When the sun suddenly darkened over Europe in 536, the continent approached the end of an extremely violent and devastating epoch: the Migration Period. The seemingly never-ending migrations and wars of Germanic tribes had destroyed the Western Roman Empire and its culture and changed the map of Europe forever. The Visigoths, Suebians, and Franks had divided the western provinces of the Empire among themselves; the northern part, the provinces of Britain, had been annexed by North Sea Germanic groups led by the Angles and Saxons.
The increase of membership in Iceland’s Ásatrúarfélagid (en. The Ásatrú Fellowship) has already been staggering in the last one and a half decade. But the latest numbers illustrate an ever stronger growth. Over the last three years more than a thousand Icelanders became registered members in the Ásatrú Fellowship – an increase of astounding 50%. Altogether more than 3,500 people are now part of the Ásatrúarfélag. This corresponds to slightly over 1% of Icelands total population, therefore making the island easily the most heathen country in Europe.