The Troth

Lore Program Overview

Presented: Trothmoot 2006

Presented By: Patricia Lafayllve, High Steward

Program Opened: Trothmoot 2007

Stated Purposes:

The Troth’s Lore Program will:

1. Provide a peer-review based system of continuing scholarship
2. Provide a series of on-line resources for heathen educational purposes
   
3. Serve as a resource for heathen scholarship and education

Lore Program Requirements and Policies:

All “Full Member” Status Troth members are qualified to enter the Lore Program (as per the Troth’s By-Laws, this means one year of “New Member” status must be completed prior to entering the Lore Program).

All members of the Lore Program are required to maintain their “Full Member” status with The Troth. Members who fail to renew after three months (one quarter) will be considered “Inactive.” Members who fail to renew after six months will be removed from the Lore Program. Members who are inactive for one year will have any Lore Program certifications revoked.

Members of the Lore Program can leave the Program at any time. Graduates of the Lore Program must surrender their certification should they decide to leave the Program.

Members of the Lore Program who fail to provide ongoing reports of their progress may be removed at the discretion of the Board of Deans. Additionally, Lore Program members who do not continue to provide ongoing resources for the Lore Program may be removed, at the Board of Deans’s discretion.

All Lore Program members and Graduates are required to participate in ongoing educational and/or researched based programs at least twice per fiscal year. These programs can be, but are not limited to, the following: writing research-based papers for the Lore Program’s Website, submitting and publishing articles in Idunna, facilitating classes in one’s geographical area (whether at stores, festivals, or in the home, at the discretion of the member), adding to the Lore Program’s annotated bibliography, etc. All Lore Program members are required to report their activities at the end of every quarter in the fiscal year. This translates to the weeks of March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31.

Lore Program Structure:

The Lore Program is a peer-supported and peer-review based system designed to support individual study. As such, there are no mentors per se. That said, it is recommended that new members of the Program seek out mentors within the program to assist them in their process.

The Lore Program is designed to be a three-year program. Members who enter the program already highly qualified may submit to a fast-track option, and in that case complete their requirements in one year. Members of the Lore Program may take more than three years to complete the program of study, although no more than six years should be required.

The Lore Program is overseen by the Board of Deans. The Board of Deans is responsible for assisting fellow members to achieve their goals, collecting quarterly reports and submitting them to the High Rede, correcting the results of exams given to new members, and approving all materials submitted to the Lore Program by its members. The Board of Deans can number as few as three and as many as nine members, all of whom must be Graduates of the Lore Program. The members of the Board of Deans will be selected by the members of the Lore Program, and shall serve three-year terms. Deans may be re-elected.

The Provost is one of the Deans who is in charge of overseeing all aspects of the Lore Program and additionally overseeing the activities of the Board of Deans. He or she must be a Graduate of the Lore Program and be a Troth member in good standing. The Provost does not serve on the High Rede of the Troth, but is expected to report to the High Rede quarterly. The Provost position is selected by all members of the Lore Program, and shall serve a three-year term. The Provost may be re-elected.

Section One: The Lore: Primary Source Material

Goal: Familiarity with multiple translations of source material, as available. Thorough understanding of the Norse myths, Anglo-Saxon and continental Germanic materials. Ability to communicate understanding in oral and written communication, including articles and research papers.

Required to Complete:

1. All Required Reading and Proven Understanding of Texts
2. One 7-10 page research paper on any aspect of the material above. MLA Format required. Minimum of 5 sources, including original source material.
3. A passing grade (80% or higher) on the Section One Final Exam (take home)

Section Two: History and the Saga Record

Goal: Familiarity with the history of heathen practices and religion in continental and Scandinavian Europe. Thorough knowledge of the Icelandic saga record. Focused knowledge of at least one geographic area (ie Iceland, Sweden, Continental Germany, Anglo-Saxon England, etc.) is acceptable provided the member shows broad-based knowledge of other areas.

