Editing Viking metal (section)

=== Thematic and lyrical focus ===
[[File:Mjollnir.png|left|thumb|Viking metal makes extensive use of Viking iconography, such as this [[Mjölnir]] pendant.]]Thematically, Viking metal draws extensively on elements of black metal, but the lyrics and imagery are pagan and Norse rather than anti-Christian or Satanic.{{sfn|Freeborn|2010|p=843}} It combines the exaltation of violence and virility through weapons and battlefields, which is common to many death and black metal bands, with an interest in ancestral roots, particularly a pre-Christian heritage, which is expressed through Viking mythology and imagery of northern landscapes.{{sfn|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=65}} Some bands such as Sorhin keep the Satanic elements of black metal but musically are influenced by more recent folk tunes.{{sfn|Mulvany|2000|p=42}}

Visuals such as album art, band photos, website design, and merchandise all highlight the dark and violent outlook of Viking metal lyrics and themes.{{sfn|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=65}} Seascapes and Viking ships are commonly invoked by Viking metal artists. For example, the cover to ''[[Blodhemn]]'' (1998) by Enslaved, which features the band as Viking warriors with their boat anchored behind them, or the cover to ''[[Dödsfärd]]'' (2003) by [[Månegarm]], which features a stereotypical [[Norse funeral|Viking funeral]].{{sfn|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=68-69}} The art on albums by Viking metal artists frequently depicts Viking Age archeological finds: [[Mjölnir|Thor's hammers]] are especially common, but other artifacts such as [[Oseberg Ship|Oseberg posts]], [[runestone]]s, and even the [[Sutton Hoo helmet]] have appeared (though this last artifact is neither Viking nor from the Viking age).{{sfn|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=65, 69}}{{efn|The Sutton Hoo burial site technically is not Viking. It belongs to the [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Angle]]s, and dates to a century before the Viking Age.{{sfn|Carver|1998|p=164}} The site is often misconstrued to be a Viking one.{{sfn|Campbell|2009}}}}  Some bands incorporate far more ancient, pre-medieval imagery, such as the Finnish band [[Moonsorrow]]'s use of prehistoric rock carvings and [[megaliths]].{{sfn|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=69}} Other Finnish bands, such as [[Ensiferum]], [[Turisas]], and [[Korpiklaani]], focus on Sámi traditions and [[Sámi shamanism|shamanism]], further stretching the definition of Viking metal.{{sfn|Ashby|Schofield|2015|p=498}} Not all bands rely on Viking-related visuals or other ancestral images to aid their musical character: for instance, the members of Týr do not wear Viking costumes on stage, and only their folk-influenced music and lyrical themes distinguish them from other heavy metal bands.{{sfn|Ashby|Schofield|2015|p=500}}

While heavy metal throughout its history has referenced the occult, Viking metal bands use a very specific mythology, which informs their textual choices, album imagery, and, frequently, musical compositions.{{sfn|Mulvany|2000|pp=42–43}} Despite a whole [[List of Germanic deities|pantheon of Norse gods]] to choose from, Viking metal bands typically focus on [[Odin]], the god of war, and on [[Thor]] and his hammer.{{sfn|Weinstein|2014|p=60}} [[Alcoholic beverage|Alcohol]], particularly [[mead]], is also a common lyrical focus.{{sfn|von Helden|2010|p=259}} Viking metal bands tend to follow one of two approaches. The first is one of romanticism and escapist ideas, where bands cultivate an image of strength and barbarism and quote passages from various poems and [[sagas]].{{sfn|von Helden|2010|p=258}} For example, English professor Heather Lusty writes that the lyrical content of Amon Amarth is historically inaccurate and is misappropriated to glorify drinking and pillaging.{{Sfn|Lusty|2020|p=166}} The second approach emphasizes historical accuracy, typically relying on Norse mythology as the sole focus of lyricism and identity.{{sfn|von Helden|2010|p=258}} The multi-national group [[Heilung]] include excerpts of texts from the Viking Age and broader [[Archaeology of Northern Europe#Germanic Iron Age|Germanic Iron Age]] in their song lyrics.{{sfn|Combe|2022}} Many Viking metal bands identify first with local roots&nbsp;– for instance, Moonsorrow with Finland, [[Einherjer]] with Norway, [[Skálmöld]] with Iceland&nbsp;– with a wider northern European identity coming second.<ref>{{Harvp|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=69}};{{Harvp|Lusty|2020|p=166}}</ref>

