Norsemen,Vikings and Gods
The Viking Age is the chief source of our surviving myths,recorded by the skaldic and Eddic poets. It was during this time that the Norsemen swept down on christian Europe, raiding and conquering. The word "viking" itself, literally "bay-goer", was used to mean "raider" or "pirate", and this is the image which has fastened itself to the Norsemen. The northerners were continiously reaching out in every direction, striving to fare farther and win more - more land,more gold, more lore, more glory. These northern "barbarians" believed that one of the greatest gifts a man could possess was the ability to make poems as fast as he could speak.Perhaps the ultimate Viking, showing most of the traits which characterized a norseman, was Egill Skalla-Grimsson - a huge warrior with a furious temper and frighting appreance, who was also one of the most skilled and subtle poets of his age, a runic magician and a prosperous farmer.
Asatru
Asatru means "true to the Aesir". The name Asatru has come to mean worship of all of the Northern tradition gods, both Aesir and Vanir. The Asatru today gives worship to a great many gods and goddesses. The ways in which we do this, and the ways in which we see them, are very different from the ways of the Abrahamic religions. The gods are our oldest kinfolk, to whom we give the greatest love and respect, but before whom we do not kneel or bow. Our aim is to come to know them better and to live together with them -to become one again with the clan from which we have long been separated. As we are descended,both in soul and body, from them, their might shows itself in us.
Laxdaela Edda