One of the old religions of the word includes the Old Norse religion which was spread across the Nordic countries and whose supporters were the real Vikings.
At that time, it was not even called the Norse Religion(It is the present-day name of this religion).
Back then, there was no proper name for Norse Religion but due to the calling of Christianity as “the new way” it was named “the old way“.
But what happened to the Norse Religion Today. It was considered that when Christianity spread across Nordic countries, it was gradually erased.
But its sudden revival in Iceland is a sign that they were never erased, instead, they were continuing their practicing while hiding under the shadows.
Nowadays, the highest priest of the Norse religion today is Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson and working for the revival of this old religion in the present day.
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Revival of Norse Religion in Modern time
End of Old Norse Religion
Norse Religion is said to be the Old Norse religion of the Nordic countries e.g. Iceland, Norway, and Finland. Now it is named Ásatrú.
It was believed that the religion was swept with the emergence of Christianity in the North which is also true up to an extent.
Because there are no authentic sources of the original religious beliefs and practices of this religion now.
But it is seen in Iceland that religion was revived(or founded again with new beliefs) again by a sheep farmer.
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Sudden Revival of Norse Religion Today
It was seen that the Norse Religion today was again founded in Iceland in 1972 by a sheep farmer named Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson.
He wrote Epic Poetry that was demonstrating the old mythological Gods of Norse Mythology and started an association for this.
This association applied for recognition as an official religion and received rights to perform religious practices in 1973.
Since then they are allowed to perform marriages and funerals according to their own desires.
This sudden revival of Norse Religion Today after 973 years of official Christianity in Iceland is very astonishing and attracting lots of visitors as well as new believers to the religion.
One of the major reasons for people converting to Norse Religion today is the same sex marriages which is not allowed in the Christianity.
Growth of Norse Religion Today
There are not many believers of the Norse Religion Today but still it is a growing religion among the Nordic countries.
In Iceland, it is the second largest community with a population of 2400 among 330,000 citizens and still growing.
It is the religion which has a major role in the history of Nordic Countries as it was the major religion there and influenced the population a great deal.
This was the religion before Christianity and its festivals are still in practice of the Norse Religion Today.
Not just in Iceland but it is also growing in Denmark, Sweden and Norway as well. Although their numbers are a few hundreds in these countries but their movements are continue steadily.
They got the approval in Denmark in 2003. They are building the first temple since 1000AD in Norway.
They say that it is now a religion of peace and no more supports the militarism.
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Is it really the Old Norse Religion?
This Norse religion that we are discussing is not actually the old Norse Religion but an updated version of it based on the old tales without any real source of it.
We do not have any idea about if the practices of Norse Religion Today are really of the old one or not.
In fact, the highest priest has a motif that it is the re shaping of that old religion and is a more refined form of it.
The religious practices of Christianity are found to match the exact sources which is a primary motif of the believers of Ásatrú.
One important reason for the growth of this religion is the willingness to escape the boundaries set by the Christianity.
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Norse Religion Mythology
As we Norse religion is also a Polytheistic religion and believe in the existence of multiple Gods just like the Greek Mythology.
The major God is Odin who is considered the Lord of Wisdom and al father of the Gods. There are also many other Gods associated with many characters or superpowers.
This Mythology Consist of a hierarchy of Gods starting from Odin. It then extends to Thor(Lord of Thunder) and Loki(Lord of Mischief) the two sons of Odin.
Here is a comparison of some of Greek and Norse Gods
How to convert to Norse religion Today
In reality, there is no proper way of converting into Ásatrú and not any specific process of it.
You can just start it today at you home by starting the worshipping.
But it is not a proper religion now as it was 1000 years ago and that is also the reason for its steady growth but still its growing.
Conclusion
Although, this religion was a very popular among the Nordic countries at the times of Vikings but it was not adequate for them. That is the reason for changing of official religion of that region to change into Christianity.
Due to the discovery of its ancient temple in Sweden is making this thing more popular among the masses and how its Priest is preaching it through music and Poetry is developing curiosity among the believers.
Norse religion Today is just growing and its effects would start to appear after two or three decades.
