Iceland: Goth fever grips neo-pagans

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS SERVICE

This week a new pagan leader was ordained at a formal ceremony of the Ásatrú Association (the old pagan Norse religion).

Icelandic composer Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson was ordained as “allsherjargodi” or “universal Goth.”

The ceremony began as Hilmarsson and other Goths walked down a crevasse to the sound of trumpets. After that, a torch-lit ceremony began where goths read ancient poems. Another ceremony then took place at a hotel, where new pagan members were accepted into the faith.