We always welcome visitors from abroad, as well as Icelanders, with an interest in our cultural heritage and spiritual traditions. We respect everyone‘s interest in the Ásatrúarfélagið and our religious traditions, but we do not necessarily agree with every visitor’s ideas of the form that Ásatrú should have in our modern world. Visitors should not assume that we automatically agree with or endorse their own views and practices. We strongly oppose any attempt by individuals to use their association with the Ásatrúarfélagið of Iceland to promote attitudes, ideologies and practices rejected by the leadership of the Ásatrúarfélagið. We particularly reject the use of Ásatrú as a justification for supremacy ideology, militarism and animal sacrifice. It should also be known that visitors have no authority to speak on our behalf. There is no advisor to the Ásatrúarfélagið and there is no spokesman other than our allsherjargoði. We respectfully request that visitors not claim any such authority based on their association with us.
starting this month on the island’s first major temple to the Norse gods since the Viking age.
“I don’t believe anyone believes in a one-eyed man who is riding about on a horse with eight feet,” said Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, high priest of Ásatrúarfélagið, an association that promotes faith in the Norse gods.
Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor, is one of the major symbols of Ásatrú.
The temple will be circular and will be dug 4 metres (13ft) down into a hill overlooking the Icelandic capital Reykjavik, with a dome on top to let in the sunlight.
“The sun changes with the seasons so we are in a way having the sun paint the space for us,” Hilmarsson said.