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to House Wodening Home PageThe Meaning of Are
Even in the minds of those who are not heathen in religion, honour is a concept which comes to mind when thinking of the Germanic peoples. It seems to part and parcel of the whole "noble savage (or 'barbarian' in this case)" stereotype of Germanic peoples that has been passed down to us from the Romantics of the 19th century. Indeed, it is part of that stereotype that actually holds true. Unfortunately, honour is also a poorly understood concept, even among heathen. It often brings to mind antebellum Southerners or pre-Revolution Frenchmen who, when insulted, repsond with the slap of a glove and then demand satisfaction through a duel. It is probably safe to say that this does not necessarily reflect heathen beliefs about honour.
To best grasp the heathen idea of honour, it would probably be best to look at the definition of the word honour and then the definition of native Germanic terms for the word. The Oxford New English Dictionary (aka the OED) gives as the first two senses of honour 1. High respect, esteem, deferential admiration; an expression of this; glory, credit, reputation, good name b. spec. The chastity of a woman; a woman's reputation for this. 2. Nobleness of mind or spirit, magnamity; uprightness; adherence to what is due or correct according to some conventional or accepted standard of conduct. b. a promise, an assuance arch. The native Old English term for honour was ár, which according to the Clark-Hall Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary meant, "honour, worth, dignity, glory, respect, reverence, grace, favour, prsopeity, benefit, help, mercy, pity." The word barely survived into modern English as are. Its cognates in Old Saxon and Old High German were both spelled éra. The word survived into modern High German as the primary word for "honour," ehre. According to Cassell's German-English Dictionary it means "1. honour 2. honour, credit 3. honour, glory, esteem, renown, 4. honour, privlege. The Old Norse cognate was eir, which, oddly enough, only meant "peace, clemency." It appears several times in poetry, but not at all in prose unless one counts the name of a goddess listed in Snorri's Prose Edda (Eir).
Given the fact that the OED gives "high respect, esteem, deferential admiration" as the primary sense of honour, we might assume that it is also the primary sense of are. We might also well be wrong. After all, the Clark-Hall Dictionary gives "worth" and "dignity" as part of its Old English precedent as well. The first two senses given for worth in the OED deal with monetary value, but the third applies to the idea of honour: the (intrinsic or moral) character, dignity, or quality of a peson; spec. (high) personal merit or attainment. It would then appear that the primary meaning of Old English ár and New English are would be "adherence to what is due or correct according to some conventional or accepted standard of conduct (in other words, our thew or customs)" or "moral character, dignity. " That is not to say that "high respect" or "deferential admiration" were not a part of the Germanic concept of honour. After all, the secondary meaning of Old English ár is "glory, respect, reverence." This would be quite naturally an outgrowth of the word's primary meaning of "adherance to what is due or correct according to our thew."
Are and Worth
From the defintion which the Clark-Hall dictionary gives ár, it would seem that are or honour and worth are closely related concepts. This especially seems true when one considers the third sense given in the OED for worth, "the (intrinsic or moral) character, dignity or quality of a person...." In Old English, weorð primarily meant "'worth,' amount, price, purchase money" and so on, but from the words which derived from it it would appear that weorð may have had senses which extended beyond the sphere of money into the sphere of morality. As an adjective weorð meant "worthy, honoured, noble, honourable." The word weorðful meant "worthy, honourable, honoured, glorious, good." As to if drive home the link between are and worth, there was the compound weorðmynd (from weord "worth" and mynd "mind'), which meant "honour, dignity, glory." The word weorðscipe (our modern word worship) meant "worth, respect, honour, dignity, glory."
Today the word worship is used almost exclusively with religious connotations (the exceptions being wedding vows--"with my body I thee worship" and honourary forms of address "Your Worship"), although it should perhaps be easy to see how a word that originally meant "worth, respect, honour, dignity, glory." came to be a religious term. Even in Old English there were words related to weorð which were used in a religous context. The verb weorðian meant to "esteem, honour, worship, distinguish, celebrate, exalt, praise." The noun weorðung meant "honouring, distinction, honour, glory, celebration, worship." Indeed, an Old English word for a place of worship, used of the Tabernacle, was weorðungstów. And while worship took on its religious connotations after the Conversion, the use of several words related to weord in a religious context could make it likely that the link between worshipping the gods and worth was intimate even in the days of ancient heathendom. Quite simply, our forebears literally worshipped the gods--that is, they hounoured them and esteemed them. As the gods they would automatically be considered possessed of are or honour ("adherance to what is due or correct according to our thew.") and worth ("moral character") and hence should be honoured or esteemed for it.
It must be stressed that the link between are and worth was not isolated to Old English. In Old Norse verð primarily meant "worth, price," but words derived fromand related to verð show that it too had its moral aspects. The adjective verdr meant "worthy, deserving." The word verðskap meant "esteem." Virding meant "worship, reputation honour." Virðligr meant "worthy, worshipful."
Today we might wish to question how a word that originally meant "price" or "value" came to mean "the (intrinsic or moral) character, dignity, or quality of a person." It seems that it was a quite natural development. From "value, amount, price," worth developed the sense of "the 'value' of an individual based on his moral character." From there it developed its more modern meaning of "the (intrinsic or moral) character, dignity, or quality of a person." Whether one defines worth as the "'value' of an individual based on his moral character" or as "moral character" itself, it would seem that it is a concept interdependent upon are. As the adherence to thew, one cannot have are or honour without worth, the value of one with moral character or simply moral character. This is perhaps why those who are called honourable are also often called worthy as well.
