a look into the history and culture of the viking age · a look into the history and culture of the...

Bronze statuette possibly representing the god Thor. National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík

Who Were the Vikings? A look into the History and Culture of the Viking Age Week 5: May 22nd, 2015

This Week

•Catching Up on Viking Art •Mythology and religion

•The basics of Nordic mythology •Pagan religious practice? •Christianisation in a nutshell •Mythology ≠ Religion

Viking Art

Oseberg Style

Viking Ship Museum,

Oslo, Norway

Borre Style

Cultural History

Museum, Oslo, Norway

Jellinge Style

National Museum of

Denmark, Copenhagen

Moesgård Museum, Denmark

Mammen Style

National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen

Ringerike Style

Historical Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

Kulturen Museum,

Lund, Sweden

Urnes Style

Urnes, Norway

Ribes Vikinger museum, Ribe, Denmark

Gotlands Fornsal Museum, Visby,

Gotland, Sweden

Viking Art •Interlace, but not geometric or symmetrical. •Animal motifs, not plants. •Human figures. •Both narrative and decorative.

Viking Ship Museum, Oslo, Norway

University Museum, Bergen, Norway

The Great Beast

Jelling Museum, Denmark

The Gripping Beast


Trial pieces

Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde, Denmark

Kulturen Museum,

Lund, Sweden

Bunge Museum, Gotland, Sweden

Gotlands Fornsal Museum, Visby, Gotland, Sweden

Gotland, Sweden

Mythology and Religion in

Popular Culture

Terrible weak beer, Sweden

Chris Hemsworth’s gratuitous shirtlessness, courtesy of Marvel Studios

“Thor”? Stargate SG-1, © MGM

Mythology and Religion: Sources

Snorri Sturluson (1179 – 1241) •Prose Edda or Younger Edda (also Snorra Edda) •Preserving and explaining poetic and literary techniques, cultural heritage. •In explaining kennings, delves into quite a lot of mythology. •How to reconcile the Pagan past with Christianity? Euhemerism…

Saga Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland

Mythology and Religion: Sources •Kennings in Skaldic poetry. An example written by Earl Rögnvaldr of Orkney (12th century), in praise of the Viscountess Ermengard of Narbonne:

It’s a fact, wise woman, that your hair is prettier than that of the ladies with locks like Frodi’s meal. The prop of the hawk-field lets hair like golden silk fall onto her shoulders; I redden the eagle’s claws.

(Frodi’s meal = gold; hawk-field = arm, resting place of the hawk, its prop = woman; redden the eagle’s claws = provide the eagle with food in the form of corpses = be a victorious warrior and kill many enemies) Translation: Judith Jesch

Mythology and Religion: Sources •Kennings in Skaldic poetry. An example written by Arnor Thordarson (11th century), in praise of Thorfinn, earl of Orkney:

Bright sun will become black, earth will sink into dark sea, Austri’s burden will break, waves will cover mountains before a better chieftain than Thorfinn will be raised in these isles; may God help that liege of his hall-troop.

(Austri’s burden = the sky; these isles = Orkney and Shetland) Translation: Judith Jesch


•The Poetic Edda contains mythological poems. With Snorra Edda, one of our most important sources. •References to Norse gods and goddesses scattered throughout Old Norse literature. •Scandinavian writings: Saxo Grammaticus. •External references, such as Adam of Bremen, Ibdn Fadlan… •Place names and personal names: Tor-/Thor-; Odin-/Oden-; Frey-/Frö- etc. (Odense, Denmark; Thorsteinn/Torsten; Torslunda, Sweden; Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, etc.)


•Cognates and linguistic artefacts, such as the days of the week: •Tuesday = the day of Tiw = Tiwaz = Tyr (a god) •Wednesday = the day of Wodan = Odin (a god) •Thursday = the day of Thor (a god) •Friday = the day of Frigg (a goddess)

•Archaeology

•Statuettes and amulets/pendants •Sacrifices •Temples?????

