NORWEGIAN HEADLINE: “HE RUNS ‘HEATHEN FRONT’ FROM HIS CELL”
Denied a musical outlet, Vikernes has focused his strong creative drive on writing. His output has encompassed political tracts, a book on mythology called Germansk Mytologi og Verdensanskuelse (Germanic Mythology and Worldview), and fiction, including a short novel. His fictional works can be compared to the infamous neo-Nazi novels Hunter and The Turner Diaries, in the sense that much of it functions as a dramatization of National Socialist rhetoric. Vikernes seems to be slightly more aware of his literary limitations than the late author of the aforementioned books, Dr. William Pierce (a former physics professor who became director of the American racialist political group the National Alliance), who makes his characters’ tender pillow-talk read like political sermonizing.
The true test of political rhetoric is whether it serves to politicize its readers. Pierce’s books have certainly achieved cult status within the radical fringe, and The Turner Diaries carries additional prestige after having been publicly dubbed “the most dangerous book in America” by Bill Baker, a high-ranking FBI official. A strange indicator of the popularity of The Turner Diaries was the recent development when Pierce sold off his publication rights for the book in their entirety to rabble-rousing publisher Lyle Stuart. The Jewish entrepreneur quickly reissued the novel as a mass-distribution paperback through his Barricade Books imprint, complete with a new introduction offering justification for the edition as an educational tool illustrating the dangers of the radical right.
Vikernes’s medium for spreading his ideas has largely involved his initiative the Heathen Front, an organization designed to “promote Heathenism, nationalism and Germanic folkish solidarity on both religious and political levels, as this is the only future for our whole existence” (according to its homepage,
Trying to pinpoint Vikernes’s exact role in the organization is difficult, especially since the Heathen Front officially denies that Vikernes is in charge. While this might be true, the claim may also be an attempt to keep Vikernes out of trouble, as it would be illegal for a Norwegian prisoner to lead a political group. In the early days of the Heathen Front, the organization’s mailing address was one and the same with Vikernes’s private P.O. box prison address. This would, of course, mean that any prospective members would have their letters read and, one presumes, registered by the authorities. And this actually strengthens the Heathen Front’s assertion that Vikernes is not the leader: it would be very hard for him to do an effective job of it. Whatever his official role may be, Vikernes certainly has left a strong mark on the Heathen Front. Its program was written by Vikernes, and this is a mix of rather orthodox National Socialist doctrine and neo-Heathen, anti-Christian ideas, along with some emphasis on environmentalism.
Vikernes’s chance at influencing the National Socialist world (and perhaps even expanding his readership beyond that cultish environment) will most likely depend on how well his books and writings are circulated. These are currently distributed by the Allgermanische Heidnische Front. The AHF, a more widely-encompassing branch of the Heathen Front, was launched by Vikernes with the ambitious aim of reconstructing Europe as a Heathen National Socialist utopia, cleansed of undesirable elements such as Jews, political dissidents, homosexuals, and bisexual men (bisexual women will, for some reason, be allowed to live—maybe for their potential use in a wholesome National Socialist menage à trois?).
The Allgermanische Heidnische Front and its subdivisions in Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Iceland, Germany, and Sweden (with “affiliated subdivisions” in Russia, Finland, and the U.S.A.) are probably little more than Internet tigers. While the AHF’s policy of concentrating on producing web pages might be a bid to attract intellectually inclined youthful recruits rather than the streetfighters that make up much of the younger rank-and-file of other European National Socialist organizations, the focus on the Internet may have a more pragmatic motive.
One of the wonders of the Internet is that, in theory, a single person with a little know-how, a modem, and an acceptable computer can create web pages just as impressive as those of any huge organization. And, still theoretically, a loose group of e-mail correspondents across Europe can take on the appearance of a tremendously organized international network. In addition to its functioning as a political equalizer, the added attraction to all this is that Net know-how is mainly the field of younger people—exactly the sort the AHF has aboard. But while Vikernes’s network might theoretically consist of one teenage computer nerd per country, each still living in his parents’ house, such an estimation would probably be way off the mark. So how real is the AHF?
It is, of course, difficult to estimate the numbers of such an organization. The Heathen Front divisions themselves are not very helpful, and even if they would give out such information, it is a well-established National Socialist sport to exaggerate membership figures. On the other hand, history has clearly demonstrated that political groups, especially of the extremist variety, do not need impressive membership rosters to make an impact. And whether the AHF will be noticed in the future probably depends most on if it can succeed at recruiting young Burzum fans (its most realistic recruitment base) into political activism—or at providing a conduit for them into more militant groups and scenes.
COVER OF A DOCTRINAL BOOKLET BY VIKERNES
Let’s take the Swedish division of the AHF as an example. While the various Heathen Fronts are deliberately vague in giving out information, a reasonable scenario would be that the Swedish Heathen Front consists of a handful of core members, along with an outer echelon of somewhat active hangers-on.
Commenting via e-mail from his base in Gothenburg, SHF representative Mattias states that “Our activity consists mostly of educating our members. ... Besides recommending certain books ... we also work to give them the feeling and understanding of the need for ... healthy living and the risks and harmful aspects of contemporary society.”
