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University of Iceland
School of Humanities
Medieval Icelandic Studies
Ásatrú
An Enchanting Hybrid of Past and Present
Final paper for MA-degree in Medieval Icelandic Studies
Lotte Dijk
Kt.: 0912924839
Supervisor: Luke John Murphy & Torfi H. Tulinius
August 2017
Abstract
The relatively recent attempt to reconstruct Old Norse religion in Iceland, resulting in the
establishment of an Ásatrú community, could be motivated by the wish of preserving cultural
tradition, but might possibly be an indicator of another kind of wish as well, that is, for the
re-enchantment of the disenchanted modern world through the return to a simple and
“magical” past. To verify this, Old Norse religion and Icelandic Ásatrú have been analysed
and compared using Robert N. Bellah’s theory of religious evolution. This qualitative study
found that these religious systems share a specific primitive/archaic religious configuration.
The correspondence of this configuration with one found in previous research implies the
existence of an ideal religious system concerning the need for re-enchantment. A system
based on pre-Christian pagan religion in conjunction with the mind-set of people in modern
society. This combination of the old and the new creates an interesting dichotomy which,
when analysed in relation to the notions of disenchantment, re-enchantment,
neomedievalism and neopaganism, appears to be a success formula with regard to re -
enchanting modernity’s rational reality. This religious configuration provides an a lternative
enchanting worldview, which is a critique of modernity, yet at the same time it is conditioned
by it; a “religionism” of which Ásatrú is an example as well.
Ágrip
Tiltölulega nýleg tilraun til að endurskapa fornnorræna trú á Íslandi, með tilkomu
Ásatrúarfélagsins, kann að vera tilkomin vegna óskar um varðveislu á menningararfi en má
hugsanlega einnig túlka sem tilraun til að láta óskina rætast um að endurtöfra í töfralausan
nútíma með því að hverfa aftur til einfaldari og „göldróttrar“ fortíðar. Til að sannreyna þessa
tilgátu voru fornorræn trú og íslensk Ásatrú greind og borin saman með hliðsjón af kenningu
Robert N. Bellah um þróun trúarbragða. Niðurstaða hinnar eigindlegu rannsóknar var að
bæði trúarkerfin deila sérstakri frumstæðri trúarafstöðu sem gerir það að verkum að í
ásatrúnni þeirri nýju koma saman bæði hugmyndir og viðhorf úr fornum átrúnaði en einnig
lífsafstaða nútímafólks. Þessi samsetning hins gamla og hins nýja skapar áhugavert misræmi
sem greina má með tilliti til hugtaka eins og aftöfrun, endurtöfrun, nýmiðaldahyggju og
nýheiðni. Henni virðist takast að gæða rökhyggju nútímans nýjum töfrum. Hún býður upp á
nýja heimssýn sem er hlaðin töfrum og felur í senn í sér gagnrýni á nútímann um leið og hún
er mótuð af henni. Um þetta er Ásatrú gott dæmi.
Contents
Introduction .........................................................................................................................1
Methodology & Theory ......................................................................................................3
Qualitative method.........................................................................................................3
Religious Evolution ........................................................................................................6
Chapter I: Old Norse religion ............................................................................................... 12
Problematic sources ......................................................................................................... 14
Old Norse Religion.......................................................................................................... 15
Mythology and Cosmology............................................................................................ 17
Ritual .......................................................................................................................... 20
Afterlife ...................................................................................................................... 22
Magic and Witchcraft ................................................................................................... 24
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 26
Chapter II: Ásatrú in Iceland ................................................................................................ 27
Ásatrú ............................................................................................................................ 27
Interviews ....................................................................................................................... 29
Mythology and Cosmology............................................................................................ 30
Ritual .......................................................................................................................... 32
Afterlife ...................................................................................................................... 33
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 35
Chapter III ......................................................................................................................... 36
Comparison and Analysis ................................................................................................. 36
Disenchantment........................................................................................................... 39
Re-enchantment........................................................................................................... 40
Neomedievalism .......................................................................................................... 41
Neopaganism............................................................................................................... 43
Ásatrú, a religionism? ....................................................................................................... 45
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 48
Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 50
Appendices......................................................................................................................... 56
Interview transcripts ........................................................................................................ 56
Consent forms ................................................................................................................ 69
1
Introduction
Landnámabók1 tells us that Iceland was first settled by Norwegians in the year 874
C.E. These early settlers did not only bring their wish for a new life however, but their cultural
heritage as well, and with it their religion. Multiple “blótmadur mikill”2 are mentioned in
Landnámabók denoting that the first Icelanders adhered to a pagan faith. However, this faith
was not long lived, as over a period of several centuries it disappeared from Icelandic society
again, starting with the Icelandic conversion to Christianity in the year 1000 C.E.3
It was only in the latter half of the previous century, however, that an increased
interest in the old religious ways paved the way for the establishment of the Ásatrú
movement in Iceland, based on Old Norse religion (ONr)4. The time gap between the two
is considerable, but the Icelandic modern-day heathens I have spoken to for this study feel a
strong connection to their spiritual past which, they say, has always retained a presence in
the traditions and the folklore of the country’s culture.
What I would first like to study is the extent to which these religious systems are
indeed related and what this convergence of the old and the new might imply for modern
society, for this combination of past and present is of key importance to this thesis.
As such I will be analysing both ONr and the Icelandic Ásatrú community –
information on the latter will mostly be attained through interviews with members of the
Ásatrúarfélagið in Iceland – after which a comparison of the two will be made to ascertain
their differences and similarities. These can provide insight into the worldview behind
Ásatrú, that is, they will show how much modern day people have assimilated the old forms
of the Nordic religious practises and beliefs according to their own needs and ways of
understanding the world. This in turn creates an understanding of how a religious system like
Ásatrú is created and, when analysed in conjunction with various concepts of importance to
the study of contemporary religious movements, why it is created.
The first of these is a sentiment which Weber called “disenchantment.” The term
denotes a feeling of disillusionment people often have with modernity’s rational character,
making everything scientifically explainable, thus draining society from all that was once
1 Landnámabók, ed. Jakób Benediktsson, Ch. 8 2 Þorsteinn rauðnefur in ch. 92, Þórólfur mostrarskegg in Ch. 33 and Geir (végeir) in Ch. 50 3 Jenny Jochens, “Late and Peaceful: Iceland’s Conversion Through Arbitration in 1000,” Speculum 74 (1999): 621 4 Michael Strmiska, “Ásatrú in Iceland: The Rebirth of Nordic Paganism?,” Nova Religio: The Journal of
Alternative and Emergent Religions 4 (2000): 112
2
“magical.”5 The revival of traditional spiritual beliefs, providing alternative explanatory
systems or worldviews like Ásatrú is, however, one way of reversing the effects of
disenchantment.6 Among others, these modern religious movements, consequently, are
attempts to “re-enchant” modern reality. Re-enchantment has its origin in the 18 th and 19th
century Romanticism and is a reaction to the disenchantment caused by the Enlightenment.7
Such new religious systems, furthermore, often have their origin in an older pagan religious
tradition, to which they claim close ties and they are therefore often called neo-pagan or
modern pagan religious movements.8 How these religious systems provide re-enchantment
can be explained by the concept of neomedievalism, which designates a desire for and the
subsequent creation of a more simple, authentic and irrational past within the context of an
idealised vision of the Middle Ages.9 Modern pagan religions often cater to such desires in a
similar way to neomedievalism due to their archaic origins in combination with modern
interpretations and adaptions of both the original religion and the age wherein it existed.10
It is my final goal then, to determine whether the Icelandic branch of Ásatrú could
possibly be an example of a way in which people re-enchant their reality by adopting a new
worldview which brings a little “magic” back into their life, for this would partly reveal the
reason behind the existence of Ásatrú.
If so, I furthermore want to ascertain if it would then fit into a specific religious
configuration I tentatively suggested exists in a previous study which yielded a surprising
religious uniformity in relation to re-enchantment possibly suggesting a religious idealtype.11
Akin to neomedievalism I named this specific configuration a “religionism”.
To this end Robert N. Bellah’s framework12 for religious evolution described in
Religious Evolution13 will be used to analyse, categorise and compare both ONr and the
Icelandic Ásatrú movement. This will hopefully reveal a common evolutionary stage, which
can then be discussed using the above mentioned concepts, resulting in an answer as to
5 Max Weber, From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, ed. H. H. Gerth and C Wright Mills. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1946), 155 6 Richard Jenkins, “Disenchantment, Enchantment and Re-Enchantment: Max Weber at the Millennium,” Max Weber Studies 1 (2000): 12. 7 Christopher Partridge, “The Disenchantment and Re-enchantment of the West: The Religio-Cultural
Context of Contemporary Western Christianity,” Evangelical Quarterly 74 (2002): 242. 8 Michael F. Strmiska, “Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative perspectives,” in Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative perspectives, ed. Michael F. Strmiska. (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005), 1 9 Amy S. Kaufman, “Medieval Unmoored,” Studies in Medievalism 14 (2010): 2 10 Strmiska, “Modern paganism in World Cultures,” 8, 10 11 Lotte Dijk, “Religion in The Elder Scrolls: An utopian Reflection”(BA thesis, Universiteit Leiden, 2015). 12 This theory will be thoroughly discussed in the subchapter on theory and methodology below 13 Robert N. Bellah, “Religious Evolution,” American Sociological Review 29 (1946): 358-374
3
whether Ásatrú in Iceland has re-enchanting properties, whether it conforms to my proposed
religionism and how this reflects on modern society.
Chapter I of this thesis deals shortly with the notion of religion in pre-Christian times
and the problematic situation concerning the reliability and interpretability of the source
material that is available on pre-Christian Scandinavia and Iceland. Then an introduction to
ONr will be given after which a thorough analysis of its beliefs and practices will be
conducted, using Bellah’s theory of religious evolution to assess which stage(s) of religious
evolution these fall into. This will be done using a set of four general religious themes I have
chosen to correspond with both Ásatrú and ONr, in order to come to a thorough
understanding of both religious systems in an ordered and effective way. These are Mythology
and Cosmology, Ritual, Afterlife and Magic and Witchcraft14. Chapter II will do the same for Ásatrú
using data collected through interviews with members of the Icelandic Ásatrúarfélagið.
Chapter III finally, will compare the results of the previous two chapters to uncover the
similarities and differences between Ásatrú and ONr; their categorisation into one or more
of Bellah’s stages of religious evolution and their implementation of the four religious
themes. An attempt at explaining the findings will then be done using concepts which are
prevalent in the study of modern religious movements: disenchantment, re-enchantment,
neomedievalism and neopaganism. First however, a subchapter on methodology and theory
used for this thesis is needed.
Methodology & Theory
Qualitative method
For a more in-depth understanding of the Ásatrú movement in Iceland and the
religious experience of its members a qualitative research approach was needed in the form
of one-on-one interviews with some of the members of the Ásatrúarfélagið in Reykjavík. This
deeper understanding is needed to get an insight into the mind-set, experiences and thoughts
these people have concerning their religion, in order to be able to come to a well-informed
image of Ásatrú, its members and their beliefs. Without such information the intended
comparison with ONr would provide incomplete results, ignoring part of the motive behind
this religion, that is, the specific make-up which makes it so attractive to people in modern
society.
14 A discussion of these themes follows below.
4
Qualitative research, therefore, is relevant because it is concerned with meanings people
attach to the things in their lives and to come to an understanding of how people experience
reality from their own reference frame; to see what they see.15 Ted Palys gives a short but
very compelling definition of the term: “(to) engage a phenomenon of interest on its own
terms and to let theory emerge from the data.”16
This approach provides material which through other methods cannot be attained,
though naturally it also has its weaknesses. Qualitative research, for example, does not
commonly cover as much ground as quantitative research does and is consequently not
always applicable to the bigger picture; the skill level of the researcher and their personal
biases can influence the quality of the research; consistence is more difficult to demonstrate
and maintain and it is a very time consuming process. All these disadvantages to the approach
are however, largely overshadowed by the fact that qualitative research is dependent on
human experience, to be evaluated in depth and detail, which is more powerful and
compelling than any quantitative data can ever be. The most important stumbling block here,
however, has to do with human dignity. In short, any research involving human participants
should guarantee their dignity, whether it be concerned with social experiments, medical ones
or simply interviews. The ethical or moral execution of research is a difficult and therefore a
much contended subject.
That it is of paramount importance to uphold ethical conduct towards human
participants during research is unquestionable, but how one precisely goes about doing that
is of a more complex nature. Will C. van den Hoonaard writes about this topic in his paper
Fostering Human Dignity: Some Inherent Ethical Dimensions of Qualitative Research. 17 He describes
human dignity in research-ethics codes as a “moral imperative” and discusses four elements
contributing to the preservation of human dignity. The first of these is the practice of
formulating the research question after the research has begun, as the researcher can never
know the complete set of data they will collect and therefore cannot presume which topics
are important to the study beforehand.18 It furthermore does injustice to the research
participants. Therefore, questions are generally left fairly open-ended to give the participant
15 Stephen J. Taylor and Robert Bogdan, Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods: A Guidebook and Resource (New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1998), 7 16Ted Palys, Research decisions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives (Toronto: Harcourt Brace,
1997), 47 17 Will C. van den Hoonaard, “Fostering Human Dignity: Some Inherent Ethical Dimensions of Qualitative Research,” in Qualitative Research, ed. Jurij Fikfak, Frane Adam and Detlef garz. (Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2004) 18 Hoonaard, “Fostering Human Dignity,” 269
5
the opportunity to direct the course the interview takes.19 Lastly, researchers try to avoid
gaining any prior knowledge on the topic, so as not to be influenced by said knowledge in
the execution of the qualitative research, foregoing accurate data.20 The second step towards
maintaining human dignity in research regards to the level of risk the research participant is
exposed to, whether it be physical in relation to medical studies for example or mental in
regards to social experiments. Interviews do not generally hold much of a risk and have often
proven to have more of therapeutic effect when emotional subjects are discussed rather than
being upsetting or otherwise mentally disruptive. 21 Thirdly, Hoonaard emphasizes the
importance of keeping the research participants informed about the research. This can be
done either by providing participants with their own transcribed interview or by presenting
the participants with the results of the research once it is finished, uncovering their role in
the larger whole.22 Hoonaard, furthermore, touches upon the issues surrounding
pseudonyms and consent forms, which he deems only truly necessary when the research
participant has a wish for them.23 Of more relevance here is the notion of “voice”, or the
struggles concerned with it. As Hoonaard puts it: “For qualitative researchers, there is a
growing recognition of the struggle to find the right place between the autobiography of the
researcher and the biography of the research participants”24 In short, it is important that the
researcher portrays ethically and accurately the words of their participants, and not their own;
undermining everything the research participant has contributed and therewith undermining
their dignity.
In my own approach to preparing and conducting the interviews needed for this
research I have tried to adhere to Hoonaards stipulations regarding qualitative research. As
such I refrained from doing much research on Ásatrú in general and the Ásatrúarfélagið in
specific. I did, however, due to time constraints and the relative small scope of the research,
have to commit myself to a research objective, otherwise risking completely altering my
inquiry. For the same reason my interview questions are more structured and perhaps
steering, rather than completely open ended, though I found that rephrasing some of the
questions during the actual interviews, making them more flexible, helped in obtaining the
most elaborate and useful answers from the correspondents. Concerning consent and
19 Hoonaard, “Fostering Human Dignity,” 269 20 Ibidem 21 Hoonaard, “Fostering Human Dignity,” 270 22 Hoonaard, “Fostering Human Dignity,” 271 23 Hoonaard, “Fostering Human Dignity,” 271-275 24 Hoonaard, “Fostering Human Dignity,” 175
6
anonymity I presented each participant a simple and concise consent form detailing the use
of the data to be collected and asking for their preference on anonymity,25 after which they
had to sign it with the date and their signature. As for keeping in touch with the
correspondents, I have agreed to send a finished copy of this thesis to the Ásatrúarfélagið, so
that those who are interested can read it. The concept of “voice” is most important to me as
respecting it does not only protect the participants dignity but also that of the researcher.
Therefore, literal transcriptions from the conducted interviews, copied from voice
recordings, are included in the appendices to support the integrity of my arguments.
I contacted the Ásatrúarfélagið at the end of May through e-mail explaining my main
research question and asking if the félagið would be willing to help me find some of their
members who might be interested in doing an interview. I was told I could come by on one
of their open-hour Saturdays. This I did on the 27 th of May. Upon arrival I introduced myself
and my purpose after which Jóhannes immediately sat down with me for the first interview.
Before I left I spoke to Teresa and asked her if she was willing to do an interview, which she
did and we met up on the 29 th of May at Háskolatorg, which is located on the Háskoli Íslands
campus. Next Saturday on June the 3th I visited the félagið again and was introduced to Óttar
who would gladly be interviewed. I also asked Teresa if she knew any people (members of
the félagið) at campus who might be interested in doing an interview. She emailed me some
days later with Kári’s contact information saying that he was willing to be interviewed. I
emailed him and we met up at Háskolatorg on the 9 th of June. All interviews were audio
recorded as well as by hand.
Religious Evolution
When Robert N. Bellah had his famous, though much discussed, work Religion in
Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age published in 2011, he had been working
on the notion of religious evolution for many years. His initial work on the subject, Religious
Evolution was published in 1964, expounding roughly the same theory albeit in a more concise
and focused manner.26 With it, Bellah caters to modernity’s need for self-interpretation, going
back to the fundamental questions of the sociological study of religion pertaining to our
nature and origin. He comes to the conclusion that human nature contains an inherent
dualism, that is, the development humanity undergoes from a world affirming view to a world
rejecting view, as on the one hand people participate in everyday life, while on the other, they
25 None of the four correspondents opted for anonymity. 26 Hence I will be using the 1964 article for this thesis instead of the 2011 book publication.
7
do so too in the alternative realities they create themselves. 27 In short, he chronicles the
evolution, not only of religion itself, but also the worldview that accompanies it; how it
changes from understanding the sacral and the profane as being in harmony (world affirming
view) to seeing the two as opposites (dualism) whereby the profane human world develops
a negative connotation as opposed to the sacral world of the divine (alternative reality), hence
creating a world rejecting view.
It is the freedom of play which these alternative realities – be it within a monistic or
dualistic world – provide, that allows for the creation of culture and narrative which will
eventually provide people with the ability to critically reflect upon their social context from
a distance.28
This closely overlaps with Bellah’s understanding of evolution for he argues that
evolutionary development creates a conscious distinction in the human mind, between the
self and the context wherein one exists.29 This effectively creates the ability to think beyond
the self and one’s context; beyond reality.
It is Bellah’s aim then, to come to an understanding of and help explain the uniquely
human phenomenon of religion, through showing the emergence of a human ability to think
in theoretical terms.
Bellah’s theoretical framework consists of five stages of religious evolution : primitive,
archaic, historic, pre-modern and modern. Each of these stages is discussed according to a
specific set of socio-cultural elements, being the religious symbol system, actions,
organisation and the social implications these have. I have, however, chosen to replace these
with the four religious themes mentioned in the introduction as I feel these are more
approachable, practical and better suited for the analysis of both ONr and Ásatrú, providing
an image of the two more relevant to this thesis. Even so I took care not so stray too far
from those so as not to damage the integrity of Bellah’s framework, rendering this whole
exercise futile.
Mythology and Cosmology were chosen because peoples understanding of the
universe is inherently related to and based on religion, both of which are heavily informed
by myth. Mythology then, is here understood as a corpus of myths, narratives with social
functions in that they legitimise a way of life, though with an explanatory function as well for
27 Bellah, “Religious Evolution,” 359-360 28 Dijk, “Religion in The Elder Scrolls,” 29 Bellah, “Religious Evolution,” 358
8
they provide answers to the questions the human condition tends to bring up. 30 Cosmology
refers to the way in which the universe is shaped according to mythology. Ritual is of
importance because it is closely related to myth, either being its product or producing myth
itself, thus being firmly connected to the way in which people view the world.31 Ritual,
furthermore, reflects the bulk, if not all of religious practice, permeating both big life events
as well as everyday life.32 In this sense it is inherently relevant to the other themes. The
afterlife is of interest because it generally is an important part of a peoples religious worldview
and one’s understanding of the topic can greatly influence the way life is lived. This topic is
furthermore interesting because of its ambivalent and unknown nature in relation to ONr
and studies thereof.33 Magic and witchcraft are inherent to primitive and archaic religions,
often being synonymous with religion itself, encompassing every aspect of life, and therefore
indispensable.34 The notion of a “magical worldview” further emphasises this view.35 Magic
is here understood as an all-pervading force in itself and witchcraft as its practical application.
It could be argued that Bellah’s theoretical set-up is somewhat essentialist and
limiting, with its use of distinct stages in the evolution of religion, each representing a shift
in the cognitive abilities of humans to reflect upon their worldview, thus ushering in a new
(st)age of religion. He does not, however, believe these to be finite nor exclusive, but rather
emphasizes the fact that these five stages are merely ideal-types, derived from the most
commonly observed historical regularities. Consequently, they are not indisputable and may
very well need to compose a “compromise formula” wherein elements from two stages are
involved.
He furthermore argues that no stage is ever completely discarded during the process
of evolution as all earlier stages continue to coexist with and within following ones, creating
never fully distinct categories.36
Categorisation as a whole often seems to have a negative connotation in the social
sciences, as this would limit the understanding and scope of the subjects being categorised.
30 Heather O’Donoghue, From Asgard to Valhalla: The Remarkable History of the Norse Myths (London: I.B. Tauris, 2007), 3 31 O’Donoghue, From Asgard to Valhalla, 2. 32Nancy Ammerman, “Finding Religion in Everyday Life,” Sociology of Religion 75 (2014): 191 33 Neil Price, “Passing into Poetry: Viking-Age Mortuary Drama and the origins of Norse Mythology,” Medieval Archaeology 54 (2010): 138 34 Neil Price, “Sorcery and Circumpolar Traditions in Old Norse belief,” in The Viking World, ed. Stefan Brink and Neil Price (London: Routledge, 2012), 244 35 Rosalie Wax and Murray Wax. “The Magical World View,” The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 1 (1962): 183 36 Bellah, “Religious Evolution,” 361
9
To a certain extent this is true, for the full breadth of complexities, subtle nuances and detail
of a subject cannot be properly presented with an approach like this. Jens Peter Schjødt states
as much when he says that if using categories or models as part of a larger attempt to describe
something one will never cover reality as it is, but only certain elements of a demarcated part
of reality.37 This does not take away the fact that in order to research a phenomenon,
especially when studying the historical development of something with the cultural scope of
religion, using categories is of paramount importance to acquire adequate insights precisely
of its most significant elements. As such the method of categorisation can also be seen as
the starting point of a study, on which can be elaborated in later stages. For while a scholar
will have to contend with the idea that a true image of reality is not attainable, Schjødt argues
that it is the quality of the model or category which determines the quality of the research.38
For Bellah, his categories or typologies are the very tools by which he presents the core tenet
of his theory: the notion of religious evolution.
For the scope of this research a description of just the primitive and archaic stages
of religion are sufficient, as neither ONr nor Ásatrú are expected to have characteristics of
later stages of religious evolution.
Primitive religion exists in a mythical world. Bellah emphasizes both the high degree
to which the mythical world is related to the actual world, as everything is explained in terms
of the actions of mythical beings, and the fact that primitive myth is highly fluid and easily
changed according to the needs of the community. Primitive religion is, furthermore, neither
characterized by worship nor sacrifice but by the acting-out of myth and the identification
with the mythical beings this acting-out engenders. Within the primitive symbol system myths
are dream-like, occurring “out of time”. Mythical beings can both be human and ancestral
figures. They are considered heroic beings, but are not gods for they do not control the world
and are not worshipped as such. The worldview is a holistic one in which there exists no
breach between the ideal and reality: there is only “one world.” Actions or ritual practice in
primitive religion consist of participation in the mythical narratives, during which the already
slight distance between humans and the gods becomes non-existent, as participants of the
ritual become one with the myth and its inhabitants. The social implications lie in the fact that
ritual reinforces the social solidarity of the clan, relating to the idea of social cohesion,
37 Jens Peter Schjødt, “Reflections on Aims and Methods in the Study of Old Norse Religion,” in More Than Mythology: Narratives, Ritual Practices and Regional Distribution in Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religions, ed. Jens Peter Schjødt. (Lund:Nordic Academic press, 2012), 270 38 Ibidem.
10
discussed by Emile Durkheim in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life39 (1912), in which he
argues that it is increased by public or communal ritual, and allots the members of society
their place in the group. The organisation in primitive culture makes religion an attribute of the
kinship system. There are no separate religious organisations and the few religious specialists
present in primitive culture are one.40
Archaic religion heralds the emergence of a cultic form of religion, complete with
a complex of gods, worship, sacrifice, priests and, in some cases, divine or priestly kingship.
The mythical and ritualistic elements of primitive religion continue to exist within the
structure of archaic religion, but they are elaborated and systematized from the newly
developed archaic perspective.41 The symbol system evolves and the mythical beings, rather
than being ancestral figures, become clearly defined gods having much more agency in their
now wilful control of both the human and the natural world. Consequently they are to be
worshipped in a prescribed manner according to their newfound roles and distinct character.
Just as the monistic worldview is slowly crumbling, with ideas of a more differentiated and
hierarchical world/cosmology developing – regarding the place of all things natural and
divine therein – there too is established a hierarchy among the gods. As for religious action:
men have now become subjects of the gods, which, to provide in the need for
communication between them and humans are to be worshipped. Sacrifice forms the
principle means of communication with the gods and is presided over by specialists or priests
as mediators between the gods and their subjects. Thus a cultic tradition has developed.
Within archaic religious organisation the newly introduced structure of hierarchically
differentiated groups of people makes for a multitude of local cults, as every society tends to
have its own cultic element. There emerges a two-class system, in which the higher status
people, already in control of political and military power, also tend to monopolise the
superior religious functions. As priests they preside over these cults, though congregations
do not yet exist. Even so, different social groups focus on different cults. Religious
organization is only still partly merged with social structure at the top of society, where
military, political and religious leadership very rarely combine in the person of a divine king.
The social implications lie with the sacralisation of society. There is little conflict between
religion and social conformity. Political changes are rationalized in terms of re ligious change
39 Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Foms of Religious Life, trans. Joseph Swain (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1912) 40 Bellah, “Religious Evolution,” 361 - 364 41 Bellah, “Religious Evolution,” 364
11
and tolerance associated with early pantheism slowly erodes, as religion is used to support
political movements.42
A further addition to Bellah’s theory of religious evolution can be found in an article
written by Simon Nygaard on sacral kingship in pre-Christian Nordic society. In it he
tentatively argues for the addition of a 6th religious typology to Bellah’s framework, namely
´chiefdom religion´. He argues that the primitive and archaic religious typologies are not
completely fitting to pre-Christian Scandinavian and Icelandic religion and society, as neither
were wholly egalitarian nor completely structured and stratified like primitive and archaic
religion and society respectively were. Therefore Nygaard proposes his stage of religion to
be placed in between the two as a transition-period.43
To support his claim Nygaard uses Bellah’s theory as a comparative and analytical
tool to reconstruct the particular history of pre-Christian religion, by comparing it to a
contemporary example of sacral rulership: Hawaiian religion.44
He argues that it is quite plausible that a certain degree of sacrality was held by the
ruler figure in pre-Christian Scandinavia, probably bestowed upon him by the gods. This
gave him the role of mediator between humans and the gods, thus creating a key religious
figure.45
Chiefdom religion, whether it truly existed or not, cannot have been inclusive of all
Scandinavian and Icelandic religion however. This means that, within the scope of this thesis,
it will have to be partly laid aside in favour of Bellah’s earlier mentioned “compromise
formula” whereby two or more evolutionary stages of religion might be mixed within one
culture. This, in combination with his mention of rare but possible archaic divine kingship
should be enough to explain any such phenomena when found. Therefore Nygaard’s theory
will only be applied, when relevant, in the analysis of ONr in Chapter I.
42 Bellah, “Religious Evolution,” 364 - 366 43 Simon Nygaard, “Sacral Rulers in pre-Christian Scandinavia: The possibilities of typological comparisons within the paradigm of cultural evolution,” Temenos 52 (2016): 11-12 44 Nygaard, “Sacral Rulers,” 10 45 Nygaard, “Sacral Rulers,” 14
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Chapter I: Old Norse religion
This chapter will give a short overview of ONr, after which a more detailed
discussion of the subject will be held, divided into four subchapters covering the themes
discussed in the introduction: mythology and cosmology, ritual, the afterlife and magic and
witchcraft. Bellah’s religious evolutionary “primitive” and “archaic” stages will be applied to
each of these to gain a sense of to what extent either the primitive, the archaic or both of
these evolutionary stages of religion coincide with the practices and beliefs of the Nordic
people in the late Iron Age.
Before an account of the ONr can be given, a few practical matters need first be
addressed, that is, in regard to the notion of religion itself and its varied nature in the pre -
Christian North and the sources available for research on the subject.
Nordic “religion”
The term “religion” can be problematic when it is studied within a temporal context
far removed from our own as it cannot automatically be assumed that such a notion had an
existence among the people of the late Iron Age46 (500-1050 C.E). The term ‘religion’ as we
understand it today is a modern, western construct and to apply it directly to the beliefs and
practices of people who lived more than two millennia ago causes for some discrepancies. 47
Our understanding of religion as a way in which humans relate to a divine and transcendent
sphere48 often creates a dichotomy between the sacred and the profane, which excludes any
practices and beliefs which are not explicitly part of the former, such as everyday ritual and
habitual behaviours, otherwise known as “lived religion.”49 A notion which is of much
importance in any study on religion, especially when a sharply defined doctrine and/or
religious institution does not exist. The idea of lived religion in relation to ONr is further
validated by the fact that the sources do not mention a specific term denoting something
alike to ‘religion’ but rather, when the need for such a phrase was needed at all, they speak
46 Andreas Nordberg, “Continuity, Change and Regional Variation in Old Norse religion,” in More Than
Mythology: Narratives, Ritual Practices and Regional Distribution in Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religions, ed. Jens Peter Schjødt. (Lund:Nordic Academic press, 2012), 119 47 Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert and Catharina Raudvere, “Old Norse religion: Some problems and prospects,” in Old Norse religion in long-term perspectives: Origins, changes, and interactions, ed.
Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert and Catharina Raudvere (Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2006), 12 48 Andrén. Kristina and Raudvere, “Old Norse Religion,” 12 49 A term popularised in the late 20th century by scholars of religion Robert Orsi and David D. Hall, denoting that part of practices and beliefs which people perform and hold outside official doctrine in
their everyday lives. Source: Nancy Ammerman, “Finding Religion in Everyday Life,” 190, 194
13
of forn siðr50 “old custom”.51 There was thus not much of a clear distinction between
“religious” beliefs and practices, and other everyday actions and behaviours. The “old
customs” signified something which extended beyond a purely religious sphere. Therefore it
would be more appropriate to speak of a ‘belief system’ rather than something as sharply
outlined as religion, for this system of beliefs can be better understood simply as another
aspect of daily life rather than being located in a separate sphere.52 The term religion as it is
commonly understood in the scientific field is therefore not really applicable, but due to lack
of an appropriate alternative it will nevertheless have to be used to effectively define the
study’s framework.53
It should furthermore be made clear that the concept of a pan-Nordic set of beliefs
and practices should be dismissed from the outset, as not one element of Nordic religion
was completely the same over the whole of Scandinavia and Iceland, whether it concerns
ritual, mythology, funerary practices or the use of magic. 54 Nevertheless, an image of late
Iron Age culture in the North is evident in most of its aspects according to Neil Price, who
argues that regionalities promoting their own individuality through their cultural practises
and traditions were still part of a larger more or less consistent framework as the two do not
necessarily exclude each other.55 Similarly Andreas Nordberg argues that no religion is ever
truly uniform, but that they can indeed be studied within the context of academically
constructed categories. These might not be identical with the heterogeneous and dynamic
reality, but they provide frames of thought by which said reality van be understood and
studied.56 However, a single coherent worldview did not exist in pre-Christian reality57 which
still causes a lack of a proper understanding of all and any regional and/or local differences
in religious practices and beliefs. As such, only a fairly general overview can be given when
discussing ONr.
