jorgensen norse religion and ritual sites 2014 (2)

8/18/2019 Jorgensen Norse Religion and Ritual Sites 2014 (2)

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Homann · Kamp · Wemhoff (Hg.)Die Wikinger und das Fränkische Reich

Urheberrechtlich geschütztes Material! © 2014 Wilhelm Fink, Paderborn


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MSdes Instituts zur Interdisziplinären Erorschung des Mittelalters

und seines Nachwirkens, Paderborn

Herausgegeben vonK P. H, H K

und M W

Schrileitung:N K

Band 29

Paderborn 2014



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Kerstin P. Homann · Hermann Kamp ·Matthias Wemhoff (Hg.)

Die Wikinger und dasFränkische ReichIdentitäten zwischen

Konrontation und Annäherung

unter Mitarbeit von Nicola Karthaus

Wilhelm Fink



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Gedruckt mit Unterstützung des Exzellenzclusters 264 „opoi“.

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Umschlagabbildung:Der große Runenstein König Harald Blauzahns in Jelling.

Foto: Anne Pedersen.

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I

Vorwort der Herausgeber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

H KEinleitung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

K P. HAkkulturation und die Konstituierung von Identitäten.Einige theoretische Überlegungen anhand desFallbeispieles der hogbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

R SDie Gründe für den Ausbruch der Wikingerzügeund das fränkische Reich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

A PDie Wirkmächtigkeit von Feindbildern –Die Wikinger in den fränkischen und westfränkischen Quellen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

B M Die Begegnung mit dem Süden: Fränkische Rangzeichenund ihre Rezeption im wikingerzeitlichen Skandinavien . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

V H

Zwischen Innovation und radition.Der karolingische Einfluss auf das Münzwesen in Skandinavien . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

H S Mittelasien und der wikingerzeitliche Norden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

L JNorse Religion and Ritual Sitesin Scandinavia in the 6th–11th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

J P SPaganism and Christianity in the North.wo Religions – wo Modes of Religiosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265



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A P Jelling im 10. Jahrhundert – Alte Tesen, neue Ergebnisse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

J S Der Glaubenswechsel im Norden –Die Neukonzeptionalisierung Dänemarksunter König Harald Blauzahn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361



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Norse Religion and Ritual Sites in Scandinavia in the6th–11th Century

Over time the Norse mythology we know rom the Old Norse Eddic poetry andthe sagas has provided a ramework or a ascinating picture o the Norse religionin the time beore Christianity. Te pre-Christian religion in the North in the LateIron Age and Viking era, however, consists o much more than just myths and leg-ends about the anthropomorphic figures o the period. In the time shortly beorethe beginning o our era there was probably a change in the religious convictionsand activities o the people o the past. Names o Greek and Roman gods graduallybegin to appear in various linguistic sources related to the religion o the NorthernIron Age. Religion changed slowly, and in the course o the Iron Age there was achange in the identity o the religion. In parallel with a growing influence romthe classical Mediterranean area, mediated by among other things the expandingRoman Empire, the gods o the Late Iron Age and Viking era changed and took onthe orms amiliar rom the legends.

Our knowledge o the cosmological and mythological belies o the Viking Erais based primarily on the written sources o the post-Viking Middle Ages, which

describe the gods and heroes o the Vikings and the myths surrounding them.However, the picture we get rom the Icelandic sagas and the Eddic poetry cannotby itsel create a verifiable picture o the identity and activities o religion then.A credible account o the interplay that took place between the population thenand the pre-Christian cult, and the underlying organizational structure, requires ananalysis that encompasses not only the written remains, but in particular includesthe now extensive archaeological source material that is accessible today.

Archaeology and cult sites

In 1935–1942 the archaeologist Poul Nørlund conducted an excavation o theViking era ortress relleborg in Zealand. Besides the well known ort, which waserected around the year 980/981, a number o older wells and eatures rom theninth and tenth century were also ound (Figs. 1–2). In the wells entire skeletonso our children aged between 4 and 7 were ound, as well as a skull rom an adultman and several whole animal skeletons, ornaments and weapons, all o which canbe dated to the Viking era.

Poul Nørlund considered that these sensational finds belonged to “a sacred sac-rificial site”.1 Despite this, the eatures are rarely mentioned in modern research,

1 N, Poul: relleborg (Nordiske Fortivikstranddsminder Bind 4/1), København 1948.



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which or many years has more or less avoided discussing the potential identity o

the finds rom relleborg. One o the obstacles was that Nørlund’s interpretationcould not be directly supported by similar eatures, written sources or research.However, in recent years a number o new archaeological excavations have made

it possible to identiy archaeological remains that can be related to rituals associ-ated with the pre-Christian rites. It can now be demonstrated that the presumedcult sites varied. Te central settlements were not associated with just one cultic orsacrificial site, but several in the orm o cult buildings that were sited close to themagnates’ residences, as well as several sacrificial sites in the surrounding landscape.Te new knowledge now offers the potential or closer investigation, and today we

can arrive at a better understanding o the pre-Christian religion’s rites and theirorganization in the first millennium AD.Since the beginning o the 1990s a growing number o Scandinavian researchers

have been working on the theme in the light o the increasing number o archae-

Fig. 1: Plan o one building quarter at the garrison relleborg in Denmark. On the plan is empha-sized the ritual eatures rom the 9th–10th century beore the establishment o the military gar-rison in 980/981 AD. Tese comprise three wells with clearly associated ditch eatures. (AferN: relleborg [note 1], redrawn).



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ological excavations that have supplied finds ad eatures shedding light on aspectso the pre-Christian religion.2 Interdisciplinary work with these issues and relat-

2 A, Gunnar/S, Eva (red.): Gestalter och gestaltningar – om tid, rum ochhändelser på Lunda (Riksantikvarieämbetet Arkeologiska undersökningar Skrifer 72), Stockholm2008; C, om: Ældste Lejre?, in: Skalk 2008/6, pp. 18–24; C, om:Gudefigur, in: Skalk 2010/2, pp. 3–10; E, Bjarni F.: Blóthouses in Viking Age Farm-

stead cult Practices. New Findings rom South-Eastern Iceland, in: Acta Archaeologica 79 (2008), pp. 145–184; H, Margareta: Frösö kyrka på hednisk grund. Arkeologi i äll, skog ochbygd, 2 järnålder – medeltid, Uddevalla 1989, pp. 153–166; J, Jens/M, Hans- Jørgen:rækirke og stormandshal i Lisbjerg, in: Kuml 1995–1996 (1997), pp. 149–171; J, Lars:En storgård ra vikingetid ved issø, Sjælland – en oreløbig præsentation, in: L, Lars/H, Birgitta (eds.): Centrala Platser – Centrala Frågor (Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, ser. in8°, No. 28), Lund 1998, pp. 233–248; L, Lars/L, Karl-Magnus: Te EnigmaticHouse, in: L, Lars (ed.): Continuity or Centuries. A ceremonial building and its context atUppåkra, southern Sweden (Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, ser. in 8º, No. 48), Lund 2004, pp. 3–48;M, Ola/I, Elisabeth: Veitstu hvé blóta skal? Te Old Norse blót in the light o oste-ological remains rom Frösö Church, Jämtland, Sweden (Current Swedish Archaeology 18), Lund2010, pp. 223–250; N, Ann-Lili: Pagan Cultic and Votive Acts at Borg. An Expression o theCentral Significance o the Farmsted in the Late Iron Age, in: A, Hans/C, Peter/E, Lars (eds.): Visions o the past. rends and raditions in Swedish Medieval Archaeology(Riksantikvarieämbetet. Arkeologiska undersökningar 24 = Lund Studies in Medieval Archaeolo-gy 19), Lund 1997, pp. 373–392; N, Ann-Lili: Rituals and power. About a small buildingand animal bones rom the late Iron Age, in: A, Andrén/J, Kristina/R,Catharina (eds.): Old Norse religion in long-term perspectives. Origins, changes, and interactions.An International conerence in Lund, Sweden, June 3–7, 2004 (Vägar til midgård 8), Lund 2006, pp. 243–247; N, Britt-Mari: Offerlunden under Frösö kyrka, in: B, Stean (ed.): Jämt-lands kristnande (Projektet Sveriges kristnande. Publikationer 4), Uppsala 1996, pp. 65–85; N,Lena: Blóta, Sóa, Senda. Analys av djurben, in: S, Bengt (red.): Järrestad. Huvudgård i cen-tralbygd (Riksantikvarieämbetet Arkeologiska undersökningar Skrifer 51), Lund 2003, pp. 287–308;

