Brute Norse Podcast

Brute Norse goes to the movies in this spoiler saturated interlude to the series on Valhalla. What are the gods, and how do they see us? With its unsettling depiction of a simulated reality, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 sci-fi masterpiece «World on a Wire» (Welt am Draht) is an oft cited example of a film way ahead of its time. In this episode, we’re going to turn that claim upside down and let...

In the midst of the crumbling and plague ridden Yankee Empire, Eirik plots to evacuate New Jorvik and relive the Migration Era by conquering the Mosel. But if he dies trying, where will he go? What is Valhalla anyway, and what do we know about Norse mythology's most iconic afterlife location? In this episode we brave Odin's storm, and wade through tides of iron to attend the raven's feast. All to...

Myth speaks of an exclusive community of dead warriors, whose sacrifices in service for their divine monarch granted them access to live in a grand hall, where they would be served and entertained by young maidens, and continue their fight on a cosmic scale from the spectral realm in perpetuity. In this episode we explore the development, consequences, and controversies of the idea and location of...

In this slightly festive Yuletide episode, Eirik retells some of his favorite miracles associated with Iceland's first (and only) Christian holy man: The frail, picky eating, voluntary celibate, 12th century bishop Þorlákr Þórhallsson. Patron saint of Iceland - and autism! Thorlak was a renowned sage who hardly ever touched a drink unless it was alcoholic. He channeled his divine superpowers to he...

In this episode Eirik recounts his Japonic yuletide odyssey of 2018. He takes a comparative, Scandifuturist look at the prehistory of Japan through the Jōmon, Yayoi, and Kofun periods. It's the story of how hunter-gatherer master potters met their demise at the hands of militant, kami-fearing, rice-farming, mound building, Iron Age settlers from the Asian mainland. Strolling backwards with a voyeu...

Aksel returns to the podcast for banter-filled spitballing on ancient Scandinavia and new old news from European prehistory. Whatever happened to that frickin’ viking ship (?) from episode 14, and what's up with these Viking Era mortuary houses? Some of the subjects tackled: - The Crossroads exhibit at the Art & History Museum, Brussels. - Migration period identity. - Aksel's time travel hitlist....

What drives you? In this episode, Eirik sits down for a talk with Kevin from Leornende Eald Englisc, who makes educational youtube videos on Old English informed by his particular spiritual convictions. We talk about linguistics, the problem with translations, old Germanic languages, cosmic law, accepting the passage of history, devotinal service, and the importance of good intent and deeds. May w...

The natural sciences talk avidly about the geosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, and so on. Less so about the noösphere. The noösphere is the sphere of mind. A term that allows us to conceive of consciousness and information exchange, not just as abstract philosophical notions, but as a massively tangible cosmic force with a concrete, observable influence on the physical world. In this episode Eirik r...

In this episode Eirik takes an eldritch look at Norwegian identity, from the mythology and dreams of Iron Age expansionists to the national mythology of state bureaucracy. He attempts to negotiate between the representation, artifice and organism of Norwegianness itself, drawing on Thure Erik Lund's oddball idea of the "True" versus "Norwegian" Norwegians and Nick Land's concept of hyperstition, r...

The saga continues with an exploration of the vocabulary, material culture, and social status of beer in Iron Age and Medieval Scandinavia. We look at different terms for beer in the Old Norse language and discern their differences, from Old Norse ǫl, mungát, and bjórr to modern ale and beer, with an intimate look at the "Nordic grog" of Scandinavian prehistory, before we venture up to the many fe...

Join Eirik for an invigorating dip into the crooked creek that is the history of beer and brewing in Iron Age and Medieval Scandinavia, with some serious side-eye to the later Nordic farmhouse brewing tradition. In this episode we will cover what exactly beer is, and what separates the global industrial brewery from its historical household counterpart. Cheers! Support Brute Norse: www.patreon.com...