50 Norna-Gests Þáttur, ed. Sveinbjörn Egilsson, verse 4 51 Andrén, Kristina & Raudvere, “Old Norse Religion,” 12 52 Price, The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. (Uppsala: Uppsala University,
2002), 26 53 Price, The Viking Way. 13 54 Neil Price, “Dying and the Dead: Viking Age mortuary Behaviour,” in The Viking World ed. Stefan Brink and Neil Price (London: Routledge, 2012), 259 55 Ibidem 56 Nordberg, “Continuity, Change,” 122 57 Schjødt, “Reflections on Aims,” 280
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Problematic sources
The sources available for the study of ONr form another obstacle towards
uncovering pre-Christian religious reality. Jens Peter Schjødt argues that there are two main
categories; one pertaining to contemporary sources like archaeological finds, some skaldic
poems, runic inscriptions, and writings from foreign authors who had dealings with
Scandinavian and Germanic society, the other pertaining to medieval sources, which were
predominantly written by anonymous Icelandic authors. 58
Concerning the second category there are some complications, for these sources are
relatively small in number when it comes to the subject of religious beliefs and practises, and
are steeped in problems which question their reliability as well. Firstly, there is the issue of
these sources having mostly been written a couple of centuries after the actual taking place
of the events they relate. Therefore it is very hard to distinguish between what is truly
authentic information and what has been altered through time. These texts have furthermore
been influenced by the worldview and mind-set of the predominantly Christian individuals
who recorded them onto parchment. This asks for caution when scholars study the Nordic
pre-Christian times, for one can never be completely sure to what extent the textual sources
provide the truth, and where Christian influences play a role. Consequently, it could be
argued that they can only provide information on the ideas and thoughts of the time they
were written in, or even more extreme, only the ideas and thought of the individuals who
wrote them down, because no certain claims about Nordic religion could be derived from
them. This is certainly a legitimate point, but it should not be taken as far as this, for it would
mean the effective cessation of any inquiry into the pre-Christian Nordic world and no one
would gain from that. As such one has to be very thorough in one’s research of this topic,
to be able to extrapolate, from the textual sources a sense of what reality was like then.
The first category of sources is therefore of great help in the attempt to come to an
accurate idea of how life and religion were lived in the late Iron Age. Archaeology especially
is of much worth to this endeavour, because with finds related to ONr, its accounts in the
textual sources can be corroborated with empirical evidence, establishing factual data on the
subject.
Surprisingly the use of archaeological material in the study of Nordic Paganism has a
fairly short history; only truly being introduced from the 1980s onward, for it seems that
critics had a hard time seeing archaeology and textual studies combined in a joint effort to
58 Schjødt, “Reflections on Aims,” 263
15
study the Nordic late Iron Age59. But as for most cases of interdisciplinary research this
combination has proven most fruitful. An excellent example of this is Neil Price’s work The
Viking Way,60 wherein he uses a multitude of archaeological data to support the textual
accounts on ONr.
An archaeological approach, however, has some problems of its own, in that it is
largely dependent on interpretation. That is, once an archaeological artefact has been found,
it immediately starts accruing layers of meaning through the analysis and interpretation of
the archaeologist, both of which are culturally conditioned. 61 Therefore, a material
perspective too, calls for caution as one individual’s interpretation does not inherently equal
the truth. Price argues as much in his article What’s in a Name?62 in which he challenges the
attribution of divine identity to archaeological finds of pre-Christian figurines, saying that
these are simplistic, limiting and preclude a whole field of possibilities by assuming the
obvious rather than looking at what is actually there. 63
Despite the methodological flaws and problematic sources, these categories together
form a formidable tool by which an insight can be provided into the belief system(s) of the
peoples in late Iron Age Scandinavia and Iceland.
Old Norse Religion
Coming to a good understanding of the practises and beliefs of the Scandinavian and
Icelandic peoples in the late Iron Age is a difficult task. As mentioned above, the sources
upon which researchers have to depend are, more often than not, unreliable or subject to the
possibility of inaccurate interpretation. Nevertheless, a general outline of what people
believed in and practised during this time can be given with some certainty.
Aside from Bellah’s theory of religious evolution, ONr can be categorised as a
polytheistic, non-dogmatic, ethnic religion as opposed to a monistic dogmatic, universal
religion like Christianity .64 Pre-Christian Nordic religion was thus not governed by a set of
principles concerning faith, behaviour and morals; it was limited to its own ethnic group of
59 Price, The Viking Way. 28 60 Price, The Viking Way. 61 Patricia Galloway, “Material Culture and Text: Exploring the spaces Within and Between,” i n Historical Archaeology, ed. Martin Hall and Steven Sil l iman (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006), 48-49 62 Neil Price, “What’s in a Name: An archaeological identity crisis for the Norse gods ( and some of their
friends),” in Old Norse religion in long-term perspectives: Origins, changes, and interactions, ed. Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert and Catharina Raudvere (Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2006) 63 Price, “What’s in a Name,” 179-182 64 Anders Hultgård, “The religion of the Vikings,” in The Viking World ed. Stefan Brink and Neil Price
(London: Routledge, 2012), 212
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people and there existed a belief in multiple gods. As such this religion was mostly limited
to single communities, due to geographical, social, temporal, and cognitive – pertaining to
how people reason, perceive and understand the world – differences between groups of
people.65 This made for a multitude of slightly different modes of religion all across
Scandinavia and Iceland, which asks for recognition regarding the fact one is actually dealing
with Old Norse Religions instead of one coherent religious system. For convenience sake I
will, however, be using the term in singular throughout this thesis, with the implied
understanding of its actual plural nature.
Representing this wide array of variation, however, seems to be beyond the scope of
possibility, as information extracted from literary and archaeological sources is far from
sufficient to create a complete image of the Nordic religious landscape in the late Iron Age.
Even so, multiple scholars have tried to tackle this problem using different methods.
Nordberg, for example, has two suggestions as to how continuity, change and regional
differences might be studied within the framework of ONr. He argues that variations in
religion are often rooted in social conditions, meaning that different social groups within a
society can likewise create varying religious systems. He then proposes that similar relations
between varying religious configurations and societal elements might exist, creating the
opportunity to study different religious configurations within the larger framework. 66 One
would however still have to be careful not to generalise any findings above their own
regionality. Brink furthermore uses the compilation and analysis of theophoric place-names
in Scandinavia to find clues as to which gods and goddesses were worshipped and where. He
finds that worship of particular divinities seems to have been distinctly regional, which is a
strong indicator for the heterogenous nature of Nordic pre-Christian religion.67 This
approach introduces the use of geography to the study of this religion and, Brink argues,
concerns the beliefs and practices of the common people for place-names are unbiased in
that they would not have been individually chosen.68 The only disadvantage of this method
lies in the fact that known place-names do not represent all the names that might have once
been in use thus providing a possibly incomplete image.
The non-dogmatic character of ONr provides further explanation for its diverse
nature as it seems to reflect a relative freedom people had in shaping their religion; perhaps
65 Gro Steinsland, Norrøn Religion: Myter, Riter, Samfunn (Oslo: Pax Forlag A/S, 2005), 31-34 66 Nordberg, “Continuity, Change,” 139 67 Stefan Brink, “How Uniform was the Old Norse religion?,” in Learning and Understanding in the Old Norse World: Essays in Honour of Margaret Clunies Ross, ed. Judy Quinn, Kate Heslop, and Tarrin Wills (Turnhout: Brepols, 2007), 125 68 Brink, “How Uniform,” 106
17
even down to the individual level as evidence for individual worship of the gods can, in fact,
be tentatively construed from archaeological as well as literary sources, providing an
impression of true individual devotion to a specific god. 69 These sources range from finds
like amulets and divine symbols of various kinds70 to phrases in the literary sources like ástvinr
“close friend” in for example Eyrbyggja saga71 wherein the god Þórr is described as “ástvin
sinn” in relation to Þórólfur mostrarskegg. As said above, such finds can only be tentatively
used to determine the existence of personal religion, for both are subject to our interpretation
and the latter is strictly speaking a Christian source, but they might still convey a part of pre -
Christian reality.
This notion of personal worship implies an independence people might have had
concerning their spiritual beliefs and practices. Either way, two individuals can never have
the exact same religious convictions, making individuality an inherent though not always
recognised element of any religion. In general though, there appears to have been a focus on
the collective, rather than the individual, within the context of the cult-focused community
wherein the emphasis lay on a shared ritual experience, further strengthening its spiritual and
social unity.
ONr, furthermore, emphasized life and “the now”, rather than the afterlife, which is
aptly reflected in the saying ár ok friðr72 “good crops and peace.” A saying which is believed
to have its origin in pre-Christian ritual legacy,73 and emphasizes the idea of a peaceful and
prosperous life, unconcerned with the afterlife.
This life knew hardly any difference between the social community and religion, the
two being comfortably entwined74, creating a deeply lived religion. Informal due to its natural
integration into ordinary life and thus constantly present because of its everyday use.
Mythology and Cosmology
On the subject of myth concerning the primitive stage of religion, Bellah mentions
two features of the primitive mythical world he considers to be most important. The first
pertains to the high extent to which the mythical and the real world are connected to each
other in that not only the shape and contents of the landscape have a role in the mythological
69 Hultgård, “The religion of the Vikings,” 213 70 Hultgård, “The religion of the Vikings,”213 71 Eyrbyggja saga, ed. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson and Matthías Þórðarson, ch. 4 72 Ynglinga saga, ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson, ch. 12, 13 73 Hultgård, “The religion of the Vikings,” 217 74 Christina Raudvere, “Popular Religion in the Viking Age,” in The Viking World ed. Stefan Brink and Neil
Price (London: Routledge, 2012), 235
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narrative but the place and arrangement of people herein as well. There consequently does
not exist much of a divide between reality and the mythic.
The second feature is the constantly fluid state in which the mythical world and its
narrative exist. Bellah argues that there are no sharp distinctions or definitions present, and
as such symbolism and meaning can easily change, affecting multiple religious elements
within a belief system. Myths themselves, Bellah describes as being dreaml ike and occurring
“out of time.” The concept of one or multiple gods does not yet exist at this stage, though
there are many world and narrative shaping divine beings, human and animal, who have the
roles of heroic forebears of human beings in the myths.75
The stage of archaic religion introduces mythical beings as gods among whom a
hierarchy is established. They become more fleshed out as characters and wilfully and actively
rule the world. A world which is still holistic, though a hierarchy between the human realm
and that of the gods does appear, wherein the latter is the more powerful one. 76
Nygaard does not go into much detail with regard to cosmology or mythology in the
conception of his chieftain-religion, though some aspects pertaining to the mythical, such as
the primitive idea of tracing back one’s descent to the gods, are mentioned.77
Myth and mythology in general are of great importance in an exclusively oral society
as they are the only medium whereby the ideas, worldview, values and emotions of a culture
can be conveyed. Consequently myth has multiple functions and contexts: it has an
explanatory function regarding the origin and structure of the world and humanity, but also
acts as a guide to social behaviour and legitimises key institutions within a society. 78 Nordic
mythology however, contains a vast body of narratives and a complex multi -layered world.
John Lindow, in his Handbook of Norse Mythology79 suggests this is due to the fact that the data
relevant to the research on Nordic mythology spans at least two millennia and the
perspectives and motives of the ones who composed the mythical narratives were in almost
all cases not the same to those who eventually wrote them down. 80 As such, these narratives
know a great variety, not only of subjects but also within subjects, as the sources do not
always agree with one another. Therefore one cannot speak of one mode of Nordic
mythology, nor is it clear what understanding(s) the Nordic pre-Christian people had of their
mythological reality exactly.
75 Bellah, Religious Evolution,” 361-364 76 Bellah, Religious Evolution,” 364-366 77 Nygaard, “Sacral Rulers,” 24 78 Hultgård, “The religion of the Vikings,” 214 79 John Lindow, Handbook of Norse Mythology (Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO, 2001), 1 80 Ibidem
19
Perhaps the best known version of the Nordic cosmology can be found in the Gylfaginning81
and Völuspá.82 These mention nine worlds or realms, which are divided spatially within the
universe, though still connected through the roots and branches of the world tree Ygdrassil.
In this sense the primitive notion of a holistic single world seems to apply, but when one
looks at the hierarchy among the gods with Oðinn being the allfather83 to the other gods, or
the relation between the Æsir and the Vánir as established during their great war in
Skáldskaparmál84 and Völuspá,85 and the differentiation people perceived between their reality
in life and that of the gods in their dwellings, like Vallholl or Hel, then archaic cosmology also
plays a role.
Whether one can speak of a connection between the real world and the otherworld
in such a particular way as Bellah argues for in his primitive stage of religious evolution is
not that clear cut. There certainly are quite some examples of mythical narratives which
explain the shape of the land. For example, in Gylfaginning86 when Þórr strikes three blows on
Skymir’s (Útgarda-Loki) head it turns out he actually created three valleys with his blows.
There furthermore are relations between supernatural beings and the landscape, like elves
living in stones, dwarves living underground and mountains being inhabited by supernatural
peoples or even the dead.87 Would it be incorrect to assume that reality was perceived as fully
governed and motivated by the mythical world? The highly integrated character of religion
into everyday life seems to imply not. However, the state of mythical fluidity is difficult to
assess due to the oral nature of the myths. Naturally their contents would not have been
completely static, but whether the distinction between reality and the mythical was
sufficiently small to make changes to mythical narratives is hard to say. Personally I would
not go as far as to say this was the case, for while there existed a primarily holistic worldview
within ONr, the beginnings of a dual perspective are visible too.
There is, however, evidence for the primitive concept of gods or divine beings as
ancestors, which can be found in Ynglingatal,88 a ninth century skaldic poem, which tells of
how the Ynglingar of Gamla Uppsala trace their lineage back to Freyr. Nygaard too,
81 Gylfaginning, ed. A. Faulkes 82 Völuspá, ed. and trans. U. Dronke, verse 2 83 Gylfaginning, ed. A. Faulkes, Ch. 20 84 Skaldskaparmal, ed. A. Faulkes, Ch 57 85 Völuspá, ed. and trans U. Dronke, verse 21, 24 86 Gylfaginning, ed. A. Faulkes Ch 47 87 Luke, J. Murphy, “Continuity and Change: Forms of Liminality in the Sacred Social Spaces of the Pre-Christian Nordic World,” Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 12 (2016): 156-157 88 Ynglingatal Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, ed. and trans E. Marold, Verse 31
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mentions this account of divine ancestry, supporting his idea of the sacrality and numinosity
of the ruler.89
The Nordic myths themselves range from a primitive “out of time” context, like the
cosmogony, which tells of a time unimaginably far removed from the people in the late Iron
Age, to more historical mythical narratives like Ynglingatal, which play in a distant mythical
past, but are not so far removed from reality that people would not be able to bridge the
time gap in their minds.
Consequently myth and cosmology seem to largely fall into the primitive category of
religious evolution, though some archaic elements are present too, but they are not subject
to the critical reflection Bellah suggests archaic religion introduces due to the attainment of
literacy, yet. As mentioned above Nygaard’s only addition to this theme is of a primitive
nature. As such, Old Norse myth and cosmology lie somewhere in between the two stages
of religious evolution.
Ritual
Bellah describes primitive ritual, and ‘religious action’ in general as being
characterized not by worship or sacrifice but by identification with and participation in myth
through the acting out of mythical events. Boundaries between the actors and the mythical
beings they represent disappear and there is no distinction between the past and the now.
There furthermore, exists no religious hierarchy; no priest or congregation, no mediators, no
spectators, as all participate in the ritual and become one with the myth. 90
Archaic religious action is more structuralized in that there is a much more definitive
distinction between humans as subjects and the gods as objects. As such, it takes the form
of a cult headed by a priest-like figure, wherein the need for a way of communication with
the gods becomes stronger. This need is then catered to through worship and sacrifice,
providing humans with more agency as active participants in their relationship with the gods,
though the certainty of a divine response diminishes, making this relationship more
ambivalent and imbued with anxiety.91
Nygaard emphasizes the role of the sacral ruler in the practice of ritual as sacrificer
or priest-figure, but also as the sacrificed because of his inherent sacrality and numinosity.92
89 Nygaard, “Sacral Rulers,” 15 90 Bellah, Religious Evolution,” 363 91 Bellah, Religious Evolution,” 364/365 92 Nygaard, “Sacral Rulers,” 18
21
The information available on pre-Christian ritual, whether public or private, is rather scarce
as religious expression of the practical sort was one of the first things to be prohibited when
Christianity established its laws against the pagan religions in the 10 th century CE.93 What
data can be extracted from the sources seems to suggest that ritual activity practiced by the
Nordic peoples in the late Iron Age is primarily reflected by Bellah’s archaic stage of religion.
