Asatruars / Heathens...Could I ask your help please?

Question

My cultural and family heritage died with my grandparents before I was born. I only know that they were Scandinavian and Germanic. I feel the need to connect with my history and Asatru seems like a good place to start.

Are there any books, websites, information...anything that you would be willing to share?

Thank you.

Thank you all, you have been most kind in your sharing of information.

Answer 1

Wassail!

As with many topics these days there is a ton of information out there, ranging from highly academic research on the surviving lore and archaeological records to utterly worthless neo-romantic wishful thinking (aka "Look at me, I'm a Viking! *yarrr*).

For a solid, historical look at indigenous Germanic religion, I recommend checking out some of the reading materials listed in the resource section of Groa's website (link below). My personal favorite historian is H.R. Ellis Davidson.

For a book that summarizes contemporary heathen practice, you may want to give Diana Paxon's "Essential Asatru" a try. "Exploring the Northern Tradition" by Galina Krasskova is also quite good.

There are several major Asatru organizations these days, each with a slightly different flavor/approach to this reconstructed faith: Asatru Alliance, Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA), and The Troth. I personally favor The Troth because it works hard to be inclusive and transparent, including free and fair election of representatives to its governing council.

Finally, there's "Ravencast" - the Asatru podcast - which produces quality monthly segments about heathenry that you can listen to at your computer. You may find Episode 7, "New to Asatru" of particular help. :) They've also recently started a series of interviews with national leaders, describing their orgs in their own words.

As to actually meeting people in Asatru, there are indeed a growing number of Asatru groups in Meetup.com. But your best bet for local networking is probably to contact a state/region rep in The Troth or AFA who can let you know what groups/gatherings are in your area.

Best of luck! :)

Answer 2

Books: (These are the only books I've read that I can really recommend on the subject. Most are garbage.)
Njals Saga (I don't know the name of the translator, Penguin Press)
The Poetic Edda (I prefer the Hollander translation, but Bugg is also highly recommended).
Futhark, Edred Thorsson (The "magic" is crap, but the book contains some excellent history on the Norse beliefs.)
The Vikings, Johannes Bronstad (?)

Avoid The Book of Runes by Ralph Blum like the plague!


Sites: (I'm not sure of the quality, I just typed Asatru into the search engine to find these. There are about 150,000 more listings...)
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/pagantraditions/p/Asatru.htm

http://www.runestone.org/AFA_Web2/flash/home.html

If you are seriously trying to find your roots, stay as far away from anything or anyone claiming to be "Norse-Wicca" as you can. Wicca and Norse paganism are as different as night and day. Wicca has tried for decades to incorporate Asatru into their belief system and have cuckolded it beyond recognition.

Edred Thorsson wrote a book that was heralded as the "first great step toward creating Norse-Wicca" and lost much of his respectability in the Asatru community.

-SD-

Answer 3

Heimskringla traces the lineage of Scandinavian kings, back to the Aesir and Vanir in some cases. Read this book with an eye for geography, blood-lines, names and heraldry. You may be surprised by what you can uncover.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is another work that may help. Many confuse the Anglo-Saxons with Brits, but and Angles and Saxons were Germanic tribes hire by the Brits as mercenaries to defend against and even genocide the Highland Picts (which after thirty years was never completed, a fascinating story in itself).

Check the bibliographies of both books for further reading.

Farr Heill!

Answer 4

Websites:

http://home.earthlink.net/~jordsvin/
http://www.thetroth.org/
http://www.religioustolerance.org/asatru.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asatru
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology

How-to Books:

Essential Asatru, by Diana Paxson
Exploring the Northern Tradition, by Galina Krasskova
Our Troth, Volume 1, by Kveldulf Gundarsson
Northern Magick, by Edred Thorsson
Teutonic Religion, by Kveldulf Gundarsson (out of print)

Lore:

Beowulf
Poetic Edda
Prose Edda, by Snorri Sturluson
Saga of the Volsungs
Sagas of the Icelanders
Njal's Saga
Saga of the Jomsvikings
Nibelungenlied

That's quite a bit. Most of it is available at your local library (probably), or with interlibrary loan. Almost all of it can be found at Amazon.com. There is, obviously, A LOT MORE references I could give you for things like retellings of the Norse myths or rune work, but this is enough to get you started.

Answer 5

I would recommend the following websites:

http://www.ealdriht.org
http://www.englatheod.org
http://www.runestone.org
http://www.thetroth.org

And the following list of books:

Hammer of the Gods: Anglo-Saxon Paganism in Modern Times by Swain Wodening, Angelseaxisce Ealdriht, Little Elm, TX

Our Troth vols. 1 and 2, edited by Kveldulf Gundarsson, The Troth

Exploring the Northern Tradition by Galina Krasskova, New Page Books, Franklin Lakes, NJ

Living Asatru by Greg (Dux) Shelter, Imprint Books, Dallas, TX


The Eddas Vol. I by James Allen Chisholm

Germany and Its Tribes (from Complete Works of Tacitus) by Tacitus, translated by Alfred J. Church, Modern Library, NY

The Prose Edda: Tales for Norse Mythology by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Jean I. Young, University of CA Press, Berkley, CA, 1954. ISBN 0520012321

Two Viking Romances, Penguin Classics Series trans. by Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards, Penguin Group, NY, 1985. ISBN 0146001567

Heimskringla trans. by Lee Hollander, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX

Eyrbyggja Saga trans. by Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards, Penguin Group, NY, 1972,1989. ISBN 0140445307

Orkneyinga Saga trans. by Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards, Penguin Group, NY, 1978. ISBN 0140443835

Hrafnkel's Saga trans. by Hermann Palsson, Penguin Group, NY, 1971. ISBN 0140442383

The Vinland Sagas trans. by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson, Penguin, NY, 1965. ISBN 0140441549

King Harald's Saga by Snorri Sturluson, trans. by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson, Penguin Group, NY, 1966. ISBN 0140441823

The Fljotsdale Saga and The Droplaugarsons trans. by Eleanor Haworth and Jean Young, J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., London, England, 1990. ISBN 0460870041

The Saga of the Volsungs trans. by Jesse L. Byock, University of CA Press, Berkley, CA, 1990. ISBN 052069048

Egil's Saga trans. by Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards, Penguin Group, NY, 1976. ISBN 0140443215 - - Vithar's Personal Favorite!

Erik the Red and Other Icelandic Sagas trans. by Gwyn Jones, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1961. ISBN 0192815288

Beware of anything by Conway or Fitch. Also be sure to check the documation of books. Some Asatru and Heathen authors fail to state where they get their information so you do not know if the information is true, or just made up.

Answer 6

Have you tried meetup.com? Have you tried just googling Asatru ,Im sure you have..good luck on your quest for ancestral knowlege and I will ask my Yahoo group too...

Answer 7

Here's my site; hope it helps. http://home.earthlink.net/~jordsvin
I can be a bit opinionated but have worked very very hard on the site and it has tons of things I have written, plus a lot of good links. All the best, Jordsvin