Interview with Varg Vikernes
"Heresy" Magazine (#3, 1998), by Jason M. Healey

Heresy Magazine #3, 1998Burzum is undoubtedly, one of the finest creations ever to emerge in the extreme metal scene, and now the man behind this notorious endeavour, Varg Vikernes brings forth "Dauði Baldrs", a complete Pagan oriented experience. Radically different to all Varg's previous compositions, "Dauði Baldrs" is a unique creation from a unique and outspoken man. The Jailhouse Rock album? Read on and discover...


When "Filosofem" was released, there was a great deal of hype, claiming this was the album recorded in the Bergen prison. However, it was "Balder's Død" that was recorded is that correct?

"Filosofem" was recorded in March 1993, as stated on the back of the cover. Since I was imprisoned because of a killing that took place in August the same year, it is pretty obvious that "Filosefem" was not recorded in prison. Yes, you are right, it was "Dauði Baldrs" (Balder's Death) that was recorded in Bergen prison. (Note: The interviewer is not of the belief that "Filosofem" was recorded in prison, that is obvious even to he. The question implies that "Filosofem" was "hyped" as being so, despite all obvious evidence otherwise. The question was intended to clear all "rumours" of this nature -ED)

Had Euronymous never been murdered, and you never incarnated, what would "Balder's Død" have been? Would "Balder's Død" in fact never ever been conceivable had these events never occurred?

Euronymous was never murdered, he was killed as a result of his failed attack on me. Anyway, it is impossible to know what would have happened if something that happened, had not happened after all. However, Burzum has nothing to do with what has happened to me in the last four years, so "Dauði Baldrs" would have been conceivable anyway. I believe in destiny - there has never been any alternative to what has happened - so I think the thought play is rather meaningless. Too many if's.

I recall that this particular album was to be released, not as Burzum but under another moniker ("Lidskjawl" or "Hliðskjálf"). Why did you choose to issue "Balder's Død" as Burzum, and although most of Burzum's audience would be familiar with the ambient/synth side that has always belonged to Burzum, I can't help but wonder if it will alienate the people?

"Hliðskjálf" is the name of the second Burzum album in the trilogy about the Æsir. I saw no point in adding another band name, or project name, to the mile long list of bands already out there. If the album alienates the dreamers, we should all be happy.

"Hliðskjálf", as I understand it, is the throne of Odin. These orchestrations of Varg Vikernes have also described as Norse Germanic pagan music. Considering that were always ready to point out that Burzum had no influence from rock'n'roll, how is this description any different from the earlier Burzum orchestrations... Better phrased, can somebody obtain any insight into the music of Burzum simple through verbal descriptions?

Perhaps, I do not know. What do you think? (I think that is I who are asking the questions. For me to have conceived this concept, I would most likely have read Varg's thoughts on this subject, and wanted to probe it further. -ED)

I can't imagine that Varg would ever been concerned with the degrees of "pleasure" that an individual could extract from the Burzum orchestrations, but assuming that you were, how has prison life changed this view?

Nothing changes nothing.

In the past, you have described Burzum as "A dream without holds in reality, it is to stimulate the fantasy of mortals, to make them dream". Would you say that this was still the case, and what elements of "Balder's Død" apply to this statement?

"Balder's Death" is meant to stimulate mortal's ability to think beyond the normally accepted "truths", to make them think for themselves. Dreams change nothing. Thoughts change nothing either, but perhaps the next album will stimulate mortal's will to act? We need no more dreams. We need no more dreamers. We need people who think, act, and people who know what they are doing. Nothing changes nothing right? The will to act changes everything!

That it was mistletoe that killed Balder, is this to say that the seemingly innocent, as described by Balder's mother Frigg, can actually be the most destructive?

The seemingly innocent is the most destructive! However, to the people who think this seemingly innocent mistletoe manifests itself as what it really is. To the fools, this parasite on the tree of life is ignored. "Poor" mistletoe. "Poor" You-know-who...

