Volume XXII International Medievalisms Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) ISSN 2043-8230 Series Editors Karl Fugelso Chris Jones Medievalism aims to provide a forum for monographs and collections devoted to the burgeoning and highly dynamic multi-disciplinary field of medievalism studies: that is, work investigating the influence and appearance of `the medieval’ in the society and culture of later ages. Titles within the series investigate the post-medieval construction and manifestations of the Middle Ages – attitudes towards, and uses and meanings of, ‘the medieval’ – in all fields of culture, from politics and international relations, literature, history, architecture, and ceremonial ritual to film and the visual arts. It welcomes a wide range of topics, from historiographical subjects to revivalism, with the emphasis always firmly on what the idea of ‘the medieval’ has variously meant and continues to mean; it is founded on the belief that scholars interested in the Middle Ages can and should communicate their research both beyond and within the academic community of medievalists, and on the continuing relevance and presence of ‘the medieval’ in the contemporary world. New proposals are welcomed. They may be sent directly to the editors or the publishers at the addresses given below. Professor Karl Fugelso Art Department Towson University 3103 Center for the Arts 8000 York Road Towson, MD 21252-0001 USA kfugelso@towson.edu Professor Chris Jones Department of English University of Utah Languages and Communication Building 255 S Central Campus Drive, Rm 3500 Salt Lake City Utah chris.s.jones@utah.edu Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9 Woodbridge Suffolk IP12 3DF UK Previous volumes in this series are printed at the back of this book Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) International Medievalisms From Nationalism to Activism Edited by Mary Boyle D. S. BREWER Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) © Contributors 2023 All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner First published 2023 D. S. Brewer, Cambridge ISBN 978 1 84384 606 2 D. S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK and of Boydell & Brewer Inc. 668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620–2731, USA website: www.boydellandbrewer.com A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate This publication is printed on acid-free paper Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) 11 Nordic Giants: Using Left-Wing Post-Rock to Deepen Our Understandings of White Supremacist Interpretations of Vikings1 Eirnin Jefford Franks T here has been much scholarship on the way the concept of ‘Vikings’ has been interpreted in modern music movements, with much of this, necessarily, focusing on the genres of extreme metal, Viking metal, and black metal, and in turn their links with right-wing extremism and white supremacy. These are, of course, incredibly important topics: as scholars of the Viking Age, we must be acutely aware of the uses and abuses of our studies, and how this impacts perceptions beyond the academy. However, studies exploring the political implications of Viking medievalism do not often explore the imagery beyond these areas. The band Nordic Giants first came to my attention when I was an undergraduate, when they played a show at my local music-centred pub. I was captured by the imagery on their poster: I remember seeing two feathered figures surrounded by dark colours and swirling shapes. The more I delved into their music, the more I was captured: the theatrical duo had a strong left-wing political focus to much of their music and focused on a humanitarian message of human kindness and connection for ourselves and for the planet. As my studies progressed, I became more aware of the ways in which the band drew on Norse imagery in their stylization and conceptualization. This stood in stark contrast to the other portrayals of Vikings I was so used to seeing: images of hairy, unkempt men professing violence and bloodlust, 1 Due to the nature of this topic, I will be addressing white supremacy, racism, antisemitism, anti-Blackness, murder, terrorism, sexism, and homophobia, including reference to censored slurs. Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) 174 Eirnin Jefford Franks often in the name of white supremacy.2 I was fascinated by this contrast, and hence this chapter has been many years in the making. By taking a comparative approach between Nordic Giants and a selection of other musicians who make use of Viking imagery, but with a right-wing stance, it is possible to delve beyond the discussion of what images are being presented, and to uncover what makes this distinction so stark. The central point of difference is ultimately masculinity: while right-wing musicians interpret Vikings as the epitome of a modern conception of masculinity, Nordic Giants break from this to explore interpretations of Vikings through an ungendered lens. As such, Nordic Giants employ a different discursive space that can carry a different political message from that of right-wing metal bands. Discursive Spaces This chapter will explore political alignment along the axis of so-called left-wing to right-wing politics, following the general conceptualization of these terms, whereby right-wing politics focuses more on conservativism, while left-wing politics focuses on libertarianism. This chapter will use these terms to refer loosely to these conceptualizations, with discussions of the right-leaning politics often focusing on a more extreme alignment than discussions of left-leaning politics. For example, the rightwing politics discussed in this chapter will explore extremist white supremacy and its components, while the left-wing politics will take a more humanitarian stance, devoid of active antiracist beliefs.3 An important comparative point that allows for the distinction evident between Nordic Giants and other Viking-themed bands is the use of different genres. Nordic Giants’ music falls into the post-rock genre, whereas many other musicians create music within the genres of extreme, black, and Viking metal.4 The history of each of these genres impacts the way each band is able to construct their image of ‘Vikingness’. The term ‘post-rock’ was coined by Simon Reynolds in March 1994 in a review of Bark Psychosis’ album Hex.5 As it is a term defined by those outside of the genre, rather than within, there is not a clear community boundary as there is with extreme metal genres. Similarly, the musical definition is not strict either: post-rock is generally focused around using classical rock instruments in less conventional ways and ways that focus on creating intricate soundscapes. For example, bows may be used on electric guitars, and drumsticks on bass guitars. Vocals are often used as an extra instrument, rather I will use the term ‘Vikings’ in this chapter to reference the modern construction of Vikings as seen in popular media, and the terms ‘Norse’ and ‘pre-Christian Scandinavian’ to refer to the historically studied cultures of the Viking Age and early medieval period. 