The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/old-norse/page/2)
The Midgardsblot festival, taking place each August in Borre, just south of Oslo, Norway, has slowly but surely become ubiquitous among Viking nerds, Norse Pagans, and metalheads alike. With its unique blend of extreme Metal and nordic folk acts (among others), alongside numerous artistic and academic entertainment acts, it was only a matter of time that I checked it out for myself.
We choose how we relate to the deities of our tradition. Our choice is not made for us by ancient poets, modern practitioners, or academic scholars.
I know I’m in a tiny minority, but – as a practitioner of a tiny minority religion – I’m used to caring about things that are way outside the mainstream of our cultural discourse. And I wonder what we practitioners can offer during this cultural moment in which the majority of us are passively experiencing a major paradigm shift, in which most of us are just unquestioningly along for the ride.
What does Ásatrú theology have to tell us about end-of-life issues? How does it help us to understand our experiences as we care for those with growing cognitive issues and as we develop those issues ourselves?
As both musician and writer, I’m drawn to Odin as an embodiment of the creative force. As a practitioner of Ásatrú, I can’t support companies that steal the work of human artists to generate disposable dross.