RELIGION
OF ANCIENT
SCANDINAVIA
LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA
SAN DIEGO
RELIGIONS ANCIENT AND MODERN
THE RELIGION OF
ANCIENT SCANDINAVIA
RELIGIONS : ANCIENT AND MODERN.
ANIMISM.
By EDWARD CLODD, Author of The Story of Creation.
PANTHEISM.
By JAMES ALL AN SON PICTON, Author of The Religion of the
universe.
THE RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT CHINA.
By Professor GILES, LL.D., Professor of Chinese in the University
of Cambridge.
THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT GREECE.
By JANE HARRISON, Lecturer at Newnham College, Cambridge,
Author of Prolegomena to Study of Greek Religion.
ISLAM.
By AMEER An SYED, M.A., C.I.E., late of H.M.'s High Court
of Judicature in Bengal, Author of The Spirit of I flam and The
Ethics of Islam.
MAGIC AND FETISHISM.
By Dr. A. C. H ADDON, F.R.S., Lecturer on Ethnology at Cam-
bridge University.
THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
By Professor W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE, F.R.S.
THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
By THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, late of the British Museum.
EARLY BUDDHISM.
By Professor RHYS DAVIDS, LL.D., late Secretary of The Royal
Asiatic Society.
HINDUISM.
By Dr. L. D. BAR NEXT, of the Department of Oriental Printed
Books and MSS. , British Museum.
SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION.
By WILLIAM A. CRAIGIE, Joint Editor of the Oxford English
Dictionary.
CELTIC RELIGION.
By Professor ANWYL, Professor of Welsh at University College,
Aberystwyth.
THE MYTHOLOGY OF ANCIENT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
By CHARLES SQUIRE, Author of The Mythology of the British
Islands.
JUDAISM
By ISRAEL ABRAHAMS, Lecturer in Talmudic Literature in
Cambridge University, Author of Jewish Life in the Middle Ages.
THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT ROME.
By CYRIL BAILEY, M.A.
SHINTO, THE ANCIENT RELIGION OF JAPAN.
By W. G. ASTON, C.M.G.
THE MYTHOLOGIES OF ANCIENT MEXICO AND PERU.
By LEWIS SPENCE, M.A.
EARLY CHRISTIANITY.
By S. B. SLACK, Professor at M'Gill University.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ORIGIN AND NATURE OF RE-
LIGION. By Professor J. H. LEUBA.
THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT PALESTINE.
By STANLEY A. COOK.
THE
RELIGION OF ANCIENT
SCANDINAVIA
By
W. A.;CRAIGIE, M.A.
TAYLORIAN LECTURER IN THE SCANDINAVIAN
LANGUAGES, OXFORD. AUTHOR OF
' SCANDINAVIAN FOLK-LORE '
FOREWORD
THE native religion of the ancient Scandinavians
was in its main features only a special form of
that common to all the Germanic peoples, and
this again was only a particular development of
primitive beliefs and practices characteristic of
the whole Aryan race. It is impossible to say
how far back in time the special Germanic and
Scandinavian developments of this religion may
go, and of their earlier stages we have absolutely
no knowledge beyond what may be doubtfully
reached by the methods of comparison and in-
ference. Even of the later stages our informa-
tion is much more scanty than might be expected.
Among the Goths, the southern Germans, and the
Anglo-Saxons in Britain, paganism gave way to
Christianity at so early a period, that very few
details relating to it have been recorded by the
civil or religious historians of these peoples ; they
were indeed more inclined to suppress than
perpetuate any lingering knowledge of this kind.
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
The absence of such information is a great bar
to the proper understanding of many points in
Scandinavian religion, which, instead of being
thus illuminated from without, has continually
been forced to throw light on the heathen wor-
ship of the other Teutonic peoples.
As to the Scandinavian peoples themselves, it
is only from a comparatively late period in the
history of Europe that we have any real know-
ledge of them. They first became notorious at
the close of the eighth century, when their un-
expected piratical descents on Britain and France
alarmed Western Christendom. Early in the ninth
century the Saxon monk Ansgar ventured upon
missionary enterprises into Scandinavia, at that
time entirely a heathen region, and on two occa-
sions reached the court of the Swedish king.
About the middle of the same century Christianity
began to make way in Denmark, which in another
fifty years or so had become in the main a Christian
land. During the tenth century the new faith
began to make itself felt in Norway, but did not
finally overcome the old religion until the begin-
ning of the eleventh : in Iceland, which had been
colonised from Norway, the adoption of Chris-
tianity took place somewhat suddenly in the year
1000. Sweden for the most part still remained
vi
FOREWORD
heathen, and did not fully accept the new religion
until the twelfth century.
During these three centuries we have very little
outside evidence as to the character of the religion
professed by any of the Scandinavian peoples, and
our knowledge of the beliefs and practices of
northern heathenism is for the most part derived
from native sources of a later date. These, while
in some respects copious enough, by no means
give all the information that could be desired,
and on some important points their evidence
is either scanty or very unsatisfactory. The
deficiencies are to a large extent disguised, at
first sight, by the fact that we possess abundant
information as to Scandinavian 'mythology. Not
only do the poems of the skalds (from the close
of the ninth century onwards) abound in mytho-
logical allusions, but there also exists a systematic
account of the subject in the work of Snorri
Sturluson, commonly known as the ' Prose Edda,'
written in Iceland about the year 1220. For the
facts relating to the actual religion, on the other
hand, we have to depend on the few pieces of
outside evidence, and on fairly numerous, but not
always reliable, statements in the biographical
and historical prose writings commonly grouped
together under the name of ' Sagas.' These works,
vii
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
based on oral tradition of a very full and often very
accurate nature, were written in Iceland during
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and most
of them are separated by more than a century
and a half from the period of time to which
they relate. As the authors were in every case
Christians, and many of them were ecclesiastics,
it is obvious that the late evidence thus afforded
us is not to be absolutely relied upon. On the
other hand, the tenacity of Icelandic tradition,
the continuous interest in the poetic mythology,
and the absence of any fanatical hatred of the old
heathenism, make it possible to accept, with due
reservations, many of the statements made in
these writings. It is unfortunate, however, that
Iceland alone of all the Scandinavian countries
developed a literature of this kind. The result is
that the information thus preserved relates for
the most part only to Iceland itself and its
mother-country, Norway. The heathen period
in Denmark was so remote, and Sweden itself so
slightly connected with Iceland, that compara-
tively little is recorded of either, although Sweden
was still heathen when Icelandic literature began.
This is the more to be regretted, as a fuller
knowledge of the precise form which the old
religion had in Denmark and Sweden would in
viii
FOREWORD
all probability solve some problems which are
now obscure.
In the following account of the ancient Scandi-
navian religion, an attempt has been made to
exhibit what is really known of the religious
beliefs and practices of the people as distinct
from the mythological fancies of the poets. With
the evidence which we possess, it is impossible to
determine how far the latter ever formed any part
of a real popular religion : in some respects there
seems to be a decided opposition between the two.
The mythology, as it is found in the old poems
and in the Prose Edda, has been the subject of
much learned speculation, and various theories as
to the original functions of the different gods and
goddesses have from time to time been advanced,
and have met with more or less acceptance. Much
has also been written on the question how far the
original conceptions had been modified under
classic and Christian influences even before
Christianity was finally accepted in the north.
All discussion of these matters is here omitted
in favour of a more direct investigation into the
purely religious aspect of the old faith, so far as
the existing materials admit of this.
IX
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
FOREWORD, . v
i. THE GREAT GODS : THOR AND ODIN, , , 1
II. THE REMAINING GODS AND OTHER OBJECTS OF
WORSHIP, 24
in. TEMPLES AND IMAGES, . . . " . , 39
iv. CEREMONIES AND MINISTERS OF RELIGION, . 53
SELECTED WORKS, ,..,, 71
XI
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN
RELIGION
CHAPTER I
THE GREAT GODS: THOR AND ODIN
IN common with the other Aryan races, the
ancient Scandinavians recognised, as the basis of
their religion, certain supernatural, usually un-
seen, powers ruling the world and exercising an
influence on the affairs of mankind. In the ideas
which prevailed as to the nature of these powers
certain correspondences can be clearly traced in
the various Aryan religions, in spite of the fact
that our knowledge of them dates from widely
different periods of history. Even the Romans,
when they came into contact with the Germanic
races, noticed some of the similarities, and applied
the names of several of their own deities to the
corresponding figures among the barbarian gods.
When closer intercourse between Roman and
German had established itself, the result of these
A I
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
equations was made prominent in the names
adopted by the latter for the days of the week,
several of which, in most of the Germanic
tongues, still bear witness to the old religion of
the race. Thus the counterpart of the Roman
Mars was found in the god Tiw, and consequently
dies Martis was rendered by forms now repre-
sented in English by Tuesday. In the same way
the Roman Mercurius, Jupiter, and Venus were
identified with the Germanic gods called by the
English Woden, Thunor, and Frig, whence the
names of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
In making these equations, of course, neither
German nor Roman did more than consider the
most obvious points of resemblance between the
deities; how close the correspondence actually
was in each case it is impossible to say, as we
know so little of the precise form which the
native religion had among the southern Germans.
It is only to a certain extent that the details
suggested by these translations of the Roman
names are supported by the evidence from the
Scandinavian side, but it is extremely probable
that some of the more striking discrepancies are
due to difference in time as well as in place and
people.
The three gods and the goddess whose names
2
THOR AND ODIN
are thus commemorated in the days of the week
hold also a prominent place among the Scandi-
navian deities, where they appear under the
names of Ty (Tyr), Odin (Oftinn), Thor (Jjorr),
and Frigg. But while Odin and Thor actually
hold the place which they might be expected to
occupy as objects of worship, the warlike deity
Ty has apparently become of secondary import-
ance. This is indicated not only by the native
Scandinavian evidence, but also by what can be
gleaned from external sources. In an Old English
sermon 1 by the Abbot ^Elfric, about the year
1000, the mention of some of the Roman deities
leads the preacher to introduce the corresponding
Danish names. Jove or Jupiter, he says, 'was
called Thor among some peoples, and him the
Danes love most of all.' Mercury, too, 'was
honoured among all the heathens, and he is
otherwise called Othon in Danish.' Of Ty there
is no mention, although Mars is one of the Roman
deities specified by name. In another homily by
^Elfric there is the same identification of Thor
and Odin, along with 'the foul goddess Venus,
whom men call Frigg,' but here also Ty is ignored.
More than merely negative evidence, however,
1 Based upon the Latin discourse De correctione rusticorum,
by Martin of Bracara, who died in 580.
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
is supplied by another outside source, which is
the leading contemporary account of Scandinavian
religion, viz. that given by the German historian,
Adam of Bremen (about the year 1075), in his
description of the great temple of the Swedes at
Upsala, and of the gods worshipped there. Here
he writes, ' the people venerate the statues of three
gods, so placed that the most powerful of them,
Thor, has his seat in the middle of the bench.
On either side of him Wodan and Fricco have
their places. Of these the significations are as
follows. Thor, they say, presides in the air, and
governs thunder and lightning, winds and rains,
fair weather and crops. The next, Wodan, that
is " Fury," carries on wars and gives men valour
against their enemies. The third is Fricco, be-
stowing peace and pleasure upon mortals.' The
image of Wodan, he adds, resembled that of the
Roman Mars; that of Thor suggested Jupiter,
while Fricco was represented in a form resembling
the minor deity Priapus.
The god here called Fricco was known to the
Scandinavians themselves by the name of Frey
(Freyr), and that the triad thus specified by
Adam were in fact the chief deities worshipped
in the later stages of Scandinavian religion is
abundantly proved by the native evidence. The
4
THOR AND ODIN
identification of Odin with Mars in place of Mer-
cury is also in full accordance with the later
beliefs : in other words, Odin has taken the place
of Ty as the chief war-god. Whether this was
the main reason for the admission of Frey as
third member of the supreme triad is uncertain,
the earlier position of this god being altogether
unknown. Thor, it will be noticed, still retains
his place as the counterpart of the Roman Jupiter,
and stands between the other two gods, as being
the most powerful. The precise relationship,
however, between Thor and Odin is not by any
means so simple as this statement would suggest,
and forms indeed one of the most difficult questions
connected with the subject. This will be most
clearly brought out by a detailed account of the
relative place assigned to each of them in religious
practice on the one hand, and in mythological
accounts on the other; and the most correct
impression of the facts will probably be obtained
by dealing first with Thor.
The pre-eminence assigned to this god by ^Elfric
and Adam of Bremen is quite in accordance with
what can fairly be inferred from the native histori-
cal sources. A considerable number of passages in
the sagas yield combined proof that by the people at
large Thor was regarded as the chief deity, at least
5
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
in Norway and Iceland : for Sweden and Denmark
the evidence is less conclusive, but seems to point
in the same direction. It is of great significance,
for example, that in all the Scandinavian countries
the name of Thor is the one which is most fre-
quently used as a formative element in the names
of persons (such as Thor-kell, Stein-thor), and these
were evidently quite as common in Sweden and
Denmark as in Norway and Iceland. On the other
hand, the name of Odin is scarcely ever employed,
only one or two instances being found among the
Danes and Swedes. Names with Frey- as their
first element are more frequent, but are in small
proportion compared with those in Thor-. In
Danish and Swedish place-names, too, the predomi-
nance of Thor is very marked, although Odin and
Frey are better represented here than in the case
of the personal names. In Norway and Iceland
place-names of this kind are rare, but Thorsness
and Thorsmark occur in the latter country. The
frequency with which Thor's hammer (see below)
is represented on Danish and Swedish runic
monuments, and the occurrence on ancient Danish
stones of the formula 'May Thor hallow this
monument ' (or ' these runes '), also indicate that
the position of this deity was much the same
among all branches of the Scandinavian people.
