Imagining the North and Northern Tradition in modern Russian paganism: History, semantics, and pragmatics

Abstract

In this article, contemporary paganism is examined as an interpretive community. Using the concept of the North and the “Northern Tradition” as a key symbolic resource of new religiosity, it demonstrates how religious movements appropriate and reinterpret cultural codes for their own legitimation and the accumulation of symbolic capital. The evolution of the “Northern Tradition” is analyzed, tracing its shift from a narrow esoteric concept to a broad discursive practice that legitimizes “Nordic” paganism in Russia. Particular attention is paid to the influence of popular culture and the romanticization of Vikings, which has shifted the focus from theological doctrine to ethical models and New Age self-improvement practices.The space of the “North” is conceptualized by practitioners of Ásatrú not as physical geography, but as a sacred heterotopia and mythological homeland. This construct legitimizes the appropriation of the Germanic-Scandinavian pantheon through ideas of Indo-European unity and Hyperborean roots. Based on field interviews and neopagan journalism, the article concludes that Russian Ásatrú has a dual character, combining deep esoteric reflection with superficial historical reconstructions. Ultimately, the mythological image of the North blurs the boundaries between Slavic and Scandinavian heritages, transforming an originally “foreign” faith into a universal “supraethnic” spirituality based on a shared “spirit” and ethical code rather than biological kinship.