A sin generally means a crime against Gods laws. For Heathens, a synn is a crime against the Folk. Or, more specifically, a great crime, that could be seen as undoing the very fabric of a civilized society. This is more than just dishonorable acts that weave bad Wyrd. If left unchecked, these crimes can make chaos out of order. We find in the Völuspá:
38. A hall I saw, far from the sun,
On Nastrond it stands, and the doors face north,
Venom drops through the smoke-vent down,
For around the walls do serpents wind.
39. I saw there wading through rivers wild
Treacherous men and murderers too,
And workers of ill with the wives of men;
There Nithhogg sucked the blood of the slain,
And the wolf tore men; would you know yet more?
Other examples of these three synns can be found throughout early Germanic and Scandinavian Law, but almost without exception, all of them can be boiled down into three basic offenses: Oath-breaking, Murdering, and Seducing. The definitions of these offenses in the context that they were originally written are not always very useful for us today, but we must be forward thinking people, and learn from our past to lay a good foundation in the present for the future of the folk. This is how I interpret these offenses, and I invite others to do the same.
Oath-breaking: This is the first synn mentioned by the Völva. Many folk believe that any oath made and broken makes one an oath-breaker. This is partially true, but I do not believe it is in the spirit of the ancient law to condemn a person who swears an oath to lose weight or learn a language, and fails, to be condemned. Rather, we need to take a moment and differentiate. There is a difference between a failing that results in the loss of personal honor and an offense that undermines the stability of the community. An oath that the community depends upon (rather than the self ) is a true oath-breaking. Someone entrusted with certain powers in a community and using those powers to, say, commit embezzlement, or revealing confidential information, are examples of oath-breaking. I personally would consider oaths to be implied in some cases, whether there was a formal "oathing-in" or not. The key is that the trust of the folk is abused. We need to be able to trust our leaders, and this is how they are held accountable. Equally, a person who uses their own honorable name to perpetuate lies against another is guilty of perjury, a word which is in some places used instead of oath-breaking.
Murder: Fairly self explanatory today, and has changed very little from the law of a thousand years ago. Some are justifiable by claims of self defense and the like, but for the most part, any killing of another human being is bad. For simplicity sake, we won't get into the more controversial topics like euthanasia and abortion. Accidents happen, but deaths that are caused by an abandoned and malignant heart are also murder. I'd like to give my readers the benefit of the doubt that they have the ability to decide for themselves what is a justifiable killing and what is not, and therefore, is a synn.
Seduction: I have seen at least half a dozen different translations and ideas on what this means. Seduction is a grave offense, and probably the most common, in the community today. Knowingly pursuing a married person (or pursuing another while married) can cause great rifts to form in the community, and there may not have even been sexual acts occurring. This creates an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion, and when that thrives, then salt has been sown in the otherwise fertile fields of the Folk. Seduction to further political or career goals is also foul. Even if both parties happily agree to such an arrangement, it creates an unfair advantage against those who work hard to earn and deserve such positions. I hope it is needless to say, malicious and predatory seduction, to be polite, is exceptionally vile, and included here. There is nothing wrong with consenting adults acting in their private lives, but when seduction is linked with violations of trust or of common decency, it becomes one of the three synns of Heathenry.
This is a very basic breakdown of Heathen synn. I see much within what I have just written that I want to comment on further, but that would take more time and effort that I wish to put into a simple blog. Who would want to read a blog entry that is more than a printed page or two? Perhaps I will cover my ideas on synn in more detail in a future book. For now, we are left with one major question: How does Heathen society protect itself from such enemies of the Folk? The ancient law books give an answer to that as well. Outlawry. It is a kind of shunning. Declaring someone to be an outlaw is very serious. It completely removes them, and their influence, from the community for the protection of the community. However, this only carries the weight that the Folk put into enforcing it. It can be a very powerful defensive weapon, or it can be useless. Like profane words, the more restraint is used in day-to-day life, the more effective the use when it is made, so don't be too quick to declare someone an outlaw, or you may find yourself surrounded by more enemies than friends.
Troth to the Folk!