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Ásatrú (Icelandic for "Æsir faith", pronounced [au?satru?], in Old Norse [a?satru?]; Norwegian Åsatru, Swedish Asatro, Danish Asetro, Faroese Ásatrúgv) is a Neopagan movement inspired by Germanic polytheism, in particular the Norse paganism as described in the Eddas and as practiced prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia. There are two main strains of Ásatrú, originating near-simultaneously in Iceland (Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið, 1972) and the USA (Asatru Free Assembly, 1974). While the Scandinavian branch emphasizes pantheist spirituality rooted in medieval and contemporary Scandinavian folklore, the American branch postulates a "native religion of the peoples of Northern Europe" reaching back into the paleolithic.[1] In Germany, the term Asatru is used in the wider sense of Germanic neopaganism. The term is the Old Norse/Icelandic translation of Asetro, a neologism coined in the context of 19th century romantic nationalism, used by Edvard Grieg in his 1870 opera Olaf Trygvason. The use of the term Ásatrú for Germanic paganism preceding 19th century revivalist movements is therefore an anachronism. As Ásatrú implies a focus on polytheistic belief in the Æsir usage of the term in Scandinavia has declined somewhat. In Scandinavia, forn sed / forn siðr "old custom", Nordisk sed "Nordic custom" or hedensk sed / heiðinn siður "pagan custom" are preferred.[5] In both the Anglosphere and German-speaking Europe, it is widely used interchangeably with other terms for Germanic Neopaganism.[6]
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