With whom do you identify most with in this event? With Loki, the villain, with Odin, with Balder's brother Hod? And Why?

The myth about Balder's Death is a metaphor, where the Æsir are used as pictures for different sides of the human psyche. In this myth, the meaning of life (Balder) is killed. Logic (Loki) finds a problem, and wishes to solve it with no consideration of the consequences this will lead to. Loki asks our pure of heart (Frigg) if there is anything that can hurt Balder. She reveals that the seemingly innocent mistletoe - a parasite on Yggdrasil (the tree of life/humankind) - is able to hurt Balder. Then Loki uses the blind in us (Hodr) to fire a shoot at Balder, with the mistletoe. It kills him instantly. When Balder is buried, his wife, Nanna (nearness) dies from grief, and in anger Thorr kicks a dwarf onto the fire, killing it. The dwarf is called Lit (trust). i.e. The Nearness between us and trust dies when the meaning of life dies.

Further on the Æsir sends Heremod (The Mercurian force in us. i.e. The mysterious occult forces within us) to Hel's home (The subconscious). He finds Balder, sitting on the throne besides Hel (our self-censorship). However, for Balder to be able to return to Asgard (the conscious), Hel demands that everybody, and everything cries for him - to prove that he is loved above everything else. Heremod brings this news back to the Æsir, and they get everything to cry, except one old woman, who really is Loki in disguise. As you know, logic has no feelings. A computer can't cry, so Loki prevents humankind from getting back the meaning of life. In other words, modern science prevents us from getting back to the meaning of life.

We know why we live, we know the truth, but this truth is not accepted as it cannot be proven scientifically. Thus, the only solution is Ragnarok! Ragnarok is the twilight of the Gods, but also a New Beginning! After the battle, Balder and the God's sons and daughters, will come back and find the playing pieces (the ideology and view of life) of the old Gods. This will be the new Golden Age! If you wonder who plays the part of the mistletoe, just have a look at history, and ask yourself this question. What people are the parasites on humankind? What religion has killed our Pagan meaning of life? A lot of Europeans have disclosed them up through the ages, and prosecuted them as best they could, but always there were some fools who cried "poo" you-know-who! And the scum were saved! Stupidity won over and over again.

Let us close the circle, and finish the job! Or else we will never get our lives back! Think about it!

I heard that there is a Burzum tribute album being compiled. I think it would be foolish to think that you did not find this concept acceptable, but what I am wondering, is what is the intention behind it? Will select bands be covering Burzum pieces, or will it be a collective of bands releasing their own material in a bid to aid your financially, (with further court proceedings for example?)

I do not know. I have nothing to do with it.

What is your present status of your prison sentence? How long before you are eligible to apply for parole?

I will be released on probation in about eight years time, if we are to trust the system. I can apply to the King for "mercy" and be released in six and a half years instead, but of course I won't. Applying for "mercy" is ridiculous in the first place, doing it when You are convicted for something you have not done is utterly ridiculous. I will try to get the case tried again, as I did not murder him like the court meant. (I Killed him - big difference). But, the system is crap, so I don't have any hopes. Hey, if it wasn't all crap I wouldn't end up fighting it in the first place, right? (Right! -ED)

The cover art for "Balder's Død" is a slight departure from the previous albums. What exactly is this depicting? From the version of the "Death Of Balder" story that I read, I cannot quite find the correlation between the story, and the artwork. Can you enlighten those of us interested?

The first painting shows a Teutonic Chieftain being forced to accept Judeo-Christianity. To make him the Judeo-Christians hold a knife to the throat of his child. This was a common practice when Northern Europe was Christianized, so it should not be too hard to understand. Next painting shows thirteen Teutonic Women, traveling into the subconscious through a Pagan ritual on a search for the meaning of life. The third painting shows the burial of the meaning of life, when brother torture brothers to make them accept the new foul "faith". Lower once cannot sink, so this is the point when nearness between brothers, when trust between brothers are burned with Balder! Fourth painting shows the maning of life, it shows what Heremod sees, but is unable to bring back to the conscious world, when he visits the subconscious world. The fifth painting shows what happened to the women who searched for the truth. They are burned at the stage - another historical fact. The sixth and last painting shows what lies ahead: a twilight... or a sunset? If you take a short look at the answer to your eighth question, you will find the correlation between the story and the artwork. Right?

