About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Asatru

Encyclopedia : A : AS : ASA : Asatru

 

Ásatrú (Icelandic "Æsir faith") is a new religious movement which is attempting to revive the Norse paganism of the Viking Age - as described in the Eddas - prior to the arrival of Christianity.

Ásatrú was established in the 1960s and early 1970s in Iceland, by the Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið an organization founded by Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson. Ásatrú is an officially recognized religion by the governments of Iceland (since 1973), Denmark (since 2003) and Norway. The United States government does not officially endorse or recognize any religious group; however, numerous Ásatrú groups have been granted nonprofit religious status going back to the 1970s.

While the term Ásatrú originally referred specifically to the Icelandic adherents of the religion, Germanic neopagan and reconstructionist groups widely identify themselves as Ásatrú, particularly in the USA. In this wider sense, the term Ásatrú is used synonymously with Germanic neopaganism or Germanic paganism, along with the terms Forn Sed, Odinism, Heithni, Heathenry and others.

Contents

Terminology

Ásatrú is an Old Norse term consisting of two parts. The first is Ása (genitive of Áss) referring to one of two families of gods in the myths. The second part, trú, literally means "troth" or "faith". Thus, Ásatrú means "faith in the Æsir." The term is the Old Norse/Icelandic translation of Asetro, neologism coined in the context of 19th century romantic nationalism, first used by Edvard Grieg in his 1870 opera Olaf Trygvason. The use of the term Ásatrú for Germanic paganism preceding 19th century revivalist movements is an anachronism. Likewise, use of Ásatrú as a synonym of Germanic Neopaganism, while widespread in the USA, can be misleading. Groups identifying themselves as Ásatrú cover a wide political spectrum, ranging from left-wing environmentalist groups, New Agers, universalists, tribalists, reconstructionists, folkish groups and even neonazi (e.g. Artgemeinschaft) movements.

Members of the Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið are somewhat unhappy with the semantic widening of the Icelandic term Ásatrú, and would prefer its usage to specifically apply only to reconstructed medieval Norse paganism.

Ásatrúar, sometimes used as a plural in English, is properly the genitive of Ásatrú.

History

Ásatrú originated as a second (or third) revival of Germanic paganism in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið was founded on summer solstice, 1972, and was recognized as an official religion by the Icelandic government in 1973, largely due to the efforts of Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson. At about this time, in the United States, Stephen McNallen, a former U.S. Army Airborne Ranger, began publishing a newsletter titled The Runestone. He also formed an organization called the Asatru Free Assembly, later renamed the Ásatrú Folk Assembly which is still extant. Else Christensen's Odinism, which sometimes identified with the term Asatru, originated around the same period. An offshoot of McNallen's group is the Asatru Alliance, headed by Valgard Murray, publisher of the "Vor Tru" newsletter. The Asatru Alliance held its 25th annual "Althing" gathering in 2005.

Politics

Ásatrú organizations have memberships which span the entire political and spiritual spectrum. Many adherents are solitary practitioners who practice their religion alone with their family or a small local community, and are not involved with organized Ásatrú. Despite the wide divergence of beliefs and politics, the sole common denominator amongst adherents of Ásatrú is the goal of reconstructing and practicing the historical pre-Christian religion of the Eddas.

While Ásatrú is generally a tolerant religion, it is sometimes erroneously identified with neo-Nazi and "white power" organizations which also use Odinist symbols. The three largest American Ásatrú organizations have specifically denounced any association with racist groups.The positions of the AA, the AFA and the Troth:

From the Asatru Alliance's Bylaws: "The Alliance is apolitical; it is not a front for, nor shall it promote any political views of the 'Right' or 'Left'. Our Sacred temples, groves and Moots shall remain free of any political manifestations." [link]
From the Asatru Folk Assembly's Bylaws: "The belief that spirituality and ancestral heritage are related has nothing to do with notions of superiority. Asatru is not an excuse to look down on, much less to hate, members of any other race. On the contrary, we recognize the uniqueness and the value of all the different pieces that make up the human mosaic." [link]
From the Troth's Bylaws: "Discrimination on the basis of race, gender, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation shall not be practiced by the Troth or any affiliated group, whether in membership decisions or in conducting any of its activities." [link]
There is actually an antagonistic relationship between many neo-Nazis and the membership of most Ásatrú organizations in the USA, who view "national socialism as an unwanted totalitarian philosophy incompatible with freedom-loving Norse paganism".Gardell, p.276. Referring to Stephen McNallen, Valgard Murray and Edred Thorsson; the respective founders of the AFA, the AA and the Troth, which are the three largest Ásatrú groups in the USA.

Notes

See also

External links

Neutral descriptions

Organizations

Other links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: