Iceland To Build First Temple To Norse Gods Since Viking Age

[John81]

Iceland to build first temple to Norse gods since Viking age

 

Reuters in ReyKJavik

 

 

Monday 2 February 2015 10.54 EST

 

Icelanders will soon be able to publicly worship at a shrine to Thor, Odin and Frigg with construction starting this month on the island’s first major temple to the Norse gods since the Viking age.

 

Worship of the gods in Scandinavia gave way to Christianity around 1,000 years ago but a modern version of Norse paganism has been gaining popularity in Iceland.

 

“I don’t believe anyone believes in a one-eyed man who is riding about on a horse with eight feet,” said Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, high priest of Ásatrúarfélagið, an association that promotes faith in the Norse gods.

 

“We see the stories as poetic metaphors and a manifestation of the forces of nature and human psychology.”

 

Membership in Ásatrúarfélagið has tripled in Iceland in the last decade to 2,400 members last year, out of a total population of 330,000, data from Statistics Iceland showed.

 

The temple will be circular and will be dug 4 metres (13ft) down into a hill overlooking the Icelandic capital ReyKJavik, with a dome on top to let in the sunlight.

 

“The sun changes with the seasons so we are in a way having the sun paint the space for us,” Hilmarsson said.

 

The temple will host ceremonies such as weddings and funerals. The group will also confer names to children and initiate teenagers, similar to other religious communities.

 

Iceland’s neo-pagans still celebrate the ancient sacrificial ritual of Blot with music, reading, eating and drinking, but nowadays leave out the slaughter of animals.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/02/iceland-temple-norse-gods-1000-years

[ThePilgrim]

It doesn't sound like they really believe in their god to fervently.  There are nominal christians so I suppose we should expect to see nominal pagans too, which is a good thing.  After all nominal pagans won't be sacrificing any young maidens to their nominal gods.  I wish all Muslims were nominal.

[John81]

I used to know several "Odinists" and such here in America. Some actually believe the old Norse gods are real; some believe the "all gods are the same" line and consider the Norse gods the same and equal with the Christian, American Indian, Greek, Muslim and other gods. Then there are those who want the spiritual aspect and the connection to past traditions but believe themselves too intellectual to actually believe in God/gods.