Indeed, I'd even argue that whitewashing any population is a disservice both to people who revendicate their cultural heritage as well as interested outsiders. I'm not going to defend Norse history as a whole, because it existed in a large time-frame with multiple local realities geographically as well. Similarly, I don't like when people, even those I generally agree with, use cultural belonging to classify how we're supposed to judge an individual, because those points tend to blur elements to fit a narrative better (avoiding nuance) and are generally used as attacks with little basis in reality.

So, yeah, we shouldn't show admiration for cultures with very antiquated values, nor should we exaggerate how evil they were. The basis of sane ideology is based in not abandoning reality with all the complications it comes with. Otherwise it becomes quite sterile if we idolize X and spit on Y without proper critical thinking. Which is why I reacted to the comment above because their reasoning looked like a shortcut (Norse = inherently bad). Right-wingers use the same against Muslims and while I agree Islam did not only bring good things and some branches have problematic aspects mainly revolving around women, I'm not going to let someone diminish individuals with that faith because of the actions of others who share a god and some cultural aspects.