He also explains their recruiting strategy: “We don’t approach the great masses, but rather let individuals from the masses approach us instead. This is probably why so many see us as an ‘Internet project’ or as inactive and passive. We work, but make little noise, and not much of what we do appears on the surface.”
Regarding the aims of his group, Mattias states: “We fight not only to secure our existence genetically; this is a struggle for the Germanic spirit, our spirit—for the BLOOD. The driving force is the love of our own people, our culture, and our race; not contempt and hatred towards other races.”
This all sounds harmless enough, even if some of the rhetoric implicit in the arguments might carry a threatening undertone. To further underscore this sub-text, the SHF has informal links to the hardline National Socialist group the Nationalsocialistisk Front. The latter group rose to infamy in Sweden when three men associated with it killed two policemen during a bank robbery. One should, however, bear in mind that the links might not necessarily mean much. National Socialists in Sweden are as much a minority as they are everywhere else, and young activists are likely to rub brown-shirted shoulders with members of other groups in informal settings like concerts, meetings, and parties. It does definitely mean, however, that the SHF has taken a step into the Swedish Nazi world, which on numerous occasions has demonstrated that it has the will and organization to put its words into action.
How much of a magnet do the various Heathen Fronts around the world serve as for young rebels? This is hard to say. One thing that certainly facilitates any magnetism is the cult of personality that has grown up around Vikernes as a result of his music and notoriety as an underground figure—even among people who do not agree with the former Count in all matters.
A good example of this fandom is the website
ntifies herself only as “Jessica,” stressed in a later email message that she does not necessarily agree with Vikernes’s politics, she was enthusiastic to pose for a photo inside the re-built Fantoft stave church wearing a Burzum T-shirt.
Another element that clearly adds glamour to Vikernes’s public figure is his uncompromising political stance. This Weltanschauung has a purity and consequentiality that smacks more of an artistic project than a practical political model. Although Vikernes is in many respects an orthodox National Socialist, he seems far harsher in his policy ideas than even the Third Reich.
For example, while the Third Reich was in some ways a modern welfare state (at least for those whose blood and ideology were in line with NS doctrines), Vikernes asserts that military veterans who are disabled in future wars for the greatness of Germania should commit suicide rather than be a burden on the resources of the Nation. One wonders how a society will fare that expects this of its heroes, even if Vikernes claims they have the comfort of knowing they will be reincarnated.
One of the strangest manifestations to ultimately come out of the black metal subculture must be Kulturorgan Skadinaujo. The publication’s name means “Cultural Organ Skadinaujo,” the latter word being an archaic version of “Scandinavia.” It calls itself a “Pan-Scandinavian periodical,” which is underscored by the fact that it prints articles in both Swedish and Danish, although the operation is based in Norway. Its appeals for “greater Scandinavian cooperation” are intermixed with articles about excursions into the great outdoors, etymology, and Norse traditions. The staff claims to be mystified by the attention given to them by anti-fascists, remarking, “We have no political agenda, least of all a fascist one.” Kulturorgan Skadinaujo is also an association that has, according to representative Vegard Chapman, “rather few” members. Chapman claims that the members are “mainly people with an interest in local history. Environmentalism is possibly also a common denominator.”
THE HEATHEN FRONT’S NORDICIST “CULTURAL ORGAN”
BACK COVER SLOGAN OF THE KULTURORGAN SKADINAUJO: “THE ORGAN PROCLAIMS THE [SCANDINAVIAN] TRINITY”
But it seems obvious that the combination of Norse symbolism, blood-and-soil mysticism (“Scandinavia is the trinity we live and breathe for, manifested in rock and earth, flesh and blood,” states their website), and reprints from the Norwegian WWII-era radical Nazi magazine Ragnarok will gain them attention from antifascists, no matter how unwelcome. Another red flag for the antifascists is the fact that the journal’s columns often feature the byline of Varg Vikernes. Skadinaujo carries advertisements for Vikernes’s Heathen Front organization, and also sells his political tracts. To suspicious outsiders, then, the magazine immediately comes across as an attempt to dress up Varg Vikernes’s ideas by trading in the brownshirts for academic tweed.
The journal appears to be the work of young students, some of whom have adopted an academic writing style. Though the fanzine-style musings that occasionally appear in its pages detract from its academic tone, the main reason why Skadinaujo seems doomed to fail as a scholarly venture is the fact that it reviews books like the pseudo-archaeology of Graham Hancock side by side with properly executed scholarly works. The end result is hardly something to show your professor.
For all Kulturorgan Skadinaujo’s aspirations of being apolitical and academic, it seems very unlikely that anyone would read its magazine, join the association, or contribute to its work who is not already comfortable with its overt connections to Vikernes and to a certain political outlook. It is therefore unlikely to be seen by anyone—apart from its own editors—as anything other than fascism with footnotes.
