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Sorcery and Religion in Ancient Scandinavia Multicolor
Sorcery and Religion in Ancient Scandinavia is a book from Varg Vikernes, one of the most controversial musicians of all time and the mastermind behind one of the most acclaimed Black Metal bands in the world Burzum. Convicted in 1994 of the murder of band-mate Euronymous, Vikernes has since spent 15yrs studying the traditions and beliefs of the Ancient Scandinavians and their influence on modern Europeans. That research has culminated in a book in which the outspoken and often divisive author challenges many of the widely held views of contemporary culture and its history. The passionate and in-depth text provides an absorbing insight into the thoughts of this most notorious of musicians. Sorcery and Religion in Ancient Scandinavia makes fascinating reading and will be of interest not only to Black Metal and Burzum fans, but also to those with an interest in Norse mythology or European history and social commentators.
128 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2011
35 people are currently reading
665 people want to read
About the author
Varg Vikernes
53 books232 followersVarg Vikernes is a Norwegian musician. In 1991 Vikernes conceived the one-man music project Burzum, which quickly became popular within the early Norwegian black metal scene. In Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, director Sam Dunn described Vikernes as "the most notorious metal musician of all time".
"After creating in the course of four early albums an impressive body of art that essentially ended black metal as it was by raising the bar beyond what others could easily participate in, Vikernes was imprisoned for sixteen years for his alleged role in church arson and murder. During the time he was in prison, he put out two more impressive keyboard-based albums and several books’ worth of writings before falling silent around the turn of the millennium." (source: www.deathmetal.org)
Since then and after his release in 2009, he has authored several writings on Nordic/Germanic neopaganism and European nationalism from a primitivist and naturalist stance focused on cultural values in the community and family.
"After creating in the course of four early albums an impressive body of art that essentially ended black metal as it was by raising the bar beyond what others could easily participate in, Vikernes was imprisoned for sixteen years for his alleged role in church arson and murder. During the time he was in prison, he put out two more impressive keyboard-based albums and several books’ worth of writings before falling silent around the turn of the millennium." (source: www.deathmetal.org)
Since then and after his release in 2009, he has authored several writings on Nordic/Germanic neopaganism and European nationalism from a primitivist and naturalist stance focused on cultural values in the community and family.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 22, 2015
This is a very difficult book to review. I enjoyed reading it, but I don't actually know that I'd recommend it.
The author has his ideas about the nature of ancient Scandinavian religion and the use of burial mounds to re-enact religious patterns of thought based around the cycles of the seasons which are encoded in the Norse myths.
This is not unreasonable, though relying perhaps a little too heavily on Frazer's outdated 'Golden Bough'. Still, the suggestions made are at least credible and in some places convincing. There was certainly some decent material here to be mined.
He also knows his rune lore and is obviously familiar with the material of the Eddas.
However, his starting point is that Scandinavian religion - like all religion - was founded upon fallacies. He then tries to reduce all of the myths into a single myth, then apply that myth as nothing more than a record of the annual mystery religion re-enacted through the burial mounds.
Everything is reduced back to the seasonal cycle from summer to winter and back again, symbolised according to his argument by the death of Baldr at the hands of Hodr and the later return of Baldr from Hel. Ragnarok being the annual re-enactment battle between the spirits of winter and summer, during which the new king and queen are chosen for the coming year.
In trying to do this, we find such tortuous distortions of the myths as equating Hodr with literally every mythic villain, such as Fenrir and Jormundgand, equating Idunn with Nanna, equating Heimdall with the world tree Yggdrasill and so on and so on. This kind of compression simply does not work, it's complete garbage.
And yet, it's a pity. Because the author's analysis of the Voluspa was interesting and brought out some fascinating details. It certainly doesn't hold water in the way he presents it, but for people who already know their mythology, there are some interesting parallels drawn. But parallels are what they are, not primary meanings.
He's not the first person to have developed a theory and then distorted the facts in an attempt to 'prove' it. But that doesn't mean his theory is utterly without merit. It's an interesting idea. If he had looked at things from the other way round, maybe his argument would have been sounder. But obviously being a materialist, he has assumed that the myths were developed as explanations of the natural cycle and the method of religious dramatisation. If he had instead valued the mythic thinking foremost and suggested that these mythic patterns might be reflected and represented in the practical routine of the religion, he might have scored more highly, and wouldn't have been left trying to reduce complex, multi-layered shades of meaning into a 'one size fits all' neat little bundle.
