"Virtue is a state of character concerned with choice." ~ Aristotle
All world religions and philosophies instruct their practitioners to practice specific virtues to produce a certain effect in their lives or within larger society. In a simple sense, a virtue is an action that shapes your state of being; it is an ideal state of being that is achieved through choices and actions. Virtues are used by mankind to provide spiritual foundation for our thoughts, and material foundation for our actions. Without some virtue underpinning mankind, our actions and thoughts become little more than meaningless rote behavior similar to lowly beasts. Without virtue, our very being would have no purpose.
Etymonline gives this for "virtue":
"c. 1200, vertu, "moral life and conduct, uprightness of life, the opposite of vice; a particular moral excellence," from Anglo-French and Old French vertu "force, strength, vigor; moral strength; qualities, abilities" (10c. in Old French), from Latin virtutem (nominative virtus) "moral strength, high character, goodness; manliness; valor, bravery, courage (in war); excellence, worth," from vir "man" (from PIE root *wi-ro- "man")."
The root of the word "virtue" is literally just man. That should speak volumes. He who walks upright is a man, not a beast. He who shows qualities and abilities is a man, not a lowly creature of the jungle. He who has high character and moral excellence is a man, not a wild thing of the desert. Mankind is defined by being the opposite of lower animals, and that opposite nature is shown forth in our ability to conceptualize ideal forms and then act towards these ends. Our evolutionary paths are set apart, and this even plays out in our populace, for a hierarchy based on our actualized qualities naturally arises no matter the external constraints. Our actions shape our place within the pecking order, both on a larger spiritual scale, and on a more mundane habitual one.
This is why men call weak, immoral, or otherwise degenerate males "pussies" or "not real men" because these weaker types are showing qualities befitting a lower animal not an actual human. We are set apart from the lower spheres by our higher quality, so it should be no surprise when we attack our weakest ranks and lambast them for being trashy or degenerate. This natural defense mechanism against weakness and degeneracy is a virtue in and of itself, it is the virtue of self-preservation. No little boy wants a weak kid on his sports team; in a similar vein, no wise warrior wants a coward in his shield wall. Likewise, no healthy Household wants degenerates near the holy hearth and the generative children.
For the Indo-Europeans, our direct ancestors and familial kindred, the virtues they taught were focused on creating strong households through a reciprocal relationship between mankind and the Divine. The authority that gave these virtues their foundation were natural law, familial duty, and divine command. There does exist some debate on whether or not these virtues were traditionally identified by our ancestors, or if certain virtues were but others weren't. Regardless of this debate and its final conclusion, I will list these virtues as I see them, along with their accompanying etymologies according to Etymonline.
Courage ~ 1300, corage, "heart (as the seat of emotions)," hence "spirit, temperament, state or frame of mind,"from Old French corage "heart, innermost feelings; temper" (12c., Modern French courage), from Vulgar Latin *coraticum (source of Italian coraggio, Spanish coraje), from Latin cor "heart" (from PIE root *kerd- "heart"). Meaning "valor, quality of mind which enables one to meet danger and trouble without fear" is from late 14c.
Honor ~ c. 1200, onur, "glory, renown, fame earned," from Anglo-French honour, Old French onor, honor "honor, dignity, distinction, position; victory, triumph" (Modern French honneur), from Latin honorem (nominative honos, the form used by Cicero, but later honor) "honor, dignity, office, reputation," which is of unknown origin (possibly from PIE root gʰon- "to bend, curve, or bow").
Truth ~ Middle English treuth, truþ, from Old English triewð (West Saxon), treowð (Mercian) "faith, faithfulness; fidelity to country, kin, friends; loyalty; disposition to be faithful; veracity, quality of being true; pledge, covenant." This is reconstructed to be from a Germanic abstract noun from Proto-Germanic *treuwaz "having or characterized by good faith." This in turn is reconstructed in Watkins to be from PIE *drew-o-, a suffixed form of the root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast." With Germanic abstract noun suffix *-itho (see -th (2)). Compare troth, truce, trust (n.), tree (n.)
