Vanha Elama

Vanha Elama, otherwise known as the Old Way in the common tongue, is a collection of ancient primordial pagan religions followed by a minority of Hjemlander humans. Followers of Vanha Elama, known as Vanhas, practice similar rituals and traditions to that of the New Way, however, Herragonist historians have described the Old Way to be "brutal and merciless" in contrast to its modern counterpart. Although this is likely to be an exaggeration due to a lack of pre-Exile writings.

Beliefs
Old Way believers believe that there is no middlemen between Gods and Men, putting the tenants of independence over oneself higher than placing faith in Seers. While having Seers themselves, certain tribes of the Vanhas view them as only being blessed by the Gods with the ability of visions as opposed to the Herragonist ideas that Seers speak directly for the gods.

Many Old Way believers look for omens from the Gods before making decisions. An eagle landing on a branch before a battle speaks of great victory, while a Crow or Raven tells a tale of death. While some view this as contradictory to the Old Way view of independence, the Vanhas justify this by stating that the Gods simply look after their followers, much like a parent looks after their children.

Herragonism Conflicts
Despite the two religions worshiping similar Gods, many Old Way Seers view Herragonism as a "corruption of the Sagas." stating that the idea of a single man being superior to even the Gods was blasphemy. Old Way Seers point to stories in the Sagas that show the Gods giving no favoritism on one man over another based on faith, but only on personal merit.

Herragonists on the other hand view Old Way Seers as backwards and sinful, and point to stories in the Sagas where a particular God/Goddess chose a Champion to represent him/her as justification for their reverence in a single religious head.