| Norsefire | |
|---|---|
  Party logo and flag as portrayed in the film adaptation | |
| Universe | |
| In-universe information | |
| Type | Political party |
| Leader |
|
| Key people | List of members
|
| Slogan |
|
| Colours | Black and white (comic) Black and red (film) |
| Political ideology |
|
| Political position | Far-right |
Norsefire is the fictional white supremacist[2][3] and neo-fascist[4][5][6][7][8][9] political party ruling the United Kingdom in Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta comic book/graphic novel series, its 2005 film adaptation, and the 2019 television series Pennyworth.[10][11][12][13]
The organization gained power promising stability and restoration of the United Kingdom after a worldwide nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union decimates the Earth. The United Kingdom and Ireland survive due to their geographic isolation and the decommissioning of Britain's nuclear arsenal, but suffer widespread damage leading to societal instability, which is a catalyst for the rise of Norsefire.[14][15]
Due to the chaotic state of the world outside of the United Kingdom, the party gained power by promising order and security among the population.[15] However, while the Norsefire regime did indeed bring order back to the country, this order came at a cost. Political opponents along with religious and ethnic minorities were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.[9] With their potential enemies all removed within a short space of time, Norsefire began consolidating their power over the country.
In public, the party portrays itself as a Christian fascist party supportive of the Anglican Communion.[16] In private, the party leaders are apathetic on the subject, and allow higher-ranking members to not follow Christian morality or Christianity in private as long as such activities do not threaten the party's power. For instance, propagandist Lewis Prothero takes illicit drugs, Bishop Lilliman sexually abuses children, and three Fingermen attempt to rape Evey Hammond when they apprehend her.[16] The head of the party, Leader Adam Susan, actually worships Fate, the super-computer surveillance system that surveys the nation, and considers himself and his creation God. While this is not explored in the film, both the novel and film imply that Susan/Sutler is not a fervent Christian so much as a person who values security and order, which he maintains by eliminating political opponents and cultural minorities.[8]
The Norsefire party is loosely based on the Nazi Party and the private religious views of Adolf Hitler.[3][7][9][17]
- ^ Moore, Alan, Introduction. V for Vendetta. New York: DC Comics, 1990.
- ^ Shantz, Jeff (2015). Specters of Anarchy: Literature and the Anarchist Imagination. Algora Publishing. p. 223. ISBN 978-1628941418.
[Norsefire's] goal is to lead the country that I love out of the Twentieth century. I believe in survival. In the destiny of the Nordic race.
- ^ a b Keller, James (2008). V for Vendetta as Cultural Pastiche. McFarland & Company. p. 113. ISBN 978-0786434671.
The Norsefire regime is obviously based upon the Nazi party (including the Nordic nationalistic implications of the name), Sutler upon Hitler, and the Larkhill International Facility on the Nazi death camps.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Muise, Chris (2011). Quicklet On V for Vendetta By Alan Moore. Hyperink, Inc. pp. 1–10. ISBN 978-1614640844.
Britain, however, survives under the cold, watchful eye of the Norsefire government, a fascist regime that took control amidst the chaos and confusion after the war.
- ^ Gerbaudo, Paolo (2017). The Mask and the Flag: Populism, Citizenism, and Global Protest. Oxford University Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0190491567.
It is not by chance that the most popular sequence is the final revolution scene, an almost hypnotic act, in which a mass of people wearing Guy Fawkes masks and costumes flood the streets of London, converging on the Houses of Parliament to overthrow the regime of the fascist Norsefire party.
- ^ a b Boudreaux, Madelyn. "An Annotation of Literary, Historic, and Artistic References in Alan Moore's Graphic Novel, V For Vendetta". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
...make Britain great again....This is typically "nationalistic" sentiment.... It was this sentiment, taken to its extremes, that drove Hitler's Nationalist Socialist (Nazi) Workers' Party to try to rid Germany of "non-Germans."
- ^ a b Moore, Alan (1981). V for Vendetta, Book One: Europe After the Reign. Vertigo (DC Comics). pp. 37–39. ISBN 0-930289-52-8.
