The Modern Viking Sacrifice: A Search for Meaning
In a quiet pine forest just outside Stockholm, a circle of modern-day heathens raised their mead-filled horns to the sky. ‘Hail Thor!’ echoed through the trees as a priestess led an autumn sacrifice to the Norse god of harvests and storms. This was no historical reenactment, but a genuine spiritual gathering for Swedes seeking connection in a chaotic age.
The scene was surprisingly mundane. The sacrificial offerings were not live animals, but a red, horseshoe-shaped sausage and hammer-shaped cookies from a plastic tub. The priestess offered handfuls of flaxseeds to toss upon the mossy stone altar, already overflowing with apples and bottles of homemade mead. A dozen people had gathered, each with their own petitions – some pleading for rain after summer drought, others seeking strength against unemployment or praying for a sick mother's recovery.
The Rise of Organized Norse Faith
Sweden's conversion to Christianity in the middle ages largely eradicated Viking-era paganism, but contemporary Swedes are determined to resurrect it. While still a fringe movement, organized Norse faith has gained significant traction. Two formally recognized groups – the Nordic Asa-Community (NAC) and Community of Forn Sed Sweden – estimate they have approximately 2,700 members combined, with another 16,000 followers on Facebook.
These communities offer naming ceremonies, weddings, funerals, and new holidays, providing reasons to gather in forests and fields. They maintain 20 sub-divisions across Sweden organizing local sacrifices, while their annual nationwide gatherings attract around 300 participants.
This summer marked a significant milestone: Sweden approved its first new pagan burial ground in almost a millennium. The site in Molkom will feature three grass mounds shaped like buried ships, located beside a Christian cemetery. Approximately 50 people have already requested burial there when it opens next year.
The heathen community has also raised 108,295 SEK (£8,740) to build a temple near Gamla Uppsala, once the centre of the Viking world. These developments demonstrate the community's serious commitment to establishing their rights as a minority faith.
Climate Anxiety and Identity in a Secular Nation
This pagan resurgence presents an unexpected development in Sweden, typically characterized as highly secular, ultra-modern, and tech-savvy. Historical precedent suggests it might signal an existential crisis, similar to the 19th-century Viking revival that followed Sweden's loss of Finland to Russia.
While some might assume connections to nationalism and anti-immigration sentiment, the reality appears more complex. Both major pagan groups strongly emphasize respect for the natural world, with Nordic animism – revering nature as sacred – emerging as significant theology. This ecological interpretation of Norse culture may represent a response to the escalating climate crisis, as forest fires, water shortages, and floods become increasingly noticeable even in northern Europe.
Restoring a half-extinct religion could offer a way to cope with climate anxiety and the fear that contemporary lifestyles may soon become history. The movement's growth mirrors trends in neighbouring countries: in Iceland, Norse paganism has become the second-most practised religion after Christianity, with 7,000 active members in a population of 387,000, while Denmark's pagan burial ground opened in 2009 has already laid 13 heathens to rest.
Though it's easy to dismiss modern Viking heathens as eccentric with their rune-inscribed arms and braided beards, their longing for permanence in an unstable world reflects broader cultural trends. From fashion revivals to traditional homesteading, contemporary culture is saturated with nostalgia. The pagans may appear more extreme, but their fundamental desire for stability amidst uncertainty resonates with many in today's rapidly changing world.
