It was founded on the first day of summer in 1972, and granted recognition as a registered religious organization in 1973, allowing it to conduct legally binding ceremonies and collect a share of the church tax.

The time of the next high priest, Jörmundur Ingi Hansen (1994–2002), saw considerable growth and activity, including the design of an Ásatrú burial ground.

These trends have continued under the present high priest, musician Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson (2003–present), and as of 1 January 2018, the organization has 5770 registered members, about one third of whom are women.

The four men who would become the organization's early leaders and ideologues were Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson, a farmer and a traditionalist poet, Jörmundur Ingi Hansen, a jack of all trades and a prominent person in the Reykjavík hippie movement, Dagur Þorleifsson, a journalist and active member of the Reykjavík theosophy lodge, and Þorsteinn Guðjónsson, leader of Félag Nýalssinna, an organization devoted to the theories of Helgi Pjeturss.

[3][4][5] Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson described the founding of Ásatrúarfélagið as based on a belief in hidden forces in the land and connected to "the desire that Icelanders could have their own faith, and nourish it no less than imported religions".

[7] One observer traces the origins of the organization to the countercultural and religious waves of the time, as well as to nationalism and the widespread Icelandic interest in spiritism, theosophy, and elves.

[3] Shortly before Christmas 1972, Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson and Þorsteinn Guðjónsson visited Ólafur Jóhannesson, minister of justice and ecclesiastical affairs, and expressed interest in registering Ásatrúarfélagið as an official religious organization.

According to Sveinbjörn, shortly after he and Þorsteinn exited the ministry, the lights in the center of town went out due to a thunderstorm, leaving the minister sitting in the dark.

In a written opinion, later published, the bishop said that the Icelandic constitution granted everyone a right to "found organizations to serve god"[11][12] and that this assumed a monotheistic outlook.

Sigurbjörn cited the opinion of legal scholar Einar Arnórsson, published in 1912, that "polytheistic religious organizations founded [in Iceland] would therefore not be protected by the constitution".

[12] In Sigurbjörn's opinion, the most significant effort to revive Germanic folk religion happened in Nazi Germany and was connected to the racial ideology of that regime.

They denied any association with national socialism and argued that it was doubtful that the Third Reich had any genuine Asatruars while it was certain that a number of Christian sects had cooperated with the Nazis.

In the Althing, Halldór Blöndal and Magnús Jónsson, members of the Independence Party, requested an explanation for why Ólafur Jóhannesson had given legal recognition to Ásatrúarfélagið.

The event was held at Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson's farm at Dragháls in pelting rain below a plaster statue of the god Thor made by Jörmundur Ingi Hansen.

The blót was described by the newspaper Vísir as "vigorous and energetic"[27] while Sigurður A. Magnússon commented that the historic significance of the event had not been matched by the quality of the ceremony, "It could hardly have been simpler or more pedestrian".

[29][30][31] Early on, the organization had ambitious plans for building a temple, getting a burial ground, and dividing the land into goðorð, led by individual goðar (a nomenclature borrowed from the political system of the Icelandic Commonwealth).

[40] While Jörmundur was, like Sveinbjörn, an older man knowledgeable in ancient literature, he differed from his predecessor in his greater skill at dealing with the media.

[46][full citation needed] In 2006, the Ministry of Justice increased the number of Ásatrú priests allowed to conduct legally binding ceremonies (Icelandic: vígsluréttindi) from two (the allsherjargoði and his substitute) to five.

[51] Though members are not expected to follow the lead of any religious authority, all the high priests have publicly expressed their personal beliefs at one point or another.

[53]In a 1992 interview, Jörmundur Ingi Hansen expressed his views on various theological subjects, including the nature of the gods and the basis of his Ásatrú beliefs.

[62][full citation needed]Nevertheless, during the first public blót "a sympathizing visual artist brought along a live cock and had it beheaded in the kitchen, while the lamb was being cooked".

The profit from the sale made building a temple (referred to by the organisation in Icelandic as a hof) a realistic option[69] and an application for a plot of land was sent to the Reykjavík city council.

[70][71] In January 2008, a plot of land was finally granted in Öskjuhlíð, a wooded hill in Reykjavík[72] "The temple will be built into the surrounding cliffs and overlooks the beautiful Nauthólsvík beach.

[74] The organization lost a substantial amount of money in the collapse of the Icelandic banks in October 2008 but proceeded with study of different options for a temple building.

Two years after its formation, in June 1974, Ásatrúarfélagið issued a press release opposing the legalization of abortion and recommending strict punishment for distributors of narcotics.

[85][86] A few days later, Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson stated that this latter press release did not have its origins in any legal meeting of Ásatrúarfélagið and only represented the private opinions of its author.

Having been unable to advance his racial ideology within Ásatrúarfélagið, Þorsteinn Guðjónsson in 1982 founded a separate organization, Norrænt mannkyn ("Nordic Race"), to lobby for the reduction of immigration and banning of abortion.

[90] Summarizing her 1991 study of Germanic folk religion, literary scholar Stefanie von Schnurbein describes Ásatrúarfélagið as a "mix of individualistic anarchists, atheistic church opponents, and racist spiritualists".

[91] In a 2001 study of Ásatrú in Iceland, anthropologist María Erlendsdóttir disagreed, pointing out that von Schnurbein's field research included only two interviews with members of the organization and arguing that this was "not enough to give sound grounds to her accusations".

[92] She further argued that "the heavy accusations of Von Schnurbein contradict certain clues that Ásatrúarfélagið has an open mind to people of other cultures and races"[93] and concluded that "Icelandic paganism in contemporary society has strong roots within folk belief and literary tradition".