3 I would like to make a distinction between being ‘not racist’ and active antiracism. Antiracism refers to the labour of dismantling white supremacy and acknowledging one’s own position within white supremacy, grounded within actions. Being ‘not racist’ consists of not endorsing racism, but also not taking any steps to dismantle racism. See Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist (New York, 2019); Reni Eddo-Lodge, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race (New York, 2019). 4 For simplicity, I will use ‘extreme metal’ in this chapter to refer to these various genres. 5 Simon Reynolds, ‘Bark Psychosis: Hex’, Mojo (1994), https://www.rocksbackpages. com/Library/Article/bark-psychosis-ihexi [accessed 30 December 2020]. 2 Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) White Supremacist Interpretations of Vikings 175 than conventional singing: this technique is best demonstrated by Sigur Rós, who refer to their use of vocals as ‘Hopelandic’, recognizing that these vocals are not producing language.6 These techniques are certainly true of Nordic Giants: while one band member plays keys, synth, trumpet, and loops, the other plays cymbals and skins, bowed guitar, and samples – hardly standard equipment for a classic rock band.7 Nordic Giants are signed to the label Kscope. This label defines themselves as ‘post-progressive’ and highlights their desire to platform artists within this genre. In particular, they draw attention to ‘the atmospheric offerings of Air, Talk Talk, and Royskopp [sic], and the cinematic Post-Rock vistas of Sigur Ros [sic], Godspeed You Black Emperor and Tortoise’,8 referencing other bands that are key parts of the post-rock movement.9 Nordic Giants are therefore placed squarely within this genre, within which there are no other well-known examples of bands making use of Viking imagery. Extreme metal has a very different history. It developed in Scandinavia in the late 1980s and early 1990s and is a subgenre of heavy metal. The musical qualities do not try to replicate the sounds of the Vikings but instead follow heavy metal’s sonic qualities of harsh guitars, heavy drumbeats, and ‘overall loudness’.10 The concept of the Vikingness is drawn through the presentation of the bands, their beliefs, and their claim of Viking heritage, focusing on an image of Viking warriors. As Simon Trafford notes: ‘[T]he particular appeal of the Vikings for extreme metal fans and musicians was very strongly related to existing predilections within heavy metal culture, namely, a valorization of macho masculinity, a revulsion for genteel social norms, and a taste for themes of war and chaos.’11 Indeed, Deena Weinstein has argued that as a genre, metal has outlasted other rock genres due to its hypermasculine culture.12 This hypermasculinity is a key feature of the aesthetic of metal, and is therefore also critical to the discursive space being created. Another key feature in the construction of extreme metal is, as Weinstein has termed it, ‘chauvinistic Paganism’: a subgroup of pagan metal that ‘scapegoats and demonizes those seen to be, or who have been, a threat to one’s ethnic heritage – one’s “roots”’.13 This is a core part of much of the extreme metal I will be using as comparative points. This mindset is innately right-wing and white supremacist. 6 ‘Post-rock’, Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016, https://www.britannica.com/art/post-rock [accessed 30 December 2020]. 7 Kevin Thompson, ‘Review – Nordic Giants – Amplify Human Vibration by Kevin Thompson’, Progradar, 2017, https://www.progradar.org/index.php/tag/roka [accessed 30 December 2020]. 8 ‘About/Contact’, Kscope, 2020, https://kscopemusic.com/contact [accessed 30 December 2020]. 9 Cos Staff, ‘Dreamlab: The Semantics of Post-Rock’, Consequence of Sound, 2012, https://consequenceofsound.net/aux-out/dreamlab-the-semantics-of-post-rock [accessed 30 December 2020]. 10 Simon Trafford, ‘Viking Metal’, in The Oxford Handbook of Music and Medievalism, ed. Stephen C. Meyer and Kirsten Yri (Oxford, 2020), 564–66. 11 Ibid., 566. 12 Deena Weinstein, Heavy Metal: The Music and Its Culture (Cambridge, MA, 2009). 13 Deena Weinstein, ‘Pagan Metal’, in Pop Pagans: Paganism and Popular Music, ed. Donna Weston and Andy Bennett (London, 2014), 58. Weinstein uses the term Pagan Metal to refer to metal subgenres that deal with a range of so-called ‘pagan’ cultures and Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) 176 Eirnin Jefford Franks By existing in different genres with different histories, different discursive spaces are employed: what it means to ‘be a Viking’ is constructed in specific ways. It is hard, if not impossible, for someone within extreme metal to be accepted as embodying Vikingness if they do so in a way that differs significantly from the idea of what it means to be a Viking in that space: it is questionable, and rather unlikely, that someone within extreme metal would consider Nordic Giants to embody Vikingness. As has been demonstrated, this construction of a Viking in extreme metal spaces is focused on hypermasculinity. In comparison, the lack of a defined discursive space of Vikingness in post-rock allows Nordic Giants to construct an alternative presentation of Vikingness. Nordic Giants Nordic Giants are a post-rock duo from Brighton, England. They describe themselves as ‘claustrophobic cinematic clatter’14 and focus heavily on the way their music links to short films that are often made in connection to their music.15 They present themselves as using their music to promote their message: one of positivity and human kindness. At the time of writing, their latest project is an album titled Amplify Human Vibration, released in 2017, and accompanied by a documentary of the same title, released in 2020. In an essay published by the UK newspaper The Independent, the band states that the purpose of the project is ‘to show that every person can make a positive impact on the world, no matter how small and to simply remind everyone the true power each of us have, especially when we all unite together as one’.16 The band spread their message very explicitly through their music. Neither of the duo sing on their tracks and instead feature other singers and sample speeches. In their aforementioned album alone, they make use of: • Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech ‘Beyond Vietnam’ on the song ‘Spirit’; • ‘The Taxonomy of Illusions’ by the ethnobotanist, mystic, and author Terence McKenna on the opening track of the same name; • ‘The Mystery of Change’ by philosopher Alan Watts on ‘Reawake’; • and ‘We Are Power’ by Native American activist John Trudell on ‘Immortal Elements’. They use yet more notable speeches on other songs: • ‘Mechanical Minds’ from the 2013 EP Build Seas, Dismantle Suns uses ‘The Final Speech’ from The Great Dictator by Charlie Chaplin; spiritualities, including, but not limited to, Celtic and Slavic, alongside Norse. 