Volume 5, Issue 2, 2014
Murphy Pizza
Pages 261-268
Fire and Ice in Midvestjard
American Religion and Norse Identity in Minnesota’s Heathen Community
Nordic religion in the US takes the form of Heathenry, or Norse Paganism. Ranging from formal organizations like Asatru to eclectic mixes of Norse lore and Wiccan practice, Heathenry is a dynamic construction of Nordic religious and cultural identity in the midst of an increasingly ethnically pluralistic society. The present article provides ethnographic sketches of Heathen paths in Minnesota—a state notable for its large historically Scandinavian/Germanic cultural makeup—and explores how Heathenry is a way for Minnesotans to re-identify and redefine Nordic culture and identity in American terms.