138-639: The Dísablót was the blót (sacrificial holiday) which was held in honour of the female spirits or deities called dísir (and the Valkyries ), from pre-historic times until the Christianization of Scandinavia . Its purpose was to enhance the coming harvest. It is mentioned in Hervarar saga , Víga-Glúms saga , Egils saga and the Heimskringla . The celebration still lives on in
276-418: A blót before he left Norway: Þórólfr Mostrarskegg fekk at blóti miklu ok gekk til fréttar við Þór, ástvin sinn, hvárt hann skyldi sættast við konung eða fara af landi brott ok leita sér annarra forlaga, en fréttin vísaði Þórólfi til Íslandi. Þórólfr Mostrarskeggi prepared a great sacrifice and enquired of Thór, his beloved friend, whether he should be reconciled with the king or leave the country to seek
414-721: A blót being performed every 9 years at Temple at Uppsala in Sweden in Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum , written in the mid 11th century CE: Rudolf Simek has argued that Adam of Bremen had a strong motive in his work to present both that a Christian mission to Scandinavia would be successful, while also emphasising the urgency as the heathens were still supposedly performing what he perceived as evil practices, such as performing blood sacrifices to idols. He proposes that he likely drew on accounts such as Thietmar of Merseburg's chronicle and this could have been
552-420: A gýgr named Bestla . Some of the features of this myth, such as the cow Audumbla, are of unclear provenance; Snorri does not specify where he obtained these details as he did for other parts of the myths, and it may be that these were his inventions. Völuspá portrays Yggdrasil as a giant ash tree. Grímnismál claims that the deities meet beneath Yggdrasil daily to pass judgement. It also claims that
690-456: A seyðir (a cooking pit intended for ritual preparation of meat). The Old Gutnish cognate term is found as a prefix in Guta saga , which describes those who partook in blót together as suþnautar ("boiling companions") as they cooked their meals made from sacrificed animals together. Seyðir and suþ- are likely both related to Gothic : sauþs ("sacrifice"). More than just
828-703: A memorial stone ; carving his hammer on the stone also served this function. In contrast to the few runic fragments, a considerable body of literary and historical sources survive in Old Norse manuscripts using the Latin script , all of which were created after the Christianisation of Scandinavia , the majority in Iceland. The first extensive Nordic textual source for the Old Norse Religion
966-486: A "cultural paganism", the re-use of pre-Christian myth "in certain cultural and social contexts" that are officially Christian. For instance, Old Norse mythological themes and motifs appear in poetry composed for the court of Cnut the Great , an eleventh-century Christian Anglo-Scandinavian king. Saxo is the earliest medieval figure to take a revived interest in the pre-Christian beliefs of his ancestors, doing so not out of
1104-459: A "cultural patchwork" which emerged under a wide range of influences from earlier Scandinavian religions. It may have had links to Nordic Bronze Age : while the putatively solar-oriented belief system of Bronze Age Scandinavia is believed to have died out around 500 BCE, several Bronze Age motifs—such as the wheel cross—reappear in later Iron Age contexts . It is often regarded as having developed from earlier religious belief systems found among
1242-520: A broader Germanic religion found across linguistically Germanic Europe; of the different forms of this Germanic religion, that of the Old Norse is the best-documented. Rooted in ritual practice and oral tradition, Old Norse religion was fully integrated with other aspects of Norse life, including subsistence, warfare, and social interactions. Open codifications of Old Norse beliefs were either rare or non-existent. The practitioners of this belief system themselves had no term meaning "religion", which
1380-612: A component of guþ-blostreis ("worshipper of God"). Blót can also be used to mean "idol-worship" in general, an "idol" (often in the form blœti ) or metaphorically to mean "cursing" or "swearing" in Christian times due to the negative view of heathenry. The shared Germanic root has been proposed to be related to * blōtan ("to blow; to bloom; to blossom"), which is further connected to * blōđan ("blood"). A connection has been further proposed to Latin : flamen ("priest"), although it has been argued that
1518-625: A desire to revive their faith but out of historical interest. Snorri was also part of this revived interest, examining pagan myths from his perspective as a cultural historian and mythographer. As a result, Norse mythology "long outlasted any worship of or belief in the gods it depicts". There remained, however, remnants of Norse pagan rituals for centuries after Christianity became the dominant religion in Scandinavia (see Trollkyrka ). Old Norse gods continued to appear in Swedish folklore up until
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#17327756466571656-578: A detailed description of a ship burial . Since the literary evidence that represents Old Norse sources were recorded by Christians, archaeological evidence, especially of religious sites and burials is of great importance, particularly as a source of information on Norse religion before the conversion. Many aspects of material culture —including settlement locations, artefacts and buildings—may cast light on beliefs, and archaeological evidence regarding religious practices indicates chronological, geographic and class differences far greater than are suggested by
1794-429: A diverse range of sites, with groves , hofs and waterfalls being described as the recipients of blót , along with beings such as gods , elves and heathen vættir . Some nouns for places include blót as a prefix, suggesting them as sites where these ceremonies took place, such as blót-haugr ("sacrificial mound or cairn") and blót-hof ("heathen house of worship"). Kjalnesinga saga describes how there
1932-633: A family in Northern Norway at the beginning of the 11th century CE in which blót are performed each night in the autumn to the preserved penis of a horse that had been previously killed. An álfablót is recorded as having taken place in autumn in Svetjud in Austrfaravísur , written around 1020 CE. In Anglo-Saxon contexts, blót are recorded as occurring in Blōtmōnaþ , a month in
2070-573: A form of sorcery that some scholars describe as shamanistic . Various forms of burial were conducted, including both inhumation and cremation, typically accompanied by a variety of grave goods. Throughout its history, varying levels of trans-cultural diffusion occurred among neighbouring peoples, such as the Sami and Finns . By the 12th century, Old Norse religion had been replaced by Christianity, with elements continuing into Scandinavian folklore . A revival of interest in Old Norse religion occurred amid
2208-466: A good harvest and peace, although they are also recorded as being performed for divination or to achieve desired results in legal matters. After the establishment of Christianity , blót were routinely made punishable offences, as seen in early Germanic legal codes, with the recipients of the worship and sacrifice often equated with demons. Despite this, some aspects of the practice were likely incorporated into local Christian culture and continued into
2346-493: A great sacrifice and sought omens for his destiny, but Hjorleifr would never sacrifice. The answer directed Ingólfr to Iceland. Hjörleif was later killed by his thralls which Ingólf attributed to his refusal to uphold heathen customs. The book later states that no one dared live where Hjörleif had settled for fear of the landvættir . The holding of blót and associated feasts were an opportunity for rulers to demonstrate their wealth and generosity and praise of these traits
