So Sarenth Odinsson had decided to weigh in a bit on the Charlie Kirk assassination and, having read their post, I feel the need to weigh in with a few thoughts. Since it’s been a while, and even though Serenth is more active than me, to remind people who they are, they are the honorless hypocrite who decided to cut ties with their old friends and teachers over politics. The post I am sort of resonding to today is Valhǫll is Not Heaven.

Now, I am not going to be going paragraph by paragraph today like I would have in the past, because there’s no need, I don’t really feel like it, and these are more my musings on the subject than an actual break down. Anyways, let’s get to it.

With the death of Charlie Kirk, FBI Director Kash Patel had this to say:

“Rest now, brother. We have the watch, and I will see you in Valhalla.”

I felt I needed to speak out as an antifascist Heathen who cares about how his religion is seen, and how it is misused in modern discourse.

There is, of course, an instant irony here for those who have read my previous posts about Sarenth. First is, of course, being an “antifacist Heathen.” Heathenism has always had a strong “right wing” bent to it, for one. The Heathen revival in the USA started with McNallen (who was right wing), the Asatru Folk Assembly has always been “right wing,” and while there have been groups like the Troth or others that were more left leaning, they were all split off from MicNallen’s original group, a response to McNallen’s original group, and to a one as far as I know every left leaning Heathen organization out there has pretty much crashed and burned, while the right leaning Heathen groups have only continued to grow.

Then there is the matter not just of Heathenism as it has been revived, but Heathenism as it was practiced by our ancestors before Christianity forced its conversion. If we were to take any Heathen from the Scandinavia or Germanic tribes, bring them here today, (and have them speak modern English), to a one they would be denounced as Fascists by people like Sarenth. So the idea of someone who declares themselves “antifascist” worshiping and practicing a religion whose people, Gods, and basic morality and world view would meet their definition of “fascism” is a bit like someone calling themselves a Christian Satanist. You can do it, but it shows you fundamentally failed to understand the assignment.

Lastly, there is Sarenth’s antifascist nature itself. As I have pointed out in the past, the Anti-Fascists were formed as part of the Communist movement. A movement that has led to the deaths of around 170 million people, yet has Sarenth’s total support. Yet he continues to have issue with Fascists, despite their body count being less than a tenth of what Communism has manage. It’s something I’ve called them on in the past. So while I share slightly in Sarenth’s distaste over Kash Patel saying he will see Charlie Kirk in Valhalla, there are so many level of irony about Sarenth complaining over someone “misusing Heathen imagery in the modern discourse” that frankly I don’t think I can actually calculate them.

“The amount of goofy bullshit I have seen over the years regarding Valhǫll would, and in some cases has, filled several books. Like a lot of things in Norse myth, Valhǫll is both overblown and underappreciated in what it means, how it is entered into, and what kind of folks enter into it. Before we dig too deep into that, let us address the above quote:

It’s right-wing dogwhistle bullshit. It is a phrase that folks on the right like to throw to one another as a signal to each other that is more macho and violent than “rest in peace”. It is my understanding that some veterans will use the term “Till Valhalla” or “Until we meet again in Valhalla” with regards to fellow servicemembers, but this is definitely not two veterans or a servicemember to a fallen comrade. These are two right-wing shills, one signaling on behalf of the dead one to their violent, angry base.”

Sarenth claims that Patel’s comment is nothing more than a right-wing dog whistle, from one shill to another for the sake of their violent and angry base. Personally, I disagree. While I myself am not thrilled with Kash Patel’s comments, personally that has more to do with the fact Patel is an Indian. I know that might sound racist, but as an Indian I believe Patel is a Hindi (so I question why he wouldn’t invoke his own faith) and…well…as anyone who has been on the internet for the last couple of years, what I’ve learned of Indians as a people is they kinda seem like a human form of the Skaven from Warhammer Fantasy and frankly I want to keep their little rat hands as far away from my faith as possible. No, I am not going to apologize for my views.

Here’s the thing though, I don’t think Patel’s words were a right wing dog whistle. I do think they were an honest and sincere desire to see a friend in the next life in a place of glory. Sarenth is right that Vahalla and it’s nature are underappreciated and overblown at the same time, but given what I know of Heaven and what it’s like there, I frankly don’t disagree with Patel wanting Kirk to end up somewhere else.