I enjoyed reading the book, but I can only recommend it to people with sufficient knowledge of Norse myth and the Eddic materials to be able to show proper discernment.
The author has his ideas about the nature of ancient Scandinavian religion and the use of burial mounds to re-enact religious patterns of thought based around the cycles of the seasons which are encoded in the Norse myths.
This is not unreasonable, though relying perhaps a little too heavily on Frazer's outdated 'Golden Bough'. Still, the suggestions made are at least credible and in some places convincing. There was certainly some decent material here to be mined.
He also knows his rune lore and is obviously familiar with the material of the Eddas.
However, his starting point is that Scandinavian religion - like all religion - was founded upon fallacies. He then tries to reduce all of the myths into a single myth, then apply that myth as nothing more than a record of the annual mystery religion re-enacted through the burial mounds.
Everything is reduced back to the seasonal cycle from summer to winter and back again, symbolised according to his argument by the death of Baldr at the hands of Hodr and the later return of Baldr from Hel. Ragnarok being the annual re-enactment battle between the spirits of winter and summer, during which the new king and queen are chosen for the coming year.
In trying to do this, we find such tortuous distortions of the myths as equating Hodr with literally every mythic villain, such as Fenrir and Jormundgand, equating Idunn with Nanna, equating Heimdall with the world tree Yggdrasill and so on and so on. This kind of compression simply does not work, it's complete garbage.
And yet, it's a pity. Because the author's analysis of the Voluspa was interesting and brought out some fascinating details. It certainly doesn't hold water in the way he presents it, but for people who already know their mythology, there are some interesting parallels drawn. But parallels are what they are, not primary meanings.
He's not the first person to have developed a theory and then distorted the facts in an attempt to 'prove' it. But that doesn't mean his theory is utterly without merit. It's an interesting idea. If he had looked at things from the other way round, maybe his argument would have been sounder. But obviously being a materialist, he has assumed that the myths were developed as explanations of the natural cycle and the method of religious dramatisation. If he had instead valued the mythic thinking foremost and suggested that these mythic patterns might be reflected and represented in the practical routine of the religion, he might have scored more highly, and wouldn't have been left trying to reduce complex, multi-layered shades of meaning into a 'one size fits all' neat little bundle.
I enjoyed reading the book, but I can only recommend it to people with sufficient knowledge of Norse myth and the Eddic materials to be able to show proper discernment.
October 25, 2018
I picked this book up as it sounded interesting and I’ve been a fan of Varg’s music for quite some time, that doesn’t mean I’m a fan a Varg himself though… being a murderer, racist and all. It was all the more surprising when Varg comes across in the book as intelligent although I found myself disagreeing with some of his ideas. It felt like he locked himself into a single theory and refused to budge from this, thus skewing his views and distorting his interpretations, and when it comes to something like occultism/mythology you can’t really say that there is a single way to look at it.
That said I still did find it interesting and enjoyable and would probably recommend it.
That said I still did find it interesting and enjoyable and would probably recommend it.
December 3, 2015
The author's interpretation of Norse Mythology is interesting and differs radically from what has been traditionally accepted. What he has to say about the mysterious Burial Mounds found all over northern Europe are particularly interesting.
Frustratingly enough though, the best things he has to say about it, and much more than what is in this book, is already available for free on his blog: http://thuleanperspective.com/ .
Unless you absolutely love Varg Vikernes, just read that instead. Not only is most of the information in this book already on there, but the blog itself is a better read both in terms of quality of writing and quantity of information.
Frustratingly enough though, the best things he has to say about it, and much more than what is in this book, is already available for free on his blog: http://thuleanperspective.com/ .
Unless you absolutely love Varg Vikernes, just read that instead. Not only is most of the information in this book already on there, but the blog itself is a better read both in terms of quality of writing and quantity of information.
May 22, 2025
Awesome!
I love Varg Vikernes writing. A very interesting read about Viking pagan religion.
I love Varg Vikernes writing. A very interesting read about Viking pagan religion.
