Odinic Rite

The Odinic Rite (OR) is a Heathen organisation practicing a form of religion termed Odinism after the chief god of Norse mythology, Odin. It is a reconstructionist religious organization focusing on Germanic paganism, Germanic mythology, Norse paganism, and Anglo-Saxon paganism, whom some consider to be part of a Neo-völkisch movement.

Current research suggests that the term "Odinism" was first used in the 1820s. It was most notably used in 1840 by the Scottish writer, historian, and philosopher, Thomas Carlyle where it featured in his book, On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History.

It was later used, and often mistakenly referred to as being coined by, Orestes Brownson in 1848, in his 1848 Letter to Protestants. The term was re-introduced in the late 1930s by Alexander Rud Mills in Australia with his First Anglecyn Church of Odin and his book, The Call of Our Ancient Nordic Religion. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Else Christensen's Odinist Study Group and later the Odinist Fellowship brought the term into usage in North America.

Today the Odinic Rite defines Odinism as the modern day expression of the ancient religions which grew and evolved with the Indo-European peoples who settled in Northern Europe and came to be known as "Germanic". The Odinic Rite shuns such descriptions as "Viking religion" or "Asatru" insisting that the Viking era was just a very small period in the history and evolution of the faith.

In 1973 John Gibbs-Bailey (known as "Hoskuld") and former member of Sir Oswald Mosley's British Union, John Yeowell (known as "Stubba") founded the Committee for the Restoration of the Odinic Rite or Odinist Committee in England. In 1980 the organisation changed its name to The Odinic Rite after it was believed that it had gained enough significant interest in the restoration of the Odinic faith.

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