Asatru - What Is The Religion Of Odin?




Human freedom and individuality are very important to the Odinist faith. 


This is true in both ordinary and spiritual things, and it is so powerful that we don't even worship our Gods in the way that most people do. 


  • The Gods are models, inspirations, self-aware personifications of natural forces, or even friends to us, but they are never our masters, and we are never their slaves. 
  • When we address them, we do not kneel before them, nor do we relinquish our personal sovereignty to them. 
  • As a result, we don't ask them for favors since doing so would put us in debt to them and lose us our independence. 


Although Odin, our supreme deity, is known as "All Father," this does not mean that we are subordinate or subservient to him. 


Signs of manliness and disobedience were valued in Odinist culture since they showed that youngsters were capable of self-responsibility and independence. 


  • One of the cornerstones of Odinist belief is the familial unit. 
  • Our people have always been fiercely loyal to their clan, and the clan, or extended family, is as essential to us as it has always been. 
  • This isn't simply a feeling; it's one of the foundations of liberty. 
  • The authority of competing entities, such as the State, will be restricted when the family is operating in its appropriate capacity. 
  • All power gravitates to the State by default when the family and other loyalty groups do not exist, and freedom is endangered. 


We believe in the power of human action, and we teach that by heroic action, you may take control of your life and conquer your soul. 


Individuals are important! You are not a puppet in the hands of historical forces, but you do have free choice. 

  • Followers of the Odinist Gods are instructed to train themselves in bravery, the courage to face an adversary in battle, the courage to risk all to do the right thing, to stand up for what they believe, and ) to never compromise with Lhemselvea. 
  • Individualism and the clan would be extinct if not for bravery! 
  • This bravery becomes part of a strict code of honor and conduct that forbids anybody from shirking their responsibilities, violating their oaths, or engaging in humiliating or weak behavior. 
  • All of these ideals are, without a doubt, under attack today. 


The worshippers of the slave gods, the egalitarians, the economic collectivists, the behaviorists, the genetic engineers who would remove our aggression, all of them cannot accept the presence of the free man, the individual because the contrast exposes their inferiority. 


There is a deliberate effort going to remove our pagan forefathers' free ways and replace them with complete communism, which would destroy our ways forever. 


  • More than ever, we need a restoration to our ancestors' faith. 
  • So much for the Odinist religion's societal consequences. 


What do we Odinists think about the supreme being, the afterlife, and other theological issues? 


  • When we say that there are other worlds of existence than our own, and that our Gods are as real as you or I, we are backed up by contemporary physics and parapsychology. 


Although we acknowledge the presence of other gods, our primary deities are Odin, Thor, and Frey. 


Odin is the Father of the Gods, as well as the God of poetry and rune-magic. 


  • Thor is the sturdy and haughty God of the free yeoman and the f a m e r. 
  • Frigga, Odin's wife, and Freya, the s I s t e of Prey, are two important goddesses. 
  • Frey is the God of fertility and love. 
  • The Odinist belief in a hereafter is similar to our other beliefs. 


After death, those who have lived a good life will enter the domain of the Gods. 


More specifically, the chosen warriors who die in battle go to Odint's hall, Valhalla, to feast, and He1 fight until which, unlike Ragnarok, the Evil Christian men and place oath of 'breakers eternal are torment, sent to is not a place of fire and torture, but merely a gloomy and depressing place when compared to the life and vitality of Valhalla, Despite this, we are more concerned with having a full and productive existence here on Earth in our current life than with life beyond death. 


  • Odinists have a variety of beliefs regarding life after death, but few reject it. 
  • All, on the other hand, are preoccupied with the here and now. 
  • We have extracted the core of  our ancestor's religion by distilling the ancient tales and beliefs. 
  • Because so much has been destroyed, the reconstruction is still incomplete, but we think we have discovered the essentials, which we emphasize in our classes. 


The image of the Norsemen as crude, savage barbarians devoid of intellect and culture, reinforced by Hollywood and popular literature, is perhaps our biggest barrier. 


Those who are acquainted with the skalds' excellent poetry, the Eddas' fine ethical principles, the sagas' literature, or the exquisite woodcarving shown by the Oseburg discoveries know better! 


Furthermore, the early Scandinavians created an efficient judicial system and mastered shipbuilding methods that, a thousand years later, exceed some of our engineering. 


  • The Vikings were no more brutal than the times required, and they certainly never did anything as heinous as the Crusades or the forcible conversion of the Northern peoples to Christianity! 
  • How do Odinists go about practicing their faith? 
  • We observe the solstices and equinoxes and celebrate them as part of the year's unending cycle. 
  • In addition, we have our own special days in which we remember significant events in our people's history or honor the clan's dead members. 


Some of us must practice alone, but we form congregations whenever feasible to carry out our rites and to enable communion with our heathen kin. 


  • The organizational framework is shaky, and the different congregations are mostly self-contained. 
  • The whole system is set up to enhance the freedom and self-reliance principles that we are attempting to promote. 
  • Basically, we strive to live our faith, integrating it into everything we do, even if it is a matter of daily life. 
  • Every time we show bravery, speak out against tyranny and bureaucracy, welcome visitors, or assist the environment, we are doing a religious act. 


We strive to improve our character so that we may be greater followers of the Norse Way. 


Returning to our ancient Gods is necessary for the preservation of our freedom and Western civilization. 


  • We cannot offer you security or ease, but we can offer you the opportunity to grow in courage, self-reliance, and freedom; we can offer you the opportunity to be closer to nature through the practice of age-old Viking rituals, to celebrate the seasons, and to partake in the clan; we can offer you the opportunity to fight in the eternal struggle between the individual and the collective, between the fre and the fre; we can offer you the opportunity to fight in the eternal struggle between the fre and the fre; we can If this impresses you as important, we welcome you to join us in the Odinist journey. 
  • If this strikes you as significant, we invite you to join us in the Odinist adventure.


You may also want to read more about Asatru, Norse Paganism and Nordic Pagans here.


You may also want to read more about Paganism here.

Be sure to check out my writings on Religion here.



Online Resources


American Asatru Associations




Icelandic Asatru Association


Ásatrúarfelagi≥ (Asatru Fellowship of Iceland). At http://www.asatru.is.


Icelandic Photography



Statistical Information


  • Hagstofa Islands (Office of Statistics, Government of Iceland). 2004. “Ísland ítölum 2002–2003” (Iceland in Numbers). Reykjavík, Hagstofa Islands. At http://www.hagstofa.is.


Asatru Publications Available Online


  • “The Asatru Folk Assembly: Building Tribes and Waking the Spiritual Path of OurAncestors.” Available at http://www.runestone.org/

By Jai Krishna Ponnappan
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,