6
THOR AND ODIN
In Denmark, too, there are distinct traces of a
tendency to hold local assemblies on the day
named after the god; in Iceland this was the
day on which the famous Al-thing (the legal and
legislative assembly of the whole people) began
every year, ten weeks after the first day of summer,
and in Norway the great law-assembly of the
western districts also began its meetings on a
Thursday.
For Norway and Iceland there is a considerable
amount of more direct evidence than this. In
several of the Icelandic historical writings it is
expressly stated that some of the leading colonists
had a special regard for Thor and his worship.
Of one who came from the island of Mostr, on
the south-western coast of Norway, it is told that
he had the custody of Thor's temple there, and
was a ' great friend ' of the god, on which account
he was called Thorolf ( = Thor-wolf). This Thorolf
fell out with King Harald, and went to inquire
of Thor, 'his loving friend,' whether he should
make terms with the king or leave the country.
The oracle directed him to go to Iceland. He
pulled down the temple, and took with him most
of the timber, as well as the earth from under the
pedestal on which Thor had been seated. On
coming near Iceland, he threw overboard the two
7
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
chief pillars of the temple, on one of which the
image of Thor was carved, and declared he would
settle wherever Thor made these come ashore.
After landing on the south side of Broadfirth,
they found that Thor had come ashore with the
pillars on a headland, to which they then gave
the name of Thor's-ness, while a river in the
neighbourhood was also named after the god.
When this Thorolf had a son in his old age, he
gave him to his friend Thor, and called him
Thorstein. Thorstein also gave his own son to
Thor, ' and said he should be a temple-priest, and
called him Thorgrim.' Another son of Thorolf's
sacrificed to Thor, that he might send him pillars
for his house, ' and gave his son for this,' which
probably means that he also dedicated his son to
the god, though one account appears to imply
that he actually offered him in sacrifice.
Of another settler, Helgi the Lean, who was
brought up in Ireland, it is stated that when he
came in sight of Iceland, he inquired of Thor
where he should land; the oracle directed him
to Eyafirth, and would allow him to go nowhere
else. Before they came in sight of the firth,
Helgi's son asked him whether he would have
obeyed Thor's directions if he had sent him to
winter in the Arctic Ocean. Yet Helgi was not
8
absolutely devoted to Thor, as he also believed in
Christ, and even called his Icelandic homestead
by the name of Christness. It was to Thor, how-
ever, that he turned for aid in sea-faring and
difficult enterprises, and in all matters that he
considered to be of most importance.
Thorolf and Helgi were not the only settlers
who allowed Thor to fix the place of their habi-
tation in Iceland, and one in the south of the
island also consecrated all his land to Thor and
called it Thor's-mark. The tendency to appeal
to Thor for help in time of need is further
illustrated by an incident recorded as having
taken place during the Wineland expedition of
1007-8. The explorers were in great straits for
want of food, and had prayed for help, which
seemed long in coming. One of the party, named
Thorhall, was found by the others on the peak
of a cliff, looking up to the sky, and muttering
something, besides making strange gestures of
which he would give no explanation. Shortly
afterwards a whale came ashore, and Thorhall
said, ' The red-bearded one was stronger now than
your Christ. I have got this for my poetry that
I made about Thor. He has seldom failed me.'
This contrasting of Thor with Christ is a trait
which appears in other narratives, and is signi-
9
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
ficant of the place which the god held in the old
religion. In the struggle between heathenism
and Christianity in the Scandinavian countries
it is usually Thor, the red-bearded one, who is
the champion of the primitive faith and its most
powerful representative. The cases in which
Odin takes this place have a much more legen-
dary character, and are more likely to be due
to later invention. It was Thor whom the
believers in the old faith expressly put forward
as a rival to the God of the Christians. In the
early part of the eleventh century, when King
Olaf Haraldsson was doing his utmost to chris-
tianise Norway, the following words are repre-
sented as having been spoken by a powerful chief
named Gudbrand : ' There is come hither a man
named Olaf to offer us another faith than the one
we had, and to break all our gods in pieces, and
he says that he has a greater and mightier god.
It is a marvel that the earth does not open under
him when he dares to say such things, and that
our gods let him go any further. I expect, if we
carry Thor out of our temple where he stands,
and where he has always stood by us, that as
soon as he looks on Olaf and his men, then his
god and himself and his men will melt away and
come to nought.' So also when Thangbrand the
10
THOR AND ODIN
priest went to Iceland on his missionary enter-
prise in 997, he met a woman who preached
heathendom to him at great length, and asked
him, ' Have you not heard that Thor challenged
Christ to single combat, and He dared not fight
with Thor?' When Thangbrand's ship was de-
stroyed by a violent storm, it was to Thor that
the credit of the accident was assigned.
The firm hold which Thor had upon the minds
of his worshippers is also illustrated by the way
in which some of the converts to Christianity felt
uneasy at abandoning him. Thorgils of Fldi, in
the south-west of Iceland, was one of the first to
accept the new faith, and more than once he
dreamed that Thor came to him with reproaches
and threats for this desertion. Thorgils was firm,
and defied the angry god, but his later perils at
sea were believed by his companions to be the
work of Thor, and some of them even wished to
sacrifice to him for a fair wind, saying that people
had fared much better when they made offerings
to him.
The prominent place held by the worship of
Thor in the old religion is also indicated by the
frequent mention of images of the god in various
temples (as will appear in a later chapter) ; this
fact acquires special significance when contrasted
ii
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
with the lack of similar statements regarding
Odin. It is also extremely probable that it was
Thor, and not Odin, to whom the vague names of
' Land-god ' (Land-dss) and ' The Almighty God 1
were given ; the latter was used, coupled with the
names of Frey and Njord, in an old oath-formula.
Having thus made the position of Thor among
the Scandinavian gods as clear as the evidence
admits of, it remains to show what manner of god
his worshippers supposed him to be. On this
point there is unfortunately less direct evidence
than could be wished. In origin Thor was the
thunder-god, and it is therefore natural to find
him spoken of as ' the strongest of all the gods.'
His weapon, the thunderbolt, was imagined as a
hammer, mythologically known by the name of
Mjolnir, and was especially used by him to
protect the gods and men against giants and
other evil monsters. To grasp it with he had
iron gloves, and he was also possessed of a girdle
of might which increased his strength twofold.
In his journeys, of which the mythological writers
have a good deal to say, he sometimes rode in a
chariot drawn by two goats. Of these details
there is very little trace in historical sources,
although one passage (of doubtful value) speaks
of an image of Thor seated in his chariot. The
12
THOR AND ODIN
hammer, however, was certainly the distinctive
symbol of the god, and representations of it were
evidently in common use as sacred and protective
marks. Not only is it frequently cut on stone
monuments, but small figures of it were apparently
used as amulets, of which a number have been
found in Denmark and Sweden. When the
Danish prince Magnus returned from an expedi-
tion into the heathen districts of Sweden in 1123,
he brought back with him as trophies some Thor's
hammers of metal. It is not clear how far such
models of the hammer were used hi religious
ceremonies ; that it was employed at weddings
'to hallow the bride' appears to be highly pro-
bable, but there is no direct historical evidence to
prove it.
