Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost is a Norse neopagan organisation in Norway. It was founded in 1996 and acts as an

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

for a number of local groups in Norway.

History

Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost, originally named Bifrost, has its background in the

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

-based Norse neopagan group Blindern Åsatrolag (BÅL), founded in 1983 and named after the university district

Blindern Blindern is the main campus of the University of Oslo, located in Nordre Aker in Oslo, Norway. Campus Most of the departments of the University of Oslo are located at Blindern; other, smaller campuses include Sentrum (law), Gaustad (medicine), ...

. BÅL eventually joined forces with the group Draupnir from Våler in

Solør Solør is a Norwegian traditional district consisting of the valley between Elverum in the north and Kongsvinger in the south. It is part of Innlandet county and it includes the municipalities Våler, Åsnes, and Grue. Glomma valley Glommada ...

to form the umbrella organisation Bifrost, which was officially registered and recognised by the Norwegian government on 28 February 1996. In 1998, a request for a name change to Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost was initially rejected by the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Justi ...

. This was attributed to a comment from the scholar

Gro Steinsland Gro Steinsland (born 1945) is a Norwegian scholar of medieval studies and history of religion and since August 2009 has been the Scientific Director of the Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Steinsland has m ...

, who said that modern Norse paganism was "a historical falsification", and would be detrimental to "all serious activities concerning the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

". The parliamentary

Ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

dismissed the rejection, concluding that Steinsland had failed to give a legitimate reason for the government to not accept a religion. The original subculture that BÅL emerged from was more generally characterised by an interest in

paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...

and the

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

, and because of this, prominent people from the early days of Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost had personal connections to movements such as

Thelema Thelema () is a Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician. The word ' ...

and

LaVeyan Satanism LaVeyan Satanism is a nontheistic religion founded in 1966 by the American occultist and author Anton Szandor LaVey. Scholars of religion have classified it as a new religious movement and a form of Western esotericism. LaVey established his m ...

. This heterogeneity resulted in a schism in 1998, when a number of members left and formed Foreningen Forn Sed, later renamed Forn Sed Norge, which is based on "

Norwegian folklore Nordic folklore is the folklore of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. It has common roots with, and has been mutually influenced by, folklore in English folklore, England, German folklore, Germany, the Folklore of the Low Co ...

". These two umbrella organisations have since held the majority of organised pagans in Norway. In 2017, Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost acquired the facility Fagerhøi in ,

Trysil Trysil is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Innbygda. Other villages in the municipality include Nybergsund, � ...

. The building had previously been a school and a cultural centre.

Activities and beliefs

Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost is an umbrella organisation for local groups that perform sacrificial ''

blót ( Old Norse) and or ( Old English) are terms for "blood sacrifice" in Norse paganism and Anglo-Saxon paganism respectively. A comparanda can also be reconstructed for wider Germanic paganism. A ' could be dedicated to any of the Germanic ...

s''. The groups are called ''blotslag'', from ''blót'' and ''lag'' which means "small group" or "party". Individual members are also permitted. As of 2022, Bifrost had 457 members and 12 registered ''blotslag''. In 2016, about half of the members were members of a ''blotslag''. The name of the organisation means "The ''ás''-belief fellowship Bifrost". '' Ás'' is an

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

word for "god" and ''åsatru'' is a vernacular Norwegian term for

Old Norse religion Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peopl ...

. Bifrost is the bridge between the realms of men and gods in

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern per ...

. The stated goal is to carry on old customs and traditions and make them meaningful in contemporary life. The members share a religious practice but may vary in their beliefs. Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost's basic doctrines are summarised in a document titled ''Eden'' (); according to the scholars Geir Uldal and Geir Winje, the "underlying

ontology In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophy, philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, Becoming (philosophy), becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into Category ...

in this text seems close to what we know today about pre-Christian Norse religion". An important source of inspiration for Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost's Norse paganism has been the Icelandic organisation

Ásatrúarfélagið Ásatrúarfélagið (, ''Ásatrú Fellowship'') is an Icelandic religious organisation of heathenry (in Iceland also called ', " ás faith"). It was founded on the first day of summer (Iceland) 1972, and granted recognition as a registered rel ...

. The leader of Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost is called ''høvding'' (). As of 2021, the position was held by Sunniva Saksvik. The organisation publishes the magazine ''Bifrost Tidende'' (). Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost use the facility Fagerhøi for a few larger events per year, but also rent it out and aim to host concerts, exhibitions and offer courses in arts and handicrafts. Several prominent members of Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost have academic degrees in subjects like history of religion and

folklore studies Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained curren ...

and combine the religious practice with academic studies. The organisation and its members participate in a broader Old Norse-centred cultural environment that involves the reconstruction of

Viking ships Viking ships were marine vessels of unique structure, used in Scandinavia from the Viking Age throughout the Middle Ages. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as bein ...

, the organisation of Viking markets and the production of music inspired by

Old Norse poetry Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century (see Eggjum stone) to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Most of the Old Norse poetry that survives was preserved in Iceland ...

and historical instruments. It works actively to ensure that Norse symbols are associated with old customs rather than "hateful ideologies".

References

Notes

Sources

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External links