The Unspoken Problem in Norse Media

This is going to be a short and sweet kind of post, because there's really no wiggle room or grey area. This is just something that needs to happen, especially when engaging in the folklore, mythology, and time periods that I write within.

There's a problem within Norse media, whether that be books, scholarship, TV, movies, or more. White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis are pretty entrenched in Norse and Scandinavian content.

Not only is their platform and ideology stupid, harmful, and hateful - but they're often fundamentally wrong about Norse mythology and history. It's often made into some ridiculous caricature of what it is and isn't (or was and wasn't, as it were). To no one's surprise, they're misusing a whole period of history and mythology/folklore to their own ignorant, hateful cause.

That's not to say the Norse or Vikings weren't awful at many points in time, but the historical world was also awful to lots of people (in-group and out-group alike) at pretty much all points in time. But for these people to take an entire chapter of history and mythology unto themselves and their own personal, hateful problems is something else.

I am writing about a period of time that had a lot going on. The Norse made huge technological advancements in seafaring that led to the "Golden Age of the Vikings," which were then followed by political upheaval for hundreds of years in their own lands and terror for most of the rest of Europe. The books will follow some of this, but I will do my best not to glamorize it. The main characters are children that are growing up in a culture with no view of the outside world, and at the beginning of this time of change throughout Europe.

Long story short, my books aren't here for NeoNazis, white supremacists, or anyone else hoping to weaponize Norse history, vikings, or Norse mythology for their own stupid, hateful angle. I don't want you here, your money, or your interest.

~ Madeline