{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_46118/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_46118","id":"gutenberg_46118","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46118","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Ancient","Category: History - Religious","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Mythology, Norse"],"text":"[Transcriber's Note: Italic text is represented by _underscores_.\n  Small capitals in the original have been converted to all capitals.\n  Footnotes have been moved to the end.]\n\n\n\n\n  Religions Ancient and Modern\n\n\n  THE RELIGION OF\n  ANCIENT SCANDINAVIA\n\n\n\n\nRELIGIONS: ANCIENT AND MODERN.\n\n\n  ANIMISM.\n    By EDWARD CLODD, Author of _The Story of Creation_.\n\n  PANTHEISM.\n    By JAMES ALLANSON PICTON, Author of _The Religion of the Universe_.\n\n  THE RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT CHINA.\n    By Professor GILES, LL.D., Professor of Chinese in the University\n    of Cambridge.\n\n  THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT GREECE.\n    By JANE HARRISON, Lecturer at Newnham College, Cambridge, Author of\n    _Prolegomena to Study of Greek Religion_.\n\n  ISLAM.\n    By AMEER ALI SYED, M.A., C.I.E., late of H.M.'s High Court of\n    Judicature in Bengal, Author of _The Spirit of Islam_ and _The\n    Ethics of Islam_.\n\n  MAGIC AND FETISHISM.\n    By Dr. A. C. HADDON, F.R.S., Lecturer on Ethnology at Cambridge\n    University.\n\n  THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT EGYPT.\n    By Professor W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE, F.R.S.\n\n  THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.\n    By THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, late of the British Museum.\n\n  EARLY BUDDHISM.\n    By Professor RHYS DAVIDS, LL.D., late Secretary of The Royal\n    Asiatic Society.\n\n  HINDUISM.\n    By Dr. L. D. BARNETT, of the Department of Oriental Printed Books\n    and MSS., British Museum.\n\n  SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION.\n    By WILLIAM A. CRAIGIE, Joint Editor of the _Oxford English\n    Dictionary_.\n\n  CELTIC RELIGION.\n    By Professor ANWYL, Professor of Welsh at University College,\n    Aberystwyth.\n\n  THE MYTHOLOGY OF ANCIENT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.\n    By CHARLES SQUIRE, Author of _The Mythology of the British Islands_.\n\n  JUDAISM.\n    By ISRAEL ABRAHAMS, Lecturer in Talmudic Literature in Cambridge\n    University, Author of _Jewish Life in the Middle Ages_.\n\n  THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT ROME.\n    By CYRIL BAILEY, M.A.\n\n  SHINTO, THE ANCIENT RELIGION OF JAPAN.\n    By W. G. ASTON, C.M.G.\n\n  THE MYTHOLOGIES OF ANCIENT MEXICO AND PERU.\n    By LEWIS SPENCE, M.A.\n\n  EARLY CHRISTIANITY.\n    By S. B. SLACK, Professor at McGill University.\n\n  THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ORIGIN AND NATURE OF RELIGION.\n    By Professor J. H. LEUBA.\n\n  THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT PALESTINE.\n    By STANLEY A. COOK.\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n  RELIGION OF ANCIENT\n  SCANDINAVIA\n\n  By\n\n  W. A. CRAIGIE, M.A.\n\n  TAYLORIAN LECTURER IN THE SCANDINAVIAN\n  LANGUAGES, OXFORD. AUTHOR OF\n  'SCANDINAVIAN FOLK-LORE'\n\n  LONDON\n  CONSTABLE & COMPANY LTD\n  10 ORANGE STREET LEICESTER SQUARE\n  1914\n\n\n\n\nFOREWORD\n\n\nThe native religion of the ancient Scandinavians was in its main\nfeatures only a special form of that common to all the Germanic\npeoples, and this again was only a particular development of primitive\nbeliefs and practices characteristic of the whole Aryan race. It\nis impossible to say how far back in time the special Germanic and\nScandinavian developments of this religion may go, and of their earlier\nstages we have absolutely no knowledge beyond what may be doubtfully\nreached by the methods of comparison and inference. Even of the later\nstages our information is much more scanty than might be expected.\nAmong the Goths, the southern Germans, and the Anglo-Saxons in Britain,\npaganism gave way to Christianity at so early a period, that very few\ndetails relating to it have been recorded by the civil or religious\nhistorians of these peoples; they were indeed more inclined to suppress\nthan perpetuate any lingering knowledge of this kind. The absence\nof such information is a great bar to the proper understanding of\nmany points in Scandinavian religion, which, instead of being thus\nilluminated from without, has continually been forced to throw light on\nthe heathen worship of the other Teutonic peoples.\n\nAs to the Scandinavian peoples themselves, it is only from a\ncomparatively late period in the history of Europe that we have any\nreal knowledge of them. They first became notorious at the close\nof the eighth century, when their unexpected piratical descents on\nBritain and France alarmed Western Christendom. Early in the ninth\ncentury the Saxon monk Ansgar ventured upon missionary enterprises\ninto Scandinavia, at that time entirely a heathen region, and on two\noccasions reached the court of the Swedish king. About the middle of\nthe same century Christianity began to make way in Denmark, which in\nanother fifty years or so had become in the main a Christian land.\nDuring the tenth century the new faith began to make itself felt\nin Norway, but did not finally overcome the old religion until the\nbeginning of the eleventh: in Iceland, which had been colonised from\nNorway, the adoption of Christianity took place somewhat suddenly in\nthe year 1000. Sweden for the most part still remained heathen, and\ndid not fully accept the new religion until the twelfth century.\n\nDuring these three centuries we have very little outside evidence as\nto the character of the religion professed by any of the Scandinavian\npeoples, and our knowledge of the beliefs and practices of northern\nheathenism is for the most part derived from native sources of a\nlater date. These, while in some respects copious enough, by no means\ngive all the information that could be desired, and on some important\npoints their evidence is either scanty or very unsatisfactory. The\ndeficiencies are to a large extent disguised, at first sight, by\nthe fact that we possess abundant information as to Scandinavian\n_mythology_. Not only do the poems of the skalds (from the close of\nthe ninth century onwards) abound in mythological allusions, but\nthere also exists a systematic account of the subject in the work\nof Snorri Sturluson, commonly known as the 'Prose Edda,' written in\nIceland about the year 1220. For the facts relating to the actual\n_religion_, on the other hand, we have to depend on the few pieces of\noutside evidence, and on fairly numerous, but not always reliable,\nstatements in the biographical and historical prose writings commonly\ngrouped together under the name of 'Sagas.' These works, based on\noral tradition of a very full and often very accurate nature, were\nwritten in Iceland during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and\nmost of them are separated by more than a century and a half from the\nperiod of time to which they relate. As the authors were in every case\nChristians, and many of them were ecclesiastics, it is obvious that\nthe late evidence thus afforded us is not to be absolutely relied\nupon. On the other hand, the tenacity of Icelandic tradition, the\ncontinuous interest in the poetic mythology, and the absence of any\nfanatical hatred of the old heathenism, make it possible to accept,\nwith due reservations, many of the statements made in these writings.\nIt is unfortunate, however, that Iceland alone of all the Scandinavian\ncountries developed a literature of this kind. The result is that the\ninformation thus preserved relates for the most part only to Iceland\nitself and its mother-country, Norway. The heathen period in Denmark\nwas so remote, and Sweden itself so slightly connected with Iceland,\nthat comparatively little is recorded of either, although Sweden was\nstill heathen when Icelandic literature began. This is the more to be\nregretted, as a fuller knowledge of the precise form which the old\nreligion had in Denmark and Sweden would in all probability solve some\nproblems which are now obscure.\n\nIn the following account of the ancient Scandinavian religion, an\nattempt has been made to exhibit what is really known of the religious\nbeliefs and practices of the people as distinct from the mythological\nfancies of the poets. With the evidence which we possess, it is\nimpossible to determine how far the latter ever formed any part of a\nreal popular religion: in some respects there seems to be a decided\nopposition between the two. The mythology, as it is found in the old\npoems and in the Prose Edda, has been the subject of much learned\nspeculation, and various theories as to the original functions of the\ndifferent gods and goddesses have from time to time been advanced, and\nhave met with more or less acceptance. Much has also been written on\nthe question how far the original conceptions had been modified under\nclassic and Christian influences even before Christianity was finally\naccepted in the north. All discussion of these matters is here omitted\nin favour of a more direct investigation into the purely religious\naspect of the old faith, so far as the existing materials admit of\nthis.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n  CHAP.                                                    PAGE\n\n        FOREWORD,                                             v\n     I. THE GREAT GODS: THOR AND ODIN,                        1\n    II. THE REMAINING GODS AND OTHER OBJECTS OF WORSHIP,     24\n   III. TEMPLES AND IMAGES,                                  39\n    IV. CEREMONIES AND MINISTERS OF RELIGION,                53\n        SELECTED WORKS,                                      71\n\n\n\n\nTHE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nTHE GREAT GODS: THOR AND ODIN\n\n\nIn common with the other Aryan races, the ancient Scandinavians\nrecognised, as the basis of their religion, certain supernatural,\nusually unseen, powers ruling the world and exercising an influence on\nthe affairs of mankind. In the ideas which prevailed as to the nature\nof these powers certain correspondences can be clearly traced in the\nvarious Aryan religions, in spite of the fact that our knowledge of\nthem dates from widely different periods of history. Even the Romans,\nwhen they came into contact with the Germanic races, noticed some\nof the similarities, and applied the names of several of their own\ndeities to the corresponding figures among the barbarian gods. When\ncloser intercourse between Roman and German had established itself, the\nresult of these equations was made prominent in the names adopted by\nthe latter for the days of the week, several of which, in most of the\nGermanic tongues, still bear witness to the old religion of the race.\nThus the counterpart of the Roman _Mars_ was found in the god _Tiw_,\nand consequently _dies Martis_ was rendered by forms now represented in\nEnglish by _Tuesday_. In the same way the Roman _Mercurius_, _Jupiter_,\nand _Venus_ were identified with the Germanic gods called by the\nEnglish _W\u00f3den_, _Thunor_, and _Fr\u00edg_, whence the names of _Wednesday_,\n_Thursday_, and _Friday_. In making these equations, of course, neither\nGerman nor Roman did more than consider the most obvious points of\nresemblance between the deities; how close the correspondence actually\nwas in each case it is impossible to say, as we know so little of the\nprecise form which the native religion had among the southern Germans.\nIt is only to a certain extent that the details suggested by these\ntranslations of the Roman names are supported by the evidence from the\nScandinavian side, but it is extremely probable that some of the more\nstriking discrepancies are due to difference in time as well as in\nplace and people.