There are three national organizations of Nordic Paganism in the United States, Ásatrú Alliance, Ásatrú Folk Assembly and The Troth, besides numerous smaller or regional associations.

In 1994, McNallen formed a new organization, the Ásatrú Folk Assembly ( AFA ), which some refer to as " the new AFA ".

The American Asatru Folk Assembly defines Ásatrú as " an expression of the native, pre-Christian spirituality of Europe " postulating it as " native European religion " in general " just as there is Native American religion and native African religion ".

Though an increasing trend is for people to seek ordainment through a National organization such as the Ásatrú Folk Assembly or The Troth ( both of which have clergy training programs ).

McNallen formed an organization called the Asatru Free Assembly, which was later renamed the Ásatrú Folk Assembly ( AFA ).

There are two main strains of contemporary Germanic Paganism known as Ásatrú, originating near-simultaneously in Iceland (, 1972 ) and the USA ( Asatru Free Assembly, 1974 ).

He also formed an organization called the Ásatrú Free Assembly.

In 1986, the " folkish vs. universalist " dispute and the dispute over the stance of Ásatrú towards white supremacism escalated, resulting in the breakup of the Asatru Free Assembly.

Kindreds are usually grassroots groups which may or may not be affiliated with a national organization such as the Ásatrú Alliance, or The Troth, rather than the Swedish Forn Sed Assembly or the Odinic Rite.

There is a history of political controversy within organized US Ásatrú, mostly surrounding the question of how to deal with such adherents as place themselves in a context of the far right and white supremacy, notably resulting in the fragmentation of the Asatru Free Assembly in 1986.

Rarely through, a kindred may be affiliated with a national organization such as the Ásatrú Alliance, or The Troth, rather than the Swedish Forn Sed Assembly or the Odinic Rite.

The Six-Fold Goal is another behavioral guideline discussed in A Book of Troth by Edred Thorsson ( 1989 ) and was adopted by certain Ásatrú groups in the USA like the Ring of Troth and the Asatru Free Assembly.

It was these tensions that led to the demise of the Ásatrú Free Assembly in 1986 and the emergence of two separate movements, the Ásatrú Alliance and The Troth in the following year.

The organization was founded on December 20 ( Mothers ' Night ), 1987 by former Ásatrú Free Assembly members Edred Thorsson and James Chisholm.

The Ring of Troth was founded in 1987, at the same time as the Ásatrú Alliance, both emerging from the wreckage of the Ásatrú Free Assembly, which had disintegrated over disputes between the racist and the non-racist factions.

Ásatrú groups and the individual Ásatrúarmenn have no universal means of practice.

Ásatrú communities ( kindreds, hearths, mots ) have different approaches to the frequency of blóts and their means of celebrating them.

Ásatrú organizations have memberships which span the entire political and spiritual spectrum.

Some groups identifying as Ásatrú have been associated with neo-Nazi and " white power " movements.

Today, the three largest US American Ásatrú organizations have specifically denounced any association with racist groups.

In 2007, a federal judge confirmed that Ásatrú adherents in US prisons have the right to possess a Thor ’ s Hammer pendant.

In a 2000 study of Ásatrúarfélagið, religious studies scholar Michael Strmiska noted that " Ásatrú movements in America and Scandinavia have been known to espouse racist and Neo-Nazi ideology " but that he was " not aware of any member of Icelandic Ásatrú espousing such sentiments or ideology ".

" In addition, prominent figures in Ásatrú today such as Steven McNallen and Freya Aswynn have expressed their distaste for the racist connotations of some of the more radical practitioners of Ásatrú.

Externally, political activity on the part of Ásatrú organizations has surrounded campaigns against alleged religious discrimination, such as the call for the introduction of an Ásatrú " emblem of belief " by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to parallel the Wiccan pentacle granted to the widow of Patrick Stewart in 2006.

This definition may include groups such as Wicca, Neo-Druidism, Ásatrú, and Rodnovery.

