Godparent/Godchild customs?

[Outdoorsman]

Does anyone know if Asatru/Odinism has a custom like the godparent/godchild custom we find in christianity?

Basically, in christianity, the custom means that one is responsible for ensuring the spiritual upbringing and instruction of the child.

It really sounds to me that this is a custom that probabably had its origins in heathenry.

[Liffrea]

I am not sure if it has a religious significane per say but amongst our Germanic ancestors sons were often brought up by their paternal uncles.

[Lee]

A relationship between a nephew and his maternal uncle was supposed to be a very special relationship for the Northen people. The following is from Kevin Crossley Holland's book "Norse Myths":

"In pre-Christian Germanic society there was an especially close bond between a man and his sister's son; the older man was a kind of godfather, responsible for the moral upbringing, and on occassion the guardianship, of the younger. Anglo-Saxon poets frequently referred to this "swustersunu" relationship."