In the spirit of going down the line here and providing information on various forms of Paganism, today we are going to look at the Pagan faith of Asatru. Now, Asatru in the mainstream world has gotten quite a bit of negative press because some known supremacy groups claim to be adherents of this faith but that’s not what we are going to get into here. What we are going to do here is look at the history of the faith and how it has been shaped to fit the modern Pagans who practice it today. I’ll also provide some links at the end of this article to provide those who are looking into Asatru some real information not attached to any of the supremacy groups.
Asatru is a NeoPaganism faith that was created out of the combined Norse Paganism practices in Iceland and Scandinavia. The word Asatru in general means Aesir Faith taken from the Icelandic language. In 1972 an Icelandic poet named Gothi Sveinbjorn Beinteinsson petitioned the Icelandic government to recognize Asatru as an official religion and it was granted. Iceland seems to be the last vestige of Norse Paganism that was not as corrupted as main stream Norse Paganism from Scandinavia with the advent of Christianity. Since the governmental recognition of Asatru in the 1970’s as a faith it has grown all over the world as a form of NeoPaganism and has many adherents. Asatru has also been meshed in our modern times with various strains of Germanic Paganism.
There are three main deity groups within Asatru. The Aesir is the group of Gods that represents the clan as a whole and is where the strength of the Kindred comes from. The Vanir is the group of Gods that represents the forces of nature and ties the Kindred to the Earth. The Jotnar is the group of giants who are in a continual battle with the Aesir.
Various individual Gods within the Aseir would be: Odin, Thor, Freya and so forth.
Now, the Kindred is the collective term for those who practice Asatru. Though there can be separate groups of Kindred within the faith, many groups consider the people who follow the faith to be of one clan or tribe. Keep in mind that though there maybe separate collective family type groups not all of them have the same view of their faith. Just as within any faith there are groups or individuals that believe things in their own way.
There are also three main topics within Asatru that gives shape to the faith. The first one being their creation belief as humans are descended from the Gods themselves. This connection is also their answer to why humans are different from other animals on the planet. The second one is the belief that humans who die in battle or honorably for a cause will be carried to Valhalla by the Valkyries to feast with the Gods and be reunited with them. The third one is the belief in Ragnarok, being the end of the world. Basically when Ragnarok comes it will bring the great battle of the Aseir and the Jotnar to a head. Some of the Aseir, Vanir, all Jotnar and all humans will die with the exception of Lifthrasir and Lif who will be the one man and woman to repopulate the world and live in peace.
The two main texts that are studied in Asatru are the Eddas and Havamal. The Eddas are separated into two groupings that are thought to have been committed to paper in 13th century Iceland. The first grouping known as the Poetic or Elder Edda is a collection of old Norse and Icelandic poems copied from the Codex Regius. The second grouping is known as the Prose or Younger Edda and is a collection of Icelandic poems written by scholar Snorri Sturluson around 1220. The Havamal is a collection of poems in the Elder Edda that is attributed to Odin himself. To read the English translation of The Havamal online from the University of Pittsburgh click here.
If you would like more information on Asatru please visits the following links: (the links provided are for legitimate Asatru groups and are in no way a part of the corruption of the faith by some supremacy groups)
Irminsul Ættir
The Troth
The Asatru Alliance
Asatru Folk Assembly