Fidelity ~ early 15c., "faithfulness, devotion," from Old French fidélité (15c.), from Latin fidelitatem (nominative fidelitas) "faithfulness, adherence, trustiness," from fidelis "faithful, true, trusty, sincere," from fides "faith" (from PIE root *bheidh- "to trust, confide, persuade")
Discipline ~ directly from Latin disciplina "instruction given, teaching, learning, knowledge," also "object of instruction, knowledge, science, military discipline," from discipulus "pupil, student, follower". Possible PIE root *dek- "to (cause to) accept”
Hospitality ~ late 14c., "act of being hospitable," from Old French hospitalité "hospitality; hospital," from Latin hospitalitem(nominative hospitalitas) "friendliness to guests," from hospes (genitive hospitis) "guest; host" – from PIE root *ghosti meaning "stranger/guest/host" or more properly "someone with whom one has reciprocal duties of hospitality representing a mutual exchange relationship"
Strength ~ Middle English strengthe, from Old English strengþu, strengð "property of being strong, bodily power, muscular force; vigor, firmness, fortitude, manhood; violence; moral resistance," from Proto-Germanic *strangitho (source also of Old High German strengida "strength"), from PIE *strenk- "tight, narrow"
Creation ~ late 14c., creacioun, "action of creating or causing to exist," also "a created thing, that which is created," from Old French creacion "creation, a coming into being" (14c., Modern French création), from Latin creationem (nominative creatio) "a creating, a producing," in classical use "an electing, appointment, choice," noun of action from past-participle stem of creare "to make, bring forth, produce, beget," from PIE root *ker- (2) "to grow."
Perseverance ~ "to persist in what one has undertaken, to pursue steadily a design or course," late 14c., perseveren, from Old French perseverer "continue, persevere, endure" and directly from Latin perseverare "continue steadfastly, persist," from persevereus "very strict, earnest," from per "very" (see per) + severus "serious, grave, strict, austere," which is probably from PIE root *segh- "to have, hold," on the notion of "steadfastness, toughness."
Victory ~ c. 1300, victorie, "military supremacy or superiority achieved or proven in battle; defeat or overcoming of an antagonist in battle or a physical contest," from Anglo-French and Old French victorie (12c.) and directly from Latin victoria "victory," also name of a female deity of the Romans (identified with Greek Nikē), from past-participle stem of vincere "to overcome, conquer" probably from PIE *weyk- "to overcome"
Wisdom ~ Old English wisdom "knowledge, learning, experience," from wis (see wise (adj.)) + -dom. A common Germanic compound (Old Saxon, Old Frisian wisdom, Old Norse visdomr, Old High German wistuom "wisdom," German Weistum "judicial sentence serving as a precedent") probably from PIE root *weid- meaning "to see."
Adventure ~ c. 1200, aventure, auenture "that which happens by chance, fortune, luck," from Old French aventure (11c.) "chance, accident, occurrence, event, happening," from Latin adventura (res) "(a thing) about to happen," from fem. of adventurus, future participle of advenire "to come to, reach, arrive at." This is from ad "to" (see ad-) + venire "to come" (from a suffixed form of PIE root *gwa- "to go, come")
The founder of the Asatru Folk Assembly, Stephen McNallen, gives these for the virtues of Odinism, or Asatru, which couples nicely with many of the virtues extolled above:
Strength is better than weakness
Courage is better than cowardice
Joy is better than guilt
Honor is better than dishonor
Freedom is better than slavery
Kinship is better than alienation
Realism is better than dogmatism
Vigor is better than lifelessness
Ancestry is better than rootlessness
These virtues helped create our various tribes and cultures, leading to the creation of great empires and kingdoms, eventually leading to the creation of our high-tech modern world. Many of us feel a deep call towards the horizon, to act with courage and honor, to speak honestly and be worthy of trust, to be wise and disciplined, to be prosperous and industrious, and to find victory at day's ending. This is a primordial drive towards arete, towards perfection, towards that greatest height known as divinity. This is our ancestral desire for eucatastrophe and the final return to the divine household.
Some call it the Faustian spirit, others say it is the folkish spirit, still others claim it is solely idealized philosophy or religion. It does matter what people call it. Men, specifically White men, seek virtue for virtue's sake. As I have said, virtue is what sets us apart from the lower animals. Virtue is what makes our nations so great to live in compared to foreign places. Regardless of our religion or philosophical background, traditional Europeans have sought to create high-trust societies with robust philosophical underpinnings which reinforce life-affirming virtues. This is a deeply ingrained aspect of our being. To speak of mankind, one must speak of virtue. To speak of Europe, one must speak of the highest spiritual virtues actualized on this mundane Earth.
There are two more virtues I want to cover, the Roman pietas and the Gaelic cliù, although these likely deserve their own articles.
