Norse Revival offers a thorough investigation of Germanic Neopaganism (Asatru) through an international and comprehensive historical perspective. It traces Germanic Neopaganism’s genesis in German ultra-nationalist and occultist movements around 1900. Based on ethnographic research of contemporary groups in Germany, Scandinavia and North America, the book examines this alternative Neopagan religion’s transformations towards respectability and mainstream thought after the 1970s. It asks which regressive and progressive elements of a National Romantic discourse on Norse myth have shaped Germanic Neopaganism. It demonstrates how these ambiguous ideas about Nordic myth permeate general discourses on race, religion, gender, sexuality, and aesthetics. Ultimately, Norse Revival raises the question whether Norse mythology can be freed from its reactionary ideological baggage.

Norse Revival offers a thorough investigation of Germanic Neopaganism (Asatru) through an international and comprehensive historical perspective. It traces Germanic Neopaganism's genesis in German ultra-nationalist and occultist movements around 1900. Based on ethnographic research of contemporary groups in Germany, Scandinavia and North America, the book examines this alternative Neopagan religion's transformations towards respectability and mainstream thought after the 1970s. It asks which regressive and progressive elements of a National Romantic discourse on Norse myth have shaped Germanic Neopaganism. It demonstrates how these ambiguous ideas about Nordic myth permeate general discourses on race, religion, gender, sexuality and aesthetics. Ultimately, Norse Revival raises the question of whether Norse mythology can be freed from its reactionary ideological baggage.

This book offers a thorough investigation of Germanic Neopaganism (Asatru) through an international and comprehensive historical perspective. It traces Germanic Neopaganism s genesis in German ultra-nationalist and occultist movements around 1900. Based on ethnographic research of contemporary groups in Germany, Scandinavia and North America, the book examines this alternative Neopagan religion s transformations towards respectability and mainstream thought after the 1970s. It asks which regressive and progressive elements of a National Romantic discourse on Norse myth have shaped Germanic Neopaganism. It demonstrates how these ambiguous ideas about Nordic myth permeate general discourses on race, religion, gender, sexuality, and aesthetics. Ultimately, Norse Revival raises the question whether Norse mythology can be freed from its reactionary ideological baggage.

"The interest of a group of American writers in the Norse (Viking Age Scandinavians) began to develop in the late 1830s, reaching its high point at mid-century and tapering off after the Civil War as the members of the group neared the end of their careers (only one of the authors discussed, Julia Clinton Jones, joins the club at the end of the period)." "This period, defined as the original phase of the American discovery of the Norse, features two essayists, Emerson and Thoreau, who refer to the Norse in writing on a variety of topics. Fiction is represented by Melville alone (American writers of fiction like Stowe and Hawthorne shun the Norse). Neither the essayists nor Melville uses Norse themes as their primary subject. That is reserved for the poets: Lowell, Whittier, Taylor, Longfellow, and Julia Clinton Jones."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Being Viking provides a rigorous ethnographic account of the Asatru religion in America, also known as Heathenry or Heathenism. Arising from five years of original ethnographic fieldwork among American Asatru adherents, the book expands our understanding of this religious movement as part of the American religious context.

Through an in-depth analysis of historicist literature and art, this book demonstrates that cultural Scandinavism, despite its failure as a political mobilizer, was highly successful in strengthening and extending national consciousness-raising in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

This essay collection is a wide-ranging exploration of Vikings, the television series that has successfully summoned the historical world of the Norse people for modern audiences to enjoy. From a range of critical viewpoints, these all fresh essays explore the ways in which past and present representations of the Vikings converge in the show's richly textured dramatization of the rise and fall of Ragnar Loobrok--and the exploits of his heirs--creating what many viewers label a "true" representation of the age. From the show's sources in both saga literature and Victorian revival, to its engagement with contemporary concerns regarding gender, race and identity, via setting, sex, society and more, this first book-length study of the History Channel series appeals to fans of the show, Viking enthusiasts, and anyone with an interest in medievalist representation in the 21st century.