2484-494: A literary creation designed to meet the ruling class' aspirations since the idea of deceased warriors owing military service to Oðinn parallels the social structure between warriors and their lord. There is no archaeological evidence clearly alluding to a belief in Valhalla. According to Snorri, while one-half of the slain go to Valhalla, the others go to Frejya's hall, Fólkvangr , and those who die from disease or old age go to
2622-509: A local ruler, held a blót to give a good harvest. In Iceland, goðar ("chieftains") are often recorded as leading public religious activities including blót . Sources further describe how in both Norway and Svetjud, taking part in public blót was required for the ruler to be accepted by their subjects. Hákonar saga góða tells how the Christian King Hákon came to Trøndelag and did not want to take part in
2760-553: A meaning related to sacrifice in pre-Christian Scandinavian contexts. The phrase véstallr ("sacred stand") is found in Skaldic poetry and there are attestations of blood being smeared on holy objects elsewhere in Western Scandinavia. In Hyndluljóð , Freyja says about how one of her worshippers has made a hǫrgr ("altar") for her, faced with stone that was turned to glass and reddened with ox blood. Similarly,
2898-604: A mythological context in the depictions of Valhǫll in Hákonarmál . Horses are often recorded as being eaten in blótveizlur and the eating of horsemeat was made an offence punishable by fines and outlawry by a number of medieval Scandinavian laws made after the adoption of Christianity, such as the Borgarthings-Lov , Den ældre Gulathings-Lov and the Frostathings-Lov . In Iceland, an exception
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#17327756466573036-461: A new conversion process to Christianise this incoming population. The Nordic world first encountered Christianity through its settlements in the already Christian British Isles and through trade contacts with the eastern Christians in Novgorod and Byzantium . By the time Christianity arrived in Scandinavia it was already the accepted religion across most of Europe. It is not well understood how
3174-512: A new destiny for himself; and the answer directed Þórólfr to Iceland. According to the Sturlubók and Hauksbók versions of Landnámabók , a man named Ingólf prepared to settle in Iceland with his brother Hjörleif by performing a blót in a similar way to Þórólf: Þenna vetr fekk Ingólfr at blóti miklu ok leitaði sér heilla um forlög sín, en Hjörleifr vildi aldri blóta. Fréttin vísaði Ingólfi til Íslands. That winter Ingólfr prepared
3312-538: A particular deity. Transmitted through oral culture rather than through codified texts, Old Norse religion focused heavily on ritual practice, with kings and chiefs playing a central role in carrying out public acts of sacrifice. Various cultic spaces were used; initially, outdoor spaces such as groves and lakes were typically selected, but after the third century CE cult houses seem to also have been purposely built for ritual activity, although they were never widespread. Norse society also contained practitioners of Seiðr ,
3450-464: A perceived connection between the killing during the blót and the killing of Ymir during the creation account told in Gylfaginning , which acted as its mythic counterpart. In this context, the bloodshed may have signalled a renewal of the world, in which conditions would improve for those who performed the blót . Sacrificial feasts ( Old Norse : blótveizlur or blótdrykkjur ) had
3588-828: A prefix such as blót-bolli ("sacrificial bowl") and blót-klæði ("garments worn at sacrifices"), and it can refer to religious concepts such as blót-dómr or blót-skapr ("idolatry"), and blótnaðr which is used to mean both "sacrificing to heathen gods" and "idolatry". It has been proposed that during the Migration Period , religious organisation drastically changed, with rulers gaining enough power to centralise sacrifices and ceremonies to their own homes rather than in outdoor spaces such as bogs and lakes, as had been done before. These indoor cultic buildings are referred to in Old Norse soures variously as hof , hǫrgar , goðahús , blóthús . Sources do still record Viking Age blót taking place
3726-520: A prominent place in the ancient religious practices of the Scandinavians, and were part of the seasonal festivals attended by large numbers of people. Family rituals such as the álfablót in western Sweden mentioned by the Norwegian skald Sigvatr Þórðarson in an early 11th-century poem, were usually performed on farm homesteads. Feasts and ritual drinking at blót are also mirrored in
3864-604: A realm known as Hel ; it was here that Baldr went after his death. The concept of Hel as an afterlife location never appears in pagan-era skaldic poetry, where "Hel" always references the eponymous goddess. Snorri also mentions the possibility of the dead reaching the hall of Brimir in Gimlé , or the hall of Sindri in the Niðafjöll Mountains . Various sagas and the Eddic poem Helgakviða Hundingsbana II refer to
4002-419: A serpent gnaws at its roots while a deer grazes from its higher branches; a squirrel runs between the two animals, exchanging messages. Grímnismál also claims that Yggdrasil has three roots; under one resides the goddess Hel, under another the frost-þursar, and under the third humanity. Snorri also relates that Hel and the frost-þursar live under two of the roots but places the gods, rather than humanity, under
4140-598: A simple sacrifice, blót was central to all the ritual activities that took place in Norse sacral structures. Bulls have been noted to have been often sacrificed when seeking help from the gods in legal matters. Blót are also often described as being performed in order to achieve good harvests, with some texts explicitly recording that they are held til árs ok friðar ("for a good harvest and peace"). The rituals are suggested to be effective by some sources such as Fagrskinna , which notes that Hákon Sigurðarson restored
4278-452: A site of a possible cult-house in Borg in Östergötland . Both of these sites had a significant enrichment of skulls relative to other bones. It has been proposed that there was a widespread practice to offer the heads to the gods, whilst cooking the meat for the feast that followed. It has also been suggested that the number of skulls that a hall displayed would act as a status signal, indicating
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4416-493: Is Ásynjur , which is properly the feminine of Æsir . An old word for goddess may be dís , which is preserved as the name of a group of female supernatural beings. Ancestral deities were common among Finno-Ugric peoples and remained a strong presence among the Finns and Sámi after Christianisation. Ancestor veneration may have played a part in the private religious practices of Norse people in their farmsteads and villages; in
4554-634: Is a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peoples . It was replaced by Christianity and forgotten during the Christianisation of Scandinavia . Scholars reconstruct aspects of North Germanic Religion by historical linguistics , archaeology , toponymy , and records left by North Germanic peoples, such as runic inscriptions in
4692-492: Is again stated that the Old Norse cosmogony began with a belief in Ginnungagap, the void. From this emerged two realms, the icy, misty Niflheim and the fire-filled Muspell , the latter ruled over by fire- jötunn , Surtr . A river produced by these realms coagulated to form Ymir, while a cow known as Audumbla then appeared to provide him with milk. Audumbla licked a block of ice to free Buri , whose son Bor married
4830-750: Is apparent in Hávamál , a poem found in the Poetic Edda . In stanza 138 of Hávamál , Oðinn describes his self-sacrifice, in which he hangs himself on Yggdrasill, the world tree, for nine nights, to attain wisdom and magical powers. In the late Gautreks Saga , King Víkarr is hanged and then punctured by a spear; his executioner says "Now I give you to Oðinn". Textual accounts suggest a spectrum of rituals, from large public events to more frequent private and family rites, which would have been interwoven with daily life. However, written sources are vague about Norse rituals, and many are invisible to us now even with
