Varg Vikernes

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Varg Vikernes
Varg Vikernes

Varg Qisling Larssøn Vikernes IPA: [varg 'kviʃliŋ 'la:ʃøn 'vi:keɳes], born Kristian Vikernes on February 11, 1973, outside of Bergen, Norway, is a musician currently imprisoned for the 1993 murder of Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth.

Known by the pen name Count Grishnackh (a reference to an Orc soldier in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings) during the early days of black metal in Norway, Vikernes had a one-man music project Burzum, and later became a prominent voice for the heathen Odalist ideology. Some people in Norway know him by the nickname "Greven" (Norwegian for "the Count").

Contents

[edit] Criminal Record

Vikernes is currently incarcerated because of his 1993 conviction for the murder of his former friend and bandmate Øystein Aarseth (also known as Euronymous) of the black metal band Mayhem. Vikernes was additionally found guilty of arson in several cases. He received the maximum sentence in Norway of 21 years in prison, though it has been shortened (as is usually the case in Norway) and lengthened due to his escape attempt. During his time in prison, he has recorded two albums (Dauði Baldrs and Hliðskjálf). His request for parole was denied in June 2006.[1] Currently, he is serving time at Tromsø Prison in Norway.

[edit] Murder of Øystein Aarseth

The circumstances surrounding the reason for the murder are not entirely clear, but have been mainly attributed to ideological differences and a power struggle between Vikernes and Aarseth. Vikernes claimed that Aarseth had plotted to kill him and that the killing was committed in self-defense. Aarseth was found dead outside his apartment in Oslo with twenty-three wounds — two to the head, five to the neck, and 16 to the back.[citation needed] Vikernes claims that the majority of those wounds were received when Aarseth fell on pieces of a lamp that was broken in the struggle. Vikernes also claimed that there was a financial dispute over the profits from Burzum's first full-length and EP (Burzum and Aske) that were released through Aarseth's record label, Deathlike Silence Productions, but said that this was never a reason for the murder. [2]

During the murder case, the 22-year-old Snorre Ruch (of the band Thorns), who drove Vikernes to and from Øystein's apartment and stood out side during the murder, was put on trial together with Varg Vikernes and sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment.

At the time of Aarseth's murder, Vikernes was playing bass for Mayhem [3]. Aarseth's mother reportedly asked Hellhammer (real name Jan Axel Blomberg), Mayhem's drummer, to remove the bass tracks that Vikernes had recorded for Mayhem's first full length studio album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Hellhammer has since claimed that he spread the word to anyone he could that he was going to replace the bass tracks, however the tracks were never re-recorded.

[edit] Arson of churches

On 6 June 1992 the wooden stave church of Fantoft, one of Norway's architectural treasures dating from the 12th century, was burned to the ground by arson. By January 1993, fire attacks had occurred on at least seven other major Norwegian Stave churches. [4] 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, Holmenkollen Chapel in Oslo, and the consequent death of a firefighter. 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.[citation needed] Later appeals to higher courts were dismissed.

Photo of the burned down ruins of Fantoft stave church on Burzum's 1992 EP Aske.
Photo of the burned down ruins of Fantoft stave church on Burzum's 1992 EP Aske.

The public perceived that he was motivated by Satanism. [5] One reason for this was that the first case of arson happened on the 6th June 1992. The 6/6 were than linked to the Number of the Beast. However, Vikernes has made clear that he was motivated by some form of heathen ideology.

In an interview with Michael Moynihan he stated his (hypothetical) motive as follows, without admitting that he was guilty:

"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 anyways (sic) 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."[6]

(That historians think that the raid on Lindesfarne happened on the 8th of June 793 needs to be mentioned, but it is not relevant here.)

He also stated "They [the Christians] desecrated our graves, our burial mounds, so it's revenge."[7] And in his manifesto Vargsmål, Vikernes writes:

"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."[8]

[edit] Vikernes' thoughts

Varg Vikernes, circa 1993
Varg Vikernes, circa 1993

[edit] Political affiliation

Vikernes is formerly a member of Cymophane, the neo-Nazi group (National Socialist) Hvit Arisk Motstand (White Aryan Resistance)[citation needed], and was also involved with the Norsk Hedensk Front (Norwegian Heathen Front), a sub-division of the Germanic Heathen Front, an atheist organization, both of which he founded and led. The organization has been often accused of Neo-Nazi ideology[citation needed], however "...groups within the Heathen Front openly reject "all forms" of xenophobia, racism and racist violence." He also helped create the Odalist movement, which the Heathen Front is a prominent part of. His former ideas about neo-Nazism and fascism can be found in several small pamphlets. Contrary to popular belief Varg does not support Nazi ideology. His political views can best be explained through the Odalist movement which dictates pride in ones ancient culture and religions rather than adopting foreign cultures and religions.

[edit] Ásatrú

Vikernes is proponent of the Ásatrú religion. Vikernes 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. 'Teutonic Mythology and Worldview').

[edit] Anti-Christianity

Vikernes has written lyrics for several songs by the band Darkthrone (Quintessence, As Flittermice as Satan's Spies, etc.) that make use of characteristics 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."[9].