Considering that all cultures have some sort of creation myth, what makes that of the Norse creation so valid to you? I mean Christians believe theirs is the true path and so forth. Would this be better understood by us first understanding exactly what Odin is to you... a God, or symbolic figure, a personification?

To answer the last part of your question first, I will quote Dr. Carl Gustav Jung: "Wotan (Odin) is the Teutonic datum of first importance, the truest expression and unsurpassed personification of a fundamental quality that is particularly characteristic of the Aryans". The Norse, or better, the Teutonic myths are valid to me simply because I am Teutonic! Why should I find other people's and race's valid? They have nothing to do with me! In order to be in harmony with myself, I have to be in harmony with my nature. Wotan is valid to me. Nothing else. There is no point in believing in Your neighbour, you have to believe in Yourself, if You don't, your beliefs will be useless. Considering this, and the fact that Christianity is consistently alien to our Pagan nature, there is no wonder why our white world collapse in spiritual confuse.

Is there a desire to do more Burzum, guitar oriented music? I was reading a press release that gave the impression that you were not "allowed" to have instruments and so forth, in your particular case/prison. Is this so?

Yes, I have no instruments. No cassette players or the like either for that sake. No, I have no desire to do any more "guitar oriented music".

I suppose that you are hardly surprised by the amount of controversy that surrounds you in the "music media". Do you view this a negative or positive? From a positive respect, it is all free publicity, and with it, comes sympathy. Do you see it all from this perspective? Are you at all concerned with your "musical career"? It is quite obviously a part of you, and something you are gifted with... (The term sympathy here applies, not to pity, but to more and more ears and hearts willing to listen to your words, and views)

No, I am not at all concerned with my "musical career". I have bigger concerns and passions. Sure, free publicity for Wotanic ideas is always a positive thing. Show Wotan to the people, and Wotan will be lit in their souls.

I think that some good examples of this are the alleged banning of the "Einsatz Kommando" shirts from the Norwegian prisons, or the piece in "Terrorizer" magazine about your mother allegedly paying an extremist group to break you out of prison. Do you care to comment on the alleged events?

The Einsatz shirts were banned by distributors in England. Why? Well in "our" degenerate, sick, Judeo-Christian, Capitalist, anti-culture, distributors stand in line to distribute shirts that advocate Satanism, Hell and Damnation, Torture and Torment, Massmurder and the like, but when somebody wants to sell a shirt advocating Love for one's Race, then they refuse to distribute it. But what else can we expect? "When "anti-nature" writings are called sacred scriptures. Propaganda is called history. Evil is called good. Voting is fraud controlled by media propaganda, and computer programmers. Injustice is called law. Genocide is canonized, and resistance to the murder of the Aryan race is called "hate". (The worlds of Davis Dane).

My mother gave some money to a good friend of mine because he was on the run from the Police after running away from jail. He was broke, and needed money - that was it. There was a lot of crap in the media about it though, and the Norwegian Secret Service arrested both my Mother and my friend, charging them both - together with some other guys for planning a coup d'etat. The media went berserk, and they presented a lot of ridiculous theories. One of them was about my mother supposing giving some money to my friend so that we should not need to commit any crimes to stay alive after he had broken me out of prison. This is just speculation however, and there is no proof to support a theory like this.

Do you believe it wrong of the Norwegian people to reject the "Death's Head" logo on the Burzum shirts in light of Norway's occupation by Germany during the Second World War?

Nobody in Norway has rejected anything we have released. It was some Englishmen who did...

