Editing Vigrid (Norway)

{{Short description|Far-right Norwegian racial paganism group}}
{{For|the battlefield of Ragnarök|Vígríðr}}
{{Infobox organization
| image               = Vigrid Logo.jpg
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| motto               = 
| predecessor         = 
| successor           = 
| formation           = 1998
| extinction          = 
| type                = [[Neopagan]], [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]]
| status              = 
| purpose             = 
| headquarters        = 
| coords              = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} -->
| language            = 
| leader_title        = 
| leader_name         = [[Tore Tvedt|Tore W. Tvedt]]
| leader_title2       = 
| leader_name2        = 
| leader_name3        = 
| leader_title3       = 
| leader_title4       = 
| leader_name4        = 
| key_people          = 
| main_organ          = 
| parent_organization = 
| affiliations        = 
| budget              = 
| remarks             = 
| name                = Vigrid
| bgcolor             = 
| fgcolor             = 
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| size                = 
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| malt                = 
| mcaption            = 
| map2                = 
| abbreviation        = 
| location            = Norway
| region_served       = 
| membership          = 
| general             = 
| num_staff           = 
| num_volunteers      = 
| website             = {{URL|https://vigrid.net/}}
| former name         = 
}}
'''Vigrid''' is a [[Norway|Norwegian]] neopagan sect founded by [[Tore Tvedt|Tore W. Tvedt]] in 1998 that combines [[racial theories]] with [[Norse mythology]].<ref name="redox">{{cite news|url=https://redox.dk/baggrund/organisationer/norge/vigrid/|title=Vigrid|work=Redox|language=da}}</ref><ref name="snl">{{cite web|url=https://snl.no/Vigrid_-_norsk_politisk_organisasjon|title=Vigrid (norsk politisk organisasjon)|work=Store norske leksikon|date=29 August 2022|language=no}}</ref> The group is widely regarded as [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]],<ref name="nettavisen">{{Cite news |author= Lecomte, Bjørn |title= 18-åring kjemper for Vigrid |trans-title=18-year-old fighting for Vigrid |url= http://www.nettavisen.no/innenriks/ioslo/article2514388.ece |work=Nettavisen |language= no |date= 23 January 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090203113230/http://nettavisen.no/innenriks/ioslo/article2514388.ece |archive-date= 3 February 2009 |url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tv2.no/nyheter/innenriks/pst-det-nynazistiske-miljoet-er-knust/12534175/|title=PST: – Det nynazistiske miljøet er knust|work=TV 2|date=29 November 2009|language=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ta.no/nyheter/article677458.ece|title=Tenåringer i nynazistisk dåp|work=Telemarksavisa|date=26 May 2003|language=no}}</ref> and is considered to have an "extremely racist and violent ideology" by the [[Norwegian Police Security Service]] (PST).<ref name="ekstremt">{{Cite news |title= - Ekstremt rasistisk og voldelig |trans-title= Extremely racist and violent |url= http://www.op.no/nyheter/article1863188.ece |newspaper= Østlandets Blad |language= no |date= 10 December 2005 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071010103605/http://www.op.no/nyheter/article1863188.ece |archive-date= 10 October 2007 |url-status= live |access-date= 26 January 2009 |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="dagsavi">{{cite news|url=https://www.dagsavisen.no/fremtiden/nyheter/2016/02/19/provosert-over-e-post-fra-vigrid/|title=Provosert over e-post fra Vigrid|work=Dagsavisen|date=19 February 2016|language=no}}</ref> The group is known for their ceremonies and rituals including "baptisms".<ref name="aftenposten05">{{cite news|url=https://www.aftenposten.no/oslo/i/WRKmK/her-doeper-vigrid-oslo-ungdommer|title=Her "døper" Vigrid Oslo-ungdommer|work=Aftenposten|date=25 February 2005|language=no}}</ref><ref name="vg2810">{{Cite news|title=Over 100 Vigrid-seremonier hittil i år|url=https://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/i/OnnkxV/over-100-vigrid-seremonier-hittil-i-aar|date=28 October 2003|work=VG|language=no}}</ref> In 2009, the group registered as a political party and ran for the [[2009 Norwegian parliamentary election|parliamentary election]] in one county, receiving 179 votes (0.007% of the votes cast). The group was disbanded from 2009 to 2013, but has since resumed activities in a limited form,<ref name="dagsavi"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://folkogforsvar.no/leksikon/vigrid/ |work=folkogforsvar.no|title=Vigrid|language=no}}</ref> and "now orients its online operations towards an [[alt-right]] audience".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Igo7EAAAQBAJ&dq=vigrid+tore+tvedt&pg=PA75|page=75|title=Politics and Medievalism (studies)|last=Fugelso|first=Karl|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|year=2020|isbn=9781843845560}}</ref>

