The Historical Review's Blog

During the 20th and 21st centuries, the Viking Age has made its way into the mass media - from Marvel’s Thor to the History Channel’s Vikings, tales of extraordinary warriors from present-day Scandinavia have been a common theme in the entertainment industry. While depictions of old Nordic civilizations have captured audiences of many distinctions, there has been an unprecedented rise in its popularity among hate groups and white supremacists.  The neo-Nazi metal band Bound for Glory features a decorated version of Thor’s hammer in their logo. The infamous “QAnon Shaman,” known for his presence in the January 6th attack on the Capitol, has a Valknut tattooed on his upper left chest, a symbol meant to represent slain warriors. In 2020, the Ásatrú Folk Assembly opened their third church in Murdock, Minnesota, limiting its access to people of “native European descent.” Under the guise of the Ásatrú religion, or Norse Paganism, the Ásatrú Folk Assembly has succeeded in opening a segregated, whites-only church. However, the slightest bit of research into the Ásatrú faith can determine these claims as foundationless. Upon analyzing religious texts and Viking culture, it is clear to see that the Ásatrú faith and its followers rejected notions of racial superiority. Within surviving literature documenting Norse Pagan beliefs, the Prose and Poetic Eddas, there was not a single mention of race, much less ideas suggesting racial domination. Furthermore, the Vikings were avid voyagers who communicated, traded, and lived among diverse populations, from the Dorset people of Greenland to serving Basil II of the Byzantine Empire. The Ásatrú Folk Assembly’s bigoted exclusion couldn’t differ more from the religion they cite.

The majority of Ásatrú practices and traditions can be found in two sources: the Prose Edda, written by Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, and the Poetic Edda, a collection of tales spanning multiple years and authors. However, in the over 700 pages composing the Eddas, the mention of race (based on skin color) is nowhere to be found. A close alternative would be the different species mentioned in the Eddas, including dwarves, elves, and the jotun. In the Hávamál narrated by Odin, each species is described with positive traits - he gained his “wisdom” from the dwarves, “skill” from the elves, and characterized the jotun as “all-wise.” Furthermore, generosity and acceptance of strangers was a common theme in Ásatrú texts. In verses 1-79 of the Hávamál, Odin recites his instructions for hosts. Specifically, they were to receive strangers and “wanderers” with kindness, contrary to the Ásatrú Folk Assembly’s xenophobia. Thus, the congregation’s racial discrimination is inconsistent with the religion they profess.

Catalyzed by the raid on Lindisfarne Monastery in northern England (793 C.E), the Viking Age would span multiple centuries and geographies. Beginning in the early 800s, Viking invaders would establish settlements in England and France, most notably the Danelaw (northern and eastern England) and Normandy. They had significant influence in Ukraine and Russia with traders stationed in Kiev and Volgograd, and even the Balkans through the Varangian Guard centered in Byzantium. From Constantinople, Norse traders engaged in further communication with foreign peoples, including traders from North Africa and Arabia. According to the journals of Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, a Muslim missionary who traveled to Russia, a handful of Vikings even converted to Islam. Viking adventurers were no stranger to distant cultures, and their prevalence across vastly different landscapes would suggest they made heterogeneity a priority. According to Kiona Smith of Inverse Magazine, modern DNA results show that Viking Age Scandinavia was more genetically diverse than present-day Scandinavia, with particular appearances of Eastern European and Western Asian DNA. Evidently, the exclusionary practices enacted by the Ásatrú Folk Assembly are contrary to the ancestors they claim to share a bloodline with, who made efforts to intermingle with other societies and deviated from having strictly “native European” heritage.

The Ásatrú faith of the Vikings, old Nordic practitioners, and modern day adherents has been construed to preach segregationist doctrines and justify bigotry. Upon analyzing old Norse culture and Ásatrú’s founding texts, there are no mentions of a person’s race or ethnicity - glory was simply given to society’s fiercest warriors, wisest sages, or most creative poets. The Viking Age was a truly fascinating era of history, and the facet that made it so was the amalgamation of Norse warriors into different cultures. From North America to the Middle East, Viking adventurers of the 9th-13th centuries have traversed diverse territories and had no concept of a European ethnic classification. Thus, the Ásatrú Folk Assembly and other hate groups using Nordic symbolism exude true ignorance, as they rally behind beliefs that have no support for their cause.