Bland gudar och krigare : asatro, ideologi och mansidealet i nationalromantikens konst

Sammanfattning: This essay is about how the aesir are used as an ideal image of the original Nordic aspects and as a symbol of heroism and pure strength. The main subject of this essay is to look at how this ideal of masculinity is represented in the art produced during the era of romantic nationalism. The choice of focusing on this era in particular is made due to the fact that it was during this time that the modern images of the aesir and the Vikings were made. The purpose of this study is to examine how the ideal of masculinity reflects upon the artistic interpretations of the Norse mythology in a selected group of art work produced during the 1800’s. Further more research is done in order to look for the possible political messages that could be connected to these works of art. The writing of this essay has meant a search for facts in books concerning romantic nationalism, Norse mythology and interpretation of Norse mythology, and finally depiction of the Norse mythology in the romantic nationalistic art during the 19th century.  This work has been combined with analyses of a selected number of works of art produced during the 1800’s. Some limitations have been done in selecting this art, considering the year of completion and the motif. Due to these limitations, all of the selected works were made within the time of the 19th century and depict male gods of the Norse mythology. Following conclusions can be made from this study: (1) that during periods of the 19th century the aesir were seen as strong warriors with a clearly Nordic origin; (2) this ideology was expressed in different ways in the art of the time and was later on also used by the racial ideological sciences.