"A great heathen fist from the North": Vikings, Norse Mythology, and Medievalism in Nordic Extreme Metal Music.

Abstract

Viking metal is a dynamic and popular subgenre of metal music of burgeoning popularity coming primarily from Nordic countries. These musicians use their nations Viking histories and saga material as inspiration for their lyrics and nostalgic reimaginings of the past are used to make commentaries on modern society and hopes for the future. Viking metal bands use the Middle Ages and the Viking Age as a screen upon which to play with nostalgic imaginings of what life was like then or at least how it should have been based upon aspects of the collective memory of their communities which can include the works of historians and that of artists and political figures. They use this as a means of criticizing the modern Christian world they perceive as being weaker than the ancient one. The three main components of Viking metal are: The idealization of a national past from which an ethnic identity can be constructed on a national, Scandinavian, or pan-Nordic level. A staunch opposition to Christianity that is based on the perceived oppression of their ancestors in the Viking Age for which they lust for vengeance. This vengeance is described as taking place in a grand Ragnarok-inspired battle between the pagan forces and the Christian. The romanticization of the natural primordial world and its dark forces . The legacy with their ancestors is contained within the ethnic blood of the people and tied to the land.