I’m kind of not surprised about the warping of Odin worship.

These types of guys would be drawn to the berserker myths and that Odin collects warrior souls for Valhalla. A heaven specifically for warriors would be appealing to those already indulging in fantasies of superiority.

But when you read the fine print, you find out that Valhalla isn’t really heaven, Viking or otherwise. It’s a training ground for Ragnarok. Sure you feast every night, but you train all day every day too, for a battle that the Norn (fates) have ordained will be the end of the world and Odin knows will be lost. All those souls, the Aesir’s (Gods) included, will be obliterated when it’s over. So it’s not a path to immortality, it’s a path to complete destruction.

The real Viking heaven is the realm of Helheimr, (yep, Hell is flipped from Christian beliefs here) where those who have died of old age or disease are cared for by Loki’s daughter, Hel. They can share their knowledge with their descendants or await reincarnation. The take away is, continued existence, a recycling but not immortality as we think of it.

It should also be noted that all those warrior souls annihilated at Ragnarok are spent so that Odin may circumvent the Norn to save Baldr (his son with Frigg) from Ragnarok by sending him to Helheimr. He has conspired with Loki to make this possible. Odin is a grey God, he acts as creator and destroyer based on his goal and will. He will even start wars and conflict in order to harvest souls for Ragnarok; just because you worship Odin doesn’t mean Odin cares about your worship or won’t bypass you to collect more worthy warrior souls who may have never heard of him. Perhaps even one who fell to your blade/gun. Worshipping him will not curry you selection favor as he roams among the dead on the battlefield. In fact, it may very well work against you as the best attribute of any warrior is one who can think for themselves and not be weak willed, narrow minded, or blind followers.

I know all that’s off topic from the point of your article, just thought people might find it interesting. The same sort of warping happened in evangelical Christianity, it’s off its original precepts. It’s followers say the words but practice and think something else entirely. The result of that warping is a lot of what we’re seeing now in the courts amongst other arenas. It’s not the will of God or the teaching of Christ, it’s the weakness and fear of man.

Both Jesus and Odin were fans of LGBT people so long as they had a worthy character and loved. Don’t forget that.