Analysis Of A Painting - Asgårdsreien

Asgårdsreien is a landscape genre painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo, painted in 1872, portraying a Norse version of the myth Wild Hunt, a supernatural force that sweeps across the land at night.
Peter Nicolai Arbo was a Norwegian historical painter, specialising in motifs from Norwegian history and images from Norse mythology. The son of a headmaster, he attended art school in Copenhagen between 1831 and 1832, and an art academy in Düsseldorf from 1853 to 1858. In 1866 he was appointed knight of the royal order of St. Olav, and night of the order of Vasa. He also was commissioner of the Viennese art department and director of the Christiana art society from 1882 until his death.

This piece features a battle going on in the heavens; this is shown by the golden glow, as gold is associated with heavens and good-doers. The most prominent figure at the front is a woman wrapped in a burgundy skirt wielding a sword, this is important because historically, women were not allowed to be at battle and the Germanic cultures were one of the few that gave women the choice to fight. There are also other women in the battle.

This painting is representing the myth of Wild Hunt within the Norse religion, known as Odin’s Hunt. The passage of this was said to presage misfortune such as death, war, and pestilence. Odin, followed by the ghosts of the dead, would roam the skies accompanied by furious winds, lightning and thunder. Outside of the Norse religion, the objective of the hunt varies, but one theme was common to all: to see the Wild Hunt was a very bad omen, it foretold a time of death and strife. The three silhouetted birds beneath in the clouds of war signify this, along with the barren looking land on Earth’s surface.

The dark tones within this painting signify a sense of danger and battle, contrasting with the golden tones in the upper right corner; which convey upcoming victory for heaven. The battle is the main focal point of this painting, which is classical in composition, with the main focus in the centre of the image. The perspective of this image is as if the viewer is seeing the heavenly battle approaching, which could be signifying misfortune approaching the viewer.

Bathory, a Swedish black metal band, used this artwork as the cover for their album "Blood Fire Death"; an album that is considered to be one of the first examples of Viking Metal. The album's concept is of a battle of the gods – which is also conveyed through the painting, and the lyrics of the first track are an extremely faultless representation of the painting – both depict an oncoming battle at the break of day.

"Now the morning advances from far east 

Now the sun breaks through dust clouds and haze 

Now a forest of spears appears on the hill 

And steel shines bright in the sun's first rays"

The use of a pre-existing artwork as an album cover is quite uncommon within Black Metal – and the use of a painting with such significance as this was practically unheard of as usually the artworks were recent illustrations of occult imagery; taken from books on witchcraft and the like, without as much relevance to the album as is shown in this century-old at the time painting.

Women’s rights were becoming more and more prominent in the years leading up to this painting. Before this, women were seen as incapable of being independent; for example unmarried women were being considered minors until the law was changed in 1845 and women were able to inherit the throne independently from 1854, this has influenced the painting, as women are shown as being in battle and as fierce rather than fragile.

I think this painting is a premonition of something bad happening, the approaching battle could be foretelling a battle for women’s rights in Norway, something which started happening in the following years. The golden glow, which signifies victory, further enforces this. I like this painting as it is powerful and has an intense meaning behind it.