Interview with Varg Vikernes 12th August 2004

PART I: PRISON

When You tried to escape from the prison in October 2003, there were quite a lot of publications in Norwegian newspapers about it. According to the statement of Your lawyer John Christian Elden in "Aftenposten" You "had no concrete plan except that You wanted to get away from Norway" and "wanted to go somewhere where You could live without being treated as a leper because of Your past. That is why You considered the French Foreign Legion". Though nobody has heard a word from You. So if possible can You tell people what was Your real motivation to escape the prison and what were You planning to do?

You should never trust anything reported by the media. Their first priority is to spread propaganda, their second priority is to make money. They never really care if they tell the truth or not. As for my real motivations we'll see about that later.

How do You feel now in prison? If possible describe Your ordinary day: what are You allowed to do and what not? Are You much threatened by the other prisoners and the wardens?

No, I am not threatened by anybody. The prison system in Norway is fairly civilized, by world standards, and so are the prisoners and the guards. I get along well with just about everybody.

Recently, I got to have a computer in my cell and will study computer programming the coming year. Apart from that not much is happening. In my block we sit 23 hours a day in a one-man cell and spend one hour in the yard. We have a TV in the cell and once a week we can go to the library. That's all there is to say really. If I want to do anything I have to do it on my own in my cell, or during the one hour we get each day in the yard. I take some push-ups, lift some bottles filled with water and things like that to stay in shape, and I run in the yard.

Question by Ann from France: Please tell something about Your family. How are Your wife and Your daughter doing? Are they keeping well? Do You often see them?

My father is an electronics engineer working as the security manager in a firm, my brother is a graduate civil engineer and is working in the administration of some security firm, my mother has some annoying complex education (so I don't bother listing it here) and she is working in a large oil company. My daughter is still in elementary school... I don't see my daughter very often (twice since 1993, to be exact), and in fact haven't seen anybody in my family since October last year, but that is due to "prison circumstances". After I was transferred to Trondheim prison, last month, I can take a visit every week actually. I have a good relationship to my family, although my daughter doesn't know me very well - obviously.

As for my "wife" I don't know what You are talking about. I have never been married to my daughter's mother not have I ever been married to anybody else. You could say I'm still waiting for that princess to come falling down from the sky and into my lap...

Question by Mark from Poland: What is Your great yearning while being in prison?

Nothing special. I am a rational human being and see no reason to yearn for things I cannot have. I adapt to the situation, and that's it really.

When do You exactly get out of the prison?

My best guess is August 2006, but I don't know for sure. They change the laws and rules all the time so nobody really knows.

PART II: MUSIC

A lot of people asked me to forward the following question to You: Why You terminated Burzum and is there any hope for its resurrection in the future?

There are many reasons for that. First of all I was very tired of listening to silly rumours about Burzum and figured the best way to shut people up was to tell people Burzum had ceased to exist and wait for everybody to forget about it. Secondly it was very difficult to continue when I was in prison. Sure, I was able to make two electronic albums, but I didn't think it was worth the trouble, so to speak. Any inspiration I had left was pretty much finished off by the many silly rumours regarding both Burzum and myself anyhow. Thirdly I didn't want to be associated with the new so-called "Black Metal" bands. They embarrassed me and I was very tired of having to explain people I met or talked to that I had nothing to do with these people, their image or anything they did. In fact I felt misused by the media and saw the whole growing "Black Metal" movement as a result of the media lies and their ludicrous presentation of, amongst others, me. Further I was rather puzzled by the fact that my electronic albums were placed in the "Black Metal" shelves in the record shops (or so I was told). It seemed that no matter what I did people would cling to the (erroneous) picture the media had made of me in 1993. So what was the point?

Finally I must say it was not very inspiring to see that tons of new bands emerged from nowhere and started to play the exact same music as I did. Why would I want to play this type of music, when tons of other bands did too? For all I know they even did it better than I ever did! So why would I bother anymore? Do we really need a million bands playing the same music? Isn't it enough with one Paradise Lost, one Das Ich, one Vangelis, one Dead Can Dance, or one Pink Floyd, one Iron Maiden and so forth? Why would we need a thousand clones?

I figured that if they want to rip off the early "Black Metal" bands that is fine by me. There are other things I can do, so I moved on.

If there is any hope for a resurrection in the future? In the case I release another album it will be something new altogether. If it sounds just like any other band I won't bother. For now I only have a few new songs, but I guess it is not unlikely that I will make more music in the future.

Question by Karlis from Ventspils, Latvia: If You are allowed to listen to music now, what kind of music do You usually listen to?

If I could listen to music now I would have listened to Das Ich ("Die Propheten"), Tchaikovskij (especially "The Nutcracker" and "The Swan Lake") and other classical music, Dead Can Dance ("Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun"), The Uppsala Jesters (that is; "Juculatores Uppsaliensis" or something like that), Goethes Erben, different house- and rave music, Jean Michelle Jarre, Vangelis, Kraftwerk, Russian folk music, old German and Soviet marches, some opera and possibly some metal music that I have an "emotional time" to - like Paradise Lost (some songs on "Lost Paradise" and their demo tape from 1989 or 1990) and Burzum.

In the recent years there has been a great raise of so called NSBM (National Socialistic Black Metal) bands which base their ideology and music upon NS, Nazi, Pagan/Heathen and Aryan ideas. What is Your opinion about them?

I don't know much about this, but what I do know is that at least these guys have the guts to be different and politically incorrect, unlike the spineless poser-bands in the "Black Metal" scene. At least NSBM has a point other than the brain-dead "sex, drugs & rock'n'roll" attitude in the rest of the metal scene.

There're a lot of rumors in the press about an album called "Sorg", which You have recorded in prison not long ago. Is it true or not?

These are the kind of rumours that made me just want to drop the whole Burzum project. I have never made an album called "Sorg".

Another great rumor is that guitars and drums for "Filosofem" were played and recorded by Fenriz and Nocturno Culto from Darkthrone. Can You confirm or deny this?

Well, who comes up with these rumours anyhow? Why on Earth would Fenriz and Nocturno Culto play the drums and guitars on the "Filosofem" album? The album was recorded in March 1993, in Bergen, and everything was played by me. I even carried all the instruments into the studio myself and recorded the album in solitude.

Talking about "Filosofem", once You mentioned that You had not heard the final version of this album. Haven't You managed to listen to it by now, just for the interest?

As far as I can remember I was very tired of answering questions about what I thought about this or that album, so one time I simply took the easy way out and answered that I hadn't heard the CD version, or something like that, so I couldn't answer his question (it looks like Varg meant by "him" a guy who aske the question - ed.). This was a stupid answer of course, as there is hardly any difference between the mastered version of the recording and the actual printed CD, but I just told him that because I was sick and tired of such questions, and I hoped he and others would see that and stop sending me such questions. I had the final, mastered album on tape in my cell, but not the CD, so obviously I could have answered his question properly if I wanted too. Apparently my stupid answers sometimes creates just as stupid rumours...

Question by Peter Vishnakov from St.-Petersburg, Russia: When You stopped playing metal-related music You explained that the reason was that metal music has its roots in negro music. That is why the last two Burzum albums were composed on synthesizer. But synthesizer was invented in St.-Petersburg, Russia by a Jew - Leo Termen in 1920. The first synthesizer was called "termenvox" (the voice of Termen). How would You comment this?

Comparing an instrument with a music culture is rather odd, I think. It is like comparing letters with languages. I can use Latin letters when I write Russian, and it will still be Russian, right? But if I write another language with Russian letters, it will not be Russian anyhow. See my point? "Eta nje harasjo pitch samnoga vodki!" (It is bad to drink so much vodka - ed.) or "Panjemaesh pa germanskamo?" (Do you understand German? - ed.) is still Russian, even if I use Latin letters! (Well, very poor Russian I guess, but You should be able to see my point). So if I use an instrument made by a Jew to play European music the music will still be European. Or for that sake: these answers are not American, even though I use an American invention - the PC - when I answer the question. Right?