Further disputing Sarenth’s point, about this being some sort of signal for their “violent and angry bass,” is the fact that really, the right wing hasn’t been violent. As much as Sarenth and the Left like to claim the Right is the violent faction, the evidence just doesn’t bear that out. Over the last decade we’ve seen the left violently riot, loot, and burn down cities. We’ve seen them harass people time and again, dropping death threats like they’re giving out candy on Halloween. In the last couple years, they’ve even moved on to assassinations and terrorist attacks, with a the rash of transgenders shooting up schools and churches, the attempt on Trump’s life, and now the successful assassination of Charlie Kirk. Despite my many hours spent both observing and intermingling with people on the right, I have yet to see them riot and burn cities, nor have I seen them attempt to assassinate any left wing political figures.

Is the “Right” angry? Absolutely, and it doesn’t take a genius or a lot of time to figure out why. But violent isn’t a word I would use to describe them. Not yet anyways. The death of Charlie Kirk might change that, but that’s because Kirk was a moderate voice owned by a peaceful man who merely wanted to talk, and as stated in my last post, when you kill the moderates, only the extreme remains. I have seen dozens of examples without even looking of people even on the Left throwing away their affiliations with their side over not just the assassination, but the glorification of it the Left has been reveling in. I do not wish to accuse Sarenth of being one of the revelers, but from his language he certainly seems happy that Kirk is dead.

Sarenth then spends several paragraphs talking about the various Heathen afterlives, including Valhalla, that I really don’t feel the need to go over. He’s right, for the most part, and where he’s wrong, to borrow a quote from one of my favorite YouTubers Paul Harrell, “There’s not enough difference to make a difference.” There is, however, a section that I do wish to comment on.

“The Einherjar, those chosen to go to Valhǫll, are not the most moral or upstanding. Again, what qualifies you for gaining entry into Valhǫll is dying in battle. Eirik Bloodaxe is said to be among Them, and his legacy is one bathed in blood. When folks use the term ‘No Nazis in Valhalla´it may feel good, but as I have said several times now, Valhǫll is not a paradise and its modern status as one is not worth of defending to my mind. I would argue that if anyone should spend no small amount of their afterlife being useful for humanity, continuously dying and fighting, and eventually being destroyed in resisting Ragnarǫk it is those who committed atrocities here.

Does that mean I think Kirk and those like him are there? No, but that is more a matter that I view Óðinn has discernment and taste for those who would be useful in a fight than it has to do with the moral characters of these people. Plenty of kings who did terrible things are, in the saga sources, said to end up there. As I stated previously: there are many afterlives and the way you get there is how you die. Die in combat. Maybe with your honor intact. After that, when it comes to who ends up in Valhǫll, that choice is the valkyries’ and/or Óðinn’s. Who gets into Valhǫll is not a moral statement, but a practical consequence of who you were and how you died.”

Here, Sarenth actually shows a bit of wisdom, but he also shows that he either hasn’t considered something or refuses to consider it because it conflicts with his core values as an anti-fascist. No, Odin doesn’t care so much for the “moral stances” of those who he takes to Valhalla. I do agree with Sarenth that there are Nazis in Valhalla (just as there are in Helheim), but there is something interesting here in how he treats Valhalla.

To Sarenth, Valhalla seems to not be a reward, but a punishment. Something those who he doesn’t like (facists) should go to so they can be used as cannon fodder and “make up” for their deeds. He treats it like a Christian Purgatory, rather than a Heathen Paradise. Frankly, I find this interesting for a few reasons, but it does add to my conclusion that Sarenth…doesn’t really understand Heathenism and what it means to be Heathen. There is a reason so many Heathen’s desire to go to Vahalla, to fight all day and feast all night, to fight beside Odin. It is because it is an honorable reward for one’s skills in life.

Further, this view should (even must) create a moral paradox for Sarenth. Odin himself, in granting passage to his hall, supports Fascists. Yet, Sarenth not only claims to be an anti-fascist, but to be a Son of Odin himself. Sarenth makes a great deal of his faith as a heathen, and yet he goes against his own father’s beliefs? The beliefs of Odin, who is king of the Aesir and the All-Father? Further, he spits on the highest reward Odin will grant to someone, a place in his warband and by his side to know eternal glory? One would think a true son of Odin would embrace his father’s teachings, not denigrate them. Yet Sarenth does so, openly.

Perhaps that is why he admits he has no desire to find himself in Valhalla. The irony is, of course, that in forgoing Valhalla, Sarenth will end up in Helheim when he dies. Given his distaste for me and my views though, I think he will not find himself so welcomed in my Goddess’s hall. Especially since my views and morality that he so despises were taught to me directly by Hel herself. Frankly, he might want to go and find himself a different religion before he dies, because I know my Goddess is not going to be kind or gracious to him when he finally stands before her. He’s likely to find himself as dragon chow.

