The Twilight of the Gods: The Dissolution and Demise of the Old Norse Religion

Monk speaks with warrior

The rulers' strategies for doing away with former religious practices and beliefs

In my study, I also ask what role the rulers had in the dismantling of the indigenous religion. The theoretical perspective is inspired by the American anthropologist Joel Robbins’ investigation of the Urapmin group in Papua New Guinea, where he noted how the indigenous population actively dismantled the religious traditions that had previously shaped their lives. Robbins argued that the disappearance of a religion can be seen as “something people actively do, rather than something that just happens.” This actor perspective, emphasizing indigenous agency in the process, fits well with the Northmen’s dismantling of the old religion, particularly regarding the role of Viking kings during this transition. In my opinion, the indigenous kings, and perhaps also queens, were the driving actors in this process alongside the churchmen. This so-called “top-down perspective” is not new in research, but it has often focused on the outcome, i.e., Christianization. I, however, focus on the processes behind the disappearance of the Norse religion.

According to available sources, it seems that the indigenous kings employed certain conscious methods or strategies to eradicate the old religion. It appears that they focused on certain aspects of the old religion that may have been vulnerable in the encounter with Christianity. The following five suggestions do not claim to be exhaustive, but they are well-documented in the sources:

(A )The Viking kings played an important ritual role during the calendrical sacrificial festivals. These rites were to follow a strict liturgical order, where the ruler also had to participate in certain rituals, such as drinking ceremonies and the communion meal. Through these sacrificial festivals, where the ruler’s ritual role was necessary, the cult community expected a gift in return from the gods, such as good harvests and peace, as evidenced by the formula til árs ok friðar “for good year growth and peace.” If the king did not participate in the communion meal or neglected the royal rites, the ritual was considered a failure. Several sources indicate that the early Christian kings sometimes refused to perform their ritual duties. According to Adam of Bremen, the Christian Swedish king, Anunder, refused to perform the prescribed sacrifice, probably at the sanctuary in Uppsala. He was therefore deposed and 'left the assembly in joy over having been deemed worthy to endure disgrace for the sake of Jesus' name.' King Inge Stenkilsson also employed the same method. We have several similar examples from Norway where Håkon the Good and Olav Tryggvason refused to sacrifice on behalf of the farmers. The sources testify that this refusal was a severe blow to those who clung to the old faith. This refusal can be interpreted as a deliberate method to dismantle the indigenous belief system.

(B) Another method employed by the missionary kings was the strategy of winning over the local chieftains to the new faith. In doing so, they could effectively eliminate the key and most driving forces of the old cult. The chieftains organized the public worship at local shrines, as there was a lack of a well-trained and professional priesthood. To persuade the chieftains to abandon their old religious roles, the kings sent out missionary bishops and priests to preach to them, but they also employed other methods, such as negotiations, court decisions, or violence. Chieftains who continued to organize the old cult could even be killed.

It has previously been claimed that our knowledge of the Christian missionaries’ preaching is limited, as we lack contemporary ecclesiastical sources that testify to it. However, the runologist Henrik Williams has shown that we have a church norm and confession preserved on the runestones. They contain Christian symbols, such as crosses, but also hundreds of prayers. Previous research has claimed that the Christian faith found on the runestones was primitive. Williams’ investigation shows that this conclusion is incorrect. He argues that nearly all of the established tenets found in the Apostolic and Nicene Creeds were known to the newly converted in the North, such as belief in the one God, Christ, the mother of God, the crucifixion, resurrection, and salvation of Christ. The runestones also testify to the significance of baptism, the forgiveness of sins, resurrection, and the afterlife. Thus, we can assume that these tenets were preached by the early Christian kings and their priests at gatherings and in halls during the late Viking Age.

Gifts were a common way to win over converts. Norwegian kings offered pagan chieftains large areas of land if they allowed themselves to be baptized. According to Norse sources, Olav the Holy distributed plots in Nidaros, and Sten Tesch has claimed, supported by archaeological finds, that the kings in Sigtuna did the same there. It seems that Sigtuna followed a deliberate city plan with plots along a main street where the king also had his estate. Christian nobles in the area could likely get land to stay temporarily in Sigtuna and also reflect on the king’s glory. One of the kings in Sigtuna also appears to have been generous and hosted a large feast attended by his friends. On a runestone found in Sigtuna, it says: “Marre(?) donated the ribs. He possesses the most property. ... The king is the best man(?). He owns the most property. He is generous.” The bone has previously been dated to 1100. The generous king could then be Inge Stenkilsson, who treated the wealthy and baptized farmers to feasts. However, the dating has been questioned, as the circumstances of the find suggest a later date, perhaps around 1200. The term konungr may refer to Knut Eriksson, who had interests in the Sigtuna area. We may anyhow conclude, that the eradication of religious leadership and the pagan cult organization appears to have been central to the missionary kings, and many sources testify to this.