I am able to see the link between classical music and some metal music, but my main objection was and is really that the culture following in the footsteps of metal music is "

PART III: WORLDVIEW

What do You do now? Have You written any new books/booklets or articles lately? Any publications in magazines? Do You still make researches in European and Aryan mythology and history?

Yeah, I still read books and try to broaden my horizon. I haven't written that many articles lately, actually the only one the last year is the one I sent You some weeks ago, regarding the "Lords Of Chaos". The last three years or so I have been very isolated, for different reasons, and has not been in a situation where I have been able to write that many articles, or done anything else sensible really. Yes, I have written some books, since 1998, but some of them are not worth publishing and others will be included in later works, after they have been translated into English. In theory the first book will be published early next year, and it will be in English by the way. You'll get to know more about that later.

You are not a member of AHF nowadays, are You? How did it happen that You had to leave AHF? What were the reasons to do this? Were You forced to do it or was it Your own decision?

The NHF was persecuted in Norway, by the Antifa/Monitor, who repeatedly wrote that the NHF was neo-Nazi and that leader was Varg Vikernes, and so forth. Even when the NHF told them that Varg Vikernes is not the leader of the NHF or the AHF they just kept on about it. Even the secret police claimed adamantly that I was the leader of the NHF when they interviewed one of the NHF guys (as he tried to get a license to own a 10mm H&K pistol of some sort). He told them I wasn't the leader, but they just ignored him and trusted their own sources instead.

After a while I figured out that it would be interesting to see what these people would do if I wasn't even a member of the NHF. Would they still claim I was the leader? It never mattered if I was a member or not, as I was in prison and incapable of participating in any of their expeditions to old hills forts, or the like, anyhow. For that reason I left the AHF/NHF, to see how the Antifa/Monitor morons and the secret police would do. In practice I have never been a member, so the NHF guys never noticed any difference (in fact I haven't even met half of them), and if I want to write articles for their magazine I can do that anyhow, whether I am a member or not.

The AHF/NHF never asked me to leave and there is no argument between us in any way. I simply left, for the above mentioned reasons.

Question by Helen from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia: What books are You reading now? How and where do You get them from?

Right now I am reading "Gjennom Lysmuren" (Through the Wall of Light) by Bente Müller, and "Historien om Europe" (The History of Europe) by Karsten Alnæs. I cannot recommend any of them to anybody. The book by Alnæs is - like his other books - very poor. His reflections are so politically correct (ignorant) and boring it is hard not to fall asleep. The other one I have just started on, but it doesn't look good either.

We can go to the library here once a week and ask the librarian to order books from any other library in Norway. Apart from that I sometimes get books from my kind mother, who is a member of a book club, or from friends.

Have You ever read The Book of Veles? What is Your opinion about it?

No I haven't, but I read a review by Sverd in a Norwegian magazine (KultOrg. Skandinavio [Ooops, I have forgotten how they spell that...]) and I would like to read it (this magazine is known as "KulturOrgan Skadinaujo"; see more info here: www.kultorg.com - ed.). The problem is that I haven't found the book yet in any library in Norway. For some weird reason I have problems finding books about Greek mythology lately too...

Question by Sventevith from Kosice, Slovakia: What do You think about Slavonic (Eastern European) nations and their (future) possible place in Europe?

The possible place of Easter European nations in Europe? Have the Eastern European nations ever not had a place in Europe? Or perhaps You are talking about the European Union? If You are talking about the EU I can tell that I am very negative to it, and would never advice anybody to join that thoroughly corrupt, extremely bureaucratic, predominately catholic and utterly chaotic union.

Well, in any case I am generally positive to the Eastern European nations, both the Slavonic nations as well as the Baltic ones, and I can add that I am far more positive to Eastern Europe than I am to Western and Southern Europe. There is more aboriginal European culture in Lithuania, for instance, than there is in all of Western and Southern Europe all put together.

As I'm from Russia I'm interested in Your opinion about Russians and our neighbors - Ukrainians and Byelorussians?

As far as I know Ukraine means something like "by the border", and of course Byelorussia means "white Russia", because there are more blonde people there than in the rest of Russia, so to me You are basically the same - just like Danes, Swedes and Norwegians are basically all the same. And this is supposed to be a compliment to all these nations, as I am very positive to Russian (and Scandinavian) culture and people. Russian women are beautiful, Russian music is beautiful and history tells us that Russians are tough, strong and proud people.

Question by Durbwakh from Russia: Do You agree with the fact that Russians are descendants of ancient Scandinavians - Varangians, as the word "Russia" occurs from the name of Ross/Russ tribes? Should this mean that German/Scandinavian and Russian pagan gods are one and the same, but have different names?

All the European pagan gods are the same, we just call them by different names, like Svarog, Uranos, Wotan and Óðinn (Ódhinn), or Perun, Zeus, Jupiter, Donar and Þórr (Thórr), and so forth. There are slight differences from one part of Europe to the other, but basically the gods are all the same - and originally they were identical (just like our Info-European languages).

Sure, many Russians have Scandinavian blood, and vice versa. But I do not think the fact that many Scandinavians, mainly Swedes, settled in Russia/Ukraine/Byelorussia in the Viking age has anything to do with the fact that we have common pagan gods. It is very wrong to believe that the Russians didn't have a pagan religion and culture before the Scandinavians came to Your area. Like I said above all the aboriginal tribes in Europe had a common pagan religion, and just like our languages developed over time, so did our paganism.

Another question by Durbwakh from Russia: European nations were descended from Hyperboreans. How do You think who were Hyperboreans descended from?

Well, I wouldn't use the term "Hyperboreans", but I guess that is irrelevant. Obviously I cannot say for sure, but it seems the Hyperboreans, to stick to Your term, came from Atlantis to Europe, when Atlantis was covered with ice, some 80.000 years ago. The ruins of Atlantis most likely lie under the ice of Antarctica (thus it sank into "a sea" of ice), and a natural disaster forced the Hyperboreans to move to other parts of the world (it must be a misprint, because Hyperborea was in the Arctic - ed.). Some places they settled in uninhabited lands, and some places they settled in parts of the world that were inhabited by other races. Some tribes were assimilated by larger populations of other races (like in America, some 10.000-20.000 years ago), others perished, and the only tribe that survived "unpolluted" was the one that ended up in Europe. This tribe is the origin of all the European (that is "white") peoples - and this is of course the tribe I am talking about when I say we all had the same language and religion in the past.

According to the modern researches ancient Aryans came to India from the territory of The North Urals and brought their belief - later called Hinduism. Then they moved to the West and explored Europe and North Africa. Do You see straight connection between Hinduism, Buddhism and German/Scandinavian beliefs?

No, I don't, and I have to tell that the theory regarding the Indo-European "invasion" of Europe is highly dubious. The Aryans were people who came to the Indus valley, alright. They had a European origin and they brought their culture to the Indus valley. After a while they were assimilated by the larger population of natives, and then their high-culture collapsed. In other words the Aryan tribe disappeared due to race mixing. We still see that the highest caste (meaning "colour", by the way!) has some Aryan blood left, as sometimes there are still children born with blue eyes or blonde hair in this caste.

What You are talking about is a theory that there was a migration of Indo-Europeans, or "Aryans", into Europe some 4.000 years ago. They base this theory on the spread of bronze weapons, that is the spread of a certain type of bronze axes (battle axes). This might sound reasonable, but it is actually nonsense. There was no "invasion" into Europe by the Aryans. What we saw was a spread of the bronze technology, that was quickly adopted by all the European (the other "Aryan") people.

