Hjarrandi Band

Hjarrandi's culture is VERY LOOSELY based on Viking culture. Valkyrie, the band's current leader, comes from a place where her people are known for being tactical warriors, smart traders, and daring explorers. She's brought that ideal with her and expects her band members to be (or become!) the ferocious fighters, lionhearted adventurers, and versatile tacticians she's accustomed to.

RELIGION
Polytheistic, animistic, and pantheistic in nature with a high regard for magic and a liberal pinch of shamanism. The Old Norse religion is complex and fascinating, and I'm in no position to do it justice here. This section is just meant to give you a feel for its tenets and doesn't come close to covering even a fraction of this religion's intricacies.

GODS
The pantheon of Old Norse gods can be divided into two groups, the Æsir and the Vanir. The Æsir (pronounced  ICE-ir) are beings thought to hold the universe together and keep the giants from turning it back into the formless chaos it sprang from. Their home is Asgard, which rests in the highest branches of Yggdrasil, is partially surrounded by a wall and can only be reached by the Bifrost, which is a burning rainbow bridge that connects to Midgard (the wolves' world).  'Æsir' refers to multiple gods,  'Ásynju' (pronounced  ah-sin-yoo-r) refers to multiple goddesses,  'Ásynja' (pronounced ah-sin-yah) to one goddess, and 'Áss' (pronounced ohs) to one god. The best known members of the Æsir are Odin, Frigg, Thor, Loki, Tyr, Baldur, and Heimdall.

The Vanir (pronounced Van-ir) are associated with fertility, wisdom and prescience, and are thought to be the bringers of health, wealth, fertility and luck. They are thought to be skillful practitioners of magic and are more associated with nature than their Æsir counterparts. Their home is in Vanaheim, the exact location of which is unclear but thought to be the Underworld. The best known members of the Vanir are Njord and his children Freya and Freyr.

SUPERNATURAL FORCES
In addition to the pantheon of gods there are a host of spirits and other supernatural beings collectively referred to as Vættir. There are the landvættir (land spirits), the Sjóvættir (sea spirits), and Húsvættir (house spirits.) There's also  Álfar (elves), Dvergar (dwarves) and Jötnar (giants/trolls). The spirits protect and care for the places they live, and are thought to exert a tangible control over their territory. Wolves who have any tie to their surroundings will do well to appease the spirits who call that space home.

RITUALS

BLÓT
"To worship with sacrifice"
Blóts (pronounced blawts) can be dedicated to any god, spirit or ancestor and revolve around a sacramental feast. The sacrifice is usually a prey animal or a prisoner of war and the blood of the sacrifice is believed to have special powers. The shared meal is considered sacred and the many toasts said throughout serve special, separate purposes.

DÍSABLÓT
This is a harvest-related sacrificial holiday. Gonna try to rework it into something for wolves at a later date.

MAGIC
Seiðr (pronounced Say-der) is Old Norse magic centered around discerning fate and how to make changes to it. While Seidr is more commonly practiced by females, it is open to both sexes and male practitioners (while stigmatized by society) aren't unheard of. Female practitioners are called vǫlva or seiðkona and males are called seiðmaðr, although in Hjarrandi the official title of the band's seer is Hexe.

SEX, LOVE AND MARRIAGE
Marriages are often arranged by the parents of a young couple. Instead of being thought of as a union of two individuals, marriage is considered a union of families. It's for that reason that even marriages based on love are thought over carefully before the commitment is made; there's more at stake than the happiness of the bride and groom. There are a couple wedding day rituals that I'll one day detail if there's a need, but not today!

While marriage and procreation are important, premarital relationships are acceptable provided none of the participants are betrothed. Adultery is common, but frowned upon. If a band member catches his or her mate in the act, he or she is justified in killing both of them, but what happens is largely up to the jilted lover and society tends to base its condemnation (or lack thereof) on their reaction.

Polygamy is acceptable, as is concubinage.

Non-heterosexual relationships are fine, but because an emphasis is placed on procreation they might consider a marriage between a same sex couple a bit odd unless a workaround of some kind has been established. Acceptable? Yes, definitely. Just atypical considering how important offspring is to the culture.

As previously mentioned, there's nothing wrong with premarital relationships and no one will think anything of your character dating or sleeping around. However, it would be wise to tread carefully because having kids before you're married will do a great deal of damage to your reputation and potentially make your life a bit difficult. If a father chooses to recognize his illegitimate children they still won't receive as much support from his family as they would if they were legitimate. If he doesn't recognize them, they belong to their mother and all of the responsibility will fall on her to raise and care for them.