Join Eirik for a counter-cultural walk on the wild side as he looks at some of his favorite pieces of bogus and fringe literature on the subject of pre-Christian Scandinavia, from Kjell Aartun's runic sex cults to the seedy, folk-etymological mysteries of the so-called Bock Saga, before finally landing on the forgotten, acid drenched sci-fi works of Norway's favorite outlaw, the infamous Black Met...

In this episode Eirik shares what the holidays mean to him as a homesick barbarian/contrarian, and covers some of the many yuletide horrors past folks had to put up with. And concerning the paganism of Christmas: Norse religious festivals were determined according to a lunisolar calendar, so when exactly did the vikings celebrate jól, what exactly is its relationship to the winter solstice, and wh...

In this episode, Eirik and Aksel catch up after several months of disconnect and get up to speed with some of their favorite archaeological news of 2018. They speculate on the contents of prehistoric alcoholic beverages, muse on recent incidents on North Sentinel Island, analyze Danish gang wars in light of warlike honor-shame societies and Norse sexual defamation, look at the so-called Staffordsh...

Vineyards and wheat fields forever! In this episode Eirik takes a long, hard look at the belief in supernatural isles in Northern Europe. Our fantastic odyssey begins with the Norse discovery of America and its peculiar ties to scholarly hearsay in the Middle Ages, before we go on to address the rampant abundance of vanishing isles along the Scandinavian coast. Other more or less tackled subjects...

In the conclusion to our wetland venture, Aksel and Eirik take an up close and personal look at some of our favorite bog bodies. We go knee deep Roman and Migration Era weapon sacrifices, and dive into bog butter, bog milk, and bog cheese, exploring the wonders of ancient refrigeration and self-tanning (turning your face into shoe-leather).

Eirik and Aksel begin their journey into the bogs of Northern Europe. They look at water symbolism in Norse mythology and burial rites, the emergence of water depositions in the Mesolithic though the Bronze Age, and mentally prepare for the gim reality of Iron Age human sacrifice.

In this episode we are joined by Wulfheodenas founding member, archaeologist/cage fighter Dieter Huggins. Beyond him spouting wisdom from his life on the forefront of living history, here are some of the things you'll find in this veritable smörgåsbord of an interview: - The current state of Dark Age living history. - Funerary pageantry among early Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons. - The regulation...

In the final segment of the Chronologies of Ancient Scandinavia, Eirik and Aksel tackle the slippery slope of commodification of viking heritage, its uses and abuses. Can our admiration for our thieving, hyperviolent ancestors be morally justified? Let's find out!

In this part, Aksel and Eirik get into the actual timeline of Scandinavian prehistory with an emphasis on the Bronze and Iron Ages, including the Viking Age. We talk about the materiality of these periods, the language, and regional variation, before we segway drunkenly into our own snobbery.

Aksel joins the podcast once again to help unravel the dense issue of Scandinavian chronology. We start off softly with a primer on the origin and development of the ages themselves, from the Greek concept of the Golden Age, to the timeline of modern archaeology, before we get into how the Norsemen developed their own system of ages based on surprisingly scientific criteria.

The giants called: They want their primeval chaos back! This episode features a cosmic horror reimagining of the Norse myth of creation, adapted from my essay "The Trollish Theory of Art: a scandifuturist art creation myth", published in the recent darkness-edition of Scandinavian Kunstforum. Afterwards, I give a quick overview of Norse poetic morbidity, and pitch a few thoughts on how a philosoph...

In this surprise Halloween special, we take a look at the strange and trippy story of the Oseberg ship, and of how a Brooklyn clairvoyant may have caused the discovery of the world's most extravagant Viking Age burial.

In this episode, archaeologist Aksel Klausen takes us deeper into the dark woods of Germania Libera. We take a look at Germanic, Hunnic, and Roman identity, and see how some kingdoms looked to the Romans - or the gods - to legitimize their power. On the way, we also find the time to consider Germanic animal ornament as an expression of surrealist art, and runes and writing in a non-written, storyt...

Prehistorian Aksel Klausen joins the Brute Norse Podcast to swill wine and chat about ring symbolism, weapon sacrifice, kingship, and the emergence of the ancient Germanic warrior elites. This is the first part of a two-part interview.