4968-649: Is consistent with a wider Germanic context of some women playing central roles in ceremonies, the holding of feasts and running of the farm. This is attestedin written sources such as Beowulf , Egils saga and the Hassmyra Runestone and is potentially also represented in the archaeological record in high status female burials. Blót taking place at the beginning of winter in Norway and Iceland to celebrate vetrnætr ("winter-nights") are recorded in multiple sources, such as Gísla saga Súrssonar , in which
5106-459: Is meant to maintain his dignity after death. Similarly in another conversion þáttr, Ögmundar þáttr dytts , the author equates Freyr and the devil and explains that the constant offerings to the carving of Freyr have given the devil the ability to speak through it so as to strengthen their belief in Freyr. Later in the tale, Óláfr Tryggvason spiritually helps a Norwegian named Gunnar in defeating
5244-700: Is often followed by the aim of the blót , for example til friðar, sigrs, langlífis, árs, byrjar ("for peace, victory, long life, good season, fair wind"). Old Norse : Blót is found in many compound words relating to worship or sacrifice. These include adjectives such as blót-auðigr ("rich in sacrifices") and terms for individuals also include it is a prefix such as blót-biskup , blót-kennimaðr , or blót-goði ("heathen priest"), blót-hofðingi ("heathen chief"). Other compounds include recipients of worship such as blót-guð ("heathen god") and blót-kálfr ("calf worshipped with sacrifices"). Items with religious function can also include it as
5382-576: Is one reported example from pagan Norway in the family cult of Vǫlsi , where a deity called Mǫrnir is invoked. The Norns are female figures who determine individuals' fate. Snorri describes them as a group of three, but he and other sources also allude to larger groups of Norns who decide the fate of newborns. It is uncertain whether they were worshipped. The landvættir , spirits of the land, were thought to inhabit certain rocks, waterfalls, mountains, and trees, and offerings were made to them. For many, they may have been more important in daily life than
5520-464: Is recorded in sources such as the skaldic poem Sigurðardrápa . Giving of gifts at feasts, such as rings , is well attested in Germanic texts such as Egils saga and Beowulf and has been proposed to have been a central practice in building loyalty to the king and strengthening authority. Displaying of heads of eaten animals may have created a degree of competition between communities and played into
5658-597: Is suggested to have occurred at some blót and is recorded in Ynglinga saga in connection to a sonarblót (" boar sacrifice"). This is not accepted universally by scholars, with Düwel arguing the link is only seen in Snorri's works. The link has been proposed to be seen elsewhere though, such as the compound word blótspánn ("chip used in divination"). According to Eyrbyggja saga , Þórólf Mostrarskeggi made preparations for his settlement of Iceland by performing
Dísablót - Misplaced Pages Continue
5796-533: Is well attested in Old Norse texts. Certain elites are highlighted for their participation in blót such as Sigurðr Hlaðajarl who is called inn mesti blótmaðr ("the most ardent heathen worshipper") and is described as having maintained all the sacrificial feasts in Trøndelag on behalf of the king. This concept is also attested on the Stentoften stone which records that a man named HaþuwulfR, likely
5934-481: The Landnámabók , recounting the settlement and early history of Iceland, and the so-called sagas of Icelanders concerning Icelandic individuals and groups; there are also more or less fantastical legendary sagas . Many skaldic verses are preserved in sagas. Of the originally heathen works, we cannot know what changes took place either during oral transmission or as a result of their being recorded by Christians;
6072-691: The blót , upsetting the local farmers and chieftains. At the Frostaþing he was asked to partake in them as his father had done and he was later strongly pressured to eat horse liver at a blótveizla ("sacrificial feast") in Mære. Similarly, the heathen king Blótsveinn took part in a horse sacrifice and ate horsemeat when becoming king of the Svear according to Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks . The U-version of this saga further tells how Blótsveinn became king after his brother-in-law, Ingi , refused to uphold
6210-434: The jötnar were not worshipped, although this has been questioned. The Eddic jötnar have parallels with their later folkloric counterparts, although unlike them they have much wisdom. Several accounts of the Old Norse cosmogony, or creation myth, appear in surviving textual sources, but there is no evidence that these were certainly produced in the pre-Christian period. It is possible that they were developed during
6348-486: The stallar ("altars" or "platforms"), the walls of the hof (both inside and outside) and the people who were present there. It is possible that this description was influenced by the ecclesiastical ceremonies of the medieval church in which holy water was sprinkled over the congregation, or the account in the Old Testament , in which Moses sprinkles blood on his people. Snorri in his description explicitly notes
6486-581: The Hauksbók version of Landnámabók . The practice of collecting sacrificial blood and pouring it on altars is well attested in other cultures such as in Ancient Greek and religion and in Jewish burnt offerings . Along with having a role in divination, other suggestions for the importance of blood in blót have been put forward by scholars. It has been put forward that the violence used to kill
6624-634: The Old English calendar which roughly corresponds to the Gregorian month of November . Other blót are also recorded as having taken place in winter, such as the miðsvetrarblót in Trøndelag recorded in Heimskringla. Yule was celebrated in the middle of winter and had a diversity of religious components such as the performing of blót and heitstrengingar . The Þorrablót
6762-482: The U-version of Hervarar saga tells how a holy tree, referred to as a blóttre , is reddened with blood from a sacrificial horse. It is unclear if this is meant to be interpreted as a literal tree or as a platform or altar ( véstallr , stallr or véstalli ). In Ynglinga saga , the king Dómaldi is sacrificed in order to make their crops grow and they redden the stallar with his blood; Ynglingatal ,
6900-673: The Younger Futhark , a distinctly North Germanic extension of the runic alphabet. Numerous Old Norse works dated to the 13th-century record Norse mythology , a component of North Germanic religion. Old Norse religion was polytheistic , entailing a belief in various gods and goddesses . These deities in Norse mythology were divided into two groups, the Æsir and the Vanir , who in some sources were said to have engaged in an ancient war until realizing that they were equally powerful. Among
7038-574: The de facto ruler of Norway, and although he agreed to be baptised under pressure from the Danish king and allowed Christians to preach in the kingdom, he enthusiastically supported pagan sacrificial customs, asserting the superiority of the traditional deities and encouraging Christians to return to their veneration. His reign (975–995) saw the emergence of a "state paganism", an official ideology which bound together Norwegian identity with pagan identity and rallied support behind Haakon's leadership. Haakon
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#17327756466577176-604: The goði Þorgrímr Þorsteinsson sacrifices to Freyr during the feast. This time has been suggested to have marked the beginning of the new year and may be the same as the dísablót , named for the disir , which is recorded in Ynglinga saga as having taken place in Uppsala . Two further blót are attested as having taken place in Scandinavia, each in a single source. Völsa þáttr , preserved in Flateyjarbók , describes
