Asatru cover art

Asatru

A Beginner's Guide to the Heathen Path

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About this listen

Asatru is a modern pagan tradition whose roots lie in the ancient myths, folklore, sagas, and historical artifacts of those who lived in pre-Christian times in what is now Iceland, Scandinavia, Scandinavian-influenced Scotland, Germany, and other parts of northern Europe. In Asatru, Erin Lale provides listeners with an accessible introduction to this heathen religion, one of the fastest growing religions in the United States and Europe. The book includes these key topics:

  • A brief exploration of Asatru's mythology and prehistory, its contact with Rome, and its history up to the present day
  • A comprehensive survey of Asatru's many gods and goddesses
  • The rituals, including holiday celebrations, toasting rituals, weddings, and other life events
  • The moral virtues of a true Asatruar: courage, honor, loyalty, truth, hospitality, industriousness, self-discipline, self-reliance, and steadfastness
  • The magical practices of rune divination, spells, and bersarkrgangr
  • A look at the "universalist" and "folkish" interpretations of the Asatru tradition and the "hijacking" of the symbolism of the northern European religions in the 19th and early 20th centuries
©2020 Erin Lale (P)2020 Tantor Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts Spirituality Magic Pagan Mythology
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Very good introduction to Asatru with lots of additional resources given for further reading. Good tempo of reading with a pleasant women voice. A lot of focus is placed on American way of practice which from one side informs what possibly to discard in other versions of it, but from the other side creates an impression of book being address mainly to American readers.

Very good brief introduction to Asatru

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It was an easy listen with lots of helpful information. I thoroughly enjoyed this and think it is fantastic for anyone new to Asatru or Heathenry.

Great introduction to Asatru

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A useful intro, though not as useful as another I've listened to (Asatru for beginners). However, I found this very American focused, probably very literal focused, and the ethics section very simplistic for complicated ethics (verging on dogmatic similar to how some christians can be). I also found the magic topic not helpful so much due to her mentioning practices that have their roots in white supremacist groups. Overall, I think there's better books out there but there is use for this resource also but with caution.

American focused

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This book sets the scene for basic heathenry practices for beginners to Asatru or interested in the Old Gods (aka Norse Gods). She clearly outlines practices based on American tradition, and tries to give suggestions for European practices. This book is suitable for audiobooks due to Leslie Howard’s easy listen voice, and I admire her for her pronunciation of Old Norse and different languages, which clearly would be lost in a book. There’s a few bits n pieces I do not agree with but that is the beauty of heathenry, and some elements I think Erin Lale could have mastered better, hence not reaching full five stars. It nonetheless deserves four big stars. Despite my knowledge of heathenry and Asatru I enjoyed this book and I’ll listen to certain parts of it again. Enjoy.

A beginners guide

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