Abt. Geschichtswissenschaft

“Donald the Orange”: Vikings in and around the MAGA Movement by Tom Birkett

How do historical figures become part of modern political movements? A thought-provoking example is “Donald the Orange”: Vikings in and around the MAGA Movement by Tom Birkett, the first open-access publication from the NorseMap Project (University College Cork), which explores how Norse and Viking imagery is used and reinterpreted in contemporary culture. The article examines the changing image of the Vikings in the United States and shows how Viking imagery, earlier used satirically, was soon adopted by parts of the MAGA movement and incorporated into a hypermasculine narrative of dominance and identity. It's a fascinating case study of how the past, in this example the Viking Age, is continually reimagined – and why historical symbols matter far beyond the history books.

Birkett, Tom: “Donald the Orange”: Vikings in and around the MAGA Movement, in: Studies in Medievalism XXXV: Medievalism in Theory & Politics, ed. Karl Fugelso, Cambridge 2026, 71-81.

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