\n\nThe three gods and the goddess whose names are thus commemorated in\nthe days of the week hold also a prominent place among the Scandinavian\ndeities, where they appear under the names of Ty (_T\u00fdr_), Odin\n(_\u00d3\u00f0inn_), Thor (_\u00fe\u00f3rr_), and Frigg. But while Odin and Thor actually\nhold the place which they might be expected to occupy as objects of\nworship, the warlike deity Ty has apparently become of secondary\nimportance. This is indicated not only by the native Scandinavian\nevidence, but also by what can be gleaned from external sources. In an\nOld English sermon[1] by the Abbot \u00c6lfric, about the year 1000, the\nmention of some of the Roman deities leads the preacher to introduce\nthe corresponding Danish names. Jove or Jupiter, he says, 'was called\nThor among some peoples, and him the Danes love most of all.' Mercury,\ntoo, 'was honoured among all the heathens, and he is otherwise called\nOthon in Danish.' Of Ty there is no mention, although Mars is one of\nthe Roman deities specified by name. In another homily by \u00c6lfric there\nis the same identification of Thor and Odin, along with 'the foul\ngoddess Venus, whom men call Frigg,' but here also Ty is ignored.\n\nMore than merely negative evidence, however, is supplied by another\noutside source, which is the leading contemporary account of\nScandinavian religion, viz. that given by the German historian, Adam of\nBremen (about the year 1075), in his description of the great temple of\nthe Swedes at Upsala, and of the gods worshipped there. Here he writes,\n'the people venerate the statues of three gods, so placed that the\nmost powerful of them, Thor, has his seat in the middle of the bench.\nOn either side of him Wodan and Fricco have their places. Of these the\nsignifications are as follows. Thor, they say, presides in the air,\nand governs thunder and lightning, winds and rains, fair weather and\ncrops. The next, Wodan, that is \"Fury,\" carries on wars and gives men\nvalour against their enemies. The third is Fricco, bestowing peace and\npleasure upon mortals.' The image of Wodan, he adds, resembled that\nof the Roman Mars; that of Thor suggested Jupiter, while Fricco was\nrepresented in a form resembling the minor deity Priapus.\n\nThe god here called Fricco was known to the Scandinavians themselves\nby the name of Frey (_Freyr_), and that the triad thus specified by\nAdam were in fact the chief deities worshipped in the later stages of\nScandinavian religion is abundantly proved by the native evidence.\nThe identification of Odin with Mars in place of Mercury is also in\nfull accordance with the later beliefs: in other words, Odin has taken\nthe place of Ty as the chief war-god. Whether this was the main reason\nfor the admission of Frey as third member of the supreme triad is\nuncertain, the earlier position of this god being altogether unknown.\nThor, it will be noticed, still retains his place as the counterpart\nof the Roman Jupiter, and stands between the other two gods, as being\nthe most powerful. The precise relationship, however, between Thor and\nOdin is not by any means so simple as this statement would suggest, and\nforms indeed one of the most difficult questions connected with the\nsubject. This will be most clearly brought out by a detailed account of\nthe relative place assigned to each of them in religious practice on\nthe one hand, and in mythological accounts on the other; and the most\ncorrect impression of the facts will probably be obtained by dealing\nfirst with Thor.\n\nThe pre-eminence assigned to this god by \u00c6lfric and Adam of Bremen is\nquite in accordance with what can fairly be inferred from the native\nhistorical sources. A considerable number of passages in the sagas\nyield combined proof that by the people at large Thor was regarded\nas the chief deity, at least in Norway and Iceland: for Sweden and\nDenmark the evidence is less conclusive, but seems to point in the\nsame direction. It is of great significance, for example, that in all\nthe Scandinavian countries the name of Thor is the one which is most\nfrequently used as a formative element in the names of persons (such\nas Thor-kell, Stein-thor), and these were evidently quite as common\nin Sweden and Denmark as in Norway and Iceland. On the other hand,\nthe name of Odin is scarcely ever employed, only one or two instances\nbeing found among the Danes and Swedes. Names with Frey- as their\nfirst element are more frequent, but are in small proportion compared\nwith those in Thor-. In Danish and Swedish place-names, too, the\npredominance of Thor is very marked, although Odin and Frey are better\nrepresented here than in the case of the personal names. In Norway and\nIceland place-names of this kind are rare, but Thorsness and Thorsmark\noccur in the latter country. The frequency with which Thor's hammer\n(see below) is represented on Danish and Swedish runic monuments, and\nthe occurrence on ancient Danish stones of the formula 'May Thor hallow\nthis monument' (or 'these runes'), also indicate that the position of\nthis deity was much the same among all branches of the Scandinavian\npeople. In Denmark, too, there are distinct traces of a tendency to\nhold local assemblies on the day named after the god; in Iceland this\nwas the day on which the famous _Al-thing_ (the legal and legislative\nassembly of the whole people) began every year, ten weeks after the\nfirst day of summer, and in Norway the great law-assembly of the\nwestern districts also began its meetings on a Thursday.\n\nFor Norway and Iceland there is a considerable amount of more direct\nevidence than this. In several of the Icelandic historical writings it\nis expressly stated that some of the leading colonists had a special\nregard for Thor and his worship. Of one who came from the island of\nMostr, on the south-western coast of Norway, it is told that he had\nthe custody of Thor's temple there, and was a 'great friend' of the\ngod, on which account he was called Thorolf (=_Thor-wolf_). This\nThorolf fell out with King Harald, and went to inquire of Thor, 'his\nloving friend,' whether he should make terms with the king or leave\nthe country. The oracle directed him to go to Iceland. He pulled down\nthe temple, and took with him most of the timber, as well as the earth\nfrom under the pedestal on which Thor had been seated. On coming near\nIceland, he threw overboard the two chief pillars of the temple, on\none of which the image of Thor was carved, and declared he would settle\nwherever Thor made these come ashore. After landing on the south side\nof Broadfirth, they found that Thor had come ashore with the pillars\non a headland, to which they then gave the name of Thor's-ness, while\na river in the neighbourhood was also named after the god. When this\nThorolf had a son in his old age, he gave him to his friend Thor, and\ncalled him Thorstein. Thorstein also gave his own son to Thor, 'and\nsaid he should be a temple-priest, and called him Thorgrim.' Another\nson of Thorolf's sacrificed to Thor, that he might send him pillars for\nhis house, 'and gave his son for this,' which probably means that he\nalso dedicated his son to the god, though one account appears to imply\nthat he actually offered him in sacrifice.\n\nOf another settler, Helgi the Lean, who was brought up in Ireland, it\nis stated that when he came in sight of Iceland, he inquired of Thor\nwhere he should land; the oracle directed him to Eyafirth, and would\nallow him to go nowhere else. Before they came in sight of the firth,\nHelgi's son asked him whether he would have obeyed Thor's directions\nif he had sent him to winter in the Arctic Ocean. Yet Helgi was not\nabsolutely devoted to Thor, as he also believed in Christ, and even\ncalled his Icelandic homestead by the name of Christness. It was to\nThor, however, that he turned for aid in sea-faring and difficult\nenterprises, and in all matters that he considered to be of most\nimportance.\n\nThorolf and Helgi were not the only settlers who allowed Thor to fix\nthe place of their habitation in Iceland, and one in the south of the\nisland also consecrated all his land to Thor and called it Thor's-mark.\nThe tendency to appeal to Thor for help in time of need is further\nillustrated by an incident recorded as having taken place during the\nWineland expedition of 1007-8. The explorers were in great straits for\nwant of food, and had prayed for help, which seemed long in coming.\nOne of the party, named Thorhall, was found by the others on the peak\nof a cliff, looking up to the sky, and muttering something, besides\nmaking strange gestures of which he would give no explanation. Shortly\nafterwards a whale came ashore, and Thorhall said, 'The red-bearded one\nwas stronger now than your Christ. I have got this for my poetry that I\nmade about Thor. He has seldom failed me.'\n\nThis contrasting of Thor with Christ is a trait which appears in other\nnarratives, and is significant of the place which the god held in\nthe old religion. In the struggle between heathenism and Christianity\nin the Scandinavian countries it is usually Thor, the red-bearded\none, who is the champion of the primitive faith and its most powerful\nrepresentative. The cases in which Odin takes this place have a much\nmore legendary character, and are more likely to be due to later\ninvention. It was Thor whom the believers in the old faith expressly\nput forward as a rival to the God of the Christians. In the early part\nof the eleventh century, when King Olaf Haraldsson was doing his utmost\nto christianise Norway, the following words are represented as having\nbeen spoken by a powerful chief named Gudbrand: 'There is come hither\na man named Olaf to offer us another faith than the one we had, and to\nbreak all our gods in pieces, and he says that he has a greater and\nmightier god. It is a marvel that the earth does not open under him\nwhen he dares to say such things, and that our gods let him go any\nfurther. I expect, if we carry Thor out of our temple where he stands,\nand where he has always stood by us, that as soon as he looks on Olaf\nand his men, then _his_ god and himself and his men will melt away and\ncome to nought.' So also when Thangbrand the priest went to Iceland\non his missionary enterprise in 997, he met a woman who preached\nheathendom to him at great length, and asked him, 'Have you not heard\nthat Thor challenged Christ to single combat, and He dared not fight\nwith Thor?' When Thangbrand's ship was destroyed by a violent storm, it\nwas to Thor that the credit of the accident was assigned.\n\nThe firm hold which Thor had upon the minds of his worshippers is also\nillustrated by the way in which some of the converts to Christianity\nfelt uneasy at abandoning him. Thorgils of Fl\u00f3i, in the south-west of\nIceland, was one of the first to accept the new faith, and more than\nonce he dreamed that Thor came to him with reproaches and threats for\nthis desertion. Thorgils was firm, and defied the angry god, but his\nlater perils at sea were believed by his companions to be the work of\nThor, and some of them even wished to sacrifice to him for a fair wind,\nsaying that people had fared much better when they made offerings to\nhim.\n\nThe prominent place held by the worship of Thor in the old religion is\nalso indicated by the frequent mention of images of the god in various\ntemples (as will appear in a later chapter); this fact acquires special\nsignificance when contrasted with the lack of similar statements\nregarding Odin. It is also extremely probable that it was Thor, and\nnot Odin, to whom the vague names of 'Land-god' (_Land-\u00e1ss_) and 'The\nAlmighty God' were given; the latter was used, coupled with the names\nof Frey and Nj\u00f6rd, in an old oath-formula.\n\nHaving thus made the position of Thor among the Scandinavian gods\nas clear as the evidence admits of, it remains to show what manner\nof god his worshippers supposed him to be. On this point there is\nunfortunately less direct evidence than could be wished. In origin Thor\nwas the thunder-god, and it is therefore natural to find him spoken of\nas 'the strongest of all the gods.' His weapon, the thunderbolt, was\nimagined as a hammer, mythologically known by the name of _Mj\u00f6lnir_,\nand was especially used by him to protect the gods and men against\ngiants and other evil monsters. To grasp it with he had iron gloves,\nand he was also possessed of a girdle of might which increased his\nstrength twofold. In his journeys, of which the mythological writers\nhave a good deal to say, he sometimes rode in a chariot drawn by two\ngoats. Of these details there is very little trace in historical\nsources, although one passage (of doubtful value) speaks of an image\nof Thor seated in his chariot. The hammer, however, was certainly the\ndistinctive symbol of the god, and representations of it were evidently\nin common use as sacred and protective marks. Not only is it frequently\ncut on stone monuments, but small figures of it were apparently used as\namulets, of which a number have been found in Denmark and Sweden. When\nthe Danish prince Magnus returned from an expedition into the heathen\ndistricts of Sweden in 1123, he brought back with him as trophies\nsome Thor's hammers of metal. It is not clear how far such models of\nthe hammer were used in religious ceremonies; that it was employed at\nweddings 'to hallow the bride' appears to be highly probable, but there\nis no direct historical evidence to prove it.\n\nThe form in which the hammer was commonly represented easily led to its\nassociation with the Christian mark of the cross. At a festival held in\nNorway in 952, Earl Sigurd dedicated the first toast to Odin, and after\ndrinking from the horn handed it to King H\u00e1kon, who was a Christian.\nWhen the king took it, he made the mark of the cross over it. The\nheathens present protested against this, and Earl Sigurd attempted to\nsatisfy them by saying, 'The king does like all those who trust to\ntheir own might and strength, and consecrate their toast to Thor. He\nmade the mark of the hammer over it before he drank.'\n\nThe relationship of Thor to Odin, and the precise position of\nthe latter among the Scandinavian gods, must now be more closely\nconsidered. In the sermon by \u00c6lfric already cited there is an\ninteresting remark bearing on this, in these words: 'Now the Danes\nin their delusion say that Jove, whom they call Thor, was the son of\nMercury, whom they call Odin, but they are not right in this' (_i.e._\naccording to Roman mythology).[2] \u00c6lfric's statement is in perfect\naccordance with the old Scandinavian myths, which represent Thor as the\nson of Odin and Earth, a relationship also attested by various poetical\ndesignations of the god. This is not at all what the historical\nevidence would lead us to expect, but the mythological account of\nOdin presents a still more striking contrast to what has been brought\nforward above as to the position of Thor. 'Odin,' says Snorri, 'is the\nhighest and eldest of the gods; he rules over all things, and for as\nmighty as the other gods are, they all serve him as children do their\nfather.... Odin is called All-father, because he is the father of all\nthe gods.'\n\nIt is indeed quite clear that the whole mythological system expounded\nby Snorri, and implied in all the old Scandinavian poetry, centres on\nthe idea of Odin as the supreme god. As such he has two important sides\nto his nature. On the one hand he is a war-god, who assigns victory or\ndefeat to men, and who takes the slain warriors to live with himself\nin Valhall; 'he is also called Val-father, because all those who fall\nin battle are his chosen sons: to them he gives places in Valhall\nand Vingolf,' says Snorri. On the other hand he is a god of wisdom\nand cunning, knowing all things, and a god of poetry whom the skalds\nregard as the author of their art. So far as the historical evidence\nis strong enough to prove anything regarding Odin, it indicates that a\nbelief in both of those aspects was really a part of the old religion.\nWe have already seen that Adam of Bremen describes Odin as the war-god\namong the Swedes, and Snorri also says that the Swedes thought he\noften appeared to them before great battles; 'to some he gave victory,\nand some he invited to himself, and either lot was thought good.'\nThis association of Odin with war, and the assignation to him of all\nthose who were slain in battle, are very prominent in the mythical\nsagas, which may be accepted as representing a genuine tradition in\nthis respect, however much the details may be due to later invention.\nIn these sagas one also finds the connection of Odin with death by\nhanging, which appears in some of his poetic names, and must be\nregarded as a real belief.\n\nThe purely historical evidence is, however, very limited. Perhaps\nthe only mention of an actual offering to Odin is that found in the\naccount of Earl H\u00e1kon's doings after he had, under compulsion, accepted\nChristianity in Denmark in 975. On leaving that country, he sailed\nround to the east coast of Sweden, landed there, and made a great\nsacrifice. 'Then two ravens came flying and croaked loudly, and the\nearl thought it certain that Odin had accepted the sacrifice, and that\nhe would have success in fighting.' It is very probable, however, that\nsacrifices to this god were more common among the Danes and Swedes\nthan among the Norwegians, and that this may account for the lack of\nreference to them in the Icelandic writings.\n\nThat the belief in Valhall was a real one is clearly shown by one or\ntwo passages in the sagas. King H\u00e1kon the Good had been a Christian,\nthough latterly he had not made his religion prominent, in order to\navoid offending his heathen subjects. When he was killed in battle in\n961, he was laid in the grave-mound with all his weapons and best\narray. 'They made such speeches at his burying as it was the custom\nof heathen men to make, and sent him off on the way to Valhall.' A\npoem on H\u00e1kon's death and his reception by Odin in Valhall, which was\ncomposed at the time by one of his skalds, gives a very fine expression\nto the belief, which is also the leading theme in an earlier poem on\nthe death of King Eir\u00edk in 954. Even some who had not been killed in\nbattle were apparently thought of as going to Odin in Valhall, if the\npassage in the saga of G\u00edsli may be relied upon, in which Thorgr\u00edm is\nrepresented as saying, 'It is the custom to tie hell-shoes on men when\nthey shall go to Valhall, and I will do that with V\u00e9stein' (who had\nbeen murdered in his bed). There is also a reference to the belief in\nNj\u00e1l's saga, in the words of H\u00f6gni, 'I intend to take the halbert to my\nfather' (Gunnarr, who had been killed shortly before this), 'and let\nhim have it to Valhall and bear it there at the weapon-thing.' The same\nsaga also represents Earl H\u00e1kon in Norway, when he found his temple\nburned down, as saying, 'The man who has done this will be driven away\nfrom Valhall, and never get entrance there.' It is doubtful, however,\nwhether much weight can be given to these passages. The old practice\nof beginning a battle by throwing a spear over the enemy is in some of\nthe mythical sagas explained as a dedication of them to Odin, and it is\npossible that this idea may be correct.\n\nIt is remarkable that in the Icelandic sources there is no clear\nevidence for a general worship of Odin in Norway or Iceland. In his\naccount of the old festivals Snorri states that the first toast which\nwent round was consecrated to Odin, and was drunk 'for victory and for\npower to their king.' And he also says that at the festival at Hladir\nin 952 Earl Sigurd 'consecrated the first toast to Odin.' The accuracy\nof Snorri's account has been questioned, but even if it is correct, it\ndoes not definitely establish Odin's position in popular belief. Among\nthe Icelanders themselves there is nothing like the same evidence to\nshow that Odin was generally held in esteem and veneration as there is\nin the case of Thor; and it is noticeable that in the few cases where a\nbelief in, and reliance on, Odin are expressed, the speaker is usually\na poet. Thus Egil Skallagr\u00edmsson, when he had suffered at the hands of\nKing Eir\u00edk (about 934), expresses in a verse his wish that 'the gods\nand Odin' may be angry with the king: in the second half of the verse\nFrey and Nj\u00f6rd are also mentioned by name. The poet Hallfred, who\naccepted Christianity in Norway in 996, makes several references in\nhis verses to his former worship of Odin, but in words which clearly\nindicate that his capacity of skald had much to do with this. When he\nwas afterwards accused of being still a heathen, it was the possession\nof 'an image of Thor' which formed one of the charges against him.\nIt is, however, stated that previous to their becoming Christians\nHallfred and his companions made a vow 'to give much money to Frey\nif they reached Sweden, or to Thor and Odin if they got to Iceland.'\nKjartan Olafsson is also made to speak of Thor and Odin together, and\nOdin (along with Freyja) is specified in the abusive verse by Hjalti\nSkeggjason (999), which led to his prosecution for blasphemy against\nthe gods. On the other hand there is no mention in any saga of any\ntemple, image, or special priest of Odin in any part of Iceland.\n\nThat the attribution of the art of poetry to Odin, and his consequent\nposition as the special god of poets, was no mere conventional figment\nof the skalds is best attested by Egil's poem on the loss of his sons.\nTowards the end of this the poet expresses his resentment against 'the\nlord of the spear,' in whom he had confidently trusted before he sent\nthis loss upon him, and so destroyed the friendship between them.\nNow he has no pleasure in worshipping Odin, 'yet,' he adds, 'Mimir's\nfriend has given me recompense for my woes: he gave me an art' (that of\npoetry) 'free from fault and stain.'\n\nAs the above will show, there is a real difficulty in reconciling\nthe historical statements as to the worship of Odin and Thor with\nthe relative positions assigned to them in the old mythology. The\nexplanation which seems to clear away this difficulty in the most\nsatisfactory manner is the suggestion that Thor and Odin really belong\nto different stages in the development of Scandinavian religion. On\nthis view Thor was originally the chief god, and to a certain extent\ncontinued to hold this position to the end. His supremacy, however, was\nin the later period of heathenism seriously threatened by the growing\ncult of Odin, which was at first foreign to the Scandinavian peoples,\nand was received by them from the South Germanic races. This would\neasily account for the seemingly greater popularity of Odin among the\nDanes and Swedes than among the Norwegians and Icelanders, to whom\nthe new cult would be later in spreading. In this connection it may\nbe noted that some of the poetic names for Odin, such as 'the friend\nof the Gauts,' 'Tyr of the Gauts' (as well as the simple _Gauti_ and\n_Gautr_), appear to indicate that his worship was associated with the\npeople of that name in southern Sweden. It was in Gautland that the\npoet Hallfred was nearly sacrificed to Odin in 997, and here also in\n1018 the poet Sigvat was refused admission to a farm where a sacrifice\nwas taking place, because they 'were afraid of Odin's anger.' It may\neven be significant that Earl H\u00e1kon's sacrifice already mentioned was\nperformed on the coast of Gautland.