Plan for the hof building – sleek and modern Iceland Review has a nice story about the Asatru temple that is about to be built in Iceland. Ground-breaking is set to happen in March, and early 50% of people polled in Iceland support its construction (just imagine that poll in the U.S.!). There were a… Continue reading Some more about that Asatru temple in Iceland
From New Jersey comes Planker v. Christie, that was dismissed without prejudice on January 20, 2015. Amongst (many, many) other complaints, the plaintiff alleged that his rights as an “Organic Odian” (which, I must admit, is something I’ve never heard of before) were violated. Specifically, he was denied materials such as a Thor’s Hammer, runes, candles,… Continue reading Odinist Prisoner News: Planker v. Christie
I recently had the pleasure of ordering Swain Wodening’s book Path to the Ancestors: Exploring Ancestor Worship within Modern Germanic Heathenry from Lulu.com. At 62 pages (not counting the glossary and bibliography) it’s a quick read, but that should not be mistaken for being light on information. Rather, it is succinct and narrowly focused. Although… Continue reading Book Review: Path to the Ancestors
Here’s a nice tongue-in-cheek look at Thorrablot, the modern, but Heathen-inspired, Icelandic celebration in the middle of winter…
For the first time in nearly a millennium, a temple dedicated to the Aesir will be built in Iceland. Built under the auspices of the Icelandic Ásatrúarfélag (Icelandic Asatru Fellowship), the temple will be able to accommodate some 250 people, or about 10% of the group’s total membership. The temple is expected to be completed next… Continue reading Asatru temple to be built in Iceland
Medievalists.Net brings us a golden oldie from the Proceedings of the Sixth Viking Congress, 1969, entitled Vital Factors in the Success of the Vikings by Bertil Almgren. The thesis seems to be that the success of the Vikings was due to the shallow draft of their ships, which allowed them to travel farther up river inlets and over… Continue reading Vital Factors in the Success of the Vikings
Yesterday I ran across a perfect example of why it’s always dangerous to rely on what people say about historical sources, rather than going back and fact-checking. Sometimes, the sources don’t say what the modern scholar says they say. (In fact, I wrote a whole paper on the subject, debunking a claim about Augustines City… Continue reading This is why checking primary sources matters
February cannot come fast enough.