Olvir of Egg was a Gothi of our ancestral ways during the reign of Olaf Tryggvason – a man wholly committed to the Ancestral ways of his people. Olvir was called before the king to explain why the ancient rites were still being held in his home district despite an edict to the contrary.   He did his best to explain everything away as just a gathering of the people for camaraderie and and social drinking. Olaf let him return back to his district, but was still very suspicious of the happenings in Olvir’s village.

Soon a man from Trondheim, Olvir’s home area, informed the king that Olvir and others were planning a spring celebration in honour of the Gods. Olaf gathered 360 men and five longships and set sail for Trondheim, arriving in total secrecy under the cover of darkness. Olaf and his men surprised everyone, Olvir was killed outright and all his lands seized by the king; others in the village were tortured, mutilated, driven from their homes and left to die by this “holy” king. Sadly that wasn’t the end of this sad tale, Olvir’s wife, now a widow, was married off to one of the king’s retainers and Olvir’s young children raised by a new father.

Olvir’s tale is not one of joy to be sure, but it is a tale with a valuable lesson for us today. Olvir tried his best to protect his folk, ultimately it wasn’t enough and he lost his life and all he loved. Today we to face our own trials, and while no one is hunting us down and slaughtering us for our beliefs(yet!) we still feel the need to protect our families from an ever encroaching immorality alien to our ancient ways.

So what do we do? What can we do?

Stand tall as individuals, raise our children in the elder ways, join together with others like us, build communities of tru folk across all of Midgard, and most important of all…… hoist the beautiful trihorn flag of the Asatru Folk Assembly, fly it proudly so that it serves as a beacon for others of our kind seeking a home in this crazy time.

Olvir, and others like him, kept our ways alive long enough for them to be recorded so that generations later brave men and women could find it. Find it, fan the embers left for them into a blazing fire, and attract men and women like us to the fire that was Asatru. We are the recipients of something amazing, we are the recipients of our own tradition…..our own ancestral religion. Never forget the gift given us by the martyrs of our way.

Hail Olvir!!!

Blanie Qualls
GothaR Coordinator,
Asatru Folk Assembly