Editing Vigrid (Norway) (section)

==Ideology and activities==
Vigrid was originally inspired by [[William Luther Pierce]] and the [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.aftenbladet.no/lokalt/i/z8vGK/norsk-avdeling-av-ekstrem-amerikansk-organisasjon|title=Norsk avdeling av ekstrem amerikansk organisasjon|date=6 March 2000|work=Stavanger Aftenblad|language=no}}</ref><ref name="vg200401"/> after founder Tore Tvedt lived for some years in the United States in the 1990s where he regularly met with Pierce,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sos-rasisme.no/Sentralt/view/3925-2.html|title=Er Vigrid en del av det amerikanske National Alliance?|work=SOS Rasisme|language=no}}</ref> Tvedt in 1994 having come to believe that he himself had been chosen as a [[prophet]] of the Norse god [[Odin]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nrk.no/ytring/vigrids-siste-vers-1.11343746|title=Vigrids siste vers|work=NRK|date=7 November 2013|language=no}}</ref> Tvedt has also been seen to have been influenced by the [[Wotansvolk]] group of [[David Lane (white supremacist)|David Lane]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/lz449/Vigrid-vil-stille-liste-til-valget|title=Vigrid vil stille liste til valget|work=Aftenposten|date=24 October 2008|language=no}}</ref>

Vigrid states that it wants to save the divine [[Aryan race]] from [[White genocide conspiracy theory|white genocide]], and that this is part of what is described as the battle of [[Ragnarök]] in Norse mythology.<ref name="arisk"/> They therefore want to destroy what they claim to be the current "[[Jew]] and [[Jötunn]]"-controlled system,<ref name="arisk">{{cite news|url=https://www.dagsavisen.no/rogalandsavis/nyheter/stavanger/2000/12/28/vil-redde-den-ariske-rase/|title=Vil redde den ariske rase|work=Dagsavisen|date=28 December 2000|language=no}}</ref> while worshipping the gods [[Odin]], [[Thor]] and [[Freyja]].<ref name="gjeng">{{cite news|url=https://www.gjengangeren.no/nyheter/nyheter/vigrid-bruker-borrehaugene/s/2-2.426-1.7475087|title=Vigrid bruker Borrehaugene|work=Gjengangeren|date=7 August 2012|language=no}}</ref> The ''[[Poetic Edda|Elder Edda]]'' serves as their holy text;<ref name="snl"/> Pierce's ''[[The Turner Diaries]]'' is also frequently invoked.<ref name="vg200401">{{cite news|url=https://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/i/yvvWkx/idol-for-norske-nynazister|title=Idol for norske nynazister|date=20 April 2001|work=Verdens Gang|language=no}}</ref> The group [[Holocaust denial|denies the Holocaust]] which it denotes as "HoloCa$h", and consider [[Adolf Hitler]] as Europe's "savior".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EvcWDAAAQBAJ&dq=vigrid+holoca%24h&pg=PA271|title=Encyclopedia of Nordic Crime Fiction: Works and Authors of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden Since 1967|page=291|last=Brunsdale|first=Mitzi M.|year=2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476622774}}</ref> The group also supports the legacy of [[Nasjonal Samling]] and [[Vidkun Quisling]].<ref name="gjeng"/>

In its ceremonies, the group performs "baptisms" (into ''skiri''), "confirmations"<ref name="snl"/> ("between fire and ice"),<ref name="aftenposten05"/> and initiates "priests" known as either ''volve'' (female) or ''gode'' (male).<ref name="gjeng"/> The group aims to be a decentralised network of local groups and individuals who function either openly or in secret, while educating natural leaders to be self-sufficient.<ref name="arisk"/> Most of those "baptised" are youth aged 15 to 25 years old, about equal between males and females.<ref name="aftenposten05"/> In 2012 Tvedt estimated that he had performed about 650 ceremonies for around 450 to 500 people.<ref name="gjeng"/> He however encourages followers to hide their connection to Vigrid, to avoid trouble with the police.<ref name="aftenposten05"/>

According to the police, several of Vigrid's members have been involved in aggravated assaults.<ref name="ekstremt"/> Tvedt has encouraged his followers including youth to carry weapons of self-defence against immigrant gangs and to conduct fight and shooting training in legal forms.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dt.no/nyheter/vigrid-leder-vil-bevapne-ungdom/s/2-2.1748-1.2918553 |title=Vigrid-leder vil bevæpne ungdom|date=16 January 2002|work=Drammens Tidende|language=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smp.no/nyheter/i/lz45vy/fakta-om-vigrid|title=Fakta om Vigrid|date=13 March 2008|work=Sunnmørsposten|language=no}}</ref> In 2000, two Vigrid-members stabbed two Africans in [[Stavanger]].<ref name="vg01">{{cite news|url=https://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/i/8ww2mw/nazi-ledere-siktet|title=Nazi-ledere siktet|date=26 March 2001|work=Verdens Gang|language=no}}</ref> One former Vigrid member who later became a member of [[SOS Rasisme]] claimed that weapons, drugs and alcohol are not uncommon in parties within the group, although the group's inner core are [[Teetotalism|teetotalers]],<ref>{{Cite news |author= Libråten, Tone; Neumann, Roger (photographer) |title= Vigrid-medlem ble antirasist: - Hold dere unna Vigrid |trans-title= Vigrid member became anti-racist: 'Stay away from Vigrid' |url= http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/artikkel.php?artid=119546 |newspaper= Verdens Gang |language= no |date= 14 June 2006 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090201063749/http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/artikkel.php?artid=119546 |archive-date= 1 February 2009 |url-status= live |access-date= 15 July 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> opposing drinking.<ref name="vg01"/> In 2004 several of the ten people who were arrested for a theft of 128 weapons from the [[Jørstadmoen]] military base were reported to be members of Vigrid.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nettavisen.no/artikkel/vapentyveriet-ukjent-for-vigrid/s/12-95-278888|title=Våpentyveriet ukjent for Vigrid|work=Nettavisen|date=15 September 2004|language=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nrk.no/innlandet/tiltalt-var-vigrid-medlem-1.41622 |title=Tiltalt var Vigrid-medlem|date=8 March 2005|work=NRK|language=no}}</ref> Tvedt was himself in 2002 prosecuted for possession of a sawed-off shotgun and for assaults against two police officers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.fvn.no/nyheter/lokalt/i/VeP6p/vil-ikke-ha-felles-rettssak-mot-vigrid-leder|title=Vil ikke ha felles rettssak mot Vigrid-leder|date=23 March 2002|work=Fædrelandsvennen|language=no}}</ref>

In 2003, PST said they feared Vigrid was developing in a violent direction, and after having performed over 100 "baptisms" within less than a year PST said they would launch a nationwide offensive against the organisation.<ref name="vg2810"/> After Vigrid had created a network of around 200 members, "one day in 2004, agents from all 26 field offices paid personal visits to each of Vigrid's members, many of whom were teenagers living with their parents. The investigators continued this tactic for several months, until about 60% of Vigrid quit the group voluntarily."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2085658,00.html|title=Norway Attacks: The Worrying Rise of the Lone-Wolf Terrorist|date=28 July 2011|magazine=Time}}</ref> PST's predecessor POT had also previously "warned" 60 members of the group after it conducted weapons training for its young members.<ref name="vg01"/> Tvedt has later claimed that he and anyone he had been in contact with were routinely persecuted by the police, and that it almost destroyed Vigrid in the mid-2000s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vg.no/spesial/2017/det-hvite-raseriet/page/tvedt|title=Det hvite raseriet: Kapittel 23: Mannen som falt|work=Verdens Gang|language=no}}</ref>