The word 'Pagan' first came about in the 4th century to catagorise various groups of religion that were not of Christianity, the population of the Romans in particular that practised polytheism were called this. Paganism, specifically in Norse, revolved around honour, they believed honour was linked to their family blood. Honour was eternal even when you died, your honour was left behind for you to claim, this is called 'Elfs', Elfs reside near the burial mound and they were made up of your integrity and memory, your posthumous reputation. When you are to reborn you reclaim this honour, honour was not just considered of your 'renown' or 'reputation' but it also consisted of your soul, the spirit of dead which was linked to the bloodline of your family, your lineage or tribe in which case was forever eternal and cannot disappear. When reborn, you get to reclaim this honour for it is a never-ending cycle, which means his spirit cannot die, his body is able to succumb, the human 'shell' but not his honour, not his spirit which means he is able to keep returning. To remain forever, the soul of the dead is kept alive with songs being sung and festivals being danced, when the spirit is in the burial mound it is ever-lasting from tales told of the deceased to ensure they're not forgotten and left behind.
In the Medieval times, Pagan's, strictly of Norse would be reborn and enter their own burial mounds after walking in the renewed bodily shell and would recollect their belongings, and most importantly their thigh bones and skull, the thigh bone were a symbol of a life force that kept you standing up and the skull was a symbol your performance and mind in which they would say 'these are the heads of my forebears'. The Gauls would mistake this and think they were the head's of their enemies and classify the Pagan's as headhunters, this is not the case, the head's were collected so they could regain their honour and become who they once were, to become themselves and reclaim the once-acquired-honour from their previous lives. The Hallowing was achieved in the Yule tide, when at a young age, you receive the items from the grave as gifts from the Aflrs, which in turn was yourself giving to yourself. Although honor was linked to individuals, it was also linked to the Kin, to the entire family.
Honour is believed to be a guardian spirit, a divine force or a 'follower' and would aid the individual in their life by giving them luck and turning thes table in their favour like some of metaphysical force, all in all assisting the person. Honour is gained by acts of justice, from being loyal, being brave and just overall heroic acts, however, by gaining honour you are also able to lose it, thus a concept of 'law' was created, though not the idea of law in which the Christian's would have had in mind, but instead 'honour' was law, honour is replaced in this sense, you are deducted honour as a consequences of doing dishonourable and unjust acts which would keep the barbarians in check of their own law.