•Iconography

•Carvings •English hybrid carvings (Cumbria) •Gotlandic picture stones

Basic Cosmology

Nine worlds linked by the World Tree

From Kevin Crossley-Holland’s “The Penguin Book of Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings”

Mythology: a Few Basics

•Creation myths: the world created out of fire and ice; the physical world from the body of the giant Ymir. •Two main races of gods: the Vanir (fertility gods), the Æsir (war gods). They come together in a truce after a bitter struggle and stalemate. •The main enemies of the Gods (and of people) are the Giants, forces of primal chaos. •The end of the world is foretold as a battle between the Gods and Giants called Ragnarök. A new world will be reborn afterwards. •Loki’s role…


•Other inhabitants of the worlds: •The Giants: enemies of the Gods, but… •Norns: “goddesses” of fate •Dwarves: dwellers of the underground, unsurpassed craftsmen… •Elves: sort of all-purpose spirits… more folkloric than properly mythological. •Dísir: female “guardian” spirits…


•Valkyries: “Choosers of the Slain”. Female warrior spirits who work for Odin, and select the worthy dead on battlefields and escort them to Valhalla, welcome them, tend to them. Some shape-shifting powers? (Swan maidens) The role of the Valkyrie evolves in literature, sometimes just mortal women warriors.

Silver Valkyrie statuette from Hårby, Denmark (9th c.)

The Main Gods: Odin, the Allfather

•One-eyed, wears a broad-brimmed hat, carries a spear. •Shape-shifter who can change gender. •God of magic, war and death, wisdom, poetry, leadership. •The Mead of Poetry, Mimir’s Head… •Master of seiðr.

Does this statuette represent Odin?...

The Main Gods: Odin, the Allfather

•Accompanied by two ravens, Huginn (Thought) and Muninn (Memory). •Also accompanied by wolves. Ravens & wolves: beasts of battle. •Rides Sleipnir, the 8-legged horse. •Serves Fate and the Bigger Picture: can be deceitful.

Odin, from an 18th c. Icelandic manuscript.

Odin, the Allfather

•Sends Valkyries to choose the souls of the slain in battle to come to Valhalla – Valhöll – in preparation for Ragnarök. •Self-sacrifice on the World Tree… •To gain wisdom and the knowledge of Runes. •Christian overtones?

Illustration from 1832

Silver statuette found at Lejre, Denmark (only in 2009!) Does this statuette represent Odin dressed as a woman?...

The Main Gods: Thor, the Protector

•Son of Odin. Big, strong, re-bearded. Not the sharpest tool in the shed. Quick to anger, but quick to laugh. •Defender of humans and gods against the giants. •Wields the hammer Mjöllnir, a treasure made by Dwarfs. It always returns to his hand. •Many tales of his strength.

Does this statuette represent Thor? National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík

The Main Gods: Thor, the Protector

•Rides across the sky in a chariot pulled by goats. •The rumbling of his chariot is heard as thunder. •When his hammer strikes, the sparks it causes are seen as lightning.

Thor, from an 18th c. Icelandic manuscript.

The Main Gods: Freyr, the Bountiful •One of the Vanir: a fertility god. •Particularly associated with human fertility and good harvests: he is represented with an erect phallus (usually oversized), and associated with the sickle (harvest). •Rides a golden boar called Gullinbursti, made by the Dwarfs. •Has a ship, Siðblaðnir, which can be folded up and tucked into a pocket. •Brother of Freyja.

Does this statuette represent Freyr? Statuette from Rällinge, Sweden. Historical Museum, Stockholm.

Odin, Thor and Freyr?

Gotlandic picture stone, Historical Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

The Main Gods: Loki, the Trickster

•Son of two giants, god of mischief and cunning. •Shape-shifter who can change gender. •He is the father of the wolf Fenrir, the Midgard Serpent, and the goddess Hel. He is the mother of the horse Sleipnir.

Loki, from an 18th c. Icelandic manuscript.

The Main Gods: Loki, the Trickster

•Goes from being an entertaining trickster figure to the consummate traitor. •He sets in motion a series of events that brings about Ragnarök, the End of the World. •At Ragnarök, he fights alongside the giants against the gods.

Loki, guiding the blind Höðr to kill Baldr, from an 18th c. Icelandic manuscript.

Does this stone represent Loki? Moesgård Museum, Denmark

The Main Goddesses: Frigg, the mother •Wife of Odin. •Mother Goddess, associated with many domestic occupations (especially textile work, notably spinning) and childbirth. •She is the chief goddess.


The Main Goddesses: Freyja

•One of the Vanir, a fertility goddess. •Goddess of love and passion, sensuality, sex, fertility, but also death and magic. •After Odin, probably has the most de facto power in the Norse pantheon. •Gets a share of the souls of the dead.

