Nordish?

The "Nordish" concept of the American racialist author Richard McCulloch, has provoked a great deal of debate on the Internet, both for (SNPA) and against (Legion Europa), particularly with reference to McCulloch's Racial Compact webpage. Throughout my Racial History Research website, I have frequently employed the term "Nordish". Therefore, is the use of this term meaningful, and is the Nordish concept a valid one?

Perhaps the argument most frequently employed against the Nordish concept, is the idea that it finds no justification in the works of "serious" anthropologists, and specifically that Carleton Coon did not support the idea in his Races of Europe (1939), which is generally held to be the keystone of McCulloch's conception. However, Coon was not the only physical anthropologist of the twentieth-century, and we must therefore consider the work of other scholars as well. Before doing so, it may first prove useful to precisely define exactly what we mean by "Nordish".

McCulloch divides the Nordish bloc into two major groupings: Central and Peripheral. The Central Nordish group is in turn further divided into an inner core of root types, and stabilised blends. The inner core consists of Nordics (Hallstatt and Keltic), Brünns and Borrebys. The Anglo-Saxon, Trønder and Fälish types are simply hybrids, formed from various mixtures within the Central Nordish types. The Peripheral Nordish races: North-Atlantid, Paleo-Atlantid, Neo-Danubian, East Baltic, Noric and Sub-Nordic, are merely hybrids between the Central Nordish types and non-Nordish European races (Mediterraneans, Dinarics, Alpines, etc). Subsequently, because a considerable portion of the Nordish types are hybrids, the really valid aspect of the Nordish concept lies in the core of the Central Nordish types (Nordic, Brünn and Borreby). The other types have become racially assimilable due to admixture, and geographical proximity, which has allowed for a certain amount of phenotypical and genotypical convergence. The question must therefore be asked: can the idea of a Central Nordish bloc be justified?

The answer to this question may be found in the works of the German physical anthropologist Egon, Freiherr von Eickstedt (1892-1965). Eickstedt is generally considered to have been one of the greatest anthropologists of the last century, and certainly the most important and influential taxonomist of the various human races. Naturally, since our enquiry here concerns taxonomy, and the classification of the European races, von Eickstedt's work will prove to be of great value. In his magnum opus, titled Rassenkunde und Rassengeschichte der Menschheit (1934), von Eickstedt classified the indigenous races of Northern Europe under a single label: die nordische Rasse (the Nordish race). He then divided this group into three major subraces.

Egon, Freiherr von Eickstedt (1892-1965)

The first type was the teuto-nordische Unterrasse (Teuto-Nordic subrace). This subrace is the classic Nordic race: tall, slender, narrow-faced, long-headed, fair-skinned, blond-haired and blue-eyed. This of course, is the archetypal "Scandinavian" type.

Pomeranian Man (Teuto-Nordic)

The second type was the dalo-nordische Unterrasse (Dalo-Nordic subrace). This subrace is the modern survival of the old Cro-Magnon race: tall, robust, broad-faced, long-headed, with light hair and eyes. This is Günther's Phalian racial type.

Paul von Hindenburg (Dalo-Nordic)

The third and final type was the fenno-nordische Unterrasse (Fenno-Nordic subrace). This subrace is characterised as having reddish-blond hair, "water-blue eyes" (wasserblau Augen), an angular body-build and often, quite broad heads. According to von Eickstedt, this type is more common in Eastern, rather than Western Europe.

Mordvin Man (Fenno-Nordic)

A careful scrutiny of this typological scheme reveals clear parallels between von Eickstedt's nordische Rasse and McCulloch's Central Nordish group. The Teuto-Nordic subrace of von Eickstedt is clearly McCulloch's two Nordic racial types. The Dalo-Nordic subrace of von Eickstedt is clearly McCulloch's Brünn racial type. Finally, the Fenno-Nordic subrace of von Eickstedt has certain similarities with McCulloch's Borreby racial type: a tendency towards rufosity, light eyes, broad-headedness and a coarse body-build. This match is hardly precise, but the two types converge in more features than they diverge on.

Paul von Hindenburg and Crown Prince Wilhelm (Dalo-Nordic and Teuto-Nordic)

In conclusion, the Central Nordish concept of Richard McCulloch is thoroughly sound, and its intellectual and scientific justification may be found in the anthropological works of Egon von Eickstedt.