S, Eva: Gudar och glassbägare – järnåldersgården i Lunda, in: A/S:Gestalter och gestaltningar (note 2), pp. 11–63; S H, Ann-Marie: Lilla Ullevi –en kultplats, in: B, Peter/G, Richard (red.): Makt, kult och plats. Högstatusmiljöerunder den äldre järnåldern. Kultplatser (Arkeologi i Stockholms län 5), Stockholm 2011, pp. 49–56;S: Järrestad (note 2); S, Bengt: Järnålderens Järrestad. Bebyggelse, kronologi,

Fig. 2: rellebor g ,Denmark. he sacrii-cial well B121 and theassociated ring ditchduring the excavationin 1937. Te well con-tained skeletons o two4-year-old children,three horses, two cows,our pigs, two sheep,a dog, a red deer and a peregrine alcon. Pho-

to: Roar Skovmand/NMK.



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ed social and religious aspects has mainly been conducted by Swedish research-ers.3 oday the view that pre-Christian Norse religion was a conessional religionbased on specific texts has been abandoned. In the preserved written sources the

pre-Christian religion is called “orn siðr”, which can be translated as “the customso older times”. With this expression the Norse religion already appears ar moredifferentiated than the later Christian religion. Te pre-Christian religion involvedobvious possibilities or geographical and social differences, as well as variations inritual practice, expression and mental content. Already at this point, as the archae-ological traces are appearing in larger numbers, we can note variations in both timeand place. Not least, the growing archaeological find material means that we arebeginning to be able to identiy the traces o the pre-Christian rites.

tolkningsperspektiv, in: ibid., pp. 109–174; S, Bengt: Aristokratisk rum och gränsöver-skridande. Järrestad och sydöstra Skåne mellan region och rike 600–1100 (RiksantikvarieämbetetArkeologiska undersökningar Skrifer 62), Lund 2005; Z, orun: Te Holiness o Helgö,in: C, Helen/L, Kristina (eds.): Excavations at Helgö, vol. 16: Exotic and Sacral Findsrom Helgö, Stockholm 2004, pp. 143–175; Z, orun: Helgö – mer än ett vi, in: B,Peter/G, Richard (red.): Makt, kult och plats. Högstatusmiljöer under den äldre järnåldern(Arkeologi i Stockholms län 5), Stockholm 2011, pp. 79–88; Å, Cecilia: Hall och harg. Detrituella rummet, in: E, Kerstin/K, Anders (eds.): Religion rån stenåldar till medeltid.Artiklar baserade på Religionsarkeologiska nätverksgruppens konerens på Lövstadbruk den 1–3december 1995 (Riksantikvarieämbetet Arkeologiska undersökningar Skrifer 19), Linköping 1996, pp. 105–120.

3 A, Anders: Platsernas betydelse. Norrön ritual och kultplatskontinuitet, in: J, Kris-tina/A, Anders/R, Catharina (eds.): Plats och Praksis. Studier av nordisk örkristenritual (Vägar til midgård 2), Lund 2002, pp. 299–342; G, Anne-Sofie: Te material cul-ture o Old Norse religion, in: B, Stean (ed.) in collaboration with Neil P: Te Viking World, Oxon 2008, pp. 249–256; H, Lotte: Iron Age myth and materiality. An Archaeologyo Scandinavia AD 400–1000, Oxon 2011; H, Anders: Te religion o the Vikings, in:B: Viking World (note 3), pp. 212–218; J, Lars: Pre-Christian cult at aristocraticresidences and settlement complexes in southern Scandinavia in the 3rd–10th centuries AD, in: F, Uta/F, Herwig/W, Egon (eds.): Glaube, Kult und Herrschaf.Phänomene des Religiösen im 1. Jahrtausend n. Chr. in Mittel- und Nordeuropa. Akten des 59. Inter-nationalen Sachsensymposions und der Grundprobleme der rühgeschichtlichen Entwicklung imMitteldonauraum (Kolloquien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte 12), Frankurt a. M. 2009, pp. 329–354; J, Lars/G, Bjarne/A, Jette/G, Hans Christian: At ordne min verden – billeder a inuits og nordboernes mentale landskaber gennem 4500 år., in: A N,Marita (red.): Grønlands ascinationskraf. Fortællinger om polarorskningen. Et estskrif til HendesMajestæt Dronning Margrethe II ved 40-års-regeringsjubilæet 2012 (Det Kongelige Danske Viden-skabernes Selskab), Viborg 2012, pp. 69–83; S, Olo: Uppsala och Asgård. Makt, offeroch kosmos i orntida Skandinavien, in: A, Anders/J, Kristina/R, Catha-rina (eds.): Ordning mot kaos – studier av nordisk örkristen kosmologi (Vägar til midgård 4), Lund2004, pp. 145–179; S, Olo: Te universe o myths – On the powers and their dwell-ings, in: A, Anders/C, Peter (eds.): Odin’s Eye – Between people and powers in the pre-Christian North (Skrifer. Stadshistoriska avdelningen, Dunkers kulturhus 6), Jälsingborg 2006, pp. 267–273; S, Olo: Cult Leaders, rulers and religion, in: B:Viking World (note 3),

pp. 223–226; V, Per: Gudarnas platser. Förkristna sakrala ortsnamn i Mälarlandskapen(Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi 77 = Studier till en svensk orthnamnsatlas 17), Uppsala2001; V, Per: Jämtland mellan Frö och Kristus, in: B: Jämtlands kristnande (note 2), pp. 87–106; V, Per: Berget, lunden och åkern. Om sakrala och kosmologiska landskab urortnamnens perspektiv, in: A/J/R: Ordning mot kaos (note 3), pp. 317–341.



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Te pre-Christian rites

niu haborumR, niu hangistumR HaþuwulfR gaf j[ar] ...With nine bucks [and] nine stallions, HaþuwulfR (Höðulfr) gave fruitful year ...

Te runic text, which is probably rom the seventh century, orms the introductionto a longer inscription on the Swedish rune stone rom Stentofen in Blekinge.4 Te text ragment, which comprises the first three lines on the rune stone, is inter-

preted today as a so-called blot inscription, where the erector o the stone, Haþu- wul R, gives nine bucks and nine stallions as a gif to the gods to ensure a goodharvest.5 Blot was the Old Norse word or sacrifice/sacrificial rite, and the expres-sion could encompass various actions in the pre-Christian religion. Unortunatelythe medieval sources only sporadically mention the actions, orms and unctionso the various rites. In contrast, the sources – and not least the researchers – haveto a ar greater extent dealt with the Norse myths, since the medieval literatureelucidates these aspects ar better. I we sum up the inormation in the medievalsources, they seem to involve indications o the existence o three central rites inthe Norse, pre-Christian religion: the gift offering, the communion offering and the

propitiatory offering .6 oday archaeology is well on its way to fleshing out these rites with new archaeological finds.