A few primitive elements can be found however. As mentioned above myths were in fact
acted out in rituals, though there is no obvious evidence for a complete loss of time, place
and the self, but a temporary shift from reality within the temporal and spatial confines of
the ritual certainly is a possibility. Related to this is the idea of performativity in conjunction
with ritual. Terry Gunnel discusses the possibility of “ritual drama” as an element within the
tradition of ‘performing’ eddic poetry. He describes such performances as taking place in
another world with either the audience being “there,” or the god/hero being “here.” 94
These practices overlap quite a bit with Bellah’s description of primitive ritual, for
there is the same suspense of the here and now; of disbelief, when reality and myth merge
and all participants exist in the mythical past, or the “everywhen”, as Bellah calls it. 95 Even
so, it cannot be said for certain that these performances of eddic poetry can indeed be linked
to religious practice.96
Archaic ritual is much more clearly related to ritual practices in the late Iron Age.
They were intentional, structured and organized around the cultic character of ONr. Worship
through sacrifice was the main ritual practise, being performed both in public and more
private settings,97 where offerings to the gods were made up of animals, libations and divine
symbols.98 Many of the gods had their own cult, and the amount of information available on
sacrifice suggests the need for communication with them was certainly present and
subsequently an important part of late Iron age spiritual life in general.
Place names with sacral elements reveal that natural sites were an important location
for ritual, for example mountains (fjall), groves (lundr), arable land and meadows (akr, vangr),
93 Hultgård, “The religion of the Vikings,” 215 94 Terry Gunnel , “Til holts ek gekk…” The performance demands of Skírnismál, Fáfnismál and
Sigrdrífumál in l iminal time and sacred space,” in Old Norse religion in long-term perspectives: Origins, changes, and interactions, ed. Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert and Catharina Raudvere (Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2006), 239 95 Bellah, Religious Evolution,” 362 96 Gunnel, “Til holts,” 241 97 Big sacrificiacial feasts blótveizlur often related to the seasonal festivals and held at prominent places, as opposed to smaller family or individual blóts performed in or around the farmhouse. Source: Hultgård, “The religion of the Vikings,” 215 98 Hultgård, “The religion of the Vikings,” 216
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islands (ey), rivers (á), and lakes (sjór). 99 This suggests that nature had some significance in
relation to ritual. Indoor places, like chieftain’s halls, farmhouses and possibly even specific
cult houses were, however, also used as ritual locations.
Information on possibly important figures concerning ritual is not very decisive. 100
There does not seem to have been a designated priest-like figure, but instead, multiple people
within a community, who, alongside their daily tasks also performed religious ritual functions.
The closest to a proper religious character one can find are the chieftain or king and possibly
the goði. The former are known to have had important roles during the big public sacrificial
feasts, the latter being a medieval social construct, though probably traceable to pre-Christian
times, whereby the individual appointed the title of goði held political and judicial as well as
religious functions.101
In short, ritual may initially seem to be very easily categorized as having an overly
archaic character, due to the practice of worship through sacrifice, the possible existence of
a designated religious figure presiding over rituals and the idea of the gods as being distinctive
characters with whom one can maintain a relationship through ritual and worship. Primitive
elements do sneak in however, as the acting out of ritual, which is such a prominent part of
primitive religion, also has a place in old Nordic ritual, being connected to the idea of ritual
drama. Nygaard’s sacral ruler is certainly hinted at here because of the king’s assumed
importance during big public rituals, but whether said kingship can be regarded as sacralised
is very uncertain.102 As such, both the primitive and archaic stage of religion are applicable.
Afterlife
Both Bellah and Nygaard have almost nothing to say on the subject of the afterlife,
apart from the former mentioning that the primitive stage of religious evolution regards the
life after death as a “shadowy semi-existence in some vaguely designated place in the single
world.”103 Archaic religion gets completely skipped, and it is only in the following stage of
historic religion, Bellah says, that the afterlife becomes of higher importance, as people begin
to perceive more of a distinction between the “real” and the mythic, and thus life and death.
A dualism, legitimized by the new authority of an organised religion.
99 Hultgård, “The religion of the Vikings,” 217 100 Ibidem 101 Hultgård, “The religion of the Vikings,” 217 102 Olof Sundqvist, “Cult Leaders, Rulers and Religion,” in The Viking World ed. Stefan Brink and Neil Price (London: Routledge, 2012), 225 103 Bellah, Religious Evolution,” 360
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What the literary sources reveal about the belief in the afterlife is very eclectic. This is further
corroborated by the burial excavations which show the overtly individual character of the
late Iron Age funerary rite, that is, a single modus of burial across the Nordic world had no
existence at the time.104 This is a rather opposite notion to what Snorri describes in Ynglinga
saga105 as Óðinn’s burial laws. So not all people went to Vallhǫll after their death, that much
is clear. Where people went instead is difficult to ascertain due to the sparse and varied
information available.
First there is the idea of an actual afterlife to where the deceased travel after their
death. Sources mention places like the hall Folkvangr wherefore Freyja, its mistress, “halfan
val, hon kýss hverian dag.”106 (half of the fallen she chooses each day.)107 and the seeress
describes a harrowing place where perjurers and murderers go after death, called Nástrǫnd.108
Hel, furthermore, is attested as being a place as well as being death personified in the form
of a gruesome-looking woman109: “Hún er blá hálf en hálf með hörundar lit. Því er hún auðkennd ok
heldur gnúpleit og grimmleg.”110 (She is half black and half with skin colour. Therefore is she easy
to recognise but rather stern-looking and fierce.)111 These images of the afterlife are
supported by the practice of cremation whereby the “soul” of the individual is freed from
the body to ascend to the afterlife.112 Boat burials and grave goods like carts, sleds and horses
also give the image of a belief in the afterlife to which the dead travelled with the means of
transport provided in their graves.113
Afterlife in these unearthly places was, however, not the only bel ief concerning life
after death, as there also seems to have been a belief in the dead “living on” inside their
graves. This is reflected by the draugar roaming the saga-landscape, terrorizing and killing its
inhabitants close to the vicinity of the graves from which they have come back to “life.”
Examples hereof are Víga-Hrappr in Laxdǽla saga114 and Þórólfr bǽgiffótr, in Eyrbyggja saga,115
both of whom continue their lives within as well as outside of their graves. There are also
104 Price, “Dying and the Dead,” 257 105 Ynglingasaga, ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson, Ch.8 106 Grímnismál, U. Dronke, verse 14 107 Own translation. 108 Völuspá, ed. and trans. U. Dronke, verse 38-39 109 Christopher Abram, “Hel in Early Norse Poetry,” Viking and medieval Scandinavia 2 (2006): 11, 22 110 Gylfaginning, ed. A. Faulkes, Ch. 34 111 Own translation. 112 Hilda R. Ell is A study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature. (New York: Greenwood
Press, 1968), 62 113 Price, “Dying and the Dead,” 262 114 Laxdæla saga, ed. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson. 115 Eyrbyggja saga, ed. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson and Matthías Þórðarson.
24
instances of people dying into the landscape like Þórólfr mostrarskegg in Eyrbyggja saga, who
believed his afterlife would be spent inside the mountain Helgafell.116
Lastly, there is some evidence for a belief in reincarnation with the practice of naming
children after the dead in order to pass the deceased personality or soul unto a new vessel,117
as happens in Þáttr Ólafs Geirstaða Alfs in Flateyjarbók.118
Considering these beliefs relating to the life after death there simply does not seem
to have been one definitive idea of the afterlife, but more likely a multitude of beliefs thereof
by different groups of people or perhaps even individuals. Thus, the great variety which the
literary sources offer regarding the afterlife, while being very scarce, may reflect a certain
concern with the similar variety of humans – naturally of a much bigger scale – in which their
individuality in life might be reflected by the location of their afterlife. It may, however, also
reflect a preference towards the afterlife on the account of the writer of any one of the
sources, likely expressed through a Christian perspective as well .
On the other hand, there is the sentiment of placing the emphasis on life rather than
death, which is supported by both the idea of reincarnation and the deceased living on in
their place of burial.
This amalgamation of differing beliefs in the afterlife makes categorisation into any
one of Bellah’s stages of religion rather difficult, aside from the fact that he, and Nygaard
too, hardly treat the subject at all. The idea of an afterlife as taking place in a location or
realm distinct from the earthly human abode is close to being of an historic nature, though
a dualistic perspective is not wholly established yet as the holistic worldview was still in place.
On the other hand, “living” a semi-existence in a grave might be closer to the primitive idea
of afterlife in the one existing world. As such, it seems that the late Iron Age view on the
afterlife has elements from both primitive and archaic religion as well as displaying the first
development of the historical dualistic perspective.
Magic and Witchcraft
Oddly enough neither Bellah nor Nygaard spare any words on the topic of magic and
witchcraft, while one has only to read any traditional ethnographic work on primitive-like
116 Eyrbyggja saga, ed. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson and Matthías Þórðarson, ch. 4 117 Ell is, A study of the Conception, 138 118 Þattr Ólafs Gerirstada Álfs, ed. Sveinbjörn Egilsson, 209–215.
25
religions to come to understand the profound importance magic has in most of these
cultures.119
What is of importance here is the notion of a “magical worldview,” described by
Stephen A. Mitchell as “(a) belief in causation, a world where nothing is accidental but rather
the result of (magical) actions of others, stimuli that can be interdicted an altered.”120 Magic
is thus an explanatory tool, more practical and tangible than religion, to discover who or
what causes one’s misfortunes or fortunes. It also provides agency in the managing of one’s
own fortune, so people can take their fate into their own hands instead of being only subject
to it.121
Some sources tell us that magic was first introduced by the gods Óðinn and Freya.
In Ynglinga saga122 Freya is said to have been the first one to practice seiðr (magic) and teach it
to the Æsir, while Óðinn” is said to be the wisest of all beings in Vafþrúðnismál .123 He is also
the most prominent magic-wielding character in the literary sources.124 Whether people in
pre-Christian Iceland and Scandinavia actually held this belief, or that the idea was introduced
after the arrival of Christianity is unclear however.
Magic was used as a powerful tool by humans as well; its multiple forms originating
from a set of principles and techniques used for connecting to supernatural powers which
one could then either bind to oneself or persuade to do one’s bidding. 125 As such, seiðr, must
have known as many variations and purposes as there were people who practised it.
Most characteristic among practitioners of magic was the völva. A mysterious woman,
who was not wholly part of society due to her “different” social status, but at the same time
being much revered, while not wholly trusted and even feared. These vǫlur were powerful
sorceresses, using their skills in seiðr to foresee the future and help people with their fortunes,
while also able to cast malicious curses on any who would thwart them. 126
The usage of seiðr was concerned with all aspects of daily life, though its most
common application concerned divining the future; predicting people ’s fate for the
119 For example, Sir E. E. Evans Pritchard’s Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande (1937), and
Bronislaw Malinowski’s Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922) 120 Stephen A. Mitchell, Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011), 41 121 Ibidem 122 Ynglingasaga, ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson, Ch. 4 123 Vafþrúðnismál, ed. T. W Machan, Ch. 55.5-6 124 Price, “Sorcery and Circumpolar,” 245 125 Ibidem 126 Price, The Viking Way. 112-116
26
foreseeable future and beseeching the gods for an abundance in any practical needs people
might have, such as fortune, health, the weather and romance. 127
It is clear that magic had a predominantly practical role in the late Iron Age and was
consciously and actively manipulated in an effort for people to be able to sustain a
comfortable life as much as possible. This awareness of seiðr being a tool, giving agency to
the one practising it, reflects an archaic demeanour: expressing the ability of reflection upon
the use and consequences of a supernatural power. However, the magical worldview stays in
place, which diminishes the ability to reflect. Seiðr was furthermore considered indistinct
from religion and thus as much a part of everyday life and the prevailing worldview, which
conforms with the primitive holistic perspective of how the world works. Therefore I suggest
a combined primitive-archaic categorization.
Conclusion
From this discussion of ONr it has become clear that both primitive and archaic
religious elements are present in the four themes used. Cosmology and mythology fall in
between the primitive and the archaic, while ritual is leans more to the former than the latter.
The afterlife, interestingly, shows a hint of historic dualism, but also adheres to primitive and
archaic elements. Magic and witchcraft, lastly, are somewhat contradictory in their adherence
to both the primitive and the archaic perhaps displaying a transitionary form. A fairly
consistent image of ONr as being both of a primitive and archaic nature is the result.
127 Mitchell , Witchcraft and Magic. 52
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Chapter II: Ásatrú in Iceland
In this chapter a more in-depth view will be given on Ásatrú, its origins and make-
up. Subsequently, the data collected from four interviews held with members of
Ásatrúarfélagið in Reykjavík will be discussed and analysed with regards to Bellah’s primitive
and archaic stages of religion similar to how ONr was analysed in the previous chapter.
Ásatrú
The official founding of “Vor Siður”, as the association was called in its early days,
took place in 1972. It was dedicated by the founders to the pre-Christian myths, customs and
beliefs of late Iron Age Iceland. 128 Though, while some of the founders had a purely religious
inclination towards this newly established society, others wanted a primarily scholarly
approach to the Iceland’s heathen religious tradition; the very reason for the ambiguity that
seems to surround Ásatrú, even now with regards to whether it should be regarded as a
purely religious movement or more of a cultural heritage organisation. 129 This ambiguity is
of importance for it seems there only lies a very thin line between the two ways of thinking,
and in individual cases these often blur into each other creating a dichotomy, which
surprisingly seems to lead a peaceful existence nonetheless.
Scholarly interest in the old Nordic heathen practises and beliefs, and more
importantly the wish to reconstruct said religion can trace its origin to late 18 th and early 19th
century Romanticism.130 Its German branch was particularly interested in the Germanic
myths,131 and ‘Germanic paganism’.132 This modern desire towards reconstructing Old
Nordic/Germanic religion is thus born out of a romantic inclination towards a primordial
pre-Christian culture, which was understood as being more natural, authentic, and somehow
providing a purer existence than the one constructed by the chaos and confusion of
modernity.133 Where German scholarly interest unfortunately soon turned to emphasizing
the idea of a racial or national revival, and the Nordic/Germanic heritage was grossly misused
128 Strmiska, “Ásatru in Iceland,” 112 129 Ibidem. 130 Stefanie von Schnurbein, “Tales of reconstruction. Intertwining Germanic neo-Paganism and Old
Norse scholarship,” Critical Research on Religion 3 (2015): 155 131 Examples hereof are the Deutsche Mythologie (1835), written by Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm, and Der Ring des Nibelungen, magnum opus of Richard Wagner which he wrote between 1853 and 1874; 132 Schnurbein, “ tales of Reconstruction,” 150 133 Schnurbein, “ tales of Reconstruction,” 153
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by the nationalistic Völkisch movement in Germany during the early 20 th century,134 the later
establishment of independent Nordic religious movements during the 1970’s, like those in
Scandinavia and Iceland, were not founded on ideas of national or racial superiority
however.135
The development of Ásatrú in Iceland and Scandinavia was, as such, not so much of
a socio-political endeavour as it was a conscious re-appropriation of the Nordic heritage, and
can thus almost be seen as a natural consequence of the traditions and beliefs already inherent
to a culture and a people.136
This very notion of old Nordic tradition and religion already being an integral part of
modern Icelandic culture makes for a brand of Ásatrú that is very independent and confident,
in that its members do not necessarily feel the need for “external” sources or influence. An
example hereof is the use of scholarship in ONr, which while it is deemed an important
source upon which Icelandic heathens build their religion, it is not so much needed as an
authority legitimising their beliefs as might be the case elsewhere. They rather use it as an
inspirational basis, combined with an experimental and experiential (re-) constructive
approach.137
So, even if the heathen belief in the old Nordic gods and myths has not been a
constant element of the beliefs and traditions in Iceland and Scandinavia during the last
millennium, a cultural awareness of their existence has always been part of people’s lives;
ingrained in tradition and folklore. This is true as well for the Icelandic heathens I have
spoken to, for they argue that Ásatrú is just a natural extension and restoration of what was
already there.
As such, Icelandic Ásatrú in its current form can be understood as a religious
movement, wherein the preservation of cultural tradition is of equal importance to its
members as is the creation of a religious or spiritual environment to which all are welcome
and subsequently free to interpret, realise and internalise this religious environment for
themselves.
134 Schnurbein, “Tales of reconstruction,” 150 135 Schnurbein, “Tales of reconstruction,” 154 136 Schnurbein, “Tales of reconstruction,” 158 137 Ibidem
29
Interviews
As explained in the subchapter on theory and methodology the interviews have been
carried out to get a more comprehensive perspective of the ideas and experiences of the
people who practice and believe in Ásatrú. They gives an idea of how these people live their
religion, how it ties into their life, and as such how this life reflects upon their religion and
vice versa.
This interview is made and structured based on the four themes, presented in the
introduction, and Bellah’s implementation of them, as shown in the last chapter. The
introductory questions will not be discussed in this chapter but in the following.
Introductory
I) How did you come into contact with Ásatrú?
