The group was founded by Peter Seymour and Alan Jeffery in 1971 as the Norse Film and Pageant Society (NFPS), initially as an extension to their 'Central Focus' WWII film club, with the purpose of bringing an awareness of the Norse Myths and the Viking culture to the public through dramatic entertainment. Originally, the society consisted of some thirty core members, including the 'Odin Guard', an elite combat group maintaining Norse Heathen religious practices and values. The Odin Guard left the society during the leadership of Gerry East, whose recruitment tactics eventually took the membership over three hundred.