7314-762: The romanticist movement of the 19th century, during which it inspired a range of artworks. Academic research into the subject began in the early 19th century, initially influenced by the pervasive romanticist sentiment. The archaeologist Anders Andrén noted that "Old Norse religion" is "the conventional name" applied to the pre-Christian religions of Scandinavia . See for instance other terms used by scholarly sources include "pre-Christian Norse religion", "Norse religion", "Norse paganism", "Nordic paganism", "Scandinavian paganism", "Scandinavian heathenism", "Scandinavian religion", "Northern paganism", "Northern heathenism", "North Germanic religion", or "North Germanic paganism". This Old Norse religion can be seen as part of
7452-428: The sagas of Icelanders , in particular, are now regarded by most scholars as more or less historical fiction rather than as detailed historical records. A large amount of mythological poetry has undoubtedly been lost. One important written source is Snorri's Prose Edda , which incorporates a manual of Norse mythology for the use of poets in constructing kennings; it also includes numerous citations, some of them
7590-431: The 10th century, Norwegian pagans attempted to encourage the Christian king Haakon to take part in an offering to the gods by inviting him to drink a toast to the ancestors alongside several named deities. Þorgerðr Hölgabrúðr and Irpa appear to have been personal or family goddesses venerated by Haakon Sigurdsson , a late pagan ruler of Norway. There are also likely to have been local and family fertility cults; there
7728-524: The 12th century, Christianity was firmly established across Northwestern Europe. For two centuries, Scandinavian ecclesiastics continued to condemn paganism, although it is unclear whether it still constituted a viable alternative to Christian dominance. These writers often presented paganism as being based on deceit or delusion; some stated that the Old Norse gods had been humans falsely euhemerised as deities. Old Norse mythological stories survived in oral culture for at least two centuries, being recorded in
7866-400: The 13th century. How this mythology was passed down is unclear; it is possible that pockets of pagans retained their belief system throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, or that it had survived as a cultural artefact passed down by Christians who retained the stories while rejecting any literal belief in them. The historian Judith Jesch suggested that following Christianisation, there remained
8004-544: The Althing in 999, an agreement was reached that the Icelandic law would be based on Christian principles, albeit with concessions to the pagan community. Private, albeit not public, pagan sacrifices and rites were to remain legal. Across Germanic Europe, conversion to Christianity was closely connected to social ties; mass conversion was the norm, rather than individual conversion. A primary motivation for kings converting
8142-577: The Bishops of Hamburg), written between 1066 and 1072, which includes an account of the temple at Uppsala , and Saxo Grammaticus ' 12th-century Gesta Danorum (History of the Danes), which includes versions of Norse myths and some material on pagan religious practices. In addition, Muslim Arabs wrote accounts of Norse people they encountered, the best known of which is Ibn Fadlan 's 10th-century Risala , an account of Volga Viking traders that includes
8280-635: The Christian institutions converted these Scandinavian settlers, in part due to a lack of textual descriptions of this conversion process equivalent to Bede's description of the earlier Anglo-Saxon conversion. However, it appears that the Scandinavian migrants had converted to Christianity within the first few decades of their arrival. After Christian missionaries from the British Isles—including figures like St Willibrord , St Boniface , and Willehad —had travelled to parts of northern Europe in
8418-462: The Church and 5 to the king. Early Norwegian law codes explicitly forbid performing of blót , making it a punishable offence. The Older Gulaþing Law, dating to around the mid 11th century CE, bans performing of blót to heathen gods, howes or hǫrgar , listing it an offence for which the punishment is a fine, penance and if this is not followed, expulsion from the land. This is built upon in
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#17327756466578556-659: The Dísir were worshiped was called dísarsalr and this building is mentioned in the Ynglinga saga concerning king Aðils' death. It also appears Hervarar saga , where a woman becomes so infuriated over the death of her father by the hands of Heiðrekr , her husband, that she hangs herself in the shrine. The Scandinavian dísablót is associated with the Anglo-Saxon modranect ("mothers' night") by Gabriel Turville-Petre . The Anglo-Saxon month roughly equivalent to November
8694-543: The Germanic Iron Age peoples. The Germanic languages likely emerged in the first millennium BCE in present-day Denmark or northern Germany, after which they spread; several of the deities in Old Norse religion have parallels among other Germanic societies. The Scandinavian Iron Age began around 500 to 400 BCE. Archaeological evidence is particularly important for understanding these early periods. Accounts from this time were produced by Tacitus; according to
8832-579: The Good had converted to Christianity while in England. On returning to Norway, he kept his faith largely private but encouraged Christian priests to preach among the population; some pagans were angered and—according to Heimskringla —three churches built near Trondheim were burned down. His successor, Harald Greycloak , was also a Christian but similarly had little success in converting the Norwegian population to his religion. Haakon Sigurdsson later became
8970-460: The Helgi lays, where they are depicted as princesses who assist and marry heroes. Conflict with the jötnar and gýgjar (often glossed as giants and giantesses respectively) is a frequent motif in the mythology. They are described as both the ancestors and enemies of the gods. Gods marry gýgjar but jötnar 's attempts to couple with goddesses are repulsed. Most scholars believe
9108-565: The Norse interacted closely with other ethnocultural and linguistic groups, such as the Sámi , Balto-Finns , Anglo-Saxons , Greenlandic Inuit , and various speakers of Celtic and Slavic languages. Economic, marital, and religious exchange occurred between the Norse and many of these other groups. Enslaved individuals from the British Isles were common throughout the Nordic world during
9246-552: The Old Norse Religion was Tacitus ' book, the Germania , which dates back to around 100 CE and describes religious practices of several Germanic peoples , but has little coverage of Scandinavia. In the Middle Ages, several Christian commentators also wrote about Scandinavian paganism, mostly from a hostile perspective. The best known of these are Adam of Bremen 's Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum (History of
9384-762: The Viking Age, Norse people left Scandinavia and settled elsewhere throughout Northwestern Europe . Some of these areas, such as Iceland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands , and the Faroe Islands , were hardly populated, whereas other areas, such as England, Southwest Wales, Scotland, the Western Isles, Isle of Man, and Ireland, were already heavily populated. In the 870s, Norwegian settlers left their homeland and colonized Iceland , bringing their belief system with them. Place-name evidence suggests that Thor