The form in which the hammer was commonly
represented easily led to its association with the
Christian mark of the cross. At a festival held
in Norway in 952, Earl Sigurd dedicated the first
toast to Odin, and after drinking from the horn
handed it to King Hakon, who was a Christian.
When the king took it, he made the mark of the
cross over it. The heathens present protested
against this, and Earl Sigurd attempted to satisfy
them by saying, 'The king does like all those
who trust to their own might and strength, and
13
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
consecrate their toast to Thor. He made the
mark of the hammer over it before he drank.'
The relationship of Thor to Odin, and the
precise position of the latter among the Scan-
dinavian gods, must now be more closely con-
sidered. In the sermon by ^Elfric already cited
there is an interesting remark bearing on this, in
these words: 'Now the Danes in their delusion
say that Jove, whom they call Thor, was the son
of Mercury, whom they call Odin, but they are
not right in this ' (i.e. according to Roman myth-
ology). 1 ^Elfric's statement is in perfect accord-
ance with the old Scandinavian myths, which
represent Thor as the son of Odin and Earth, a
relationship also attested by various poetical
designations of the god. This is not at all what
the historical evidence would lead us to expect,
but the mythological account of Odin presents
a still more striking contrast to what has been
brought forward above as to the position of Thor.
' Odin,' says Snorri, ' is the highest and eldest of
the gods; he rules over all things, and for as
mighty as the other gods are, they all serve him
as children do their father. . . . Odin is called All-
father, because he is the father of all the gods.'
1 This discrepancy between the Roman and Scandinavian
myths is also noticed by Saxo Grammaticus.
THOR AND ODIN
It is indeed quite clear that the whole mytho-
logical system expounded by Snorri, and implied
in all the old Scandinavian poetry, centres on the
idea of Odin as the supreme god. As such he
has two important sides to his nature. On the
one hand he is a war-god, who assigns victory or
defeat to men, and who takes the slain warriors
to live with himself in Valhall ; ' he is also called
Val-father, because all those who fall in battle are
his chosen sons : to them he gives places in Valhall
and Vingolf,' says Snorri. On the other hand he
is a god of wisdom and cunning, knowing all
things, and a god of poetry whom the skalds
regard as the author of their art. So far as the
historical evidence is strong enough to prove any-
thing regarding Odin, it indicates that a belief in
both of these aspects was really a part of the old
religion. We have already seen that Adam of
Bremen describes Odin as the war-god among the
Swedes, and Snorri also says that the Swedes
thought he often appeared to them before great
battles; 'to some he gave victory, and some he
invited to himself, and either lot was thought
good.' This association of Odin with war, and the
assignation to him of all those who were slain in
battle, are very prominent in the mythical sagas,
which may be accepted as representing a genuine
15
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
tradition in this respect, however much the details
may be due to later invention. In these sagas
one also finds the connection of Odin with death
by hanging, which appears in some of his poetic
names, and must be regarded as a real belief.
The purely historical evidence is, however, very
limited. Perhaps the only mention of an actual
offering to Odin is that found in the account of
Earl Hakon's doings after he had, under com-
pulsion, accepted Christianity in Denmark in 975.
On leaving that country, he sailed round to the
east coast of Sweden, landed there, and made a
great sacrifice. 'Then two ravens came flying
and croaked loudly, and the earl thought it
certain that Odin had accepted the sacrifice, and
that he would have success in fighting.' It is
very probable, however, that sacrifices to this god
were more common among the Danes and Swedes
than among the Norwegians, and that this may
account for the lack of reference to them in the
Icelandic writings.
That the belief in Valhall was a real one is
clearly shown by one or two passages in the sagas.
King Hakon the Good had been a Christian,
though latterly he had not made his religion
prominent, in order to avoid offending his heathen
subjects. When he was killed in battle in 961, he
16
THOR AND ODIN
was laid in the grave-mound with all his weapons
and best array. ' They made such speeches at his
burying as it was the custom of heathen men to
make, and sent him off on the way to Valhall.'
A poem on Hakon's death and his reception by
Odin in Valhall, which was composed at the time
by one of his skalds, gives a very fine expression
to the belief, which is also the leading theme in
an earlier poem on the death of King Eirik in
954. Even some who had not been killed
in battle were apparently thought of as going to
Odin in Valhall, if the passage in the saga of
Gisli may be relied upon, in which Thorgrim is
represented as saying, 'It is the custom to tie
hell-shoes on men when they shall go to Valhall,
and 1 will do that with Vestein ' (who had been
murdered in his bed). There is also a reference
to the belief in NjaTs saga, in the words of Hbgni,
'I intend to take the halbert to my father'
(Gunnarr, who had been killed shortly before
this), ' and let him have it to Valhall and bear it
there at the weapon-thing.' The same saga also
represents Earl Hakon in Norway, when he found
his temple burned down, as saying, ' The man
who has done this will be driven away from
Valhall, and never get entrance there.' It is
doubtful, however, whether much weight can be
B 17
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
given to these passages. The old practice of
beginning a battle by throwing a spear over the
enemy is in some of the mythical sagas explained
as a dedication of them to Odin, and it is possible
that this idea may be correct.
It is remarkable that in the Icelandic sources
there is no clear evidence for a general worship of
Odin in Norway or Iceland. In his account of
the old festivals Snorri states that the first toast
which went round was consecrated to Odin, and
was drunk 'for victory and for power to their
king.' And he also says that at the festival at
Hladir in 952 Earl Sigurd ' consecrated the first
toast to Odin.' The accuracy of Snorri's account
has been questioned, but even if it is correct, it
does not definitely establish Odin's position in
popular belief. Among the Icelanders themselves
there is nothing like the same evidence to show
that Odin was generally held in esteem and
veneration as there is in the case of Thor ; and it
is noticeable that in the few cases where a belief
in, and reliance on, Odin are expressed, the
speaker is usually a poet. Thus Egil Skalla-
grimsson, when he had suffered at the hands of
King Eirik (about 934), expresses in a verse his
wish that ' the gods and Odin ' may be angry with
the king : in the second half of the verse Frey
18
THOR AND ODIN
and Njord are also mentioned by name. The poet
Hallfred, who accepted Christianity in Norway in
996, makes several references in his verses to his
former worship of Odin, but in words which
clearly indicate that his capacity of skald had
much to do with this. When he was afterwards
accused of being still a heathen, it was the
possession of 'an image of Thor' which formed
one of the charges against him. It is, however,
stated that previous to their becoming Christians
Hallfred and his companions made a vow ' to give
much money to Frey if they reached Sweden, or
to Thor and Odin if they got to Iceland.' Kjartan
Olafsson is also made to speak of Thor and Odin
together, and Odin (along with Freyja) is specified
in the abusive verse by Hjalfi Skeggjason (999),
which led to his prosecution for blasphemy against
the gods. On the other hand there is no mention
in any saga of any temple, image, or special priest
of Odin in any part of Iceland.
