How Asatru Is A Religion That Has Close Ties With Norse Mythology

Thor, Odin, and Loki, all good marvel characters, but they didn’t originate in the minds of Stan Lee. In fact they originated nearly 1300 years earlier, in the Viking age. In that time Norse mythology was born in its entirety. The way it was shaped was an effect of the Viking way, and the Viking way was affected by their mythology. Norse mythology didn’t stay inclusive to their own gods because of their raids and trading they learned different religions. Norse mythology integrated another mythology into theirs. This in turn cause wars between those said gods, specific to this essay the Aesir-Vanir War. This affected how Vikings saw the use of Seidr and this event was directly related to them raiding and trading with other lands.

The indigenous tribes of North America have much in common with the indigenous religions of Africa but there are also many differences in the belief of an afterlife, supreme deity, and the daily practices of each. Today many of these lesser known religions are hardly ever studied but they exist and are still practiced all over North America and Africa. We will discuss how these religions differ in their main beliefs and practices, and we will also discuss how they correlate with one another on smaller aspects.

Although religions today take on many shapes and forms, and may seem so dramatically different from each other, in order to study and understand these religions, their similarities must be identified. This paper will first present a definition of religion that will connect to all religions at the simplest base. Then this paper will examine the common practices and experiences that are present in both the primary religions of the world, as well as the indigenous religions. Finally, this paper will discuss the issues that are critical to the academic study of religions.

During the ancient and indigenous times, their religions were a vital part of their everyday life. Ancient and indigenous religions had unique creation stories which had a meaning behind it. These religions had diverse characteristics but they all had different components. The ancient and indigenous religions have worshiped several gods and goddesses. There are different components that make up the religions such as deities, beliefs, rituals, symbols, sacred objects, holy places, sacred texts, death, and burials.

One of the youngest amongst the major world religions, is a monotheistic religion that originated in South Asia (sub-continental India) during the 15th century. Founded by by the first guru Nanuk

The second theme I explored was the nature of the religious world. This theme includes non-human actors, religious communities, and religious landscapes. Pagans believe in all sorts of different non-human actors. A non-human actor is something that’s not human, but you still believe in or talk too. Pagans believe in polytheism, meaning they believe in multiple gods or goddesses. These gods and goddesses are considered non-human actors. However, “there is no single deity or set of dieties whom they worship” (Magliocco 97). Another non-human actor they believe in are ancestral spirits. They believe their ancestors come back as spirits. They honor these ancestral spirits by worshipping them in their domestic worship practice. Religious communities are a big part of Paganism mainly because the religion is made up of different communities. Some of these communities include Wiccans and other religious groups. However, not every group focuses on the same beliefs, but they do share some commonalities. These religious communities are

Like in any religion the people have certain beliefs. In the african religions there is no single religion. Researchers try to identify similarities in world views and ritual processes across the african boundaries. African Religions are polytheistic; which means they believe in more than one god. They believe in one overall god, but also ancestral spirits. Most African religion’s creation story reveal the creation of humans more than

Scandinavian Paganism, more commonly known as Norse Mythology, was a popular polytheistic religion during the Anglo-Saxon time period. It is believed to have been derived from the culture of Germanic Paganism. According to Norse Mythology, at the center of the universe lies the greatest ash tree, known as Yggdrasil, whose roots and branches spread across the universe connecting each of the nine realms of Aesir, giants, and Niflheim. The world was believed to have been created by the body of Ymir, a giant that was killed and dismembered by the first gods. His flesh created the earth, his bones formed the mountains, and his blood filled the seas.

In the early 1600’s when Natives had control over land, their religion was seen to be very different going from tribe to tribe. They all had a strong religion with many beliefs, rituals and traditions. For example, before and during a hunt, they would pray over their food and pray for a good hunt. When Europeans began to arrive in North America, that began to change. The Europeans felt strongly about their religion which was Christianity.

When analyzing Norse mythology and other religions like Christianity, There is a high proof that the ending of norse started the beginning of Christianity and therefore the two are related.

The world’s oldest religion is Hinduism, it is considered a way of life. The Indus valley is where Hinduism originated. It is located near the river indus. Hinduism is a religion that has no one founder or single governing body. This is part of what makes it different form other religions. Some refer to Hinduism as a family of religions rather than a single

As a result, the Native Americans pray to the spirits of the earth for guidance and intervention instead of the High God. The Nuer, an African religion in the Sudan, believe that not only did the High God create the world, they believe He is actively participating in the daily lives of His people (pg 52). Because the High God is responsible for punishments and rewards, it is no surprise the Nuer pray to the High God for guidance and intervention. Although both religions believe in the High God’s existence, the role he plays in each religion differs greatly.

The North American community in today’s worlds has embraced Christianity, Muslim and other popular religious beliefs. Finding the ancient religious practices in action is rare, but not impossible. The communities had their own believes concerning gods and philosophies of good and evil before they were colonized. The communities have lost most of their beliefs and practices as they took place in the earlier community to popular religions which were introduced during and after the colonialism periods (Bonvillain and Porter 23-43).

The Althing in Iceland accepted Christianity in 1000 A.D. (Roesdahl 269). Before that, I majority of Icelanders practiced the old faith, worshiping multiple gods. Many elements of Christianity were introduced though Viking exploration and cooperation with Christian nations, however. This is exemplified in The Saga of Gisli Sursson. Gisli died around twenty years before the particular Althing, but many aspects of his life indicate he was influenced by Christianity. The saga never mentions the faith by name, but references to the religion are there. Through the events portrayed in The Saga of Gisli Sursson, support is given for Christianity.

“Asatru is the modern rebirth of the pre-Christian indigenous faith of the Norse peoples.” (gladsheim.org) Asatru is far older than christianity, so old that there is no recorded year in which it was founded, after the christian conquest of europe was complete and all those still openly loyal to the faith were persecuted, members went into secrecy in the year 1100 AD. The modern rebirth happened in 1973 with the “Asatru free assembly” being founded in the U.S. In the same year it was recognized as an official religion in iceland.