\n\nThe ninth and tenth centuries were a period of new development and\ngreat changes within the Scandinavian countries. The Viking expeditions\nbrought a large part of the population into direct contact with war\nand battle, while the former petty kings disappeared, or lost most of\ntheir importance, before strong rulers like Gorm in Denmark or Harald\nin Norway. In the courts of these new sovereigns there was a life and\nsplendour previously unknown in the north, and under the royal favour\nthe art of poetry flourished to a remarkable extent. It appears fairly\ncertain that in these surroundings the cult of Odin found most favour,\nand that the conceptions of the god which meet us in the mythology\nwere developed among men who found a pleasure both in fighting and\nin poetry, and who modelled their ideas of the warlike deity on the\nmonarch to whose court they attached themselves. Odin was thus the god\nof the warrior, the poet, and the friend of kings, while Thor retained\nhis former place in the hearts of those who still followed the old\nway of life in the secluded valleys of Norway or Iceland. Something\nof this distinctly appears in the figures of the two gods as they are\npresented in the old poems and legends. Odin bears all the stamp of the\nnew life and culture about him; Thor is rather a sturdy yeoman of the\nold unpolished type. Odin is a ruler in whom knowledge and power are\nequally combined; Thor has little more to rely upon than his bodily\nstrength. Even in small matters the contrast is marked: Odin lives\nby wine alone, while Thor eats the flesh of his goats and drinks the\nhomely ale. Odin's weapon is the spear; Thor's is the more primitive\nhammer. It is to Odin that all the warriors go after death; Thor gets\nonly the thralls. In some of the poems there is an obvious tendency\nto assign to Thor an undignified and even ludicrous part, which is\nstrongly at variance with the veneration in which he was actually held,\nas we have seen above. It would, perhaps, be unsafe to attach very\nmuch importance to this, as it, is quite uncertain how far these poems\ncan be accepted as evidence for religious beliefs. It is perhaps more\nsignificant that while writers like Snorri tell how Odin and various\nother gods (such as Nj\u00f6rd and Frey) came from the south-east into\nDenmark and Sweden, there is no similar account as regards Thor. In the\nhistorical period, too, there were distinguished families in Sweden\nand Norway whose genealogy was traced back to Odin and Frey, while no\none claimed descent from Thor. Both of these facts may reasonably be\nregarded as supporting the view that Odin belongs to a later period\nin the history of Scandinavia than Thor, and some such explanation\nappears to be requisite to account for the striking differences in\nthe traditional statements regarding the two chief gods of the old\nreligion.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nTHE REMAINING GODS AND OTHER OBJECTS OF WORSHIP\n\n\nThe third god mentioned by Adam of Bremen as worshipped at Upsala\nis (Fricco or) Frey, a name which appears to be identical with the\nTeutonic word represented in Old English by _fr\u00e9a_, lord or king.\nAdam's statement is fully confirmed by the Icelandic sources, and\nthere are also general references to the prevalence of the cult in\nSweden.[3] In a somewhat legendary source it is even stated that an\nimage of Frey, which was worshipped at Thrandheim in Norway, had been\nsent there from Sweden. The story of Gunnar Helming also makes mention\nof an image of Frey in Sweden which was carried about the country,\nand to which sacrifices were offered, but the value of the statement\nis very doubtful. Saxo Grammaticus, speaking of a sacrifice of black\noxen offered to Frey by the mythical hero Hading, adds that this had\ncontinued to be a yearly custom, and 'the Swedes call it _Fr\u00f6blod_,'\n_i.e._ Frey's sacrifice. The frequent occurrence of _Frey-_ in Swedish\n(and Danish) place-names has been already mentioned, and indicates the\nprevalence of the cult in both of these countries.\n\nThe worship of Frey, however, must also have been very popular in\nNorway, from which it passed to Iceland with the early settlers. As\nlate as 998 the men of Thrandheim are represented as refusing to break\ntheir image of Frey at the command of King Olaf, 'because we have long\nserved him and he has done well by us. He often talked with us, and\ntold us things to come, and gave us peace and plenty.' At the great\nfestivals it was customary to drink to Frey (along with Nj\u00f6rd) in\norder to secure peace and prosperity. A talisman on which the image of\nFrey was 'marked in silver' is mentioned as having been owned by one\nof the petty kings of Norway about 872; this was given by King Harald\nto Ingimund, and tradition associated it in a mysterious way with the\nplace where the latter finally settled in Iceland.\n\nIn Iceland itself the traces of a popular cult of Frey are very clear,\nand more than one prominent person mentioned in the sagas bears the\ntitle of _Freys-go\u00f0i_, or 'priest of Frey.' Of one of these, Thorgr\u00edm,\nbrother-in-law of G\u00edsli S\u00farsson, the saga says that 'he intended to\nhold a festival at the beginning of winter, and greet the winter, and\nsacrifice to Frey.' When Thorgr\u00edm was murdered, and had been laid in\na grave-mound, it was noticed that snow never lay on the south or\nwest sides of the mound, and the ground never froze there: 'and it\nwas supposed that he was so highly esteemed by Frey for the offerings\nhe made to him, that the god did not wish it to freeze between them.'\nGreat attachment to this deity also appears in the story of Hrafnkel,\nwho loved no other god more than Frey, and gave to him joint possession\nwith himself of all his most valuable things. Among these was a horse,\nwhich on that account bore the name of _Freyfaxi_. Another Freyfaxi\nbelonged to Brand in Vatnsdal, and most people believed that he had\na religious reverence for the horse. Horses owned by Frey are also\nmentioned as existing in Thrandheim in the days of Olaf Tryggvason\n(about 996).\n\nAt Eyafirth in Iceland there was a temple of Frey, which is mentioned\nseveral times in the saga of V\u00edga-Gl\u00fam. Thorkel, says the story, went\nto Frey's temple, taking with him an old ox, and addressed the god\nthus: 'Frey,' said he, 'you have long been my confidant, and have\nreceived many gifts from me, and repaid me well. Now I give you this\nox, so that it may come to pass that Gl\u00fam will leave this land as much\nunder compulsion as I do now. And show me now some token whether you\nreceive this or not.' Thereupon the ox bellowed, and fell down dead,\nand Thorkel then believed that Frey had accepted his gift. The saga\nalso mentions that Frey would not allow outlaws to make his temple\nthere a sanctuary. Gl\u00fam himself afterwards had a dream that many men\nhad come there to see Frey. He asked who they were, and they said, 'We\nare your departed kinsfolk, and are making intercession with Frey that\nyou may not be driven away from this ground; but Frey answers shortly\nand angrily, and recalls the ox that Thorkel gave him.' Then Gl\u00fam\nawoke, and had less liking for Frey all the rest of his life.\n\nAccording to the mythological accounts, Frey was the son of Nj\u00f6rd and\nbrother of Freyja. He had great personal beauty in addition to his\ndivine powers. 'He rules over rain and sunshine and the produce of the\nearth, and it is good to call on him for peace and plenty. He also has\npower over the prosperity of men.' He was believed to own the ship\n_Sk\u00ed\u00f0bla\u00f0nir_, and to ride on the boar _Gullinbursti_ (Golden-bristle).\nThis association of Frey with the boar appears also in the following\npassage of one of the mythical sagas (_Hervarar Saga_): 'King Heidrek\nsacrificed to Frey; he should give to him the largest boar that could\nbe got. They considered it so holy, that over its bristles they took an\noath about all important matters. That boar was sacrificed by way of an\natonement; on Christmas eve it was led into the hall before the king,\nand men then laid their hands on its bristles and made their vows.' In\nanother and earlier mention of the _s\u00f3narg\u00f6ltr_ (boar of atonement),\nhowever, it is not stated that the practice was connected with the cult\nof Frey, and in the absence of direct historical evidence the reality\nor significance of the rite remains doubtful.\n\nAs mentioned above, the mythology regarded Frey as the son of Nj\u00f6rd\n(_Nj\u00f6r\u00f0r_), a god of whom very little is really known. It has been\nsupposed that the _Nerthus_, mentioned by Tacitus as being worshipped\nin common by a number of Germanic tribes, is the same as Nj\u00f6rd, but the\nfact that Tacitus speaks of Nerthus as a goddess and explains the name\nas meaning Mother Earth, makes the identification a very doubtful one.\nAccording to Snorri, Nj\u00f6rd 'rules over the course of the wind and calms\nthe sea and fire. He is to be called on for voyaging and fishing. He\nis so rich and wealthy that he may give lands and treasure to whom he\nwill.'\n\nThe worship of Nj\u00f6rd in Sweden and Norway is implied in the fact that\nplaces named after him are found in certain parts of these countries.\nWhen he is mentioned in the Icelandic writings, it is usually in\nconjunction with Frey. The practice of drinking the second toast to\nNj\u00f6rd and Frey 'for peace and plenty' has been already mentioned. In\nthe old heathen form of oath, taken by suitors and others at the legal\nassemblies, the deities invoked were 'Frey and Nj\u00f6rd and the Almighty\nGod' (probably Thor). The two names are also combined by Egil in a\nverse (of 934) in which he prays that Frey and Nj\u00f6rd may be angry with\nKing Eir\u00edk, while in one of his poems (about 962) he refers to them\nas the givers of wealth. With this may be compared the proverbial\nexpression 'as rich as Nj\u00f6rd,' which occurs in old Icelandic. In one of\nHallfred's verses (of 996) Frey and Nj\u00f6rd, Odin, Thor, and Freyja, are\nall mentioned together in contrast with God and Christ: in another (of\nthe same time) the poet says, 'I am forced away from Nj\u00f6rd's offspring\nand made to pray to Christ.' These passages are sufficient to show that\nthe cult of Nj\u00f6rd was closely connected with that of Frey, and make it\nprobable that he was a deity of some importance even in the popular\nreligion, but at best he remains a somewhat vague figure among the\nScandinavian gods.\n\nOf the remaining gods known to us from the mythology there are only the\nfaintest traces in the historical sources. Even the original war-god Ty\nwas so completely supplanted by Odin, that no distinct evidence is to\nbe found for his worship in any part of Scandinavia, although Snorri\ndescribes him as 'the bravest and stoutest-hearted of the gods,' who\nhad a great share in deciding the victory in battle; 'on him it is good\nfor men of valour to call.' His name was, however, retained in poetic\nappellations of men (sometimes even of Odin), and was used in the\nepithets _t\u00fd-hraustr_ for a very brave man, and _t\u00fd-spakr_ for a clever\none.\n\nStill more uncertain is the question how far such deities as Heimdall,\nthe wakeful warder of the gods, Bragi, the special god of poetry,\nand some others, really held a place in ordinary religious belief\nas distinct from the myth-creating fancy of the poets. Even such a\nstriking mythological figure as the peace-maker Baldr, the most\nbeautiful and lovable of all the gods, is strikingly ignored in all\nhistorical references to the old worship (the statements in Frithjof's\nsaga being of no value in this respect). This is also the case with\nnearly all the goddesses, not excepting Frigg herself, the wife of\nOdin, the mother of Baldr, and the highest of them all, according\nto Snorri. It would appear, however, that Frigg had to some extent\nretired into the background before another goddess Freyja, the sister\nof Frey. We have already seen that when the days of the week received\ntheir Germanic names it was Frigg who was equated with the Roman Venus;\nbut in the Scandinavian mythology it is Freyja, not Frigg, who is\nthe goddess of love. Snorri describes Freyja as riding in a chariot\ndrawn by two cats, 'and wheresoever she rides to battle, she has half\nthe slain and Odin the other half.' This association of Freyja with\nOdin, which seems to imply that Frigg was almost on the point of being\ndisplaced by a rival goddess, also appears in the verse for which\nHjalti Skeggjason was found guilty of blasphemy. It is implied, too, in\na passage in Egil's saga, in which Thorgerd is represented as saying,\n'I have had no supper, and will have none, until I come to Freyja. I\nknow no better counsel for myself than my father's: I will not live\nafter my father and brother.' The fact, too, that in the mythical sagas\nFreyja is almost the only goddess mentioned, indicates that her name\nhad been remembered as one of special note in the old religion.\n\nTo their chief deities the ancient Scandinavians gave the general\nname of _go\u00f0_ (equivalent to the English _god_), or _\u00e6sir_ (plural of\n_\u00e1ss_). Both of these appellations were in common use as the first\nelement in personal names, such as _Go\u00f0mundr_ (later _Gu\u00f0-_) or\n_\u00c1smundr_. In the Edda, however, the _\u00e6sir_ are distinguished from\nanother race of gods, the _vanir_, to whom Nj\u00f6rd and Frey belonged.