Zephyr
Moved on
I found this on odinist.com. Pretty neat.
Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, the son of the farmer Beinteinn Einarsson from Litlabotni-on-Hvaljardsbeach and Helga Pétursdóttir from Drághals in Svindal, was born on Apr. 4, 1924. He died on the 24th of Dec., 1993, from heart failure. In 1972 he founded the Ásatrúarfélag, the Icelandic heathen organization, of which he was the chief góði until his death. Since 1991, Sveinbjörn lived on his land in Drághals in Bergmassiv Skardheiði (approx. 60 mi. from Reykjavik), where the 6 ½ foot statue of Þor can be found.
Interview with Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson lead by Gisela Graichen and taken from the book Die Neuen Hexen (The New Witches) by G. Graichen and translated by the Seiðman.
S. B.: "Here in Iceland heathenry it's a completely normal thing. I'm more scared of the fact that I smoke than that I'm a heathen. My religion was officially recognized by the government in May of '93."
G. G.: You were the founder?
S. B.: "Yeah, I was already interested in the old Gods when I was a child. I snatched up the wisdom out of the Sagas, the Edda and the old stories. By the time I could read I was already pouring over the Sagas and by the time I turned 16 I had published my first poems dealing with the Gods."
G. G.: What's your actual occupation?
S. B.: "Farmer, author, and poet. My forebears have always been farmers."
G. G.: You live here by yourself on your land. Isn't that kinda lonely?
S. B. : "Oh no, my nearest neighbor lives 3½ mi. from here, and, besides that, I'm completely surrounded by beings, Landspirits--the Hidden folk."
G. G.: What about when you're sick?
S. B.: "I go out into Nature and gather herbs to cure myself."
G. G.: What do you write?
S. B.: "Works about Iceland's history, songs, poems. I also have a scholarly book about the technical construction of Old Icelandic poetry. Historically, we have some pretty complicated poetry here."
G. G.: Are you baptized?
S. B.: "Baptized, confirmed, the works. I've always had pretty close ties to Christianity, at least, as it's practiced here in Iceland."
G. G.: Are you still in the Church?
S. B.: "No, before someone can join us, he first has to leave the Church."
G. G.: When did the idea first come to you to start a movement out of your belief in the old Gods?
S. B.: "In the winter of '71/ '72. At that time we were getting a lot of Jesus Children into Iceland, and I said to myself, 'Wait a minute, we have older beliefs in Iceland. Why should we not bring them back to life? How come we're bringing in all these other sects?' I gathered up a group of people (we were 12 of us at the time) and soon we had a few more. The idea quickly began to sound real good to us."
............
Full Interview available here: http://www.angelfire.com/nm/seidhman/beinweb.html
By the way, am I the only Asatruar left here? Haven't seen Darkdale in a while.
Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, the son of the farmer Beinteinn Einarsson from Litlabotni-on-Hvaljardsbeach and Helga Pétursdóttir from Drághals in Svindal, was born on Apr. 4, 1924. He died on the 24th of Dec., 1993, from heart failure. In 1972 he founded the Ásatrúarfélag, the Icelandic heathen organization, of which he was the chief góði until his death. Since 1991, Sveinbjörn lived on his land in Drághals in Bergmassiv Skardheiði (approx. 60 mi. from Reykjavik), where the 6 ½ foot statue of Þor can be found.
Interview with Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson lead by Gisela Graichen and taken from the book Die Neuen Hexen (The New Witches) by G. Graichen and translated by the Seiðman.
S. B.: "Here in Iceland heathenry it's a completely normal thing. I'm more scared of the fact that I smoke than that I'm a heathen. My religion was officially recognized by the government in May of '93."
G. G.: You were the founder?
S. B.: "Yeah, I was already interested in the old Gods when I was a child. I snatched up the wisdom out of the Sagas, the Edda and the old stories. By the time I could read I was already pouring over the Sagas and by the time I turned 16 I had published my first poems dealing with the Gods."
G. G.: What's your actual occupation?
S. B.: "Farmer, author, and poet. My forebears have always been farmers."
G. G.: You live here by yourself on your land. Isn't that kinda lonely?
S. B. : "Oh no, my nearest neighbor lives 3½ mi. from here, and, besides that, I'm completely surrounded by beings, Landspirits--the Hidden folk."
G. G.: What about when you're sick?
S. B.: "I go out into Nature and gather herbs to cure myself."
G. G.: What do you write?
S. B.: "Works about Iceland's history, songs, poems. I also have a scholarly book about the technical construction of Old Icelandic poetry. Historically, we have some pretty complicated poetry here."
G. G.: Are you baptized?
S. B.: "Baptized, confirmed, the works. I've always had pretty close ties to Christianity, at least, as it's practiced here in Iceland."
G. G.: Are you still in the Church?
S. B.: "No, before someone can join us, he first has to leave the Church."
G. G.: When did the idea first come to you to start a movement out of your belief in the old Gods?
S. B.: "In the winter of '71/ '72. At that time we were getting a lot of Jesus Children into Iceland, and I said to myself, 'Wait a minute, we have older beliefs in Iceland. Why should we not bring them back to life? How come we're bringing in all these other sects?' I gathered up a group of people (we were 12 of us at the time) and soon we had a few more. The idea quickly began to sound real good to us."
............
Full Interview available here: http://www.angelfire.com/nm/seidhman/beinweb.html
By the way, am I the only Asatruar left here? Haven't seen Darkdale in a while.