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Varg Vikernes was born Kristian Vikernes on February 11, 1973, outside of Bergen, Norway. Known by the nom de plume Count Grishnackh during the early days of black metal in Norway, Vikernes was the man behind the one-man music project Burzum, and later became a prominent voice for Neo-Nazi ideology. Varg Vikernes, circa 1993.
Trial and Incarceration
Vikernes is currently incarcerated for the 1993 murder of his former friend Øystein Aarseth, also known as Euronymous of the black metal band Mayhem. The arson of three churches and the consequent death of a firefighter for which Vikernes was additionally found guilty landed him the maximum sentence in Norway of 21 years in prison (although it has since been shortened). 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 claims that Aarseth had plotted to kill him and that the murder was committed in partial self-defence.
Vikernes' Philosophy
Ásatrú Vikernes is a proponent of the Ásatrú religion and believes it is a religion for all Germanic peoples. He helped create the Odalist movement and co-founded the All-Germanic Heathen Front (although he was neither a member nor a leader, and no longer associates with the organisation). Vikernes is the author of several short works on his personal weltanschauung, namely Vargsmål (lit. 'the speech of Varg'), Irminsûl and Germansk Mytologi og Verdensanskuelse. Vikernes interprets the old Germanic lore in a fascistic way and belongs to the leading heads of modern esoteric fascism.
Anti-Christianity Vikernes has written lyrics for several songs by the band Darkthrone (Quintessence, As Flittermice as Satans Spys, 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 Judeo-Christianity. This has been taken as proof that Vikernes was at one time a Satanist, but Vikernes has stated many times that he is opposed to Satanism as he considers it to be a reactionary form of Christianity.
Vikernes has been fascinated with the fictional realm of Mordor from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy from a very young age, claiming to have mastered the Black Speech from which he took the term Burzum. According to Vikernes, the Christianized perspective of Germanic-sourced myths used in the books to create the Black Speech inspired Tolkien to give the word burz the meaning of 'darkness', whereas the the old Germanic term bertz meant 'bright', 'light', or 'brilliant' in pre-Christian times.
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.
Publicity American journalist Michael Moynihan (behind the musical project Blood Axis) wrote a book surrounding the events of the early black metal scene in Norway entitled Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground with co-author Didrik Søderlind. Vikernes has spoken against this book, saying that it is full of misconceptions and false hype. Torstein Grude created a Norwegian documentary entitled Satan Rir Media (Satan Rides the Media), to which Vikernes has given a more positive review, though he still maintains that some elements of it are "downright wrong".
Recent Events In October 2003, Vikernes failed to return to his low-security prison in Tønsberg, Norway after having been granted a short leave. After hijacking a car, Varg was apprehended by the police. He was caught with an unloaded assault rifle, a handheld GPS system, military uniforms, and camouflage clothes. He received an additional sentence of 13 months for the incident, and has been moved to a maximum-security prison in Trondheim. Varg stated in a recent interview that he tentatively expects to be released in mid-2006.
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