Paganism Explained: Part I: Thrymskvida

by Varg Vikernes, Marie D.F. Cachet

The first book in a series where we unveil the Native European deities. In part I we tell you the basics of Native European Paganism and explain the meaning of Þrymskviða. The book is small (5"*8" and 50 pages) and easy to read.

Genres: Paganism, Mythology, Religion, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Music, History

50 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2017

About the author

Varg Vikernes is a Norwegian musician. In 1991 Vikernes conceived the one-man music project Burzum, which quickly became popular within the early Norwegian black metal scene. In Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, director Sam Dunn described Vikernes as "the most notorious metal musician of all time".

"After creating in the course of four early albums an impressive body of art that essentially ended black metal as it was by raising the bar beyond what others could easily participate in, Vikernes was imprisoned for sixteen years for his alleged role in church arson and murder. During the time he was in prison, he put out two more impressive keyboard-based albums and several books’ worth of writings before falling silent around the turn of the millennium." (source: www.deathmetal.org)

Since then and after his release in 2009, he has authored several writings on Nordic/Germanic neopaganism and European nationalism from a primitivist and naturalist stance focused on cultural values in the community and family.

Reviews

[5 pound poi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A distinct current of the "noble savage" idea runs through this introduction. Some interesting propositions are broached in the intro section, but left undeveloped as they should seemingly just be taken for granted as confirmed information. The writer must be assuming much prior knowledge and/or similar belief system on behalf of the reader.

The meat of the pamphlet is the middle section which is the Thrymskvida in Norse & English.

Following this is Varg's wife's interpretation, which is what we are all here for! I find the stuff coming out of the Marie/Varg camp ... interesting ... , and heavily dubious. This is a perfect example of why: she has the entire story as a representation of allegorical meaning, but why is this interpretation absolutely accurate? Because she says so? That is the only evidence offered, her interpretation. What if my "open mind" doesn't fall in line with her interpretation, but instead comes up with my own that is as seemingly plausible?

If this series continues in this style it must be intended for a specific, limited audience of fans that are already quite familiar with the backstory of the pregnancy cult or will approve of literally anything Varg stamps his name onto.

[Jörgen Svensson · Rating 1 out of 5]

You thought you'd get a book, but you're getting a floppy 50 page booklet printed in a HUGE font. The first 13 pages are a mere introduction, explaining the philosophy and method behind this booklet. After that, Þrymskviða is printed in both the original language and in translation by Vikernes himself. The long awaited analysis and conclusion comes on page 46 (to page 49, still in the very same huge font throughout). So right away you'll realise you're not getting very much here.

The translations of the Edda poem by Vikernes are very dodgy. It is painfully obvious that (Old Norse) grammar is not his expertise. Sadly this results in translations and interpretations that are just plain wrong. If you can't tell the difference between the various cases in singular and plural, you shouldn't be making your own translations.

In some parts Vikernes insists on not using the actual names of mythological characters but rather the English translation of these names, based on his own etymological conclusions. In other parts, he adds them between brackets. Often these are highly implausible, wrong or just lacking and lazy. For instance, he translates Mjölnir as "The Crusher". It is clear that Mjöllnir is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *meldʰ-n- (“lightning”) - you'd think that that be kind of essential to mention when you are talking about an attribute of the god of thunder. Alas, no.

We finally get to the conclusion by Marie Cachet, Vikernes' wife. And, you have guessed it, we're back to the usual narrative that this myth, too, is just another metaphor for conception, child birth, ... Some really strange "mind jumps" are made to turn this into a coherent theory; it is a prime example of confirmation bias. For instance, the author says that "Mjöllnir is the heart of Þórr" and that "his hammer being stolen means that he died". How so? Does your heart get "stolen" when you die? How? Why? Proof? Sources? Examples? Parallels? Spoiler: there are none. As I stated earlier, this is a 50 page booklet and the actual conclusion part is a mere four pages. The author could have written an elaborate explanation with rock solid proof of all her claims but clearly could not.

I'm sure this booklet will get many five star reviews based on the "cult status" of Vikernes. If you'll read it with an objective and critical mind, giving this booklet even one star is already way too much credit.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se presenta una nueva perspectiva sobre la religión como guía y prueba en un sentido muy literal, natural y no celestial. En contra parte de la ideología de las religiones abrahamicas.

La analogía de Santa Claus es perfecta. Rápidamente te muestra la tesis del texto.

Se llega a sentir incapacidad de aceptar ningún tipo de progreso humano respecto a los antepasados europeos antes de la agricultura.

Aunque rechaza que elementos teológicos en distintas religiones estén relacionados al punto de ser otra implementación de la misma idea, muestra un buen panorama sobre el paganismo en general.

Lo que más resalto fue que da una nueva visión que reconcilia el seguimiento de la tradición misma sin la imposición religiosa en el proceso.

[Shaun Phelps · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the simplicity and friendly nature of the writing. Much like other reviews, I'm not sure this is all as simple as they explain. Still, an interesting little read.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason this gets 2 stars instead of 1 is because the Norse Mythology was interesting. Baseless ranting and patronizingly simplistic argumentation... I think? Idk.

[Ashton McBeath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting one it surprisingly kept my attention and it was nice that it was short and easy to read but it didn’t really explain paganism as a whole religion or group but I know that this is a series of books but all this first book explained was reincarnation and all that looked like was a weird way of explaining sex and that you’re basically reincarnated as a sperm and you’re trying to get “loki” which i’m guessing is adrenaline to fertilize eggs so it was very interesting since it’s such a short read i’ll probably finish the whole series

[Orion Ectoplasm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whole series could be just 1 book. These are like pamphlets. Author is a nazi and it shows. I will admit this is very informative about paganism, but it's hard to know what to trust and what to ignore.

[Jimi T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Norse mythology is interesting and this book has some very intriguing content to it and explains some things about paganism pretty well. However Varg is a neo-nazi and you have to be very critical of everything you read. Otherwise could be rated much higher.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very light read, but interesting lesson on a famous Norse myth. I enjoyed that it was presented in both Norse and English.

[Harald Oswald · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are open minded and actually look into things you will find vargs interpretations of the myths to be the best to date

[Calicolex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small book.

[Zhiyi Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

This, together with Part II, III, and IV, is fascinating stuff.

[James Sage · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 out Of 10

[sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

He had me for the first and second parts, but the third? Not so sure.

[Adrián P. C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice concept.

[Ridvan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an interesting read and analyze about the Thrymskvida, but the book remains quite on the shallow side.

[Ryan Farrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very concise read. Essentially just a pretty enjoyable and succinct introduction to + analysis of the Thrymskvida poem/story, as well as the full original text in Norse and an English translation. Worth a read which can be completed fairly quickly, though if you're looking for more in-depth explanations of Pagan mythology and traditions I'd suggest looking elsewhere, perhaps Varg's previous books even which cover a lot more ground than this.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Varg gives his take on the Norse poem and how it was used to give moral lessons and instruction without the fear imposed by other religions.