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Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson (1924–1993), a native of Iceland, was a godhi, or Heathen priest. He was important in helping to gain recognition of Ásatrú, the ancient pre-Christian Norse faith in the Ćsir. Ásatrúarfélagiđ, or Ásatrú, which he founded, was officially recognised as a religious body in 1972. He lived his entire life in West Iceland. From 1944 on he was a sheep farmer pursuing literary interests on the side; publishing a book of rímur in 1945, a textbook on verse forms of rímur in 1953, two volumes of his own verse in 1957 and 1976, and several anthologies which he edited. He voiced strong public opposition to the introduction of nuclear weapons into Iceland by NATO.
Beinteinsson was regarded with much respect and affection in modern-day Ásatrú and Heathen circles during his lifetime. Not only was he a well known rímur singer, or kvaedamadur, in Iceland, he also gained an audience and followers in Europe and North America. Beinteinsson can be heard performing Asartru marriage rites for Genesis and Paula P-Orridge (now Alaura O'Dell) on Psychic TV LP Live in Reykjavik. Additionally, former Psychic TV member David Tibet (née David Michael Bunting) released a CD of Beinteinsson performing his own rimur and the traditional poetic edda under the title Current 93 presents Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson 'Edda' (Durtro 005 CD) in two editions through the now defunct World Serpent distributors, recorded by Julius Agnarsson and licensed from Geisli Ltd, (the liner notes from its 1998 re-release are the source for portions of this entry).
External links
- Háttatal (http://www.rimur.is/?i=4) In Icelandic, but probably the best modern introduction to the metrics of Rímur.
- In memory of Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson (http://odinist.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=362)