Wulf Ingessunu: dreaming of England’s true past - and reborn future

Description

This working paper will examine the Weltanschauung of Wulf Ingessunu (a.k.a. Geoffrey Dunn, b. 1947), a colourful figure who left the National Front in the early 1980s and created his own ideology called Folkish Wodenism. This overtly racist mutation of Odinism is sourced from the dreams of Ingessunu; to compound this ideological idiosyncrasy, instability, and fuzziness, Ingessunu is also upfront that the Hooded Man Prophecy of Folkish Wodenism was founded on the central mythos of the 1980s cult television series Robin of Sherwood. Whilst this might all sound ludicrous, Ingessunu lectured Combat 18 (a violent paramilitary groupuscule) during the 1990s, and his Woden’s Folk organisation is embedded in the British extreme right cultic milieu. This paper will therefore ask what role nostalgia is performing in Folkish Wodenism: whilst seeking to rebirth England as an Aryan Wodenist nation and culture, Ingessunu appears to be fundamentally less inspired by place or historical period, and more by feelings that represent and articulate some essence of Englishness; moreover, his written work examines and researches Anglo-Saxon history (in particular) and Aryan mythology in nostalgic pursuit of something he hasn’t experienced or indeed arguably never even existed; furthermore his ideology is based around a television series that itself presents a mythical version of English history. All of these elements, alongside the role that dreams play in his ideology, open up discussion of nostalgia as an emotion, and the felt in politics.

Period	5 Jul 2024
Event title	Politicised Nostalgias
Event type	Workshop
Location	Northampton, United KingdomShow on map