Many songs are composed in English, but Viking metal bands often write lyrics in other languages, usually of the [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]] family&nbsp;– [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], [[Old Norse]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Danish language|Danish]] and, less commonly, [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] and [[Faroese language|Faroese]]&nbsp;– and also in [[Finnish language|Finnish]], which is non-Germanic and of the [[Finno-Ugric languages|Finno-Ugric family]].<ref>{{harvnb|von Helden|2010|p=258}}; {{harvnb|Weinstein|2014|p=60}}</ref> Other historic and contemporary European languages, such as the Germanic languages [[Old English]], [[German language|German]], [[Old High German]], [[Proto-Norse language|Proto-Norse]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Gothic language|Gothic]], and [[West Frisian language|West Frisian]], as well as [[Latin]], [[Sámi languages]], or [[Gaulish]] are sometimes used.{{efn|For example, the German project [[Falkenbach]], in addition to English and Old Norse, has written in German, Old High German, and Latin (this last being an [[Italic language]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bowar|2011}}; {{harvnb|S., Mike}}</ref> The German band [[Obscurity (band)|Obscurity]] also writes lyrics in German.{{sfn|Ponton|2010}} The lyrics of [[Heilung]] include text in Gothic, Old High German, Old English, and Proto-Norse.{{sfn|Combe|2022}} The Dutch band [[Heidevolk]] writes entirely in Dutch,<ref>{{harvnb|Ashby|Schofield|2015|p=502}}; {{harvnb|Zed|2012}}</ref> and Fenris and [[Slechtvalk]], also Dutch projects, have, in addition to English, written in Dutch.<ref>{{harvnb|Ulrika|2014}}; {{harvnb|Slechtvalk|2000}}</ref> Slechtvalk has also recorded a song in Latin.{{sfn|Metal Marc|Flex187|xRTx|Heidendoder|2002}} Baldrs Draumar, from the [[West Frisia]]n area of the Netherlands, write lyrics exclusively in their native West Frisian.<ref>{{harvnb|Combe|2022}}; {{harvnb|Jensma|2018|pp=162-163}}</ref> The Finnish band [[Korpiklaani]], when it recorded under the previous name Shaman, wrote in [[Sami languages]], but dropped the use of these languages when it changed its name and style.{{sfn|Angelique|2005}} The Swiss band [[Eluveitie]] writes much of its music in reconstructed [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]], a [[Celtic language]].<ref>{{harvnb|Mulch|2014}}; {{harvnb|Weinstein|2014|pp=66–67}}</ref>}} Heavy metal fans around the world sometimes learn languages such as Norwegian or Finnish in order to understand the lyrics of their favorite bands and improve their appreciation of the music.{{sfn|Rossi|Jervell|2013}} Irina-Maria Manea considers this preference to sing in a native language, along with the imagery of album covers, and stage performances which often involve warrior costumes, weapons, and sometimes reenactments, a demonstration of a [[völkisch movement|völkisch]] aspect to Viking metal.{{sfn|Manea|2015|p=187}} Specifically, the thematic focus of Viking metal bands conceptualizes ethnicity as uniform, unchanged history from "time immemorial," which is, state Manea, "precisely in the ''völkisch'' framework."{{sfn|Manea|2015|p=187}}

==== Paganism and opposition to Christianity ====
[[File:Gamla Uppsala.JPG|thumb|Burial mounds at [[Gamla Uppsala]], the center of religious worship in Sweden until the destruction of [[Temple at Uppsala|its temple]] in the late 11th century.]]

The imagery in Viking metal draws upon the material culture created during the Viking Age, but — according to Trafford and Pluskowski — it also "encompasses the broad [[Semiotics|semiotic]] system favored by many black and death metal bands, not least of all the exultation of violence and hyper-masculinity expressed through weapons and battlefields".{{sfn|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=65}} In Viking metal this semiotic system is melded with an interest in ancestral roots, specifically a pre-Christian heritage, "expressed visually through Viking mythology and the aesthetics of northern landscapes".{{sfn|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=65}} Extreme and obsessive loathing of Christianity had long been the norm for black and death metal bands, but in the 1990s Bathory and many other bands began turning away from Satanism as the primary opposition to Christianity, instead placing their faith in the Vikings, Norse pantheon figures such Odin, Thor, and Loki, and trolls and beasts.<ref>{{harvnb|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=63}}; {{harvnb|Sharpe-Young|2007|p=478}}</ref> Many artists claim affiliation to the modern Pagan religion of [[Heathenry (new religious movement)|Heathenry]], treating Christianity as a foreign influence that was forcibly imposed, and therefore as a wrong to be righted.{{sfn|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=63}}

