Heathen Gods Beyond Nationalism and Race?
The Case of Heathenism in Sweden
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.29030Keywords:
heathenism, ethnicity, Ecosophy, animism, Nordic religion, SwedenAbstract
Herein I address the development of Heathenism in Scandinavia, with an emphasis on Sweden as a case study. I argue that Heathenism in Scandinavia, due to the central role that Old Norse religion and the Viking Age have for the construction of Scandinavian identities, needs to be analyzed in a different manner than Heathenisms outside of Scandinavia, especially regarding ethnicity. A special focus is on the role that the Scandinavian landscape and environment have had on the development of Heathenism. This is exemplified by the influence of Nordic Animism and how it relates to attempts to create a non-racial ecosophical form of Heathenism. I assess whether such a scenario is realistic or if Heathenism will always maintain an ethnic aspect. I concluded that although the ethnic aspect of Heathenism remains it must be analyzed from a different perspective, rather than exclusively an expression of far-right ideology, or exclusivity.
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