The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

Oddly enough it was a LOTR conversation that really pushed me over the hump and started me on the spiritual journey I am on now........

I loved LotR before I found Asatru, so I can relate. I'm not a total LotR nut IRL, but it definitely has a warm and fuzzy spot in my heart, then and even more so now!

As to your question...... one could use the whole "religion of the ancestors" thing. I think most people would be somewhat satisfied with that.

And if that's not why I do it? My ancestors do happen to be Germanic, for the most part, but that's not why I'm heathen myself.

I don't really want anyone using either movie to investigate the religion so I would try to keep it away from both. Reducing the "Marvel universe" down to just Thor is easier than dissecting LOTR. At least to me, but I am not a reconstructionist.

 (My emphasis.)

I find this generally interesting... Norse myth in popular culture: LotR as the reconstructionist flavor, and Marvel's Thor as the non-reconstructionist flavor!

That said, and this is off topic somewhat, but as far as being true to the source material, I think it's probably unintentional, but I get such a huge kick out of the humorous bits in the Thor movies. I find that bit of comic relief true to him and to his stories. The part where he comes into the house and neatly hangs his hammer on the coat rack just slays me!

 
Totally. One of my christmas presents was money to go see it in the theater here (small town, we get stuff after the fact LOL) and a friend of mine was there too. They asked me if any of the way its presented bothered me. It really doesn't cause it is what it is - a movie. I honestly think that they capture the essence of Thor pretty well. Odin not so much though maybe.

So this is sparked by a conversation I had with a friend the other night. Out of the blue, he asked me what my religion was. So I started to explain it to him, and I said something about it being similar to what inspired Tolkein in writing The Lord of the Rings.

I've used this comparison in the past, because it connects to something people are familiar with, and it's seemed to go over well. But this particular friend then started getting stuck on whether I believe in trolls. Lol. This led to a conversation about jotun that was a bit more than I felt I could adequately explain on the fly, but we made it through.

I don't often talk about my religion to people outside my "inner circle," and I don't mind with friends, but I'll admit it's a bit uncomfortable for me. Because I don't do it very often, I'm never sure if I'm accurately communicating what I'd like to them or if I just sound like, well, a LotR nut.

So, as a heathen or Asatruar, how do you (or how would you) explain your religion to people who have no concept of anything outside of JCI religions? Or even how do you differentiate for people who think pagan = Wicca and/or magic?

 
Generally, I say I work with the pre-christian gods of Northern Europe.  If they want further information.. I tell them about Odin, or Firgga.. and if they really inquisitive I'll tell them I serve Frey .

So, as a heathen or Asatruar, how do you (or how would you) explain your religion to people who have no concept of anything outside of JCI religions? Or even how do you differentiate for people who think pagan = Wicca and/or magic?

 
Since I live in Germany, it's kind of complicated to explain being asatru to most of the people. If you say "heathen", most of them will understand "not christian/jewish/muslim, probably atheist". I just leave it by that most of the time.

If you say "asatru" and explain it by using one or even more of the words "Odin, Thor, norse gods, germanic people" they think you are a nazi and racist. Really. Germans have a huge problem with their own culture which includes that being proud of nearly anything somehow german automatically means being racist (there's a joke saying "I live in Germany, where everybody can be proud of his cultural heritage, except for the Germans.") Since some symbols like runes were used during WW2, especially asatru looks suspicious for those not involved. Additionally, a lot of german nazis and racists today still use runes or shout names of nordic gods despite knowing almost nothing about the old myths... :mad:

That's why I only told two people about asatru (besides people from pagan message boards, who already know about asatru and/or are more open to the topic). These are a very good friend (somewhat heathen, too) and my boyfriend (who grew up catholic and is still forced to be member of the church, but would rather not be baptized, really likes the flying spaghetti monster and the nordic myths I tell him). At first they both only knew that I liked norse myths very much, later I just mentioned that one could also see these norse gods, myths and customs as symbols, just like in other religions, and that many of the "christian" customs developed from them. And that there are still people who honor these gods, like in Iceland where you can marry asatru-style. And that my own type of spirituality could be most likely described as asatru :whis:

Which then brings up the Thor action movies as a common reference point. Lol.

 

If this is someone whose house you might visit someday(or that you might go on a diner run with), it might be wise to put emphasis on at least one of the major differences between Thor the movie and Thor the deity.

For example, most Heathens do not, in fact, show approval of coffee by smashing the cup and asking for another and usually tend more toward an audible sigh and immense gratitude.

For example, most Heathens do not, in fact, show approval of coffee by smashing the cup and asking for another and usually tend more toward an audible sigh and immense gratitude.

Shards are pesky. I only use Styrofoam cups for visitors' coffee, so that the smashing requires less clean up.