That the attribution of the art of poetry to
Odin, and his consequent position as the special
god of poets, was no mere conventional figment of
the skalds is best attested by Egil's poem on the
loss of his sons. Towards the end of this the poet
expresses his resentment against ' the lord of the
spear,' in whom he had confidently trusted before
19
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
he sent this loss upon him, and so destroyed the
friendship between them. Now he has no pleasure
hi worshipping Odin, 'yet,' he adds, 'Mimir's
friend has given me recompense for my woes : he
gave me an art ' (that of poetry) ' free from fault
and stain.'
As the above will show, there is a real difficulty
in reconciling the historical statements as to
the worship of Odin and Thor with the relative
positions assigned to them in the old mythology.
The explanation which seems to clear away this
difficulty in the most satisfactory manner is the
suggestion that Thor and Odin really belong to
different stages in the development of Scandinavian
religion. On this view Thor was originally the
chief god, and to a certain extent continued to
hold this position to the end. His supremacy,
however, was hi the later period of heathenism
seriously threatened by the growing cult of Odin,
which was at first foreign to the Scandinavian
peoples, and was received by them from the
South Germanic races. This would easily account
for the seemingly greater popularity of Odin
among the Danes and Swedes than among the
Norwegians and Icelanders, to whom the new
cult would be later in spreading. In this connec-
tion it may be noted that some of the poetic
20
THOR AND ODIN
names for Odin, such as ' the friend of the Gauts,'
' Tyr of the Gauts ' (as well as the simple Gauti
and Gautr), appear to indicate that his worship
was associated with the people of that name in
southern Sweden. It was in Gautland that the
poet Hallfred was nearly sacrificed to Odin in
997, and here also in 1018 the poet Sigvat was
refused admission to a farm where a sacrifice was
taking place, because they ' were afraid of Odin's
anger.' It may even be significant that Earl
Hakon's sacrifice already mentioned was per-
formed on the coast of Gautland.
The ninth and tenth centuries were a period of
new development and great changes within the
Scandinavian countries. The Viking expeditions
brought a large part of the population into direct
contact with war and battle, while the former
petty kings disappeared, or lost most of their
importance, before strong rulers like Gorm in
Denmark or Harald in Norway. In the courts
of these new sovereigns there was a life and
splendour previously unknown in the north, and
under the royal favour the art of poetry flourished
to a remarkable extent. It appears fairly certain
that in these surroundings the cult of Odin found
most favour, and that the conceptions of the god
which meet us in the mythology were developed
21
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
among men who found a pleasure both in fighting
and in poetry, and who modelled their ideas of
the warlike deity on the monarch to whose court
they attached themselves. Odin was thus the god
of the warrior, the poet, and the friend of kings,
while Thor retained his former place in the hearts
of those who still followed the old way of life
in the secluded valleys of Norway or Iceland.
Something of this distinctly appears in the figures
of the two gods as they are presented in the old
poems and legends. Odin bears all the stamp of
the new life and culture about him; Thor is
rather a sturdy yeoman of the old unpolished
type. Odin is a ruler in whom knowledge and
power are equally combined ; Thor has little more
to rely upon than his bodily strength. Even in
small matters the contrast is marked : Odin lives
by wine alone, while Thor eats the flesh of his
goats and drinks the homely ale. Odin's weapon
is the spear ; Thor's is the more primitive hammer.
It is to Odin that all the warriors go after death ;
Thor gets only the thralls. In some of the poems
there is an obvious tendency to assign to Thor an
undignified and even ludicrous part, which is
strongly at variance with the veneration in which
he was actually held, as we have seen above. It
would, perhaps, be unsafe to attach very much
22
THOR AND ODIN
importance to this, as it is quite uncertain how
far these poeins can be accepted as evidence for
religious beliefs. It is perhaps more significant
that while writers like Snorri tell how Odin and
various other gods (such as Nj6rd and Frey) came
from the south-east into Denmark and Sweden,
there is no similar account as regards Thor. In
the historical period, too, there were distinguished
families in Sweden and Norway whose genealogy
was traced back to Odin and Frey, while no one
claimed descent from Thor. Both of these facts
may reasonably be regarded as supporting the
view that Odin belongs to a later period in the
history of Scandinavia than Thor, and some such
explanation appears to be requisite to account for
the striking differences in the traditional state-
ments regarding the two chief gods of the old
religion.
CHAPTER II
THE third god mentioned by Adam of Bremen as
worshipped at Upsala is (Fricco or) Frey, a name
which appears to be identical with the Teutonic
word represented in Old English by frea, lord or
king. Adam's statement is fully confirmed by
the Icelandic sources, and there are also general
references to the prevalence of the cult in Sweden. 1
In a somewhat legendary source it is even stated
that an image of Frey, which was worshipped at
Thrandheim in Norway, had been sent there from
Sweden. The story of Gunnar Helming also
makes mention of an image of Frey in Sweden
which was carried about the country, and to
which sacrifices were offered, but the value of the
statement is very doubtful. Saxo Grammaticus,
speaking of a sacrifice of black oxen offered to
1 Compare the vow of Hallfred and his companions men-
tioned on p. 19.
24
THE REMAINING GODS
Frey by the mythical hero Hading, adds that this
had continued to be a yearly custom, and 'the
Swedes call it Froblod' i.e. Frey's sacrifice. The
frequent occurrence of Frey- in Swedish (and
Danish) place-names has been already men-
tioned, and indicates the prevalence of the cult
in both of these countries.
The worship of Frey, however, must also have
been very popular in Norway, from which it
passed to Iceland with the early settlers. As late
as 998 the men of Thrandheim are represented
as refusing to break their image of Frey at the
command of King Olaf, 'because we have long
served him and he has done well by us. He often
talked with us, and told us things to come, and
gave us peace and plenty.' At the great festivals
it was customary to drink to Frey (along with
Njord) in order to secure peace and prosperity.
A talisman on which the image of Frey was
' marked in silver ' is mentioned as having been
owned by one of the petty kings of Norway about
872 ; this was given by King Harald to Ingimund,
and tradition associated it in a mysterious way
with the place where the latter finally settled in
Iceland.
In Iceland itself the traces of a popular cult of
Frey are very clear, and more than one prominent
25
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
person mentioned in the sagas bears the title of
Freys-gofti, or ' priest of Frey.' Of one of these,
Thorgrim, brother-in-law of Gisli Siirsson, the
saga says that ' he intended to hold a festival at
the beginning of winter, and greet the winter, and
sacrifice to Frey.' When Thorgrim was murdered,
and had been laid in a grave-mound, it was
noticed that snow never lay on the south or west
sides of the mound, and the ground never froze
there : ' and it was supposed that he was so highly
esteemed by Frey for the offerings he made to
him, that the god did not wish it to freeze
between them.' Great attachment to this deity
also appears in the story of Hrafnkel, who loved
no other god more than Frey, and gave to him
joint possession with himself of all his most
valuable things. Among these was a horse, which
on that account bore the name of Freyfaxi.
Another Freyfaxi belonged to Brand in Vatnsdal,
and most people believed that he had a religious
reverence for the horse. Horses owned by Frey
are also mentioned as existing in Thrandheim in
the days of Olaf Tryggvason (about 996).