July 20, 2012
Vikernes provides us with keys of interpretation for his translation (here included) of the Norse poem Völuspá, which is what most of this book is related to. Unfortunately, the poem itself does absolutely nothing for me and the read is quite boring, with the exception of the very beginning which is entertaining perhaps for not dealing exactly with this poem but with life in the Stone Age. Vikernes doesn't delve deeper into anything and for a reader like myself with no previous contact with Norse mythology it can get very confusing - still, much better than a simple translation of the poem without any comments, which in this case would be totally unreadable - atleast for me. At the end Varg mentions vaguely some archeological finds to prove his theories and interpretations, but in the end it's not too convincing and you must believe the man, who is clearly obsessed with this mythos, knows a thing or two and we should take his word for it and that's it. Not recommended unless you're a diehard fan of his work and is very passionate about Norse mythology - I don't think this book will attract more followers to it.
June 14, 2020
I once read a book written about the Australian Constitution that was written by a non-legal layperson, undertaking legal interpretation in surface-level face value manner. It reached such wildly unorthodox conclusions that I've gotten fodder for a good couple of essays out of it. This book is much the same, with ol' Count Grishnackh pretty much summarising two books he has read into a series of notes that feel half like an undergrad essay and half like someone's first pass at a wikipedia entry.
"Academics tend to disregard every book written without references to specific sources. This book is probably such a book, but I have to defend it by saying that I cannot list sources when the ideas are my own, the interpretations my own and the conclusions my own. You only need an open mind and common sense to appreciate the contents of this book"
"Academics tend to disregard every book written without references to specific sources. This book is probably such a book, but I have to defend it by saying that I cannot list sources when the ideas are my own, the interpretations my own and the conclusions my own. You only need an open mind and common sense to appreciate the contents of this book"
July 6, 2021
Ideas essentially lifted (badly) from Frazer and Evola and like other work of his fails to source properly. It adds nothing new ultimately and comes across as a glossing over of Frazer and to a lesser extent Evola without actually reading them properly. On top of that Varg's attempts at linguistics are questionable at best, with many etymology claims being questionable. You'd be better off just going straight to the source material, James Frazer's the Golden Bough. It's far more rewarding.
February 25, 2019
One of the best literature on ancient Germanic Mythology one will ever read. The author has done some serious research for this book and presents to us the entire Scandianvian traditions (based on our pagan roots) in one single book. Totally recommend it.
February 14, 2018
Varg offers some interesting ideas and his philosophy overall is quite compelling . although i do not agree with his interpretation completely it was a good read.
September 30, 2018
This is a very very good book . I won't give anything away but let's just say vargs books have been life changing
February 24, 2019
I bought this book to help support Varg Vikernes, as I find some of his content amusing and useful, and also I wanted to learn more about his beliefs on the book's topic. I discovered him and his work through YouTube. What stood out to me in the prologue was that Varg has studied the traditions and beliefs of ancient Europeans for two decades, and yet can only list two other books on the subject. He has had to find answers from original texts, fairy tales, traditional songs and Norwegian folklore. Still, could it not have been possible to cite these sources? Not many sources are cited in the text, so it seems to be mostly based on Varg's opinions, which you will have to cross-reference with established facts to see if what he says is credible. He claims that humans bury their dead so that they can come back one day; we bury seeds and they "return" to us, so perhaps that is the logic behind burial. He also claims that the belief that an individual's life force can exist outside the individual had great significance to the ancient man. He claims that Stone Age and Bronze Age societies were matriarchal in nature, and the queen was found from the winner of different races and contests, including a beauty contest. In Ancient Greece, winners from the Olympic games were considered for kingship, though the prospective king had to marry the queen if he wanted to become king. He claims that fairy tales are full of examples of competitions where the hero needs to show his skills. Then, after people found out that it is sexual intercourse that makes women pregnant, and not contact with fertile nature, society became a patriarchy and nobility was passed down and inherited by sons and daughters from fathers and mothers. On runes, he claims that the word rune translates as "secret knowledge" or just "secret". He claims that, in the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, the dead were buried sitting up instead of lying down as we do today. He claims that, in the Stone Age, it was believed that the dead could be reborn by women who touched their remains. This ties in with what he says in his videos, where people can be "reborn" by examining the items of their forebears and "remembering" their supposed past life, including certain passwords. It got me thinking about the concept of the password, and how I never realised just how ancient of a security measure it is. I struggled to read this book: because it is not sourced, we can only rely on Varg's anecdotes, which are opinions and may not be rooted in fact. He might be wrong about what he is saying about sorcery and religion in ancient Scandinavia, or he could be writing in a way to comunicate a hidden agenda. There were black-and-white romantic illustrations of ancient Europeans on some of the pages in the book, which I thought was a nice touch, though it is not clear whether these illustrations draw on factual evidence of the appearance of ancient Europeans or not. Towards the end of the book, Varg implies his disdain for Judeo-Christian culture by saying that fairy tales told in a Judeo-Christian world contain the concepts of punishment and shame, permeating the "twisted and troubled mind of the Judeo-Christian man".