9522-523: The Viking Age. Different elements of Old Norse religion had different origins and histories; some aspects may derive from deep into prehistory, others only emerging following the encounter with Christianity. In Hilda Ellis Davidson 's words, present-day knowledge of Old Norse religion contains "vast gaps", and we must be cautious and avoid "bas[ing] wild assumptions on isolated details". A few runic inscriptions with religious content survive from Scandinavia, particularly asking Thor to hallow or protect
9660-574: The afterlife. Snorri refers to multiple realms which welcome the dead; although his descriptions reflect a likely Christian influence, the idea of a plurality of other worlds is likely pre-Christian. Unlike Christianity, Old Norse religion does not appear to have adhered to the belief that moral concerns impacted an individual's afterlife destination. Warriors who died in battle became the Einherjar and were taken to Oðinn's hall, Valhalla. There they waited until Ragnarok when they would fight alongside
9798-469: The animals found at Hofstaðir may have acted as a way to remove tensions in the community. Olof Sundqvist instead proposes that the blood was used in a performative setting, creating a feeling of spectacle and that the event was strongly separate from usual daily life. If true, those participating in the ceremony would likely have become emotionally engaged in the ritual drama. He further suggests, consistent with ideas by Bruce Lincoln , that there may have been
9936-451: The archaeologists Andrén, Kristina Jennbert, and Catharina Raudvere stated that "pre-Christian Norse religion is not a uniform or stable category", while the scholar Karen Bek-Pedersen noted that the "Old Norse belief system should probably be conceived of in the plural, as several systems". The historian of religion Hilda Ellis Davidson stated that it would have ranged from manifestations of "complex symbolism" to "the simple folk-beliefs of
10074-423: The arrival of Christianity has generated consciousness of Old Norse religion as a distinct religion. Old Norse religion has been classed as an ethnic religion , and as a "non-doctrinal community religion". It varied across time, in different regions and locales, and according to social differences. This variation is partly due to its transmission through oral culture rather than codified texts. For this reason,
10212-540: The ceremony. Sites suggesting religious feasting have been found in Scandinavia such as in Melhus where many cooking pits, mainly dating to between 900 and 1300 CE, were found containing bones of domesticated animals. The hearths in hall-room C at Borg in Lofoten has also been suggested to have been the site of ritual cooking of meat from sacrificed animals. One large pit measuring around 6 m by 3 m has been interpreted as
10350-564: The chief sacrifice took place in Goe month at Upsala . Then sacrifice was offered for peace, and victory to the king; and thither came people from all parts of Svithjod. All the Things of the Swedes, also, were held there, and markets, and meetings for buying, which continued for a week: and after Christianity was introduced into Svithjod, the Things and fairs were held there as before. The shrine where
10488-529: The community that performs them, function by empowering evil spirits that pose as the helpful beings in which the heathens believe. The conversion þáttr Óláfs þáttr Geirstaðaálfs gives an account of Óláfr digrbeinn, a king who the author says predicted his own death and warned his people not to perform blót to him after he dies, claiming that doing so turns the dead into trolls . Following this, Óláfr explains that these demons can bring good harvests but are also harmful. After his death, bad harvests occur and
10626-471: The country was fully Christian by the early 12th. Olaf Tryggvason sent a Saxon missionary, Þangbrandr , to Iceland. Many Icelanders were angered by Þangbrandr's proselytising, and he was outlawed after killing several poets who insulted him. Animosity between Christians and pagans on the island grew, and at the Althing in 998 both sides blasphemed each other's gods. In an attempt to preserve unity, at
10764-481: The cult, given that these were commonly equated in Christian thought. The penitential further prohibits the eating of food offered in sacrifices to the recipient being. Similar prohibitions are seen throughout later law codes in England such as the laws of King Wihtred of Kent . In Norðhymbra preosta lagu , blót are explicitly forbidden along with other practices deemed heathen such as idol-worship, with those caught performing them being made to pay 5 half- marks to
10902-403: The dead residing in their graves, where they remain conscious. In these thirteenth century sources, ghosts ( Draugr ) are capable of haunting the living. In both Laxdæla Saga and Eyrbyggja Saga , connections are drawn between pagan burials and hauntings. In mythological accounts, the deity most closely associated with death is Oðinn. In particular, he is connected with death by hanging; this
11040-496: The devil, driving it out of the wooden carving. Gunnar then pretends to be Freyr, putting on the clothes of the cult image and accepting offerings of valuable gifts from the worshippers of the god, who stop sacrificing animals from then on. The Anglo-Saxon Penitential of Theodore imposes 1-10 years of penance for those qui immolant demonibus ("who sacrifice to demons"). In this context, "demons" would likely have been used to refer to heathen gods and other beings connected to
11178-533: The early 11th century CE, that the Danes had their main cult centre on Zealand at Lejre and gathered there every nine years and held a large sacrifice: It has been noted that at the time of Thietmar's writing, Denmark had been nominally Christian for nearly 50 years and it is unlikely that large scale blót were still being performed at the end of the 10th century in Lejre. It has been further noted that Thietmar
11316-821: The early 20th century. There are documented accounts of encounters with both Thor and Odin, along with a belief in Freja's power over fertility. Norse mythology , stories of the Norse deities, is preserved in Eddic poetry and in Snorri Sturluson 's guide for skalds , the Poetic Edda . Depictions of some of these stories can be found on picture stones in Gotland and in other visual records including some early Christian crosses, which attests to how widely known they were. The myths were transmitted purely orally until
11454-524: The earth out of the sea. A different account is provided in Vafþrúðnismál , which describes that the world is made from the components of Ymir's body: the earth from his flesh, the mountains from his bones, the sky from his skull, and the sea from his blood. Grímnismál also describes the world being fashioned from Ymir's corpse, although adds the detail that the jötnar emerged from a spring known as Élivágar . In Snorri's Gylfaginning , it
11592-417: The ecclesiastical Law of Sverrir Sigurðarson , which further forbids blót to heathen vættir , and is consistent with the Frostaþing law which likewise bans blót . When Christianity was adopted as the main religion of Iceland, blót were allowed for a short time, as long as they were performed in private, with the punishment being lesser outlawry if they were observed publicly. This exception
11730-567: The eighth century, Charlemagne pushed for Christianisation in Denmark, with Ebbo of Rheims , Halitgar of Cambrai , and Willeric of Bremen proselytizing in the kingdom during the ninth century. The Danish king Harald Klak converted (826), likely to secure his political alliance with Louis the Pious against his rivals for the throne. The Danish monarchy reverted to Old Norse religion under Horik II (854 – c. 867). The Norwegian king Hákon
11868-459: The encounter with Christianity, as pagans sought to establish a creation myth complex enough to rival that of Christianity; these accounts could also be the result of Christian missionaries interpreting certain elements and tales found in the Old Norse culture and presenting them to be creation myths and a cosmogony, parallel to that of the Bible , in part to aid the Old Norse in the understanding of