(C) It seems that the missionary kings also had strategies for materially obliterating the indigenous religion. Sometimes, the kings allowed pagan cult buildings to be burned, cult images and other ritual paraphernalia to be destroyed. Several sources report that King Erik Bloodaxe and his Christian sons destroyed shrines in Norway in the mid-900s. The skald Einar Skálaglam praises Jarl Håkon for fighting a battle against the sons of Erik, who had desecrated the old shrines. It seems that the destruction of old cult places was important for the Christian kings.

(D) The medieval laws testify that legislation was used as a method by the crown and the church to prohibit indigenous religious traditions, such as animal sacrifices and the consumption of horse meat. Worship of gods and ancestors at shrines, burial mounds, and hargs was also forbidden. The intent behind these provisions was likely to eliminate popular religious customs that were still in use during the 1100s and 1200s. The provisions in the laws may also be obsolete relics from an earlier stage of the religious transition.

(E) The early Christian kings, together with the church, did everything to belittle the old gods and also to humiliate those who worshiped them. They even had various literary techniques to deprive the gods of their divine status, or to reinterpret them, such as euhemerism, demonology, and idol parody. Snorri Sturluson, for example, employed a euhemeristic interpretative method in his myth-writing, where the gods were transformed into ancient kings and heroes with human traits. By claiming that the old powers were mortal kings, he could neutralize the gods. Demonology was frequently applied by Christian authors, for instance in early chronicles and hagiographical texts written in Latin, but also in Norse kings' sagas. Idol parodies refer to a kind of ironic descriptions of the pagan god images. In these parodies, the missionary kings and the Christian heroes cut apart the heathens' cult images to pedagogically show the simple farmers that their idols are not real gods but merely empty figures. These stories were also told orally at gatherings, such as at assemblies or in the chieftain's hall. Although the early Christian kings wanted to eradicate the cult of the old gods, it seems they did not fully succeed. The memory of the old gods lingered long after the official conversion. However, when they were mentioned, the gods were often portrayed as ancient kings or as devils and demons.

The methods I have outlined likely represent a kind of chronology. The strategies employed in categories (A), (B), and perhaps (C) reflect a Christian king in an early phase of the change process, who cannot compete with the pagan power in question. The strategies used in (D) and (E) testify to a Christian ruler in a later phase who is on the same level as the pagan power or even stronger than it.

Wooden idols of Thor, Odin and Freyr as they could have looked like during the Viking Age.

Why rituals and religious leadership?

In the book, I also addressed why the kings employed the aforementioned methods. Why did the Christian powers focus specifically on religious leadership and the ritual aspects in the dismantling of the old religion? They could just as well have concentrated on the traditional worldview and belief system. The preserved mythical traditions in, for example, Snorri’s Edda, suggest that such ideas were well developed there. Was there an inherent vulnerability in the old cultic system that the Christian rulers had identified and therefore attacked? To answer that question, I will discuss some ideas developed by scholars who have used typologies of religion when discussing the transition of religions in the North.

Gro Steinsland has argued in several contexts that the Nordic religion and Christianity represent two different types of religion. The former can be classified as an “ethnic” and local “folk religion” based on cults, with a multitude of beliefs and rites, while the latter can be classified as a “universal, salvation religion” with a normative belief system and dogmas. A typical characteristic of ethnic religions, according to Steinsland, is that the religion is closely connected to a people and merges with the group’s culture. If you belong to the group, you are automatically also part of the religious community. Here, there is an orientation toward the collective. Universal religions can be practiced by basically any group of people and societies. They have a more individual basis since they are not tied to a specific religious community. According to Steinsland, this model explains why the encounter between religions in the North was so conflictual. The model also explains why Christianity ultimately emerged victorious. Like other “folk religions,” the traditional religion in Scandinavia was vulnerable at the encounter with the Christians because it lacked a priestly organization supported by a strong institution in society, which in turn was upheld by a power apparatus. The old religion was also fragile in its encounter with Christianity because it was tolerant of beliefs and easily adopted new ideas that were incorporated into the old tradition. That religion also lacked dogmas rooted in a holy scripture. In the encounter with Christianity, this appeared as a weakness.