Pietas
Pietas is best described as “duty, devotion, and religious piety” but it could also be related to fidelity, loyalty, and discipline. It comes from Italian pieta, from Latin pietatem "piety, pity, faithfulness to natural ties" descending from the PIE root *pewH- "pure" which brings to mind both the action and the result of pietas. Pietas as an action is the nationalistic urge to volunteer blood, sweat, and tears; it is the religious need to assist the folk. Pietas as an effect is an essential purifying wholesomeness, purpose and meaning within society, and contentment with life. Cicero, in his book "De Inventione", defined pietas as:
"The virtue which admonishes us to do our duty to our country or our parents or other blood relations."
Simply put, pietas is the social and spiritual duty one has towards hearth and home, towards nation and household, and towards family and kindred brethren. We can easily think of piety in a religious sense, but imagine having religious piety towards your nation, towards your family? It is foreign to the modern man. It is looked down on, scorned as barbaric behavior and tribalist. However, our barbarian ancestors were not plagued with the same social ills we are forced to deal with; perhaps, just maybe, this was due to their superior pietas, to their enlightened view towards duty and community.
Cliù
Cliù is defined as "fame, renown, praise, good character or reputation" and it directly relates to social standing and one's place within the natural order of the household, the clan, the community, and even the larger nation. It could descend from the PIE root *kly- which is reconstructed to mean "to hear, to proclaim" – which insinuates that it means one's reputation being spread through hearing about their deeds. This is further reinforced when we examine possibly related Indo-European words such as the Greek kleis "closing off" or "guarding one's reputation", Old English hlýdan "to listen", and Sanskrit klyā "to call out". Iain Mac a’ Ghobhainn (Iain Crichton Smith) describes cliù like this in his book "Real People in a Real Place":
The Highlander has a concept of cliù, which roughly means ‘reputation,’ and such a concept implies that a man who has it may be considered useful to the community, not glorified, but respected. . . . . he wishes to be known as one who belongs to a community and who does service to that community.
Cliù is an all-encompassing virtue. To attain it, one must exhibit many other virtues in service of the household, the clan, and the community. It is not something you are born with, it is something you gain over time based on your accumulated actions and their effects. Positive actions produce good things for the community, and this raises one’s standing within the hierarchy.
For Gaels, praise was the easiest way to move up the hierarchy, and there were many bards who were quick to praise the actions of warriors, champions, chieftains, and kings if those actions produced good ends. Truly, even if those actions did not produce good ends, it makes sense why the bards would call out and safeguard the reputation of their benefactors. However, it goes beyond simple boasting and overture to reach a deeper wellspring – that being respect, social honor, and familial praise. When the cliù of a man is increased, so too is the cliù of his family, for by proxy are they deemed respectable and worthy of a place within the community. A whole clan should seek a better cliù so that the entire household, ancestors and all, can be enhanced and further praised.
To be a man, you must exhibit some form of virtue. To truly be Aryan means seeking arete, perfection, the attainment of glory and victory through the actualization of honed virtues and qualities. To be a member of our great ancestral household, one must prove their worth.
It is not enough to know virtue, one must live it.
Hail victory, and good-end! o///
I appreciate how you root the idea of virtue in its original etymology—literally “man”—and use that to argue moral excellence is what separates us from “lowly beasts.”
But what really resonates is the idea that virtue is never automatic; it requires choice and conscious practice. True virtue emerges when we strive to be better, not when we yield to base impulses.
I also like how you move beyond standard definitions to highlight the social dimension of virtue. Gaelic cliù, for instance, captures how reputation and communal respect lead towards group cohesion. Combined with the Roman pietas for family and nation, it underscores that virtue is not a solo pursuit but a framework for collective well-being, rooted in shared identity and reciprocity.
Great article.
"The investigation of words is the beginning of education". I especially like cliu, which is new to me. I might take issue with the idea that "white men...seek virtue for virtues sake"; I think this misorders the relation. Surely white (European) men are invested with a kind of talent or potential that is particular to them, and which is conducive to the pursuit of virtue, but I think that by its nature virtue, being born of choice, cannot have no direct relation to inheritance. Blood is the condition under which virtue must develop, so can be more or less propitious, but virtue is a spiritual inheritance which divides a race by quality. Would it be better to say that "white men are uniquely invested to seek virtue for virtues sake"? It may also be true that European men are uniquely tasked (by the gods?) to seek virtue for virtues sake, but in either case no inevitable function is supposed- which is why the West is what it is now, and why so many will fall by the wayside.
Good essay.