Ásatrúarfélagið
organization
Ásatrúarfélagið (Icelandic: [ˈauːsatʰruːarˌfjɛːlaijɪð], Ásatrú Fellowship), also known simply as Ásatrú, is an Icelandic religious organisation of heathenry (in Iceland also called Ásatrú, "ás faith"). It was founded on the first day of summer in 1972, and granted recognition as a registered religious organization in 1973, allowing it to conduct legally binding ceremonies and collect a share of the church tax. The Allsherjargoði is the chief religious official.
The organization was led by farmer and poet Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson from 1972 until his death in 1993. During most of this period membership did not exceed 100 people and after the initial enthusiasm faded, there was little activity. The time of the next high priest, Jörmundur Ingi Hansen (1994–2002), saw considerable growth and activity, including the design of an Ásatrú burial ground. These trends have continued under the present high priest, musician Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson (2003–present), and as of 1 January 2018, the organization has 5770 registered members, about one third of whom are women. Since 2002, the number of registered members has grown annually from 8% (2006–2007) to 21% (2011–2012).
Ásatrúarfélagið does not have a fixed religious dogma or theology, but the high priests have tended towards a pantheistic worldview. The central ritual is the communal blót feast, but the priests (goðar) also conduct name-giving ceremonies, coming of age rituals, weddings, and funerals.
“Ásatrúarfélagið” enters the record as organization. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ásatrúarfélagið and organization can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Ásatrúarfélagið” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Ásatrúarfélagið and organization provides the most credible route into that argument.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2717028. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1972, 1973, 1993 and 1994.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ásatrúarfélagið” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.