Iceland Building Temple to Norse Gods

Iceland is set to build its first temple to Norse gods since the Viking age. Norse paganism has seen a resurgence in recent years, not because people actually believe in it, but because they use it for as metaphors for life.

High Priest Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson says people don’t believe in a one eyed man riding an eight legged horse but believe in the forces of nature and human psychology.

It will be a public temple and people can walk in and pray to the gods, Thor, Odin and Frigg. It will be available for weddings, funerals and drinking from a drinking horn before holding a feast to the gods.

The temple will be built in a circular and domed shape and set on a hill overlooking the capital of Reykjavik. With a population in Iceland at 330,000, membership of Norse paganism is at 2,400. It’s been over a thousand years since paganism was replaced by Christianity, but in the last 30 years membership has tripled.

independent.co.uk