Heathen and Runic imagery has sometimes been used outside of any spirtitual or religious meanings.
Heathenry
(The following is edited excerpts from a course I wrote for Witch School)
Before discussing what a Heathen believes, first it is useful to define what a Heathen is. The word ‘Heathen’ comes from Old English ‘Haeden’ meaning someone who was not a Christian or a Jew. This itself is possibly derived from the Gothic ‘Haithi’ Meaning one who dwells on the Heath. Comparisons can be made with the Latin ‘Paganus’ meaning a country dweller.
So what about Heathens today?
Heathens come under the general umbrella term of Pagan, but refers to someone with quite specific beliefs. Heathens are Pantheonistic/ Polytheistic. That is they believe and worship a group or family of Gods and Goddesses. In particular Heathens follow the old pre-Christian, North European Pantheons of Gods and Goddesses known as The Aesir and Vanir. Some Heathens fit that in with a more generalised view that their Gods and Goddesses are just aspects of other god forms; but most see their Gods and Goddesses as distinct and separate entities. In addition to following a pantheon ( or two ) most, but not all, Heathens will have a personal or patron God or Goddess, sometimes more than one. Although this personal bond is the most important to them , they will honour the entire pantheon. This is because part of what makes up their patron is the patron’s inclusion in the Pantheon and the relationships within the pantheon. To pick one out exclusively would be like trying to do a jigsaw with only one of the pieces. Similarly leaving one out means the picture is incomplete. Thus though some would leave out Loki as evil, I see him as an agent of change, and necessary to gaining the overall picture.
Heathens today honour the same Deities as our ancestors. That we worship them in the same way is highly unlikely. We do not claim a direct line of initiated pagans going back to the Viking age. However there are literary clues from various sources including Eddas and Sagas. We also believe as North European People that there is a part of our soul which contains all the memories of our ancestors. It is therefore possible through meditation to gain insights from the past.
Heathens are the one branch of Pagans who believe in Hel. Yes that is Hel with just one ‘L’. It is Ruled over by Loki’s daughter Hella. However rather than the Christian view of hellfire and eternal torture, Hel is a realm where the soul lets go of all the events of the past life and prepares itself for the next. But it is not at all doom and gloom. There is gold, mead and feasting in Hel so it can't be all that bad a place to go! Not all Heathens believe in reincarnation. Those who do not simply see Hel as a dead place where those who have died of illness or old age go. Those who do believe in reincarnation believe that we are born back into the same tribe or family we left. No description of the Heathen view of the afterlife would be complete without mentioning Odin's Hall Valhalla. This is a huge feasting hall in Asgard, with 540 doors where 800 warriors can exit at once. The warriors there are chosen from the slain in battle and are known as the Einherjar, they are locked into a cycle of feasting and fighting until Ragnarok. However it is worth noting here that My Lady Freya has first choice of the slain and takes them to her hall called Sessrunir ( meaning 'many seats') on the plain of Folkvang. 
The main body of lore for Heathens is contained in the Eddas. There are two Eddas: the younger or, prose Edda; and the Elder or, poetic. Many Heathens will especially look to the Havamal which is one of the poems contained in the Poetic Edda in which Odin gives advice on a range of things from women, to drink and battle tactics! One of the other important poems in the poetic Edda is the seeress' Prophesy. The Seeress's prophesy is mainly concerned with the creation of the universe and the end of the world at Ragnarok and the new world which will exist afterwards.
Here we come to what may appear to some as the main stumbling block of Heathenry. Because we take our Lore from ancient texts there is always going to be a difference in personal interpretation. This can lead to heated debate and hermeneutical wrangling. Usually the only thing actually being argued over is the terminology. The general meaning of both sides is the same. Cynics have said get two Heathens together and you have an argument! But that is partly the way we explore and deepen our knowledge and understanding. As for the method, well we do take our cues from the Norse and Saxons who raided northern Europe for about seven centuries!
The surviving codex of the Poetic Edda was written in Iceland around 1270. The poems are almost certainly much older though, most likely dating from the C10 and possibly originating is Sweden. The author or copyist is not known. It contains a number of poems and fragments of poems in a variety of styles.
The Prose Edda is all the work of one man: Snorri Sturloson . He lived in Iceland between 1179 and 1241. It is in various parts the first is the Gylfaginning or the deluding of Gylfi, which is a guide to the mythology of the Northern Peoples. The second is a text book on Skaldic art: the skaldskaparmal or poetic Diction. Skalds were poets who wrote epics and sagas. If you lived your life with honour and did many great deeds you would have a great song written about you which would be remembered for many generations. Snorri also wrote a long poem called ‘The hastate’ written in honour of King Hakon which is an example of this.
There are also various poems of Anglo-Saxon Origin, the most well known of these is surely Beowulf. Some Heathens will also look to Tacitus who was a Roman General and diarist who rote of his journeys in Germania and the British Isles. There are also some parts of the Anglo-Saxon chronicles and the writings of Bede which may be useful.
Though it does have to be born in mind that the later the source, the more likely it is to have been written and censored by Christians who have no vested interrest in perpetuating a rival religion.
Some Heathens call themselves Asatruar. Asatru gets it's name from the Old Norse Aes (As) meaning a God, and 'True'. So it means those who are faithful to the Norse gods. As such Asatru ia a branch of Heathenry in the same way that Heathenry is a branch of Paganism. The tradition was started in Iceland where it is now an official state religion with a temple in Reykjavik. Asatru is very heavily based on the Eddas and Norse Sagas and tends to ignore Anglo-Saxon influences. There are also some people who call themselves Asatruar who are not part of this tradition in much the same way as there are those who call themselves Wiccans without being initiated Gardinarians.
There are Heathens who follow more of an Anglo-Saxon tradition: the main beliefs are similar to Asatru but some of the Gods and Goddess may have slightly different names and attributes. For example Odin is known as Woden, from which we get Wednesday (Woden's Day) Which is why the days of the week always start with a capital letter.We are still honouring the old Gods and Goddesses without even being aware of what we are doing!
Certain traditions within heathenry notably 'The Odinic Rite' follow a code of ethics known as the nine noble virtues These are: Courage, Honour, Truth, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Self-reliance, Industriousness and perseverance. These are also followed by some Heathens not of that tradition. Again there is no insistence on this. Heathens very much take the responsibility for their actions. We believe that outcomes good or bad are the result of our past actions, we term this Wyrd . We do believe that it not for us to interfere in another's wyrd. Thus Heathens do not proselytise, it is for each and every soul to find their own way in life and make their own wyrd.
( Just a note about the smileys at the top. No viking actually wore horns on their helmet in battle)
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