\nWhether this distinction had any bearing on the popular religion does\nnot appear. Other names which occur in the poetic or mythological\nsources are _regin_ or _r\u00f6gn_, denoting their decisive or guiding\npowers, and _b\u00f6nd_ or _h\u00f6pt_, which imply a binding or constraining\nmight; the goddesses are usually known by the name of _\u00e1synjur_. The\nEdda speaks of twelve chief gods, but it may be doubted whether the\nnumber was ever definitely fixed, or that it was uniform in all parts\nof Scandinavia.\n\nIn addition to the greater gods various supernatural powers were\nrecognised by the Scandinavians as having influence for good or evil\nupon human fortunes, and to some extent at least worship was paid to\nthese. This is clearest in the case of the _d\u00edsir_, female guardian\nspirits of individuals or families, to whom formal sacrifice was made\nunder the name of _d\u00edsabl\u00f3t_. It is less certain that the belief in\nthe _nornir_, or Fates, usually thought of as three sisters, can\nproperly be regarded as belonging to religion, though its influence was\nevidently a powerful one. A belief in the _valkyrjur_, or war-maidens,\nwho were present at battles and sometimes appeared to the combatants,\nnaturally connects itself with the cult of Odin, but here also the\nevidence for a religious feeling accompanying the belief is lacking.\n\nIt is not quite clear what place is to be assigned to the _landv\u00e6ttir_,\nwho were supposed to watch over and protect various parts of the\ncountry, and whose presence and favour were reckoned to be of so much\nimportance, that the old heathen law of Iceland (framed about 930)\nbegan with a provision relating to them. It enacted that 'men should\nnot have ships with heads on them, or if they did, they should take\nthem off before they came in sight of land, and not approach the shore\nwith gaping heads or yawning snouts by which the _landv\u00e6ttir_ might\nbe scared.' When Egil was incensed against King Eir\u00edk of Norway, he\nset up a _n\u00ed\u00f0st\u00f6ng_, or insulting post, and declared that he directed\nit not only against the king and queen, but also against 'those\n_landv\u00e6ttir_ who inhabit this land, that they may all go astray and\nnone of them find his home, until they drive Eir\u00edk and Gunnhild out of\nthe country.' Of the son of a settler in the south-west of Iceland it\nis said that second-sighted men saw the _landv\u00e6ttir_ accompany him when\nhe went to the assembly, while they followed his brothers in hunting or\nfishing. The _landv\u00e6ttir_ were also credited with having appeared to a\nwizard whom the Danish king sent to Iceland about 980, and with having\nprevented him from landing on its shores. In view of all this, it is\nextremely probable that these supposed beings may have been actually\nworshipped, but of this there is no positive evidence.\n\nA somewhat mysterious place among the minor deities is held by two\nsisters named Thorgerd and Irpa, the former of whom also bears the\nepithet of _H\u00f6lgabr\u00fa\u00f0r_, apparently meaning 'H\u00f6lgi's bride.' All that\nis known of these is that they are alleged to have been worshipped by\nEarl H\u00e1kon of Norway, in the latter half of the tenth century. It is\nnot improbable that their worship may have been confined to that part\nof Norway (in Thrandheim) in which H\u00e1kon lived, or that they were\n_d\u00edsir_ connected with the family to which he belonged. In the very\nlegendary account of the battle which H\u00e1kon fought against the vikings\nof J\u00f3msborg in 985, it is told that when he found the battle going\nagainst him 'he called upon his confidant Thorgerd, but she was angry\nwith him and would not hear him.' It was only when propitiated by the\nsacrifice of H\u00e1kon's own son that she consented to aid him. She and\nher sister Irpa were then seen by second-sighted men fighting on the\nearl's side. The great reverence which the earl was believed to have\nfelt for the sisters also appears strongly in the accounts relating to\nthe images of them which he had in his temples; to that of Thorgerd he\nprostrated himself in prayer and made offerings of silver.\n\nAmong the Scandinavians, as among other branches of the Aryan race, the\npractice of hero-worship appears to have been known. Adam of Bremen\nrecords it as occurring among the Swedes, who in the life of St.\nAnsgar are also said to have paid divine honours to one of their kings\n(Erik), assigning to him a temple and special priests. In Norway it is\nmentioned that offerings were made on the grave-mound of Olaf, at one\ntime king in Vestfold; and probably some kind of religious feeling\ntowards the deceased person is implied in the worship of grave-mounds,\nwhich was sufficiently prevalent to be specially forbidden in the early\nChristian law of Norway. One of the early settlers in the F\u00e6r\u00f6es, Gr\u00edm\nKamban, is also said to have been worshipped after his death on account\nof his popularity.\n\nNot only human beings, but even animals, were perhaps occasionally\nworshipped by individuals. An old tradition related that a King \u00d6gvald,\nin the west of Norway, chiefly worshipped a cow, and took it about with\nhim wherever he went; and at a later and more historical date H\u00e1rek\nof Rein is said to have worshipped an ox. When Floki set out to look\nfor Iceland he sacrificed to three ravens, which he then took on board\nwith him that they might show him the way. It may also be noted that,\nif a very curious legend can be depended on, there were even traces of\nphallic worship in Norway as late as the days of Olaf the Saint (about\n1020).\n\nAn old account of the heathen period in Gotland (off the eastern coast\nof Sweden) begins with the words, 'before that time and long after men\nbelieved in groves and grave-mounds, holy places and enclosures, and in\nthe heathen gods.' The prominence here given to sacred places appears\nto be in accordance with the facts recorded elsewhere. In the early\nChristian law of Norway, for example, cairns (_h\u00f6rgar_) as objects of\nworship are condemned along with grave-mounds, and sacred cairns are\nalso named in some Icelandic sources. In these also a single stone is\nsometimes mentioned as being worshipped, the most notable instance\nbeing that in _Kristni Saga_, where it is said, 'At Gilj\u00e1,' in the\nnorth of Iceland, 'stood the stone that the family had worshipped, and\nalleged that their _\u00e1r_-man lived in it. Codran declared that he would\nnot be baptized until he knew which was the more powerful, the bishop\nor the _\u00e1r_-man in the stone. The bishop then went to the stone, and\nchanted over it till it broke asunder. Then Codran considered that the\n_\u00e1r_-man was vanquished.' (The precise meaning of '_\u00e1r_-man' here is\nuncertain: usually the word means 'steward,' but in this case it may\nbe derived from _\u00e1r_ in the sense of good or plentiful years.) Of an\nIcelandic settler in the tenth century it is also told that he 'took\nFlateydale up to the War-stones (_Gunnsteinar_), and worshipped them.'\nClose beside him was another settler who worshipped a grove, while one\nin another part of the island, who is described as a great sacrificer,\npaid his devotions to a waterfall, into which all remains of food were\nthrown.\n\nIn connection with this worship of natural objects may be noticed the\ncurious belief in Iceland that certain families passed after death\ninto hills or hillocks in their district. This is told, for example,\nof Thorolf who settled Thorsness and had great reverence for the hill\nthere: 'He called it Holy-fell, and believed that he would go there\nwhen he died, and all his kinsmen on the ness.' Even the kinsmen of\nAud, who was a Christian, had great religious faith in some hillocks on\nwhich she had erected crosses: 'They believed that they should die into\nthese hillocks, and Thord Gellir was led into them before his sons took\ntheir place among men, as is told in his saga.'\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nTEMPLES AND IMAGES\n\n\nIn common with other peoples, the ancient Scandinavians erected special\nbuildings in which to worship their gods, and in which their images\nwere placed. These temples (called _hof_, _go\u00f0a-hof_, _go\u00f0a-h\u00fas_, and\n_bl\u00f3t-h\u00fas_) must not be thought of as in any way comparable to those\nerected by the more cultured Aryan races, such as the Greeks and\nRomans. It is true that Adam of Bremen describes that at Upsala in\nSweden, which he calls _nobilissimum templum_, as being 'all of gold,'\nwhile a note to the passage says that it was surrounded by 'a golden\nchain hanging on the pinnacles of the building, and seen glittering\nafar by those who approach the place'; but it is very doubtful how far\nthis description is trustworthy. In any case the Upsala temple would\nnaturally be much superior to those in less central localities; from\nother indications it appears to have been specially well endowed with\nlanded and other property. Unfortunately there is no evidence from\nwhich any general idea of the heathen temples in Sweden and Denmark\ncan be obtained. In Norway they were, like the ordinary houses,\nconstructed of timber, and in many cases were probably of small size\nand insignificant appearance. Mention has already been made of the\ntemple of Thor in the island of Mostr, which Thorolf took down and\ncarried off to Iceland when he went to settle there. The same thing is\ntold of Thorhadd, who was priest at M\u00e6rin in Thrandheim; he also took\ndown the temple, and carried with him the temple-mould and the chief\npillars. Some of the buildings, no doubt, may have been more imposing,\nand even to some extent furnished with costly ornaments. When Olaf\nTryggvason gave orders to burn down Earl H\u00e1kon's temple at Hladir, 'he\nmade them take all the treasure and ornaments out of the temple and\noff the images of the gods.' A large gold ring was also removed from\nthe temple door, but it afterwards proved to be only brass internally.\nIt may also be noted that various accounts of temples speak of them as\nbeing lighted by glass windows 'so that there was no shadow anywhere\nin them.' Beside the great temple at Upsala there was a sacred grove,\nand the evidence of place-names shows that similar groves existed\nelsewhere in Sweden and Denmark: as regards Norway and Iceland there is\nno positive information on this head.\n\nOf the temple which Thorolf erected at his Icelandic home on Thorsness\nan interesting description is given in _Eyrbyggja Saga_, which is\nthus the chief source for what knowledge we have on the subject. It\nis described as a great house, with doors on the side-walls, nearer\nto one end of it than the other. In from these doors stood the chief\npillars, and in these there were nails, which were known by the name\nof _regin_-nails (_regin_ was one of the names for the gods, but its\nprecise meaning here is not certain). The part of the building lying\ninward from these pillars was a great sanctuary. At the inner end there\nwas a smaller building 'of the same form as the choir in churches is\nnow'; and here, in the middle of the floor, stood a pedestal of the\nnature of an altar. On this lay a ring weighing two ounces, on which\nall oaths had to be sworn. It was the duty of the temple-priest to\nwear this ring on his hand at all assemblies. On the pedestal stood\nalso the sacrificial bowl (_hlaut-bolli_), and in this were placed the\nsacrificial twigs (_hlaut-teinar_), by means of which the blood of\nthe sacrifice (_hlaut-bl\u00f3\u00f0_) was sprinkled upon those present at the\nceremony. 'This was the blood from those animals that were offered to\nthe gods.' Round about this altar the images of the gods were arranged.\nAll those living in the district had to pay toll to the temple, and\nwere bound to attend the temple-priest on all expeditions, 'as thingmen\nare now bound to attend their chiefs.' On the other hand, the priest\nhad to keep up the temple and not allow it to fall into decay, and to\nhold in it the sacrificial feasts.