My name is Adam Susan. I am the leader. Leader of the lost, ruler of the ruins. I am a man, like any other man... I am not loved, I know that. Not in soul or body. I have never known the soft whisper of endearment. Never known the peace that lies between the thighs of woman. But I am respected. I am feared. And that will suffice. Because I love. I, who am not loved in return. I have a love that is far deeper than the empty gasps and convulsions of brutish coupling. Shall I speak of her? Shall I speak of my bride? She has no eyes to flirt or promise. But she sees all. Sees and understands with a wisdom that is Godlike in its scale. I stand at the gates of her intellect and I am blinded by the light within. How stupid I must seem to her. How childlike and uncomprehending. Her soul is clean, untainted by the snares and ambiguities of emotion. She does not hate. She does not yearn. She is untouched by joy or sorrow. I worship her though I am not worthy. I cherish the purity of her disdain. She does not respect me. She does not fear me. She does not love me. They think she is hard and cold, those who do not know her. They think she is lifeless and without passion. They do not know her. She has not touched them. She touches me, and I am touched by God, by Destiny. The whole of existence courses through her. I worship her. I am her slave.
- ^ a b c Bell, Deborah (2014). Masquerade: Essays on Tradition and Innovation Worldwide. McFarland & Company. p. 168. ISBN 978-0786476466.
Nuclear war has ravaged the world. From the ashes of English society the Norsefire regime creates a sense of order. This fascist order resonates with images of Nazi Germany. Anyone who deviates racially, ethnically, or sexually from the Norsefire norm is placed in prison or a concentration camp-style facility.
- ^ Gomez, Manny (July 29, 2019). "EPIX'S Pennyworth: Setting Up 60's DC London And The Road To V For Vendetta – SDCC2019". LRMonline. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
"The arcing story this season is about a civil war that is brewing, and that came from a conversation from myself and Bruno [Heller] where we were considering doing V for Vendetta, we were like "that is much a very 80's 90's kind of show, what would it be in the 60's?' What kind of world would be have to create, like in Gotham there would eventually be Batman in this there would eventually be V for Vendetta [Norsefire and V]. So we took that brewing civil war as a stepping stone." – Danny Cannon
- ^ Heller, Bruno (December 11, 2020). (Video) Pennyworth: Bruno Heller Talks Season 2, V For Vendetta, & The War That Breaks London. CBR Presents. Retrieved December 11, 2020 – via YouTube.
"The V For Vendetta world conceptually — it's [like] where this world may or may not end up. What [V for Vendetta creators Alan Moore, David Lloyd and Tony Weare] did so well was to create a [Fascist] version of England that felt like England. It wasn't Nazi Germany imposed on that world. [Norsefire] was very much the parochial, familiar world of England transformed into something dark. That's what we've tried to do, and what [Cannon] did so brilliantly with the visuals, particularly in this season. It's England with this shadow across its face." – Bruno Heller
- ^ Zachary, Brandon (December 13, 2020). "(Article) Pennyworth: Bruno Heller Talks Season 2, V For Vendetta, & The War That Breaks London". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
"The V For Vendetta world conceptually — it's [like] where this world may or may not end up. What [V for Vendetta creators Alan Moore, David Lloyd and Tony Weare] did so well was to create a [Fascist] version of England that felt like England. It wasn't Nazi Germany imposed on that world. [Norsefire] was very much the parochial, familiar world of England transformed into something dark. That's what we've tried to do, and what [Cannon] did so brilliantly with the visuals, particularly in this season. It's England with this shadow across its face." – Bruno Heller
- ^ Harper, Rachael (February 5, 2021). "Pennyworth Season Two Secrets: What's It All About, Alfie?". SciFiNow. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
"One of the few stories that have been told in this kind of world is V For Vendetta [and] conceptually, this [civil war is a] prequel to V For Vendetta. God, I wouldn't hold us up against Alan Moore, but with comic books you have to find a throughline, and that's very political [for Pennyworth]." – Bruno Heller
- ^ Combe, Kirk (2013). Masculinity and Monstrosity in Contemporary Hollywood Films. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 160. ISBN 978-1137360809.
