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  • Ásatrú for Beginners

  • A Modern Heathen's Guide to the Ancient Northern Way
  • Written by: Dr. Mathias Nordvig
  • Narrated by: David Marantz
  • Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (16 ratings)

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Ásatrú for Beginners

Written by: Dr. Mathias Nordvig
Narrated by: David Marantz
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Publisher's Summary

Ásatrú is a spiritual belief system based around the pre-Christian folklore and mythology of Northern Europe. It gained popularity in the 1970s across Europe and North America and is still thriving today, sought out for its nondogmatic structure and emphasis on individuality, hospitality, and community-based values.

Ásatrú for Beginners is a newcomer's guide to this spirituality. It breaks down everything from the history and traditions to the gods and goddesses, ancient texts, sacred rituals, and the use of runes with simple language anyone can dive into. It's an inclusive and practical guide that makes it easy to apply Ásatrú in your modern-day life and find greater spiritual satisfaction.

Ásatrú for Beginners offers:

  • See yourself more clearly - Ásatrú centers around ideas like friendship, community, and sharing. Discover what's important to you and how to worship in a way that fits your life.
  • What's old is new again - explore the thousand-year-old roots of the original Ásatrú religion and what makes its recent rebirth so powerful.
  • Gods and goddesses - find wonder, purpose, and inspiration in the stories and poems about gods like Thor, Loki, and Frigg.

Enter the world of Ásatrú with a simple guide that puts you on the path to spiritual health.

©2020 Rockridge Press (P)2020 Tantor

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    5 out of 5 stars

Best beginner Asatru/Heathen book out there!

I've read a lot of crap asatru how-to books because I'm interested in figuring out how others actually practice, and this is not one of those. I'm comfortable in my own practice as a Heathen for about 5 years now and still was able to take away some valuable things from it. Very well done, absolutely essential for those looking to start or even better develop along with this belief system. The author also has an amazing podcast, "Nordic Mythology Podcast" that will teach you much, much more with their many amazing guests.

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3 people found this helpful

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Great scholarly and practical book!

Written by an academic who is also a practitioner of Asatru, I found this book reliable in its background information as well as practical for a beginner, plus with information for those who are already Asatru.

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Amazing Book!

I have purchased and read this book both paper and digital and wanted an audio version to listen to while driving. I am a fan of Dr Mathias Nordvig and his works, and while I appreciate the Narration by David Marantz, I do not feel it did this book justice and would have preferred a narration by the original author.

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  • Seth
  • 2021-01-02

Very Helpful

I didn’t know what to expect from this book, but it confirmed in my mind that the attraction I have to Norse Mythology is something that I want to explore further and incorporate into my own spirituality. This book emphasizes the fact that a perfect reconstruction of the old Scandinavian religion is impossible, and much of the narrative was written through the lens of biased Christians. It emphasizes an individual approach to the faith and that there is no one way to practice. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring this faith, or for anyone that wishes to understand it better.

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11 people found this helpful

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  • Jackson Green
  • 2020-12-29

Definite overview

I have read Essential Asatru and a Practical Heathens Guide. This is a must read or listen to anyone who is interested in following the old gods or as an introduction to family members to better understand. Very well researched and reads like a breeze

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7 people found this helpful

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  • Kyle
  • 2021-11-14

Insightful and recommended

I learned a great deal from this book. It shared many new things, reinforced things I already knew, and corrected some misconceptions that I may have never have known to correct.

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1 person found this helpful

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  • ryan mayfield
  • 2023-09-19

Good starting point

Good starting for someone getting into paganism, lots of subject material covered that can help you branch off from here.

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  • Héctor
  • 2023-09-12

Repetitive, low information, modern biased

I ended up skimming this book at 1.5 the speed. It doesn’t have much information in it. The book mostly consists of the same few repetitive platitudes “Asatru is for everybody”, “there is no wrong way to worship”, “you don’t have any beliefs”, “there are no dogmas”. Ok well that is just Unitarianism with a hammer instead of a cross.

If your looking for the history Norse Paganism, theology of their Gods, ancestor worship or rituals and practice, I recommend you look elsewhere. This book at best only touches on these topics lightly. Also, the author has a bias against folkish traditions and veneration of once ancestors because he finds it “problematic”.

Give this book a pass.

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  • Johanna Larsen
  • 2023-07-14

Worst reading ever

Horrible language and dialect. Couldn’t follow along. Waste of money and time that I can’t get back

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Katie Ring
  • 2023-02-14

I wish Mathias was reading

The book was great. Tons of interesting information i wish I had when I started this path. I should have read this soooo much earlier then I did. I just wish Dr. Nordvig was reading it as a fan of his I always love hearing from the authors.

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  • DFS2016
  • 2022-12-11

Actually very intriguing

This was very intriguing actually.
Quite informative and well presented it was an easy to listen to lesson as well.

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  • Rezora46
  • 2022-07-28

great book.

great book good info. narrator sounds like male Siri, he's very monotone. his diction is freaking perfect though

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  • Nichole
  • 2022-05-02

Great for those learning!

This book lays out a simple guide to learning and understanding Ásatrú. Excellent for anyone interested in it or wanting to learn how it’s practiced today.

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