II) What made you decide to join this religion?
III) What does Ásatrú mean to you; what does it provide you with?
IV) To what form of religion or other practices and beliefs would you compare Ásatrú?
Mythology and Cosmology
V) To what extent do you make a distinction between the mythical and the “real” world?
VI) To what extent, do you feel, does the mythical world govern the “real” one?
VII) Where and how do you place the mythical narratives in your religion/beliefs?
VIII) What role do the gods play in your religion; what does their power extend to?
Ritual
IX) What are the main forms of ritual you practice?
X) What is the motive behind rituals (in general) practiced within your religion, specifically in relation to the gods?
XI) How do you experience the rituals you perform in relation to time and place?
Afterlife
XII) Do you believe the afterlife to be a distinct world/realm; where do you locate it?
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XIII) Describe the afterlife how you believe it to be, are there more than one version?
XIV) How big is the role of the afterlife in your religion?
Magic and Witchcraft
XV) Do you perceive a distinction between magic and religion within Ásatrú, or are they the same thing?
XVI) What is the role of magic and/or witchcraft in your religion or for you personally?
XVII) Does it influence your worldview or perception of how the world works?
Mythology and Cosmology
The responses given in answer to questions V through VII display both similar and
different ideas on the subject of mythology and cosmology. There seems to be a consensus
on the notion of a holistic cosmology, wherein multiple perceived realms or worlds exist
together and generally overlap. Teresa, for example, explains this overlap like being similar
to a Venn diagram: “For me the easiest way to describe them is to say one of them is physical
and the other one is not physical; it is more metaphysical.” Jóhannes too sees the two worlds
as being mixed together. He likens them to radio frequencies: “My idea, it is mixed together
just like radio frequencies, all of them could be here in this room, the gods or the hidden
people, there are a lot of frequencies. I believe we can receive multiple frequencies, it depends
what kind of radio you are; it depends on people.” When asked whether the mythical world
governs the human one, the answers differ slightly, in that Teresa completely agrees with this
notion saying: “as above so below.” According to her both worlds follow the same patterns,
though the divine operates on a higher level than the mundane. For Jóhannes the two worlds
influence each other equally, though this is a hard concept for people to understand, or rather
to come to terms with, as he believes we may have not developed enough as a species to be
able to cope with such ideas without feeling threatened by the existence of a world we cannot
fully see or understand. Óttar approaches the concept on a more personal level : “There are
the norns, (…) they are supposed to set out the lines of my life, but I still am the master of
my own life. Maybe you could say, they deal out the cards but I have the say and I play the
game, for better or for worse.”
The mythical narratives are mostly seen as metaphors and can subsequently be used
as containing guiding principles. Jóhannes suggests, “It could be a metaphor for our human
31
mind, about love and feelings; could also be some collective mind-set relating to the
zeitgeist.” These metaphors, he says, always remain the same like the core of narratives, while
circumstantial elements of the story change little by little as time passes. For Kári these
narratives are of much importance: “What scholars have written about them is also very
interesting. I think many of them have a very deep meaning, that maybe became lost.
Something like that makes a lot of sense to me and I often wish that we would make more
stories about that.” Teresa too, sees the mythical narratives as cosmological meta-narratives
for life, and uses them pretty much for everything she encounters in life: the way in which
she understands and perceives them forming the fundament for her religious beliefs.
With regards to the gods too, Teresa has a very direct approach: “I would use different gods
for different reasons. They can directly affect me, but it is more that if I ask them to help me
with something I am not really asking that they do it for me or solve it for me, but rather
that they give me the power to do it myself, (…) So I use them sort of more as equals than
as some higher power.” Óttar, on the other hand, accepts that the gods are there but he does
not believe they have the will nor time to interfere with human lives and they consequently
do not play much of a role in his day to day life. Kári tends to think of the gods in relation
to their roles in the literary sources: “Well, personally when I look at the sea I see Ýmir’s
blood, with fertility I think about Freyr and when I see rain and wind and thunder of course
I think of Þórr.” For him, the gods are tied into the natural world and to a certain extent as
much part of people’s lives and reality as they were in the past. In general the gods are called
upon and worshipped during blóts, where their stories from the literary sources are often
recounted.
When it comes to mythology and cosmology then, there seems to exist a decidedly
holistic worldview among the correspondents, wherein the mythical world and human reality
are overlapping or mixed, if not one altogether. Consequently the mythical world is believed
to govern our world entirely or partly, influencing life on earth according to its own make
up, though a reciprocal influence is also mentioned. Both these beliefs adhere to the primitive
worldview.
This does, however, not seem to be the case for the mythical narratives, which are mainly
seen as metaphorical guides regarding worldview and religious beliefs rather than indistinct
from reality. A view which could hardly be expected to persist into modern times at any rate.
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Ritual
Ritual in Ásatrú pertains mostly to blót, whether they are a public event for the whole
community to attend or smaller private affairs. There are the four big seasonal blót, performed
at the beginning of winter and summer, Yule and the Þingblót in June. These are headed by
the goði, 138and begin with him blessing the attendants and ritual space, after which accounts
from the Edda are recounted “to get people in the right mood” Jóhannes says, followed by
a feast at which some mead is spilled in honour of the god presiding over the blót. At the
private ceremonies the sacrifice of food is more popular, but people will also offer handmade
things or parts of themselves like a lock of hair Teresa says.
The motive behind a blót depends on the occasion at which at which it is performed,
and besides honouring the gods and being in touch with the mythical world, a ritual like this
provides its practitioners with other things as well. Óttar, for instance talks about a feeling
of togetherness: “The best blót is with friends.” Jóhannes does not especially experience a blót
as spiritual but he does feel it creates a special time or ambiance. Kári says that he is more of
a lone practitioner, but, like Óttar, he also emphasizes the social element of people coming
together as important to ritual. He, furthermore, does experience ritual a s a spiritual
experience: “It clicks in a spiritual sense in that I think you can only get there this way: it
opens the spiritual mind in your head; it gives you a certain trance I guess.”
None of the correspondents have experienced a change in time and place139during
rituals they have attended or performed, but they do put a strong emphasis on the location
of a blót, that is, a ritual performed outside “in nature” is generally preferred to everyday
places like home or even the community’s weekly meeting place. Óttar emphasizes the fact
that Ásatrú is a religion which is founded in nature and natural forces: “Nature adds a lot to
it. Performing a blót here (in the Ásatrúarfelagið building), it takes something out of it.”
Therefore nature adds something to a blót which otherwise is absent. In this setting he feels
like he has the mythical world on the metaphysical (telephone)line and though this does not
necessarily embody actual contact, it does give him a feeling of peace of mind. Within the
vé,140 Kári says, the space is sacred and time will not be on people’s minds. Here, he says, the
goði transforms his everyday self into a connector with the gods. The personal connection
138 A modern interpretation of the Late Iron age goði who was both a priest-l ike figure, presiding over religious ritual, and a powerful, high-status community leader. They were mostly rich landowners with a large retinue of retainers and slaves. Within Ásatru the goði is considered to be the high-priest and
overall leader of the Ásatrú community. Source: Strmiska, “Ásatrú in Iceland,” 115 139 See chapter I on primitive ritual 140 A ritual space, often physically separated from its surroundings, specifically for the practice of religious ritual. It is a sacred place wherein no violence is condoned. Source: Anders Hultgård, “The
religion of the Vikings,” 217
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Kári has with the gods he describes as “… a connection with the gods in a metaphorical way,
but just in your mind and nature. We are a part of nature and you can feel it through your
senses.” Teresa has experienced that the right setting, like Þingveillir at the Þingblót can prolong
the feeling of sacredness until long after the actual ritual has ended.
With regards to ritual it is clear that Ásatrú practices of such kind do not adhere to
the primitive stage of religion in the least. There is no sense of acting anything out during
rituals and none of the correspondents gave any indication of experiencing a change in time
and place. Furthermore, the foremost form of ritual are the sacrificial blót whereby the gods
are worshipped and honoured, and all of this is presided over by the priest-like figure of the
góði. These elements of worship are all distinctively archaic, and as such Ásatrú ritual practices
can be assumed to adhere almost solely to the archaic category.
Afterlife
In regard to the concept of the afterlife the correspondents held very different beliefs.
Óttar, to begin with, says there are three general ideas about death within the Icelandic Ásatrú
community. The first of these is that death simply means the end of someone’s existence in
that there is no belief in the presence of an afterlife at all – which is his own conviction– the
second is the belief in reincarnation based on accounts in the literary sources and the third
idea does accept the idea of an afterlife. Like Óttar, Kári does not strictly believe in an afterlife,
except that your reputation will live on, similar to how the concept of honour is portrayed in
many of the sagas. If, however, there is an afterlife, the heathen one makes the most sense to
him, which he understands as people being buried and “living on” in mounds, stones, glaciers
and mountains. In general though, he emphasizes the importance of life, and to make the
best of it, rather than dwelling on death and the afterlife.
For Teresa, dying means going into a higher world: “…but at the same time you
remain a part of this world as well, but in a changed form. Most commonly you will just turn
into compost when your body is in the earth so you become part of the earth and the earth
is a living entity. Therefore you remain alive in there, keeping everything living on the earth
nurtured. But at the same time I also believe there is some sort of continuing life in the
metaphysical world” The afterlife itself, she believes, is composed of multiple realms like
they are described in the literary sources, each of them having their own unique properties.
Jóhannes has an altogether different vision of the afterlife: “Dying is like walking out of a
boring party, you are just outside; you can look in through the window, but most people will
not see you. The afterlife has no specific place. Life takes place in a big house where all
34
people exist. When you leave/die, the nice people go to the sunny side of the house and the
bad go to the shadow side.” He also believes in reincarnation however, saying that everyone
will return to a new life on earth after having spent some time in the afterli fe.
The afterlife proves to be a tricky subject as it is hardly discussed by Bellah, but the
answers given here point towards a perspective that is mainly primitive, for the mentioned
afterlife realms are not distinct from ours; a life continued in the grave takes place in our
reality too, and reincarnation is suspended between these two. The idea of life being of more
importance than the afterlife, furthermore, is still present in Ásatrú.
Magic and Witchcraft
Magic, it seems, is mainly perceived as an all-permeating natural force, which can
possibly be manipulated by humans. Teresa sees magic and religion as one and the same:
“…there’s just varying amounts of magic. I would say there’s a lot of magic in Ásatrú (…) in
comparison to many other religions. Like for example in Christianity where they would like
to believe they have magic. Some of them oppose the idea of magic, but as I see it, it is all
magic, they’re just using different definitions.” For her, magic furthermore provides a way to
connect this world and the mythical one, but it also gives her an understanding of how things
work as Teresa is inclined towards “magical thinking” wherein everything is related through
magic even though one might not understand how. Kári is concerned with the practicality
of witchcraft; the use of magic or rune staves and nithing poles, which he says are still used
today, though they are only a last resort and their use is considered as very significant: “The
magic works within this society because people understand it, but you would not be
successful if you take it out of context. It is a tradition that binds society together like
religion.” For both Jóhannes and Óttar magic and witchcraft are not of much importance in
relation to their religious beliefs, though Jóhannes admits: “I believe in some kind of force,
but not everyone can manipulate this force, either willingly or accidentally .” Óttar adds:
“Accepting, at least not rejecting it, makes life more colourful”
Like the afterlife, magic and witchcraft are subjects Bellah does not treat at all. As
mentioned before there seems to be a general belief in a natural magic-like force which links
our world to the mythical one. Humans are able to manipulate this force and make it into a
practical tool, but a tool of causation as well, as is indicated by Teresa’s mention of her
magical worldview and the practical social explanation of magic, given by Kári. Consequently
35
it would seem most likely that magic and witchcraft as perceived and used by members of
Ásatrú adheres most to an archaic worldview rather than a primitive one, because while it is
perceived as an all permeating force it is a consciously used tool as well, providing people
with an agency which primitive religion does not bestow its practitioners.
Conclusion
Concluding this chapter it can be said that Ásatrú consists of fairly equal parts of
primitive and archaic elements according to Bellah’s theory of religious evolution. The
Nordic cosmology seems to be understood in a holistic and primitive way, while ritual has a
clear archaic character and both the afterlife and magic appear to be a mix of the two. As
such Ásatrú and ONr occupy the same stages of religious evolution, both being a mix of
primitive and archaic elements.
36
Chapter III
In this chapter ONr and Ásatrú as categorised according to Bellah’s typologies of
religious evolution will be compared to each other, highlighting their differences and
similarities. These will subsequently be looked at in regard to the notions of re-enchantment,
neomedievalism and neopaganism, through which it will be attempted to come to an
understanding of Ásatrú as a modern religious phenomenon reflecting modernity’s desire for
a specific kind of spirituality, which reaches back to a time and an understanding of the world
that provides people with a sense of re-enchantment.
Comparison and Analysis
To answer my initial question concerning the inquiries undertaken regarding ONr
and Ásatrú in the last two chapters, both can be categorised as examples of what Bellah calls
a “compromise formula”141 of the primitive and archaic stages of religious evolution, the
combination of which so attracts people in today’s Western society within the sphere of
modern spirituality.
Of real interest here though is the specific make-up of Ásatrú, being a composite or
even a bricolage, of the old and the new. To uncover what belongs where a final comparison
of the two religious systems, as placed within Bellah’s framework and the religious themes
used throughout this thesis, will be needed.
With regards to core characteristics there are some clear similarities between the
religious systems. Namely, both have a non-dogmatic character, which gives the possibility
for considerable variety of beliefs and practises between not only communities but
individuals as well, creating a diverse religion. This is likely more so the case for Ásatrú than
ONr, as members of the former are actively encouraged to seek their own way to connect to
what their religion provides, thus creating an individual spiritual experience within the larger
frame of reference that is Ásatrú. To what extent this might have been a possibility for
Nordic people in pre-Christian times is hard, if not impossible, to asses, but the few pieces
of evidence – as discussed in chapter I – that point towards an individual approach to
worship and belief go some way towards representing a certain sense of individual spirituality,
141 Bellah, Religious Evolution,” 361
37
a concept which is heavily emphasised and encouraged within the Icelandic Ásatrú
community.
The prevalent cosmology, for both religious systems, is primitive, though with an
archaic inclination. This means that both religious systems hold a largely holistic perspective
with regards to the universe; there being multiple realms which are, however, part of a larger
whole (Yggdrasil), or exist in each other; overlapping and mixing. For modern heathens this
belief might be less literal and tangible compared to how the pre-Christian people of the
North experienced the unity of the mythical and the “real” world, but it is a clearly expressed
view nonetheless, and can therefore be called primitive. The shared recognition of the gods
as a higher power is an archaic belief however, and while the beliefs of the correspondents,
concerning the gods and their nature differed, their existence was recognised by all of them.
The view on cosmology, as such, is quite similar for Ásatrú and ONr.
Myth is where they start diverting and to quite an extent. Where the modern heathens
see myths mostly as metaphors possibly containing guiding principles, the people in pre-
Christian Scandinavia and Iceland where completely dependent on myth for the worldview,
values and past their culture was built upon. In a sense, myth has a guiding nature in both
cases then, but the difference in its importance to the community is considerable. As said
before, this is hardly a shocking conclusion as today the old mythical narratives are
considered, by most, as just that; captivating stories, a reflection of the pre-Christian mind-
set at most, but certainly not a representation of a long lost past.
With regard to ritual modern heathens are mostly in agreement with their pre-
Christian counterparts. For their ritual practice adheres closely to the archaic: worship
through sacrifice in honour of a specific god, surveyed by the goði or another Ásatrú-member,
being its primary form. ONr does, however, also display primitive ritual elements like the re-
enactment of myth and possibly ritual drama. Even so, the cultic nature of both Ásatrú and
ONr being composed of sacrifice to distinctive gods in order to strengthen communication
with them, together with the presence of people governing ritual, is predominantly archaic.
Important to note here is the emphasis on the conduct of ritual in a natural context,
expressed by the many pre-Christian sacred place-names accorded to natural sites and the
unanimous preference for outside ritual locations among modern heathens.
Both religious systems display multiple beliefs in the afterlife. One could perhaps go
as far as to say that there are as many different ideas about the afterlife as there are modern
Nordic heathens, for it seems that there is no common shared concept of life after death,
except for what is written in the literary sources. Though the interviews reveal these are not
38
authoritative and people can and do have their own ideas about the afterlife without
necessarily addressing the mythical abodes of the dead. It is again made clear that individual
interpretation of the different religious aspects of life is an important part of Ásatrú and
pertaining to the afterlife these seem to have a preference for the primitive.