Does this figurine represent Freyja? Figurine from Hägebyhöga, Sweden.

The Main Goddesses: Freyja

•Rides across the sky in a chariot drawn by cats. •Of unparalleled beauty: the giants are always trying to get a hold of her. •Her most prized treasure is the necklace Brisingamen, another treasure of the Dwarfs. •Associated with gold, amber and the Milky Way.


The Main Goddesses: Idunn •Goddess of youth and life. •Innocent and trusting, the “maiden” goddess. •She guards the Golden Apples that give the gods immortality and youth.

Statue from 1858

The Main Goddesses: Hel •Daughter of Loki. •Goddess of the Underworld, whence we get our word “Hell”. •Her realm is a cold, dark place, for those who die than in battle. •She is represented as half beautiful young woman, half decaying corpse.


Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse. Gotlandic picture stone, Historical Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

The Fishing Stone, Gosforth church, Cumbria, England

Gosforth Cross

Loki bound, Gosforth Cross, Cumbria, England

Víðarr forcing open the mouth of the wolf Fenrir, Gosforth Cross, Cumbria, England

The Differences between Mythology and Religion

•We know of mythological narratives and characters, and certain beliefs. •BUT we know very little, if anything at all, about actual religious practice (temples?). •Allusions in Christian sources (e.g. sacrifices, sculpted idols, magic/shamanism, eating horseflesh)… but are they trustworthy accounts? They might reflect Christian attitudes rather than Pagan ones…


•What evidence do we actually have of religion/ritual?

•Pre-Viking Age: sacrifices in bogs/wetlands •Conspicuous practices on high-status sites?

•Guldgubbar, conspicuous bone deposits, figural representations...

•Cult houses (Borg, Sanda, Uppåkra in Sweden...) •Not built like regular houses.

•Animal sacrifices? Yes. Good evidence. •Human sacrifice? Yes, especially in burial context (slaves accompany their masters in death?). But NOT on a large scale.

Possible reconstruction of the cult house at Uppåkra (Skåne, Sweden)

Hofstaðir, near lake Mývatn, northern Iceland


•Popular folklore and mythology and mythological narrative do not equate with religious practice. •For example: knowing a Christian parable, or a narrative element of the Old or New testament (e.g. the Flood, the Nativity) does not give any information about Christian religious service, mass, dogmatic points like the Eucharist, denominational differences, etc.


•Beware the hasty use of the word “worship”… •About popular mythology:

Imagine the following…


Imagine the following… •A Sky God: male, bearded, fatherly… •Represented riding in a sky chariot drawn by beasts… •Associated with the consumption of a special beverage…

•Neil Oliver (clip from BBC documentary “Vikings” (2012), part 1)…

Paganism vs. Christianity

•How much conflict was there? •Early Christian victims of raids (monastic sites): bad press. •The Anglo-Saxon view: Vikings as the Scourge of God. •Monotheism vs. Polytheism: dogmatic exclusivity vs. pluralism. •Early raids are for treasure, resources and land, NOT religiously motivated. •What about Thor’s Hammer pendants?

•An inspiration, rather than an antagonistic reaction…

Moesgård Museu, Denmark

National Museum of Denmark,

Copenhagen

Historical Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

Hedeby Viking Museum (Wikinger Museum Haithabu), Haithabu, Germany

National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík

Christian Conversion •In all cases, religious conversion is above all a POLITICAL phenomenon (& military and economic factors…) •In Denmark, Sweden and Norway, conversion is a top-down phenomenon starting with the highest élites (kings). •In Iceland, it is a legal decision, nonetheless dominated by and oligarchy of powerful land-owning élites. •Christianisation brings political, economic and cultural changes. Centralization of power, state-building… Everything gets closer to the European model: the end of the Viking Age.

Ribe cathedral, Denmark early 12th c. English influence.

Lund cathedral, Sweden (formerly Denmark) early 12th c.

Urnes stave church, Norway, late 11th / early 12th c.

Interlace decoration in the eponymous Urnes-style carved in wood on the portal of the Urnes

stave church (late 11th/early 12th c.), Norway

Heddal stave church, Norway, 13th c.

Borgund stave church, Norway, late 12th c.

Borgund stave church, Norway, late 12th c. Interior

a look into the history and culture of the viking age · a look into the history and culture of the...

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