From Theosophy to Wotanism: How 20th Century Nordic Mythology was Created in Service to Ario-German Millenarianism Part II
In Part I of this series, we went over the origins of the Northern Germanic peoples, also known as the Norse peoples.
It was found that there is no archaeological evidence to justify defining such a grouping of people with a common ethnicity, let alone a common cosmology/religion or culture. Much of what has been used to create this idea of a “Norse heritage” has been through modern linguistic reconstruction beginning in the 19th century.
By creating hypothetical languages such as proto-Germanic, pre-proto-Germanic and proto-Norse, a claim has been made that there existed an ancient Norse race, dating back to the 5th century BCE despite there being no archaeological evidence to support this. This in turn has also been used to justify that the Norse cosmology has been passed on through centuries from this point of origin. This was also shown to have absolutely no backing.
The first written record of the Norse mythologies occurred in the 13th century with the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. The texts along with the Icelandic sagas were all written in Iceland in the Icelandic dialect. These are recognised as the first and only written records we have of Old Norse, claiming that this language was a common language that was used by all Norse people throughout Europe, of which there is no evidence.
There is also the claim that since Iceland had not officially been Christianised yet, that these works were pure Norse works, free of Christian influence. This was also shown to not be the case, in particular with the new introduction of Hel, as an added realm of the dead in addition to Valhalla and Fólkvangr.[1] It is also highly likely that Ragnarök was not initially meant to include both the end and rebirth of the world, since this was a millenarian interpretation which was unique to Christian belief systems. Thus, it appears that the core creation myth of the Norse mythology had been turned into a millenarian prophecy from Christian influence. This of course will be no small matter when we discuss the advent of Ario-German millenarianism in the 20th century.
This should also change our understanding of what the Valkyrie and Valhalla represent.
Warriors who died in battle became the Einherjar and were taken to Oðinn's (i.e. Odin’s) hall, Valhalla. There they waited until Ragnarök when they would fight alongside the Æsir. In other words, Norse warriors according to Ragnarök would not truly die but await in Valhalla where they would be called back to earth again for the final battle that would see the world reborn to a New Age.
Lots of room for political manipulation to say the least.
It is unclear how widespread the belief in Valhalla was in Norse society, since there is no archaeological evidence clearly alluding to a belief in Valhalla. How much liberty was truly taken in reforming these creation myths and sacred stories of the Norse people? I don’t think we will ever know.
In addition, we discussed Snorri Sturluson (1179- 1241), the writer of the Prose Edda, an Icelander who we discovered is in direct service to the King of Norway, Haakon IV (c. 1204-1263). Norway had already been Christianised beginning in the 9th century. The former King of Norway Olaf Tryggvasson (960s – 1000) introduced Christianity to Norway. It is no small matter that Haakon's dramatic childhood was often parallelled with that King Olaf Tryggvasson, as well as with the gospels and Child Jesus, which served an important ideological function for his kingship.[2]
Haakon IV had not been officially recognised by the pope, due to him being considered an illegitimate heir. In order to win favour Haakon had made a vow to go on Crusade.[3] In 1241 he converted this into a vow of waging war against pagan peoples in the north in light of the Mongol invasion of Europe. When a group of Karelians ("Bjarmians") had been forced westward by the Mongols, Haakon allowed them to stay in the area surrounding the Malangen fjord and had them Christianized—something that would please the papacy.[4]
While Haakon had been unsuccessful in gaining the recognition of Pope Gregory IX, he quickly gained the support from Pope Innocent IV who sought alliances in his struggle against the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Haakon finally achieved royal recognition by Pope Innocent in 1246, and Cardinal William of Sabina was sent to Bergen and crowned Haakon in 1247.[5]
[Note here that Pope Innocent IV is an enemy of Emperor Frederick II whom the Papal States were pressuring to start the First Crusade. Frederick II treated this more as a diplomatic mission and when he returned to Italy the Papal States were awaiting him with their own army to attack him. Pope Innocent IV goes so far as to excommunicate Frederick II at the Council of Lyon. Thus, it is very notable here that we see King Haakon IV of Norway (who is uniting the Viking clans under his banner) offering his services to Pope Innocent IV in his war with Frederick II and having earlier offered his services to fight in the Crusades. For more on Frederick II refer here.]
It is through this King of Norway, that the first manuscripts of Old Norse mythology and sagas are recorded into history, including the works of Snorri Sturluson who was shown to be clearly in service to Haakon IV in Part I of this series. In other words, all of the first written records of Old Norse mythology occur in Iceland during the 13th century, showcasing that there was a clear initiative to record the Norse creation myths and sacred stories. However, these stories have clearly been changed through Christian influence and Snorri Sturluson who is the sole writer of the Prose Edda, the only known author of these Old Norse texts, we see is directly in service to King Haakon IV. Thus, all of these works were Icelandic and occurring during and after a period where Iceland was largely under the influence of the King of Norway, a king who earned the recognition of the Pope for his services.
The writings of Snorri Sturluson, composed while under the service of the King of Norway, was later used in support of the claims of later Norwegian kings concerning the venerability and extent of their rule. Later, Heimskringla factored in establishing a national identity during the Norwegian romantic nationalism in mid-19th century.[6]
This makes Norse mythology stand on rather dubious ground and appears to be taking part more in fantasy than anything resembling history or even true Nordic creation myths and sacred stories. It is also extremely ironic, since those who promote the romantic view that the Norse people and lore were oppressed by the Christianization of Europe have it appears only to thank Christian influence for their romantic conception of their fantastical past.
King Haakon IV would not be the first King of Norway who would be willing to lend his support to the Crusades.
Sigurd the Crusader, called Sigurðr Jórsalafari in Old Norse was King of Norway from 1103 to 1130 and led the Norwegian Crusade from 1107-1110. In 1107, Sigurd leads the Norwegian Crusade to support the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was the first European king to personally lead a crusade which earned him the nickname Jorsalafari, meaning Jerusalem-farer. Most of the information gathered about the life of Sigurd and his brothers is taken from the Heimskringla written by Snorri Sturluson around 1225, and the kings' saga Morkinskinna. Thus, its historical accuracy is very dubious to be sure. However, the account is nonetheless very interesting because it gives us a very clear idea of the sort of tales that were being promoted to the Vikings during this period. What better glory than to serve under the King of Norway in the Crusades and earn the right into Valhalla?
It is here that we will resume our story.