April 20, 2021
Classification: As the title suggests this book is concerned with Ancient Scandiniavian Paganism and tradition.
Description: Similarly to Varg Vikernes' later book, 'Paganism Explained - Part 1: Thrymskvida', which was authored alongside his wife Marie Cachet, the meat of 'Sorcery and Religion in Ancient Scandinavia' is largely focused on a close reading of an Eddic Poem, in this case 'Völuspá'. Varg's interpretation, which is prefaced and followed by a rather detailed explanation of Pagan tradition, takes the text as a symbolic and metaphorical explanation of burial mound initiations for the new King and Queen, and a few interconnected traditions mostly centering around the afromentioned burial mounds. Yuletide, Ragnarök, mythology: to Varg these are all concepts designed to more easily impart didactic lessons to the listener in order for those that learn and share them to better explain, conceptualise, and remember various traditional practices.
Major Parts: The book begins by framing what might be deemed the "religious" paganism as it sprung up from a belief in sorcery beforehand, and Varg discusses the transition away from sorcery as an explanation of world phenomenon, to the idea of gods and goddesses who manipulate nature and impact the lives of men. This also includes a discussion of the transition from Matriarchy to Patriarchy and the mistletoe myth: all of which is foundational information for the greater points made later on.
The following sections are a little more dry and informative. Varg talks about Ancient Scandinavian calendars, the idea of days, weeks, months - all named after and seen as belonging to various deities. This is important for better conceptualising the order of events in the Völuspá and the timing of other traditions. He also explains runes, discusses what they represent and to whom they are attached, and interestingly this is also the basis for how he decides to order and better understand the Völuspá verses which according to a seperate source has been rather contended historically. In doing so be matches up very closely to most modern decisions in this regard so it seems there's definiteky some substance to his claims here. His reasoning for using this method is that the Hávamal makes it clear that the songs and spells of sorcerers were very connected with the runes and thus the Völuspá naturally should expected to as well.
The next section is the main focus of the book and deals with Varg interpreting the Völuspá not as a creation and destruction myth (which Varg believes is accepted because of Judeo-Christian linear views influencing later readings) beginning with the Gods, the creation of man and the world etc. and culminating in "the twilight of the Gods" or Ragnarök. Instead, it desribes a series of festivals, traditions, and practices regarding the initiation of the new King and Queen subsequent to their triumph in contests such as the Bridal Race and dealing with the end of one year and the beginning of the next. The Völuspá encompasses the Yuletide myth and the chasing away/destruction of the winter spirits which is also synonymous with Ragnarök and occurs to usher in the return of Summer in the new year. According to Varg the participants dressed either as Gods/Elves/Good Spirits or evil spirits (variously referred to as Dwarves, Trolls, Ettins etc.) and acted out these myths, either to physically bring about some positive changes (i.e. There's some stories about field work which would have a real-world impact), to drive out unwanted spirits/kill evil gods in a symbolic sense, or to impart knowledge (entering the burial mound, learning myths, being reborn, "reclaiming" your previous live's belongings). The difficult thing to explain here is the interconnectedness between a whole lot of practices and beliefs that Varg imparts: one myth is often explained in conjunction with another and they are all related somehow, also some gods and items go by many names and act in similar ways through various myths etc. The important things to note is that reincarnation, a circular conception or nature and life, superstition, honour, and a quest for knowledge are central to everything explained in this book.
This is definitley this author's most dense work as of 2017. I read his interpretation alongside the more "accepted" theory and translation - the one that states this is indeed a creation myth which ends in the bloody war between the Aesir and the Vanir: pretty much Armageddon. There were times were I felt like both had their strengths and weaknesses in explaining the poem, and in fact once you come to understand Varg's line of reasoning on this subject you can oftentimes predict what his take will be on a verse after reading it. Still, there are points where he seems to dance around parts that more clearly align with the "original" theory and also some deviance from more widely accepted language interpretations where there is clearly an effort in Vikernes' part to angle things towards his view. In addition, rather than using multiple proper nouns such as the standard translation, Varg treats these as regular words and translates then into their English noun/adjective counterpart so the effect is more similar to a list of forces or phenomonon rather than a barrage of useless "characters", but it's a significant difference from the former. The book ends with some further intepretations of fairytales and Nordic tales which according to Varg bolster his argument.