We see probably the gift offering represented in the introductory lines on therune stone rom Stentofen in Blekinge, where the interpretation is underscored

by the use in the text o the Old Norse “gaf” = gave. Te gif offering was mainlyused in connection with the seasonal or calendar rites where offerings were madeto ensure a good harvest and peace – “blóta til árs ok friðjar” or as sacrifices orthe crops – “blóta til groðrar”.7 In the inscription on the stone rom Stentofen,HaþuwulR gave or sacrificed a number o animals to achieve a good yield o crops.Te task o archaeology is now to document this rite. Te ultimate gif offering isdescribed in the 11th century by the German historian Tietmar o Merseburg,

who mentions that the Danes had a centre at Lejre in Zealand, where they gatheredevery nine years and sacrificed 99 humans, horses, dogs and chickens etc. to the

gods.8Te communion offering was probably the most common sacrifice in the Scan-dinavian cult. It involved among other things blot and ceremonial meals where

people shared their meal with the god or gods in collective easts. Te offeringbelongs to the calendar rites with sacrifices o large animals, ritual meals and liba-

4 S, Lillemor: Eine Blutoperinschrif aus dem südschwedischen Blekinge. Eine Neudeutungder einleitenden Zeilen des Stentofener Steines, in: FMASt 27 (1993), pp. 241–252, pp. 248ff.

5 Ibid., passim; N, Britt-Mari: Blot. ro och offer i det örkristna Norden, Stockholm 2002,

p. 33.6 N: Blot (note 5), pp. 25ff.7 Ibid., p. 37.8 M: Chronik, ed. von Robert H (MGH SS rer. Germ. n. s. 9),

Berlin 1955 (übersetzt nach der Freiherr vom Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe 9, Darmstadt 1957).



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tions in the orm o ritual beer drinking and then offerings o liquids/beer to thegods. Te libation offering is described in the marginal remarks on Adam o Bre-men’s account o the nine days o easting in connection with the great nine-yearly

blot in Uppsala. Judging rom the written sources, these sacrificial meals may havelef distinct archaeological find material in the orm o among others things oodremains and possible traces o the great beer production.

The propitiatory offering is the third sacrificial type mentioned in the writtensources. It ofen takes the orm o a great, dramatic offering including human sacri-fices, or example when the relations between man and the gods are to be restored.According to the Ynglinga saga, or example, the Swedish King Domald, one o thefirst mythical kings o the Yngling line, was sacrificed to re-establish contact withthe gods.

Te elite and religion

oday we have increasing opportunities or archaeological identification o the pre-Christian rites in the various accounts given by the written sources. Against thebackground o new archaeological investigations that relate the magnates’ residencesto the religious activities, it is possible to build an interpretative model that pro-

vides a more specific account o the unction o the elite and the organization o the pre-Christian cult. Such an elucidation takes its point o departure in the magnates’

residences as well as the settlement eatures that in all likelihood belonged to people rom the absolute elite. Te reason or this is not a theory that the elite alone practiced the cult, but rather that the primary archaeological sources in the ormo ritual objects, cult buildings and sacrificial complexes are mainly associated withthe magnates’ residences. Tese large settlement complexes very likely unctionedas supraregional cult centres to which the rest o the population came at certain

periods. At several sites one sees an accumulation o a large number o pit-housesthat may well have unctioned as temporary dwellings or the population o anarea when they met at the site, or example during the large religious gatherings in

connection with the seasonal blot easts.9 oday a number o intriguing new archae-ological sites give us new insights into the rites and activities that took place inconnection with the great religious easts in the 6th–11th centuries in the North.

oday the finds show that the hof and hörgr o the Norse Eddic poetry were inte-grated into the building structure o the elite residences as early as the third cen-tury AD.10 Special enclosed areas around presumed cult buildings in connection

with central hall buildings have been identified at several southern Scandinavian

9 N J, Anne/J, Lars/G , Lone: Assembly Sites or

Cult, Markets, Jurisdiction and Social Relations Historic-ethnological analog y between North Scan-dinavian church towns, Old Norse assembly sites and pit house sites o the Late Iron Age and VikingPeriod, in: B, Linda et al. (red.): Arkæologi i Slesvig/Archäologie in Schleswig. Sonderband “Det61. Internationale Sachsensymposion 2010”, Haderslev, Danmark, Neumünster 2011, pp. 95–112.

10 J: Pre-Christian cult (note 3), pp. 349.



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magnates’ residences. Tis is the case or example at the large residence at Järrestadin Scania,11 Lisbjerg,12 Lejre Kongemarken13 and Erritsø in Jutland.14 o these wecan add a number o settlements where several smaller buildings have been noted,

succeeding one another and directly connected with the prestigious hall. Tis hasbeen demonstrated at the residence in Lejre,15 at Borg in Västmannland16 and at theSwedish site at Lunda in Sörmland.17 Te sites also have many other structures andeatures which can very probably be associated with activities and actions related tothe pre-Christian religion. In the ollowing an overview with some o the sites willbe presented, covering a number o the most notable sites in Scandinavia.

Elite residences and cult activities

Aristocratic sites that were ounded in the 6th–7th century make up a new and sec-ond generation o elite residences that succeed the first generation rom the EarlyIron Age such as Gudme, Uppåkra and Helgö.18 So ar we are not able to demon-strate any sites o the new type o residences such as issø and Lejre with such anearly dating in West Denmark. Te West Danish aristocratic sites such as Lisbjergand Jelling seem to have been established at the earliest in the eighth or more prob-ably in the ninth century. However, new excavations can change this odd picture.But this clear regional difference between East and West Denmark may also be dueto undamental differences in the ownership o land and other social aspects. Com-

pared with the first-generation sites, the structure and organization have changedin the later places. Te many permanent arms with craf activities ound at Gudmeand on Helgö do not appear at these places, where they seem to have been super-seded by seasonal market places. Only at the old sites rom the first generation doesthe Late Roman organizational picture continue with a large residence surroundedby sedentary arms with a combination o craf production and arming.

Lunda, Sweden (4th–7th cent.)

Te extremely interesting Swedish settlement complex rom Lunda in Söderman-land reflects the fine find situation in central Sweden, where the prehistoric set-

11 S: Järnålderens Järrestad (note 2); S: Aristokratisk rum (note 2).12 J, Jens: Stormandsgården ved Lisbjerg kirke, in: Kuml 2004, pp. 161–180.13 C: Gudefigur (note 2).14 C, Mohr Peter: Erritsø, in: Skalk 2009/4, pp. 9–15.15 C, om: Lejre – syn og sagn, Roskilde 1991; C, om: Hallen i Lejre, in:

C, Johann/R, Erik (eds.): ...Gick Grendel att söka det höga huset... Arkeologiska

källor till aristokratiska miljöer i Skandinavien under yngre järnålder. Seminarium Falkenberg 1995,Halmstad 1997, pp. 47–54; J: En storgård ra vikingetid (note 2).16 N: Pagan Cultic (note 2); N: Rituals and power (note 2).17 A/S: Gestalter och gestaltningar (note 2).18 C. J, Lars: Pre-Christian cult (note 3).



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tlements can be ound in almost ossilized condition without later disturbances.Te Lunda settlement shows continuity back to the 4th–5th century, 19 but its mostinteresting period is the 6th–7th century, when it clearly unctioned as an elite resi-

dence. Lunda probably had the same unction in the 4th–5th century, but not withthe same imposing architecture. In the course o the 8th–9th century the place lostits special status, and finds rom the later periods are very scarce. Lunda is a fineexample o the link between an elite residence and its related ritual sacrificial site.