The theory of the "Battle Axe People" and their invasion into Europe some 4.000 years ago is actually very silly. We can compare what happened to the spread of feudalism in the Middle Ages, and obviously that was not an invasion of a new and different tribe either - but the spread of a new way to organize society. Nor does it mean that the spread of "Microsoft" all over the world is due to the fact that some American tribe conquered the Earth in the 80-ies and 90-ies, as could be implied by future archaeologists using the same logic trying to explain the worldwide spread of what happened when all the European tribes suddenly began to produce artifacts of bronze. Archaeology is a very inaccurate science and more than often their conclusions are extremely ignorant.

What is Your modern political worldview based upon?

Intuition...

Question by Tetsuro Yoshioka from Japan: What do You think about modern Muslim terrorism?

That's complicated. There are so many sides of that. On one side most people would agree with me when I say that "What goes around, comes around". You harvest what You sow, right? The terrorism the USA is exposed to today is nothing compared to the terror bombing they exposed Germany and Japan to during the last world war, and they targeted civilians just as much as the Muslim terrorists do. The only difference is that the USA was certainly more skilled and competent at mass murdering civilians that these "towel heads" can ever dream of becoming.

On the other hand, what on Earth do these Muslims think they are? Their very survival actually depends on the good-will of the so-called Western world. They should be happy the Western world doesn't decide to wipe them out entirely, and considering this possibility, provoking the USA with terror isn't a very good idea. It is not like they haven't wiped out people before (Native Americans, for instance). We already see people who argue that we should carpet bomb Mecca every time one of those Muslims fart in the wrong direction. We also see people who argue that we should just let Israel do whatever they want to "down there". Why should we care what happens to them when these Muslims threaten the lives of our children? The Arabs have no rights to that area anyhow: the Mesopotamian/Babylonian, Egyptian and Assyrian cultures weren't built by the Arabs. The Arabs came to these areas from the Saudi Peninsula in the VIIth century, that is hundreds of years after the last of the above mentioned Ancient cultures had ceased to exist in the first place. At least the Israelis have historical rights down there, even I can see that. Calling the Arabs "Palestinians" doesn't change that fact.

The problem with this terror is not the threat from terror, but how governments in the Western world react to it. They use it as an excuse to suppress their own citizens, with all kinds of surveillance and other security measures. They basically introduce a police state where the freedom of the citizens are dramatically reduced. What they should do, of course, would be to remove the threat of terror completely by throwing out all the Muslims. What on Earth are they doing here anyway?

Well, I can tell You what they are doing here: they practice their religion. Islam is an imperialistic religion and they know that the only way they can gain a world domination is by moving their followers to civilized, powerful and rich countries en masse. They breed like rats and if we let them stay it is just a matter of time before they become majority, and when that happens they don't need military power to gain control. Our weak and tolerant "democracy" makes sure of that. In Oslo 40% of all the children are such immigrants already!

In my paranoid mind it seems like somebody are letting these Muslims come and stay solely because they want to hold us hostage, so to speak. Would anybody fear Muslim terror if there were no Muslims in our own countries? Of course not! They are a threat solely because they live amongst us. Now who benefits from that? Israel certainly does, as more and more of us are inclined to let the Israelis do as they will "down there", because we are afraid of or grow tired of the Muslim scum (like always, I use very diplomatic terms...). Also, the rulers in the Western world benefit from this. They are able to secure their power, suppress their opposition and everybody who disagree with them, using the terror threat as an excuse to do it.

So, modern Muslim terrorism is a scam and we can and should solve this problem by throwing out all the Muslims from their countries - and give them a bullet in the back of their head if they should refuse to go voluntary (or if they don't get out fast enough). If we should decide to we can always just take whatever we want, like oil, from this scum anyhow - like Japan did in 1941 in Indonesia and the USA in Iraq recently. What are they going to do about it anyhow, throw rocks at us? They can fight back only if we let them. Read whatever You want to into that comment...

When that is done we should throw the Turks out of Europe too, and give the area back to the Greeks... (Is that what we call "warmongering"? if we didn't know any better somebody might think I was British...).

Question by Gert Pedersen & his friend from Esbjerg, Denmark: How do You see modern Scandinavian society? If You could what would You change?

