Varg Vikernes

Varg Vikernes

Varg Vikernes (IPA: [varg 'vi:keɳes]) born Kristian Vikernes on February 11, 1973 near Bergen, Norway is a black metal musician, convicted murderer, arsonist and political activist. In 1991 Vikernes conceived the one-man music project Burzum, which quickly became prominent within the early Norwegian black metal scene. Later he became a prominent organizer and writer for the heathen Odalist ideology. In a documentary on heavy metal, he was described as "the most notorious metal musician of all time."

Biography

Vikernes is currently serving a 21 year sentence for the August 1993 murder of Øystein 'Euronymous' Aarseth of Mayhem as well for the burning of three stave churches in Norway. He was eligible for parole in spring 2008, after serving 15 years of imprisonment, but his application was denied. A newspaper article from June 2008 mentions that Vikernes is married and has a fifteen-year old daughter (born 1993) and a son (born 2007). In an interview made in 2004, Vikernes said that he has a daughter (who he has seen twice since 1993) and that he had "never been married."

Family background and childhood

There exists no biography of him (whether authorized or un-authorized), but some information can be gathered from the interviews he has given, especially those printed in Lords of Chaos. Here Vikernes talks about his background and his childhood, and the book even includes an interview with Lene Bore, Vikernes' mother. In the 2004 interview Vikernes mentions that "she is working in a large oil company". Vikernes there also gives his father's profession as "electronics engineer", whereas his brother, who (according to the Lords of Chaos interview) is "one and a half years older," is a "graduate civil engineer".

In the Lords of Chaos interview, Vikernes recalls an incident from his childhood: When he was about 6 year old, the family moved for about a year to Baghdad in Iraq, because Vikernes' "father was working for Saddam Hussein", developing a computer program. Since there were no places available in the English school in Baghdad, the young Vikernes went to an Iraqi elementary school during this time. According to his interview, Vikernes here became "aware of racial matters." Corporal punishment was not uncommon in the school to which he went, and on one occasion Vikerenes came into a "quarrel" with a teacher, calling him "a monkey". But, as Vikernes perceived it: the teachers "didn't dare to hit me because I was white". Vikernes' mother also recalls how they "spent a year in Iraq", and that "the other children in his class would get slapped by their teachers; he would not." She mentions that this created problems, but generally she "has no good explanation of how Varg" developed his views. Vikernes reveals slightly more in his interview. When he is asked about his father, Vikernes tells that he "had a swastika flag at home" and that his father was hysterical about it. However, Vikernes feels that his father was a hypocrite, because he was worried about Vikernes "being a Nazi," whereas he too was "pissed about all the colored people he saw in town". About his mother, Vikernes says that she was "very race concious", in the sense that she was afraid that Vikernes "was going to come home with a black girl!" At the time the interview was taken (1995), Vikernes still had a positive relation with his mother, but "very little contact" with his father. As a matter of fact, Vikernes' parents are divorced. Vikernes' father is said to have "left about 10 years ago", that would have been 1985, when Vikernes was 12.

Musical projects

Further information: Burzum

Vikernes had been learning the guitar since he was 14. When he was about 17, Vikernes came into contact with the members of the Bergen death metal band Old Funeral. He played guitar with them during 1990–1991 and performed on their Devoured Carcass EP.

In 1991, Vikernes began a solo musical project named Burzum, and quickly became involved with the early Norwegian black metal scene. During 1992–1993, he recorded four albums as Burzum that played a key role in the development of black metal. However, after his imprisonment, Vikernes was denied access to an electric guitar, bass guitar or drums. Instead, Vikernes used only a synthesizer and recorded two dark ambient albums while in prison.

In 2000, Vikernes terminated his musical project due to what he perceived to be negative notoriety. Vikernes believed that his philosophy was constantly misinterpreted by an ignorant fan base that was too closely related to black metal and Satanism. Through his website, he has indicated that he intends to continue Burzum upon his release from prison, stating: "I will publish a few books, possibly using a pseudonym in order to stay anonymous, and perhaps a Burzum album or two, but that's it."

Regarding the style of his next album, Vikernes stated on his website that: "[a future album] will as far as I can tell sound much like the old albums, whether I like it or not, because I'm incapable of making music that doesn't sound rather 'Burzumic'."