At Eyafirth in Iceland there was a temple of
Frey, which is mentioned several times in the
saga of Viga-Gliim. Thorkel, says the story, went
to Frey's temple, taking with him an old ox, and
26
THE REMAINING GODS
addressed the god thus: 'Frey,' said he, 'you
have long been my confidant, and have received
many gifts from me, and repaid me well. Now I
give you this ox, so that it may come to pass that
Glum will leave this land as much under com-
pulsion as I do now. And show me now some
token whether you receive this or not.' Thereupon
the ox bellowed, and fell down dead, and Thorkel
then believed that Frey had accepted his gift.
The saga also mentions that Frey would not allow
outlaws to make his temple there a sanctuary.
Gliim himself afterwards had a dream that many
men had come there to see Frey. He asked who
they were, and they said, ' We are your departed
kinsfolk, and are making intercession with Frey
that you may not be driven away from this
ground; but Frey answers shortly and angrily,
and recalls the ox that Thorkel gave him.' Then
Glum awoke, and had less liking for Frey all the
rest of his life.
According to the mythological accounts, Frey
was the son of Njord and brother of Freyja. He
had great personal beauty in addition to his
divine powers. ' He rules over rain and sunshine
and the produce of the earth, and it is good to
call on him for peace and plenty. He also has
power over the prosperity of men.' He was
27
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
believed to own the ship Skffiblafinir, and to ride
on the boar Gullinbursti (Golden- bristle). This
association of Frey with the boar appears also
in the following passage of one of the mythical
sagas (Hervarar Saga) : ' King Heidrek sacrificed
to Frey ; he should give to him the largest boar
that could be got. They considered it so holy,
that over its bristles they took an oath about all
important matters. That boar was sacrificed by
way of an atonement; on Christmas eve it was
led into the hall before the king, and men then
laid their hands on its bristles and made their
vows.' In another and earlier mention of the
sdnargoltr (boar of atonement), however, it is not
stated that the practice was connected with the
cult of Frey, and in the absence of direct his-
torical evidence the reality or significance of the
rite remains doubtful.
As mentioned above, the mythology regarded
Frey as the son of Njb'rd (JV}oroV), a god of whom
very little is really known. It has been supposed
that the Nerthus, mentioned by Tacitus as being
worshipped in common by a number of Germanic
tribes, is the same as Njord, but the fact that
Tacitus speaks of Nerthus as a goddess and
explains the name as meaning Mother Earth,
makes the identification a very doubtful one.
28
THE REMAINING GODS
According to Snorri, Njb'rd 'rules over the course
of the wind and calms the sea and fire. He is to
be called on for voyaging and fishing. He is so
rich and wealthy that he may give lands and
treasure to whom he will.'
The worship of Njb'rd in Sweden and Norway
is implied in the fact that places named after him
are found in certain parts of these countries.
When he is mentioned in the Icelandic writings,
it is usually in conjunction with Frey. The
practice of drinking the second toast to Njbrd
and Frey ' for peace and plenty ' has been already
mentioned. In the old heathen orm of oath,
taken by suitors and others at the legal assem-
blies, the deities invoked were ' Frey and Njord
and the Almighty God' (probably Thor). The
two names are also combined by Egil in a verse
(of 934) in which he prays that Frey and Njord
may be angry with King Eirik, while in one of his
poems (about 962) he refers to them as the givers
of wealth. With this may be compared the pro-
verbial expression ' as rich as Njbrd,' which occurs
in old Icelandic. In one of Hallfred's verses (of
996) Frey and Njord, Odin, Thor, and Freyja, are
all mentioned together in contrast with God and
Christ: in another (of the same time) the poet
says, ' I am forced away from Njbrd's offspring
29
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
and made to pray to Christ.' These passages are
sufficient to show that the cult of Njftrd was
closely connected with that of Frey, and make it
probable that he was a deity of some importance
even in the popular religion, but at best he remains
a somewhat vague figure among the Scandinavian
gods.
Of the remaining gods known to us from the
mythology there are only the faintest traces in
the historical sources. Even the original war-
god Ty was so completely supplanted by Odin,
that no distinct evidence is to be found for his
worship in any part of Scandinavia, although
Snorri describes him as ' the bravest and stoutest-
hearted of the gods,' who had a great share in
deciding the victory in battle ; ' on him it is good
for men of valour to call.' His name was, how-
ever, retained in poetic appellations of men (some-
times even of Odin), and was used in the epithets
ty-hraustr for a very brave man, and ty-spakr for
a clever one.
Still more uncertain is the question how far
such deities as Heimdall, the wakeful warder of
the gods, Bragi, the special god of poetry, and
some others, really held a place in ordinary
religious belief as distinct from the myth-creat-
ing fancy of the poets. Even such a striking
30
i'HE REMAINING GODS
mythological figure as the peace-maker Baldr,
the most beautiful and lovable of all the gods, is
strikingly ignored in all historical references to
the old worship (the statements in Frith] of 's saga
being of no value in this respect). This is also
the case with nearly all the goddesses, not except-
ing Frigg herself, the wife of Odin, the mother of
Baldr, and the highest of them all, according to
Snorri. It would appear, however, that Frigg
had to some extent retired into the background
before another goddess Freyja, the sister of Frey.
We have already seen that when the days of the
week received their Germanic names it was Frigg
who was equated with the Roman Venus ; but in
the Scandinavian mythology it is Freyja, not Frigg,
who is the goddess of love. Snorri describes Freyja
as riding in a chariot drawn by two cats, 'and
wheresoever she rides to battle, she has half the
slain and Odin the other half.' This association
of Freyja with Odin, which seems to imply that
Frigg was almost on the point of being displaced
by a rival goddess, also appears in the verse for
which Hjalti Skeggjason was found guilty of
blasphemy. It is implied, too, in a passage in
Egil's saga, in which Thorgerd is represented as
saying, 'I have had no supper, and will have
none, until I come to Freyja. I know no better
31
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
counsel for myself than my father's: I will not
live after my father and brother.' The fact, too,
that in the mythical sagas Freyja is almost the
only goddess mentioned, indicates that her name
had been remembered as one of special note in
the old religion.
To their chief deities the ancient Scandinavians
gave the general name of goft (equivalent to the
English god), or cesir (plural of dss). Both of
these appellations were in common use as the
first element in personal names, such as (roS-
mundr (later GuS-) or Asmundr. In the Edda,
however, the cesir are distinguished from another
race of gods, the vanir, to whom Njord and
Frey belonged. Whether this distinction had
any bearing on the popular religion does not
appear. Other names which occur in the poetic
or mythological sources are regin or rogn, de-
noting their decisive or guiding powers, and
bond or hopt, which imply a binding or constrain-
ing might ; the goddesses are usually known by
the name of dsynjur. The Edda speaks of twelve
chief gods, but it may be doubted whether the
number was ever definitely fixed, or that it was
uniform in all parts of Scandinavia.