12006-467: The end of February or early March at Gamla Uppsala . It was held in conjunction with the great fair Disting and the great popular assembly called the Thing of all Swedes . The Icelandic historian Snorri Sturlusson , who was well-informed of Swedish matters and visited the country in 1219, explained in the Heimskringla (1225): In Svithjod it was the old custom, as long as heathenism prevailed, that
12144-638: The end of the period, and were subject to variation; one key poem, "Vǫluspá", is preserved in two variant versions in different manuscripts, and Snorri's retelling of the myths sometimes varies from the other textual sources that are preserved. There was no single authoritative version of a particular myth, and variation over time and from place to place is presumed, rather than "a single unified body of thought". In particular, there may have been influences from interactions with other peoples, including northern Slavs, Finns, and Anglo-Saxons, and Christian mythology exerted an increasing influence. Old Norse religion
12282-540: The exchange of hostages. Some mythographers have suggested that this myth was based on recollection of a conflict in Scandinavia between adherents of different belief systems. Major deities among the Æsir include Thor (who is often referred to in literary texts as Asa-Thor), Odin and Týr . Very few Vanir are named in the sources: Njǫrðr , his son Freyr , and his daughter Freyja ; according to Snorri all of these could be called Vanaguð (Vanir-god), and Freyja also Vanadís (Vanir- dís ). The status of Loki within
12420-465: The form of an annual fair called the Disting in Uppsala , Sweden . The Dísablót appears to have been held during Winter Nights , or at the vernal equinox . In one version of Hervarar saga , there is a description of how the sacrifice was performed. Alfhildr, the daughter of king Alfr of Alfheim , was kidnapped by Starkad Aludreng while she was reddening a horgr with blood. This suggests that
12558-488: The gods they venerated more or at all. There are also accounts in sagas of individuals who devoted themselves to a single deity, described as a fulltrúi or vinr (confidant, friend) as seen in Egill Skallagrímsson 's reference to his relationship with Odin in his " Sonatorrek ", a tenth-century skaldic poem for example. This practice has been interpreted as heathen past influenced by the Christian cult of
12696-436: The gods. Texts also mention various kinds of elves and dwarfs . Fylgjur , guardian spirits, generally female, were associated with individuals and families. Hamingjur , dísir and swanmaidens are female supernatural figures of uncertain stature within the belief system; the dísir may have functioned as tutelary goddesses . Valkyries were associated with the myths concerning Odin, and also occur in heroic poetry such as
12834-515: The heads displayed at the hall. Osteological analysis of the bones shows that the animals were killed with blows to the neck by axe or sword. This method was perhaps intended to produce the spectacle of a shower of arterial blood. Similar observations have been made at other sites such as the Viking Age birch stump found underneath the church at Frösön (" Freyr's island ") in Jämtland , and
12972-413: The holy sites that had been damaged by Christians and made more blót than before and soon a period of prosperity followed, with a greater grain harvest and abundance of herring. This has been argued to show an ideology that a legitimate ruler must protect holy places and uphold blót so as to maintain a good relationship with the gods, in turn leading to the good fortunes of the people. Divination
13110-459: The idea of an inescapable fate pervaded Norse worldviews. There is much evidence that Völuspá was influenced by Christian belief, and it is also possible that the theme of conflict being followed by a better future—as reflected in the Ragnarok story—perhaps reflected the period of conflict between paganism and Christianity. Old Nordic religion had several fully developed ideas about death and
13248-518: The idea that hlaut formerly had the meaning of "lot" in the context of divination . While Klaus Düwel has taken this argument further, arguing that the sprinkling of sacrificial blood had no influence from heathen Germanic culture and was derived wholly from other sources such as the Old Testament, this has been challenged. The word stallar (corresponding to one of the places sprinkled with blood in Snorri's account), likely did have
13386-479: The killing and offering of an animal to a particular being, typically followed by the communal cooking and eating of its meat. Old Norse sources present it as a central ritual in Old Nordic religion that was intimately connected with many wider aspects of life. Large blót are often described as taking place in halls, organised by the rulers of the region who were expected to carry out the practice on behalf of
13524-630: The less sophisticated". During the Viking Age , the Norse likely regarded themselves as a more or less unified entity through their shared Germanic language, Old Norse . The scholar of Scandinavian studies Thomas A. DuBois said Old Norse religion and other pre-Christian belief systems in Northern Europe must be viewed as "not as isolated, mutually exclusive language-bound entities, but as broad concepts shared across cultural and linguistic lines, conditioned by similar ecological factors and protracted economic and cultural ties". During this period,
13662-640: The majority of cases which has been compared to modern executions . Scholars doubt the reliability of some claims of human sacrifice. In the case of Adam of Bremen 's account of the sacrifices at Uppsala, for example, the author likely exaggerated about the sacrifices of humans in order to demonise Germanic religion . Similarly, the accuracy of the account of human sacrifice in Kjalnesinga saga has been doubted by some scholars. In Hákonar saga góða , Snorri Sturluson describes hlautteinar ("sacrificial twigs") being used like sprinklers to spread blood over
13800-471: The modern period. Conscious reviving of blót has also been revived in the modern period as part of the practice of modern heathens . The verb form is seen in Old Norse : blóta ("to worship; to sacrifice"), Gothic : blotan ("to serve ( God ); to worship"; to honour (through sacrifice)"), Old English : blōtan ("to sacrifice") and Old High German : blōzan . The Proto-Germanic form of
13938-407: The most widespread deities were the gods Odin and Thor . This world was inhabited also by various other mythological races, including jötnar , dwarfs , elves , and land-wights . Norse cosmology revolved around a world tree known as Yggdrasil , with various realms existing alongside that of humans, named Midgard . These include multiple afterlife realms, several of which are controlled by
14076-431: The name of a deity. Magnus Olsen developed a typology of such place names in Norway, from which he posited a development in pagan worship from groves and fields toward the use of temple buildings. Personal names are also a source of information on the popularity of certain deities; for example, Thor's name was an element in the names of both men and women, particularly in Iceland. Andrén described Old Norse religion as
14214-463: The new Christian religion through the use of native elements as a means to facilitate conversion (a common practice employed by missionaries to ease the conversion of people from different cultures across the globe. See Syncretism ). According to the account in Völuspá , the universe was initially a void known as Ginnungagap . There then appeared a jötunn , Ymir , and after him the gods, who lifted
14352-754: The old customs due to him being Christian and was thus driven away by the Svear to Västergötland . This closely resembles Adam of Bremen's description of king Anunder who was also driven out for refusing to uphold the performing of blót . There is evidence of blót being led by women such as the húsfreyja ("housewife") in Vǫlsa þáttr and possibly the húsfreyja who is also mentioned as holding álfablót in Austrfararvísur . Whilst absent from detailed accounts such as those in Hákonar saga góða , this