So what?: As you can probably guess by now, Varg concludes that the Völuspá is in fact not a creation myth and the popular and more widely accepted interpretation is incorrect on a macro level and only scratching the surface on the micro level. You'll get a better idea of where Varg is coming from here by reading his other books or following his youtube/blog presence if you're curious, and I'm not here to say that what he believes is correct or anything, I'm merely interested, but since this was written he's definitley delved further down this line of reasoning so if you're a new reader you might like to brush up on those other sources before reading this. Essentially though, it boils down to a belief that the gods and godesses etc. are not real per se, but they represent important phenomena and in the context of a mythology they serve as useful devices for understanding nature, culture, society and rudimentary science even. So while the deities themselves don't exist in a literal manner, what they symbolise is far more important and in fact ties man's understanding of the world and nature to something that makes sense to him. What may now be seen to be naive or superstitious at one time served a useful purpose, perhaps not always in the way intended by the sorcerers or pagans themselves (i.e. appeasing gods and influencing nature) but still contributed to society and it's functionality. And in many ways a common myth based on the environment could do so again.
To conclude I will say that this is a worthwhile read if like me you're curious about pagan tradition, mythology, and society and want a crash course on Varg's unique take. I would caution readers to be aware beforehand that this is not a view "widely" held on this subject, so if you're looking for a more mythological reading on gods and battles and glory then you'll probably be better served elsewhere, but if you are already of the opinion that paganism is more useful didacticly than it is literally, or if you're open to at least reading something of that nature, then I'd say it's definitley worth your time. I'm not deeply educated on this subject and cetainly not enough to confirm or deny the accuracy of what Varg offers as proof for his theories here, but nevertheless I got a lot out of reading this. Just be sure to approach it with a healthy level of scepticism alongside an open mind.
Description: Similarly to Varg Vikernes' later book, 'Paganism Explained - Part 1: Thrymskvida', which was authored alongside his wife Marie Cachet, the meat of 'Sorcery and Religion in Ancient Scandinavia' is largely focused on a close reading of an Eddic Poem, in this case 'Völuspá'. Varg's interpretation, which is prefaced and followed by a rather detailed explanation of Pagan tradition, takes the text as a symbolic and metaphorical explanation of burial mound initiations for the new King and Queen, and a few interconnected traditions mostly centering around the afromentioned burial mounds. Yuletide, Ragnarök, mythology: to Varg these are all concepts designed to more easily impart didactic lessons to the listener in order for those that learn and share them to better explain, conceptualise, and remember various traditional practices.
Major Parts: The book begins by framing what might be deemed the "religious" paganism as it sprung up from a belief in sorcery beforehand, and Varg discusses the transition away from sorcery as an explanation of world phenomenon, to the idea of gods and goddesses who manipulate nature and impact the lives of men. This also includes a discussion of the transition from Matriarchy to Patriarchy and the mistletoe myth: all of which is foundational information for the greater points made later on.
The following sections are a little more dry and informative. Varg talks about Ancient Scandinavian calendars, the idea of days, weeks, months - all named after and seen as belonging to various deities. This is important for better conceptualising the order of events in the Völuspá and the timing of other traditions. He also explains runes, discusses what they represent and to whom they are attached, and interestingly this is also the basis for how he decides to order and better understand the Völuspá verses which according to a seperate source has been rather contended historically. In doing so be matches up very closely to most modern decisions in this regard so it seems there's definiteky some substance to his claims here. His reasoning for using this method is that the Hávamal makes it clear that the songs and spells of sorcerers were very connected with the runes and thus the Völuspá naturally should expected to as well.
The next section is the main focus of the book and deals with Varg interpreting the Völuspá not as a creation and destruction myth (which Varg believes is accepted because of Judeo-Christian linear views influencing later readings) beginning with the Gods, the creation of man and the world etc. and culminating in "the twilight of the Gods" or Ragnarök. Instead, it desribes a series of festivals, traditions, and practices regarding the initiation of the new King and Queen subsequent to their triumph in contests such as the Bridal Race and dealing with the end of one year and the beginning of the next. The Völuspá encompasses the Yuletide myth and the chasing away/destruction of the winter spirits which is also synonymous with Ragnarök and occurs to usher in the return of Summer in the new year. According to Varg the participants dressed either as Gods/Elves/Good Spirits or evil spirits (variously referred to as Dwarves, Trolls, Ettins etc.) and acted out these myths, either to physically bring about some positive changes (i.e. There's some stories about field work which would have a real-world impact), to drive out unwanted spirits/kill evil gods in a symbolic sense, or to impart knowledge (entering the burial mound, learning myths, being reborn, "reclaiming" your previous live's belongings). The difficult thing to explain here is the interconnectedness between a whole lot of practices and beliefs that Varg imparts: one myth is often explained in conjunction with another and they are all related somehow, also some gods and items go by many names and act in similar ways through various myths etc. The important things to note is that reincarnation, a circular conception or nature and life, superstition, honour, and a quest for knowledge are central to everything explained in this book.
This is definitley this author's most dense work as of 2017. I read his interpretation alongside the more "accepted" theory and translation - the one that states this is indeed a creation myth which ends in the bloody war between the Aesir and the Vanir: pretty much Armageddon. There were times were I felt like both had their strengths and weaknesses in explaining the poem, and in fact once you come to understand Varg's line of reasoning on this subject you can oftentimes predict what his take will be on a verse after reading it. Still, there are points where he seems to dance around parts that more clearly align with the "original" theory and also some deviance from more widely accepted language interpretations where there is clearly an effort in Vikernes' part to angle things towards his view. In addition, rather than using multiple proper nouns such as the standard translation, Varg treats these as regular words and translates then into their English noun/adjective counterpart so the effect is more similar to a list of forces or phenomonon rather than a barrage of useless "characters", but it's a significant difference from the former. The book ends with some further intepretations of fairytales and Nordic tales which according to Varg bolster his argument.
So what?: As you can probably guess by now, Varg concludes that the Völuspá is in fact not a creation myth and the popular and more widely accepted interpretation is incorrect on a macro level and only scratching the surface on the micro level. You'll get a better idea of where Varg is coming from here by reading his other books or following his youtube/blog presence if you're curious, and I'm not here to say that what he believes is correct or anything, I'm merely interested, but since this was written he's definitley delved further down this line of reasoning so if you're a new reader you might like to brush up on those other sources before reading this. Essentially though, it boils down to a belief that the gods and godesses etc. are not real per se, but they represent important phenomena and in the context of a mythology they serve as useful devices for understanding nature, culture, society and rudimentary science even. So while the deities themselves don't exist in a literal manner, what they symbolise is far more important and in fact ties man's understanding of the world and nature to something that makes sense to him. What may now be seen to be naive or superstitious at one time served a useful purpose, perhaps not always in the way intended by the sorcerers or pagans themselves (i.e. appeasing gods and influencing nature) but still contributed to society and it's functionality. And in many ways a common myth based on the environment could do so again.
To conclude I will say that this is a worthwhile read if like me you're curious about pagan tradition, mythology, and society and want a crash course on Varg's unique take. I would caution readers to be aware beforehand that this is not a view "widely" held on this subject, so if you're looking for a more mythological reading on gods and battles and glory then you'll probably be better served elsewhere, but if you are already of the opinion that paganism is more useful didacticly than it is literally, or if you're open to at least reading something of that nature, then I'd say it's definitley worth your time. I'm not deeply educated on this subject and cetainly not enough to confirm or deny the accuracy of what Varg offers as proof for his theories here, but nevertheless I got a lot out of reading this. Just be sure to approach it with a healthy level of scepticism alongside an open mind.
May 16, 2020
Final rating 3.5/5
Interesting analysis. This book is heaps better than his more recent "Reflections on European Myths..." and the analysis offered here is much clerer and argumented (even if those arguments are rather flawed or too flamboyant to be easily believed). The Runic interpretation is decent and seems well researched and his theories (that other scholars launched decades before...but don't forget, mr. Vikernes doesn't quote anyone) regarding the dyachronic evolution of myths towards myths and later towards poetry are indeed well argumented and makes sense. Mr. Vikernes wouldn't be the first one to observe how folk literature retains aspects, themes and motifs that indicate they were once part of certain rituals. His analysis of the Völuspa in this key illustrates this in am acceptable manner.
Despite this, the first part of the book is just as bombastic and quick to launch grand hypothesis as his latter books. His overview of the origin of some prehistoric belives could hold its water, yet the certainty with which he makes his claims only makes them even more flawed. In his efforts to find ties between modern folk practices and their prehistoric counterparts he accidentaly makes a nice etnography of Norwegian folk rituals, but ruins it with heaps of claims that us readers are expected to just accept. His use of etymologies as sole argument many of the times also leaves his theories full of "holes".