Jens Peter Schjødt has further developed Steinsland’s ideas by bringing up Jan Assmann’s memory theories and the taxonomic distinction between primary and secondary religions, where the former can be distinguished from the latter because they lack a canonical text. Schjødt argues that the ancient Nordic religion, which was based on a multitude of oral traditions, can definitely be classified as a primary religion. He further claims that cultures without writing, like the ancient Nordic, remember their religion by continuously performing rituals. During these rituals, the “great stories” are actualized, for example, those that deal with creation or the end of the world. It was therefore no coincidence, Schjødt argues, that the Christian crown prohibited the very sacrifice festivals and the old rituals. In this way, the old religion was doomed to vanish from the memory of the Northmen. In a society without writing, the rituals exist only as long as they are continuously repeated. If for some reason the rituals change or cease to be performed, it is likely that they quickly fall into oblivion. Myths, on the other hand, are primarily conveyed through language. They can undergo various textual transformations and adaptations and thus remain despite changes in society, culture, and religion. Perhaps this is the main explanation for why the myths survived the religious shift in the North, while the knowledge of the rituals quickly fell into oblivion over a few generations.

Steinsland’s and Schjødt’s studies show that there were certain vulnerable areas within the ancient Nordic folk religion when it encountered universal Christianity. The lack of a priestly institution or authority that regulated the religious discourse was a significant reason for its fragility. There was also a lack of a canonical text to support the memory of the tradition. The tolerant and inclusive nature of the indigenous tradition also favored the Christian missionaries.

However, perhaps it was primarily pragmatism that was applied when choosing strategies and tactics to dismantle the old religion. Since the newly converted Christian kings could not change the worldview of the people, they did what they could, such as abandoning their own cultic roles or persuading local chieftains to give up their traditional duties. As the kings' power position strengthened, they could also attack the old shrines with violence and, at a later stage, prohibit traditional customs through laws, such as animal sacrifices and the consumption of horse meat. These methods and strategies also indicate where the vulnerabilities of the disappearing religion lay, that is, the weaknesses that explain why the ancient Nordic religion fell away at a public level in society when confronted with Christianity. The memory of the tradition existed in the cultic life and rituals, where the mythical stories were also actualized. By targeting the chieftains who organized the cult, destroying the sacred sites, and prohibiting everything related to sacrifice, they could effectively dissolve the old tradition. These aspects of the old religion were also more under the control of the kings and were central to the modus operandi of the pre-Christian religion. Since they could not prevent people from talking about the old gods, they focused on what could be influenced. It was easier to control what people did than what they thought, at least in the public sphere. However, on farms and in the private sphere, a kind of folk religiosity and old customs persisted well into the early modern period. In what is called lived religion, some older cult practices survived and integrated with popular and medieval Christianity. Perhaps certain post-Reformation practices, such as cults around springs and processions over fields with saint images, also have their roots in medieval syncretism.

Two famous jewellery from Viking Age Sweden; A Thor's Hammer amulet från Skåne and a crucifix from Birka.

Traces of pagan resistance

Some scholars argue that the process of religious change in places like Sweden was largely smooth and peaceful. However, sources show that not everyone was satisfied with this transition, as it affected people’s living conditions. In Sweden, a pagan rebellion occurred around 1080 when the Christian king Inge Stenkilsson was deposed at a thing meeting. His crime was actively working to dismantle the old faith. He had also refused to perform sacrifices on behalf of the Svear in Uppsala. Inge was replaced by his pagan brother-in-law Blotsven, who sacrificed to the gods in the traditional manner. However, three years later, Inge regained the throne and re-established Christianity. A similar pattern can be found in sources that recount the Christianization of Norway in the 10th century. King Håkon had received a Christian upbringing in England. When he assumed the kingship in Norway, he wanted to introduce Christianity to the country. However, he faced strong resistance from the powerful landowners in Trøndelag. They did not want to abandon their ancestors' faith and change their customs. Above all, they wanted the king to offer sacrifices to them in the traditional way, ensuring good harvests and peace. At a sacrificial feast in Mære, Håkon was forced to eat sacrificial meat and toast to the Norse gods. The dissolution of paganism in Trøndelag came later, when Olav Tryggvason and Olav Haraldsson forcefully Christianized the region.

In Iceland, the transition to Christianity occurred entirely peacefully, despite the presence of a pagan faction initially opposed to it. There were no kings in Iceland, but local chieftains ruled the country together at the Althing. In the year 1000, some Icelandic chieftains appeared at the Althing and advocated for Christianity. They managed to persuade the pagan law speaker to declare Christian law and faith in order to maintain peace in the country. The law speaker also introduced a compromise. People were allowed to continue eating horse meat and making sacrifices in secret, but if caught by witnesses, they were fined. Since decisions at the Althing held great legitimacy, the transition process was smooth, and pagan traditions gradually disappeared.