By D.W. Roach
If you’ve ever wandered into a renaissance fair, a pagan festival, or even a lively corner of the internet, you may have run across folks proudly calling themselves Asatru. Horns of mead may be raised, runes may be carved, and occasionally someone shows up in a horned helmet (spoiler: those aren’t historically accurate). But what exactly is Asatru, where does it come from, and what, if anything, does it have to do with the Vikings?
Let’s untangle the myth, the history, and the modern practice.
What is Asatru?
Asatru is a modern pagan faith that revives and reimagines the pre-Christian religions of Northern Europe, particularly those of the Old Norse and Germanic peoples. The word itself comes from Old Norse, meaning “faith in the Æsir” — the Æsir being the main group of gods in Norse mythology (think Odin, Thor, Frigg, and company).
The modern Asatru movement emerged in the 1970s in Iceland (with the official recognition of Ásatrúarfélagið in 1973) and has since spread internationally. Practitioners generally focus on honoring the Norse gods, ancestors, and nature spirits, while also building community around rituals, festivals, and ethical values.
What Do Modern Asatru Practitioners Do?
Some common practices include:
- Blóts: Ceremonial offerings to gods, ancestors, or land spirits, often involving food, drink, or symbolic sacrifice.
- Sumbel: A ritualized drinking ceremony where participants make toasts, oaths, and remembrances.
- Seasonal Festivals: Celebrations tied to solstices, equinoxes, and harvests, inspired by what we know of ancient calendars.
- Community and Ancestor Worship: Honoring family lines and seeking to live according to perceived ancestral values.
Unlike the old days, most Asatru today practice peacefully in backyards, groves, or rented halls — not with axes in hand or monasteries in flames.
How is it Similar to the Old Pagan Beliefs?
- Gods and Myths: Many Asatru practices center on Odin, Thor, Freyja, and Loki — all figures preserved in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda written down in medieval Iceland.
- Ritual Offerings: Both old and new versions emphasize gift-giving relationships with gods and spirits.
- Connection to Nature: Seasonal cycles and sacred landscapes still play an important role.
How is it Different?
- Continuity: The original Norse religion was never a single codified faith — it was a loose set of regional practices. Asatru is a modern reconstruction, filling gaps with imagination, scholarship, and modern values.
- Ethics and Society: Vikings lived in an honor/shame society with raiding, slavery, and blood-feuds. Modern Asatru groups, thankfully, emphasize community, hospitality, and personal honor without the axe-to-the-face approach.
- Historical Distance: The Viking Age ended nearly 1,000 years ago. Asatru is not a survival of that time, but a revival inspired by it.
Does Asatru Make You a Viking?
Here’s the big one: No.
Vikings were not a religion or an ethnicity. “Viking” was a job description — seaborne raiders and traders from Scandinavia between roughly 793 and 1066 CE. Once that period ended, no one was a “Viking” anymore, even in Scandinavia.
So while Asatru honors Norse heritage and mythology, being Asatru doesn’t make someone a Viking. It makes them a modern pagan drawing inspiration from the Norse past.
Why This Distinction Matters
It’s easy to romanticize the past — and to be fair, Viking ships and Thor’s hammer are very cool. But respecting history means recognizing what belongs to the past and what belongs to today. The Vikings were complex people: farmers, poets, traders, raiders, and settlers. Asatru, meanwhile, is a modern faith rooted in cultural memory, not a time machine back to the Viking Age.
So by all means, raise a horn, toast Odin, and read the sagas — just know that your Uber ride home doesn’t quite count as “going a-Viking.”
Conclusion
Asatru is a vibrant modern religion that draws on ancient Norse myth and culture but isn’t a carbon copy of Viking Age practice. It’s both a reconstruction and a reinvention, shaped by the modern world as much as by the old sagas. And while you can’t be a Viking anymore, you can certainly embrace the stories, values, and traditions that continue to inspire people a millennium later.
D.W. Roach is a historical fiction author exploring Norse myth, Viking culture, and the surprising ways the past still speaks today.
D.W. Roach "Marauder" 