In addition to the greater gods various super-
natural powers were recognised by the Scandi-
32
THE REMAINING GODS
navians as having influence for good or evil upon
human fortunes, and to some extent at least
worship was paid to these. This is clearest in
the case of the disir, female guardian spirits of
individuals or families, to whom formal sacrifice
was made under the name of disablot. It is less
certain that the belief in the nornir, or Fates,
usually thought of as three sisters, can properly
be regarded as belonging to religion, though its
influence was evidently a powerful one. A belief
in the valkyrjur, or war-maidens, who were present
at battles and sometimes appeared to the com-
batants, naturally connects itself with the cult of
Odin, but here also the evidence for a religious
feeling accompanying the belief is lacking.
It is not quite clear what place is to be assigned
to the landvcvttir, who were supposed to watch
over and protect various parts of the country,
and whose presence and favour were reckoned to
be of so much importance, that the old heathen
law of Iceland (framed about 930) began with a
provision relating to them. It enacted that ' men
should not have ships with heads on them, or if
they did, they should take them off before they
came in sight of land, and not approach the shore
with gaping heads or yawning snouts by which
the landvcuttir might be scared.' When Egil was
C 33
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
incensed against King Eirik of Norway, he set up
a niftstong, or insulting post, and declared that
he directed it not only against the king and
queen, but also against ' those landvcettir who
inhabit this land, that they may all go astray
and none of them find his home, until they drive
Eirik and Gunnhild out of the country.' Of the
son of a settler in the south-west of Iceland it is
said that second-sighted men saw the landvcettir
accompany him when he went to the assembly,
while they followed his brothers in hunting or
fishing. The landvcettir were also credited with
having appeared to a wizard whom the Danish
king sent to Iceland about 980, and with having
prevented him from landing on its shores. In
view of all this, it is extremely probable that these
supposed beings may have been actually wor-
shipped, but of this there is no positive evidence.
A somewhat mysterious place among the minor
deities is held by two sisters named Thorgerd and
Irpa, the former of whom also bears the epithet
of Holgabrtifir, apparently meaning 'Holgi's
bride.' All that is known of these is that they
are alleged to have been worshipped by Earl
Hakon of Norway, in the latter half of the tenth
century. It is not improbable that their worship
may have been confined to that part of Norway
34
THE REMAINING GODS
(in Thrandheiin) in which Hakon lived, or that
they were disir connected with the family to
which he belonged. In the very legendary
account of the battle which Hakon fought
against the vikings of Jdmsborg in 985, it is
told that when he found the battle going against
him ' he called upon his confidant Thorgerd, but
she was angry with him and would not hear him.'
It was only when propitiated by the sacrifice of
Hakon's own son that she consented to aid him.
She and her sister Irpa were then seen by second-
sighted men fighting on the earl's side. The
great reverence which the earl was believed to
have felt for the sisters also appears strongly in
the accounts relating to the images of them
which he had in his temples; to that of Thor-
gerd he prostrated himself in prayer and made
offerings of silver.
Among the Scandinavians, as among other
branches of the Aryan race, the practice of hero-
worship appears to have been known. Adam of
Bremen records it as occurring among the Swedes,
who in the life of St. Ansgar are also said to have
paid divine honours to one of their kings (Erik),
assigning to him a temple and special priests. In
Norway it is mentioned that offerings were made
on the grave-mound of Olaf, at one time king in
35
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
Yestfold; and probably some kind of religious
feeling towards the deceased person is implied
in the worship of grave-mounds, which was
sufficiently prevalent to be specially forbidden
in the early Christian law of Norway. One of
the early settlers in the Faeroes, Grim Kamban,
is also said to have been worshipped after his
death on account of his popularity.
Not only human beings, but even animals, were
perhaps occasionally worshipped by individuals.
An old tradition related that a King Ogvald, in
the west of Norway, chiefly worshipped a cow,
and took it about with him wherever he went;
and at a later and more historical date Harek of
Rein is said to have worshipped an ox. When
Floki set out to look for Iceland he sacrificed to
three ravens, which he then took on board with
him that they might show him the way. It may
also be noted that, if a very curious legend can
bs depended on, there were even traces of phallic
worship in Norway as late as the days of Olaf the
Saint (about 1020).
An old account of the heathen period in
Gotland (off the eastern coast of Sweden) begins
with the words, ' before that time and long after
men believed in groves and grave-mounds, holy
places and enclosures, and in the heathen gods.'
36
THE REMAINING GODS
The prominence here given to sacred places
appears to be in accordance with the facts
recorded elsewhere. In the early Christian law
of Norway, for example, cairns (horgar) as objects
of worship are condemned along with grave-
mounds, and sacred cairns are also named in
some Icelandic sources. In these also a single
stone is sometimes mentioned as being wor-
shipped, the most notable instance being that in
Kristni Saga, where it is said, 'At Gilja,' in the
north of Iceland, 'stood the stone that the family
had worshipped, and alleged that their ar-man
lived in it. Codran declared that he would not
be baptized until he knew which was the more
powerful, the bishop or the dr-man in the stone.
The bishop then went to the stone, and chanted
over it till it broke asunder. Then Codran con-
sidered that the ^r-man was vanquished.' (The
precise meaning of '^r-man' here is uncertain:
usually the word means ' steward,' but in this case
it may be derived from dr in the sense of good or
plentiful years.) Of an Icelandic settler in the
tenth century it is also told that he ' took Flatey-
dale up to the War-stones (Gunnsteinar), and
worshipped them.' Close beside him was another
settler who worshipped a grove, while one in
another part of the island, who is described as a
37
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
great sacrificer, paid his devotions to a waterfall,
into which all remains of food were thrown.
In connection with this worship of natural
objects may be noticed the curious belief in
Iceland that certain families passed after death
into hills or hillocks in their district. This is
told, for example, of Thorolf who settled Thorsness
and had great reverence for the hill there: 'He
called it Holy-fell, and believed that he would go
there when he died, and all his kinsmen on the
ness.' Even the kinsmen of Aud, who was a
Christian, had great religious faith in some
hillocks on which she had erected crosses : ' They
believed that they should die into these hillocks,
and Thord Gellir was led into them before his
sons took their place among men, as is told in
his saga.'
CHAPTER III
TEMPLES AND IMAGES
IN common with other peoples, the ancient
Scandinavians erected special buildings in which
to worship their gods, and in which their images
were placed. These temples (called hof, gofta-hof,
gdfta-hus, and blot-hus) must not be thought of
as in any way comparable to those erected by the
more cultured Aryan races, such as the Greeks
and Romans. It is true that Adam of Bremen
describes that at Upsala in Sweden, which he
calls nobilissimum templum, as being 'all of
gold,' while a note to the passage says that it was
surrounded by 'a golden chain hanging on the
pinnacles of the building, and seen glittering afar
by those who approach the place ' ; but it is very
doubtful how far this description is trustworthy.
In any case the Upsala temple would naturally
be much superior to those in less central locali-
ties; from other indications it appears to have
39
been specially well endowed with landed and other
property. Unfortunately there is no evidence
from which any general idea of the heathen
temples in Sweden and Denmark can be obtained.
