Jörmundur Ingi Hansen

Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson in 1991

Jörmundur contacted the farmer and poet Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson when he heard that Sveinbjörn had also tried to find people for a pagan organization.[3] In 1972, Jörmundur and Sveinbjörn were two of the co-founders of the Icelandic neopagan organization Ásatrúarfélagið.[1][lower-alpha 2] Together with Sveinbjörn, who was elected as the organization's first leader and given the title allsherjargoði, Jörmundur constructed the organization's rituals and liturgy. He created its clothing and sculpted the god Thor used at the center of the group's cult place.[2] Because of his extroverted personality, he became responsible for much of Ásatrúarfélagið's media representation.[9] The Reykjavíkurgoðorð, originally Jörmundur's personal project, continued to exist and functioned as a local division within Ásatrúarfélagið, with Jörmundur as its leader.[1][3]

During its first decade of existence, Ásatrúarfélagið had around 70 members. A small faction interested in racial politics left in 1983 to form their own group, and Ásatrúarfélagið remains characterized by a liberal and humanistic form of neopaganism.[10] It is based on the reinvention of traditions and a combination of localism and cosmopolitanism.[11] The traditions at its core are related to Iceland's cultural history, where Old Norse literature and the associated Norse mythology long have been prominent, as well as folkloric beliefs and customs related to beings such as elves, landvættir and huldufólk.[12] The theological views of Ásatrúarfélagið's members may vary and representatives, including Jörmundur, have elaborated their personal views independently.[13]

Jörmundur and other key people in Ásatrúarfélagið's history have been artistically inclined. This has created a strong emphasis on literary, artistic and cultural interests. According to the religious studies scholar Michael Strmiska, this makes Ásatrúarfélagið different from many Norse-derived neopagan organizations in other countries, such as the United States, where more focus has been on the martial and masculine image of the Vikings.[12]

After Sveinbjörn's death in 1993, Jörmundur was chosen as the new allsherjargoði in 1994. He was elected with 59, or 61.8% of the votes, against 34 votes, or 36.2%, for Haukur Halldórsson. One vote was blank.[14] Jörmundur represented a faction that wanted to maintain old traditions, whereas Haukur wished to change Ásatrúarfélagið's practices in ways he thought would make them more appealing to contemporary people.[15]

Jörmundur designed the pagan burial ground in Reykjavík.

Increased mainstream acceptance for Ásatrúarfélagið and significant membership growth marked Jörmundur's time as leader.[lower-alpha 3] The group acquired a building in Reykjavík, and in 1999 established an official pagan burial ground which Jörmundur designed.[9] The burial ground is part of the cemetery at Gufunes in Reykjavík.[18] At the turn of the millennium, Jörmundur pursued international collaboration between neopagan groups through the World Pagan Congress, an initiative created by the Lithuanian Jonas Trinkūnas.[19][12] Jörmundur's international visions included the creation of a Pagan Charter and the provision of support in countries that lacked pagan organizations.[20] The World Pagan Congress resulted in the creation of the World Congress of Ethnic Religions (WCER), of which Ásatrúarfélagið was a founding member.[19]

Jörmundur wanted to lead Ásatrúarfélagið the way Sveinbjörn had done, functioning as chairman, cashier, promoter and religious leader, but because of the increased complexity that came with the organization's growth, Ásatrúarfélagið's board of directors began to elect separate officials for some tasks, which led to an internal power struggle.[21] A suspicion that some WCER members had ties to far-right politics, which some of Ásatrúarfélagið's members feared could have a negative impact on their own organization's reputation,[lower-alpha 4] and a business venture selling Icelandic horses abroad, weakened Jörmundur's internal support.[12] A majority of the board members came to support Jörmundur's dismissal.[23] He was removed from office in 2002 and replaced by the deputy allsherjargoði Jónína Kristín Berg,[24] before Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, a composer, musician and long-time member of Ásatrúarfélagið, was elected to the position in 2003. Jörmundur initially refused to accept his removal, but he did not want to hurt the organization and endorsed the election of Hilmar.[23]

In 2004, Jörmundur and a group of loyalists left Ásatrúarfélagið, making the Reykjavíkurgoðorð independent again as a registered religious organization under his leadership.[25] According to Jörmundur, the disagreement between him and Ásatrúarfélagið had much to do with money; other members did not like his approach to financial matters, and he was critical of Ásatrúarfélagið's decision to sell its building in Reykjavík after his removal from office.[12] Jörmundur's independent Reykjavíkurgoðorð is a small, non-political group and had almost 30 members in 2015. It was not actively seeking new members, but was open to anyone who wished to join.[26] Jörmundur retains the rights to perform marriages and burials through the organization.[3]

Jörmundur appears on the 2005 album Red for Fire: An Icelandic Odyssey by the Norwegian heavy metal band Solefald, where he recites from the Eddic poem Lokasenna.[27] He is the subject of the five-minute documentary film Jörmundur (2018), where he discusses his worldview and the concept of being one with the natural world.[28] The film won the award for best Icelandic short film at the 2018 Reykjavík International Film Festival; the jury called it "a beautiful, reverent ode to an interesting subject".[29]