Is this a good source on Asatru?

[PanSoka]

While I'm doing my own delving into spirituality while atheist, I do plan on doing some reading and research on Asatru as my boyfriend states this is his belief. He has a copy of Our Troth by Kveldulf Gundarsson that I can read from (I believe it is two volumes). Is this a good source for this particular path or would you recommend something else? I want to read more about it so I can be respectful of his path and whatever he might practice.

[Darkhawk]

Is this a good source for this particular path or would you recommend something else? I want to read more about it so I can be respectful of his path and whatever he might practice.

I don't recall what specific criticisms there are of that one off the top of my head, but heathens I respect have basically said that there are no good books about Asatru, so it's a good idea to read several so you at least get differently bad ones.

[PanSoka]

I don't recall what specific criticisms there are of that one off the top of my head, but heathens I respect have basically said that there are no good books about Asatru, so it's a good idea to read several so you at least get differently bad ones.

I wonder why they think there are no good books on the subject. I know when I first looked into Wicca when I was younger there were a few books that I was told to stay away from, but I can't imagine none of the books on Asatru being good.

[Darkhawk]

I wonder why they think there are no good books on the subject. I know when I first looked into Wicca when I was younger there were a few books that I was told to stay away from, but I can't imagine none of the books on Asatru being good.

A lot of it has to do with the standing arguments in the Asatru community.  So you might have "This book was written by a nasty racist and has nasty racist dogwhistles", "This book is too heavily influenced by general neopaganism but if Wiccatru is your thing, well, okay", "This book is unclear on which bits are lore-attested and which parts are someone's strongly held opinion", "this book takes the Wrong Position on this particular bit of interpretation", and so on.

[Megatherium]

While I'm doing my own delving into spirituality while atheist, I do plan on doing some reading and research on Asatru as my boyfriend states this is his belief. He has a copy of Our Troth by Kveldulf Gundarsson that I can read from (I believe it is two volumes). Is this a good source for this particular path or would you recommend something else? I want to read more about it so I can be respectful of his path and whatever he might practice.

Darkhawk is correct in the sense that there is a tremendous amount of disagreements among Heathens and this is reflected in their opinions on the quality of writing about the faith. Though I have not read Our Troth, I haven't heard any terribly negative things about it, so you can certainly have a look.

Another "101" book that I haven't read, but heard good things about is "A Practical Heathens Guide to Asatru" by Patricia Lafayllve.

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Heathens-Guide-Asatru/dp/0738733873/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5MT79TKCAAHG6Q2T3KYQ

In addition, you can find a lot of good sources on the internet; a particular favorite of mine is "Norse Mythology for Smart People".

https://norse-mythology.org/

Bear in mind that both historical and revived Heathenry were/are quite diverse and there can be a considerable amount of variation in the way people practice between different individuals and communities. Reading about the religion can certainly help to inform you, but there is a good chance that your partner's beliefs will be a bit unique and individualized. Understanding his viewpoint will likely require a combination of background reading about the faith combined with conversations with him to see exactly what role Heathenry plays in his life and which parts are important to him.

[SunflowerP]

While I'm doing my own delving into spirituality while atheist, I do plan on doing some reading and research on Asatru as my boyfriend states this is his belief. He has a copy of Our Troth by Kveldulf Gundarsson that I can read from (I believe it is two volumes). Is this a good source for this particular path or would you recommend something else? I want to read more about it so I can be respectful of his path and whatever he might practice.

If your boyfriend recommends it as a good source for Asatru as he practices it, then it is.

It's not a good source for the beliefs and practices of everyone who self-describes as Asatru, because there's a huge amount of variation in what people mean by that. The Icelandic organization Ásatrúarfélagið does things quite differently from most North American Asatru organizations; The Troth (who publish Our Troth) are a very different thing from the Asatru Folk Assembly (the Wikipedia article on Heathenry looks like a pretty good primer on the many different takes on Heathen/Germanic religions, if you want more info about that).

The main issue I recall hearing about Our Troth is (to quote from Darkhawk's post about the standing arguments) 'This book is too heavily influenced by general neopaganism.' That's not an inaccurate objection (though IMO those who go farther and add,'but if Wiccatru is your thing, well, okay,' are much less accurate), but it's a very subjective one: how much influence is 'too much', and why?

Basically, it's not that none of the books are good, but that all the books are quite specific to a particular organization or approach.

Another way in which Our Troth might not be the best source for what you want is that, as you note, there are two volumes - and I'm under the impression (though I could be mistaken) that they're not slim. As the foundational how-to handbooks for practitioners, they may well go into far more depth than you need for your particular purposes. You might find our Asatru and Heathenry SIG, and especially the sticky-thread resource lists, to be a better start point. Which is not to say you shouldn't read Our Troth, by any means; I'm just noting a way in which it might not be ideal for your specific purposes - or OTOH it might, since your core motivation is to know more about what your BF does.

(Or, what Mega said while I was typing!)

Sunflower

[PanSoka]

If your boyfriend recommends it as a good source for Asatru as he practices it, then it is.

It's not a good source for the beliefs and practices of everyone who self-describes as Asatru, because there's a huge amount of variation in what people mean by that. The Icelandic organization Ásatrúarfélagið does things quite differently from most North American Asatru organizations; The Troth (who publish Our Troth) are a very different thing from the Asatru Folk Assembly (the Wikipedia article on Heathenry looks like a pretty good primer on the many different takes on Heathen/Germanic religions, if you want more info about that).

The main issue I recall hearing about Our Troth is (to quote from Darkhawk's post about the standing arguments) 'This book is too heavily influenced by general neopaganism.' That's not an inaccurate objection (though IMO those who go farther and add,'but if Wiccatru is your thing, well, okay,' are much less accurate), but it's a very subjective one: how much influence is 'too much', and why?

Basically, it's not that none of the books are good, but that all the books are quite specific to a particular organization or approach.

Another way in which Our Troth might not be the best source for what you want is that, as you note, there are two volumes - and I'm under the impression (though I could be mistaken) that they're not slim. As the foundational how-to handbooks for practitioners, they may well go into far more depth than you need for your particular purposes. You might find our Asatru and Heathenry SIG, and especially the sticky-thread resource lists, to be a better start point. Which is not to say you shouldn't read Our Troth, by any means; I'm just noting a way in which it might not be ideal for your specific purposes - or OTOH it might, since your core motivation is to know more about what your BF does.

(Or, what Mega said while I was typing!)

Sunflower

Thank you and thank you everyone for your responses!

[HarpingHawke]

Another "101" book that I haven't read, but heard good things about is "A Practical Heathens Guide to Asatru" by Patricia Lafayllve.

https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Heathens-Guide-Asatru/dp/0738733873/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5MT79TKCAAHG6Q2T3KYQ

I actually have this book, and I'd highly recommend it! In addition to a lightly-annotated bibliography at the end of each chapter, Lafayllve is careful not to make generalizations and uses not only lore to make inferences but archaeology as well! I'd call it an invaluable resource, but that's just me.