Norse Paganism: The Eddas, the Gods, and the Modern Ásatrú Revival

The Norse gods are flawed, destined to die, and more interesting for it.

We have two primary sources for Norse mythology: the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems copied down in 13th-century Iceland, and the Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241), a handbook for skaldic poets that systematized the myths. Both were written 300–400 years after the Viking Age and in a Christian context. Snorri was a Christian bishop's son who wrote about Odin the way we might write about Zeus — with some distance and plenty of secondhand knowledge. The poems in the Poetic Edda may preserve older oral traditions, but we can't be sure how much was preserved unchanged.

That said, these are the only surviving texts from the Old Norse pantheon, and they're remarkably rich. They give us Odin's quest for wisdom, Thor's journeys with his hammer Mjölnir, Loki's trickery and the death of Baldr, and the prophecy of Ragnarök — the "Fate of the Gods," which is less an apocalypse than a cyclical destruction and renewal. The Norse gods are not omnipotent or morally perfect. They're powerful, flawed, and destined to die. That's a very different theological model from monotheism, and it creates myths that feel more like family drama than sermon.

The gods

Odin (Old Norse: Óðinn) is the Allfather, god of wisdom, poetry, war, and death. He sacrificed an eye for knowledge at Mímir's well and hung himself from Yggdrasil (the World Tree) for nine days to discover the runes. He's complex — a war god who values knowledge over victory, a father who sentries his son's death. Scholars like Hilda Ellis Davidson, in Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (1964), emphasized Odin's role as a psychopomp — guide of the dead — which connects him to shamanic traditions across Eurasia.

Thor (Þórr) is the most popular Norse god — he was popular in his time too. Runestones dedicated to Thor outnumber those to any other deity. He protects Midgard (the world of humans) against the giants, wielding Mjölnir, a hammer that always returns to his hand. Archaeology has turned up thousands of small iron Thor's hammer pendants (mjölner) across Scandinavia, suggesting personal devotion comparable to wearing a Christian cross.

Freyja is goddess of love, war, death, and seiðr (magic). She chooses half of the slain who don't go to Valhalla — the other half belong to Odin. She weeps golden tears for her lost husband Óðr and drives a chariot pulled by cats. She's the most fully realized female deity in the Norse pantheon and the model for the Valkyrie archetype.

Týr (Tiw) is the god of justice and courage. The one-handed god who bound the wolf Fenrir at his own cost. Tuesday (Tiwsdæg) is named for him. He's the most minor of the major gods and the most admirable — the one who does the right thing even when it costs him.

Practice: blót, sumbel, and seiðr

Blót was the primary Norse ritual: a sacrifice of animals (cattle, horses, sometimes humans, though the evidence for human sacrifice is debated) or drink, dedicated to specific deities and followed by a communal feast. The blood was sprinkled on the participants and the altar. Sumbel was a ritual drinking ceremony involving oaths, boasts, and toasts to the gods and ancestors. The modern sumbel retains the structure: three rounds (Past, Present, Future) with participants making toasts and oaths. Seiðr was a form of magic involving altered states, prophecy, and spiritual journeying. It was practiced primarily by women (völvas) and by Odin himself, though male practitioners faced social stigma — seiðr was considered ergi, unmanly.

Modern Ásatrú

The modern Ásatrú (Norse Pagan) movement was founded in Iceland in 1972 by Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, who registered it as a legal religious denomination with the Icelandic government. In the United States, the Ásatrú Fellowship was established in 1973 by Stephen McNallen, and the larger Ásatrú Folk Assembly split from it in the 1980s over questions of ethnic exclusivity. (McNallen's later positions on race are problematic and have been widely criticized.)

Modern Ásatrú faces two serious challenges. First: the Nazi appropriation of runic symbols and Norse imagery. The SS used the Sig rune (ᛋ), the Totenkopf, and various pseudo-historical Norse aesthetics. Ari Thór Arason, who headed the Icelandic Ásatrú from 1987 to 2003, was investigated for neo-Nazi connections. The community has largely purged these elements, but the association persists in public perception. Second: the reconstruction problem. We're working from 13th-century Christian-written texts about pre-Christian practice. There are gaps, and filling them requires either scholarly caution or creative invention — and the two don't always agree.

The larger Pagan movement has generally handled this better than it handles its own internal problems. Modern Ásatrúar tend to be ecologically minded, socially progressive, and aware of the history they're engaging with — which is more than you can say about most traditions. The movement is small (estimates range from 50,000 to 100,000 practitioners worldwide) but active and growing.

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