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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.
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, 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 is 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.
Ásatrú and related paganist movements are gaining popularity among white inmates in U.S. jails. According to prison authorities and correction experts, it attracts prisoners seeking power, unity and mutual protection, and can be interpreted as encouraging violence in the context of prison gang culture. [1] Michael Lenz was executed by Virginia at Greensville Correctional Center on July 27, 2006 for killing fellow inmate Brent Parker before a makeshift Ásatrú altar. [4] Lenz says he and inmate Jeffrey Remington killed Parker, who was serving a 50-year sentence for a brutal skull-crushing murder, because he was manipulating the group for his own ends and did not respect the faith. According to trial testimony and affidavits, Parker had also repeatedly threatened Lenz and Remington's lives for interefering with his use of the group as a money making scheme. Furthermore, at trial the jury consulted a Bible when deciding whether to sentence Lenz to life or death. [2] Experts say there is nothing in Ásatrú that justifies Lenz's actions. Remington committed suicide on death row in 2004. [5]
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. [3] The three largest American Ásatrú organizations have specifically denounced any association with racist groups.[4] 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".[5]
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