Sure "occupation". That is what the traitor government says today, just because they ran like chickens when the Germans came. They ran like chickens, leaving Norway, with absolutely no authorities, and when Vidkun Quisling tried to bring order back, he was thanked with a bullet in his heart after the war.

In Trondheim, the town I am in now, not one single shot was fired at the Germans, and the Mayor of the town gave the German Commander a tour of the town in his own convertible. In my hometown Bergen, they capitulated after a very symbolic resistance, and arranged a football match between the troops. At the town hall, the Germans stood guard side by side with Norwegian troops. In Oslo the Germans came marching in on line, singing, and the Norwegians threw flowers at them (!). Then the government, at this point, hiding in some village in the mountains, signed the papers of surrender. Then they fled to England, and in spite of signing a treaty of surrender, they continued to, or better, started to, rage war on Germany with all available resources. If that isn't a violation of all rules of was, I don't know what it is.

Back in Norway, everything was fine, 30.000 Norwegians volunteered to the Waffen SS (however, only 15.000 of these were qualified), the National Socialist party NS got more numbers than any party had ever had, before and after the war. This was led by the infamous Vidkun Quisling by the way. 30.000 might seem little, but considering the fact that Norway's population at the time was 3 million (4.5 million today by the way) it was quite alot. One whole percent actually. Then war started for real in Norway, when the "allies" started to bomb our towns. In my hometown Bergen, they bombed a school full of Norwegian children for example. They send saboteurs and blew up a German ammunition-ship so that half of Bergen burned down, killing hundreds of Norwegians, and destroying our still standing buildings from the middle ages (so much for culture).

Of all the casualties Norway had during the second world war, the Germans stood for only 15%. The rest were casualties inflicted on us by the "allies". The 15% the Germans killed, were mainly criminals, and Jews, besides a few soldiers. The "allies" however killed children, and civilians, sailors, and fishermen who tried to get food as they had always been doing the last ten thousand years. So I will ask you, what occupation? And I will refer to David Lane's words again "Propaganda is called history". Do not believe in these foul lies! They executed Quisling, and made his name synonymous with "traitor", and they were the real traitors. The last thing Quisling said before he was shot was, "History will judge me!"

No lies last forever! The history will be re-written! Have no doubts! I am in family with Vidkun Quisling, and I will make sure that I can use my family name in the future, and my children can use my family name in the future, with my pride, and without being associated with treason. Hail Vidkun Quisling! The Hour of Revenge draws closer!

There was a book I believe you were writing called "Vargsmål". Was this ever released, and will it be issued in a English version?

It is out in Norwegian, and it will be translated into both English and German, Danish and Swedish, and perhaps other languages as well.

What will "Vargsmål" contain? Is it simply to tell the true events of that particular part of your life, or do you plan to offer some extended insight into your belief system? What is your opinion on people from the "Metal Scene" writing books?

"Vargsmål" (The speech of Varg) is my defense speech, it contains alot of other things as well, such as mythology, ideology and philosophy, and of course history! My opinion on people from the Metal Scene writing books? Well I haven't thought about it, but since you ask, what is the difference between a writer who listens to Metal music, and others?

During the course of many interviews I have read over the years, many interviewers chose to ask you why you wrote lyrics in Norwegian. I mean is it simply a case where it is more practical? I understand that English offers more describing words, and therefore it could be deemed as inviting, but as Norwegian is your first language, is it not therefore the most likely choice for expressing your innermost?

I am Norwegian, so it is natural for me to write texts in Norwegian. Besides my English vocabulary is not all that good, as with my understanding of grammar.

Thankyou for the interview. Is there anything you care to say in closing?

Thank you for the interview. Support your local Einsatz Kommando! Heil Wotan!

Author: Jason. M. Healey (© 1998 "Heresy" Magazine Australia)

Heresy Magazine #3, 1998

Heresy Magazine #3, 1998

Heresy Magazine #3, 1998

Heresy Magazine #3, 1998