Now, am I offended that someone would wish Charlie Kirk to end up in Valhalla? No, not really. I understand the intent behind it, and it is respectful. Do I think he would or could end up there? No. For one, Kirk was a Christian and I do think he is destination is Heaven, for which I do slightly pity him. Even if he wasn’t though, Sarenth is right in that Charlie would not go to Valhalla simply because he was not a warrior and he did not die a warrior’s death. He would go to Helheim instead, but given what I know of my Goddess over my long years with her, I can say with some confidence that Charlie would be welcomed graciously, because he was by all accounts a good and honorable man.

Something Sarenth knows nothing about being.

The fact is that while Sarenth is mechanically right about Kirk and Valhalla, his anger over Patel’s statement isn’t just misplaced, it comes across as an act of seething jealousy. He tries to downplay Valhalla as a place where morality doesn’t matter, and where the Einherjar are nothing more than spiritual cannon fodder, something he wouldn’t want to be. To me, though, it is less he ‘wouldn’t want to be’ so much as he knows ‘he never could be,’ and he hates the fact that someone he despises even has the potential to become something he never could. To know the honor of basking in Odin’s glory, to fight by his side in the greatest war of the universe. I do believe that, somewhere deep inside, even if he never admits it, Sarenth knows that he is wrong, that he has betrayed the All-Father and his way.

Sarenth knows his lore. He knows and understands many of the mechanics of Heathenism, but the more I read of him, the more I come to the conclusion that he never really grasped the Morality of Heathenism. So many of his views run counter to its tenants and beliefs. I know this, because not only have I studied the Morality of our faith, I was taught that morality by the Gods and Goddesses themselves. Further, I can prove it.

First, let’s look at Kirk himself. He appears to be an honorable man, who kept his oaths, married his woman, and fathered children whom he loved. As previously mentioned, I have not heard one scandal about him misbehaving despite the fact he has been famous since he was eighteen. He did not appear to lie, he broke no oaths as far as I know. He also appears to have been a faithful man, keeping frith with is God and following their teachings. Further, he was a peaceful man who, rather than fight with his enemies, chose to talk to them and try to find a mutual understanding. While this, in an of itself is not a Heathen value, it is a Christian one, and he kept true to it. I do not recall hearing him lift his hand in anger, but rather his voice with reason. If we, as Heathens, judge men by their deeds, then his deeds were noble for he kept to his path, whatever your views on his life’s outlook. While I do not share his faith, and I disagree on a number of his views, I do recognize Kirk as an honorable and moral man, for whatever value his morality had.

Second, there was the nature of his death. He was slain by an assassins bullet and his killer fled. That is, by the Heathen definition, murder…one of the most dishonorable acts one can commit, because in murdering someone you are not owning up to your deeds. Yet, looking through Sarenth’s blog, the only post he has about Kirk’s death is this one and further, no where in it does he condemn the murder. For a man who decries Kirk’s followers as “violent and angry,” one would think he would at least call out the use of violence, much less cowardly violence. Yet he does not.

Now, Anger and Violence are not immoral in Heathenism, so it strikes me as odd that Sarenth would use these things to disparage Kirk’s followers. Further, to be angry over murder is a moral good in Heathenism, not an immoral evil. The same goes for violence. If, at some point, one of Kirk’s followers were to enact violence on someone they felt was responsible for Kirk’s murder, as a Heathen we would view such a deed as a moral and honorable action. Yet Sarenth leaves one with the strong impression he would be completely and utterly against such an act and condemn it. So, he will not condemn murder, but he would condemn the retribution for a murder. That is hardly the attitude of someone who is truly a Heathen and understand Heathen Morality.

There is a reason I denounced him as an immoral hypocrite in the past.

The simple fact is, that whatever one’s opinions on Kirk’s views, what was done to him was wrong. As a Heathen, while we may view violence as morally neutral, murder is not, and Kirk was murdered. No one deserves for that to happen to them. If a man must be slain, he must be slain honorably and his killer open about their deeds. Cowardice should never be tolerated, much less celebrated. Not by Heathens. Further, to take offense at something said with the best of intentions, even if with a lack of knowledge or understanding, is just stupid.

Does Charlie Kirk deserve to be in Valhalla? No. But he does deserve to be honored for his noble deeds, and for the cowardly manner of his death to be condemned in the strongest of voices. Yet Sarenth condemns Kirk, while by his own morality with silence gives praise to Kirk’s murderer. The simple truth is, even if I disagreed with Kirk on many things, he was a far, far better man than Sarenth will ever be. I think Sarenth knows this, somewhere in his heart. I know Odin, Hel, and the rest of the Gods do. That is why Sarenth is so angry over Patel’s farewell to his friend. Because he knows Kirk deserves the honor, glory, and respect that Sarenth will never be worthy of, even if he pretends that glory is a punishment instead.

Hela Bless.