Speech at Althing 12 of the Asatru Alliance (22-24 May 1992)
by Gamlinginn, from Mountain Thunder, Issue 5, Summer 1992.
I would like to thank our hosts, Valgard Murray and the Arizona Kindred, along with the members of the other Asatru Alliance Kindreds, and all attending this Althing for welcoming me so very kindly and letting me speak. I come here representing only myself. I do not belong to any organization. Some people call me "Gamlinginn" which just means "the old man" - a nickname the Icelanders gave me. I have no rank or title, nor do I want one. I am an old man with arthritis and only one idea I think is vital.
I went suddenly from atheism to Asatru because of something that happened to me at the beginning of 1968. For the next 22 years, I followed the Aesir and the Vanir, developing a special interest in Tyr. I went back to college to study Old Norse, and I traveled extensively throughout the Scandinavian countries seeking knowledge. But I always worked alone, because it never occurred to me that there might be others in this country who shared my beliefs. Then, in the spring of 1990, I accidentally encountered a man who told me of Assemblies, Alliances, and Althings - of Kindreds, Troths, and Theods. And I realized I had wasted 22 years of my life. During the past two years, I have tried to make up for lost time. I went back to Iceland and met with Sveinbjorn Beinteinsson. I traveled all over the United States to personally meet people involved (in one way or another) with Asatru. I tried to cover all sides of a very complex galaxy.
In the last 24 months I have talked face-to-face with (in alphabetic order): Charles and Karen Armour, Bill Bainbridge, Jim Chisholm, Thorfinn Einarsson, Kveldulfr Gundarsson, John Gyori, Alice Karlsdottir, Richard King, Tadhg MacCrossan, Valgard Murray, Phil Nearing, Diana Paxson, Prudence Priest, Dianne Ross, Edred Thorsson, Ymir Thunarson, Wilfred von Dauster, and a great many others - plus all those here at this Althing.
In addition, I have exchanged letters with Stephen McNallen, Bob Stine, and others.
With all of the people I met, I talked about the state of Asatru today in the United States. And one thing has become very clear to me.... Asatru today is in a constant state of war within itself. Great amounts of time and energy are devoted to denouncing this or that person or group for "heresies" of one sort or another.
I realize that there will always be some people who each of us will find distasteful to some degree, but I truly believe we could all manage to at least endure those we dislike - for the sake of Asatru. Asatru today is a tiny band, surrounded on all sides by huge numbers of hostile forces. The only thing that has so far kept the encircling forces from launching a devastating attack, is that Asatru is so small that most of its potential enemies are unaware of its existence. And we all know that could change at any moment. Asatru today can ill afford the luxury of theocratic absolutes. Asatru needs every follower it can get, just to survive. And it needs them all in one camp.
As was said at the time of the American Revolution: "If we do not hang together, we will hang separately."
You may remember I said I had only one idea I thought vital. This is it:
We must all work together for the good of Asatru, accepting into our camp all those who are willing to join us in good faith.
Please don't get me wrong.... I am not suggesting that the Asatru Alliance take in the members of other Asatru groups already in existence - any more that I would suggest the Alliance or its members join any such other group. But I am suggesting that all of you, as individuals, as Kindreds, and as the Alliance itself, all consider working with - or at least not trying to destroy - all other Asatru people and/or groups with only two exceptions.
I would exclude only two sorts of people and/or groups ...
1. Those who are genuinely evil, and
2. Those who would be a serious embarrassment to Asatru if facts about them or their background which might be perceived as unsavory became known to the general public. (This may be unfair, but it is practical.)I am an old man with arthritis and only one idea I think is vital. I see here today - as I have seen many times in my travels - the faces of true folk who would willingly give their lives for Asatru. That is fine and noble, and I am proud to be associated with such people. But dying for Asatru is not enough. I am asking you to live for Asatru. And sometimes that can be much harder than simply dying. For what I am asking of you - what I am pleading for - will not be easy.
I am asking you to put aside your personal ambitions and personal pride. I am asking you to ignore past wrongs and insults, however grievous. I am asking you to work with people you may hate and despise.
I am asking you to bury deep the bloody war-axe of internal strife so that Asatru may grow and prosper across these United States, and across all of Midgard, and bring new glory to the great Gods of Asgard.
I know full well that many of you would rather die than do what I ask - and yet I dare ask it, standing here before all of you, alone and unallied.
I ask you - all of you - to join forces together with all others of Asatru because it is vital to do so. The old system that held society together for so long is now collapsing before our eyes. What if anything will take its place?
The Abrahamic religions that have for so long ruled so much of the world are now withering away. Only in their most fanatically fundamentalist forms are the Muslims and the Christians still frantically fighting a futile rear-guard action.
What will replace them? The great "secular religion" called Communism has made its try and has failed completely. What else is now on the spiritual horizon? Will people's lives be governed by those whose only rule is the fear of being found out?
What values, ideals, and ethics will guide the coming generations? What type of "leadership" will be offered to our children, to our nation, and to our planet? Yes, the whole world will win or lose, depending on what happens next.
For we stand at a great turning-point in time and - good or bad - things will never be the same. But this is not the time of Ragnarok. This is the time for the re-birth of Asatru.
Asatru can provide a framework of life for all who are willing to take it up. And not just in the "developed" countries of North America, Japan, and Western Europe, but also in Asia and Latin America and indeed throughout the whole of Midgard.
If that seems a strange concept, then think about it for a moment. If Asatru will work for some people - for "us" - then why not for all people? Is there something about Asatru that makes it unworkable, meaningless, useless to others who are also in need of a spiritual path?
And how do each of you fit into this "global" picture? Think about it! Can any of you truly say that mere "chance" brought you here? That mere "chance" emplaced Asatru in your hearts? That mere "chance" has given you something most people will never have? That mere "chance" has put each of you in a position to alter history for all time?
Not "chance" but Destiny! And yet each of you has been given the chance to accept this Destiny - or to reject it and go on about your normal life. The chance to do something really meaningful - or to have another beer.
In the immortal words of the Havamal (verse 76) ...
Deyr fe, deyja fraendr,
deyr sjalfr it sama;
en orthstirr deyr aldregi
hveim er ser gothan getr.Cattle die, kinsmen die,
oneself dies the same;
but words of praise never die
for those of great renown.Each of you has been given a chance to be remembered thousands of years from now. In fact, each of you has been given a chance for something far more important than just being remembered. Each of you has been given a chance to change the course of history.
Wild talk? Possibly, but think about it. For some hard-to-understand reason, each of you has a chance - a destiny - to be in on the rebirth of a religion. And not just any religion, either. Each of you can be a part of the rebirth of Asatru. Each of you can help to shape and smooth its course. And thus each of you has the potential to change the course of history.
Some of you will say "Why me?" And others will say "Am I able?" I cannot answer those questions. But I know none of you are here by mere "chance," and each of you is here for a reason far beyond my or your understanding.
The real question is "Will you try?" And that gets back to the one idea I think is vital: To succeed, we must all work together for the good of Asatru, accepting into our camp all those who are willing to join us in good faith.
If we are to succeed in this great undertaking, the very first necessity is that we all stop fighting among ourselves. We can not afford the "luxury" of associating only with those we view as "perfect" in every way. We must be bigger and stronger than that. We must be able to rise above petty dislikes.
What more important thing will any one of you ever have in your life than working for a world that is not only "safe" for Asatru, but a world governed by the ideals and ethics of Asatru? A world in which Midgard is in harmony with Asgard?
This article copyright 1992 by Gamlinginn.
Web version copyright 1997 by Gamlinginn and Mountain Thunder.
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Last modified on 9 Mar 1999.