The Old Norse afterlife too was regarded in different ways, displaying elements, not
only, of primitive and archaic nature, but also the beginnings of a historical dualistic view.
This eclectic quality might express a certain sense of individuality as well, even if only on a
local level. Literary and archaeological sources suggest that people did put quite some
thought into the afterlife and the journey it took to get there even if the main focus was on
life and the hope for it being peaceful and abundant. A similar sentiment is present among
the Ásatrú-members today, who would rather concentrate on the present, than dwell on
death.
Both the all-pervading character and the practical application of magic in ONr are
reflected in Ásatrú. Within its community there are people who believe in a universal magical
force, which can be manipulated towards being used for one’s own benefits and goals.
“Witchcraft” is performed by women who are known as völur, their magic being considered as
significant acts which are very much real in the sense that people recognise the meaning or
message behind the action that exists within the cultural context of the Icelandic “magical”
tradition. As such both Ásatru and ONr display an archaic understanding of magic which,
while supporting the primitive holistic worldview with the concept of magical thinking, is
used as a conscious tool of causation as well.
On the basis of this comparison it is safe to say that there are surprisingly few
differences between ONr and Ásatrú in regard to their analysis according to Bellah’s
typologies of religious evolution as not only do both religious systems adhere to a
compromise formula of primitive and archaic religion, they also tend to overlap within the
discussed themes to a certain extent. The only real differences pertain to those elements of
religious conviction that are too far removed from the modern mind-set and sensibility to
maintain the significance they had in pre-Christian times.
As to why ONr and Ásatrú converge within this compromise formula of primitive
and archaic religion so well is not only due to the fact that the latter is mainly an effort to
revive the former, but that it is also the reason behind this effort. Admittedly, this is due to
the wish to connect to cultural heritage and keep its rich tradition alive. But why does this
have to be a spiritual or religious endeavour and why only now, in the last 45 years or
39
thereabouts? It is my opinion the answer to these questions are partly related to the concepts
of disenchantment, re-enchantment, neopaganism and neomedievalism.
Disenchantment
“The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by
the disenchantment of the world. Precisely the ultimate and most sublime values have retreated from
public life either into the transcendental realm of mystic life or into the brotherliness of direct and
personal human relations.”142
With these words Max Weber describes the predicament of modernity as he
perceived it, borrowing the term “disenchantment” from Friedrich Schiller143 to portray what
he believed lay at the heart of modernity, that is, a world wherein everything is predictable,
knowable and manipulable by humans.144 This effectively eliminates any sense of
enchantment human experience of the world might have, leaving said world a cold and
disenchanted place.
According to Weber there are two main features to disenchantment. One being the
process of secularization and the subsequent diminishing of belief in magic, the other being
due to the growing scope, power and scale of bureaucracy, the law, policy-making and most
importantly the formal “means-end” rationality of science.145 As such Christopher Partridge
argues that the history of modernisation has been the history of the gradual demise of the
social importance of a supernatural worldview too. With the disappearance of such a
collective mind-set, specialisation and differentiation of social units has become central to
societal modernisation creating consumer-centric cultures that are compelled by the demand
for variety and individual choice.146
Extremes, can however never exist without the presence of their counterpart. As
such, the cold and calculating rationality that brought the western world into a magic -less
“post-modernity” has engendered a cultural reaction to the opposite effect, namely, people’s
attempts to temporarily escape from the disillusion that is modern reality and find some
enchantment outside that which is rational.
142 Weber, Essays in Sociology. 155 143 Johan Christoph Freidrich von Schiller (1759-1805) was a German poet, physician, playwright, historian and philosopher. 144 Jenkins, “Disenchantment, Enchantment and Re-enchantment,” 12 145 Ibidem. 146 Partridge, “The Disenchantment and Re-enchantment of the West,” 237-238
40
Re-enchantment
Re-enchantment is a sentiment that essentially has its roots in 18th and 19th century
Romanticism and is showing rapid growth in recent times, with the rise of cultural trends
such as New Age, the Gothic and High Fantasy. 147 So despite the romantic desire for a
mythic, pre-modern and un-rationalised past, the modes of re-enchantment people invent
for themselves are decidedly modern as they range from alternative lifestyles and new
spiritual traditions to cinematic escapism and the enormous scope of “enchanting” content
that can be found on the internet.
Jenkins has formulated, what he calls, a tentative, loose and catch-all definition of the
term:
“Enchantment conjures up, and is rooted in, understandings and experiences of the world in which
there is more to life than the material, the visible or the explainable; in which the philosophies and
principles of Reason or rationality cannot by definition dream of the totality of life; in which the
quotidian norms and routines of linear time and space are only part of the story; and in which the
collective sum of sociability and belonging is elusively greater than its individual parts.” 148
As such re-enchantment is counteracting the rationality of modernity.
Of relevance to this thesis is the spiritual kind of enchantment, which explores both
new and archaic understandings of the world in conjunction with ritual and myth in an
attempt to come to terms with and finding alternative manners in which to relate to
technology and people’s needs in modernity.149 This new form of spirituality is, in
correspondence with modernity’s individualistic tendencies, focused on the individual and
lies within rather than outside and above the self, thus creating an inherently personal
spirituality, freely tailored to modern needs, though still being largely dependent on the
idealisation of an archaic past for its contents. A part of the desire of finding enchantment
through spirituality is, however, also found in the wish to belong.150 To be able to connect
with other people; sharing one’s beliefs, values and goals and seeing them verified, not
judged.
To this description of the notion of re-enchantment a fairly clear resemblance can be
seen in Ásatrú, for here too there is a mixing of the old and the new in the endeavour to
reconstruct ONr. The shared convictions and beliefs of modern heathens in Iceland being
ones that extends beyond human reality. A reality wherein there is more to life than that
147 Partridge, “The Disenchantment and Re-enchantment of the West,”242 148 Jenkins, “Disenchantment, Enchantment and Re-enchantment,” 29 149 Partridge, “The Disenchantment and Re-enchantment of the West,” 245 150 Partridge, “The Disenchantment and Re-enchantment of the West,” 252
41
which is visible; one which may be a safe haven or have a soothing effect against our
disenchanted world; where one can find a sense of belonging among others whilst
maintaining the individuality of one’s faith.
These sentiments are expressed by the interviewees as well: Johannes says that “We
(humans) have an affinity for religion and without it we are not fully developed beings.” and
Óttar stating “I realized that we all have a need for some religious ideas or point of view or
something.” He furthermore argues that “Accepting, at least not rejecting it (magic), makes
life more colourful.” Kári even expressed the wish to fully belief all that his religion holds,
instead of being held back by rational and scientific convictions: “Sometimes I wish I was
more involved, that I could believe more because that would make life more fun.”
Such utterances seem to display a desire and a need for re-enchantment through
spiritual means. Likewise is there a wish for belonging implied in the emphasis on acceptance
among fellow heathens and the importance which is laid on the social aspect of ritual, being
described by Óttar as providing a feeling of togetherness and Johannes experiencing the
Jólablót as a “nice special time, especially the Jólablót at nighttime with fires; it is a cosy time.”
These resemblances suggest Ásatrú could also be a provider of re-enchantment to people.
Neomedievalism
Neomedievalism, first coined and popularised by Italian medievalist Umberto Eco in
Dreaming of the Middle Ages (1986), has been a much debated topic within medieval sciences
recently as it concerns a medievalism shaped and governed by modernity’s fascination with
the Middle Ages. Therein lies a dichotomy which seems to be inherent to people’s pursuit of
enchantment. That is why Stephen G. Nichols argues that the Middle Ages have something
important to tell about our own age; just because of its radical alterity to our time.151
This fascination with the Middle Ages spans a time – longer than the they are
normally considered to run – from roughly the third century to the beginning of the 16th
century C.E. and is much influenced by popular culture. As such, examples of this medieval
category can be found in fantasy narratives like J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and C.S.
Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia; Role Playing Games videogames like World of Warcraft and the
Elder Scrolls games and movies such as Braveheart and Kingdom of Heaven. Consequently some
scholars have dubbed neomedievalism as a faux medievalism or a meta-medievalism as its
151 Stephen G. Nichols , “Writing the New Middle Ages,” Neohelicon 33 (2006): 141
42
unhistorical and bricolage focused approach is mocking and trivialising medieval scholar’s
efforts towards historical accuracy and textual authenticity with a jesting disrespect.152
One can, however, wonder whether neomedievalism can be truly seen as one of the
medievalisms it so scandalises. In Living with Neomedievalism Carol L. Robinson and Pamela
Clemens therefore argue that neomedievalism is more independent and detached from the
Middle Ages than any other medievalism; creating an alternative universe of medievalisms.153
As such neomedievalism is not so much related to the actual Middle Ages, as it is to the idea
of that age and its recreation is not the goal, but rather assimilation and consumption. 154
Neomedievalism then is an idealisation of a time and a way of life which never truly existed,
creating an utopia that contrasts with the dystopia of modern society, thus being dependant
both upon the Middle Ages and the postmodern predicament. In Medieval Unmoored Amy S.
Kaufman describes the concept very aptly, saying that “neomedievalism obliterates distance
in an intensified combination of love and loathing, its desire for the past torn asunder
between the denial of history and the longing for return.”155
The Nordic pre-Christian era, of course, is not strictly part of the Middle Ages, but
as mentioned above, neomedievalism has a scope that reaches back to the third century, at
least partially validating the inclusion of the Nordic pre-Christian times. Besides that, the
denial of history and the longing for return, mentioned by Kaufman above, can hardly be
related to medieval times alone. On the contrary, archaic and pagan spirituality, which will
be discussed in the next section, are a very popular subjects of reconstruction in modern
society and play a big role in providing re-enchantment. As such Ásatrú can be seen as a
similar type of desire for a past and a reality which will never be fully known. I do not wish,
however to, undermine Ásatrú’s serious and genuine claim of historicity, for the modern
heathens in Iceland emphasise the fact that they are reconstructing an historical religious
system. In a sense they feel their religion is very much a continuation of how it was in pre-
Christian times, before its repression and disappearance. Even so, it has to be said that this
feeling of continuation and the natural place modern heathens find Ásatrú to have in
Icelandic society because of its rich folkloric tradition, seems to make them somewhat less
critical of the sources and less dependent on scholarly works on ONr,156 which then
152 Daniel Lukes , “Comparative neomedievalisms: A l ittle bit medieval,” postmedieval: a journal of medieval cultural studies 5 (2014): 3 153 Carol L. Robinson and Pamela Clements, “Living with Neomedievalism,” in Studies in medievalism XVIII, ed. Karl Fugelso (Martlesham: Boydell & Brewer, 2009), 56. 154 Kaufman, “Medieval unmoord,” 5 155 Kaufman, “Medieval unmoord,” 2 156 Schnurbein, “Tales of reconstruction,” 158
43
diminishes their claim on historical accuracy. This makes the neomedieval practices of
assimilation and consumption of pre-Christian religion against a modern backdrop more
plausible concerning Ásatrú as it is hard to say to what extend its contents are based on actual
fact or an idealised picture people want to be true, due to the lack of reliable source material.
Neopaganism
Neopaganism has a very wide scope as the term knows many forms and expressions.
Therefore a single definition would not do it justice, and as such it can be loosely described
as an effort shared by most modern pagan religious movements to revive the polytheistic,
nature-worshipping pagan religions of pre-Christian Europe and adapt them for practice by
people in modern society.157 The conviction modern pagans have in their turning to the past
is that the pre-Christian beliefs and practises have a continued value and use in modernity,
even after centuries of repression and neglect.158 The origin of this interest for the archaic
past lies not only in 18th and 19th century Romanticism, but also in the publication of works
like Frazer’s Golden Bough and Margaret Murray’s The God of Witches which, even though the
findings and facts in these books have been disreputed or discredited in later years, create an
air of mystery and allure around pre-Christian religion and encourage a nationalistic pride in
mythology, folklore and religious traditions of Pagan times which attracts people to this
day.159
The term neopaganism itself is a heavily debated topic however. Not only among
scholars but by Pagans themselves as well. Many of them find the “neo” tag derogatory and
reject it in order to emphasise the affinity they have with the paganism of the past, renouncing
any divergence between them and their Pagan forebears.160 As such most prefer to be called
simply Pagan or otherwise Heathen. Even so, the time and space between the old religions
and the modern ones is so great that one can hardly believe there to be much continuity
between the two and that is why Michael Strmiska opts for the term “modern Paganism”,
saying that it is a product of both the old and the new; a hybrid, as modern Pagans have “a
great reverence for the spirituality of the past, (…) which they interpret, adapt , and modify
according to modern ways of thinking.”161
Neopagans often are people with romantic feelings towards nature and their religious
beliefs and practices are commonly described as nature religions. Cultural and spiritual
157 Strmiska, “Modern paganism in World Cultures,” 1 158 Strmiska, “Modern paganism in World Cultures,” 2 159 Strmiska, “Modern paganism in World Cultures,” 8 160 Strmiska, “Modern paganism in World Cultures,” 9 161 Strmiska, “Modern paganism in World Cultures,” 10
44
traditions are similarly very important. Concerning the divine there mostly exists a belief in
a pantheon of multiple gods and goddesses with human natures/characteristics. The
worldview is a holistic one; interconnectedness being of key importance in the Pagan
worldview.162
It seems Ásatrú fits quite well within this description of neopaganism or modern
paganism, even down to their aversion towards the terms used, for it is my experience that
the modern heathens in Iceland do indeed not wish to be called neopagans because they feel
it undermines the connection to and continuation of the past Ásatrú has and is, in their eyes.
Most prefer to be called heathen like their forebears were by the Christians who came to
Iceland more than a thousand years ago.
The claim of continued relevance in modern society too can be found in Ásatrú as
is reflected by Kári when he says that the religion is about seeking for knowledge of the self,
its narratives having deep meanings about nature and the ways of things; or Óttar stating that
Ásatrú made him find his way back home culturally speaking.
The nationalistic pride in tradition and myth, mentioned above, is very much present
too, in that people have much reverence for the old traditions, their wish being to preserve
and maintain these. Öttar expresses as much when he explains that he joined Ásatrú partly
because he wants to support the Nordic culture, and Kári expresses his fear of losing the
older knowledge and traditions, with younger generations of Icelanders having less interest
in them.
Nature is of much importance as well for the Iceandic modern heathen as was
expressed by all interviewees. Together they describe a pantheistic life stance for they see
nature as a cosmological force of which humans are a part too and it is fundamental to Ása trú
in the sense that the divine is found in nature, governing it through the images of the gods.
This might then explain why ritual is so connected to nature for both modern and pre-
Christen heathens; it is the means by which communication with the gods is established and
thereby nature too.
All this suggests that Strmiska’s description of Modern paganism comes pretty close
to a fitting description of Ásatrú after all.
162 Dennis Carpenter, "Emergent Nature Spirituality: An Examination of the Major Spiritual Contours of the Contemporary Pagan Worldview," in Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft. Ed, James R. Lewis
(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996)
45
Ásatrú, a religionism?
On the basis of everything that has been said up until now I hope it has been made
evident that Ásatrú is not only an example of a religion based upon a primitive-archaic stage
of religious evolution according to Bellah’s theory on said subject, but that it is also closely
related to modern trends towards finding a reality that provides people with re-enchantment.
This first observation is of relevance because it reveals an interest in a specific form
of spirituality which can be found in multiple media that can be seen as providers of re -
enchantment; video games such as the Elder Scrolls Games and World of Warcraft; literary
works like The Lord of the Rings and a Song of Ice and Fire; Live Action Role Playing
events163 and pagan modern religious movements, all of which provide a spiritual worldview
or reality wherein “medieval” culture and archaic-primitive spirituality work together to
create a world which is imbued with magic and reaches back to a past, somewhat idealised
and untainted by modernity’s rationalism. The fact that Ásatrú displays these same
tendencies, then brings us to the second observation on this religious system as it coheres
closely to the concepts of neomedievalism, modern paganism and subsequently re -
enchantment. The search for which, I suggest, is then partly the reason behind the relatively
recent revival and reconstruction of ONr in the form of Ásatrú thus creating a reaction to
and a reflection upon modern society due to its complete alterity to it, while still being
governed by modern ideas and values; a true hybrid of the old and the new.
What I propose is that Ásatrú is indeed an example of the “religionism” I discussed
in the introduction. A religious configuration I uncovered in a previous study, which
presented an uniformity of religion in relation to re-enchantment to which Ásatrú adheres as
well.
