Heathens up North:Politics, Polemics and Contemporary Norse Paganism in Norway
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v10i1.41Keywords:
Ásatrú, Odinism, Norway, Paganism and politics, Satanism, Neo-NazismAbstract
The variety of religious positions commonly grouped together under the heading “Neo-Paganism” call for no homogenous reading of that phenomenon. As recent research on contemporary forms of paganism has flowered in recent years, emphasis has been given to the nuances and complexities of this kind of new religious currents. For instance it is clear that contemporary pagan currents, such as Wicca, Ásatrú, and Roman paganism, tend to vary significantly between themselves on matters of theology, sociological profile, and political tendencies. While varieties in the social manifestations of given groups can be partly explained by diverging religious/ideological content, it also holds true that ideological formations will be determined in part by the society in which they emerge. This means that a contemporary pagan current such as “Ásatrú” is not necessarily describable as one single tendency on a global scale, but will unavoidably be shaped by local conditions. Thus varieties within currents will tend to follow national and geographical borders, being always locally situated, and adapted to local political, social, and religious conditions. This article discusses the emergence and development of contemporary Norse paganism in Norway in light of the abovementioned framework. Special notice is given to the interplay between public discourses on issues such as paganism, the occult, neo-Nazism, and the relationship between the church and state in Norway, and the self-fashioning of reconstructionist Norse pagans. Through a partial comparison with the thoroughly discussed American context of contemporary Norse religion an argument is advanced that Norwegian Ásatrú came to bear certain distinct marks that are due to and only explicable by specific, local cultural conditions.References
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Søderlind, Didrik. “Politi mot æser”. In Morgenbladet Weekend, 8–11 July, 1994, 4-5.
Tveito, Lill-Hege. Kampen for den Nordiske rases overlevelse: Bruken av den norrøne mytologien innenfor Vigrid. MA thesis, Det samfunnsvitenskapelige fakultet, University of Tromsø, 2007.
Bjørgo, Tore. Racist and Right Wing Violence in Scandinavia: Patterns, Perpetrators, and Responses. Oslo: Tano-Aschehoug, 1997.
Brøgger, Jan & Christian Wiik. Hekseprosess: Bjugn-saken i et juridisk og kulturhistorisk perspektiv. Trondheim: Communicatio, 2003.
Clifton, Chas S. Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. Lanham, Maryland: AltaMira Press, 2006.
Cohen, Stanley. Folk Devils and Moral Panics. London: MacGibbon and Kee, 1972.
Cohn, Norman. Europe’s Inner Demons: The Demonization of Christians in Medieval Christendom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.
Dyrendal, Asbjørn. “Media Constructions of ’Satanism’ in Norway (1988-1997)” originally published in FOAF Tale News: Newsletter of the Contemporary Legend of Society, 2(1997). http://www.skepsis.no/konspirasjonstenkning/media_constructions_of_satanis.html.
———. “Fanden er løs! En utviklingshistorisk fremstilling av ’satanisme’ som moderne ondskapsforestilling.” Marburg Journal of Religion, Vol 5, no 1 (2000). http://web.unimarburg.dereligionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/dyrendal.html.
———. “Psychology and the Satanic Ritual Abuse Controversy. A Brief Research Review.” In Skepsis (03.02.2007), http://www.skepsis.no/articles_in_english/ psychology_and_the_Satanic_rit.html.
Dyrendal, Asbjørn and Amina Lap. “Satanism as a News Item in Norway and Denmark. A Brief history.” In Encyclopedic Sourcebook of Satanism, edited by Jesper Aagaard Petersen and James Lewis. Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 2008.
Dyrendal, Asbjørn and D. Søderlind. “Social Democratic Satanism? Some examples of Satanism in Scandinavia”. In Embracing Satan, edited by Jesper Petersen. London: Ashgate, 2008.
Emberland, Terje. Religion og rase: Nyhedenskap og nazisme i Norge 1933-1945. Oslo: Humanist forlag, 2003.
Emberland, Terje and Bernt Roughthvedt. Det ariske idol. Oslo: Aschehoug, 2004.
Fangen, Kathrine. “Living Out Our Ethnic Instincts: Ideological Beliefs Among Right-Wing Activists in Norway.” In Nation and Race: The Developing EuroAmerican Racist Subculture, edited by Jeffrey Kaplan & Tore Bjørgo, 202-230. Boston: Northeasten University Press, 1998.
Fliflet, Arne. Melding for året 1998 fra Sivilombudsmannen. Oslo, 1999. http://www.sivilombudsmannen.no/files/1998.pdf.
Gardell, Mattias. Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003.
Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Arian Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology. London: I. B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1985.
———. Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity. New York: New York University Press, 2002.
Hjelm, Titus. “United in Diversity, Divided from Within: The Dynamics of Legitimation in Contemporary Witchcraft”. In Polemical Encounters: Esoteric Discourse and its Others, edited by Kocku von Stuckrad and Olav Hammer. Leiden: Brill, 2007, 291-309.
Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Kaplan, Jeffrey. “The Reconstruction of the Ásatrú and Odinist Traditions.” In Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft, edited by James R. Lewis, 193-296. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996
Kaplan, Jeffrey & Tore Bjørgo, eds. Nation and Race: The Developing Euro-American Racist Subculture. Northeasten University Press, 1998
———. Radical Religions in America: Millenarian Movements from the Far Right to the Children of Noah. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1999.
Kaplan & Leonard Weinberg. The Emergence of a Euro-American Radical Right. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1998.
La Fontaine, Jean S. Speak of the Devil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Lewis, James R.,ed. Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996.
Moynihan, Michael & Didrik Søderlind. Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground. Los Angeles: Feral House, 1998.
Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs. “On the relationship between the Norwegian State and the Norwegian Church”. 29.11.2006. http://www. regjeringen.no/en/dep/kkd/Whats-new/nyheter/2006/On-the-relationshipbetween-the-Norwegian-State-and-the-Church-of-Norway.html?id=435167 (accessed 6 June 2006).
Pasi, Marco. “Western Esotericism and Neo-Paganism in Contemporary Italy: Roman Traditionalism”. Paper presented at the conference The Development of Paganism: History, Influences and Contexts, 1880-2002. Milton Keynes, England, 12 January, 2002.
Robertson, Roland. “Globalisation or Glocalisation?”. In Globalization. Critical Concepts in Sociology, Volume III, edited by Robertson & Kathleen E. White, 31-51. London: Routledge, 2003 [1994].
Steinsland, Gro. Norrøn Religion: Myter, riter, samfunn. Oslo: Pax forlag A/S, 2005.
Strmiska, Michael. “Asatru in Iceland: The Rebirth of Nordic Paganism?” Nova Religio 4:1 (2000), 106–32.
———, ed., Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2005.
Strmiska, Michael and Baldur A. Sigurvinsson. “Asatru: Nordic Paganism in Iceland and America”. In Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives. Edited by Michael Strmiska, 127-180. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2005
Søderlind, Didrik. “Politi mot æser”. In Morgenbladet Weekend, 8–11 July, 1994, 4-5.
Tveito, Lill-Hege. Kampen for den Nordiske rases overlevelse: Bruken av den norrøne mytologien innenfor Vigrid. MA thesis, Det samfunnsvitenskapelige fakultet, University of Tromsø, 2007.
Published
2008-10-03
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Section
Articles
How to Cite
Asprem, E. (2008). Heathens up North:Politics, Polemics and Contemporary Norse Paganism in Norway. Pomegranate, 10(1), 41-69. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v10i1.41