\n\nIn the late and fictitious _Kjalnesinga Saga_ there is given a similar\ndescription of a temple, which may possibly have some basis in local\ntradition. It is described as having been a hundred and twenty feet\nlong, and sixty broad. At the inner end was a circular annex, the shape\nof which suggested a cap or hood; this had windows, and was hung with\ntapestry. Thor was the chief god there, and stood in the middle, with\nthe other gods on each side of him. In front of them was an altar with\nan iron plate on the top, on which a fire was kept constantly burning:\n'they called that hallowed fire.' The silver ring on which oaths were\nsworn, and the bowl for the sacrificial blood, are also mentioned, but\nthe account of them may be derived from the passage in _Eyrbyggja\nSaga_ already quoted.\n\nIn a much more reliable source, _Landn\u00e1mab\u00f3k_, there occurs the\nfollowing passage relating to the ring and its use. 'A ring of two\nounces or more in weight had to lie on the altar in each chief temple.\nEach priest had to wear the ring on his arm at all assemblies over\nwhich he himself presided, having previously reddened it in the blood\nof the animal which he himself had sacrificed there. Every man who\nrequired to do legal business at a law court had first to take an oath\non that ring, and name two or more witnesses. \"I name [M. and N.]\nwitnesses herein,\" he had to say, \"that I take an oath on the ring,\na lawful oath,--so help me Frey and Nj\u00f6rd and the Almighty God, as I\nshall pursue (or defend) this suit, or bear witness, or give verdict\nor judgment, according to what I know to be most right and true and\nin accordance with the law.\"' In general agreement with this is the\naccount given in _V\u00edga-Gl\u00fams Saga_: 'That man who was to take a\ntemple-oath took in his hand a silver ring which was reddened in the\nblood of the sacrificed ox, and which had to weigh not less than three\nounces.' In taking the oath, Gl\u00fam is represented as using the words, 'I\ntake a temple-oath on the ring, and I say to the god,' etc.; here the\nnames of Frey and Nj\u00f6rd are omitted.[4]\n\nWhile Iceland was being colonised from Norway, the place and number\nof the temples would depend on the religious zeal of the settlers in\nthe various districts, but when a fixed constitution was adopted in\nthe year 930 special regulations were made with reference to this.\n'The land was divided into quarters, and there were to be three\nplaces of assembly in each quarter, and three chief temples in each\nassembly-district. Men who were noted for intelligence and just dealing\nwere selected to have charge of the temples; these had to appoint the\nlaw-courts at the assemblies, and to superintend the legal proceedings\nthere. Each man had to give toll to the temple, as they now give\ntoll to the church.' References to the payment of this tax are not\ninfrequent in the sagas, and one of the results of the preaching of\nChristianity by Thorvald and Bishop Frederic in 981-985 was that in the\nnorth of Iceland 'many men abandoned sacrifices and broke their idols,\nand some would not pay the temple-tax.' We also meet with such remarks\nas, 'the men of Geitland had to maintain half of the temple along\nwith Tungu-Odd.' The chief temples were thus legally endowed religious\nbuildings, but it would appear that there were others which were the\nprivate property of individuals, and no doubt many of those which\nwere entitled to legal support were originally erected by the more\nprominent of the settlers. An interesting case of temple endowment is\nthat recorded of Gr\u00edm Geitskor, who travelled over all Iceland to find\nthe most suitable spot for holding the yearly assembly. For his trouble\nhe received a 'penny' from every man in the island, and this money he\ngave to the temples. One of the early settlers in the east of Iceland\nis recorded as having taken formal possession of an unoccupied piece of\nland for the behoof of a temple which he had built there.\n\nAs has already been mentioned, the inner part of the temple was more\nparticularly the sacred place, where stood the altar and the images of\nthe gods. The main part of the building served as a kind of hall, in\nwhich were held the entertainments which followed upon the sacrifices,\nand at which the flesh of the slain animals was eaten. As in the\nordinary halls, there were fires in the middle of the floor and seats\ndown each side. In some of the sagas dealing with prehistoric times in\nSweden mention is made of a _d\u00edsar-sal_ (in connection with the worship\nof the _d\u00edsir_: see p. 33). What relation this had to the usual temple\nis not clear: it has been supposed to be no more than another name for\nthe temple-hall, but this is not at all certain.\n\nThe temple being a holy place, there were naturally certain\nrestrictions attached to it, of which a prominent one was that no\nweapons were to be taken inside it. This is clearly illustrated by an\nincident in _Vatnsd\u00e6la Saga_, where Ingimund enters the temple first,\nand Hrafn the Norwegian follows him, wearing his sword. Then Ingimund\nturned to him, and said, 'It is not the custom to carry weapons in the\ntemple, and you will come under the wrath of the gods unless you make\namends for it.' When Olaf Tryggvason entered the temple of M\u00e6rin in\nThrandheim, he carried a gold-mounted staff, but his own men and those\nbelonging to the district were weaponless.\n\nAnother offence which is frequently mentioned is that of slaying a\nman in a holy place; in this connection, however, the regular word\nused is not _hof_ but _v\u00e9_, which has a more general meaning. One who\ncommitted this offence incurred the penalty of outlawry, and was\ndesignated by the name of _vargr \u00ed v\u00e9um_, 'wolf in holy places.' The\nsame view of bloodshed as a crime against the sanctity of a holy place\nis illustrated in the cases of Thorsness and St\u00f6dvar-firth in Iceland,\nwhere the killing of anything was forbidden. In the case of Thorsness\nit was decided, after a battle had taken place there, that it was\ndefiled by the blood that had fallen on it, and 'was now no more holy\nthan other places.'\n\nAlong with the timber-buildings known as _hof_, there is frequent\nmention, both in the historical and legendary sources, of other sacred\nplaces called _h\u00f6rgar_. In its simplest form the _h\u00f6rg_ was evidently a\nkind of stone-altar or sacrificial cairn standing in the open air; in\nmodern Norwegian and Icelandic the word is applied to a mountain-top.\nThis is most clearly indicated by the words of _Hyndlu-lj\u00f3\u00f0_, where\nFreyja says of Ottar, 'He made me a _h\u00f6rg_, piled up with stones; now\nthese stones are turned to glass. He reddened it in the fresh blood\nof oxen. Ottar always believed in the goddesses.' In contrast to the\nburning of temples, the usual expression for the destroying of _h\u00f6rgar_\nis 'breaking,' which also indicates a structure of stones. In some\ncases, however, the name of _h\u00f6rg_ seems to be applied to something\nmore approaching the nature of the _hof_; this not only appears to be\nimplied in the use of 'timbered,' which occurs in at least two poetic\npassages, but is also suggested by the wording of the old Norwegian\nlaw, 'if a man raises a mound (_haug_), or makes a house, and calls\nit a _h\u00f6rg_,' etc. The stone altars or cairns would naturally be more\nprimitive places of worship than the temples, but they continued in use\nalong with these down to the disappearance of the old religion. The\naltar in the temple, indeed, was no doubt the representative of the\nearlier and ruder one in the open air, for both are spoken of as being\n'reddened' with the blood of the sacrifice.\n\nIt has been already made clear that the gods worshipped were\nrepresented in the temples by images, which in the historical accounts\nare called by the names of _l\u00edkneski_ ('likeness') and _skur\u00f0-go\u00f0_\n('carved gods,' probably an epithet applied by Christians). The\ndescription given by Adam of Bremen of those which stood in the temple\nat Upsala has already been quoted (p. 4); here it is only necessary to\nadd that in no other writing of historical value is there any mention\nof an image of Odin. With Thor the case is very different. Another\nimage of this deity is mentioned by Adam himself, who relates that\nabout the year 1030 an English missionary in Sweden found it standing\nin the assembly-place of the heathens. In his religious zeal he smashed\nit with an axe, and was at once put to death by the angry worshippers.\nImages of Thor are also frequently referred to in the Icelandic sagas.\nIn the year 998, when King Olaf Tryggvason was christianising Norway,\nhe entered the temple at M\u00e6rin in Thrandheim, 'and when the king came\nwhere the gods were, there sat Thor, adorned with gold and silver, and\nwas most honoured of all the gods.' In the fullest account of this\nincident it is stated that the image was seated in a splendid chariot,\nto which were harnessed two goats beautifully carved out of wood; both\nchariot and goats were on wheels, and the cords attached to the goats'\nhorns were of silver. Thor in his chariot is also mentioned as one of\nthe images in the temple belonging to Earl H\u00e1kon and Gudbrand in the\nDales, which is described in _Nj\u00e1l's Saga_. There is no mention of the\nchariot, however, in the account of this image given in connection\nwith King Olaf's visit to the Dales in 1021. There it is said to have\nbeen 'of great stature, and hollow inside, with the hammer in his\nhand; under him there is a kind of pedestal or platform, on which he\nstands when he is outside; and on him there is no lack of gold and\nsilver.' This image was carried out to the place where the people of\nthe district held their meeting with Olaf, and those already assembled\nthere paid homage to it. It was set down in the middle of the ground,\nand on one side of it sat the heathens, and on the other the king and\nhis followers. It is also related that at the battle of Sv\u00f6ldr in the\nyear 1000, Earl Eir\u00edk had an image of Thor in the prow of his ship,\nbut threw it aside and put a cross in its place when he found his men\nunable to board Olaf Tryggvason's vessel.\n\nMention has already been made (pp. 7-8) of the likeness of Thor carved\non the chief pillars of the temple in Mostr, and no doubt similar\nrepresentations of the god were not uncommon. In that part of the story\nof Thormod the poet which takes place in Greenland, about 1027, a large\nchair is described as having on its back an image of Thor with his\nhammer.\n\nThat some at least of the other gods were similarly represented in the\ntemples may be assumed as beyond doubt, but the evidence on this point\nis very scanty. It seems likely that there was an image of Frey at\nThrandheim, and it is highly probable that this god would be largely\nfigured in Sweden, although the texts in which there is mention of\nthis are of a very legendary character. It is doubtful, also, whether\nany reliance can be placed on the passage in _Droplaugarsona Saga_,\nwhich describes Frey and Thor as sitting on the lower bench in a\ntemple, while Frigg and Freyja occupied the higher. More historical,\nperhaps, is the image of Frey which ornamented the talisman given by\nKing Harald to Ingimund (p. 25).