14 Nordic Giants, ‘About’, Nordic Giants, http://www.nordicgiants.co.uk/about [accessed 18 October 2018]. 15 Ibid. 16 Remfry Dedman, ‘Nordic Giants – Amplify Human Vibration: Exclusive Album Stream’, The Independent, 2017, https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/ features/nordic-giants-amplify-human-vibration-exclusive-album-stream-a8005806.html [accessed 18 October 2018]. Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) White Supremacist Interpretations of Vikings 177 • ‘Together’ from the 2012 EP Shine again makes use of ‘Beyond Vietnam’ by Martin Luther King Jr; • ‘Evolve and Perish’ on the 2015 album A Séance of Dark Delusions uses words from Michael Ruppert in the opening of Vice’s 2014 documentary Apocalypse, Man; • ‘Néoténie’ from the 2013 EP Build Seas, Dismantle Suns uses a lecture from author William S. Burroughs at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics on 11 August 1980; • ‘Dark Clouds Mean War’ from the 2013 EP Build Seas, Dismantle Suns uses Napoleon’s final speech from the 1970 film Waterloo, directed by Sergei Bondarchuk. This selection of speeches, focusing on issues of equality, climate justice, and death, primarily from activists and campaigners, underlines the political cause of the band. Of course, this is not true of all the speakers featured: Napoleon’s militarism is inherently at odds with a left-wing ethos, and in his full lecture, William S. Burroughs uses the racialized ‘n’ slur. However, the words spoken within the songs still carry strong messages and strong emotions. These speeches therefore create a powerful discography, with the political leanings of the band being unmistakeable to the listener. As the name suggests, Nordic Giants have a fascination with the imagery of Norse mythology within their branding, although they never explicitly refer to this image or themselves as ‘Vikings’, nor do they discuss a sense of heritage or ancestry. However, the implication of the ‘giants’ in the name appears to be a reference to the so-called ‘giants’ (Old Norse: jötnar) of Norse mythology, which, when combined with the element ‘Nordic’, clearly highlights pre-Christian Scandinavian religion as the point of reference. When it comes to the duo behind the act, they are anonymous and are only ever known as their stage personas, Löki and Rôka Skulld, who hide themselves behind elaborate costumes.17 The former name, Löki, clearly draws on the figure of Loki of Norse mythology, using the ö character in a way that appears to be unaware of, or uninterested in, its linguistic value, and possibly also drawing inspiration from the long history of decorative diacritics in rock, such as Mötorhead and Mötley Crüe. The latter name has two elements. Rôka has a less clear point of inspiration but seems to follow a similar idea of drawing on names and linguistic features from what are perceived to be Other cultures. It is possible that it is a misinterpretation of the name Röskva, as seen in the Prose Edda’s telling of Þórr and 17 The names Löki and Rôka are used to sign off on many of their social media posts: Nordic Giants, ‘Tour Update – July 2020: Sad News – But Due to the Ongoing “Disruptions” the Decision Has Been Made to Cancel the Tour in September! …’, Facebook, 2020, https:// www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=3291261464229359&id=111865965502274 [accessed 30 December 2020]. The name Skulld only appears on the artist’s individual Facebook page: Roka Skulld, ‘Rôka Skulld’, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/RokaSkulld [accessed 30 December 2020]. Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) 178 Eirnin Jefford Franks Útgarðr Loki, but this is unclear.18 Alongside this, the name Skulld appears to be a deliberate misspelling of Skuld, one of the three nornir who reside under Yggdrasill and choose the fate of men.19 Notably, Röskva and Skuld in Norse mythology are both women. Alongside these names, a repeatedly featured vocalist Nordic Giants make use of is a female singer credited as ‘Freyja’, a clear nod to the goddess known from Norse mythology. These images of myth and mystery are further perpetuated by the ‘About’ section of their website, which describes how ‘two mythical creatures create an experience with bowed guitar, piano that is both haunting and rousing, and climatic and thunderous drums’.20 It is also said that ‘dressed in feathers and shrouded in a ubiquitous fog the pair look more like residents of Middle Earth’,21 implicitly acknowledging the inspiration Norse mythology had for Tolkien’s world-building in The Lord of the Rings.22 Furthermore, they also say that ‘seeing Nordic Giants has been described as akin to a religious experience’,23 seemingly acknowledging links to pre-Christian Scandinavian religion, and to spirituality, as will be demonstrated later. Further compounding this image is the band’s logo. Featuring a tree with swirling branches, it is referred to by the band as their ‘Nordic tree’.24 While it is not explicit, it is implied that this is inspired by Yggdrasill, the tree at the centre of the cosmos, according to Snorri Sturluson.25 Furthermore, the band often refer to their fans as the ‘Nordic Army’,26 close their Facebook posts with the phrase ‘the Nordic Army marches on’,27 and when discussing touring, they refer to ‘invading’ countries or cities.28 These communications have the strongest tones linking their branding to the martial image of Vikings commonly portrayed by other Viking-themed acts. The earlier-mentioned costumes of the duo are intriguing. The pair are never (knowingly) seen outside of these costumes, and they are an integral part of the Snorri Sturluson, Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning, ed. Anthony Faulkes (London, 1988), 37. References are to this edition. 19 ‘Vǫluspa (Konungsbók)’, in Eddukvæði I: Goðakvæði, ed. Jónas Kristjánsson and Vésteinn Ólason (Reykjavík, 2014), 295–96, 19–20. References are to this edition. 20 Nordic Giants, ‘About’. 21 Ibid. 22 Jane Chance, Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A Reader (Lexington, 2004). 23 Nordic Giants, ‘About’. 24 Nordic Giants, ‘¥¥¥ One of our most loyal fan and friends – has become the first person to get a tattoo of our Nordic tree – Mr Brice, we thank you!!! Pic’s [sic] coming soon ¥¥¥’, Facebook, 2013, https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=6029823897239 60&id=111865965502274 [accessed 30 December 2020]. 25 ‘Vǫluspa (Konungsbók)’, 295, 19. 26 Nordic Giants, ‘¥ Calling Nordic Army – tickets are getting very low for some venues now – Don’t miss your chance to see our brand new show and the amazing support acts’, Facebook, 2015, https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1022875487734646 &id=111865965502274 [accessed 30 December 2020]. 27 Nordic Giants, ‘¥ For those of you that joined us last year for our 7 depths of Consciousness Tour – you may well remember these remixed tracks’, Facebook, 2016, https:// www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1191281190894074&id=111865965502274 [accessed 30 December 2020]. 28 Nordic Giants, ‘News on our European invasion later this year, coming tomorrow …’, Facebook, 2017, https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=15755615657 99366&id=111865965502274 [accessed 30 December 2020]; Nordic Giants, ‘Tonight we 18 Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) White Supremacist Interpretations of Vikings 179 image they create. These costumes consist of dark masks over the top half of the face, with feathers extending from this. Their bodies are partially covered by their feathered outfits, with their exposed skin covered in tattoos and body paint. They wear necklaces of animal bones, tusks protruding from the lower halves of their masks like boars, and the back of one costume is styled to look like exposed ribs and a spine. These costumes seem to draw heavily on the images of shamanistic practices that exist within the circumpolar regions, particularly those of the Sámi who lived throughout Scandinavia alongside pre-Christian Norse Scandinavians. Indeed, it is still debated as to whether these shamanistic practices also took place within pre-Christian Scandinavian religion, although there is no consensus on this.29 This is further strengthened by the description of band member Rôka as playing the cymbals and skins.30 While not explicitly linked, knowledge of Sámi religious culture as historically using reindeer-hide drums allows one to speculate that a loose knowledge that this existed within Scandinavian religions may have been part of the inspiration for this choice.31 A further minor way in which Nordic Giants continue to perpetuate their image of Vikingness is the name of their song ‘Runestones’ from their 2015 release 7 Depths of Consciousness. While the song itself is instrumental and does not lend itself to any deeper analysis, the name alone is important: it is a clear nod to the runic writing system for which the Vikings are so well known, and in popular culture is imagined to have magical powers within a religious setting. Significantly, however, the use of actual runes is non-existent within Nordic Giants’ branding, which stands in stark contrast to many Viking-themed metal bands, who often make use of runes in a variety of ways. In combining these various elements, Nordic Giants create a conceptualization that is both explicitly Viking-themed, and notably different from other images of Vikings so often presented in various forms of media. This difference is significant: it allows an alternative portrayal and different discursive space in which Nordic Giants can shift the political associations of the use of Vikings. The combination of these elements creates a complex portrayal of Vikings that is distinct from that of other bands in the extreme metal genre. This distinction is important: it is what allows Nordic Giants to champion ideas of tolerance and hope, as opposed to the hatred of right-wing metal bands. The use of a medieval culture is not an accident. The conceptualization of the medieval as an uncorrupted time has been noted by multiple scholars: Amy S. Kaufman and Paul B. Sturtevant argue that ‘people who are disenchanted with the innovations of modern society often idealize the Middle Ages as natural and pure, the “original” condition of humankind. These people see the Middle Ages as a landscape invade Bristol and It’s the last date of the UK tour! see you all soon’, Facebook, 2017, https:// www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1639112672777588&id=111865965502274 [accessed 30 December 2020]. 29 This is in reference to the ritual practice of seiðr. See Clive Tolley, Shamanism in Norse Myth and Magic (Helsinki, 2009), I; Neil Price, The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia (Oxford, 2019). 30 Thompson, ‘Review – Nordic Giants’. 31 Rolf Kjellström and Håkon Rydving, Den samiska trumman (Stockholm, 1988). Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) 180 Eirnin Jefford Franks for heroism, passion, and legendary deeds.’32 In doing so, the Middle Ages are interpreted in ways that suit the interpreter. Where right-wing musicians will interpret this to mean a time that was exclusively white and devoid of immigration, Nordic Giants seem to conceptualize this purity in terms of a time before industrialization and its effects on the climate and on individualism, seeing the Middle Ages as a time of community-driven culture.33 This use of the medieval has particularly been brought to the fore by Annette Kreutziger-Herr, who states that ‘the Middle Ages serves as a toy. It is the sum of small pieces of hidden meaning, a collection of diffuse images and yearnings illustrating that this time has indeed sunk into oblivion, but it has left behind a treasure of legends, ideals, dreams, hopes, and “visions”.’34 The medieval acts as a blank canvas upon which an artist can paint their ideals and their politics and allow the cultural understanding of the purity of the medieval to legitimize their ideas, rooting them in a sense of the natural state of humanity. However, this medievalism is one of the few ways in which Nordic Giants and Viking metal use the same technique to share their political aims. In order to understand what makes the former stand out, we must briefly look at one of the different, and overt features of extreme metal: hypermasculinity. This hypermasculinity has been noticed by many scholars before me: Steven P. Ashby and John Schofield argue for ‘the stereotypical image of the “Viking warrior” as a hirsute symbol of masculinity’, as used by metal bands.35 This is also outlined by Weinstein, who notes that ‘although Norse gods are plentiful, metal bands tend to select those that embody the heroic masculinity that metal heads have always valued’,36 and Gry Mørk states that ‘manliness is here linked to the Norse tradition and its gender ideals. The male Viking represents paradigmatic and traditional masculinity.’37 This idea is clearly at the heart of extreme metal perceptions of Vikings and forms a core part of the discursive space. This image is created in a number of ways. One such way is the visual aesthetics of the musicians: Ashby and Schofield’s comment, a ‘hirsute symbol’, acknowledges this, with many musicians sporting long hair and beards as a statement of masculinity. An overwhelming sense of aggression accompanies this, in line with models 32 Amy S. Kaufman and Paul B. Sturtevant, The Devil’s Historians: How Modern Extremists Abuse the Medieval Past (Toronto, 2020), 7. 33 The implications of reading of aspects of the (early) Middle Ages as pure, uncorrupted, or primitive is also discussed in Chapters 3 and 8. 34 Annette Kreutziger-Herr, ‘Postmodern Middle Ages: Medieval Music at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century’, Florilegium 15 (1998), 188. 35 Steven P. Ashby and John Schofield, ‘“Hold the Heathen Hammer High”: Representation, Re-enactment and the Construction of “Pagan”’ Heritage’, International Journal of Heritage Studies, 21/5 (2015), 499. 36 Weinstein, ‘Pagan Metal’, 60. 37 Gry Mørk, ‘Why Didn’t the Churches Begin to Burn a Thousand Years Earlier?’, in Religion and Popular Music in Europe: New Expressions of Sacred and Secular Identity, ed. Thomas Bossius, Andreas Häger, and Keith Kahn-Harris (London, 2011), 140. Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) White Supremacist Interpretations of Vikings 181 of toxic masculinity of the twenty-first century. However, by far the most prominent way in which this masculinity is portrayed is through martial imagery. Indeed, Simon Trafford and Aleks Pluskowski argue that 38 [m]artial imagery clearly plays an important role in the iconography of many Metal bands, with eras of inspiration ranging from prehistory through to the Gulf War. The Viking Age is certainly not short of suitable material, and weapons and warriors are readily incorporated into the iconography of Viking Metal bands, ranging from logos, such as that used by Norwegian ‘folkloric black metal’ band Windir, which substitutes two Viking-Age swords for the ‘i’s, through to band member personas.39 We can therefore argue that the prominence of this hypermasculinity allows it to become a key feature in the discursive space of extreme metal’s Vikings. Naturally, not every extreme metal band making use of this imagery holds right-wing views. What is important to note here is that right-wing metal bands do make use of this imagery: extreme metal’s right-wing Vikings are always hypermasculine. For popular audiences, Vikings are seen as the ultimate example of masculinity. This becomes part of the paradigm of cisheteropatriarchy, a system within which Western culture functions, and which is rooted in white supremacy.40 Therefore, Vikings are ideal to be used as a vehicle for right-wing ideologies. By contrast, hypermasculinity is absent from Nordic Giants’ interpretation of Norse culture. While there is some martial imagery, this is created solely through words and focuses on the concept of movement, rather than active violence. Furthermore, the outfits they wear, while somewhat masculine to reflect the gender of the performers, are not overtly hypermasculine. The masculinity presented is exclusively in relation to the performers’ own genders, rather than creating a conceptualization with masculinity at the heart of it. In this way, Nordic Giants create a relatively ungendered interpretation of Vikings, setting them far apart from extreme metal bands. It is only through this comparison to extreme metal bands that we can see how distinct an approach to gender and Viking medievalism Nordic Giants take. One of the key ways in which Nordic Giants achieve this is through the shamanistic interpretation of the Vikings. As noted above, it is unclear if this is a misunderstanding of the shamanism that was present in Sámi culture or an interpretation of the Norse ritual practice of seiðr. However, it is somewhat unimportant as to which distinct culture is being interpreted here: although they are both significantly 38 The origin of the term ‘toxic masculinity’ is unclear, but one key definition is provided by Terry A. Kupers, who states that ‘toxic masculinity involves the need to aggressively compete and dominate others and encompasses the most problematic proclivities in men’: Terry A. Kupers, ‘Toxic Masculinity as a Barrier to Mental Health Treatment in Prison’, Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61/6 (2005), 713. 39 Simon Trafford and Aleks Pluskowski, ‘Antichrist Superstars: The Vikings in Hard Rock and Heavy Metal’, in Mass Market Medieval: Essays on the Middle Ages in Popular Culture, ed. D.W. Marshall (Jefferson, 2007), 67. 40 Andrea Smith, ‘Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing’, in Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology, ed. INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence (Durham, NC, 2016), 72. Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) 182 Eirnin Jefford Franks different in their historical contexts, the impact of their interpretations in this context does not differ greatly. At the root of this is the question of gender within both practices. One of the key understandings a popular audience may have about shamanism, as a broad concept, is the role of gender fluidity and non-conformity, with many people understanding this in terms of a ‘third sex’ or ‘third gender’.41 Similarly, seiðr has been broadly discussed with regard to the ways in which its practice challenges the gender of the practitioner and pushes them outside of cisnormative boundaries.42 As such, drawing on either one of these concepts offers the implication of non-normative genders and a challenge to cisheteronormativity, allowing Nordic Giants to create an ungendered portrayal of Vikings. Another key implication of drawing on either Sámi shamanism or Norse seiðr is that both of these practices are linked to religion, and in turn spirituality. This appears to be important to Nordic Giants and is not limited to the inspiration for their costumes. In his review of the album Amplify Human Vibration, Kevin Thompson paints a powerful image of the spiritual touch to the song ‘Autonomous’: ‘[S]at in the church of instrumentation, resting on the pews of chords and bars, we can embrace the blissful notes from the organ playing sweetly on Autonomous, the final track that will guide us into the light of understanding on a wave of musical euphoria.’43 While the contrast of Christian imagery against the stylization of non-Christian imagery is stark, it underlines the sense of spirituality that is central to Nordic Giants. This, combined with the use of names and images from Norse mythology, acts as a signal that Nordic Giants see themselves as spiritual ambassadors of the truth, trying to warn and rescue mankind from their own collapse, in line with their messaging. This is further reinforced by using a distant culture that appears to be an Other. This technique is not uncommon. In Kirsten Yri’s study of the art rock band Dead Can Dance, she notes that the band makes use of elements understood to be medieval by popular audiences, and that they assign ‘“premodern” attributes of spirituality and naturalness’ to the medieval,44 alongside associating this with the ‘Other’ through Orientalism: ‘[T]hey impart a distinctly Othered sound that vaguely references the North African or Arab world.’45 This combination of the medieval and spirituality in Yri’s analysis is significant, as it draws together existing ideas with which Nordic Giants work, reinforced by this use of the Other. Underscoring the importance of these ideas, Susan Fast notes the ‘longing for the Other, in particular as a source of power alternative to that possessed by the dominant culture’.46 This Price, The Viking Way, 249. See Eirnin Jefford Franks, ‘Valfǫðr, vǫlur, and valkyrjur: Óðinn as a Queer Deity Mediating the Warrior Halls of Viking Age Scandinavia’, Scandia: Journal of Medieval Norse Studies, 2 (2019), 33 for further discussion on why these terms should not be used. 42 Jefford Franks, ‘Valfǫðr, vǫlur, and valkyrjur’, 38–39; Price, The Viking Way, 172–83. 43 Thompson, ‘Review – Nordic Giants’. 44 Kirsten Yri, ‘Medievalism and Exoticism in the Music of Dead Can Dance’, Current Musicology, 85 (2008), 54. 45 Ibid., 62. 46 Susan Fast, ‘Days of Future Passed: Rock, Pop, and the Yearning for the Middle Ages’, in Mittelalter-Sehnsucht? Texte des interdisziplinären Symposions zur musikalischen Mittelalterrezeption an der Universität Heidelberg, April 1998, ed. Annette Kreutziger-Herr 41 Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) White Supremacist Interpretations of Vikings 183 is key: Nordic Giants use this medievalism, an ungendered approach, and an implication of spirituality (specifically non-Abrahamic spirituality, contrasting the cultural norm of England) to create an image of being an Other, which allows them to place themselves in opposition to, as Fast terms it, ‘the dominant culture’. For Nordic Giants, this dominant culture appears to be capitalist, industrialized society at large. This in turn allows them to disseminate their message of tolerance, hope, and kindness through ideas of community and nature. Right-Wing Abuses By analysing Nordic Giants’ different approach and isolating the key factor in this – gender – we can therefore gain a deeper understanding of how masculine interpretations of Vikings facilitate white supremacy. It is also important for us as scholars to understand the full extent of this impact by explicitly identifying links between masculinity and Vikings, white supremacist views, and the death tolls directly related to this relationship. The exploration of Nordic Giants above allows us to see the starkness of this comparison, and the role masculinity, particularly hyper- and toxic masculinity, plays in it. The development of extreme metal in Scandinavia in the 1980s and 1990s came hand-in-hand with violence. The early years of the music scene were defined by the burning of medieval churches throughout Norway. This was directly linked to ideas surrounding a Viking past: Varg Vikernes saw the burning of Fantoft stave church on 6 June 1992 as a modern version of the attack on Lindisfarne in 793.47 Vikernes is one of the most prominent figures of discussion in this area. He is the man behind the one-man-band Burzum and was incredibly influential in the early days of the extreme metal movement. In 1993, he murdered fellow musician Øystein Aarseth (also known as Euronymous), his former bandmate from the band Mayhem, and was subsequently sentenced to twenty-one years in prison for this murder (of which he served fifteen), alongside other charges including arson. While there, he wrote a manifesto entitled Vargsmål, which promoted a so-called nationalist heathen ideology, arguing that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are invasive religions that destroyed the native paganism of Europe, and therefore must be eradicated. This native paganism is that of the Vikings. Since his release from prison in 2009, Vikernes has been active online, primarily through his previous YouTube account, ‘Thulean Perspective’. While this account was active, it garnered tens of thousands of views, with his videos ranging from music releases to interpretations of Norse mythology and commentary on recent events. One such video was a commentary on the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019.48 In this video, he made a number of racist statements, including blaming the government for allowing mass and Dorothea Redepenning, (Kiel, 2000), 35. 47 Mørk, ‘Why Didn’t the Churches’, 127. 48 Kristian ‘Varg’ Vikernes, ‘They got what they wanted … (NZ terror attack)’, Thulean Perspective: BitChute, 2019, https://www.bitchute.com/video/N3ozrpk_eyw [accessed 30 December 2020]. This video was originally uploaded to YouTube and reuploaded on BitChute following Vikernes being banned from YouTube. Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) 184 Eirnin Jefford Franks immigration, with the implication that this refers to people of colour only, and referring to the government using triple parentheses, for example ‘(((they)))’: within extremist white supremacist circles, this denotes that the party being referred to is Jewish.49 Vikernes is part of what is known as ‘National Socialist Black Metal’, or NSBM, but he is far from alone: it is this group that comprises the most extreme points of comparison in this study.50 Another example is the German band Absurd. Like Vikernes, the original members were imprisoned for murder in 1993.51 The lyrics of their music promote nationalist, pro-heathen revivalist, and anti-Judeo-Christian rhetoric. Their political leanings cannot be mistaken. Alongside these politics, their use of the Viking Age as a point of inspiration is unequivocal. One of the original band members is Hendrik Möbus, who uses the stage name Jarl Flagg Nidhogg. This is a clear reference to Norse myth: jarl is the Old Norse equivalent of ‘earl’, and Nidhogg (ON: Níðhǫggr) is the serpent who gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasill.52 Furthermore, their 1999 EP was titled Asgardsrei, said to be a term that existed for a godly group of Germanic warriors associated with the Wild Hunt,53 but it should be noted that this term has no historical attestation before the nineteenth century.54 This EP included a booklet of images of the Knights Templar, the Teutonic Order, and the Waffen-SS:55 presumably these are seen to be the ‘Asgardsrei’ warriors. This association between Nazi soldiers and Viking warriors is particularly striking and should not be understated. Another example of bands making extreme use of this imagery is the Greek NSBM band Der Stürmer, who are named after the antisemitic Nazi newspaper. The stage names of the band members are Jarl Von Hagall, Commando Wolf, and Hjarulv Henker, monikers that are clearly inspired by both Nazi-associated names and interpretations of Norse names and words. For example, Henker is German for hangman or executioner, which immediately underlines the violent nature of the band members. Alongside this, jarl, as previously stated, is Old Norse for ‘earl’, and Hjarulv appears to be a somewhat fanciful version of the word úlfr in Old Norse, translating to wolf.56 In particular, hagall refers to a rune from the various Futhark alphabets, which was later co-opted by Nazis to refer to an ‘unshakeable faith’ in the Nazi philosophy, according to Heinrich Himmler.57 Furthermore, the band’s website 49 ‘Echo’, ADL, 2022, https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/echo [accessed 27 April 2022]. 50 It must be stated that there are no left-wing extremist uses of Viking imagery to make a direct comparison with on this topic. 51 Disincarnated and Murmur_666, ‘Absurd’, Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives, 2002–2021, https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Absurd/383 [accessed 3 May 2022]. 52 Snorri Sturluson, Edda, 17. 53 Kris Kershaw, The One-Eyed God: Odin and the (Indo-)Germanic Männerbünde (Washington, 2000), 29. 54 The earliest attestation appears to be Peter Nicolai Arbo’s 1872 painting by the name Åsgårdsreien. 55 Discogs, ‘Absurd (3)’, Discogs, 2021, https://www.discogs.com/Absurd-Asgardsrei/ release/369774 [accessed 15 January 2021]. 56 I am unable to find any reference to explain the ‘Hjar’ part of this name, and it appears to be an elaboration with no historical meaning. 57 Robin Lumsden, Himmler’s Black Order: A History of the SS, 1923–45 (Stroud, 1997), 147. Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) White Supremacist Interpretations of Vikings 185 describes their ideology as a ‘Heathen/National Socialist Weltanschauung [world view].’58 The backgrounds to these webpages and their albums include images of Adolf Hitler and the Swastika.59 The connection the band draws between Norse culture and Nazi ideology is inescapable. A 2009 interview between Henker and the NSBM blog ‘Ulvhedin Grom’ also demonstrates the extent to which masculinity is central to this ideology. When asked to describe the subject matter of their latest album, Henker stated: The inspiration comes from the modern state of Europe as this is compared with the forgotten and often deliberately ignored past. Only an idiot would disagree upon the fact that Aryan ethics, way of life and thought and actions are gone from Europe and the western world, replaced by this anarchist mass of liberal, effeminate [my italics], hedonistic mass-people.60 Henker is then asked ‘your thoughts on non-NS black metal? Or Heathen themed groups that don’t embrace NS ideology? Personally I think there’s too much harmless, pacifistic and “feminine” sounding Black metal.’ Henker responds: I totally agree with you. Even the modern ‘Black Metal’ scene reflects the condition of the average European man … useless people always produce something useless. The spirit that once permeated Black Metal with warlike anger is now almost gone … the Aryan religion is built upon the ethics and psyche of a warlike, conquering people, not to some pot-influenced hippie mumblings. In general, all these f******* are part of modernity.61 Evidently, masculinity is the crux of the matter for Henker. The use of the ‘f ’ slur, referring to homosexual men, is clearly referencing masculinity, and combining this with discussions of ‘warlike anger’ highlights that aggressive, toxic hypermasculinity is central to how he conceptualizes Viking culture. It goes without saying that these ideas are extremely harmful – but they also come with a death toll. On 22 July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik murdered seventy-seven people in Norway. Breivik identified himself as an Odinist62 and made use of a range of medievalisms, including Viking, often confusing them with one another. As Andrew B.R. Elliott has commented: ‘[H]e fused his pseudo-Christian knighthood with references to Norse mythology, calling his outfit “Loki’s armour” 58 Der Stürmer, ‘Biography’, The Pagan Front, 2007, https://web.archive.org/web/202003 29070400/http://www.thepaganfront.com/dersturmer/bio.html [accessed 3 May 2022]. 59 Der Stürmer, ‘News’, The Pagan Front, 2007, https://web.archive.org/web/2019090 4073112/http://www.thepaganfront.com/dersturmer/main.html [accessed 3 May 2022]; Der Stürmer, ‘Releases’, The Pagan Front, 2007, https://web.archive.org/web/20190820194739/ http://www.thepaganfront.com/dersturmer/release.html [accessed 15 January 2021]. 60 I have cut this quote off here, as Henker goes on to use the racialized ‘n’ slur. 61 ‘Interview with Hjarulv Henker/Der Sturmer’, Ulvhedin Grom, 2009, https://ulvhedingrom.livejournal.com/200437.html [accessed 30 December 2020]. I have censored the homophobic ‘f ’ slur here: unlike the slur in the quote above, this plays an important role in the wider text. 62 A form of neo-pagan belief that centres on Óðinn, and commonly has white supremacist leanings. Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) 186 Eirnin Jefford Franks and carving the name Mjolnir, after Thor’s hammer, in runic letters onto his Glock. Likewise, his motorbike was called Sleipnir after Odin’s eight-legged horse, and his Ruger rifle Gungnir, after Odin’s spear.’63 Breivik wrote a manifesto – a theme among these terrorists – titled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence. This manifesto was sent to Vikernes,64 among others, which reinforces the fact that Breivik felt somewhat inspired by Vikernes. In 2019, the New York Times undertook a study of the links between white extremists.65 From this, we can further see that Brenton Tarrant, the perpetrator of the 15 March 2019 shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, was inspired by Breivik. Tarrant murdered fifty-one people and injured a further forty-nine. Simultaneously, he released his own manifesto, The Great Replacement,66 which closes with the phrase, ‘I will see you in Valhalla.’67 The link between white supremacist terrorism and ideas around a Viking past are undeniable. This interpretation of the past continues to have ramifications, including during the writing of this chapter. On 6 January 2021, a group of Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election, resulting in five deaths.68 One of the figures that drew the most press attention during this was Jake Angeli, who refers to himself as the ‘Q Shaman’.69 Angeli is a subscriber to the ‘Q Anon’ conspiracy theory, which has strong right-wing white supremacist leanings surrounding beliefs in a ‘deep state’ controlling the US government, full of corruption and criminal acts such as paedophilia, and the belief that Donald Trump is the only person who can defeat this group.70 Angeli attended the riot in an outfit he is now well known for: a Native American headdress, a bare chest, and a flag attached to a spear. A number of elements of this outfit drew the attention of medievalists, including myself: on his chest, he sports three tattoos, one of the so-called valknut, one of the ‘tree of life’, and one of Thor’s hammer.71 These 63 Andrew B.R. Elliott, Medievalism, Politics and Mass Media: Appropriating the Middle Ages in the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge, 2017), 140. 64 John Lichfield, ‘Musician and “Anders Breivik Sympathiser” Kristian Vikernes Arrested in France for “Plotting Massacre”’, Independent, 2013, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ world/europe/musician-and-anders-breivik-sympathiser-kristian-vikernes-arrested-franceplotting-massacre-8711653.html [accessed 30 December 2020]. 65 Weiyi Cai and Simone Landon, ‘Attacks by White Extremists Are Growing; So Are Their Connections’, New York Times, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/03/ world/white-extremist-terrorism-christchurch.html [accessed 30 December 2020]. 66 Kaufman and Sturtevant, The Devil’s Historians, 53. 67 Brenton Tarrant, The Great Replacement, https://img-prod.ilfoglio.it/userUpload/ The_Great_Replacementconvertito.pdf [accessed 8 January 2021], 86. 68 Kenya Evelyn, ‘Capitol Attack: The Five People Who Died’, The Guardian, 2021, https:// www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/08/capitol-attack-police-officer-five-deaths [accessed 10 January 2021]. 69 Matt Binder, ‘“QAnon Shaman” Is Seen Leading the Charge as Pro-Trump Mob Breaks into U.S. Capitol’, Mashable, 2021, https://mashable.com/article/qanon-capitol-trump-jakeangeli/?europe=true [accessed 10 January 2021]. 70 Mike Wendling, ‘QAnon: What Is It and Where Did It Come From?’, BBC News, 2021 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/53498434 [accessed 10 January 2021]. 71 Eirnin (@queertyyr), ‘I’m currently writing about hypermasculinity and Viking Medievalisms in white supremacy … the horns, valknut, and the “tree of life” (Yggdrasil) on this guy underline this terrifyingly perfectly’, Twitter, 2021, https://web.archive.org/ Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) White Supremacist Interpretations of Vikings 187 are all clear references to Norse myth. The valknut appears as a symbol in Viking Age art, although its meaning, or possible lack thereof, is unknown. The ‘tree of life’ is likely to be that of Yggdrasill, and Thor’s hammer is a reference to Mjölnir. Furthermore, his use of a spear may also be a nod to Óðinn’s spear Gungnir, recalling Breivik’s use of this same imagery. It is clear that white supremacists are empowered by ideas of Viking masculinity, and this is core to their politics: it is by contrasting this against Nordic Giants that we can see how stark and fundamental this is. ‘A time comes when silence is betrayal’ It is imperative that students and scholars of Viking Age Scandinavia understand the ways in which images of Vikings are being used within popular culture.72 As this chapter has demonstrated, these uses vary greatly, and they create different impacts: medievalism can be used for positive and negative causes. Nordic Giants’ interpretation of Norse culture is unique. By focusing on elements of mythology and spirituality within a medieval, and specifically Norse, setting, they are able to legitimize their left-wing politics as being based in the natural state of humanity, using techniques that are not inherently dissimilar to other groups using medievalism for political aims. Due to the shared use of medievalism as a vehicle for disseminating political ideas, understanding the differences between Nordic Giants and extreme metal bands allows us to isolate the core differences in the interpretations of the past. As I have demonstrated, this core difference is the role of masculinity, particularly in its toxic and hypermasculine forms. I have also demonstrated the extent of the damage caused by these hypermasculine interpretations of a Viking past. I have noted the deaths of 133 people as a direct result of white supremacist ideology that is in part motivated by an interpretation of this hypermasculine Viking past. It can be easy for work on the Viking Age and medieval Scandinavia to be seen to exist in a vacuum, but the role of our scholarship is more far-reaching than we often give it credit for. I have felt this work touch my life on a personal level in a multitude of ways. An important part of my approach to my work surrounding gender and queerness in the Viking Age involves public outreach. In August of 2020, The Sunday Times ran an article about Neil Price’s recently released book, The Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings, and his speculation that the individual buried in the grave Bj.581 may have been a transgender man, in modern terms. I was quoted alongside Price, giving my support for this idea, based on my academic and public-facing web/20221115101636/https://twitter.com/queertyyr/status/1346915269470466049 [accessed 10 January 2021]. It is worth noting that in this tweet, I mistakenly identified the headdress’ horns as being a reference to the cultural misunderstanding of Norse warriors wearing horned helmets. This was later pointed out to me and I rectified the mistake. 72 The title of this section is taken from a quote from Martin Luther King Jr’s ‘Beyond Vietnam’ speech, as heard on Nordic Giants’ track ‘Spirit’. Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com) Eirnin Jefford Franks 188 work. I faced a backlash from this, which included images of myself and my partner being shared on the Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish sites for the Nordic Resistance Movement. My partner is Black: an image of us together was chosen, rather than one of me alone, to try to discredit my work by framing me as a white race traitor, highlighted by two of the websites describing me as ‘self-hating’ in the photo captions.74 More importantly, this was an act of anti-Black racism and raised significant concerns for the safety of my partner and his family. Alongside this, people have shared tweets of mine and tagged Vikernes in them, to draw attention to the fact that my work directly challenges his ideas about a Viking past. I have received a hateful email with the subject line ‘Odin’ in which the author stated multiple times that he wanted me dead, through a variety of means, while also making references to his homophobic and antisemitic views. My work surrounding queerness challenges the fragility of masculinity deeply, hence why I have faced such a huge backlash to it. The perception of Vikings as being the ultimate example of masculine ideals is at the root of white supremacists’ obsession with this subject. The impact of interpretations of the past can vary, but it is clear that the impact of this particular interpretation is huge and has played a role in a number of deaths within the last decade. As Nordic Giants demonstrate, this is not the only interpretation available. It is therefore vital that scholars make efforts to disrupt this narrative within their work, not only for the sake of historical accuracy, but to limit the damage these interpretations can play in the modern world. 73 Rosamund Urwin, ‘Odin’s Beard! Transgender Vikings May Have Played a Key Role in Pillage Life’, The Sunday Times, 2020, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/odins-beardtransgender-vikings-may-have-played-a-key-role-in-pillage-life-h2pp82k98 [accessed 30 December 2020]. 74 Nordfront, ‘Historien omskrives af forskere med en politisk agenda: “Kvindelig vikingekriger var transperson”’, Nordfront, 2020, https://www.nordfront.dk/historienomskrives-af-forskere-med-en-politisk-agenda-kvindelig-vikingekriger-var-transperson [accessed 30 December 2020]; ‘Historien skrivs om av PK-forskare: “Kvinnlig vikingakrigare var transperson”’, Nordfront.se, 2020, https://www.nordfront.se/historien-skrivs-omav-pk-forskare-kvinnlig-vikingakrigare-var-transperson.smr [accessed 30 December 2020]; Frihetskamp, ‘Historien omskrives av forskere med en politisk agenda: “Kvinnelig vikingkriger var transperson”’, Frihetskamp, 2020, https://www.frihetskamp.net/historienskrives-om-av-forskere-med-politisk-agenda-kvinnelig-vikingkriger-var-transperson [accessed 30 December 2020]. 73 Copyrighted Material. Single Use Only. Do not copy or circulate. Eirnin Jefford Franks (eirnin.jeffordfranks@gmail.com)