Nordic Religions in the Viking Age

by Dubois, Thomas A.

• ISBN13: 9780812217148
• ISBN10: 0812217144
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Pennsylvania Pr

Summary

The popular image of the Viking as a horn-helmeted berserker plying the ocean in a dragon-headed long boat is firmly fixed in history. Imagining Viking "conquerors" as much more numerous, technologically superior, and somehow inherently more warlike than their neighbors has overshadowed the cooperation and cultural exchange which characterized much of the Viking Age. In actuality, the Norse explorers and traders were players in a complex exchange of technology, customs, and religious beliefs between the ancient pre-Christian societies of northern Europe and the Christian-dominated nations surrounding the Mediterranean. DuBois examines Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and Mediterranean traditions to locate significant Nordic parallels in conceptions of supernatural beings, cults of the dead, beliefs in ghosts, and magical practices. These beliefs were actively held alongside Christianity for many years, and were finally incorporated into the vernacular religious practice. The Icelandic sagas reflect this complex process in their inclusion of both Christian and pagan details. This work differs from previous examinations in its inclusion of the Christian thirteenth century as part of the evolution of Nordic religions from localized pagan cults to adherents of a larger Roman faith. Thomas DuBois unravels for the first time the history of the Nordic religions in the Viking Age and shows how these ancient beliefs and their oral traditions incorporated both a myriad of local beliefs and aspects of foreign religions, most notably Christianity.

Author Biography

Thomas A. DuBois is Associate Professor in the Department of Scandinavian Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Washington. He is the author of Finnish Folk Poetry and the Kalevala.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction: Communities of Belief	1	(8)
The Cultures and History of the Viking-Age North	9	(20)
Religions in the Viking Age: Contexts and Concepts for Analysis	29	(16)
Gods, Guides, and Guardians: Spiritual Aids	45	(24)
Visitors from Beyond: Death, Afterlife, and the Problem of Ghosts	69	(24)
Concepts of Health and Healing	93	(28)
The Intercultural Dimensions of the Seior Ritual	121	(18)
The Coming of the Cross: Religious and Artistic Effects	139	(34)
Achieving Faith: Christian Themes and Pagan Functions	173	(32)
Epilogue	205	(2)
Glossary	207	(4)
Notes	211	(22)
Bibliography	233	(26)
Index	259