Ásatrú, an Old Norse paganism, has become the fastest growing non-Christian religion in Iceland. When most people think of this country, religion is not normally what pops into their minds. However, over 75% of the Icelandic population are registered as members of a religious organization.
Later, in the random fact of the episode, I share the number of Icelanders belonging to the top five religious organizations in the country.
When & Why Was Ásatrú Founded
Paganism was once the norm in Iceland. In fact, the majority of the settlers that came to Iceland in the 900s were members of Ásatrú. However, the spread of Christianity drastically diminished its members and Christianity became the official religion of the country in the year 1000. While the Alþingi declared that Christianity would be the only religion in Iceland, people were still allowed to practice the old religion, just as long as they did it in secret.
The re-recognition of Ásatrú in Iceland came about in 1973 and the journey to that recognition is quite fascinating. Four men named Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, Jörmundur Ingi Hansen, Dagur Þorleifsson and Þorsteinn Guðjónsson met in a cafe in Reykjavík during winter in 1972. That is when they came up with the idea to found a folk religion. It is believed that the start of this religion was due in part to the counter cultural and religious sentiments at the time. Additionally, nationalism, and interest in spiritism and elves created a near perfect environment for the resurgence of Ásatrú.
Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, who later became the first high priest of the re-emerged Ásatrú, believed that the religion was based on a belief of hidden forces in the land. He also felt that Icelanders had a desire to have their own religion and that they should support it just as much as they do imported religions. Ásatrú, in many ways, was a movement back to nature in a time where the negative effects of being an industrialized civilization were rearing their ugly head.
The Road to Recognition
To gain recognition of Ásatrú as an official religion in Iceland, Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson and Þorsteinn Guðjónsson met with Ólafur Jóhannesson, the minister of justice and ecclesiastical affairs, in Iceland, right before Christmas in 1972. At first, the minister thought they were joking but once he realized that they weren’t, he requested more paperwork. A funny occurrence that goes along with this story is that when Sveinbjörn and Þorsteinn left the minister, a thunderstorm caused the lights in the center of Reykjavík to go out. According to an article in Vísir at that time, the paper joked that Þór, the God of Thunder, was showing his dissatisfaction with the vague answers that Sveinbjörn and Þorsteinn had received.
The most notable opposition to the re-recognition of the religion came from the Bishop of Iceland, Sigurbjörn Einarsson. He went on to publish his opinion in Morgunblaðið, which pointed out that the Icelandic constitution did grant everyone the right to “found organizations to serve god but that this assumed a monotheistic outlook.” The Bishop also criticized the organization for having vague teachings and no house of worship.
He took his criticism even further by trying to connect the Ásatrú to the racial ideology of Nazi Germany and the re-emergence in the belief of German folklore during that time. The Bishop was essentially calling into question the moral teachings of the organization. Lastly, he felt that since there were only 21 people seeking recognition, they were quite small. Morgunblaðið, the country’s biggest newspaper agreed with him and put out a very bold statement. They stated that Christianity was the “basis of Icelandic society” and that “Christ is enough, though he was not enough for Hitler, Stalin or their followers”.
Fighting for the Right For Ásatrú to Be Recognized
The members of Ásatrú replied to the bishop’s criticism by saying that Christianity has some polytheistic elements and that their religion could include a belief in a Supreme Being. They also expressed that it was highly improbable that a member of Ásatrú had been associated with the Third Reich. However, they know for a fact that many Christian sects had cooperated with the Nazis.
In the end, the Bishop and Morgunblaðið’s opinions did not prevent Ásatrú from being officially recognized. They were granted the title of a religious organization by the Icelandic government in May 1973. With this recognition, they have the legal right to perform marriages and other ceremonies. They are also entitled to a share of church tax, which is calculated based on the number of adult members.
Unfortunately, the drama didn’t end there. Two members of the Independence Party, also known as Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn, requested an explanation as to why Ásatrú had been given legal recognition. Ólafur, the minister that granted the recognition, defended his decision by saying that the constitution granted freedom of religion and freedom of association.
According to Independence party members, recognizing a polytheistic religion and idol worship was in direct opposition to the constitution because freedom of religion only applied to monotheistic religions. The minister essentially stated that the constitution’s stance on this particular matter had been up for debate by legal scholars. Because it was not crystal clear that the Icelandic constitution only applied to monotheistic religions, the recognition of Ásatrú as a religion was upheld.
A couple of years later in 1975, the Alþingi, or parliament in Iceland, changed the law so that it became more difficult for new religious organizations to gain recognition.
What Makes Ásatrú So Unique
Now that you have a little backstory on when and how Ásatrú was created, I think it is interesting to share why this religion is unique. Besides being the religion of the Vikings and polytheistic, there are other aspects to the religion that set it apart from Christianity.
