The Army has granted a religious exception to a Nevada soldier who wanted to grow a Norse pagan beard as a sign of his heathenism. Benjamin Hopper, 34, a sergeant in the Nevada Army Guard who is serving in Afghanistan, said the “skegg” is a symbol of his personal faith and “deeply tied to the modern warrior lifestyle that I have been able to live during my military career.” The military has granted other exceptions to its no-beards rule, though Hopper is the first pagan. It turned down a request from a soldier who claimed he was a Pastafarian from the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.