Required to Complete:

1. All Required Reading and Proven Understanding of Texts
2. One 7-10 page research paper on any aspect of the material above. MLA format required. Minimum of 5 sources, including original source material.
3. A passing grade (80% or higher) on the Section Two Final Exam (take home)

Section Three: Reconstruction, Phonology, Esotera

Goal: Familiarity with ancient and modern heathen religious practices as they relate to reconstructed material. Familiarity with various futharks, their history, ancient and current usage. Familiarity with phonology, applied linguistics, and the impact of linguistic studies on scholarship/translation of ancient texts. Familiarity with seid, galdr, folklore, herbcraft, etc. as relates to modern reconstruction.

Required to Complete:

1. All Required Reading and Proven Understanding of Texts
2. One 7-10 page research paper on any aspect of material above. MLA format required. Minimum of 5 sources. Including original source material.
3. A passing grade (80% or higher) on the Section Three Final Exam (take home)

Completion of all three sections should be completed in approximately three to six calendar years from date of entry into the Lore Program. A certificate of completion will be given to all students who complete all three sections. In order to serve on the Board of Deans, all three sections must be completed AND the Graduate Level certification achieved.

Graduate Level:

Goal: Specialization in one or more aspects of heathen scholarship. Focus should be on the synthesis of lore, saga, history, and reconstructive materials with current heathen thinking. Familiarity with all three sections of the Lore Program is assumed. Ongoing, continuing scholarship is implied in those seeking the Graduate Level of the Lore Program and as such Graduates should be aware of current research within their field of specialization and in general terms with all aspects of heathen reconstruction from a research/scholarship standpoint.

Required to Complete:

1. Certification of Completion of Sections One, two, and Three of the Lore Program.
2. A passing grade (80% or higher) of a comprehensive exam covering all three sections of the Lore Program.
3. Specialization in one or more aspect of heathen scholarship, as desired, OR a detailed broad-based knowledge of current and past scholarship as it relates to reconstruction. Reading list to be approved by the Board of Deans, but does include the Required Texts in all three sections of the Lore Program.
4. One 15-20 page research paper on any aspect of heathen knowledge and scholarship. MLA format required. Minimum of 10 sources, including original source material.

Fast Track Option:

Lore Program applicants with a high degree of prior knowledge, research, and/or scholarship may apply for the fast track program. The student in the Fast Track Program must fulfill the requirements of all three sections (reading, paper, and exam) before receiving certification. It is expected that the Fast Track will take at least one year to complete, although this may be more rapid depending upon the applicant’s prior work and the approval of the Board of Deans.

There is no fast track for the Graduate Level.

Exams:

Exams will include identification, short answer, and essay question sections as a means to assess candidate’s ability to synthesize concepts as well as memorize facts. As the student progresses through each section, the exams will focus more heavily on essay questions as a means of assessing understanding. The Graduate Level exam is comprehensive and almost entirely essay-based.

All Lore Program students are required to have passed in the research paper relevant for the section prior to requesting the final exam. Further, each paper must have been peer-reviewed and accepted as passing by the Board of Deans prior to the exam being taken.

Research Papers:

Papers submitted for peer review, sections1-3 and graduate level, will be assessed, sent back for revision as needed, and approved once agreed upon by the Board of Deans. Approved papers will be posted on the Lore Program website as a continuing resource. All papers must conform to Modern Language Association (MLA) format.

Goal: Developing a cadre of scholarship, covering a variety of subjects relevant to heathenry, which will be accessible to Troth members and the “general public.” Papers posted on the Lore Program website will be considered the property of The Troth for distribution on its website only. Author retains all other rights.

Annotated Bibliography:

A far-reaching and ongoing project will be the formation and maintenance of an annotated bibliography of source materials: primary, secondary, translational, esoteric, etc. Members of the Lore Program are each able to enter a few sentences/one paragraph outlining the work, its usefulness and availability. This will also be on the Lore Program’s Website, and be available for the general public.

Online “Norse Course”:

This is an introductory course of study for those new to heathenry in general. The goal is to provide another online resource that people can use to learn the “basics” about our faith without having to join the larger Lore Program.