented corpus preserved across poems, sagas, legal codes, foreign accounts, and archaeological findings—each offering a partial view into a once-living tradition.
The most prominent literary sources include the Eddic poems (both those preserved in the Codex Regius and those surviving in separate manuscripts), the Prose Edda, and the Icelandic sagas, which together provide insight into cosmology, ethics, social order, and the lived expression of honor and reputation. These are supplemented by early external observers—such as Tacitus, Adam of Bremen, Bede, and Ahmad ibn Fadlan—whose writings, while filtered through their own cultural perspectives, provide valuable contemporary accounts of Germanic and Norse peoples.
Beyond written texts, Drengsiðr also relies on archaeological evidence, including runestones, burial practices, grave goods, and material culture, as well as comparative Indo-European and Germanic scholarship to help interpret gaps in the historical record. These sources are vast and continually expanding; as such, it is neither practical nor possible to produce an exhaustive list of every contributing work or artifact.
As a result, Drengsiðr is best understood as a reconstructionist and interpretive tradition—one that seeks to faithfully engage with the surviving record while acknowledging its incomplete and often indirect nature. The sources presented here represent the core literary foundation, not the full extent, of the tradition’s inspiration and study.
Mythological Poems
- Völuspá (The Prophecy of the Seeress)
- Hávamál (Sayings of the High One)
- Vafþrúðnismál (Vafthrúdnir’s Sayings)
- Grímnismál (Grímnir’s Sayings)
- Skírnismál (The Lay of Skírnir)
- Hárbarðsljóð (The Poem of Hárbard)
- Hymiskviða (Hymir’s Poem)
- Lokasenna (Loki’s Quarrel)
- Þrymskviða (Thrym’s Poem)
- Völundarkviða (The Poem of Völund)
- Alvíssmál (The Lay of Alvís)
- Baldrs draumar (Baldr’s Dreams)
- Gróttasöngr (The Song of Grotti)
- Rígsþula (The Lay of Ríg)
- Hyndluljóð (The Poem of Hyndla)
- Völuspá hin skamma (Short Prophecy of the Seeress)
- Svipdagsmál (The Lay of Svipdag)
- Grógaldr (Gróa’s Spell)
- Fjölsvinnsmál (The Lay of Fjölsvid)
Heroic Poems
- Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
- Helgakviða Hundingsbana II
- Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar
- Frá dauða Sinfjötla
- Grípisspá
- Reginsmál
- Fáfnismál
- Sigrdrífumál
- Brot af Sigurðarkviðu
- Guðrúnarkviða I
- Guðrúnarkviða II
- Guðrúnarkviða III
- Sigurðarkviða hin skamma
- Helreið Brynhildar
- Dráp Niflunga
- Oddrúnargrátr
- Atlakviða
- Atlamál hin groenlenzku
- Guðrúnarhvöt
- Hamðismál
Drengsiðr 