In a way it can be seen as an extension of how neomedievalism works, though applied
solely to the sphere of religion; expanding its formula beyond the medieval and seeing it
mirrored in a religious model; an ideal mode of religion providing an enchanting experience
by grasping back to a period which creates an appealing feeling of nostalgia while at the same
time being a bricolage of cultural elements from different times. An “ism” because it fits into
a certain stage of religious evolution; is characterised by a specific configuration of its
163 An example from a large Dutch LARP organisation Games-n-stuff is the “The Doler: Middle-Ages and Mythology” which is set in 13th century Europe, though with a twist which introduces all myths, legends and folklore into the medieval reality, creating a new reality which are called “wander-places” and are l iterally described as meeting place “for the mythical and medieval human.”
https://gamesnstuff.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39&Itemid=85
46
religious themes and displays a convergence of the old and the new. A specific composition
of religious elements I believe can be found in similar attempts at reconstructing and creating
religious systems that serve in the need for enchantment, whether they be influenced by
popular culture like The Elder Scrolls games or, like Ásatru, by tradition. This religious
configuration thus finds itself united in a religionism due to people’s wish and need for re-
enchantment. An experience which, as it turns out, asks for a very specific set of
characteristics, all reflected in the concepts discussed above and Ásatrú, as an example of
this religionism, as well. It is a spiritual ideal explicitly, though perhaps unwittingly, created
to enchant a disenchanted society.
The answer as to why modern people desire this ideal lies not only in the values which
make it radically opposed to modernity, such as the harmony of an holistic worldview; the
monistic view concerning the divine, magic and nature; the focus on life; the emphasis on a
simpler past; the irrationality of an alternative reality and many more, but also in those values
which are seemingly shared between primitive-archaic religion and the modern. These are
the variety and freedom of spirituality (non-dogmatism), which give a sense of agency and
individuality. Both are concepts which have repeatedly proven to be highly prized in
modernity.
As such this type of religion is not only a reaction to and a critique on modern society;
its cold rationality and disenchanted character, but also a reflection and a product of
modernity, more so than its practitioners would likely wish it to be. This is made evident by
the following statement by Partridge:
Western culture is increasingly characterized by forms of religion that do not claim
absolute truth, do not require devotion to one religious leader, do not insist on the
authority of a single set of teachings, but rather encourage exploration, eclecticism, an
understanding of the self as divine, and, consequently, a belief in the final authority of
the self.164
All of the above mentioned characteristics are inherently modern and all are present
in Ásatrú as well. Indeed, it is the stage of modern religion in which Bellah describes an
infinitely multiplex world wherein people have infinite choices concerning religion,165 which
in turn become privatised and centred around the individual. It seems that his inherent
human dualism of world-rejection vs. world-affirmative views are both at play here; the latter
being implicated in the first trying to escape reality. It is this paradox: a spiritual past much
164 Partridge, “The Disenchantment and Re-enchantment of the West,” 240 165 Bellah, Religious Evolution,” 371
47
longed for, created in the image of a modernity so abhorred of which Sabina Magliocco
argues that it lies at the heart of modern pagan religions.166
I believe this to be true for Ásatru as well and while this might only add to the
disillusionment, it also goes a long way in explaining why such a religionism, whereof Ásatrú
is a part too, can be found; why this configuration of religion is chosen and why it works so
well in our post-modern society. The answer lies precisely in this paradox: the nostalgic
tendencies towards times long past, meant to fend off and critique the alienation of
modernity, are, simultaneously being fed and conditioned by this very same modernity.167
The past and the present work together in creating a religious ideology, which both expresses
anti-modernity and an implicit modernity, tailored to the needs of modern people.
166 Sabina Magliocco, “Neopaganism,” in The Cambridge Companion to Religious Movements. Ed Olav hammer and Mikael Rothstein. (Cambridge: Cambridge university Press, 2013), 154 167 Dijk, “Religion in The Elder Scrolls.”
48
Conclusion
The Icelandic heathen past and the modern-day Ásatrú community lie a fair amount
of time apart. Even so, the Icelanders feel the religious traditions have always been a part of
their culture. The continuity of said traditions is, however not the only thing or reason
binding the religious past and present, for part of the reason behind their current
convergence can be found in a desire for the former and an aversion against the latter, though
both work together in the creation of modern pagan religious movements like Ásatrú,
providing the much needed re-enchantment in modern society.
With the use of Robert N. Bellah’s theory of religious evolution, ONr and Ásatrú
have been successfully categorised as being compromise formulas of both the primitive and
archaic typologies of religious evolution. Their analysis in regard to the religious themes:
cosmology and mythology, ritual, the afterlife and magic and witchcraft show some
differences but mainly similarities. The resulting shared religious system is non-doctrinal
allowing for spiritual freedom. It also displays a holistic worldview with a cosmology wherein
the mythical and the human realms are converged and communication between them is
conducted through ritual worship and sacrifice. Myths, furthermore, provide guiding
principles concerning life and afterlife offers a myriad of possibilities. Magic is an all-
pervading natural force used by both gods and humans with witchcraft being a tool to
oversee one’s destiny.
The “why” behind this religious make-up lies not only in the wish for the preservation
and reconstruction of the old ways, but can be explained with the concepts of
disenchantment, re-enchantment, neo-paganism and neomedievalism as well. This reveals a
modern religious movement that caters both to the longing for a simpler, magical past, and
the need for individuality and a place to belong, successfully supplying an alternative and
enchanting worldview which effectively undoes Bellah’s idea of dualistic worldviews, but
rather, merges the two by creating a world-affirming view within a reality where people reject
their world.
Having bridged the temporal gap between ONr and Icelandic Ásatrú through their
shared categorisation into the same primitive-archaic compromise formula of religious
evolution, an image of Ásatrú has emerged that portrays more than a reconstruction of a
spiritual past alone. Indeed, said reconstruction, assimilation and consumption of ONr in
49
modern Icelandic society seems to reflect something besides the wish for the preservation
of a religious tradition, namely a wish for “the magical” to be brought back into our modern
reality. There is a desire for the re-enchantment of a disenchanted world, the contents of
which are made up of both past and present, creating an alternative worldview that allows
for the presence of the magic, irrationality and authenticity of the spiritual past, while still
meeting the needs of the modern mind-set. The resulting product is a very specific religious
configuration which seems to suggest the existence of a religious ideal where the need for re-
enchantment is concerned. Of course this concept is only based on the analysis of ONr and
Ásatrú above, plus the findings from one previous research project, but I do believe both
suggest a possibility for the existence of this religious ideal and that it could be applied to
similar religious systems in modern society as well.
It is a reflection on modern society, critiquing the rationality inherent to modernity,
but also a reflection of this society. This creates a contradiction between modernity and anti-
modernity with both poles fuelling each other into a the creation of a successfully enchanting
religionism.
50
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Appendices
Interview transcripts
Name: Jóhannes A. Levy
Introductionary
XVIII) How did you come into contact with Ásatrú? I first heard about Ásatrú when I was eleven years old; I lived in the South of Iceland . I was immediately interested in this society, but nobody knew how to contact this group. Also I was underage and was not allowed to go by myself. My parents they were not interested in this. They were typical Icelandic Christians, But I was raised with an open mind. I had read the whole bible when I was twelve years old, out of curiosity. Also, it was a problem that there was no news about Ásatrú and for many years I heard nothing. And then finally I heard the society was still alive. And I also got information about how to register. And I did that; I was 22 years old. It was the 20 th of March in 1985. I was probably member number 17, or something close. And then there was no news, we got no newsletters from the society or anything. Then it happened, in 1990 , I got some news about it, it was some sort of meeting. Up until then I didn’t do anything on my own. But I signed out of any religious group. And then I finally knew how to join this society. On my sister’s birthday.
XIX) What made you decide to join this religion?
I was interested. It was something inside me, when I heard about it. Sometime during the national celebration of the 100 th year since the settlement. My mother always said I was pagan. I was baptized, but I never performed this statement: “I believe in God and Jesus…” But the priest, he gave me his blessing. They knew I was not good in this, in prayer. Strictly, I was not a Christian. We (humans) have an affinity for religion and without it we are not fully developed beings.
XX) What does Ásatrú mean to you; what does it provide you with?
I don’t know how to answer this, It does not give me freedom or saves me, it just makes me happy. I always found that the monotheistic religions, there is something wrong with them. The universe/nature is colorful with many shapes, it is not black and white, and Ásatrú accepts this. There is a connection with some force, nature.
XXI) To what form of religion or other practices and beliefs would you
compare Ásatrú? Ásatrú as we know it today is from the writing of Snorri . We can find traces of it in religions close to us, like the Celtic religion and the German. The Slavic nations have similar gods. Of the religions alive today it would be Hinduism, to which it is related from some 1000 years back. It comes from the same root or original idea. There are gods in Hinduism which are very close to gods in Asatru.
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Mythology/Cosmology
XXII) To what extent do you make a distinction between the mythical and the real world? My idea, it is mixed together just like radio frequencies, all of them could be here in this room, the gods or the hidden people, there are a lot of frequencies. Then we can argue about which radio station is the best or true. I believe we can receive multiple frequencies, it depends what kind of radio you are; it depends on people. Some people care nothing about this, even their will to live, they deny things. Most everybody can experience this, but some won’t, they go crazy. For me, they have never asked this of me before. I have had experiences with things in live...which made me more open minded and even made question something more about what is reality.
XXIII) To what extent, do you feel, does the mythical world govern the real one?
I think both the worlds influence each other. It is only our primitive mind that still doesn’t understand it. We are trying to understand. We have to use all kinds of word; metaphors or pictures to explain it. We talk about cold or warm colours, but red is not warm when you touch it. It is difficult to explain the mixing of multiple worlds; you can talk to many people and they would all explain it differently. They intermix, though we still don’t understand this. Maybe if human kind will survive for many years we will maybe understand it. Our mind/brain is different than many thousands of years ago. Maybe we have to mutate to understand maybe it has already happened. Imagine you had this ability. Some people can already see something different. There is something in in our nature to protect our lifeform. In order to do so we kill any threat to it. There is a primitive force in us. You can see it today, we are arguing which groups are better. When there is a mutant who is very different then they are the outgroup. They might not be so different.
XXIV) Where and how do you place the mythical narratives in your
religion/beliefs? I look at them as a metaphor for things . It could be the forces and laws of nature, some natural laws, like theory of gravity etc. It could be metaphor for our human mind, about love and feelings, could also be some collective mind relating to the zeitgeist. They reflect the times. Some of these metaphors are basis things surviving over centuries. There is always this basic theme; maybe they change the colour but it stays the same. Maybe we name it differently, but the essence stays the same.
XXV) What role do the gods play in your religion; what does their power
extent to? Yes we use them. In our Blót in winter we always read a short version of Skírnismál . The one in charge of the Blót tells the stories from memory. The goði tells the Skírnismal; she said it is like telling stories to little children. Every time the story changes a little but the core stays the same.
Ritual
XXVI) What are the main forms of ritual you practice? We have four big blóts during the year: at Jól, the first day of winter and summer and the Þingblót in June. All our rituals are blóts. It starts with the goði blessing the attendants and ritual space; he tells stories from the Edda’s to get people in the mood, followed by a feast.
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XXVII) What is the motive behind rituals (in general) practiced within your religion; how do they relate to the gods? We worship by coming together, like on our open hour days. During the Blóts certain gods are honoured by us telling their stories. For example, we honour Freyr during Jólablót and the Þingblót is performed in honour of Þórr, because he is the protector of the law. At the feast some beer is spilled in honour of the gods. We have no intention of going back to the stone age with our rituals.
XXVIII) How do you experience the rituals you perform in relation to time
and place? They are mostly performed outside to be closer to everything; we’re not hiding. It is not a spiritual experience for me but it is a nice special time, especially the Jólablót at nighttime with fires; it is a cozy time.
Afterlife
XXIX) Do you believe the afterlife to be a distinct world/realm; where do you locate it? Afterlife is a fact. Dying is like walking out of a boring party, you’re just outside; you can look in through the window, but most people won’t see you. The afterlife has no specific place. Life takes place in a big house where all people exist. When you leave/die, the nice people go to the sunny side of the house, and the bad go to the shadow side. You can change your place as people eventually go where they belong.
XXX) Describe the afterlife how you believe it to be, are there more than one
version? See above.
XXXI) How big is the role of the afterlife in your religion? It does not play a big role at all for me. Even in the saga’s there is talk of resurrection. You will live again as a different person, after some time in the afterlife. I was a soldier in WWII in my last life.
Magic and Witchcraft
XXXII) Do you perceive a distinction between magic and religion within Ásatrú, or are they the same thing? I believe in some kind of force, but not everyone can manipulate this force, either willingly or accidentally. There are Kraftaskálds who compose poems which affect destiny, like a curse. It manipulates this force. Most Icelanders say they do not believe in it, bu t they don’t deny it either.
XXXIII) What is the role of magic and/or witchcraft in your religion or for you personally? Magic is not important for me personally. Maybe it functions as some sort of karma effect. It sometimes runs in the family.
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XXXIV) Does it influence your worldview or perception of how the world works? See above.
Name: Teresa Dröfn Freyrsdottir Njarðvík Introductionary
I) How did you come into contact with Ásatrú? I just sort of picked them at random I guess, At least originally. Because they (the government) were changing the registration rules. I did not want my tax money to go into the government or church groups, so I just picked something and decided Ásatrú sounded pretty good because they have the Eddic poetry. I never even really knew they were religious to begin with. I thought it was more of a cultural association. I was in high school, so I was 17 I guess. Later when I decided to check out what I had signed for, I found out there were a lot of likeminded people and that they actually were religious too. I am now a believer but it didn’t start that way.
II) What made you decide to join this religion?
See above.
III) What does Ásatrú mean to you; what does it provide you with? It is just an understanding of the world, how everything is linked together. It provides a worldview, spiritually as well. At the moment monism is for me the only thing that exists, so I don’t believe in good or evil for example, I don’t believe in opposites, because for me there are no opposites in the world; they don’t exist. That is how I see spirituality as well. It’s just one thing.
IV) To what form of religion or other practices and beliefs would you
compare Ásatrú? When it comes to pre-Christian or non-Christian religions it is very similar because I think they all teach the sam,e but use different vocabulary, though they really have the same definitions and the same teachings. But when it comes to the Christian religion the main difference is the idea of duality: they have rules, we don’t have any rules; they have a code o f behaviour you’re supposed to follow, we don’t have any such things; they believe that there is good and that there’s evil and that these are fighting in opposition, we don’t. But I would still say that in the end it is all we all have the same goals, just a very different interpretation of how they should be reached.
Mythology/Cosmology
V) To what extent do you make a distinction between the mythical and the real world? This is difficult to explain, I’d say both yes and no, they just overlap, like a Venn diagram. For me the easiest way to describe them is to say one of them is physical and the other one isn’t physical; it is more metaphysical.
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VI) To what extent, do you feel, does the mythical world govern the real one? Completely. I guess, as above so below. They follow the same patterns, but one is on the higher level (the mythical world) an d the other is one the lower level (the material world). We can reach the other world.
VII) Where and how do you place the mythical narratives in your
religion/beliefs? I use them pretty much for everything. The sagas and the poetry that we have left are a huge part of how we perceive the cosmology. The only flaw is that it is not complete, there are always gaps, where you need to guess and fill in. I use the poetry and the myths as a basis, for my religion and believes; how I understand and perceive them. I always have my own interpretation of the myths. I try to see them mostly as cosmological - or metanarratives for something else.
VIII) What role do the gods play in your religion; what does their power
extent to? I would use different gods for different reasons. Some of them I talk to a lot, some of them not so much at all. There are probably some deities I have not tried to talk to at all. It’s just that I don’t feel the need to talk to them specifically, not that I see them as less, it’s just that I don’t need them. So I would just take one, depending on what the situation is. They can directly affect me, but it is more that if I ask them to help me with something I am not really asking that they do it for me or solve it for me, but rather that they give me the power to do it myself, but somehow with them as an addition. So I use them sort of more as equals than as some higher power.
Ritual
IX) What are the main forms of ritual you practice? I’d say just blóts and sacrifices. There is the pouring of the mead, and I think that is mostly what we do at the community gatherings. But then there are the personal ceremonies. People will leave something different. For example food is more popular in the smaller, not the bigger ceremonies. Sometimes when you have very small blóts in the felag, with maybe ten to fifteen they might use food. Sometimes it can be something you have made or a part of yourself like a piece of hair. It really depends on the people and the ceremony they are doing. For example when some people got married they have mixed blood, because that is what they had read in some sources, that that used to be done. It can be a lot of different things. I don’t think that anyone in Iceland does anything like animal sacrifice anymore, not even the farmers that have livestock, because of the regulations of the government, but you might use part of the animal afterwards. I know some farmers who have buried the remains of their horse with a ceremony because they really cared for their horse but still needed to let them go.
X) What is the motive behind rituals (in general) practiced within your
religion; how do they relate to the gods? Well there is usually a different reason behind each ceremony in itself, and it is usually tied to the year. For example at the Yuleblót we are celebrating Jól or what has become Christmas, and then we are celebrating the sun and the growth so then it would be natural to have Freyr included because he is the god of fertility and all the clouds and showers. But most of our ceremonies are in devotion to Þórr because he is thought to be the friend of men and is also needed to sanctify things , so I guess he always has a spot, but then there’s usually one o r two gods who own a specific blót, but that will always be depending on the occasion.
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XI) How do you experience the rituals you perform in relation to time and place? Not that I have ever noticed specifically. Some of them are really short, but some of them are really long and others can be sort of accidentally prolonged. For example the Þingblót in the summer at Þingveillir, there has been a tradition for the last couple of years that a couple of people stay behind and throw up a tent, so even if the ceremony itself ended on Thursday it somehow it still feels like a ritual space. Even though it’s young people in a tent the conversations are all about the felag or about the ritual, so it somehow feels like an extension of the ritual, But I don’t really notice anything specific during the ceremony itself, but I’ve noticed that hallowness that follows can be extended sometimes.
Afterlife
XII) Do you believe the afterlife to be a distinct world/realm; where do you locate it? For me, when you die you go into the higher world but at the same time you remain a part of this world as well, but in a changed form. Most commonly you’ll just turn into compost when your body is in the earth so you become part of the earth and the earth is a living entity. Therefore you remain alive in there, keeping everything living on the earth nurtured. But at the same time I also believe there is some sort of continuing life in the metaphysical world, but I don’t think it looks anything like this life we know now.
XIII) Describe the afterlife how you believe it to be, are there more than one
version? I would say that the afterlife is composed of a lot of different worlds and each of them has like a unique property, but they all belong to the same realm somehow, and I think you can travel sort of freely between them. There’s just the question of whether you have a reason to enter another realm or not. Like, not everybody is going to Vallhalla , but not everything is going to Hel either. They could go to Jotunnheimr for all I care. We have all the places mentioned in the sources but it is just a question of what place is fit for you or what place you maybe accidentally travel into, or what place you might not have an interest in to going to at all. And then it is described a little bit in the sources, what place is a good place and what is not so good. So I would say you have a free choice of all of them
XIV) How big is the role of the afterlife in your religion? A really big one I would say. It is quite crucial. What I have experienced with people in Ásatrú is that they would all be furious if they would have a Christian funeral. Furious!. We even have a special card that we carry in our wallets that are for organ donation but they have an extra box where you can fill in that you want only a goði to p erform your funeral rites for example. Because a lot of people would not want a Christian burial at all. They also don’t want to be in a cemetery, that is one of our biggest problems, because according to regulations you have to be buried in a cemetery. We have a spot that is non-religious/Christian, but nonetheless it is in a cemetery and that is a big problem for us because we don’t want to be in a cemetery, we don’t want to be in these places that we are being offered. Most of us would like to have boat burials. If that’s not possible we would like to have a plot in the mountains not on the cemetery.
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Magic and Witchcraft
XV) Do you perceive a distinction between magic and religion within Ásatrú, or are they the same thing? No, there’s just varying amounts of magic. I would say there’s a lot of magic in Ásatrú in comparison to many other religions. Like for example in Christianity where they would like to believe they have magic. Some of them oppose the idea of magic, but as I see it, it is all magic, they’re just using different definitions. I always remember when I was reading about witchcraft and magic once there was someone who said there is no church of magic, but there definitely is.
XVI) What is the role of magic and/or witchcraft in your religion or for you personally? In some way to connect to both worlds, the one we are in and the one that is beyond.
XVII) Does it influence your worldview or perception of how the world works?
I guess I am inclined towards magical thinking where there are relationships between everything even if you don’t understand what they are or how they work.
Name: Óttar Ottósson
Introductionary
I) How did you come into contact with Ásatru? It is always luring in the background. We all know about it, but obviously not everyone adheres to it. But interestingly, a year ago, we passed the 1%, so that’s quite an achievement. Now we have 3600 members. It’s a simple story in a way. As a part of what we were supposed to read in high school, and I thought why should I read this old crap and I was offended, I was not willing to go ointo it but I did still and I was very very fascinated because I was presented with a religion that was meant for real people. It does not oppress people in relation to their physical needs like other religions. Shortly after that I got out of state church. I remember I was in opposition to the state church as an institution, but not Christianity, in a way I didn’t mind that at the time. Then I lived as an atheist, well I thought I was,,,well maybe I am, until I realized that we all have a need for some religious ideas or point of view or something. Some people oppress that efficiently, which is fine for them, but I immediately found out that if I was going to be a member of a religious society this was the only option. Mainly because this is from our own culture and easily understood. I not even jokingly say that we are born with it. But still, I never made any secret of that I am not a member for religious reasons, well also, but mainly for cultural reasons. I was member for 3.5 years in Iceland and Denmark where I started and nobody minded. I was not hiding it or anything. My shift happened in Denmark in the mid-90s. I had participated in attempts to establish a heathen society, but they were unsuccessful, because it was unorganized. The people ranged from half-Nazis to tree huggers; the differences were too big. Less than five years later there was a society, in 1997. And about a year later I was elected as chairman and I had resigned half a year before I went back to Iceland in 2003 and immediately registered in this society.
II) What made you decide to join this religion?
Because of my claim that we have a need for something religious and I want to support Nordic culture. And by the way I was born and raised in Iceland, but on one hand one of my grandfathers was from Denmark and I lived in Denmark for 25 years. So being an Icelander is not important for me, but being Nordic is important. My nationality is secondary to that.
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III) What does Ásatru mean to you; what does it provide you with?
Let me put it this way, I found my way back home, culturally speaking, and that gives peace of mind.
IV) To what form of religion or other practices and beliefs would you
compare Ásatru? It is an individual religion, and absolutely without dogma’s; we don’t have that. I wouldn’t. No, it is closely related to Greek and Roman heathenry and Hinduism. They have been apart for so long that there are differences, but the principles are the same more or less. I’m talking about Indo-European culture now, which includes a vast area.
Mythology/Cosmology
V) To what extent do you make a distinction between the mythical and the real world? I never went into that. Perhaps they overlap, I’m not convinced but I don’t reject it automatically, even though I have met charlatans; they don’t know what they say.
VI) To what extent, do you feel, does the mythical world govern the real one?
There are the norns, that’s not this world but that is on an individual plane, they are supposed to set out the lines of my life, but I still am the master of my own life. Maybe you could say, they deal out the cards but I have the say and I play the game, for better or for worse.
VII) Where and how do you place the mythical narratives in your
religion/beliefs? They do not really play a big role for me, but I would say it is ridiculous to claim that the stories in our religion are more absurd than in the Christian religion. After all they are very similar. And it puzzles me that my religion is Indo-European, and the other Semitic, but I can’t claim anything about that, there may be a relation. Every religion is a peoples attempt to describe and comprehend the world. Present day people don’t know much about how all this happened. So I would say every cultural group has the right to describe their own ideas about how things happened.
VIII) What role do the gods play in your religion; what does their power
extent to? In my day to day life they don’t really play a role. But there they are in a way and I accept that, But the thing is that they are not controlling my life or anyone’s else’s life, they are busy; they have their own lives Some don’t even have a life, like Baldr, which is a fascinating thing; a god that is dead.
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Ritual
IX) What are the main forms of ritual you practice? Blót, that’s about it. We were with about 9 people when we established a blót group in Copenhagen in 1999. It still exists and I still know some of the founders. The best blót is with friends. You get a different feeling. Doing that with people you don’t know or dislike doesn’t give the same experience. It is usually done outside. The most enjoyable blóts in Iceland are held in the countryside, especially those done by two women I know; I often attend their blóts.
X) What is the motive behind rituals (in general) practiced within your
religion; how do they relate to the gods? I would say, staying in touch with the other world and admitting that there might be, I would personally say, more to it than meets the eye. It also gives a feeling of togetherness. There is something spiritual to it for me but not always. Other times quite a lot. If a blót is performed in nature with good weather and I am with friends that’s the best blót. I feel in a way, that I got the other world on the line, which does not necessarily mean there is actual communication, but again it gives this feeling of peace of mind.
XI) How do you experience the rituals you perform in relation to time and
place? Nature adds a lot to it. Or the opposite. You could also turn it around. Performing a blót here (in the Ásatrúarfelagið building), it takes something out of it. And this is a religion based on nature and natural forces. It is the fundament.
Afterlife
XII) Do you believe the afterlife to be a distinct world/realm; where do you locate it? Well, there are three ideas. One is ,when you die you just die. The second is reincarnation. I don’t understand it but I don’t mind. And there is the afterlife, but please forget about Valhalla. It seems to be one of new things in Ásatru. I believe in just death. It is not a question of whether you like it or not, I mean if that’s the fact than we just have to except it. Except of course our children and grand-children: in a way I live in them. When it comes to it, when I die, what happens to the world? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Don’t think you are anything special.
XIII) Describe the afterlife how you believe it to be, are there more than one
version? See above.
XIV) How big is the role of the afterlife in your religion? See above.
Magic and Witchcraft
XV) Do you perceive a distinction between magic and religion within Ásatru, or are they the same thing? Well, I am not convinced and I don’t reject it. I think that sums it up. But I am not into that myself. It just doesn’t interest me. Life is here and now. Heathens are more preoccupied with life before death.
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XVI) What is the role of magic and/or witchcraft in your religion or for you
personally?
XVII) Does it influence your worldview or perception of how the world works? It is possible, but I don’t have personal experiences with that. It may be a question of who is sane and who’s not. Then the next question would be, what is sanity. Accepting, at least not rejecting it, makes life more colorful. So from that point of view I don’t mind.
Kári Pálsson
Introductionary
I) How did you come into contact with Ásatrú? I think there was always something. Even just things like stories, even poetry from my grandfather, he was a big fan of poetry. Also in kindergarten I heard stories. I guess it’s always in the back of your mind. But later in high school we were reading Hávamál and Vóluspá, and then I guess I got really hooked on the beauty of the poetry. It was something that I really liked, something clicked. Then I started reading myself, both of the Edda’s and a couple of sagas. And then around that time I joined, I was maybe 18 or 19, ten years ago.
II) What made you decide to join this religion?
I remember discussing the felagið. I thought when I was a young kid, how can people believe this. I guess I didn’t understand the concept then. But it was something I was very curious about. And later, when I started to get into the Icelandic language I saw many leftovers from the Edda’s. I think that was something that made me curious.
III) What does Ásatrú mean to you; what does it provide you with?
Maybe to the Christians it means strong believe in the Aesir, but to me it often reflects strong metaphors in connection to strong forces of nature and men. We talk of the gods as being fetters and ties; they bind us to the surroundings in a certain way that it aff ects you. But I guess it does that too to other people in other societies but it just works in a different way.
IV) To what form of religion or other practices and beliefs would you
compare Ásatrú? It’s different in that Ásatrú is always reaching for knowledge, but it’s not religious tradition and there is no final truth, you have to find out yourself what fits your life, what is your own goal. There is nobody telling you what to do. Odin is always reaching for knowledge, but he never reaches enlightenment. Like a lone wanderer who is looking for his so, and that is kind of what we do now in our own mind too; always looking for yourself.
Mythology/Cosmology
V) To what extent do you make a distinction between the mythical and the real world? The mythical world that we have, I think, is very rusty and many things are unexplained, but I can understand, like I know there are galaxies and everything, but I kind of look at the cosmological world as it is. It is hard to explain, we talk about Hel, usually being underground and people going on a hel journey when they’re dead. And I guess when you look
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at Jotunnheimr, it is something not from this society, you can look at it as a different society. It is 2017 now, and we have travelled a lot more than people back in the day when it wasn’t known what was behind those mountains you know, so it doesn’t surprise me why it was categorized like that back in the day. Science and traditions change a lot. So I tend not to think that we should stop right there and think like that for eternity. But I look at this in a metaphorical way. I believe in science. It is difficult to define the believe. But if you look at the black and white picture I believe in science.
VI) To what extent, do you feel, does the mythical world govern the real one?
See above.
VII) Where and how do you place the mythical narratives in your religion/beliefs? Vóluspá is a lot about this circular thing. Everything is circular. Even though Snorri wrote a lot of bullshit I do think that he tells very significant stories; He said that the earth was alive and got everything back that it gave birth to. What scholars have written about them is also very interesting. I think many of them have a very deep meaning, that maybe became lost. Like the story of Skadi and Nordr representing the seasons. Something like that makes a lot of sense to me and I often wish that we would make more stories about that. And in Vóluspá, where honour is very important. It was in a time before things were written down, and an oral agreement was very important, and I think that should still be.
VIII) What role do the gods play in your religion; what does their power extent to? Well, personally when I look at the sea I see Ýmir’s blood, with fertility I think about Freyr and when I see rain and wind and thunder of course I think of Þórr, and I cannot reject that. I tie it to the world When I think about the threatening forces of the cold I think of the frost giants. I mean it is part of society in a sense. It was part of peoples life and reality and to a certain extent it still is.
Ritual
IX) What are the main forms of ritual you practice? I personally am more of a lone practitioner, but I do participate in blóts with people of course. I like that, to be with people. There is something within me that I was taught about, land wights and this elf thing, and when I am alone I am still looking out because I was brought up like that. And I might not fully believe in it but I won’t fuck with it either. Rituals and blóts, I think is more about people gathering together today. Because blóts back then were very different from now. But the feast part of the blót is becoming more accepted today. There is some spirituality for me in them. I cannot deny that. It clicks in a spiritual sense in that I think you can only get there this way: it opens the spiritual mind in your head; it gives you a certain trance I guess.
X) What is the motive behind rituals (in general) practiced within your
religion; how do they relate to the gods? I think it is always fun to see other people, just like in the Christian Church they don’t only come for their god, but also to see each other. The blóts for me have become habit; it is tradition, so you go.
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XI) How do you experience the rituals you perform in relation to time and place? There is always a vé which is a special place and time will not be on people’s minds in there, and the goði becomes another figure than he is in everyday life, he is transforming himself into the connector to the gods. They have a special dress on exactly for that purpose. I only feel a connection with the gods in a metaphorical way, but just in your mind and nature. We are a part of nature and you can feel it through your senses. It affects your personality in a specific way. I tend to think about them a lot in relation to skaldic poetry.
Afterlife
XII) Do you believe the afterlife to be a distinct world/realm; where do you locate it? I personally think that the afterlife is what remains of your reputation on earth. If there is an afterlife then the heathen afterlife makes most sense to me in a way: when people are buried in mounds, mountains and glaciers after which they become land wight of those places. There is still a tradition here: you don’t walk over a grave, that kind of afterlife; you don’t want to walk over somebodies spirit, they might come after you and kill you, like a draugr. If you look at the sources afterlife seems to just exist in the place of burial. And going up to the skies, it doesn’t make sense to me. I personally think though that when you die, you just di e, but your reputation lives on.
XIII) Describe the afterlife how you believe it to be, are there more than one
version? See above.
XIV) How big is the role of the afterlife in your religion? I just think about this life; you have to spent it well.
Magic and Witchcraft
XV) Do you perceive a distinction between magic and religion within Ásatru, or are they the same thing? Well, in a sense I believe in it. I heard that you shouldn’t mess with magic staves. And I heard someone was carving in ice, and the old people didn’t like it. I look at magic staves with respect. They are not often used, but when they are it is a very significant thing. Nithin poles, for example, are still used, and if you see a nithing pole people will notice and gossip. It is used as a last resort and it works, because people take it very serious. I would not want anything put in my garden no. I would be very surprised and a bit worried. The magic works within this society because people understand it, but you would not be successful if you take it out of context. It is a tradition that binds society together like religion.
XVI) What is the role of magic and/or witchcraft in your religion or for you personally? It’s a lot about sending to another person, you’re sending a message; also for others to see. And that’s something I totally believe in because I’ve seen it work.
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XVII) Does it influence your worldview or perception of how the world works? Not how the world works no, but how this society works. But I would not be surprised if seiðr would become universal: when you don’t need words, but just very primitive sounds and visions, like music is something like that. Sometimes I wish I was more involved, that I could believe more because that would make life more fun.
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Consent forms
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