Here, Creedy not only bullies but delights in reminding Finch of his marginalized status as a mongrel according to long-standing English prejudice against the Irish, as well as Norsefirean standards for racial purity. Chillingly, in this small exchange, we also discover that Norsefire chose to release its deadly virus on Ireland, no doubt yet one more effort by an English ruling class to pacify that uncooperative island.
- ^ a b Keller, James (2008). V for Vendetta as Cultural Pastiche: A Critical Study of the Graphic Novel. McFarland & Company. p. 91. ISBN 978-0786434671.
- ^ a b Vaughn, Justin (2016). Political SciFi: An Introduction to Political Science Through Science Fiction. United Kingdom: Routledge. p. 179. ISBN 978-1138639775.
However, it is important to note that high-ranking members of the party often engaged in immoral behavior but were exempt from punishment.
- ^ * Alan Bullock; Hitler: a Study in Tyranny; Harper Perennial Edition 1991; p. 219: "Hitler had been brought up a Catholic and was impressed by the organisation and power of the Church... [but] to its teachings he showed only the sharpest hostility... he detested [Christianity]'s ethics in particular"
- Ian Kershaw; Hitler: a Biography; Norton; 2008 ed; pp. 295–297: "In early 1937 [Hitler] was declaring that "Christianity was ripe for destruction", and that the Churches must yield to the "primacy of the state", railing against any compromise with 'the most horrible institution imaginable'"
- Richard J. Evans; The Third Reich at War; Penguin Press; New York 2009, p. 547: Evans wrote that Hitler believed Germany could not tolerate the intervention of foreign influences such as the Pope and "Priests, he said, were 'black bugs', 'abortions in black cassocks'". Evans noted that Hitler saw Christianity as "indelibly Jewish in origin and character" and a "prototype of Bolshevism", which "violated the law of natural selection".
- Richard Overy: The Dictators Hitler's Germany Stalin's Russia; Allen Lane/Penguin; 2004.p 281: "[Hitler's] few private remarks on Christianity betray a profound contempt and indifference".
- A. N. Wilson; Hitler a Short Biography; Harper Press; 2012, p. 71.: "Much is sometimes made of the Catholic upbringing of Hitler... it was something to which Hitler himself often made allusion, and he was nearly always violently hostile. 'The biretta! The mere sight of these abortions in cassocks makes me wild!'"
- Laurence Rees; The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler; Ebury Press; 2012; p. 135.; "There is no evidence that Hitler himself, in his personal life, ever expressed any individual belief in the basic tenets of the Christian church"
- Derek Hastings (2010). Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 181: Hastings considers it plausible that Hitler was a Catholic as late as his trial in 1924, but writes that "there is little doubt that Hitler was a staunch opponent of Christianity throughout the duration of the Third Reich."
- Joseph Goebbels (Fred Taylor Translation); The Goebbels Diaries 1939–41; Hamish Hamilton Ltd; London; 1982; ISBN 0-241-10893-4: In his entry for 29 April 1941, Goebbels noted long discussions about the Vatican and Christianity, and wrote: "The Fuhrer is a fierce opponent of all that humbug".
- Albert Speer; Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs; Translation by Richard and Clara Winston; Macmillan; New York; 1970; p.123: "Once I have settled my other problem," [Hitler] occasionally declared, "I'll have my reckoning with the church. I'll have it reeling on the ropes." But Bormann did not want this reckoning postponed [...] he would take out a document from his pocket and begin reading passages from a defiant sermon or pastoral letter. Frequently Hitler would become so worked up... and vowed to punish the offending clergyman eventually... That he could not immediately retaliate raised him to a white heat..."
- Hitler's Table Talk: "The dogma of Christianity gets worn away before the advances of science. Religion will have to make more and more concessions. Gradually the myths crumble. All that's left is to prove that in nature there is no frontier between the organic and the inorganic. When understanding of the universe has become widespread, when the majority of men know that the stars are not sources of light but worlds, perhaps inhabited worlds like ours, then the Christian doctrine will be convicted of absurdity."
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