Nevertheless, the second part of the book is indeed a rather nice read,, if youre willing to omit a few other bombastic claims (like his analysis of the Cinderella tale).
Interesting analysis. This book is heaps better than his more recent "Reflections on European Myths..." and the analysis offered here is much clerer and argumented (even if those arguments are rather flawed or too flamboyant to be easily believed). The Runic interpretation is decent and seems well researched and his theories (that other scholars launched decades before...but don't forget, mr. Vikernes doesn't quote anyone) regarding the dyachronic evolution of myths towards myths and later towards poetry are indeed well argumented and makes sense. Mr. Vikernes wouldn't be the first one to observe how folk literature retains aspects, themes and motifs that indicate they were once part of certain rituals. His analysis of the Völuspa in this key illustrates this in am acceptable manner.
Despite this, the first part of the book is just as bombastic and quick to launch grand hypothesis as his latter books. His overview of the origin of some prehistoric belives could hold its water, yet the certainty with which he makes his claims only makes them even more flawed. In his efforts to find ties between modern folk practices and their prehistoric counterparts he accidentaly makes a nice etnography of Norwegian folk rituals, but ruins it with heaps of claims that us readers are expected to just accept. His use of etymologies as sole argument many of the times also leaves his theories full of "holes".
Nevertheless, the second part of the book is indeed a rather nice read,, if youre willing to omit a few other bombastic claims (like his analysis of the Cinderella tale).
October 31, 2019
As others have stated here, this book is relying heavily on the ideas in The Golden Bough by Frazer, however it is not in any way a bad book and can be seen as a good preparation if one is to go into the full 13 volumes of the later. Varg's interpretation of the ancient European myths ultimately boils down to imitatio naturae and this could make a lot of sense if one is to start from the presumption that humans did in fact stem from much more nature entwined relatives. As they differentiated from the rather animalic nature to what we have now as modern humans, they expressed what remained of the (formerly instinctual) bond at first as sorcery (literally sympathetic magic) to later religion, a rather more distant bond. The observation of nature in the European religion (in various forms: sorcery / religion) is what takes the place of being and living nature, just as an animal "knows" by instinct what summer and fertility is or when winter comes and what to expect from it, the men still posses this knowledge in a representational rather than instinctual way.
The book is written without any references and whatever Varg's own opinions are about this, references are always important. Sometimes there is little explanations for the given interpretations and some analogies feel a little forced without the proper backing, but it is possible that the missing details might be covered in the author's later books.
The book is written without any references and whatever Varg's own opinions are about this, references are always important. Sometimes there is little explanations for the given interpretations and some analogies feel a little forced without the proper backing, but it is possible that the missing details might be covered in the author's later books.
April 18, 2024
بسیار خوب و جامع بود و از دید نسبتاً تازهای به طبقهبندی و تحلیل میثولوژی جهان، به ویژه میثولوژی نورس، پرداخته بود.
تنها دلیل ۴امتیاز دادنم، استناد نداشتن برخی نظریات بود. البته این قضیه بیشتر بخاطر این بود که وارگ ویکرنس نظرات و فرضیات جدیدی را میخواست ارائه بدهد، که اکثرشان هم دارای ارزش بررسی و پذیرش بودند. اما در برخی موارد هم نوعی زیادهروی شده بود و اطمینان بیش از حد به فرضی که ابداً مطلق نیست، خورانده شده بود.
نشانههای رونیک را در این کتاب از هر مقاله و کتاب دیگری قابل فهمتر توضیح دادند.
*وارگ ویکرنس، خواننده و موسیقیدان ژانر بلکمتال و هویمتالی نروژیست که صاحب پراجکت و بند بورزوم هم هست.
اون زندگی خیلی پر از بالا و پایینی داشته، حتی دست به قتل زده و بخش زیادی از عمرش رو هم در زندان گذرونده...
ولی باید پذیرفت که در میثولوژینورس واقعاً صاحبنظره.
تنها دلیل ۴امتیاز دادنم، استناد نداشتن برخی نظریات بود. البته این قضیه بیشتر بخاطر این بود که وارگ ویکرنس نظرات و فرضیات جدیدی را میخواست ارائه بدهد، که اکثرشان هم دارای ارزش بررسی و پذیرش بودند. اما در برخی موارد هم نوعی زیادهروی شده بود و اطمینان بیش از حد به فرضی که ابداً مطلق نیست، خورانده شده بود.