[edit] 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 (Grishnakh) 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." ("One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them."

Vikernes interpreted The Lord of the Rings on his website, showing the connections to paganism in the books. Tolkien was a professor in Anglo-Saxon linguistics, and despite being of Catholic faith, he was an ethnic European influenced by Pagan ideas. Varg criticized J. R. R. Tolkien, stating that Tolkien's 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, 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. [10]

[edit] The end of Burzum

In 2000, Vikernes terminated his musical project (which he had continued from his prison cell) 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. By this time, Vikernes had released two ambient albums, having abandoned the black metal 'scene' years previous. Varg intends to continue Burzum upon his release from prison. The new Burzum, Vikernes claims, will be a continuation of pre-prison Burzum, specifically the "Filosofem" album. Through a recent article, he has indicated this about the revival of Burzum after his release from the prison:

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.' [11]

On Burzum.org, Varg also states that if he releases a new album, it will probably sound just like the old ones, as black metal is "the only music he can write".

[edit] Publicity

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. Vikernes has spoken against this book, saying that it is full of misconceptions. 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. Vikernes' accusations are backed up in the film by Svein Erik Krogvoll, (head of criminal investigations, Bergen Police District). He confirms that the police were given the name from Tønder. 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.

[edit] Recent events

In October 2003, Vikernes failed to return to his low-security prison in Tønsberg, Norway, after having been granted a short leave. Vikernes was apprehended by police after hijacking a car and was moved to a maximum-security prison in Trondheim. He has since been moved again, this time to Tromsø Prison. [1] [2]

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. [3] Article 97 of the Norwegian constitution prohibits any law to be given retroactive force.

On August 28, 2006, it was stated on Vikernes' official web site that his parole has been postponed to April 2008. It was further claimed that "this decision violates Norwegian constitution and [The] European human rights convention". [12] Norwegian officials deny this.

Vikernes stated he is against all Burzum websites except for his official site. "The only website I support (in this context) is www.burzum.org!" [13]

[edit] Related News

  • 19-year-old Novak Majstorovic, guitarist of a metal band called "SchwarzReich" (German: Black Empire), 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. He states that his attack was a symbolic piece of propaganda that represented his quasi-anarchistic ideologies. Majstorovic was released in August 2006. [4] [5]
  • An 18-year old Finn named Kalle Holm, known to have played drums in several Finnish metal bands, said that he was influenced by Burzum at his website. He attempted arson on the Porvoo Cathedral in Finland in May 2006.[6]. 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" [7] were overruled in court. He was sentenced to three years and two months of imprisonment without parole.[8]
  • 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.[14]. His birthday is on February 11th.

[edit] References

  1. Vikernes has to pay NOK13,5 million, news coverage in Bergens Tidende, — in Norwegian
  2. Right wing extremism in Norway - 2001, page 8, paragraph title Norsk Hedensk Front, published by Antirasistisk senter and Monitor, — in Norwegian
  3. The extreme right 1999, a report from Antirasistisk senter, — in Norwegian
  4. Antisemitism Worldwide 2000/1 - Sweden, from The Stephen Roth Institute, Tel Aviv University
  5. The Count caught with an AG-3 automatic rifle, news coverage in Aftenposten, — in Norwegian
  6. Police nab The Count after he fled jail, news coverage in Aftenposten
  7. Arrested Count was heavily armed, news coverage in Aftenposten
  8. Interview on a metal site (Old photo from before his neo-nazi affiliation)
  9. Editorial in The Age on Novak and his actions
  10. The nun-murders inspired by The count, news coverage in Dagbladet, — in Norwegian
  11. The Count could have inspired the nun-killing, news coverage in Verdens Gang, — in Norwegian
  12. Sister Maria Laura Mainetti and Father Giorgio Govoni, research site by CESNUR
  1. ^ Burzum.org screenshot
  2. ^ Varg Vikernes' version of the murder
  3. ^ Vikernes' profile on Mayhem's homepage
  4. ^ Goodrick-Clarke, Black Sun, p. 204
  5. ^ In 1995 the Morgenbladet had an article titled: Satanism in Norway; see Michael Moynihan, Lords of Chaos p. 344-345 for an English translation.
  6. ^ quoted after M. Gardell, Goods of Blood, p.306
  7. ^ quoted after M. Gardell, Goods of Blood, p.306
  8. ^ quoted after M. Gardell, Goods of Blood, p.306, 307. Translation by M. Gardell
  9. ^ Vikernes' thoughts about Christianity from Metal Crypt E'Zine, 10th May 2005
  10. ^ http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/paganism03.shtml Varg's interpretation of the Lord of the Rings
  11. ^ A Burzum Story: Part IX - The Tomorrow
  12. ^ Burzum | News
  13. ^ Burzum | The Lords Of Lies: Part III - Procul Este Profani
  14. ^ Canadian Black Metal Arsonists Receive Jail Time - June 28, 2006

[edit] External links

Official sites
Unofficial sites
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