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| Posted by Jerome Konen on 18/08/06 |
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| Ásatrú - faith in the Æsir |
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| Photo by Jerome Konen |
| Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, chief goði of the Icelandic Ásatrú Association. |
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13 August 2006 - I couldn't have chosen a better place as the Saga Museum in Reykjavík to meet Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, chief goði of the Icelandic Ásatrú Association. Ásatrú is a religious movement which is attempting to revive the Norse paganism of the Viking Age prior to the arrival of Christianity in Iceland.
Hilmar joined Ásatrú at his sixteenth birthday - thus taking his first adult decision he never regretted as he never felt any strong affilition to Christianity as he told me. Currently, the society counts about a thousand members, the largest denomination outside of Christianity in Iceland. And it is officially recognized by the Icelandic government since 1973. The term Ásatrú is an old one consisting of two parts. The first is Ása, referring to one of two families of gods in the myths. The second part, trú, literally means faith.
When I was asking Hilmar about his function as a chief goði in that association, he pointed out that it could be compared as a priestly function, but his title being quite similar to a bishop among the priests. Thus a big responsibility emerges towards the community, but always according to the old customs. That means, he has to keep things in harmony, trying to ease conflicts and finding peaceful solutions to people's quarrels. In the old times, people went to Þingvellir, to the central parliament to settle disputes. The chief goði's function was to make a sacred space for these gatherings, bless the place and settle disputes.
Their code of conduct is simple and defines basically how to interact with your fellow human beings, how to show respect, how to be a good guest and a good host as well. And that's what Hilmar stands for.
Back to the Saga Museum, located in the Perlan building in Reykjavík. This is probably the best place to understand the turbulent past of the Icelandic history. It recreates the key moments by showing life-like replicas of historical figures, this from the time of the earliest settlers up to that of the Reformation. A vibrant museum.
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