Te residence was dominated in the 6th–7th century by a hall c. 50 m long sitedon a large stone-built terrace (Fig. 3). At the western end o the hall a concentrationo quern stones has been ound, and the finds rom the building indicate that it

was a residence with related unctions. Immediately south o the main building a

19 A/S: Gestalter och gestaltningar (note 2).

Fig. 3: Lunda, Södermanland in Sweden. Te residence in the 6th century is dominated bythe large main building placed on a stone terrace. Just south o the house is the east hallsituated on another stone terrace. Marked are the find spot or the figurines A–C shown in

Fig. 4. (Afer A/S: Gestalter och gestaltningar [note 2]).



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smaller building stood on a terrace with stone oundations. Te bulk o the glassragments ound at the settlement area come rom this terrace. Tere is much toindicate that there was a smaller building reserved or libation rituals here. Te rela-

tions between the two buildings in Lunda greatly resemble the situations at Gudmeand Helgö, where the great main building also probably unctioned as a residence, while the side buildings housed a variety o rituals. Among the evidence o ritualaspects at Lunda we should also count three small male figures rom the fifh cen-tury ound in the area by the two buildings (Fig. 4). wo o them were ound inconnection with a small building just by the north wall o the large residence, whilethe third figure comes rom a stone paving between the hall and the ritual buildingsouth o it. Lunda’s representative and ritual unctions are also emphasized by acollection o very large cooking pits in the area north o the hall. Large quantitieso ood must have been prepared there or use in connection with the ritual mealsand blot easts.

Just over 100 metres west o the large arm an open sacrificial site laid out ona 140 m long, 10 m high rock ridge was investigated.20 More than 50 stone pav-ings and stone-reinorced terraces had been built up on the ridge (Fig. 5). Culture

layers, fireplaces, metal objects, beads, pottery, fired clay, lumps o resin and burnthuman and animal bones were ound by and among these eatures. Te highly var-ied eatures o the site and the composition o the finds suggest that it was probably

used in connection with a wide range o rituals. Among the finds one notes espe-

20 A, Gunnar: Pärlor ör svin – den heliga lunden och rituel praktik i Lunda, in: A/S: Gestalter och gestaltningar (note 2), pp. 65–129, pp. 65ff.

Fig. 4: Tree small figurines A–C o gilded bronzeand gold rom probably the 5th century at Lunda.(Afer A/S: Gestalter ochgestaltningar [note 2]).

Fig. 5: Part o the open air ritual site at Lunda,Sweden. More than 50 stone settings were con-structed during the ritual use o the site. (AferA/S: Gestalter och gestalt-ningar [note 2]).



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cially many glass beads, arrowheads, knives and other cutting implements that hadbeen deposited among the many eatures o the site. Tese do not represent a singledeposition, but continuous activity and small depositions over a long span o years.

Te carbon-14 datings point to a very long-lasting use o the ritual site – rom 500BC to 1500 AD.Te find picture at the site has many similarities to that o the open sacrificial siteat Helgö and a new ritual site rom the 8th–10th century at the settlement com-

plex at issø in Denmark (see below). A wide range o small objects is mixed withremains o ritual meals. Te animal bones rom Lunda, or example, show a marked

predominance o pig , even in the orm o suckling pigs; an indication that a high-status environment was associated with the use o the site. However, among thebone material rom the ritual meals human bone material also appears in the ormo skull ragments.21 Human bones have also been identified in connection withthe ritual site investigated at issø (see below). Te appearance o human bones atclear ritual sites rom the 6th–10th century such as relleborg, Lunda and issøshows that human sacrifices were part o the religious world in the Late Iron Ageand Viking Era. Several other sites with human sacrifices rom the same period arealso on their way in both Denmark and Sweden.

Tissø, Denmark (6th–11th cent.)

Te best elucidated o the second-generation complexes is the site at Lake issøin western Zealand.22 Te settlement is situated on the west bank o the lake at adistance o some seven kilometres rom the coast. Te total settlement area is about50 hectares. Over the past 100 years there have been finds o sacrificed weapons,

jewellery and tools rom the 6th–11th century at the bottom o Lake issø. Tebulk o the objects are swords, axes and lances rom the Viking Age. At the presentbridge over Halleby River.

In its lietime o more than 300 years the later residence o course underwentmany changes and we can trace its development in size, structure and building types

through our main phases. Te first two main phases 1–2, which cover the 8th–9thcentury, show a complex that gradually grows in size, both in overall area and in thenumber o buildings (Fig. 6). A monumental hall o c. 350 m2 orms the centre othe complex. In the eastern part o the hall shards rom drinking-glasses have beenound as well as a tuning-peg or a lyre, a Frisian sceatta in mint condition rom thelate seventh century and a ew other metal objects. A large number o animal bonesinclude those o ‘aristocratic’ birds like osprey and spoonbill. Te western hal o

21 Ibid., pp. 80.

22 J, Lars: Manor and Market at Lake issø in the Sixth to Eleventh centuries: Te Danish‘Productive’ Sites, in: P, im/U, Katharina (eds.): Markets in Early MedievalEurope. rading and ‘Productive’ Sites, 650–850, Bollington 2003, pp. 175–207; J, Lars:issø, in: RGA, vol. 20 (2005), pp. 619–624; J, Lars: Manor, cult and market at Lakeissø, in: B: Viking World (note 3), pp. 77–82; J: Pre-Christian cult (note 3).



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the hall, on the other hand, is largely devoid o finds except or among other thingsragments o a dish o copper alloy. Tis highly characteristic find distributionshows that the prestigious activities such as banquets and ritual meals took place in

the eastern part, while the western part was probably a private area. Associated withthe hall is a smaller enclosed area, which underwent major rebuilding afer it wasestablished. Troughout the process a smallish building was inside the enclosure.

Fig. 6: issø, Denmark. Te elite residence at Fugledegård in Phase 2, primarily rom the eighth

and possible the earliest ninth century. Te residence area is c. 15.000 m2

, parts o which towardsthe east have been dug away by modern gravel quarrying. In the south ences one sees a gate c. 4 m wide. A number o pit-houses and a orge in the north are the only other buildings apart romthe hall and the small enced-in cult building. Te residence is dominated by eatures related to pre-Christian cult activity, and the absence o utility buildings is conspicuous. Te pit-housescontain an inventory o finds that suggests that they also had more ritual unctions.



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Te combination o hall and enclosure can be traced through Phases 1–3, while a varying number o buildings can be seen in the other residence area.

Associated with the hall area are a number o eatures whose purpose should

probably be viewed in connection with ritual unctions related to the hall and thespecial enclosure. Immediately North West o the hall lay a large heap o severalcubic metres o stones. Tere were no finds among the stones, and no traces o char-coal or soot to suggest cooking stones. Similar mainly sterile heaps o fire-brittlestones have been noted at the magnates’ residences in Lejre and Järrestad in south-ern Sweden. Another interesting area was ound in the northernmost part o theresidential complex, where there was a pit-house. East o this was the orge o thecomplex, and beside this thick deposits were ound with culture layers containinganimal bones, charcoal and other objects, or example new strike-a-lights, sicklesand other tools. Clearly this is no ordinary reuse, and the deposits seem to be theresult o deliberate deposition. Looking at the appearance o the large residencein Phase 2, it is striking that the whole area o the complex is ull o eatures andbuildings, which on the whole appear to have been connected with pre-Christianrituals. Tere seems not to be any distinct utility buildings, unless they lay in theeastern part, which has been dug away. Even the three pit-houses seem to haveunctioned as ritual eatures, judging rom their distinctive find inventory. Tere isevery indication that the complex did not unction as a production unit, but thatthe resources were brought to the complex.

