This image appeared on one of those hometown facebook pages, under the post “Have you been dreaming about a new kitchen? Wait no longer, give us a call today!”
The facebook page is for Livingston Montana but the person who posted it did so from nearby Big Timber Montana. Historically the area has had a pretty large Norwegian ethnic component.
So is this WP dog whistling?
I can’t speak to the hammer symbol, but the two letters in the lower half of the image are feoh and the other is æsc in Old English … from this site: Omniglot –> Old English / Anglo-Saxon (Ænglisc) …
Thanks for the Norge clue … that did helped me a lot …
Given the Norwegian connection, the runes are perhaps more likely to be from the Younger Futhark as used in Sweden (“short twig” form), in which case the first is “as” representing o or ø, and the second is “björk” (not that Björk) representing b or p.
And the hammer looks like many popular depictions of “Thor’s Hammer”, Mjolnir. I say popular depictions because you’ll get a much higher frequency of hammers looking like that by searching for “Thor’s Hammer” than Mjolnir, which will yield you a lot of ornate jewelry representations. Barring evidence the contrary, I’d guess nothing more sinister here than Norse associations, and they based the hammer artwork on Marvel comics.
He could be simply proud of his Norwegian heritage, there’s a big difference between that and white supremacy. Unless of course the symbols and hammer have some Aryan/WP meaning which I’m ignorant of. Failing that I don’t see anything wrong with the card.
Part of the problem is that white supremacists have hijacked Norse mythology and recast it as a basis for their own ideals. Goes back to at least Wagner and the Ring Cycle. Your average Norwegian can probably be justified in feeling quite annoyed as this appropriation of his heritage. It certainly can’t be used to suggest that Norwegians are inherently racist.
My initial impression is that it’s reminiscent of an Odin’s Cross. Odin’s Cross is a popular white supremacist symbol, as is the red/white/black color scheme. If it’s not a racist dog-whistle, it’s a hell of a coincidence.
Red, white, and black are the colors of the Norwegian flag. Basically, it’s a Thor’s Hammer superimposed on a Norwegian Flag. It lacks the circle that is the key part of Odin’s Cross. I don’t see the resemblance, other than the fact that it contains a cross.
The Norwegian flag is red, white and blue. The colours are arranged the same way though so that logo is probably based on the flag.
I think it’s an “A” and an “F.” See here.
Thanks for the correction. It’s a very dark indigo blue, however, and can appear blackish.
Is gratuitous use of ümläüts supposed to be a white supremacist thing, too? Because based on the “Nörwest”, I’m guessing that he’s just going for a Norse theme. I don’t think that Younger Futhark runes are particularly white supremacist, either. Those symbols are only associated with white supremacy because white supremacists have claimed Norse symbols as their own.
Now, if it combined elements used by white supremacists from multiple cultures, then that might mean something. But it’s not really a coincidence to have a bunch of Norse things all together.
The ADL actually has a good page on the use of Thor’s Hammer, while it can be used it is not universal. Crossed hammers like in Pink Floyd - The Wall are typically white nationalists but Thor’s Hammer is a misguided appropriation and it is safest to assume someone is just Scandinavian without more data.
I don’t think Mötley Crüe is planning a tour with Skrewdriver.
The ADL has a database of WP symbols (and very unpleasant reading it is.) Nothing similar to the symbol in the OP is there. Of the Celtic or Odin’s Cross they say that while it is one of the most popular symbols for Neo-Nazi and Aryan groups, “(i)t is important to note that the Celtic Cross is used widely today in many mainstream and cultural contexts. No one should assume that a Celtic Cross, divorced from other trappings of extremism, automatically denotes use as a hate symbol.” A similar caveat is given in relation to Thor’s Hammer.
In other words the employment of the one or the other on a business card does not automatically denote a hate group.
It does have some similarities to symbols that were used by these people Nasjonal Samling - Wikipedia
I doubt it’s intentional, though. It seems they’ve just mixed some norse-ish looking elements together.
Hidden Aryan, White Supremacist was my least favorite Ang Lee movie.