نشانههای رونیک را در این کتاب از هر مقاله و کتاب دیگری قابل فهمتر توضیح دادند.
*وارگ ویکرنس، خواننده و موسیقیدان ژانر بلکمتال و هویمتالی نروژیست که صاحب پراجکت و بند بورزوم هم هست.
اون زندگی خیلی پر از بالا و پایینی داشته، حتی دست به قتل زده و بخش زیادی از عمرش رو هم در زندان گذرونده...
ولی باید پذیرفت که در میثولوژینورس واقعاً صاحبنظره.
April 7, 2021
trash. gets a lot of things wrong. ambitious prologue with nothing to back it up. no substance. I would compare it to a boris johnson speech - talks a lot without saying anything. It is like a mediocre undergraduate essay that gets marks off for no original critical thinking and evaluation. 2 stars for being entertaining.
August 22, 2024
Interesting read
Not sure of the evidence but still an insightful account of a man obviously familiar with his native folklore . A different perspective from the arrogance of academia
Not sure of the evidence but still an insightful account of a man obviously familiar with his native folklore . A different perspective from the arrogance of academia
April 15, 2018
Although a very specific subject, it's very interesting to see the author's perspective on how the European religions/mythologies came to be.
December 18, 2018
Not an easy read, as bending your brain towards his leaves you aching. I none the less learned tremendously, failing only due to my own limitations vs his writing skills or lessons.
June 11, 2019
Abstract, hard to renember everything after reading.
March 5, 2021
No sources listed.
August 15, 2022
Very easily explained about ancient Scandinavia with good metaphors and dialogue which makes it very easy and short to understand.
Want to learn Runes and their meaning? This book has it.
Want to learn Runes and their meaning? This book has it.
July 22, 2023
A bit of a mess quite frankly.
The structure is all over the place and his interpretation of the Voluspa in relation to the Runes doesn't make any sense at. Feels like a square peg in a round hole.
The structure is all over the place and his interpretation of the Voluspa in relation to the Runes doesn't make any sense at. Feels like a square peg in a round hole.
November 8, 2024
Pc f sht
August 25, 2015
It's one of the best book when you want to learn about anything related to paganism.
For me it was a beautiful illustrator which helped me to understand all the olden culture, tradition, symbols or runes, etc which ofcourse is the basic keys to understand the deep Edda Poems & various old Sagas.
Im feeling lucky to have this great book; it changed my views towards Nature.
Uniqueness Of this Book: The truth about the Medieval Ages can be fouund here in this book as the author has studied various books related to this subject for many years & then after mastering all his thoughts that he aquired from various sources he decided to write "Sorcery & Religion in Ancient Scandinavia".
PS - It was my first step to embrace the most beautiful, the most smart mythology.
For me it was a beautiful illustrator which helped me to understand all the olden culture, tradition, symbols or runes, etc which ofcourse is the basic keys to understand the deep Edda Poems & various old Sagas.
Im feeling lucky to have this great book; it changed my views towards Nature.
Uniqueness Of this Book: The truth about the Medieval Ages can be fouund here in this book as the author has studied various books related to this subject for many years & then after mastering all his thoughts that he aquired from various sources he decided to write "Sorcery & Religion in Ancient Scandinavia".
PS - It was my first step to embrace the most beautiful, the most smart mythology.
October 5, 2016
Vikernes...a divisive figure yet there is some real power here. Vikernes draws some inspired associations and notions out of the body of Norse mythology and reframes some of the prevailing views without the romanticism, offering what may ultimately prove to be a more accurate view of how things actually were. It is certainly no less accurate that some interpretative archaeology and anthropology.
July 10, 2017
I can't really say how much of this book is true, as I know nothing about sorcery and religion in ancient Scandinavia, but it was interesting to read a book by noted Black Metal musician Varg Vikernes a.k.a. Count Grishnackh of Burzum. Now considered a terrorist and white supremacist, it was purely a morbid curiosity to read a book by someone with extreme views on society and race, in general.
March 15, 2021
A good book on ancient European traditions
Even if you don't like Burzum or Varg Vikernes you should read this book. Then you should read the other books he has written.
Even if you don't like Burzum or Varg Vikernes you should read this book. Then you should read the other books he has written.
November 29, 2016
Nothing new here it's just a complete rip-off from "The Golden Bough" by James George Frazer.
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