Day of Remembrance for Jarl Hakon

Jarl Hakon is one of those rare men who, by the sheer force of will changed history. Hakon was a strong practitioner of the old ways and likely an Odinn’s man. After Hakon’s father was burned alive by the grandsons of Harald Fairhair he vowed revenge and set about seeing that those responsible would pay dearly. Hakon was able to kill the grandson responsible and also, with the aid of the king of Denmark, to gain the jarldom of western Norway. Immediately upon his gaining power in Norway, Hakon began rebuilding the old temples and holy sites and encouraged the worship of the Gods again undoing much of what Fairhair and his family had done for Christianity.

Eventually Hakon was called upon to come to the aid of his Danish ally against Emperor Otto II of Germany. The ensuing war did not go well for the Scandinavians and it happened that Hakon was forcibly baptized and ordered to convert Norway back to Christianity. He was given a ship to sail home filled with priests of the desert faith. Hakon sailed out away from the shore and forced every priest off his ship. From there he sailed to islands off the coast of Sweden and gave blot to Odinn as ravens flew overhead.

After this great omen Hakon returned to Norway and repelled the incoming invasion. Now he was able to rule in peace for some time and continue his revival of the ancestral ways unhindered by outside influences.

Men like Hakon are rare, but each of us has the ability to change our immediate surroundings or, at the very least, change our perception of those surroundings. Hakon took misfortune and turned it into fuel to drive him to achieve great things. We too have that ability, we can decide how we react to things and how we deal with things. We can rise to the occasion or we can slink off and hide in the shadows. As Asatruar I dare say the only real option for us is to rise up. Asatruar -real sons and daughters of the Gods- do not hide in the shadows or slink off anywhere! We, like Hakon, must always stand tall and proud.

Hail Jarl Hakon Sigurdsson!!!

Categories: News

New Apprentice Folkbuilder

The AFA is proud to welcome Katee Allen of Idaho as the newest member of our Folkbuilding team. We are very excited to see the growth of our Northwest region and to welcome the new members. Katee will be a great help to Joe and Johnny as we move forward. Thank you Katee for stepping up.

Matthew D. Flavel
Alsherjargothi,
Asatru Folk Assembly

Categories: News

Gathering of the Tribes (1999)

From The Runestone Spring 1999 #25

The Asatru Folk Assembly has hosted dozens of local and regional events, but until now there has not been a national meeting specifically for the Asatru Folk Assembly. WELL, IT’s TIME!

June 24-27, in Northern California, we will hold the Gathering of the Tribes. This will not be “just another Asatru gathering;” it will be the beginning of a new phase in our movement’s history. If you are an AFA member or sympathizer, we hope you’ll be here!

The core of the Gathering of the Tribes, as the name indicates, is tribalism. It is time to form organic groupings of our Folk, and we will begin that undertaking during these four days. I have put a lot of preparation into some ideas which I hope will excite and inspire you as we carve our path into the next century.

We’ll also address intentional communities as the core of these evolving tribes, and take a long look at the social, political, and religious environments in which Asatru will operate in the coming century.

Other items on the agenda include a very relevant talk by Dr. James Russell, author of THE GERMANIZATION OF EARLY MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANITY, a class on y2k preperation by the Back to Basics Guild, a presentation on the challenges of forming intentional community by an expert in the field, and a traditional weapons demonstration by the Warrior Guild.

We’ve long felt that the women of Asatru needed to take a higher profile – so our GYTHJUR or priestesses will be more visible as we honor the Mighty Powers. Womanly wisdom will also express itself in seithwork or runecasting. There will be a blessing of children, as well.

As if this wasn’t enough, the Western Regional Thing of the Asatru Alliance will meet during the course of the Gathering – making this event especially attractive to members of Alliance kindreds, and setting new precedents for inter-organizational cooperation in Asatru.

Those who attended the Gathering of the Tribes will remember it always, as the time when “business as usual” and “status quo Asatru” were burned up on the fire of passion of forward movement. You will want to be here!

Categories: News

Þórshof: Second Hof of the Asatru Folk Assembly

It is with Immense joy and pride that I announce that the AFA has established a Hof in honor of Asa-Thor in North Carolina. This is the Second Hof of the Asatru Folk Assembly, coming four and a half years after the establishment of Óðinshof in California. This hof comes after more than a year of effort, of trial and error, of excitement and heartache. We have the very best people in the AFA, and many devoted sons of the Aesir put their all into making this a reality.

I promised you all that once we paid off Óðinshof, we would immediately begin making the second hof, Þórshof, a reality. It took longer than I had anticipated but I swear to you that we did our best from January 1, 2019 to make good on that promise.

Sincere thanks are due to Gothar Coordinator Blaine Qualls, Folkbuilder Jason Gallagher, and Ryan Hanson for their efforts over and over to push the rock up the hill.

Special thanks go to Law Speaker Allen Turnage for his steady wisdom.

The greatest of all thanks and appreciation go to Gothi Svan Herul, Champion of Thor, this hof exists because of him and his family’s dedication to this holy purpose.

The AFA is overjoyed to establish this hof for the benefit of our AFA Family.

Most of all, the AFA proudly offers this hof as a testament to our worship and loyalty to the divine thunderer, Asa-Thor.

Hail the Folk!
Hail the AFA!

HAIL THOR!!!

Matthew D. Flavel
Alsherjargothi,
Asatru Folk Assembly

Categories: News