The belief in diminutive beings such as sprites, tree spirits, elves, fairies, pixies, gnomes, Japanese yōkai, the Spanish and Latin-American duende and various Slavic fairies has been common in many parts of the world, and might to some extent still be found within neo-spiritual and religious movements such as " neo-druidism " and Ásatrú.

It has much to recommend it, from scholarly articles on ancient European Pagan religion and mythology, thoughtful reflections on Ásatrú and other Pagan revival movements of the last several decades and their roots in earlier cultural movements such as Romanticism, interviews with leading figures in contemporary Paganism, philosophers and musicians, and music and book reviews. Strmiska also addresses what he describes as " certain more controversial political aspects " of Tyr in his review, and, in particular, he states that " Tyr is by no means a neo-Nazi or pro-Fascist publication ...

Artgemeinschaft mixes far-right ideology with Nordic and Teutonic religions such as Ásatrú but also atheism.

Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor, is one of the major symbols of Ásatrú.

The use of the term Ásatrú for Germanic heathenism preceding 19th century revivalist movements is therefore an anachronism.

As Ásatrú implies a focus on polytheistic belief in the Æsir usage of the term in Scandinavia has declined somewhat.

There are notable differences of emphasis between Ásatrú as practiced in the USA and in Scandinavia.

Else Christensen's Odinism, which is sometimes identified with the term Ásatrú, originated around the same period.

The Ásatrú Alliance is the oldest surviving organization and is headed by Valgard Murray.

The Ásatrú Alliance publishes the " Vor Tru " newsletter, and held its 25th annual " Althing " gathering in 2005.

Many Ásatrú groups celebrate with blóts.

A central ritual of Ásatrú is the sumbel, a drinking-ritual in which a drinking horn full of mead or ale is passed around and a series of toasts are made, usually to gods, ancestors, and / or heroes of the religion.

Goði literally means " speaker for the gods ", and is used to denote the priesthood or those who officiate over rituals in Ásatrú.

In the internal discourse within American Ásatrú, this cultural / racial divide has long been known as " universalist " vs. " folkish " Asatru.

In the United States, ethnic mysticist approaches are advocated in the form of anti-racist Asatru Folk Assembly founder Stephen McNallen's " metagenetics " and by David Lane's openly white supremacist Wotanism.

Groups such as the Asatru Folk Assembly in the US recognize the celebration as lasting 12 days, beginning on the date of the winter solstice.

* Asatru Folk Assembly ( formerly Asatru Free Assembly )

* Asatru Folk Assembly ( 1996 )

* Rydberg, Viktor: Om Hjältesagan å Rökstenen, Stockholm, 1892 ; translated as " The Heroic Saga on the Rökstone " by William P. Reaves, The Runestone Journal 1, Asatru Folk Assembly, 2007.

His acceptance speech into the Swedish Academy, titled " Om Hjeltesagan å Rökstenen " ( translated as " Concerning the Heroic-Saga on the Rök Runestone ") was published in English translation, with an introduction by Swedish Scholar Ola Östin, in its entirety in The Runestone Journal 1, 2007, a publication of the Asatru Folk Assembly.

Asatru Folk Assembly

* Asatru Folk Assembly

Contributors include Asatru Folk Assembly founder Stephen McNallen, Nouvelle Droite leader Alain de Benoist, an interview with noted French comparative philologist Georges Dumézil, British musicologist and translator Joscelyn Godwin, modern Germanic mysticist Nigel Pennick and scholar Stephen Flowers, besides translations of texts by " Traditionalist " author and occultist Julius Evola and völkisch poet and musician Hermann Löns.

Her writings greatly influenced many of her contemporaries in groups like the Asatru Folk Assembly, the Asatru Alliance, the Odinic Rite, Comunità Odinista.

The Asatru Folk Assembly and the Odinic Rite encourages recognition of an ethical code, the Nine Noble Virtues, which are culled from various sources, including the Hávamál from the Poetic Edda.

*** Asatru Folk Assembly

Additionally, her travels included friendly contact with other groups, such as the large Arizona Kindred ( where she met up with the Kindred's " Norsemen of Midgard " motorcycle club ) and the Steve McNallen's Asatru Folk Assembly.