==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>

==2009 parliamentary election==
On 18 December 2008, Vigrid delivered the required list of 500 signatures to the county of [[Buskerud]] to be able to participate in the parliamentary election (in Buskerud only) on 14 September 2009.<ref name="nrk.no - Vigrid vil på tinget">{{cite news|url=http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/ostafjells/buskerud/1.6445855|title=Vigrid vil på tinget|work=NRK|date=23 January 2009|language=no}}</ref> The list was approved by the electoral committee on 27 May 2009, after it had verified that the 500 signatures were willingly given by Norwegian citizens with the right to vote in the  parliamentary election in Buskerud. The first candidate was Thorgrim O. Bredesen.<ref name="nettavisen"/> It was later claimed that several of those who had signed its list had not known that they had signed for Vigrid.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dt.no/nyheter/angrer-pa-underskrifter/s/2-2.1748-1.3052826|title=Angrer på underskrifter|date=26 January 2009|work=Drammens Tidende|language=no}}</ref> The list received 179 votes in Buskerud (0.007% of the total vote). In the informal high school elections it received 0.2% of the nationwide vote, while in one school where the party had participated in a school debate it received 10% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/i/v00Qp/vigrid-fikk-10-prosent-av-stemmene-paa-skole-i-aal|title=Vigrid fikk 10 prosent av stemmene på skole i Ål|work=Verdens Gang|date=9 September 2009|language=no}}</ref>

==Conflict over use of heritage site==
A 7 August 2012 article in the local newspaper ''[[Gjengangeren]]'', where Tore Tvedt described how Vigrid uses the heritage site [[Borre mound cemetery]] in [[Vestfold]] for their initiation ceremonies,<ref name="gjeng"/> caused an uproar among local politicians, including the mayor of [[Horten]]. The municipal presidency unanimously decided to issue a declaration condemning Vigrid's use of the site. Vigrid is accused of abusing the park and the document demands that the organization ceases to use the area. The politicians argue that "Vigrid's racial theories and political profile are completely at variance with the heritage values we believe the park to represent." The declaration also promised that the presidency will coordinate measures between the proprietor and the administration of the area as well as other public authorities to prevent future political misuse. Labour Party politician [[Nils Henning Hontvedt]], who initiated the declaration, told ''Gjengangeren'' in a 21 August article titled "Declaring war on Vigrid" that were it not for the [[2011 Norway attacks|events of 22 July 2011]] they would possibly have let the matter slide. Hontvedt also conceded that [[freedom of expression]] considerations and the absence of clear legislation may make it difficult to prevent Vigrid from using the park in the future.<ref>{{Cite news |author= Larsen, Guri |title= Erklærer krig mot Vigrid |trans-title= Declaring war on Vigrid |url= http://www.gjengangeren.no/nyheter/erklerer-krig-mot-vigrid-1.7498914 |newspaper= Gjengangeren |location= Horten, [[Norway]] |language= no |date= 21 August 2012 |access-date= 27 August 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120824025200/http://www.gjengangeren.no/nyheter/erklerer-krig-mot-vigrid-1.7498914 |archive-date= 24 August 2012 |url-status= live |df= dmy-all }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Neopaganism in Scandinavia]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.vigridtvedt.net www.vigridtvedt.net] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127020431/http://www.vigridtvedt.net/ |date=2020-01-27 }}
* https://web.archive.org/web/20160604192531/https://vigrid.win/

{{Norwegian political parties}}
{{Neo-Nazism}}

[[Category:1998 establishments in Norway]]
[[Category:2008 establishments in Norway]]
[[Category:2009 disestablishments in Norway]]
[[Category:Alt-right organizations]]
[[Category:Apocalyptic groups]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Norway]]
[[Category:Far-right modern pagan organizations]]
[[Category:Far-right political parties in Norway]]
[[Category:Germanic neopagan organisations]]
[[Category:Holocaust denial in Norway]]
[[Category:Modern pagan organisations based in Norway]]
[[Category:Modern pagan organizations established in 1998]]
[[Category:Modern pagan political parties]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazi organizations]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazism in Norway]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 2009]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 2008]]
[[Category:Racism in Norway]]