The modern Scandinavian society? It is pretty messed up, that's for sure, but all the problems are mainly a result of the non-European immigrants. There is so much to say about this I wouldn't know where to start really. As for what I would change I can tell that I would like to see Denmark and Sweden leave the European Union. Ironically it seems the Danish and Swedish population has agreed with me in this context for quite a while, but they are still members. (So much for "democracy".) The three Scandinavian countries should simply become one, Scandinavia. Norway has oil and fish, Sweden has advanced technology, industry and science and Denmark has... well, pardon my ignorance, but what do You have?... In any case, a united Scandinavia would be a dream scenario.

There is much that needed to be changed if we wish our civilization to survive. First of all we would need to get rid of all the non-European immigrants. I have no intent to insult South Europeans, but take a look at what race mixing has done to them! If it hadn't been for race mixing (and Christianity) Greece for instance would still be producing brilliant philosophers and a beautiful culture. What is left of that today? You even have to look hard to find an operational toilet when you're down there. There is so much crime down there any normal Scandinavian would fall off his chair in amazement had somebody told him just how bad it is. And we all know what a "blessing" the Turkish heritage has left to the rest of the Balkans too. I wouldn't exactly call it the most harmonious area in the world. So first of all we would need a "European only" Scandinavia. European blood and European (i.e. pagan) religion. When that had been done we wouldn't have that many other problems to solve really... the rest would have come natural.

With that said I have to admit that compared to the rest of the world Scandinavia is a paradise, even today. Like Western Europe we have a good economy and like Eastern Europe we have a rich and strong European culture - and very nice girls...

PART IV: FUTURE

Question by Zoltan Fekete from Hungary: Are You planning to write a book of memoirs about the past, the years in prison and the future?

Possibly.

I know You are much inspired by European and Slavonic folk music. Do You have any plans for composing such music and releasing it in the future? Or maybe have You already had a chance to compose some new material?

Well, I have made some new material, but it is not folk music. Nor do I plan to make folk music. I love that type of music, but somehow I don't see any reason to play such music myself. If I do something it has to be something special, something I cannot get from any other band, if You see what I mean? I don't think I have anything to contribute to folk music anyhow, and they do very well without me.

This actually touches the problem with Black Metal. If only all these guys playing in the bands had been satisfied by listening to Black Metal instead of having to form their own bands too. Why do everybody have to play themselves? Isn't listening to music enough? If you don't make something that is different from the rest there is no point in making music... or so I think.

What are Your plans for the nearest future?

Apart from the computer programming, translating books and things like that I plan to buy a small farm somewhere in Norway and live there when I get out - in two years time, I guess. By doing that I will have a place where I can write books, make music if I like, enjoy nature, get some peace and quiet and so forth. I like manual labour, so maintaining buildings and stuff like that is really my cup of tea. Live a health life, basically. Nothing special I guess.

If anybody would like to ask you about anything personally, how can he/she get in touch with you?

Well, if anybody would want to ask me about something personal he/she could write me a letter. The address is:

Varg Vikernes
Trondheim Fengsel
Nermarka 2, N-7047
Trondheim, Norway

I only reply to serious letters though, and if they start with some "Hail Satan" comment or anything like that, they just end up in the trash bin right away, before I even read them. And I guess that if anybody have any questions they could ask You to send them to me, but that would be up to You. What do You mean by "personal" questions anyway?... I thought some of these questions were kind of personal... (it looks like Varg misunderstood me here: I didn't mean questions about his personality, but questions that somebody would like to ask himself/herself - ed.)

Varg Vikernes
Trondheim, Norway
12th August 2004


http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/interview01.shtml

all this mayhem/burzum is huge crap
varg is really a nice stupid guy...a skinhead wannabe whose writing are big bullshit à la karl maria wiligut....trapped in his NS teenage star role

only death is real

tradeforall wrote:

all this mayhem/burzum is huge crap
varg is really a nice stupid guy...a skinhead wannabe whose writing are big bullshit à la karl maria wiligut....trapped in his NS teenage star role

only death is real

I wouldnt say hes a skinhead wanna be at all :lol!: