How Iceland recreated a Viking-age religion
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Re: How Iceland recreated a Viking-age religion
#2>The Ásatrú faith also celebrates Old Norse mythology and its pantheon of morally ambiguous deities – gods such as Odin, Thor and Loki – that came to Iceland during the Viking Age, when the island was settled by Norwegian famers looking for new pastures. These deities were worshipped across this ‘land of fire and ice’ until the year 1000, when, under pressure from the influential Norwegian crown, the country abandoned heathenry and adopted Christianity.
The subtext from the BBC is interesting, the Viking gods are 'morally ambiguous deities', the arrival of christianity is summarised by 'the country abandoned heathenry'. Is worth noting that heathenry is still a synonym in english for 'uncivilised'. This is presumably to stand in contrast with some notion of the supposed moral certainty and civilisation of the Abrahamic god. The BBC should really be above playing team sports with religions, but I guess they just can't help themselves.
Re: How Iceland recreated a Viking-age religion
#3Unfortunately a lot of the pagan and related spiritual movements are being coopted by white supremecists. I find this stuff fairly attractive as someone with Scandinavian heritage, but it seems like I've been overtaken in the space by racists and fascists.
Re: How Iceland recreated a Viking-age religion
#4> The Ásatrú faith also celebrates Old Norse mythology and its pantheon of morally ambiguous deities – gods such as Odin, Thor and Loki – that came to Iceland during the Viking Age, when the island was settled by Norwegian famers looking for new pastures. These deities were worshipped across this ‘land of fire and ice’ until the year 1000, when, under pressure from the influential Norwegian crown, the country abandon…
But those gods are morally ambiguous: they're not everything-I-do-is-right like the God of Abraham (in any of the religions that worship him). It's an accurate part of the news and implying that Loki is a paragon of virtue would be misleading people about the subject.
And "Heathenry" is a term used by practitioners of this faith. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathenry_(new_religious_movem... If it's got a negative connotation, well, that's the limits of working in a colonizer language.
Re: How Iceland recreated a Viking-age religion
#5Unfortunately a lot of the pagan and related spiritual movements are being coopted by white supremecists. I find this stuff fairly attractive as someone with Scandinavian heritage, but it seems like I've been overtaken in the space by racists and fascists.
Fortunately, you do not have to be a white supremacist to be a heathen. Asatru is not a proselytizing religion and doesn't require that you "fellowship" with other worshipers.
It it attractive because it is a sleeper religion with many facets and traditions of modern life tracing their roots back to that Scandinavian heritage.
Re: How Iceland recreated a Viking-age religion
#6Unfortunately a lot of the pagan and related spiritual movements are being coopted by white supremecists. I find this stuff fairly attractive as someone with Scandinavian heritage, but it seems like I've been overtaken in the space by racists and fascists.
Came here to say this.
Asatru is 1 of 2 type of people:
- Racial purity hate group types
- Reconstructionist pagans (that often have only loose genealogical ties to the peoples they claim their religion is based on)
Re: How Iceland recreated a Viking-age religion
#7Unfortunately a lot of the pagan and related spiritual movements are being coopted by white supremecists. I find this stuff fairly attractive as someone with Scandinavian heritage, but it seems like I've been overtaken in the space by racists and fascists.
You shouldn't really be bothered by the tiny minority of inbred racists and fascists using anything related to paganism.
We scandinavians sure don't.
Re: How Iceland recreated a Viking-age religion
#8> The Ásatrú faith also celebrates Old Norse mythology and its pantheon of morally ambiguous deities – gods such as Odin, Thor and Loki – that came to Iceland during the Viking Age, when the island was settled by Norwegian famers looking for new pastures. These deities were worshipped across this ‘land of fire and ice’ until the year 1000, when, under pressure from the influential Norwegian crown, the country abandon…
I understand what you're saying but one of the things I found attractive about the Norse gods was that they're not perfect. They are uncivilised at times! For me at least, I found I could relate to them better because of their faults.
Re: How Iceland recreated a Viking-age religion
#9Well, apparently it's not passed down, it's being reconstructed (started in the 70s unsurprisingly).
Re: How Iceland recreated a Viking-age religion
#10> The Ásatrú faith also celebrates Old Norse mythology and its pantheon of morally ambiguous deities – gods such as Odin, Thor and Loki – that came to Iceland during the Viking Age, when the island was settled by Norwegian famers looking for new pastures. These deities were worshipped across this ‘land of fire and ice’ until the year 1000, when, under pressure from the influential Norwegian crown, the country abandon…
But those gods are morally ambiguous: they're not everything-I-do-is-right like the God of Abraham (in any of the religions that worship him). It's an accurate part of the news and implying that Loki is a paragon of virtue would be misleading people about the subject. And "Heathenry" is a term used by practitioners of this faith. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathenry_(new_religious_movem... If it's got a negative c…
Heathenry is a term that comes from the "heath" or what we would call the hearth - the central part of the ancient home that provided heat and cooked food and light. It was the gathering place of family and guests, where songs would be sung and stories told and games played and hospitality offered and accepted. The family shrine would typically be nearby.
The Norse gods are about family. They do whatever is needed to protect and help kith and kin. Lumping Odhinn and Thor with Loki as examples of moral ambiguity shows a total misunderstanding of the roles of each of the gods in Asatru.
And, implying the three Christian gods are paragons of virtue is laughable. There are examples of genocide and infanticide scattered throughout the Bible - it is a veritable bloodfest of violence. To say otherwise would be misleading people about the subject...