>>7922
>My first question here is, is there really enough information regarding the viking beliefs to revive this "dead" religion and provide genuine answers to spiritual questions in modern day
we know enough to recreate several varieties of ritual, to the point that, in form, asatru can be about as complex (if not a but more rustic) as a typical catholic ritual.
we know enough from sagaic literature, the eddas, and various legal codes to make a rough estimate as to what our ancestors found to be moral. following gragas, havamal and the various nuanced moral implications presented in the eddas would be about as complex as following the mosaic law.
so in terms of having a religion that's roughly as complex as other living religions, we can indeed do it.
>will it always just be a corrupted and modernized imitation?
it will never be the exact same as what it was in the year 900ad, or in the year 200ad, or before…but the religion of 900ad must have seemed a corruption of the year 200's etc.
most modern religions are a far cry from their original forms and are all "corrupted". compare modern judaism to essene judaism, or the henotheistic yahwism of 600 or so BC.
compare modern shinto to the shinto of the time of the kojiki.
compare the catholic church to the 1st century church (hint: they have very different theories of atonement that change alot about the meaning of christ).
all religions are "corrupted" by time.
>Is that something that takes up a lot of space in the various Asatru circles?
you'll definitely see it, and even in this community it exists, but it's not everywhere.
>Do you find it's generally accepted, or do the "true believers" shun those who use the faith as a political tool?
I could care less if asatru is used politically. My problem is with people like varg vikernes who literally make shit up and pull it out of their asses just so they can have something to use politically.
if it's valid and citable, I say use it as you will, but if you're lying about what's correct just to sell your ideology, fuck you.
>Thirdly, both Islam and Christianity has tons of secondary literature on their primary sources
christianity also has a tradition of literature going back to the 1st century AD. asatru's exegetical "tradition" rightly starts in the 1960s and 1970s.
There isn't much out there that isn't tied to either nationalist politics, new age shit, or anti-racist garbage.
however, http://heathengods.com/ has a few books written by their members that are pretty decent and not too far rooted up some nazi or pseudo-wiccan's ass.