The Beliefs of the Religion
One thing that I was pleasantly surprised by while learning about this religion is that it is one of peace and tolerance. They do not believe in glorifying heroism, battles, blood or militarism. As you can tell, it is quite different than the Viking version of this religion that was practiced during the settlement times.
Because it is so open and philosophical, some people feel it is similar to Unitarian Universalism. However, Ásatrú focuses on keeping harmony with nature and the search for harmony in one’s life. Unlike most religions, they don’t have a prescribed scripture or dogma. If you feel the need to read something, they will encourage you to read the Poetic and Prose Eddas written by Snorri Sturluson. There is no praying to gods and the gods are not seen as perfect or divine. In fact, the gods don’t judge you and could even be seen as friends.
What is also fascinating is that Ásatrú’s growth has not been from members trying to directly convert others to follow. The high priest of the religion believes that people will want to join if they learn about the organization and see their ceremonies.
Here is what the current high priest Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson said about his faith in an interview in 2003:
I believe in a higher power which appears to us in the multiplicity of nature and of human life. We have manifestations of certain primal forces which we regard as gods and we have a division in the roles of the gods. These are powers that are visible, half-visible and sometimes invisible. One could have a long scholarly discussion on the role of individual gods, but in the end this is a question of a feeling for the different aspects of life.
Hilmar Örn hilmarsson
In 2010, he was quoted as saying:
“ Monotheism is one truth for the masses, but polytheism is many truths for the individual. ”
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson
How It Is Set Up
The setup of the organization is that it has one high priest, called a Allsherjargoði or The Goði of All, and there are 10 Goðar, which are priests that oversee congregations in different geographical regions of the country. The second highest office in the religion is Kjalnesingagoði, which is “The Goði of Kjalarnesþing”. If you’ve had the chance to listen to my podcast episode about Ingólfur Arnarson, the first settler of Iceland, you might recall that he owned Kjalarnes, which is basically what is known as the greater metro area of Reykjavík. A Goði can perform all religious ceremonies, including marriages, funerals and blót.
So far, there have been four Allsherjargoðar or High Priests. As mentioned earlier, Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson was the first. In the beginning the organization had a lot of ambition and some pretty big goals. Some of their goals included building a temple and getting a burial ground. However, enthusiasm waned due to slow growth in membership. From 1973 to 1985, it had only grown by 16 members. Fortunately for them, by 1992, membership had risen to 119.
Growth & Drama Within The Organization
When Sveinbjörn died in 1993, elections were held for a new Allsherjargoði. Jörmundur Ingi Hensen won against Haukur Halldórsson with 59 votes vs 34. Under Jörmundur Ingi the religion saw major growth in membership. In 2002, the membership number reached 628. During this time, the percentage of female members rose from 13% in 1994 and 21% in 2002. The religion also achieved its biggest goal of gaining a burial ground in 1999. Jörnumdur Ingi designed it and the first burial took place that year.
Unfortunately, with growth came internal disputes. In 2002, Jörmundur Ingi was fired by the board of directors. They installed Jónína Krístin Berg as the temporary replacement. Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson was chosen in 2003 and is currently the high priest of Ásatrú. Under his leadership, membership numbers grew to 4126 in 2018, making it the fastest growing non-Christian religion in Iceland.
Ceremonies & Rituals
The different congregations of Ásatrú hosts meetings every week, which are open to the public. However, their big ceremonies are called blót. In previous episodes, specifically episodes 23, 25 and 28, I brought up Þórrablót, which is the Icelandic mid-winter festival. While that festival is one that the religion holds, there are four main ones each year. Jólablót (Yule blót) is held on the winter solstice. Sigurblót (Victory blót) is held on the first day of summer, also known as sumardagurinn fyrsti. Lastly, veturnáttablót (winter nights blót) is held on the first day of winter. There are local blóts that goðar, or priests, hold for their individual congregations for various occasions.
Random Fact of the Episode
According to data from 2018, Iceland has five religious congregations where the number of members includes 1% of the population or more. The largest religious congregation is the National Church, which has 233,062 or about 66% of the population. The second is the Catholic Church of Iceland, which has 13,799 members or about 4% of the population.
The third is the Free Church of Reykjavík, which has 9,866 members or 2.8% of the population. The fourth is the Free Church of Hafnarfjörður, which has 6,946 members or 2% of the population. Lastly, is Ásatrúarfélagið, which has about 4,349 or 1.2% of the population. None of the other religions in Iceland have more than 1% of the population as its members.
Icelandic word of the Day
Ásatrúarfélagið – The Ásatrú fellowship. Ásatrú means faith of the Æsir. Æsir is a group of gods, and some of them include Odin, Frigg, Þór, Baldur and Týr.
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