The Troth - History

History

The Ring of Troth was founded in 1987, at the same time as the Ásatrú Alliance, both emerging from the wreckage of the Ásatrú Free Assembly, which had disintegrated over disputes between the racist and the non-racist factions. The organization suffered a series of setbacks and disasters during the late 1980s to early 1990s. The leadership of both Thorsson and Chisholm became controversial because of their association with the Satanist Temple of Set. In 1988 to 1989, Rob Meek campaigned against the "Satanist infiltration" of the group. The Ásatrú Alliance in 1989 declared that there could be no association of Ásatrú and Satanism. In 1991, Thorsson and Chisholm sought for a new leader (Steersman) of the group, as it had become clear that they were too controversial to fill this position. The office of Steerswoman was eventually accepted by Prudence Priest in 1992. Internal controversy continued to plague the group, however, including accusations that Priest was intending to pass leadership back to Thorsson and attempting to marginalize the increasingly influential Stephan Grundy. As a consequence, Priest was ousted by William Bainbridge in 1995, who took over as interim Steersman. By the mid-1990s, the Troth, now led by William Bainbridge, had emerged as a stable organization with a wide spectrum of members situated "squarely within the Wiccan/neopagan community". Bainbridge was followed by Diana Paxson (1999), Stefn Thorsman (2002), Mark Donegan (2006), Victoria Clare (2010).