Day of Remembrance for the Folkmother

On May 4th 2005 our folk suffered a tragic loss, it was on that day that Else Christensen crossed the Bifrost bridge to begin the next part of her journey. Many today have only heard bits and pieces of who Else was and what she did with her life. And yet this bold woman lived a life that most can't even fathom.

Born in Denmark in 1913, Else grew up in a world vastly different from today's ultra high speed turbulence. She said more than once that she never truly felt at home in the church as a child, for her a walk in the woods was a spiritual thing. An afternoon sitting amongst the wilds beyond city life was her going to church. As the years passed this feeling never left her.

As a young woman she met, and then married, Aage Alex Christensen. Together they began to build a life, but then fate stepped in to change an idyllic, simple life into one of war and famine. World War II saw Else's native Denmark invaded by Germany and her life turned a bit chaotic.Else's husband was sent off to a prison camp for a few months for having some guns that were banned. After his release they rode out the rest of the war and then after the war they bought a boat and set out to sea.

Eventually they landed in Canada and settled there. Else took a job as a nurse in a local hospital and her and Alex settled into married life. But being the couple they were, it wasn't long before they began a discussion group with some local acquaintances, this group was focused on politics at first, but soon religion came into their discussions. Around this time Else reached out to Rudd Mills in Australia, Rudd had founded a rather large Odinist group there before WWII and continued running it after the war. Sadly he had passed away before Else wrote, but his wife kept up a correspondence for several years with Else and gave her many of the books and writings that Mills had founded his Odinist group on. These writings were like fuel to the fire for Else, very quickly she began correspondences with other Odinist groups scattered here and there and then, in 1969, she and Alex started the Odinist Fellowship.

The Odinist Fellowship was the first Odinist/Asatru group in Vinland. In 1971 Alex passed away, but Else's dedication to her folk had only just began and in that very same year she began publishing an Odinist newsletter simply titled, 'The Odinist'. That newsletter would serve to educate and bring together folk across the world. She sent issues all over Midgard, from Rhodesia to Australia; from England to many individuals across the United States. All through the 70s, 80s and well into the 90s 'The Odinist' was published, carrying articles about every aspect of our way from history to culture to politics and beyond.

She decided to move to the US and in the 1980s she began a prison outreach for Odinist prisoners. She regularly went into several prisons in Florida and even helped them to get Odinism recognized as a legitimate religion. In 1993 Else was convicted of running drugs across state lines... Many leading Asaru folk felt it was a government conspiracy and a set up... Else believed she had been guilty of trusting some of our folk who were obviously untrustworthy. She had offered to help the wife(or maybe sister, the years have clouded some of the facts) of a Florida prisoner to move from Texas back to Florida. Somewhere along the way they were pulled over and drugs were found. Else was driving and her passenger did not, would not, claim the drugs so Else, senior citizen drug mule, found herself on the way to federal lockup.

I began corresponding with Else while she was still in prison, she was in some ways akin to the nice old Grandma stereotype crossed with a berserker. She would give amazing advice and then occasionally she would cross the line a bit and begin talking about the current situation of our folk and how far we had fallen. Our conversations over the years ranged from the holy Gods to her getting to sit on a motorcycle in prison(a xtian bike club was allowed on her minimum security yard and Else always had a thing for Harleys). We corresponded for years, right up until her death in 2005.

Upon Else's release from prison she was deported to Canada and picked up where she had left off. The Odinist Fellowship was reconstituted and 'The Odinist' began being published again. Her devotion to the folk was unfailing, after her release she could have retired to a peaceful life, but people like her never know how to do that. All they know is how to fight and how to keep pushing on and doing all they can with the time they have left. Her dedication and commitment earned her the nickname the Folkmother from the Odinist/Asatru movement.

For her unfailing support and constant fight to better our folk let us all lift a horn aloft in her name.

Hail Else!

Hail the Folkmother!