Some members of the Norwegian black metal scene were motivated to take violent action against this influence – for instance, the church burnings by black metal musicians [[Varg Vikernes]], [[Samoth]], [[Faust (musician)|Faust]], and [[Jørn Inge Tunsberg]], among others.<ref>{{harvnb|Mørk|2011|p=130}}; {{harvnb|Moynihan|Søderlind|2003|p=94f, 100}}; {{harvnb|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=63}}; {{harvnb|Unger|2016b|p=80}}</ref> While most bands or individuals did not go that far, an undercurrent of racism, [[nationalism]], and [[anti-Semitism]] continues to permeate parts of the black metal scene.<ref>{{harvnb|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=64}}; {{harvnb|Unger|2016b|pp=79–80}}</ref> Many Viking metal artists, including bands such as Enslaved and [[Einherjer]], simply express interest in Vikings and Norse mythology and entirely reject the Satanic inclination of black metal, writing almost exclusively on Norse themes, without any racist or anti-Semitic undertones.{{sfn|Trafford|Pluskowski|2007|p=64}} Whereas black metal during the 1990s took a militant and destructive stance toward the status quo, Viking metal looked to the past and took a populist, anti-system approach which eschewed violence.{{sfn|Beyazoğlu|2009|p=51}} Viking metal is both pre-Christian and post-apocalyptic&nbsp;– it looks to a pre-Christian past and imagines a post-Christian future.{{sfn|Hoad|2013|p=64}} While opposition to Christianity drove the formation of Viking metal, some bands that play, or have played, Viking metal, such as [[Slechtvalk]], [[Drottnar]], [[Vardøger (band)|Vardøger]], and [[Holy Blood (band)|Holy Blood]], subscribe to Christian beliefs.<ref>{{harvnb|Hoad|2013|p=67}}; {{harvnb|Moberg|2015|p=38}}; {{harvnb|Thrashboy|2014}}; {{harvnb|Jonsson|2011}}</ref>

David Keevill argues that the explicitly anti-Christian attitude of most Viking metal artists is an anachronistic view of the Viking Age. Keevill explains that "while bands have used [Viking mythology] as the basis for their musical existence&nbsp;... the historical reality of the Viking Age (late 8th century to the 11th century) is a chequered backdrop of a multitude of belief systems and disparate political mechanisms".{{sfn|Keevill|2012}} As an historical example, he cites the [[Lindisfarne#Vikings|raid on Lindisfarne]] in 793, an event considered the beginning of the Viking Age and celebrated by Enslaved in its song "793 (Slaget Om Lindisfarne)". He contends that this attack was merely an opportunistic raid, not a concerted attack on the growing power of Christianity,{{sfn|Keevill|2012}} and that the terms "heathen" and "pagan" historically did not necessarily mean "anti-Christian", but that the people in question did not fit under a denominational label.{{sfn|Keevill|2012}} Furthermore, Norse religion and Christianity intermingled and influenced each other throughout the era, and Christianity was often imposed through monarchical regimes such as [[Harald Klak]] and [[Harald Bluetooth]] or conversion movements such as those initiated by [[Ansgar]]. Keevill concludes that, "It's not that bands like Amon Amarth shouldn't flout their Norse heritage, the bellicose nature of the ancestors or the kind of practices that would have taken place in far flung tribal societies, it's just that ruling out the presence of an overbearing Christian influence on the Viking Age is incredibly close-minded."{{sfn|Keevill|2012}}

==== Relationship to pagan metal ====
Viking metal has been considered the progenitor of the pagan metal genre, with Bathory's ''[[Hammerheart]]'' as the first pagan metal recording. Weinstein writes that "it is fitting that pagan metal began with Viking metal, given that the Vikings were Europe's last Pagans, converted slowly and with reluctance to Christianity".{{sfn|Weinstein|2014|p=60}} Imke von Helden explains some key differences: "[Pagan metal] deals mainly with [[Paganism|Pagan religions]] and lies in a broader context where not only Old Norse mythology is dealt with, but also [[Celtic mythology|Celtic myths]] and [[Celtic history|history]], [[fairy tale]]s and other elements of [[folklore]]. Traditional instruments like the violin or flute are used more often in pagan than in Viking metal music."{{sfn|von Helden|2010|p=257}} The idea of incorporating and revering exclusively national or regional myths, stories, and tales first took root in the work of artists such as [[Adorned Brood]], Falkenbach, [[Black Messiah (band)|Black Messiah]], Enslaved or Einherjer, but, as a musical phenomenon, has grown far beyond Europe into a global trend in which artists express their affinity with an ethnic heritage.{{sfn|Manea|2015|p=187}} Viking metal, along with pagan and folk metal, forms part of a trend within cultural heritage movements toward wider acceptance of the heritage of ordinary and the everyday life, not just nationally significant and the iconic imagery, and also a trend to explore the outer reaches of heritage, where the definitions of heritage and heritage communities are stretched and contested.{{sfn|Ashby|Schofield|2015|p=504}} Baldrs Drauma, a [[West Frisia|West Frisian]] band, stated in an interview that they "find it important that people in general (so, not only Frisians but everyone around the world) know where they come from, what their history is, who they are and what led to this point in history. We find that during this digital age, people are searching for their identity, and what better way to research that than with the awesome tunes that we provide?"{{sfn|Combe|2022}} 

