The new World Cup kits of the Norwegian national team have prompted media commentators to see everything from right-wing extremism and chauvinism to exclusion.

Now Rødt profile Mímir Kristjánsson is hitting back forcefully.

– Bloody hell, that is stupid, that criticism of the Norwegian national team’s Viking aesthetics, Kristjánsson writes in a post on Facebook.

The new Norwegian national team kits were launched ahead of the Football World Cup. The home kit features the Norwegian flag prominently placed on the chest, with a pattern inspired by Urnes Stave Church. The away kit is black and is described by the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) as “brutal”, “fearsome”, and inspired by the Norwegian Viking mentality.

That has not gone down well with everyone.

In Klassekampen, Professor of Religious Studies Jane Haug Skjoldli has questioned whether the kits can be interpreted as “hyper-masculinist” and “right-wing extremist”. VG commentator Hans Petter Sjøli has written the commentary article “Get the Viking out of football”, in which he also points to the Nazis’ fascination with Viking myths. According to Kristjánsson, Morgenbladet’s Markus Slettholm has described the Viking aesthetic as “tacky”, “chauvinistic”, and “exclusionary”.

Erling Braut Haaland posted this image on Instagram on his own account, with the text: “Viking blood” and a Norwegian flag. Photo: Instagram

Kristjánsson believes the criticism is completely off the mark.

– It is fantastic that the national team is reclaiming the Viking aesthetic, just as it is fantastic that Mexico is going to the World Cup with Aztec patterns on its national team kits, he writes.

The Rødt politician believes that global diversity presupposes that nations actually preserve their own culture.

– We cannot have a situation where every other national culture is exciting and important, while the Norwegian one in particular is tacky and right-wing extremist, he writes.

Kristjánsson acknowledges that right-wing extremist environments have attempted to appropriate Norse symbolism. Precisely for that reason, he believes it is important that the national team uses it.

– The Norse heritage does not belong to the Nazis, but to the people of the Nordic countries. This is our historical culture, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with either racism or fascism, he writes.

The Directorate for Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvaren) has previously praised the home kit. Director General for Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvar) Hanna Geiran stated in March that she was “absolutely delighted” to see Urnes Stave Church represented on the Norwegian national team kit.

Urnes Stave Church is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, and the ornamentation of the church is regarded as one of the last offshoots of artistic styles known from the Viking Age.

For Kristjánsson, the matter is about something greater than football kits. He believes that Norwegians must stop being ashamed of their own history.

– When I take my seat in front of the World Cup screen next week, I hope to see a Norwegian national team that plays like true Vikings. Proud to contribute to enriching a World Cup where all the cultures of the world meet in peaceful competition on the football pitch, he writes.

He concludes with a barb directed at those who react to the men’s national team being associated with masculinity:

– Imagine that some people manage to see it as a problem that the men’s national football team is masculine.