In addition to advocating hardline Nazi policies and strict racial Odinism, Vikernes has begun to venture into the wild world of UFOs, although he strongly stresses that his thoughts on this subject are personal opinions and do not represent an official Heathen Front position. This does not, however, lessen the dramatic impact of his claims. He has taken to interpreting the Old Norse texts as proof of—or at the very least circumstantial evidence for—contact between humans and extra-terrestrials in ancient times.
VARG VIKERNES
WHAT ARE THESE FLYING SAUCERS THAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT?
The UFOs are pre-programmed robots sent out from Sirius. When they discovered the earth, they realized that they could create life here. But our planet was too far from the sun. Therefore they set off nuclear explosions to move the earth, something that explains the asteroid belts outside earth and why there are glass sheets in the Sahara desert, something that would have required tremendous heat to create.
As the earth moved, the equator also shifted. And the equator is the Midgard Serpent [the World Serpent of Norse mythology that encircles the world while biting its own tail]. So this corresponds with the myth where Thor fishes the Midgard Serpent. The “Voluspá” [a section of the Elder Edda] states that the gods move the celestial bodies, and the Volva seeress who narrates the “Voluspá” tells us that she comes from a world before the present one.
The “world before the present one” is, in Vikernes’s opinion, another planet. When the earth reached a suitable climate, the space travellers set about creating life. Through gradual improvement, the gods’ robots cultivated terrestrial flora and fauna on the Ur-continent of Lemuria—the crown of their creation being, of course, the race of man.
On the not-yet-lost continent of Atlantis, however, all was not well. The giants—one of the primitive prototypes for what would become Homo Sapiens—grew jealous when the gods created the Aryan man.
And in the same way that Hymir sent all his trolls out to wreak revenge on Thor for having gone fishing and catching the Midgard Serpent in one of the most well-known of the Norse myths, a war was waged on Atlantis. After the conflict, the island sank into the ocean and the Aryans sought refuge on other continents, where they eventually mixed with lower races of men. The Atlantean Aryans only survived as a pure race in Northern Europe, where they can produce children like Vikernes: blonde, blue-eyed, and long-skulled.
The UFOs are still here, watching mankind (and, presumably, taking special note of its Aryan contingent), occasionally abducting people and mutilating cows to keep track of our development.
According to Vikernes, the basis for his claims is clearly apparent in the Eddas (with assorted tidbits to back it up from the Vedas and other Indo-European sources). Vikernes quotes the “Rigsthula,” another section of the Elder Edda, to recall the time when the alien-gods walked among men:
VARG VIKERNES
IN WHAT WAY DO THE EDDAS SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT ALIENS TAMPERED WITH HUMAN DEVELOPMENT?
One example from the myths: Odin says that the humans are useless, and sends Heimdall down to earth to improve them genetically so that they are worthy of entrance into Valhalla. And which bloodline is it that is worthy to enter Valhalla? Not the bloodline of Karl, who has red hair, and not the bloodline of Thrall, who has dark complexion. No, only Jarl’s bloodline [the ones with blonde hair] are taught the runes: the Knowledge. The other races are the failed experiments.
Our forefathers possessed knowledge of natural phenomena that they should not otherwise have been aware of. One example is the ozone layer, which the old ones called Svalin and which was a shield between the earth and the sun. If Svalin fell down, the earth would burn. How could our forebears have known this if they had not been in contact with those who were far more advanced?
Thor had red hair, but all our ancestors had blonde hair prior to the degeneration of the Viking Age. But the planet Jupiter is the colour of rust! And Thor protected men against uncontrollable natural forces, just like Jupiter’s gravitation protects earth. ... Why does Thor have a belt of strength? Does not Jupiter have a ring around it?
While all this might seem like a mouthful to deal with, little of it is new. There exists a considerable body of literature on the subject, written both by believers and debunkers.
The myth of Atlantis has proven to be an enduring theme runnin
g throughout Western occultism. And like so many other esoteric mainstays, the legend of this mysterious sunken island—which one provided a home to advanced, almost godlike inhabitants—was integrated into National Socialist occultism. The idea that the Atlanteans were somehow more advanced than current civilization was notably promoted in the late nineteenth century by Helena Blavatsky, whose Theosophical movement was a considerable influence on mystically inclined German ariosophists, many of whom who were the proto-National Socialists of the 1920s and ’30s. A number of the central tenets of National Socialism were influenced by earlier ariosophic occult groups, and related organizations such as the Thule Gesellschaft were instrumental in developing the NSDAP.
VARG IN PRISON, 2000
A modern sub-genre in this world of speculative history and pseudo-science is that of Nazi UFOs. The belief in UFOs has been adopted by elements of the Nazi movement with predilections towards the occult. Today, with the idea of National Socialism being shunned by most people on the planet, this mystical branch of the movement may even be the most successful. The world of esoteric Hitlerism intersects in many places with broader New Age phenomena, and UFO theology in particular.
The roots of Nazi preoccupation with flying saucers are complex, and date back to before the Second World War. Clear indications exist that the Third Reich had a program for developing flying saucers as part of its war machine. There is little concrete evidence, however, that the UFO program ever really got off the ground—in any sense—although the stories surrounding this are as contradictory as most UFO evidence in general.
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