In the later Phases 3–4 rom the 10th–11th century the complex reached its

peak with a crof area o at least 25,000 m2. A new and considerably larger hall suc-ceeded the older one (Fig. 7). Te floor area was probably c. 500 m2. In its predeces-sor five pairs o stout posts ormed the roo-bearing structure o the building, butthe roo-bearing construction was not so deeply embedded in the new building.Instead a heavy wall construction can be seen in the orm huge post holes or slant-ing supporting posts. Te missing, smaller roo carrying post was probably oundedin the artificial house terrace that the house clearly had been placed on. Tis washeavily damaged by later cultivation. Te actual course o the wall and doorposts isentirely missing, except or a pair o gable posts. Tis might indicate that both the

walls and the roo-bearing posts had oundation stones that have been ploughedaway today. Quantities o large stones were ound lying in the gravel pit immediate-ly east o the hall, and these had been removed rom this area in connection with

ploughing. Tey may well have been the oundation stones o the house.Te monumental hall was the representative public ace o the magnate’s resi-

dence, while the related special area with the single building undoubtedly had aspecial unction. A phosphate analysis conducted beore the excavation showeda higher concentration in this very area, indicating ploughed-up bone material.

Within the residential area many amulets and items o jewellery were ound with

motis rom Norse mythology: Tor’s hammers, pendants with valkyries and cos-tume pins with possible Odin images. Tere are relatively ew finds rom the area, which suggests a low level o activity as ar as the handling o objects is concerned.Te same is true o the halls. Te buildings are moreover better and more solidly



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constructed than the presumed utility and residential buildings o the complex. Inthe two oldest phases there was also direct access rom the west end o the halls tothe special area. Only in Phase 3 was the enced-in area separated rom the hall.

I we put the elements together, the picture emerges o a magnate’s residentialcomplex surrounded by a pre-Christian ritual landscape (Fig. 8). Within a distance

Fig. 7: issø, Denmark.Te residence in Phase3, probably late 9thearly 10th century, is very different rom the previous phase 2. Manymore buildings havebeen added in severaltempi and the complexunction as a centre o power is evident. he9th and 10th centu-ries also represents theheight in the activitylevel at the large settle-ment complex.

Fig. 8: Te ritual landscape around the presumed royal building complex rom the 6th–11th century atissø. Six areas with ritual unctions rom the Viking Period have been identified so ar. 1: Te residence with cult building and ritual eatures. 2: Weapon and jewellery offerings in Lake issø. 3: An open ritu-al site with sacrifices and traces o meals. 4: Offerings o a tool chest and sword in Halleby river. 5: A well with animal offerings in the market area . 6: Horse sacrifices in the bog area Maderne. Photo: PerPoulsen/NMK.



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o about 1 km, at conspicuous points in the landscape, six sites have so ar beendemonstrated, all involving a variety o ritual unctions during the Viking Era.Troughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in the lake itsel, whose name

derives rom the god ir/yr, swords, lances, axes and ornaments, mainly rom theViking Era, have been ound. Te distribution o finds immediately below the actu-al residential area suggests that these are objects that were sacrificed individually. Inthe small river Halleby Å, which demarcates the 50 hectare settlement area towardsthe south, a tool chest has been ound containing among other things a templateor casket mountings rom the tenth century and a ew swords. owards the west,the settlement is demarcated by the bog area Maderne, where numerous horsebones, probably rom sacrifices, have been ound. A number o human skeletons inthe same area seem so ar to belong to sacrifices rom the Early Iron Age.

On a hilltop a ew hundred metres west o the actual residence, there is a systemo pits rom which clay was extracted or the erection o the monumental buildingso the residence. In the same area, clear traces o ritual meals in the orm o bonereuse and fire-brittle stones have been ound mixed with deposited silver objects,coins, ornaments and glass beads rom the 8th–10th centuries, indicating thatthe large construction works were accompanied by several kinds o rituals – bothgif offerings and ritual meals. Te finds also include a ew human bones datedc. 700 AD – contemporaneous with the building o the first residence at the ooto the hill.

Finally, in the related market-place area north o Halleby Å, a two-metre deep

well was investigated whose content, especially o skulls and limb bones rom sev-eral animals – horses, bulls, cows, pigs, dogs and goats – indicates a unction as asacrificial site related to ritual meals in the 9th–10th century (Fig. 9). A clear stra-tigraphy, where depositions o animal parts are separated by g yttja deposits romquiet periods without activity, shows that the sacrifices took place over a long peri-od starting in the early ninth century. Te sacrificial layers o the well were probablysealed in the tenth century with a large boulder weighing 3–400 kg, which was

Fig. 9: issø, Denmark. Profilesection through the possibleritual well A1182 in the marketarea rom the 8th–10th century.Te finds rom the sequence odepositions consists primarilyo skulls and extremities rom 5 horses, 2 dogs, 2 bulls , 1 ramand 2–3 cows. o this shall beadded typical consumption waste such as bones rom sheepand pig. Te well was used in the9th and 10th century. Photo:Anne Birgitte Gotredsen/NMK.



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placed on top o the well. Te mould ragments rom tortoise brooches in the toplayers shows that this sealing was probably done in the tenth century.

oday the sites at issø are almost all nameless, but ritual sites o a similar char-

acter in the rest o Scandinavia show that they ofen had sacral toponyms appro- priate to their unction.23 Te sites at issø testiy to a very deliberate organizationo the landscape, and their various characters are a clear indication that there weredifferences in their ritual unctions: offerings to a variety o gods, temporal/sea-sonal differences in the rituals etc. Te picture rom issø illustrates how the rituallandscape in the close surrounding area o an elite residence was structured. Moreor less all characteristic places in the landscape were charged with a psychologicalsignificance which meant that a number o rituals were associated with them. Tedensity o the sites shows that the Vikings had superimposed their cosmologicalunderstanding on the surrounding environment. Te people o the Viking Age hadin other words organized these ‘mental’ landscapes, where their religious world-

picture was given highly physical and concrete expression. issø offers us uniqueinsights into the complexity o these landscapes at the local level. Te existence osimilar organized landscapes, but o a ar greater geographical extent, is shown to usby the picture that emerges rom the almost ‘ossilized’ place-name environments.Especially in the Swedish landscapes.24

Järrestad, Sweden (6th–11th cent.)

Järrestad in Scania is in many ways a parallel to the issø complex in Denmark.Like many o the eastern Scandinavian sites belonging to the second generation othe aristocratic places, the magnate’s residence at Järrestad was established in thesixth century.25 Unortunately the site was investigated in connection with roadbuilding, and this meant that only the actual course o the road was excavated. It

was thereore only the central hall area that was investigated, and the overall sizeand structural development o the complex is unortunately unknown. However,the excavation o the hall area has resulted in very interesting finds and a picture o

development very like the one rom issø. Järrestad was established in the last parto the sixth century and abandoned some way into the eleventh century. As at theissø complex one can trace the development o Järrestad through several phases,but because o the absence o preserved encing the relative chronological develop-ment o the complex is only well elucidated by the stratigraphy (Fig. 10). Despitethe great question marks surrounding the structural development, there is much tosuggest that Järrestad had a development like that o issø.

23 V: Berget, lunden och åkern (note 3).24 V, Per: Jämtland mellan Frö och Kristus, in: B, Stean (red.): Jämtlands kristnande(Projektets Sveriges kristnande 4), Uppsala 1996, pp. 87–106; V: Gudamas platser (note 3);B: Viking World (note 3).