14490-435: The only record of lost poems, such as Þjóðólfr of Hvinir 's Haustlöng . Snorri's Prologue eumerises the Æsir as Trojans , deriving Æsir from Asia , and some scholars have suspected that many of the stories that we only have from him are also derived from Christian medieval culture. Additional sources remain by non-Scandinavians writing in languages other than Old Norse. The first non-Scandinavian textual source for
14628-406: The pantheon is problematic, and according to " Lokasenna " and "Vǫluspá" and Snorri's explanation, he is imprisoned beneath the earth until Ragnarok , when he will fight against the gods. As far back as 1889 Sophus Bugge suggested this was the inspiration for the myth of Lucifer . Some of the goddesses— Skaði , Rindr , Gerðr are jötnar origins. The general Old Norse word for the goddesses
14766-405: The people ignore his requests and worship him, calling him "Geirstaðaálfr" ("the elf of Geirstad"). Shortly after this, the harvests improve though when they stop their blót , the evil spirits that were receiving the gifts become angered. It has been proposed that this tale is the result of the author imperfectly trying to combine the ideas of Christian demonology and "the noble heathen", who
14904-401: The people. Blót were central to the legitimacy of rulers and Christian rulers refusing to hold them were at times replaced by more willing alternatives and driven out of the land. Smaller, household blót were sometimes recorded as being led by women. Beyond strengthening legitimacy for the ruling elites, the performance of blót was often in order to ensure the fertility of the land,
15042-556: The poem upon which this narrative is built, does not reference stallar but it does emphasise that the ground was reddened with blood. It has been suggested that the pouring of blood on the ground below stallar may be related to the taking of soil from below the stallr by Þórólfr from Norway to Iceland during the settlement of the island , as described in Eyrbyggja saga . Religious objects are recorded as being reddened with blood during blót , like oath-rings according to
15180-668: The rite was performed by women, especially in light of what is generally believed to be their nearly exclusive role as priestesses of the pagan Germanic religion. However, according to the Ynglinga saga part of the Heimskringla , the king of Sweden performed the rites, which was in accordance with his role as high priest of the Temple at Uppsala . The mention of the Dísablót concerns the death of king Eadgils ( Aðils , Adils ) who died from falling off his horse while riding around
15318-496: The sacrifice of animals , particularly pigs and horses , played a significant part in the blót . Closer in conception to a gift, it usually involved killing animals, and sometimes humans, in ritual fashion. Adam of Bremen 's account of the temple at Uppsala notes that only the heads were offered. This practice is possibly supported by the archaeological record. At the temple-hall of Hofstaðir in northern Iceland, oxen were decapitated in seasonal rituals for many years and
15456-419: The sacrificing of captive enemies to Óðinn. In depositions of remains found near Uppland, most of the human bodies are of young males with healed bone trauma, a possible congruence with the sacrificed captives of war mentioned in the written corpus. In almost all instances, human sacrifices occurring in the context of the Old Norse texts are related to Óðinn. Criminals and slaves are the humans being sacrificed in
15594-451: The saints. Although our literary sources are all relatively late, there are also indications of change over time. Norse mythological sources, particularly Snorri and "Vǫluspá", differentiate between two groups of deities, the Æsir and the Vanir , who fought a war during which the Vanir broke down the walls of the Æsir's stronghold, Asgard , and eventually made peace utilizing a truce and
15732-413: The scholar Gabriel Turville-Petre , Tacitus' observations "help to explain" later Old Norse religion. Tacitus described the Germanic peoples as having priests, open-air sacred sites, and seasonal sacrifices and feasts. Tacitus notes that the Germanic peoples were polytheistic and mentions some of their deities trying to perceive them through Roman equivalents, so Romans could try to understand . During
15870-478: The shrine: King Adils was at a Disa sacrifice; and as he rode around the Disa hall his horse Raven stumbled and fell, and the king was thrown forward upon his head, and his skull was split, and his brains dashed out against a stone. Adils died at Upsal, and was buried there in a mound. The Swedes called him a great king. In Sweden, the Dísablót was of central political and social importance. The festivities were held at
16008-455: The similarity between hlautteinar and stǫklar (" aspergillum "). Building on this, it has been proposed that the use of terms such as hlaut , hlautolli and hlautteinn to mean "sacrificial blood", "sacrificial twig" and "sacrificial bowl" respectively does not accurately reflect their use in pre-Christian times. This is partly based on the absence of the terms from Skaldic poetry and Eddic poems . Olof Sundqvist supports
16146-466: The size of the feast that could be hosted within. The written sources speak of sacrifices made of prisoners of war; Roman descriptions of Germanic tribes sacrificing their defeated enemies to Mars or Mercury have a similarity with customs related to the cult of Óðinn in Old Norse religion. The Icelandic skáld Helgi Trausti mentions his killing an enemy as a sacrifice to Óðinn; Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar berserkjabana and Orkneyinga saga describe
16284-575: The source of certain details such as it recurring every nine years, although the possibility does remain that similar sacrifices were held at both religious sites. Despite this, he argues there that the account is still informed by reliable sources and notable details are not found in sources that he would have had access to, such as the hanging of the sacrificed in trees. Several conversion þættir , short stories concerned with reconciling Christian doctrine and heathen beliefs, present blót as harmful practices that, whilst effective in bringing benefits to
16422-766: The surviving texts. Place names are an additional source of evidence. Theophoric place names, including instances where a pair of deity names occur near, provide an indication of the importance of the religion of those deities in different areas, dating back to before our earliest written sources. The toponymic evidence shows considerable regional variation, and some deities, such as Ullr and Hǫrn , occur more frequently, than Odin place-names occur, in other locations. Some place-names contain elements indicating that they were sites of religious activity: those formed with - vé , - hörgr , and - hof , words for religious sites of various kinds, and also likely those formed with - akr or - vin , words for "field", when coupled with
16560-471: The third root. The term Yggr means "the terrifier" and is a synonym for Oðinn, while drasill was a poetic word for a horse; "Yggdrasil" thereby means "Oðinn's Steed". This idea of a cosmic tree has parallels with those from various other societies, and may reflect part of a common Indo-European heritage. The Ragnarok story survives in its fullest exposition in Völuspá , although elements can also be seen in earlier poetry. The Ragnarok story suggests that
16698-609: The time of its first settlement. Scandinavian settlers brought Old Norse religion to Britain in the latter decades of the ninth century. Several British place-names indicate possible religious sites; for instance, Roseberry Topping in North Yorkshire was known as Othensberg in the twelfth century, a name deriving from the Old Norse Óðinsberg ("Hill of Óðin"). Several place-names also contain Old Norse references to religious entities, such as alfr , skratii , and troll . The English church found itself in need of conducting