==== Masculinity, heroism, and racial identity ====
[[File:Kari Rueslåtten.jpg|left|thumb|[[Kari Rueslåtten]], formerly of [[Storm (Norwegian band)|Storm]], and seen here with The Sirens. Women musicians are not common among Viking metal bands.]]
According to music studies scholar Catherine Hoad, the Viking image in popular understanding is that of [[hypermasculinity]], and thus Viking metal is inherently [[patriarchy|patriarchal]]. While some bands, such as [[Kivimetsän Druidi]], [[Storm (Norwegian band)|Storm]], and Irminsul, have included female members, and female fans comprise a substantial part of Viking metal's audience, it is argued that women are subordinated within the Viking metal scene, and are rarely present in the production of Viking metal music, which can be seen as a form of "nation-building": while women may participate in the nation building process, it is still controlled by men.{{sfn|Hoad|2013|p=64}} Within Viking metal, themes of war and masculinity predominate.{{sfn|Manea|2015|p=188}} Hoad also contends that black and Viking metal express whiteness through a confluence of notions of nation, nature, monstrosity, and masculinity. Per Hoad, constructions of "authentic" nationhood continue to be directly informed by conceptions of race.{{Sfn|Hoad|2021|p=96}} The ethnoromantic fantasy of Vikings and pagans as premodern people subsisting off of the land is informed by the confluence of nationalism, racialism, and masculinity. "Unknowable" land is valorized, econationalism is fiercely advocated, and wilderness is prized as simultaneously impermeable to, yet under threat, from [[globalization]].{{Sfn|Hoad|2021|p=96}} "Authentic" Nordic whiteness is contested against what is perceived as the colonizing force of Christianity and the weakening of society via modernism. Hoad argues that "the ethnonationalism of Norwegian metal then emerges through textual representations of Norway, and Norwegian whiteness, as terrifying and discomforting; yet ancient, pure, elite and unique."{{Sfn|Hoad|2021|p=97}} Whiteness, writes Hoad, is embedded within a wider national effort of "maintaining Norwegianness in an increasingly globalised context."{{Sfn|Hoad|2021|p=97}} Hoad does not believe that this understanding of Norwegian metal means that these scenes are inherently racist or fascist, but rather acknowledges that representations of Nordic history within both metal music and broader nationalist discussions exist within a dominant structure of power which can and has been used to support the cultural hegemony of whiteness.{{Sfn|Hoad|2021|p=97}}

Some artists, such as Burzum, link manliness with Norse tradition and gender ideals, and thus see the Viking male as representing traditional masculinity.{{sfn|Mørk|2011|pp=139–140}} Most of the Norse references in black metal are heroic, masculine, and militaristic in theme&nbsp;– Mjölnir, Odin, the [[Iron Cross]], and [[berserker]]s and [[einherjar]].<ref>{{harvnb|Mørk|2011|p=140}}; {{harvnb|Weinstein|2014|p=60}}</ref> Conversely, [[Jesus]], though a male figure, is seen in songs such as "Jesu død" by Burzum as cold, dark, and life-extinguishing.{{sfn|Mørk|2011|p=140}} Christianity is viewed as stigmatizing and suppressing the natural "dark" sides of men, and so, from the perspective of black metal, true masculinity is achieved through exploring the dark sides of man's nature&nbsp;– warfare and killing.{{sfn|Mørk|2011|p=140}} Sociologist Karl Spracklen notes that the folk music band [[Wardruna]] does not play black metal at al yet was nonetheless immediately accepted by black metal fans both because some black metal artists had transitioned from black metal to neofolk, [[Drone music|drone]], or [[ambient music]] and because Wardruna is "heroic, masculine and associated with the well-worn epic trope of Viking metal".{{Sfn|Spracklen|2020|p=120}}

Cultural historian Nina Witoszec found that within Norway, images of nature are often symbolic with cultural affiliation to Norway. Witoszec traces the roots of this ideal to [[Tacitus]]'s German-heathen identity narrative which romanticized the Germanic people as superior through their connection with nature, and whose brutality and belligerence opposed the apathetic and decadent Roman elite.{{sfn|Mørk|2011|pp=140–141}} Within black metal, Norse imagery is used to build a view of natural and authentic masculinity to counter the oppressive force of the Judeo-Christian tradition.{{sfn|Mørk|2011|p=144}}