Are and Mercy
Among the meanings the Clark-Hall dictionary gives for ár are "mercy, pity," while its Old Norse cognate, eir, simply meant "peace, clemency." To modern individuals it might seem odd, accustomed as we are to the 19th century Romantic stereotype of merciless Germanic warriors. Reading the Hávamál, however, it becomes clear that mercy may have played a role among the Germanic peoples. While the High One often recommends foul treatment to one's foes ("give lies for lies"), he recommends kindness towards one's friends ("return gift for gift") and even strangers ("Do not scoff at strangers nor chase to them to the door, but be kind to the wretched."). It would seem then that while no mercy was expected to be given to known enemies, mercy was certainly expected of one's friends and even strangers. Indeed, it would seem that such mercy and kindness was admired in kings. Of Beowulf in verse 3180 of the poem of the same name it is
Mercy to one's own and even to strangers was perhaps part and parcel of the whole concept of frith, which can be defined as "the peace and security while among one's own." For frith to be maintained, then, one had to treat his fellow men with a certain degree of kindness and compassion. This was perhaps as important when dealing with strangers as it was when dealing with friends as a mistreated stranger could soon become an enemy, thus endangering the peace and safety of the community. It was particularly important for kings to be merciful and kind, as this was a means by which they could maintain the troth or loyalty of their own people. It is perhaps significant that Beowulf, a merciful king and valiant warrior, ruled to a ripe old age, while Eirik Bloodaxe, a cruel and greedy monarch, was driven from his kingdom.
Indeed, that the ancient Germanic peoples had a concept of mercy can be seen in native terms for the word--in Old English milts and in Old Norse mildi. Although we rarely think of mercy when it comes to the ancient Germanic peoples, it appears to have been one of their important thews or virtues. As one of the thews, then, it would be something expected of honourable men. Mercy would then be a part of are or honour. It is perhaps for that reason that "mercy, pity" is one of the senses of Old English ár while "peace, clemency" is the meaning of Old Norse eir.
Honour and Dueling
The vocabulary of dueling passed down to this day is filled with the word honour: point of honour, field of honour, and so on. Indeed, the very word honour brings to mind for many the aforementioned antebellum Southerner or pre-Revolution Frenchman who challenges those who insult him to a duel with the words, "Sir, you have besmirched my honour." Of course, the antebellum Southerner or pre-Revolution Frenchman is simply using the word honour in OED's primary sense of "High respect, esteem, deferential admiration; an expression of this; glory, credit, reputation, good name." For the Germanic peoples, however, the primary sense of are or honour was the second sense given in the OED--"Nobleness of mind or spirit, magnamity; uprightness; adherence to what is due or correct according to some conventional or accepted standard of conduct." Because of this, it seems quite likely that for the ancient Germanic peoples are or honour and duelling were treated quite differently than they have been in more recent times.
What part, then, did are play in dueling for the ancient Germanic peoples? The answer is not a whole lot. Among the Germanic peoples, all duels were judicial duels. In other words, one could not challenge someone to a duel simply because the person called him stupid, ugly, or lazy. Only insinuations that the individual has committed some sort of crime were grounds for dueling. As an example, under Frisian law one accused of cowardice had the right to clear himself through a duel. Similarly, under the Edictus Rothari and Alamanic Law, an individual accused of a capital crime could clear himself through combat. Judicial duels were not fought to defend one's honour, but instead to prove or disprove the validity of the charges made against an individual. Judicial duels were quite literally trials in which it was believed that the gods would give victory to whichever man was right (that is, not guilty). And while refusing a duel would be unthinkable for an antebellum Southerner or a pre-Revolution Frenchman, among the Germanic peoples one could avoid a duel by proving his innocence in some other way (as through the use of oath helpers or witnesses).
Indeed, the native words for honour are almost never used with respect to duels among the ancient Germanic peoples. While victory in a duel would uphold one's reputation and in that way assure that most people might well think of him as honourable, ultimately it would have no real affect on one's are or honour. As "adherence to thew" are or honour could not be besmirched and it could not be lost except through the error of the one who has it (as through committing a grievous violation of thew, such as lying, rape, or murder). Regardless of who insults him or how his reputation may have sufferd due to rumours or innuendoes, a man is honourable so long as he does not stray from thew.
Why Are is Important for Modern Heathen
For ancient heathen and hence for modern heathen as well, are or honour is simply "adherence to thew or custom, uprightness, moral character." One who is areful then seeks to do what is good, to keep what is right, and generally observes the thew of heathendom. This insures that heathendom as a community functions as smoothly as possible. Indeed, one sometimes sees what happens when individuals behave without are on email lists. Someone slanders another or behaves in some other way out of thew, and soon discussion on the list grinds to a halt as a flame war erupts. This defeats the entire purpose of the list as a medium through which people can have meaningful discussion.
If behaving without are can drive an email list to a halt, then behaving without are in the real world can have consequences that are all the more dire. The entire purpose of thew or custom is to insure that a community, society, or tribe function as smoothly as possible. It is when individuals do not adhere to thew, when they behave without are, that problems erupt. It is then to the advantage of every modern heathen to behave with are at all times. To do otherwise is to consign modern heathendom to the dust heap of so many other religious or social movements that failed because individuals did not observe their own thew.
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