25 S: Järrestad (note 2); S: Aristokratisk rum (note 2).



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However, in this context it is in actthe well-documented hall area that isimportant. In Järrestad Phase 2 we see

an enclosed special area built together with the hall walls in the same way as inissø Phase 1–2. Within the enclosurethere is a smaller but solidly constructedbuilding. In one o the post-holes o thebuilding an offering o tools had beendeposited. As at issø we also see high-er phosphate levels in and immediatelyaround this enclosure. About 30 metreseast o the hall, in a wet depression, anarea was investigated where up to 60 m3 o fire-brittle stones had been deposited.As at issø and Lejre, there were hardlyany finds in the striking stone layers. Onthe other hand there were a number o

wells in same area that could be dated tothe 9th–10th century. One o the wells

was actually a succession o wells estab-lished in the same place. Te finds in the

wells included a considerably quantityo animal bones (horse, cattle, sheepand pig). Tere were a markedly higher

percentage o horse skulls in particu-lar.26 Te animal bones ound have beeninterpreted as sacrifices, and Järrestad isthereore one o the first places where

possible sacrificial wells have been oundsince the excavation o the wells at rel-

leborg. At Järrestad the many skulls andlimb-bones have been seen as indicatingthat these parts were separated out orsacrifice in connection with the ritualblót meals. Te central hall area at Jär-restad thus exhibits several o the ele-ments and cultic eatures demonstratedat the other elite residence complexes:an enclosed cult area, sacriicial wells

and heaps o fire-brittle stones.

26 N: Blóta, Sóa, Senda (note 2), pp. 287ff.

Fig. 10: Järrestad, Sweden. Plan o the develop-

ment o the residence area in our main phases.Te structure o the residence area is very similar tothat o issø, with the hall and the related enclo-sure with a smaller building. (Afer S:Aristokratisk rum [note 2]).



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Other open-air ritual sites

oday we know a number o ritual sites in Scandinavia which cannot be directly

identified as parts o settlements, or example the cult buildings at the magnates’residences rom issø, Lejre and Järrestad. On the ace o it they seem to be sited inthe open landscape, but probably they are sites o the same character as the sacrifi-cial grove at Lunda and the ritual site in connection with the clay extraction area atthe issø complex. Tey are perhaps ritual sites placed in the open landscape, butassociated with a high-status settlement nearby. Te character o the eatures andthe quality o the finds indicate that they may not represent private cult sites, butshould more likely be viewed in connection with as yet unlocalized elite residences.Te picture o the sites in the ritual landscape around the issø complex and theclear relationship between residence and sacrificial site in Lunda give us models orunderstanding the still context less ritual sites.

Lilla Ullevi, Sweden

One o the new, exciting finds o ritual sites in Sweden was investigated in 2007 atLilla Ullevi in Uppland just north o Stockholm.27 ‘Ullevi’ is a classic theophorictoponym with its origin in the Norse religion. Te name actually means ‘the sacred

place o the god Ull’. Ull is rarely mentioned in the Norse sources. However, the

geographical distribution o the Norse place-names indicates that he was primarilya god who was spread throughout eastern Scandinavia. A similarly limited geo-graphical distribution applies or example to the concentration o yr/ir topo-nyms in southern Scandinavia.

Te excavation at Lilla Ullevi revealed traces rom various periods. Te oldesteatures consisted o a large number o fireplace pits or cooking rom the Pre-Roman and Roman Iron Age. Tese eatures might indicate that in this period thesite unctioned as a gathering place where many people came in certain periods.Quite unique, though, are a number o special eatures and finds rom the 7th–8th

century. Te complex is dominated by a large stone platorm about 165 m2 in area with a couple o extensions at the sides (Fig. 11). Te orm o the constructiongreatly resembles the gable o a large hall building, and between the two wall-likeextensions there are also two pairs o posts. Te excavators believe that these mayhave borne a wooden construction.28 Both on and around the platorm, find-bear-ing culture layers show that activities took place in connection with the complex.Te area with the large stone platorm is enced in by rows o posts and pits whichdemarcate an area o c. 2000 m2. Within this area and close to the platorm 4–5

post groups have been noted, consisting o three closely spaced posts that do not

27 S: Lilla Ullevi (note 2).28 Ibid., pp. 51.



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orm part o the building constructions, but which were probably in use in connec-tion with rituals at the platorm.

Te finds rom the complex comprise objects rom the 7th–8th century, and

mainly consist o more than 65 amulet rings that were ound both on and aroundthe stone platorm. In addition there are a ew fine costume mounts, arrow andlance heads, as well as ragments o among other things presumed seiðr or völvastaffs/wands; a body o material that seems to indicate that the elite participated inrites at the site. Te number o animal bones, on the other hand, was more mod-est, and the aunal material appears to include no noteworthy elements. Te ritualcomplex was sealed in the eighth century by covering it with a sand layer up to onemetre thick. Tis action thus seems to indicate a very deliberate ‘closing-down’ othe ritual complex.

Lærkefryd, Denmark

In the 1990s metal detector reconnaissance were carried out during a small excava-tion at the site Lærkeryd near the village o Jørlunde in north-eastern Zealand.29 As early as 1814, gold bracteates rom the fifh century had been ound there, andin the bog Rappendam Bog just a ew hundred metres rom Lærkeryd many wagon

wheels and parts had been ound earlier, as well as a human skeleton and animal

bones rom the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age and the Early Roman Iron Age. Te site

29 S, Søren A.: Metal detector finds rom Lærkeryd, Zealand. Votive offerings rom the RomanIron Age – Viking Period, in: Journal o Danish Archaeology 14 (2006), pp. 179–186.

Fig. 11: Lilla Ullevi, Upplandin Sweden. Arial photo o theritual site with the house shapedstone platorm during excava-tion. Photo © 2007 Hawkeye.



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at Lærkeryd seems to have succeeded the sacrificial site in Rappendam Mose, andlies on a hillside. When the gold bracteates were ound, a c. 30 cm thick black cul-ture layer with small stones was also ound at the site. Te dark culture earth could

still be seen during the excavation in 1992. Te excavation covered an area o c. 120 m2 and resulted in finds o 47 Roman denarii, 15 pieces o hack gold, five goldfinger rings, gilt bronze fibulae and pendants, hack silver in the orm o chopped-up horse harness, a sword hilt, an axe, an Arab dirham etc. (Fig. 12). Several othe larger objects show clear signs oritual destruction. he sword hilt,

jewellery and harness parts had allbeen chopped up. Most o the findsrom the site belong to the 3rd–6thcenturies, while the 7th–8th centuriesare very sparsely represented. Fromthe Viking Age, however, there area number o jewellery items and theArab dirham.

Lærkeryd in many ways recallsthe ind situation at the open sac-rificial site on the hill by the issøcomplex and the open ritual site atLunda. At Lærkeryd a striking black

culture layer was ound with smallstones that might indicate the cook-ing o meals, and all over the areathere were scattered inds o metalobjects. O actual traces o eaturesonly a ew post-holes and ireplace

pits were ound. No traces at all obuildings could be ound in the area.Te excavator also interprets the site

at Lærkeryd as a sacrificial site, andit is probably o the same character as the site on the hill at issø. In this connec-tion it should also be mentioned that the name o the nearby village, Jørlunde, isthought to mean ‘wild boar grove’ and thus to reer to a pre-Christian sacrificialgrove.

Frösö Church, Sweden

In 1984 Swedish archaeologists conducted excavations in Frösö Church in Jämt-land. Te church, which is on the island o Frösö in the lake Storsjön, has rootsgoing back to about 1100 (Fig. 13). Te church land still bears the name Hov, showing that in the Late Iron Age and Viking Age there was probably a large arm

Fig. 12: Finds rom the open ritual site Lærkerydin northeastern Zealand, Denmark. Te objects which were ound scattered over an area with adark culture layer cover a period o 700 years romthe 3rd–10th century. (Afer S: Metaldetectors [note 29]).



