Nordic paganism explained

The creation and Gods according to Norse religion

Small figures sold at the Old Uppsala museum shop. All are copies of archeologial finds. The God of Odin from a find in Skåne, God of Frey from Rällinge, Södermanland, Valkyrie from Hårby, Denmark, The God of Thor from Iceland.

Old Norse religion, sometimes also called paganism – or ”asatro” in Swedish - a belief in the Æsir Gods – was the religious practice that existed in the Nordic countries during a very long time.

Old Norse religion was a folk faith and not a missionary religion as Christianity, so it did not aim to reach more and more followers, instead it was based on the people who lived in the Nordic countries. And it existed for centuries, maybe thousands of years.

What was paganism all about? Here are some basic facts, from a text I wrote for the Stockholm university 2022