\n\nIn the traditions connected with Earl H\u00e1kon there are several\nreferences to an image of Thorgerd. The earl is related to have taken\nSigmund Brestisson to a secluded building in the forest, in which\nthere were 'a number of gods.' At the inner end of the house was the\nimage of a woman splendidly dressed. What follows is of a legendary\ncharacter, but the building and image appear again in the story of Olaf\nTryggvason, who not only stripped Thorgerd of all her 'gold and silver\nand good clothes,' but dragged the image at a horse's tail, knocked\nit to pieces with a club, and finally burned it along with that of\nFrey. In _Nj\u00e1l's Saga_, Earl H\u00e1kon and Gudbrand are said to have had\na great temple in the Dales in which there were images of Thorgerd\nand Irpa; the former was as tall as a full-grown man, and had a large\ngold ring on her arm and a hood on her head. These accounts may have\na foundation in fact, but that given in _Har\u00f0ar Saga_ of a temple in\nIceland with an image of Thorgerd is probably mere invention, perhaps\nan echo of the passage in _Nj\u00e1l's Saga_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nCEREMONIES AND MINISTERS OF RELIGION\n\n\nWith regard to the rites of the old Scandinavian religion a\nconsiderable amount of information has been preserved, although mainly\nrelating to one part of the subject, the offering of sacrifice. It is\nclear that this was the central feature in the worship of the gods, and\nthe great means towards propitiating their favour or averting their\ndispleasure. Hence the verb _bl\u00f3ta_, which was the distinctive word for\nworshipping the heathen gods, very frequently (if not usually) implies\nthe accompaniment of sacrifice; and the noun _bl\u00f3t_ similarly means\neither the act of worship or that of sacrifice. In the case of the\nverb, the object of worship stands in the accusative case, the thing\nsacrificed in the dative, the original sense being 'to worship (the\ngods) with something.' In this killing of living things as an offering\nto the divine powers lay one of the most obvious differences between\nthe old religion and the new, and it is consequently one which holds\na prominent place in the accounts of the struggle between heathenism\nand Christianity. One of the first objects aimed at by the kings who\nadopted the new faith was the suppression of the practice in every\nform, while the adherents of the old religion clung to it tenaciously\nas long as they could. Even after Christianity was the established\nreligion of Norway, it was still thought necessary to remind the\npeople that all _bl\u00f3t_ were forbidden, whether to 'the heathen gods,\nmounds, or sacred cairns.' Here and in other passages where the word is\nsimilarly employed, it may be assumed that sacrifices are to be thought\nof as an essential part of the heathen worship.\n\nSacrifice might be offered either by individuals on their own account,\nor by some prominent man on behalf of the community. It was, indeed,\nthe duty of the latter to 'keep up the sacrifices,' on which the public\npeace and prosperity were believed largely to depend. The king as head\nof his people was especially bound to maintain this religious rite,\nand the adoption of Christianity by the Norwegian kings naturally\nbrought them into direct collision with the national feeling on this\npoint. When King H\u00e1kon in 952 proposed that his subjects should worship\nChrist, give up the heathen gods and the sacrifices to them, and keep\nholy each seventh day, he was met by the reply that they desired him\nrather to follow the custom of his father, and 'sacrifice for peace\nand plenty to them.' On the other hand, the importance attached to the\npractice by the more religious among the people is shown in the case of\nLoft the Old, who emigrated to Iceland from Gaular in Norway. He 'went\nabroad every third summer on his own account and that of his uncle\nFlosi, to sacrifice at that temple in Gaular of which his mother's\nfather, Thorbj\u00f6rn, had been the custodian.'\n\nThe extent to which the common people shared in the expense attendant\non such sacrifices seems to have varied according to circumstances. In\nsome cases the offering was a collective one; in others some great man\nshowed his wealth and munificence by providing it entirely from his\nown resources. Probably the latter course was somewhat exceptional, as\nSnorri says of Earl Sigurd, that 'he did a thing that was widely famed:\nhe made a great sacrificial feast at Hladir, and stood all the expense\nof it himself.' This he confirms by citing a verse from a poem in\npraise of Sigurd, composed by the Icelandic poet Kormak. Otherwise, he\nstates, 'it was the old custom, when there was to be a sacrifice, that\nall the householders should come to the place where the temple was,\nand bring there the provisions they would require while the festival\nlasted.' According to Adam of Bremen, too, the great festival which was\ncelebrated every nine years at Upsala was maintained by contributions\nfrom the whole Swedish people, and attendance at it was compulsory;\neven those who had adopted Christianity were only exempted on payment\nof a fine. The national character of the festival is also certified by\nSnorri, who calls it the 'chief _bl\u00f3t_,' and says it was held to obtain\npeace and victory for the Swedish king.\n\nThe actual sacrifice consisted in the killing of various animals,\nusually oxen, horses, sheep, or swine, but on special occasions even\nhuman beings were offered to the gods. At the great Upsala festival,\naccording to Adam's account, nine male animals of each kind were\noffered, as well as men; and a Christian eye-witness reported having\nseen seventy-two carcases of slaughtered men and beasts (dogs and\nhorses) suspended together from the trees of the sacred grove adjoining\nthe temple. Whether this custom of hanging up the bodies of the\nofferings was practised elsewhere in Scandinavia is unknown, but the\nconnection between Odin and death by hanging makes it probable that\nit was more widely known than appears. In Denmark also human victims\nwere offered along with animals; according to Thietmar's chronicle the\ngreat gathering in this country took place at Lejre (near Roskilde in\nSj\u00e6lland) every nine years, in the month of January. The sacrifice\nhere consisted of ninety-nine men and as many horses, dogs, and cocks\n(the latter being offered in place of hawks). How the victims were\nselected or obtained is not stated; but it is probable that they were\nusually captives taken in war, criminals, or thralls. In Sweden,\nindeed, strangers appear to have run some risk of being selected as\nvictims; in 997 the Icelandic poet Hallfred nearly met with this fate.\nIn early times, however, the Swedes were credited with having burned\none of their kings in his own house as an offering to Odin, in order\nto dispel a famine which they believed was due to his slackness in\nmaintaining the sacrifices. One of the early kings was also reported\nto have offered up nine of his sons in succession to Odin, to obtain\nlong life for himself. In an account of the heathen period in the\nisle of Gotland, which is given in _Guta Saga_, it is said that 'they\nsacrificed their sons and daughters and their cattle. All the land\nhad its highest sacrifices with folk (=human beings), as also had each\nthird (of the country) by itself; but the smaller districts had lesser\nsacrifices with cattle.'\n\nIn Norway and Iceland human sacrifices appear to have been more\nexceptional, and only resorted to in extreme cases. The usual nature\nof the victims is clearly indicated by the words assigned to King\nOlaf Tryggvason in 998, when he found his subjects obstinate in their\ndetermination to hold the midsummer _bl\u00f3t_. He then threatened 'to\nmake it the greatest kind of sacrifice that is in use, and offer up\nmen; and I will not choose thralls or criminals, but will select the\nmost distinguished men to give to the gods.' At the very crisis of the\nconflict between paganism and Christianity in Iceland, in the year\n1000, the adherents of the old religion resolved to sacrifice two men\nout of each quarter, and 'called upon the heathen gods not to let\nChristianity overrun the country.' Then Hjalti and Gizur held a meeting\nof the Christians, and said that they would also make an offering of\nas many men. 'The heathens,' they said, 'sacrifice the worst men, and\ncast them over rocks or cliffs; but we shall choose the best men, and\ncall it a gift for victory to our Lord Jesus Christ.' Various methods\nappear to have been in use besides that mentioned here; at Thorsness,\nin the west of Iceland, tradition long pointed out the 'doom-ring,'\nin which men had been adjudged for sacrifice, and the stone within\nit--called _Thor's stone_--on which they were killed by being broken,\n'and the stain of blood is still to be seen on it.' Another source\nspeaks of human victims as having been sunk in a fen close to the\ntemple on Kjalarness, which is supported by Adam of Bremen's statement\nthat near the temple of Upsala was a fountain in which 'a living man'\nwas immersed. A 'sacrificial pit' is also mentioned in _Vatnsd\u00e6la\nSaga_, where one Thorolf was believed to sacrifice both men and\ncattle. That in exceptional cases the victim may have been of higher\nstanding than the thrall or criminal is possible enough; as late as\n985 Earl H\u00e1kon in Norway is credited with having given his young son\nas an offering to Thorgerd, when he prayed to her for victory over the\nvikings of J\u00f3msborg. In other cases, such as that of Hallstein, who\n'gave his son to Thor' in order that the god might send him pillars\nfor his house, the language is ambiguous, and may imply dedication\nrather than sacrifice. When the sacrifice consisted of animals which\nmight be used for human food, it was apparently only the blood which\nwas regarded as belonging to the gods. To this was given the name of\n_hlaut_, and it has already been stated (p. 41) that special bowls\nwere kept to receive it in. It was then smeared or sprinkled by means\nof twigs, not only upon the altars and the walls of the temples (both\noutside and in), but also upon the assembled people. The flesh was\nthen boiled in large pots over the fires which burned in the middle of\nthe temple, and was eaten by the worshippers, after being consecrated\nby the chief man present. A prominent feature, at least of the more\nimportant festivals, was the use of horse-flesh for this purpose--a\npractice so intimately associated with heathenism that its abandonment\nwas strictly prescribed to those who accepted Christianity. This\nappears in the strongest light in the case of H\u00e1kon the Good, who was\nfinally forced to appease his heathen subjects by eating some pieces\nof horse-liver. In Iceland, however, it was permitted for a few years\nafter the new faith was publicly adopted.\n\nWhen the drinking began, the horns of ale were carried round the fire\nand solemnly dedicated to various gods. The first _full_ or toast was\nassigned to Odin (see p. 18), and was drunk to obtain victory and power\nfor the king. Next came that of Nj\u00f6rd and Frey, for peace and plenty.\n'After that it was the custom of many to drink Bragi's _full_. Men\nalso drank to those of their kinsmen who had been famous, and that was\ncalled _minni_.' It is possible that this account may be imperfect\nor inexact, as another passage mentions Thor as well as Odin in this\nconnection. This is a story of how St. Martin appeared in a dream to\nKing Olaf Tryggvason, and said to him: 'It has been the custom of men\nin this country, as well as elsewhere among heathen people, that ale\nis given to Thor and Odin, and toasts are assigned to the \u00c6sir, when\nthere is drinking or feasting in common.' The saint then suggests that\nin place of the old gods Olaf should substitute Martin himself, along\nwith God and His saints. This was actually what took place in Norway\nand Iceland, a fact which shows how strong a hold on popular feeling\nthe practice must have had. In the early Christian law of Norway it\nwas enjoined that ale was to be brewed for certain festivals, such\nas All Hallowmas and Christmas, 'and that ale shall be consecrated\nto Christ and Saint Mary _for peace and plenty_.' Omission to do so\nwas punishable by a fine to the bishop. In place of drinking to the\nheathen gods and their departed kinsmen, men now drank the _minni_\nof Christ, of Mary, of St. Martin, St. Olaf, or other saints, and\neven of the Holy Ghost, and this practice continued to be observed at\nwedding-feasts in Iceland as late as the seventeenth century.\n\nThe great festivals took place especially at three seasons in the\nyear. One of these was at the close of autumn (about the middle of\nOctober) 'to greet the winter.' At mid-winter came the festival of\nYule (_J\u00f3l_ or _J\u00fal_), originally held in the middle of January,\nbut afterwards altered to correspond with Christmas. The third was\nheld at the end of the winter (about the middle of April) 'to greet\nthe summer.' The precise time of each, however, may have varied\nin different parts of Scandinavia; Adam of Bremen, for instance,\nrepresents the great Upsala festival as taking place about the spring\nequinox, while Snorri places it a little earlier. As late as 1020\nthese three festivals were still kept up by the majority of the\ninhabitants in the district of Thrandheim in Norway, and must have been\nmaintained in Sweden for nearly a century later. The return which the\nworshippers hoped to obtain from the gods for the sacrifices offered\nwas mainly good seasons, abundant crops, peaceful times, and victory\nin war if it arose. To some extent each festival appears to have had\na special object, but the statements on this point are not quite in\nagreement with each other. No doubt the desires of the worshippers\nwere expressed in formal prayers offered up by the one who presided\nover the sacrifices, but no specimen of these has been preserved. Adam\nof Bremen asserts that in the sacrifices at Upsala use was made of\nmany incantations of an odious character, but of the precise nature\nof these there is no indication. The drinking of the various toasts\nwas certainly accompanied by formal speeches, of which those used in\nIceland at a later date are probably the Christianised representatives.