Asatru

Asatru
Family	Modern Pagan / Heathen
Origin region	Iceland, Scandinavia, and modern Germanic revival communities
Founding period	Modern revival from the 20th century CE
Estimated adherents	Unknown globally; organized communities exist in Iceland, North America, Europe, and elsewhere.

Asatru is asatru is a modern Heathen religious movement that honors the gods, myths, ancestors, and ritual traditions associated with Norse and Germanic pre-Christian religion.

Overview

Asatru, often translated as belief in or loyalty to the Aesir, is a modern revivalist and reconstructionist movement inspired by Norse and wider Germanic religious sources. Communities differ in theology, ritual style, cultural emphasis, and social values. Many groups stress inclusive religious practice, while some fringe racialist interpretations are rejected by inclusive Heathen organizations.

Key beliefs

• Honor for gods such as Odin, Thor, Freyja, Frigg, Tyr, Freyr, and other divine beings
• Respect for ancestors, land spirits, and household powers
• Emphasis on reciprocity, oath, honor, hospitality, and community
• Mythic worldviews shaped by the Eddas, sagas, and folklore
• Diverse views ranging from polytheistic realism to symbolic or cultural interpretation

Practices

• Blot offerings
• Sumbel ritual toasting and oath-making
• Seasonal feasts and rites
• Ancestor remembrance
• Study of myths, sagas, runes, and historical sources

Places of worship

• Home altar
• Outdoor sacred site
• Hof or community ritual space
• Festival gathering

Sacred texts

• Poetic Edda
• Prose Edda
• Icelandic sagas
• Runic inscriptions
• Modern Heathen ritual writings

Holidays and observances

• Yule
• Midsummer
• Winter Nights
• Disablot
• Community-defined feast days

Branches and related traditions

• Heathenry - The broader modern Pagan revival of Germanic religious traditions.
• Norse paganism - The historical source tradition that inspires much Asatru practice.
• Vanatru - A modern focus on the Vanir deities in some communities.

See also

• Religion
• Theology
• Philosophy of religion
• New Religious Movements
• Modern Paganism
• Western esotericism