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at the place. In the excavations beneath the chancel o the church the archaeologistsound the unique traces o a Norse ritual site rom the Viking Age.30 Around theremains o a birch tree stump lay hundreds o bones rom at least seven bears andseven elks as well as several red deer, cows, sheep and pigs (Fig. 14). Alongside theanimals, skeletal parts o several humans were ound, but it is uncertain whetherthey belong to sacrifices or perhaps come rom later destroyed graves.31 When theexciting finds appeared, however, it seems almost too good to be true. Archaeology

30 H: Frösö kyrka (note 2).31 M/I: Veitstu hvé blóta skal (note 2).

Fig. 13: Te lake Storsjön in Jämtland, Sweden.In the oreground Frösö Church can be seen;beneath which traces o a Norse sacrificial sitehave been ound. Photo: omas Johansson/Laponia Pictures.

Fig. 14: Frösö Church, Jämtland. Norse sacrifi-cial site rom the VikingPeriod around a birchstumb. he scatteredbones represents 7 bears,7 elks, several red deer,cows, sheep and pigs.Furthermore, humanremains that perhapsderive rom laterdestroyed graves. (AferH: Frösö

kyrka [note 2]).



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now strengthened the supposition that there were realities behind the highly con-troversial statements about pre-Christian sacrificial rituals in among other sourcesthe Old Norse Eddic poetry and in medieval works. Not least Adam o Bremen’s

account rom the 1070s o the “pagan” temple in Uppsala, in which animals andhumans were said to have been sacrificed in connection with the great blot rituals, was re-examined.

O course the ascinating finds beneath the church inspired researchers to lookmore closely at the area around Storsjön. It turned out that the archaeological findsrom the Iron Age and Viking Era in the orm o settlements and burial sites havea clear tendency to be concentrated in localities with pre-Christian, sacral place-names. In the area round Storsjön alone there are today eight localities whosesacral place-name types testiy to sites that probably housed important religiousand political unctions: Ullvi, Odensala, Vi and no ewer than five localities called

Hov.32 Te last o these in all likelihood shows where the large arms o the Norse-men lay in the Late Iron Age and Viking Era. Originally, there were probably more

places with similar name types, but we cannot expect all the place-name environ-ments o the Viking Era to have survived until today. New names have supersededthe original ones, and the older name-strata disappeared rom memory and thusrom the sources. Te toponymic environment around Storsjön in Jämtland ishowever a good example o how, against the background o the almost ‘ossilized’

place-name contexts, we are still able to read off the Viking Era’s organization andunderstanding o the surrounding landscape in the first millennium AD – at the

religious as well as the political level.In the Late Iron Age and Viking Era Jämtland was an important resource area

where the Norsemen exploited large deposits o bog ore or iron production. Techaracteristic spade-shaped iron bars o the region have been ound scatteredover large parts o eastern Scandinavia. And to this we can add the Sámi hunters’

wide-ranging hunting or valuable urs that they traded with the Norsemen oramong other things iron tools, weapons and ornaments. Te iron and the fine skins

were in demand in Scandinavia and on the Continent. Te gathering and urtherdistribution to the Mälar area, or example, was controlled by Jämtland’s Norse

population, and the Storsjö area was a centre o their widely ramified network,through which the coveted resources were distributed.Te Norsemen thus shared the area with southern Sámi population groups who

had put down deep roots in the landscape over many centuries – in many ways asituation reflecting the one between the Norsemen and Inuit in Greenland. Norse-men and Sámi probably also had different understandings o the landscape, and

Jämtland thereore exhibits several mental and economic layers which are not allreflected, however, in the preserved place-names o the landscape; but here archae-ology steps in with its finds. For the Norsemen in Jämtland the border areas were

important, and the extent o the place-name environments perhaps reflects theborder region between their interior, known world and the external, alien world

32 V: Jämtland mellan Frö och Kristus (note 24), pp. 87ff.



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requented mainly by the Sámi groups. Te Norsemen transerred their cosmolog-ical world-picture to the surrounding landscape to create order and amiliarity, andthe traces o this can be seen preserved today in the characteristic Norse place-name

environments.

Organization o the pre-Christian cult

Te above review o a number o examples rom Scandinavia shows that at aris-tocratic residences one sees a certain pattern in terms o the organization o thecentral, prestigious area on the one hand, and o the closest hinterland on the otherhand.

Te main building, the actual residence, recurs in all the complexes described. With more or less all o them a smaller building is associated, or example at issø,Lejre, Järrestad, Lisbjerg and probably ofegård. In these cases the smaller buildingis seen to be surrounded by encing which is ofen built directly together with themain building.

he most signiicant residences in southern Scandinavia have shown thatthroughout the period they have included several buildings and structures thatunctioned as elements in pre-Christian rituals and activities. At the older complex-es the pattern can be seen to have consisted o a large main building accompaniedby a smaller hall building, as at Gudme or example. Tere seems to be a unctional

difference between the two buildings, in that a number o sacral activities took place in the smaller building, while more proane activities such as receptions andeasts took place in the large residence building. However, there are indicationsthat in the course o the 6th–7th century several unctions were moved rom thesmaller hall building to the large main building. At the magnate’s residence romthe 7th–11th century at issø, or example, it can be seen clearly that the large hall

was divided into a public area and a private area, while the enced-in cult buildingis on the whole without traces o activities other than a higher phosphate level,

which could be interpreted as evidence o sacrifices. Te development indicates

that the hall room, the ritual meals and the so-called blót easts moved to the largemain building. Te cult building perhaps unctioned or as a shrine or the statueso gods, sacral objects and sacrifices. Tis may be the picture we see at the issømagnate’s residence, where there was direct access rom the private area o the hallto the enced-in cult area, which indicates that the magnate was responsible ormaintaining the sacral objects kept in the building.

However, besides the two central buildings, there are a number o other eaturesand structures at the magnates’ residences which were clearly also involved in the

pre-Christian rituals. On the one hand there are the distinctive culture layers at

Helgö, Gudme, issø and Lejre, clearly containing objects deposited in connection with sacrificial rituals. In addition there are probably special pit-houses, amongother places at issø and Hogardar on Iceland, where special finds in the ormo keys, knives, tools, insular casket mountings and huge amounts o animal bones



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indicates a special unction. In connection with investigations o a pit-house onthe Icelandic Hofgarðr (‘lordly mansion’) Einarsson has proposed the idea that

pit-houses could also unction as blóthus (sacrificial house). o these eatures we

can add the large stone-heaps noted at the magnates’ residences at issø, Lejre and Järrestad, which should probably be seen as the results o cooking or brewing orritual blót eats.

Te picture o the issø residence in Phase II rom the eighth century is o acomplex where almost the whole organization seems dictated by the pre-Christiancult activities, or which the owner was clearly responsible. It is worth noting thatthis is the picture that seems to prevail in all the magnate complexes o this article.Not until the Viking Age do more economic actors appear to intrude in the ormo utility buildings. Te residences at this top level seem to have organized large

parts o a ritual landscape around them, as is evident or example rom the opensacrificial sites we see today at issø, Lærkeryd, Smørenge, Lunda and Lilla Ulleviin central Sweden. o these we can add the known sacrificial sites in the orm olakes and streams, several o which were probably also related to large residentialcomplexes o a similar character.

oday archaeology can document a highly varied picture o the pre-Christianrituals, which can be difficult to link or identiy with precise rites and concepts,and not least with their elements as mentioned in the early written sources. Testatements o the sources are heterogeneous and it can be difficult to uncover theoriginal layers o meaning in the texts. However, the archaeological material is

today so extensive that have overtaken the written sources. Te ritual site at Lakeissø clearly connected to the clay mining or building material in the 8th and9th century or the elite residence at Fugledegård gives a clear indication on theconnection between building activities and rituals.

