What is Asatru? what can you tell me about it?

Sorry about any misspellings, my nephew got a hold of my keyboard and now some of the letters don't show up on the first try.

http://www.asatru.org/

From kipped place to start): "?satr? (Icelandic for "?sir faith", pronounced [Austria], in Old Norse [Astra]; Norwegian ?satru, Swedish Asatro, Danish Asetro, Faroese ?satr?gv) is a Neopagan movement inspired by Germanic polytheism, in particular the Norse paganism as described in the Eddas and as practiced prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia.

"There are two main strains of ?satr?, originating near-simultaneously in Iceland (?slenska ?satr?arf?lagi?, 1972) and the USA (Asatru Free Assembly, 1974). While the Scandinavian branch emphasizes pantheist spirituality rooted in medieval and contemporary Scandinavian folklore, the American branch postulates a "native religion of the peoples of Northern Europe" reaching back into the paleolithic. In Germany, the term Asatru is used in the wider sense of Germanic neopaganism."

For more information, go to the wikipedia article and follow the links.

Asatru is a reconstruction religion. This means we try to reconstruct, or replicate, what the Vikings believed and practiced. We hon our and give offerings to the Gods (Odin, Thor, Freya, etc), our ancestors, and nature spirits (animals). The Havalmal lays out most of our morals and values. Beyond the "be a good person" thing that every religion seems to have there is also a strong emphasis on hospitality and history.

Other things of note:
The word "Asatru" comes from two different words. "Asa" is for Aesir, one of the tribes of Gods, and "Tru" is for loyalty. Literally Asatru means loyalty to the Aesir. There is another tribe of Gods though, the Vanir, and so other names for the religion exist. Vanatru, Odinism, and such. There are names such as Heathenism and Norse Reconstructionism. Originally the Vikings did not have a name for their religion; it just was.

Norse mythology is to Asatru as the stories in the bible are to Christianity, I think. Our ancestors did not write their stories down too often, so much of the mythology is comprised of the noes Snorri took. Snorri was a christian monk who was interested in what the Norsemen believed. The book Norse Myths by Crossly-Holland is a great read if you like the stories.

I think that's the basics =)

Asatru is a modern version of the Pre-Christian Germanic peoples of Scandinavia (this includes all Scandinavians except for Finns and Lapps/Saami). Bits and pieces, at least, survived Christianization but the modern movement dates back to the early 70's.