\n\nIt is noteworthy that in most of the references to these great\nreligious festivals there is no statement that the sacrifices were\noffered to any particular deity, the usual expression being simply\n'to sacrifice for peace,' etc., or 'to the gods.' The same vagueness\nsometimes appears when more private offerings are mentioned; it is\nsimply said that the person 'performed a great sacrifice.' It may\nnaturally be assumed, however, that the deity appealed to would vary\naccording to the boon desired, or the preferences of the worshipper.\nAdam of Bremen, in fact, states that in event of pestilence or famine\nthe offering was made to Thor; in case of war it was given to Odin;\nwhile Frey was the recipient on the occasion of a wedding. The Swedes\nare also said to have sacrificed to Frey for peace and plenty, and\nThorgrim in Iceland honoured the same god at the beginning of winter\n(p. 26). Earl H\u00e1kon's sacrifice to Odin has already been mentioned (p.\n16), and is in agreement with Adam of Bremen's statement.\n\nAmong the ancient Scandinavians there was no distinct priestly caste.\nThe duty of presiding over religious ceremonies, and of acting as\ncustodian of sacred places, was attached to persons who had also\ntemporal authority of a more or less extensive nature. Highest of all\nstood the king, on whose attitude towards the gods and their worship\nthe prosperity of his people was believed largely to depend. Next to\nhim came the earls, who in this as in other respects acted as the\nrepresentatives of the king. Among the titles of honour given by the\npoets to both kings and earls are those of 'ruler' or 'guardian' of\nsanctuaries. Finally each district had its recognised religious head\nin one or other of its most prominent men, whose power as a chief was\nnaturally augmented in no slight degree by his position as priest.\nThe holder of this double office appears in the Icelandic writings\nunder the name of _go\u00f0i_ (also _hof-go\u00f0i_), a derivative of _go\u00f0_\n'god(s)'; it may be assumed that the name was also known in Norway,\nand its existence in Denmark is certified by its occurrence in Runic\ninscriptions. The sagas contain numerous references to these priestly\nchiefs, who are sometimes named after the god whom they specially\nworshipped (as _Freys-go\u00f0i_), sometimes after the place where they\nresided (as _Tungu-go\u00f0i_), or after those whose religious head they\nwere (as _Lj\u00f3svetninga-go\u00f0i_). By the older constitution of Iceland\nthe number of recognised _go\u00f0ar_ was thirty-nine, distributed pretty\nequally in the various parts of the island. The office itself was, at\nleast in Iceland, known by the name of _go\u00f0-or\u00f0_, and was regarded\nas an item of personal property, which might even be shared by more\nthan one person, so that we find such statements as 'he had a third of\nthe _go\u00f0-or\u00f0_ with Thorgeir.' The right to the office was hereditary,\nand could also be transferred by one person to another, and this\nwas frequently done, especially when the rightful holder was to be\nabsent from the country for a time. In one case the claimant to a\n_go\u00f0-or\u00f0_ is described as performing a ceremony which may have been a\nusual accompaniment of such transference. He 'said, \"we shall redden\nourselves in the _go\u00f0i's_ blood in the old fashion,\" and killed a ram,\nin the blood of which he reddened his hands, and claimed Arnstein's\n_go\u00f0-or\u00f0_.' The _go\u00f0i_ being as much a chief as a priest, the name did\nnot disappear with the adoption of Christianity into Iceland, though\nit naturally lost its religious associations and thenceforward denoted\nonly the recognised leader in the various districts of the island.\n\nIt appears also that women to some extent acted as priestesses, and in\nIceland, at least, these were designated by the name of _gy\u00f0ja_, or\n_hof-gy\u00f0ja_, a feminine form corresponding to _go\u00f0i_ and _hof-go\u00f0i_.\nIn one passage where a Thord _Freys-go\u00f0i_ is spoken of, a female\nrelative of his is also mentioned as being _hof-gy\u00f0ja_. When the\nmissionary Thorvald was preaching Christianity at Hvamm in the west of\nIceland about 984, a certain Fridgerd 'was meanwhile in the temple and\nperformed sacrifice, and each of them could hear the other's words';\nthen Thorvald made a verse in which he gives the name of _gy\u00f0ja_ to\nFridgerd. Other women are also mentioned with this appellation, but\nthe precise place of the priestess, and her relation to the priest,\nremains somewhat obscure.\n\nThat the public worship of the gods was thus in the hands of the most\nprominent men in the community, and not merely of a separate priestly\nclass, indicates that the Scandinavian peoples as a whole were really\ninterested in their religion. This is also shown by the thoroughly\npopular character of the great sacrificial feasts. In earlier times it\nis probable that the belief in the native gods was strong even to a\ndegree of fanaticism, of which traces are still found in the historic\nperiod, especially in Sweden and in the more northerly districts of\nNorway. The words of Gudbrand already quoted (p. 10) no doubt express\na genuine religious attitude common to many worshippers of the \u00c6sir,\nand similar confessions of faith are to be met with in other accounts.\nWhen King H\u00e1kon wished his subjects to adopt Christianity, 'and believe\nin one God, Christ the son of Mary, and abandon all sacrifices and\nthe heathen gods,' there arose a great murmur in the assembly, and\nthe speaker who replied protested against the idea 'that we should\nabandon that faith which our fathers have had before us ... and yet\nthis faith has served us well.' Instances have already been given of\nthe strong attachment which individuals had for certain gods, whom\nthey regarded as their dear and faithful friends, consulted them in all\ntheir difficulties, and gave them joint-ownership of their possessions.\nOthers again were zealous in erecting temples and maintaining\nsacrifices, such as Hall in Thorskafirth, who 'raised a great temple,\nbecause Ulf,' the chief man of the district, 'was no sacrificer.' By\nsuch men the encroachments of Christianity were naturally regarded\nwith resentment and dismay. At the Althing in Iceland in 996 it was\ndecided that any one blaspheming the gods should be prosecuted by a\nnear kinsman, and for one to be a Christian was reputed a disgrace to\nall the kindred. Four years later, while the adoption of Christianity\nwas being debated at the Althing, a volcanic eruption was reported from\nthe neighbourhood, whereupon the heathens said, 'It is no wonder that\nthe gods are angry at such talk.' In 1020 the men of Thrandheim held\nsacrifices after the old fashion, drinking to the gods, killing cattle\nand horses, and reddening the altars with the blood; this was done\non account of a great dearth in that part of Norway, 'and it seemed\nclear to all men that the gods were angry because they had turned to\nChristianity.' So late as the twelfth century the people in some parts\nof Sweden were still inclined to throw off such Christianity as they\nhad, and revert to the sacrificial rites of the old religion.\n\nOn the other hand, it is clear that even in the ninth and tenth\ncenturies the worship of the \u00c6sir was gradually losing its hold.\nSome of the early settlers in Iceland were either wholly or partly\nChristian; among the latter were, for example, Helgi the Lean, who\nbelieved in both Thor and Christ, and the kinsmen of the Hebridean\n\u00d6rlyg, who 'believed in Columcille, though they were not baptized.' A\nbelief 'in their own might and strength' was all the faith that some\nof the Scandinavians of this period would own to. Many who came into\nintercourse with southern peoples accepted the _prima signatio_, or\nfirst sign of adoption into the Christian Church. From at least the\nbeginning of the ninth century zealous missionary efforts were made by\nthe Church to supplant Thor and his hammer by Christ and the cross;\nwhile, on the other hand, the Scandinavian religion, however strong\nits hold upon its adherents, never succeeded in spreading beyond its\noriginal limits. The combination of all these facts explains the\ncomparatively rapid manner in which the old faith finally succumbed\nbefore the new, leaving behind it only the imperfect traces which have\nbeen summed up in these pages, and a mythology which has a profound\ninterest of its own and is inextricably associated with the history of\nOld Norwegian and Icelandic poetry.\n\n\n\n\nSELECTED WORKS\n\n\n  The chief works in English in which information on ancient\n      Scandinavian mythology and religion may be found are the\n      following:--\n\n  G. VIGFUSSON and F. Y. POWELL.--_Corpus Poeticum Boreale; the Poetry\n      of the Old Northern Tongue._ 2 vols. Oxford, 1883.\n\n  B. THORPE.--_The Edda of S\u00e6mund the Learned._ London, 1866.\n\n  G. W. DASENT.--_The Prose or Younger Edda._ Stockholm, 1842.\n\n  I. A. BLACKWELL.--_The Prose Edda_ (in Mallet's _Northern\n      Antiquities_).\n\n  R. B. ANDERSON.--_The Younger Edda; also called Snorre's Edda or the\n      Prose Edda._ Chicago, 1880.\n\n  R. B. ANDERSON.--_Norse Mythology; or the Religion of our\n      Forefathers._ Chicago, 1875.\n\n  C. F. KEARY.--_Mythology of the Eddas._ London, 1882.\n\n  (Miss) W. FARADAY.--_The Divine Mythology of the North._ London,\n      1902. (No. 12 of Nutt's _Popular Studies in Mythology_, etc.)\n\n  GRIMM'S _Teutonic Mythology_, translated by Stallybrass. 3 vols.\n      London, 1880-83.\n\n  RYDBERG'S _Teutonic Mythology_, translated by R. B. Anderson. London,\n      1889.\n\n  S. LAING.--_The Heimskringla, or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway._\n      London, 1844.\n\n  R. B. ANDERSON.--_Snorro's Heimskringla, or the Sagas of the Norse\n      Kings._ (Revised edition of the preceding.) London, 1889.\n\n  W. MORRIS and E. MAGNUSSON.--_The Heimskringla, or the Stories of\n      the Kings of Norway._ 4 vols. London, 1893-1906. (Vols. iii.-vi.\n      of the _Saga Library_.)\n\n  J. SEPHTON.--_The Saga of King Olaf Tryggwason._ London, 1895. (Vol\n      i. of Nutt's _Northern Library_.)\n\n  W. MORRIS and E. MAGNUSSON.--_The Eyrbiggia Saga._ London, 1892.\n      (Vol. ii. of the _Saga Library_.)\n\n  G. VIGFUSSON and F. Y. POWELL.--_Origines Islandic\u00e6._ 2 vols.\n      Oxford, 1905.\n\n  MALLET'S _Northern Antiquities_. (Bohn's Library.) London, 1847.\n\n  P. DU CHAILLU.--_The Viking Age._ 2 vols. London, 1889.\n\n\nPrinted by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty at the\nEdinburgh University Press.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n[1] Based upon the Latin discourse _De correctione rusticorum_, by\nMartin of Bracara, who died in 580.\n\n[2] This discrepancy between the Roman and Scandinavian myths is also\nnoticed by Saxo Grammaticus.\n\n[3] Compare the vow of Hallfred and his companions mentioned on p. 19.\n\n[4] In the ceremony of entering into 'foster-brotherhood,' each person\nswore to avenge the other, 'and named all the gods as witnesses.'\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER'S NOTES\n\n\n  Page ii, period added (JUDAISM.)\n  Page 19, \"Hjalfi\" changed to \"Hjalti\" (verse by Hjalti Skeggjason)\n  Page 65, \"_hofgo\u00f0i_\" changed to \"_hof-go\u00f0i_\" (also _hof-go\u00f0i_)","title":"The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":16560}