Te extent o the traces afer the suspected rituals and buildings seems quitesignificant at the manors. Te rituals were not limited to one building or place,but took place at different locations perhaps depending on their background and/or nature. Te archaeological finds show that it is primarily the elite settlements,

which contain identifiable indicators in the orm o buildings, structures and ritu-

al objects. Te ordinary rural settlements apparently contain no similar findings, which may be due to the rituals might have had a different character. From the ruralsettlement are known many finds o particular deposited objects such as pottery,quern stones in the houses, but we do not see the continuity which the elite resi-dences can demonstrate. Perhaps the pre-Christian cult had a more private natureon the common residences, and thereore has not lef the significant archaeologicaltraces that have been documented at the elite residences.

We must assume that we are only in the recognition phase, where we now havethe opportunity to identiy sites and structures associated with the pre-Christian

religion. We need then to make the step rom recognition to a proper understand-ing o its organization, rituals and nature. Tere is a long way yet and it requiresan interdisciplinary collaboration between archaeology, religion, anthropology,history and a series o natural sciences in particular to clariy such ormation pro-



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cesses underlying the marked accumulation o cultural deposits at the open ritualsites. One eature we can ofen observe at the open ritual sites is that they tend tohave remains o both presumed ritual meals and sacrifices o small objects in the

orm o ornaments, weapons, ood etc. Apparently they were used both or gif andcommunion offerings. Tis is perhaps the case with some o the open sites on dryland that either the sites or the ormative events were multiunctional.

Based on the archaeological traces o the pre-Christian religion on the Scandi-navian sites, so we can at least see that we in the 9th–10th Century has a religion,

which partly seems very vigorous and whose rituals seem to be firmly embedded inmental world o the people. Tis is important or our understanding o the transi-tion rom the pagan to Christian religion.

From pre-Christian religion to Christianity

Human beings have always had a quite undamental need to understand the worldo which they have been a part or millennia. Mankind needed a well organized

world-picture in order to live in and understand the surrounding world. Dependingon the surrounding environment and the period, people have o course construct-ed changing cosmologies, but the undamental idea has on the whole remainedunchanged – to organize a comprehensible world-picture that could help to guidemankind saely through lie. Archaeological finds rom prehistoric and early his-

torical times ofen afford us a glimpse o – perhaps even real insight into – thecosmological worlds o the past. As a rule these are only ragments o pictures thatare ofen highly complex. But thanks to the ever growing number o archaeologicalexcavations and finds, as well as the historical accounts rom the Middle Ages othe pre-Christian Norse religion, our insight into the mental landscapes o earliergenerations is growing surely and steadily.

Both the Norse pre-Christian religion and Christianity were thereore con-structed with a view to the creation o a sae, understandable world. In this respect,regular, recurring rites were a very important element. Te same is true o the

minor arts, mainly in the orm o pendants and a wealth o amulets, which appearespecially in the Late Iron Age and Viking Era (Fig. 15). Tey have clear reerencesto the Norse mythology and the world o the gods. Teir unction was to protectthe wearer, in exactly the same way as the subsequent Christian cross pendants weremeant to saeguard their owners. Te gods and religious rites o the two religions

were perhaps different, but the purpose was the same.he archaeological picture shows is that the spatial organization o the

pre-Christian religion and its customs, forn siðr , must have been deeply ingrainedin the mentality and worldview o the population, given the temporal continuity

exhibited by many o these places. In connection with the introduction o Chris-tianity, it would thereore have been necessary to demonstrate cultic continuity atthe absolutely central places to obtain the acceptance o the population. Archae-ology can now finally begin to demonstrate the cultic continuity that Ola Olsen



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called or almost 50 years ago in his dissertation “Hørg, Hov og Kirke”.33 At placeslike Frösö and Uppsala in Sweden, Lisbjerg and Jelling in Denmark and Mære inNorway, continuity has been documented rom pre-Christian to Christian times.Tese earlier pre-Christian religious centres continued to play this role in the earlyChristian period. Tis demonstration o continuity was probably also necessary tolegitimize the position o both the ruling class and Christianity with the population.

Te transition rom the Norse religion to Christianity happened neither over-night nor in the reign o King Harald Bluetooth alone. It was a very long processthat started back in the early eighth century when the first missionary attempts canbe documented. By the early ninth century it is very likely that there were Christian

population groups in Denmark. In 826, or example, the Danish King Harald Klak was baptized during a stay at Ingelheim near Mainz with the Holy Roman EmperorLouis the Pious. Some o his ollowers were probably also baptized at the sametime, and a group o Christian magnates probably returned with Harald to Den-mark. Parts o the Danish elite in particular were thus Christian as early as the ninthcentury, and this can be confirmed by some objects with Christian motis (Fig. 16).

33 O, Ola: Hørg, Hov og Kirke. Historiske og arkæologiske vikingetidsstudier, København 1966.

Fig. 16: Te fine gold arm-ring with Golgata motivesrom Råbylille, Møn inDenmark is clear evidenceor the presence o Chris-tian individuals beore thetraditional dating o theconversion to the late 10thcentury. he armring isrom the late 9th century

or around 900 AD. Photo:Kit Weiss/NMK.

Fig. 15: Selection o smallamulet pendants rom theViking Period rom theissø complex in Denmark.Photo: Pia Brejnholt/NMK.



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Archaeology shows that in all probability it was the elite o the Viking Era who were responsible or most o the rites and rituals o the pre-Christian religion. Con-trol o religion was one o the pillars on which their position o power rested. It is

thereore unlikely that they welcomed with open arms the first missionaries whonow began to question their ormer monopoly o the practice o religion. But onthe principle “I you can’t beat them, join them” the reaction o the magnates wasto erect the first Christian buildings on their arms. In this way they maintainedcontrol o the practice o religion during the period that Brian P. McGuire hascalled aristocratic Christianity.34 At first the Christian rituals probably took placein buildings with traditional Viking Age architecture, which were consecrated tothe Christian liturgy by an itinerant priest. Not until some way into the eleventhcentury do proper stave churches seem to have been built at the magnate arms.However, throughout the eleventh century the elite tried to retain their control oreligion, to the irritation o the Catholic Church. At the Second Lateran Councilin Rome in 1139 Canon 10 states: Praecipimus etiam ut laici, qui ecclesias tenent,

aut eas episcopis restituant aut excommunicationi subiaceant (“We recommend thatlaymen who hold churches either restore them to the bishops or are subjected toexcommunication”).35 It is likely that one o the reasons or this conflict o inter-ests was that the control o religion was synonymous with potential revenues. Notuntil around 1200 were the ecclesiastical system and the ormation o parishes in

place in Denmark, and the control by the old magnate amilies directly challenged.However, they had already ound a pragmatic solution to this problem, since the

members o the magnate amilies instead embarked on careers in the Church. Oneo the best examples in Scandinavia is the Danish Bishop Absalon (1128–1201),

who was a member o the powerul Zealand magnate amily the Hvides.

Acknowledgements

I am grateul to Pro. Brian Patrick McGuire or the inormation on ConciliorumOecumenicorum Decreta. Te research project on pre-Christian religion is sup-

ported by A. P. Møller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond til almeneFormaal in 2010–2015.

34 MG, Brian Patrick: Da Himmelen kom nærmere. Fortællinger om Danmarks kristning 700–1300, København 2009, pp. 166.35 A, Giuseppe: Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta. Istituto per le scienze religiose di Bolo-

gna. Centro di documentazione, Bologna 1962, p. 175.

jorgensen norse religion and ritual sites 2014 (2)

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