Author: Ed Fitch
Trade Paperback, 360 pages
Publisher: Llewellyn
Publication date: February 1990
ISBN: 0875422241
Price & More Info: Click Here
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If you want to get followers of the Norse religion Asatru upset, all you have to do is mention Ed Fitch's The Rites of Odin. They don't like this book.
Asatru is a much more scholarly and reconstructionist religion than most Neopagan religions. Unfortunately, The Rites of Odin is neither. Most Asatruar can point our numerous historical and scholarly flaws in this book. What may upset them most of all, however, is that the religion Ed Fitch describes in this book simply has little in common with Asatru. I would call it Norse Wicca, except that the Norse Wiccans I know say the book does not really describe their beliefs and practices very well either -- although some say they borrow rituals from it.
I'm afraid that's really all this book has going for it: rituals that can be easily worked into some Norse Wiccan circles. To the book's credit, family and solitary versions of these rituals are provided as well. As Ed Fitch writes nice ritual, if you are looking for Wiccan-style rituals with a Norse flavor, this might be a book to consider. However, if you are looking for good historical information or you want to learn about Asatru, you'll probably want to avoid this book completely.
Reviewed by Randall
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