16836-402: The validity of this is dependent on the exact root of flamen which cannot be determined with certainty. In the context of "to worship" or "to worship with sacrifice", the Old Norse verb blóta is typically used with that being worshipped in the accusative case , and rarely with it in the dative case . The dative case is more typically used for the object being sacrificed. The verb
16974-490: The verb can be reconstructed as the strong verb * blōtanan , or * blōtan meaning "to sacrifice". The noun form is seen in Old English : blót and ge-blót ("sacrifice"), and Old Norse : blót ("sacrifice; worship"). A Proto-Germanic form of the noun can be similarly reconstructed as * blōtan . A similar and related form can be reconstructed as * blōtan from Old High German : bluostar ("sacrifice") and Gothic : blostreis ,
17112-595: The wider strategy of rulership in Viking Age Iceland. Scholars have debated the concept of religious leaders in Late Iron Age Scandinavia, with some such as Folke Ström supporting the idea that there was no professional priesthood and that rulers instead held this role. While this remains debated by scholars, there is no strong evidence for formal training into religious role whilst the organisation of sanctuaries and blót by elites
17250-414: The Æsir. According to the poem Grímnismál , Valhalla had 540 doors and a wolf stood outside its western door, while an eagle flew overhead. In that poem, it is also claimed that a boar named Sæhrímnir is eaten every day and that a goat named Heiðrún stands atop the hall's roof producing an endless supply of mead. It is unclear how widespread a belief in Valhalla was in Norse society; it may have been
17388-534: Was polytheistic , with many anthropomorphic gods and goddesses, who express human emotions and in some cases are married and have children. One god, Baldr , is said in the myths to have died. Archaeological evidence on the worship of particular gods is sparse, although placenames may also indicate locations where they were venerated. For some gods, particularly Loki , there is no evidence of worship; however, this may be changed by new archaeological discoveries. Regions, communities, and social classes likely varied in
17526-430: Was a site near a large hof called Blótkelda ("sacrificial fen/bog/well/spring" or "fen near the heathen temple") into which sacrifices were thrown during sacrifical feasts. This idea is also reflected in Icelandic placenames such as Blótkelda at Möðrudalur and Goðakelda ("fen/spring of the gods") at Mývatn . The written sources and the archaeological record indicate that in Old Norse religious practice,
17664-574: Was called blot-monath. The number of references to the Disir ranging from the Merseburg Charms to many instances in Germanic mythology indicate that they were considered vital deities to worship and that they were primary focus of prayers (e.g. the charms) for luck against enemies in war. Bl%C3%B3t Blót ( Old Norse and Old English ) or geblōt (Old English) are religious ceremonies in Germanic paganism that centred on
17802-488: Was determined to show the heathen Danes as being as ferocious and backwards as possible, using large numbers to show their barbarity. He further potentially based his description on existing literature available to him, which formed part of a long tradition of supposing that heathens in general commonly sacrificed humans. Such sources would have allowed him to further dehumanise the Danish heathen population and depict them as evil. The chronicler Adam of Bremen has described
17940-510: Was held at midwinter in the month of Þorri . The Orkneyinga saga tells in an aetiological story that the blót got its name from the son of King Snær who held a blót every year at this time but it is more likely it got its name from the month. Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar mentions a miðsumarsblót ("midsummer sacrifice") at Mære . Furthermore, Ynglinga saga describes how Odin instituted three festivals in Sweden, one of which
18078-428: Was killed in 995 and Olaf Tryggvason , the next king, took power and enthusiastically promoted Christianity; he forced high-status Norwegians to convert, destroyed temples, and killed those he called 'sorcerers'. Sweden was the last Scandinavian country to officially convert; although little is known about the process of Christianisation, it is known that the Swedish kings had converted by the early 11th century and that
18216-406: Was made for eating horsemeat in private for a short time after the establishment of Christianity but was later repealed. The ritual killing of animals was followed by feasts on the meat, as described in the Eddic and Scaldic poetry , the Icelandic sagas, and on rune stones. The meat was boiled in large cooking pits with heated stones, either indoors or outdoors, and ale or mead was drunk in
18354-416: Was only introduced with Christianity. Following Christianity's arrival, Old Norse terms that were used for the pre-Christian systems were forn sið ("old custom") or heiðinn sið ("heathen custom"), terms which suggest an emphasis on rituals, actions, and behaviours rather than belief itself. The earliest known usage of the Old Norse term heiðinn is in the poem Hákonarmál ; its uses here indicates that
18492-625: Was soon repealed and the practice was fully banned. The Af blotan section of Gutalagen , the legal code for Gotland, imposes fines for those who perform blót , along with those who follow heathen customs more widely. It further specifies that it is forbidden to make invocations with food or drink if they are not following Christian customs. In Sweden, the Upplandslagen forbade veneration of groves and stones, and sacrificing to affguþum ("idols"). Old Nordic religion Old Norse religion , also known as Norse paganism ,
18630-484: Was the sigrblót ("sacrifice for victory"), which was to take place at the start of summer. Saxo Grammaticus 's Gesta Danorum tells how Hadding , after having his fleet destroyed in a storm began sacrificing dark-coloured victims to Frey to regain his favourof the gods. The sacrifice was repeated yearly, being called by the Swedes the Frøblot Thietmar of Merseburg wrote in his chronicle, dated to
18768-522: Was the Poetic Edda . Some of the poetic sources, in particular, the Poetic Edda and skaldic poetry, may have been originally composed by heathens, and Hávamál contains both information on heathen mysticism and what Ursula Dronke referred to as "a round-up of ritual obligations". In addition there is information about pagan beliefs and practices in the sagas , which include both historical sagas such as Snorri Sturluson 's Heimskringla and
18906-754: Was the desire for support from Christian rulers, whether as money, imperial sanction, or military support. Christian missionaries found it difficult convincing Norse people that the two belief systems were mutually exclusive; the polytheistic nature of Old Norse religion allowed its practitioners to accept Jesus Christ as one god among many. The encounter with Christianity could also stimulate new and innovative expressions of pagan culture, for instance through influencing various pagan myths. As with other Germanic societies, syncretisation between incoming and traditional belief systems took place. For those living in isolated areas, pre-Christian beliefs likely survived longer, while others continued as survivals in folklore. By
19044-424: Was the most popular god on the island, although there are also saga accounts of devotés of Freyr in Iceland, including a "priest of Freyr" in the later Hrafnkels saga . There are no place-names connected to Odin on the island. Unlike other Nordic societies, Iceland lacked a monarchy and thus a centralising authority which could enforce religious adherence; there were both Old Norse and Christian communities from
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