Discography

As Burzum:

• 1992 – Burzum (recorded January 1992)
• 1993 – Det Som Engang Var (recorded April 1992)
• 1993 – Aske (recorded August 1992)
• 1994 – Hvis Lyset Tar Oss (recorded September 1992)
• 1996 – Filosofem (recorded March 1993)
• 1997 – Dauði Baldrs (recorded in prison 1994-1995)
• 1999 – Hliðskjálf (recorded in prison 1998)

Other appearances:

• 1991 – Old Funeral – Devoured Carcass (performed electric guitar)
• 1994 – Darkthrone – Transilvanian Hunger (wrote lyrics for four songs)
• 1994 – Mayhem – De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (performed bass guitar)

Criminal record

Vikernes is currently incarcerated because of his 1993 conviction for the murder of his former associate Øystein 'Euronymous' Aarseth (from the influential black metal band Mayhem). Vikernes was additionally found guilty in several cases of church arsons, one of which involved Jørn Tunsberg of black metal band Hades Almighty. He received the maximum sentence in Norway of 21 years in prison, which was shortened but then restored following an escape attempt in 2003. During his time in prison, he has recorded two albums (Dauði Baldrs and Hliðskjálf), which are composed of dark ambient tracks rather than black metal. His request for parole was denied in June 2006. Currently, he is serving time at Tromsø Prison in Norway. He was eligible for parole in April, 2008 but was again denied, but he was allowed out for 1 week to visit with his family (during which time he conceived another child).

Murder of Øystein Aarseth

On August-10-1993, Vikernes and Snorre Ruch travelled from Bergen to Aarseth’s apartment in Oslo. Upon their arrival a confrontation began, which ended when Vikernes fatally stabbed Aarseth. His body was found outside the apartment with twenty-three cut wounds – two to the head, five to the neck, and sixteen to the back.

It has been speculated that the murder was the result of a power struggle, a financial dispute over Burzum records, or an attempt at "out doing" the stabbing in Lillehammer. Vikernes claims that Aarseth had plotted to torture him to death and videotape the event – using a meeting about an unsigned contract as a pretext. On the night of the murder, Vikernes claims he intended to hand Aarseth the signed contract and "tell him to fuck off", but that Aarseth attacked him first. Additionally, Vikernes defends that most of Aarseth’s cut wounds were caused by broken glass he had fallen on during the struggle. After the conflict, Vikernes drove to a nearby lake to dispose of his bloodied clothes before he journeyed home.

Regardless of the circumstances, Vikernes was arrested within days. During the court case, the 22-year-old Snorre Ruch, who drove Vikernes to and from Øystein's apartment and stood outside during the murder, was put on trial together with Vikernes and sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment. Vikernes was sentenced to 21 years of imprisonment for both the murder and church arsons. In a controversial display, Vikernes actually smiled at the moment his verdict was read, an image that was widely reprinted in the news media. In May 1994, Mayhem finally released the album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, which features Aarseth on electric guitar and Vikernes on bass guitar.

Arson of churches

On June 6, 1992, the Fantoft stave church, one of Norway's architectural treasures dating from the 12th century, was burned to the ground via arson. By January 1993, arson attacks had occurred on at least seven other major stave churches, including one on Christmas Eve of 1992. Vikernes was found guilty of several of these cases; the attempted arson of Storetveit Church in Bergen, the arson of Åsane Church in Bergen, Skjold Church in Vindafjord, and Holmenkollen Chapel in Oslo. He was also charged for the arson of Fantoft stave church outside Bergen, although the jurors voted not guilty. The judges claimed this an error of the jurors but refused to overthrow the whole case.

Vikernes was rumored to have been motivated both by paganism and theistic Satanism The first case of arson happened on 6 June 1992 and was widely rumored to have been started at 6am. The 6/6/6 time and date combination is based on the Number of the Beast and indicated the link between the church-burnings and Satanism.

In an interview with Michael Moynihan Vikernes made a statement explaining the church burnings:

I am not going to say that I burnt any churches. But let me put it this way: There was one person who started it. I was not found guilty of burning the Fantoft stave church, but anyway, that was what triggered the whole thing. That was the 6th of June and everyone linked it to Satanism ... What everyone overlooked was that on the 6th June, year 793, in Lindesfarne in Britain was the site of the first known Viking raid in history, with Vikings from Hordaland, which is my county.

In explaining the motives behind the church burnings, Vikernes said: "They [the Christians] desecrated our graves, our burial mounds, so it's revenge." Echoing this sentiment, he writes in Vargsmål: "For each devastated graveyard, one heathen grave is avenged, for each ten churches burnt to ashes, one heathen hof is avenged, for each ten priests or freemasons assassinated, one heathen is avenged."

When asked whether the church burnings were linked to Odinism or Àsatrù he replied: "The point is that all these churches [i.e. church burnings] are linked to one person ... who was not Øystein obviously. All the church burnings, with the exception of Stavanger, because that was another group (who, by the way, have also turned into nationalistic pagans)."

Escape attempt and expected release

In October 2003, Vikernes failed to return to his low-security prison in Tønsberg, Norway after having been granted a short leave. Vikernes was found riding in a stolen Volvo car, which contained an unloaded AG3 automatic rifle, a handgun, numerous large knives, a gas mask, camouflage clothing, a laptop, a compass, a Global Positioning System, various maps and a fake passport (it is thought that Vikernes came to be in possession of this equipment by means of a military barracks). For this; thirteen months were added to his sentence, and he was then moved to a maximum-security prison in Trondheim. He has since been moved again, this time to Tromsø Prison.

When Vikernes was convicted, it was possible to be released on parole after serving 12 years of a 21 year sentence, but this was later changed to 14 years by the Norwegian Parliament while he was in prison. In June 2006, Vikernes was denied parole by the Department of Criminal Justice for this reason, after having served 12 years of his sentence. His lawyer, John Christian Elden, is considering a lawsuit, viewing the policy change as a form of retroactive legislation. Article 97 of the Norwegian constitution prohibits any law to be given retroactive force.

Varg Vikernes was denied parole again in June 2008, although he is allowed to leave Tromsø Prison for a short period of time to visit his family. His full sentence would run for another seven years.

Beliefs

Next to the book Lords of Chaos, the main source for Vikernes' political and religious views is www.burzum.org. There is however no third party source which confirms that the texts on that homepage were indeed written by Varg Vikernes. After his imprisonment in 1994 Vikernes began to write a manifesto called Vargsmål. Although some publishers were initially interested due to Vikernes' presence in the Norwegian media, they turned the book down as soon as they had the opportunity to read it, as its contents were considered too extreme. According to Lords of Chaos that Vargsmål became available on the Norwegian internet for some time in 1996, but not in a printed form. In 1997 a Norwegian publisher released a paperback edition of the book; the book's publication was financed by Vikernes' mother, Lene Bore. Vikernes has disputed the English translation of his book in an article on his website.

Religion

Vikernes embraces a "modern scientific worldview resting on a foundation made up of the Pagan values and ideals; loyalty, wisdom, courage, love, discipline, honesty, intelligence, beauty, responsibility, health and strength." He draws a direct connection between both race and intelligence and intelligence and religion, denouncing theism as "mental enslavement" fit only for "inferior races". Vikernes goes on to say "If it is supposed to serve a purpose Paganism needs to be an ideology, not a religion." He is the author of several works on his personal world view, namely "Vargsmål" (lit. 'the speech of Varg'), "Irminsûl" and "Germansk Mytologi og Verdensanskuelse" (lit. 'Germanic Mythology and Worldview').

Vikernes has written lyrics for several songs by Darkthrone that make use of themes from old Germanic folklore. In these, Satan is brought up in the context of an 'eye' that is a source of light (i.e. the sun), with mentions of a 'spear' and a 'hall of battle', all of which are masked references to the Germanic god Odin. This was done with the double meaning of Odin as the 'adversary' of Jewish and Christian tradition. This has been taken as assumption that Vikernes was at one time a Satanist, though Vikernes has stated many times that he is opposed to Satanism as he considers it to be a reactionary form of Christianity.

According to Vikernes:

Christianity was created by some decadent and degenerated Romans as a tool of oppression, in the late Roman era, and it should be treated accordingly. It is like handcuffs to the mind and spirit and is nothing but destructive to mankind. In fact I don't really see Christianity as a religion. It is more like a spiritual plague, a mass psychosis, and it should first and foremost be treated as a problem to be solved by the medical science. Christianity is a diagnosis. It's like Islam and the other Asian religions, a HIV/AIDS of the spirit and mind.

Political affiliation

Vikernes is formerly a member of the publisher and record label Cymophane productions and was also involved with the Norsk Hedensk Front (Norwegian Heathen Front), a sub-division of the Heathen Front, both of which he founded and led. The organization has been often accused of Neo-Nazi ideology, however groups within the Heathen Front have claimed that they reject "all forms of xenophobia, racism and racist violence". He also helped create the Odalist movement, of which the Heathen Front is a prominent part. His former ideas about Neo-Nazism and fascism can be found in several small pamphlets. As stated on his official website, Vikernes would not use the term Nazi any longer as self-description. However, the statement of Vikernes concerning the "nazi ghost" on his homepage is rather ambiguous:

The reason I have been drawn to and occasionally have expressed support for 'Nazism' is mainly because many of the Norwegian (and German) 'Nazis' embraced our Pagan religion as our blood-religion and they rejected Judeo-Christianity as Jewish heresy ... So, since I am not a 'Nazi' I began to use another term, in the late '90s. I did it not just to avoid confusion, but also to find a term more suitable and accurate than the other terms I had used. This new term was Odalism ... It is a term not tainted by history.

yet of the "nazi ghost" he says:

The 'nazi ghost' has scared millions of Europeans from caring about their blood and homeland for sixty years now, and it is about time we banish this ghost and again start to think and care about the things that (whether we like it or not) are important to us.

In other texts on his homepage he still embraces racism and eugenics ("race hygiene").

Influences by Vidkun Quisling?

Vidkun Quisling, Nazi collaborator, prime minster of Norway between 1942 and 1945 and involuntary originator of the term quisling-regime, had developed an extremely obscure esoteric doctrine labelled 'Universism'. An online-article about him mentions that the only "modest intellectual influence" he ever had with this doctrine was "on certain extreme strains of Norwegian black metal music." Indeed, in the interview in Lords of Chaos, Varg Vikernes is faced with the question whether Quisling's religion is pagan or Christian. Moynihan & Søderlind write: "Vikernes has discovered his predecessor in Vidkun Quisling." At one point, he took the name 'Kvisling' as a nod to Quisling, releasing an album under the alias. Later albums returned to Varg Vikernes. In an interview available at www.burzum.com he has expressed some political admiration for Quisling. On www.burzum.org Vikernes does not mention Vidkun Quisling at all.

The Lord of the Rings

Vikernes has been fascinated with the fictional realm of Middle-earth created by J. R. R. Tolkien, from a very young age. His stage name Grishnackh is taken from that of a minor character in The Two Towers. The name Burzum, meaning darkness, was taken from the Black Speech inscribed on the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings. The script read: "Ash nazg durbatulúk, ash nazg gimbatul,ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul." or in English "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them." Additionally, before settling for Burzum, the band was initially named Uruk-Hai.

Vikernes interpreted The Lord of the Rings on his website, allegedly showing the connections to paganism in the books (although there are some errors, such as identifying the order fronted by the character Saruman as the Valar). Tolkien was a professor in Anglo-Saxon linguistics, and despite being of Catholic faith, he was an ethnic European influenced by Pagan ideas. Vikernes criticized the film adaption of The Lord of The Rings, stating that the portrayal of the people of Rohan (the Middle-earth equivalent of Germanic civilization) as dirty, penniless villagers was uncharacteristic, since cleanliness, health, and especially bathing, were all values that were held very highly by Germanic people. Vikernes has also gone on to state that the women of southern Europe were much more attracted to Germanic men because they were "fairer and healthier," and since public bathing was outlawed by the Holy Roman Empire (even though Germany was a founding state of the Holy Roman Empire), many of the men that southern European women were exposed to were less attractive as mates. Vikernes feels that Tolkien's Catholic faith may have contributed to this bias.

