“A Statement From the Allsherjargoði”
Jormundur Ingi, March 3, 1997

Greetings fellow Ásatrúar:
 

It has concerned me for some time now that there is no unifying voice of Paganism and Ásatrú in the world. I have discussed these concerns with the leaders and individuals of different Ásatrú groups through the years and while my ideas have been well received, unfortunately not much in the way of action has happened. In a way, I understand this very well; the various Pagan and Ásatrú groups throughout the world value their independence and are in most cases deeply rooted in cultural and linguistic heritage. This is in fact, the very reason that we in Iceland were hard to reach in the past. It was necessary for us to tie the bonds with our own past and to build ourselves into a cohesive community before advising others on the same.

Now that other Ásatrú groups are discovering their own roots and creating new traditions, the time is ripe for exchange of ideas and cooperation. We in Iceland feel particularly suited to spearhead this as we have the longest continuing tradition both in past and present. First there are the Eddas, the oldest religious Ásatrú texts and the fact that we were the first Ásatrú group to receive full Government recognition, so we have much to share.

The last thing we want however, is to become a "Pagan Vatican" telling others what and what not to do and believe which is very much against our nature as both Icelanders and Ásatrúar. We openly offer our holy places, such as Thingvellir, as common "HOF" and meeting place for all like-minded individuals to share in the spiritual power so prevalent there.

One of the reasons that this matter has haunted me in the past few years stems from my experience in the former Soviet Union. After the fall of the Iron Curtain I lived there some time and learned that the persecutions against Pagans were no less than those against the Christians which you have heard so much about. Pagans could not hold any worthwhile government jobs and yet government jobs were the only ones available. To complete the vicious circle, it was illegal to be without a job and to do so sometimes resulted in a free trip to Siberia. Pagans were excluded from taking higher exams to better themselves and so on. Old Pagan places of worship, such as sacred trees, rocks and mounds were systematically destroyed. Now even though all of these people were not Ásatrúar, neither are the Shamanistic hunters of Siberia, but we still all have a lot in common. Pride in your own heritage must never include hate or dislike of others. We are all different, thank all the Gods for that.

To the everlasting credit of the people of the former Soviet Union it has to be stated that the persecutions did not stop them. One of the most moving experiences that I had there was an old man who told us that he had dedicated him self to watch over the holy trees of the ancestors, while a young man I knew spent his weekends taking care of the sacred mounds. There are bound to be other areas in the world where the same things are going on. We owe such people respect and support. There are ancient Pagan groups all over the world. Imagine what we could learn from them about the way to regard Mother Nature and all her creatures. Many of these Pagan groups must still respect the laws of their forefathers and what a fountain of knowledge this could be! Each of the scattered Ásatrú groups could do little to seek out these people, but united we could find them, visit them and learn from them some of the ancient ways which even we have lost while showing them that it is possible to keep the old faith in the modern world. The way to preserve our old religion is not to retreat over the moat and ward off the attackers, real or imaginary. Do as the Vikings did. Go forth into the unknown to exchange goods and ideas but never lose your honor or compromise your integrity.

When we established the Ásatrúarfelagi~ 25 years ago there was at once demand from other countries for membership. For practical and legal reasons this was unfortunately not deemed possible, for non-residents of Iceland.

Many Ásatrúar all over the world wanted to recognize Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson as a leader of the international Ásatrú community, and after his untimely death, these wishes have been directed towards the office of Allsherjargoði and myself. This is not legally possible, at least not for the time being. Allsherjargoði has no international mandate, except by virtue of his personality, and neither the money nor resources from the government to undertake this very important task.

Some weeks ago however, the idea came up to accept foreigners as associate members of the Asatriarfelag or even to form a new International Asatruar felag under the leadership of Allsherjargoði and subject to the same rules and regulations as the Icelandic Ásatrúar Felag. I asked two young people, Móði Þórsson and Birgitta Jónsdóttir, to explore this concept on the Internet. I also suggested that they contact Susan Granquist, whom I know to be dedicated,well-informed and well- connected in America.

This little request of mine has caused quite a stir and some unfortunate comments both from Iceland and America as any change will ultimately do. I suggest that we look instead to the new friendships which we have found as a result of the commotion and begin building together a more positive future.

Let me clearly state here, that if Móði and Birgitta are guilty of anything it is simply that they carried out my request a little too enthusiastically and earlier than I had anticipated. One can hardly blame them for that We can learn much from this incident and now the time has come for us to do just that and get down to dealing with the overwhelming international response. There is one more meeting planned next week for the Goðar of the Lögretta where we shall formally lay out our much requested by- laws and some suggestions thus far. We are badly understaffed to deal with just the e-mail in addition to other machinations, and so we choose to go slowly but carefully rather than rush through something which we will regret later.

May ÞórR grant you protection and Oðinn hospitality!

Jormundur Ingi, Allsherjargoði
 

-Editor’s Note:
We are very glad to have had the opportunity to make public the first statement by Jormundur Ingi in February. We were not surprised to hear that there was an outcry from the usual quarters. We don’t see any problem with Susan Granquist being asked to act as a liaison between American Asatru and the Icelandic Felagidh. She seems as good a choice as any, and better than most, even though she stepped on more than a few toes along the way.
Asatru is not for the faint of heart. What’s clearly needed is clear and concise leadership and a stop to the squabbling. I think the time has come to organize some kind of a summit meeting between the leaders of Asatru in America and try to find the means to move along to the next step in our growth as a religion. We need to get beyond the issues of Tribal vs Universal and focus on the real tasks ahead of us.
Perhaps our fellow Asatruar in Iceland were surprised that we lack their apparent unity of purpose. We’re not. In building the Markland Assembly into a functional gathering of Asatruar, we have encountered a lot of difficulties and disagreements. But we continue to try.
We hope that those who have had the mantle of leadership fall on them will take responsible action to respond to our friends in Iceland with rational and well-considered responses. For just one example, we would like to see the leaders of disparate groups such as the AFA and the AVA agree to work to put their superficial differences aside for the furtherment of the Asatru revival in America. I would like to see more harmony and less strife from other factions as well.
We in Markland will work in whatever way we can to further this cause- the development of harmony and unity in the international Asatru community, with our Icelandic friends leading the way!

L RM © Marklander 1997