Vidar's Gothi

It will soon be Memorial Day in the United States (29th of May this year). This is a day or remembrance of those who have fallen in battle defending the freedoms so many enjoy. Many people will also take time to remember other loved ones who have passed from the Middle World. What does this mean for the Asatruar?

I went to the Quiet Place and I listened... The Leathershod was there. He looked at me and then looked into the distance. I followed His gaze as best I could and this is what I saw. There was a map of the world with territories mapped out. An area marked in brown was noted as the land owned by Asatruar. As time passed, the ownership spread. Before long, we owned much of the north-central United States, north-western Europe, and much of the Australian coast.

This year's Central Iowa Pagan Pride Festival will be held in Des Moines, Iowa on August 27th. You can read about it on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/iowa.pride/.

Many Asatru people like the idea of being able to hold their own in a Viking-style combat situation. The thought swinging the sword or ax around or blocking the attack of an opponent with a shield just seems like fun. Unfortunately, most neighborhoods don't have Viking-style martial arts schools. In the Internet age, that is less of a problem thanks in part to the folks over at Hurstwic.

With a title like "The Sea of Trolls" and vaguely Viking-like ship painted on the cover, you expect at least a Norse feel to the story. Nancy Farmer does do that, to some degree, but also does a lot of other stuff. The northern parts of the story are mostly acceptable, but they show a very narrow and stereotypical view of those Vikings.

The Vernal Equinox happens in the Midwest on March 19, at 11:31 in the evening. This is the time when the relative tilt of the Earth's axis is at an angle so that the length of the day and the length of the night are even. Though weather may choose to ignore this detail, it is the official start of Spring. So, what are you going to do about it?

The news is full of politics, some of it fairly hostile. Because we are going to have to deal with all of this nonsense, I've added a new forum just for political discussion.

I would ask that you be civil and respectful of others, even when there is a disagreement.

You can find the forum here: http://vidarsgothi.org/politicsforum

In the northern hemisphere, Spring is just around the corner. That means it’s time to get out and enjoy nature. It’s also a good time to spend some time with the Elves.

Asatru people tend to be environmentally conscious, so it stands to reason that we would want to do our part to make things better. At the same time, we tend to be a self-reliant lot who like to take care of things ourselves. That's one of the reason why wind power is a good choice for people like us.

For those interested, there is now a map of the travels of the heroes of the Icelandic Sagas. You can find the map here: http://sagamap.hi.is/is/. I found out about it in this article from Iceland Review Online http://icelandreview.com/news/2015/11/23/map-tracks-icelandic-saga-heroes.