Are the details of Asatru's new beginning well served below?

Question

Ásatrú, developed independently of Wicca. Ásatrú's self-image has been one of an independent religion,rather than a denomination within a greater Pagan community. American Ásatrú began in the early 1970s with Stephen McNallen's Viking Brotherhood which evolved into the Ásatrú Free Assembly. McNallen and many other early figures in Ásatrú were familiar with the Wiccan community. However, studies of Norse and Icelandic history and mythology combined with contact with other Norse Pagan groups in Iceland and England, led to a quick evolution away from the Wiccan community and from Wiccan models of theology or ritual practice. From the beginning, Ásatrú developed its own ritual structures, magazines,gatherings, and terminology; and by the mid-seventies was a completely separate community. Ásatrú continued to be a small and fairly insular group with little contact with other Pagans until the late 1980s when the AFA broke up. Out of the AFA's demise, two groups rose to the forefront: the Ásatrú Alliance representing a traditionalist approach and the Ring of Troth representing several new directions.

To one and all, if you check my profile you'll see that I became a retiree twenty years ago. Keeping up was one of the things I did before I retired. I believe Asatru has a place on R&S and Pagan Friday was/is a vehicle.

Answer 1

More or less . . . that's the gist of it, up to a particular point in history.

Drighten Mcnallen is back, with the Asatru Folk Assembly, and the Troth is trying to fight its way back from . . . McWiccanization, basically. They still have a "don't ask, but do tell" dual-trad policy that annoys a lot of heathens, particularly those of us who despise Paxson, Woods, and the rest of the Bay Area freak squad. :-)

The rise of Theodism as a hierarchal, Anglo-Saxon variant of heathenry presaged the current (past 5-8 years) emphasis on reconstructionism, research, and the growing influence and popularity of ethnoculturally specific traditions. We've always been "the religion with homework," but in past decade or so, the level of scholarship on Germanic religion available to heathens has soared in both quality and quantity.

Most heathenry happens AWAY from the "Big 3 Orgs" nowadays, with smaller regional associations, neotribalist and theodish organizations, and active kindreds choosing to think and act locally instead of nationally.

Answer 2

I would say yes, although you have cut the history short. As you have it, it ends in 1989. However, a lot has changed since then. Theodism began to gain ground in 1992, and has continued to grow. Local groups now hold more influence in the day to day lives of Heathens, and the term Asatru no longer denotes the whole of the movement. Now the term favored is Germanic Heathenry. There were other changes as well, scholarship in the 90s has brought back such beliefs as frith and wyrd as well as the rite of symbel. Other ritual outlines have been made more authentic. And since 2000 many books have came out on the topic of Germanic Heathenry. Perhaps the most important event is that the Ásatrú Free Assembly came back as the Ásatrú Folk Assembly under the leadership with Stephen McNallen in the late '90s. Basically, you need to extend it down into the 90s as the movement is still very much in its beginning stages.

Answer 3

What you have is factually correct, but it stops nearly 20 years ago.
A lot has gone on, since then.

Such as Steve McNallen reforming the AFA as the Asatru Folk Assembly, and the Ring of Troth basically dying, and being reformed as The Troth. And lots of other stuff.

Answer 4

Interesting. Don't have all the facts per se, but I would go to the roots of any Culture/ belief to get more info. And base my points from there....

just some thoughts.

Answer 5

The only thing I'd add is 1-2 lines about what it arose out of.