Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost is a Norse neopagan organisation in Norway. It was founded in 1996 and acts as an umbrella organisation for a number of local groups in Norway.

History

Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost, originally named Bifrost, has its background in the Oslo-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 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. 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 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 Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...

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 and LaVeyan Satanism. 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". These two umbrella organisations have since held the majority of organised pagans in Norway. In 2017, Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost acquired the facility Fagerhøi in , Trysil. 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 '' blóts''. 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 word for "god" and ''åsatru'' is a vernacular Norwegian term for Old Norse religion. 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 period ...

. 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 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. 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 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, the organisation of Viking markets and the production of music inspired by Old Norse poetry and historical instruments. It works actively to ensure that Norse symbols are associated with old customs rather than "hateful ideologies".

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