Publicity

Lords of Chaos

American journalist Michael Moynihan (behind the musical project Blood Axis) wrote a book entitled Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground with co-author Didrik Søderlind that is concerned with the events of the early black metal scene in Norway. There are two different reviews of this book available that are allegedly written by Varg Vikernes, one on www.burzum.org and one on www.burzum.com. Whereas the review on www.burzum.com is only mildly critical and states "The book is pretty much objective.", the review on www.burzum.org states:

[The authors of Lord of Chaos] have no insight into or even good knowledge about the subjects discussed and ... don't understand one bit what Black Metal was about on 1991 and 1992 ... they have managed to fill the heads of a generation of metal fans with lies.

Satan rir Media

Torstein Grude created a Norwegian documentary entitled Satan rir media (Satan Rides the Media), to which Vikernes has given a more positive review. As its title implies, the movie focuses on the often hysterical media coverage of the church burning cases and the black metal scene in general. In the film, Vikernes accuses Finn Bjørn Tønder (journalist, Bergens Tidende) of deliberately informing the police about his identity after he had completed an anonymous interview. Vikernes was arrested only hours after the interview, one day before it was printed in Bergens Tidende, and was released after a week in prison due to lack of proof. In the film Svein Erik Krogvoll (head of criminal investigations, Bergen Police District) evades the question whether Vikernes was treated anonymously by Tønder by stating "It was all OK and legal."

Tønder was the man who gave Kristian Vikernes the name "Greven" (The Count).

Satan rir media also claimed that the Norwegian news media hyped the Satanist angle and unwittingly created a mass following for Burzum and Vikernes, both in Norway and internationally.

Influence on other church arsons

• Novak Majstorovic, the 19-year-old guitarist of a metal band called "SchwarzReich", was charged with arson and burglary in relation to the torching of a 106-year-old United Church in Ascot Vale, Australia in August 2004. He was convicted and sentenced to three years in Youth Detention. In all media depictions of the event he is said to have been heavily influenced by Burzum. However, he has stated on several message boards across the internet that the influence doesn't stretch beyond the superficial, and that the media has overblown his statements to the police to suit their own ends. He claims that the arson had very little in common with Vikernes' attacks. Majstorovic was released in August 2006. The church's priest has made no effort to contact Majstorovic, despite his promises to the media.

• Kalle Holm, an 18-year-old Finn known to have played drums in several Finnish metal bands, said that he was influenced by Burzum at his website. He set fire to the Porvoo Cathedral in Finland in May 2006: the roof of the church burned, but the ceiling, vaults and interiors survived undamaged. The attorney's claims that the motives behind the arson were related to a "hatred towards Christianity" were overruled in court. He was sentenced to three years and two months of imprisonment without parole.

• The Winnipeg Sun reported three people were convicted June 27, 2006 of arson in a fire that destroyed the Minnedosa United Church in Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada on February 12, 2006. One was sentenced to three years in prison, the second to two years and the third to two years less a day. All three were ordered to pay C$1.2 million in restitution. Justice officials said the church was set on fire on Vikernes' birthday (February 11th).

References

• Vikernes has to pay NOK13,5 million, news coverage in Bergens Tidende, -- in Norwegian
• Right wing extremism in Norway - 2001, page 8, paragraph title Norsk Hedensk Front, published by Antirasistisk senter and Monitor, -- in Norwegian
• The extreme right 1999, a report from Antirasistisk senter, -- in Norwegian
• Antisemitism Worldwide 2000/1 - Sweden, from The Stephen Roth Institute, Tel Aviv University
• The Count caught with an AG-3 automatic rifle, news coverage in Aftenposten, -- in Norwegian
• Police nab The Count after he fled jail, news coverage in Aftenposten
• Arrested Count was heavily armed, news coverage in Aftenposten
• Interview on a metal site (Old photo before new political affiliations)
• Editorial in The Age on Novak and his actions
• The nun-murders inspired by The count, news coverage in Dagbladet, -- in Norwegian
• The Count could have inspired the nun-killing, news coverage in Verdens Gang, -- in Norwegian

Documentation

• Mattias Gardell. 2003. Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-3071-4
• Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. 2003. Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-3155-4
• Michael Moynihan & Didrik Søderlind. 1998. Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground.
• Torstein Grude. 1998. Satan rir media (Satan Rides the Media)

External links

Official sites

• Official Burzum and Varg Vikernes home site

Unofficial sites

• Burzum.com
• Article and picture from the 2003 arrest

Other

• How Black is Black Metal? - An extensive review of Lords of Chaos including much background information.