Having 50% of the universe's population turned into ash by a lunatic seems to have brought everyone in the Marvel Cinematic Universe down. That said, after the emotional thrashing that Marvel fans took from watching Avengers: Infinity War, anything will likely feel light and airy. Read the rest

A few weeks back, we pushed out a post about the fact that Heathens serving in the U.S. Army are now allowed to sport a beard as part of their faith. In the story, I mentioned that a group that stands for heathens serving in the military stated that the growing of a beard wasn’t a tenet of Heathenry. Given that Ásatrú, Heathenry and Paganism have been used to describe a wide number of belief systems and religions, I wasn’t sure if making a basket statement like this was factually correct. Fortunately, I know someone who does.

Dr. Karl E.H. Seigfried was the first Ásatrú to earn a graduate degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. While at the university, he was President of Interfaith Dialogue and served on the Spiritual Life Council, the advisory board for the Spiritual Life Office. He holds degrees in literature and music from University of California at San Diego, University of Wisconsin at Madison, and University of Texas at Austin. He studied literature and art history at Loyola University Chicago, Rome Center, in Italy and took Icelandic language courses through University of Iceland's distance learning program.

Dr. Seigfried currently works at the Illinois Institute of Technology as an Adjunct Professor in Humanities and as a Pagan Chaplain. He’s Goði (priest) of Thor’s Oak Kindred—a Chicago-based organization, dedicated to the practice of the Ásatrú faith and a member of the Troth Clergy Program. Previously, Dr. Seigfried taught Norse mythology and religion at Loyola University Chicago, Carthage College, and the Newberry Library Seminars Program. Read the rest

In this “behind-the-scenes” video from the set of Avengers: Infinity War, Chris Hemsworth stumbles upon some action sequence prep from directors Anthony and Joe Russo. Since Thor didn’t appear in the Russos’ Captain America: Civil War, Hemsworth takes the opportunity to vent his frustrations on the helpless Avengers action figures.

[via Slash Film] Read the rest

Chris Hemsworth’s Thor was notably absent from this summer’s Captain America: Civil War. Why? It turns out he was in Australia hanging out with his new roommate Darryl. At least that’s the case in this hilarious Civil War special feature that Marvel studios previewed via its Twitter account:

See what Thor was up to during #CaptainAmericaCivilWar! Get this & other bonus on Dig HD 9/2 https://t.co/tWbG2IIs9h pic.twitter.com/M97y6CM1Mg

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) August 28, 2016

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John Brownlee on how the U.S. military's epic journey into religious tolerance reached Odinism.

Mjölnir is a weapon of honor and virtue, and a fitting symbol for any noble warrior. So it’s appropriate that American soldiers can now request the symbol for Thor’s Hammer be placed on their headstone if they die in the line of duty. But Mjölnir’s path toward becoming an acceptable headstone option wasn’t easy. It practically took the power of Thor to get it there.