In Norway they were, like the ordinary houses,
constructed of timber, and in many cases were
probably of small size and insignificant appear-
ance. Mention has already been made of the
temple of Thor in the island of Mostr, which
Thorolf took down and carried off to Iceland
when he went to settle there. The same thing is
told of Thorhadd, who was priest at Mserin in
Thrandheiin ; he also took down the temple, and
carried with him the temple-mould and the chief
pillars. Some of the buildings, no doubt, may
have been more imposing, and even to some
extent furnished with costly ornaments. When
Olaf Tryggvason gave orders to burn down Earl
Hakon's temple at Hladir, 'he made them take
all the treasure and ornaments out of the temple
and off the images of the gods.' A large gold
ring was also removed from the temple door, but
it afterwards proved to be only brass internally.
It may also be noted that various accounts of
temples speak of them as being lighted by glass
windows ' so that there was no shadow anywhere
in them.' Beside the great temple at Upsala
40
TEMPLES AND IMAGES
there was a sacred grove, and the evidence of
place-names shows that similar groves existed
elsewhere in Sweden and Denmark: as regards
Norway and Iceland there is no positive in-
formation on this head.
Of the temple which Thorolf erected at his
Icelandic home on Thorsness an interesting
description is given in Eyrbyggja Saga, which
is thus the chief source for what knowledge we
have on the subject. It is described as a great
house, with doors on the side-walls, nearer to one
end of it than the other. In from these doors
stood the chief pillars, and in these there were
nails, which were known by the name of regin-
nails (regin was one of the names for the gods,
but its precise meaning here is not certain). The
part of the building lying inward from these
pillars was a great sanctuary. At the inner end
there was a smaller building ' of the same form as
the choir in churches is now ' ; and here, in the
middle of the floor, stood a pedestal of the nature
of an altar. On this lay a ring weighing two
ounces, on which all oaths had to be sworn. It
was the duty of the temple-priest to wear this
ring on his hand at all assemblies. On the
pedestal stood also the sacrificial bowl (hlaut-
bolli), and in this were placed the sacrificial twigs
41
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN HELIGION
(hlaut-teinar), by means of which the blood of
the sacrifice (hlaut-bloft) was sprinkled upon those
present at the ceremony. 'This was the blood
from those animals that were offered to the gods.'
Round about this altar the images of the gods
were arranged. All those living in the district
had to pay toll to the temple, and were bound to
attend the temple-priest on all expeditions, 'as
thingmen are now bound to attend their chiefs.'
On the other hand, the priest had to keep up the
temple and not allow it to fall into decay, and to
hold in it the sacrificial feasts.
In the late and fictitious Kjalnesinga Saga
there is given a similar description of a temple,
which may possibly have some basis in local
tradition. It is described as having been a
hundred and twenty feet long, and sixty broad.
At the inner end was a circular annex, the shape
of which suggested a cap or hood; this had
windows, and was hung with tapestry. Thor was
the chief god there, and stood in the middle, with
the other gods on each side of him. In front of
them was an altar with an iron plate on the top,
on which a fire was kept constantly burning:
' they called that hallowed fire.' The silver ring
on which oaths were sworn, and the bowl for the
sacrificial blood, are also mentioned, but the
42
account of them may be derived from the passage
in Eyrbyggja Saga already quoted.
In a much more reliable source, Landndmabdk,
there occurs the following passage relating to the
ring and its use. ' A ring of two ounces or more
in weight had to lie on the altar in each chief
temple. Each priest had to wear the ring on his
arm at all assemblies over which he himself
presided, having previously reddened it in the
blood of the animal which he himself had sacri-
ficed there. Every man who required to do legal
business at a law court had first to take an oath
on that ring, and name two or more witnesses.
" I name [M. and N.j witnesses herein," he had to
say, " that I take an oath on the ring, a lawful
oath, so help me Frey and Njord and the
Almighty God, as I shall pursue (or defend) this
suit, or bear witness, or give verdict or judgment,
according to what I know to be most right and
true and in accordance with the law." ' In general
agreement with this is the account given in
Viga-Glums Saga : ' That man who was to take a
temple-oath took in his hand a silver ring which
was reddened in the blood of the sacrificed ox,
and which had to weigh not less than three
ounces.' In taking the oath, Glum is represented
as using the words, ' I take a temple-oath on the
43
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
ring, and I say to the god,' etc. ; here the names
of Frey and Njord are omitted. 1
While Iceland was being colonised from Norway,
the place and number of the temples would depend
on the religious zeal of the settlers in the various
districts, but when a fixed constitution was
adopted in the year 930 special regulations were
made with reference to this. ' The land was
divided into quarters, and there were to be three
places of assembly in each quarter, and three
chief temples in each assembly-district. Men
who were noted for intelligence and just dealing
were selected to have charge of the temples;
these had to appoint the law-courts at the assem-
blies, and to superintend the legal proceedings
there. Each man had to give toll to the temple,
as they now give toll to the church.' References
to the payment of this tax are not infrequent in
the sagas, and one of the results of the preaching
of Christianity by Thorvald and Bishop Frederic
in 981-985 was that in the north of Iceland ' many
men abandoned sacrifices and broke their idols,
and some would not pay the temple-tax.' We
also meet with such remarks as, ' the men of
1 In the ceremony of entering into 'foster-brotherhood,' each
person swore to avenge the other, ' and named all the gods as
witnesses.'
44
TEMPLES AND IMAGES
Geitland had to maintain half of the temple along
with Tungu-Odd.' The chief temples were thus
legally endowed religious buildings, but it would
appear that there were others which were the
private property of individuals, and no doubt
many of those which were entitled to legal
support were originally erected by the more
prominent of the settlers. An interesting case
of temple endowment is that recorded of Grim
Geitskor, who travelled over all Iceland to find
the most suitable spot for holding the yearly
assembly. For his trouble he received a ' penny '
from every man in the island, and this money he
gave to the temples. One of the early settlers in
the east of Iceland is recorded as having taken
formal possession of an unoccupied piece of land
for the behoof of a temple which he had built
there.
As has already been mentioned, the inner part
of the temple was more particularly the sacred
place, where stood the altar and the images of the
gods. The main part of the building served as a
kind of hall, in which were held the entertain-
ments which followed upon the sacrifices, and at
which the flesh of the slain animals was eaten.
As in the ordinary halls, there were fires in the
middle of the floor and seats down each side. In
45
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
some of the sagas dealing with prehistoric times
in Sweden mention is made of a disar-sal (in
connection with the worship of the disir: see
p. 33). What relation this had to the usual
temple is not clear : it has been supposed to be
no more than another name for the temple-hall,
but this is not at all certain.
The temple being a holy place, there were
naturally certain restrictions attached to it, of
which a prominent one was that no weapons
were to be taken inside it. This is clearly
illustrated by an incident in Vatnsdcela Saga,
where Ingimund enters the temple first, and
Hrafn the Norwegian follows him, wearing his
sword. Then Ingimund turned to him, and said,
'It is not the custom to carry weapons in the
temple, and you will come under the wrath of
the gods unless you make amends for it.' When
Olaf Tryggvason entered the temple of Ma3rin
in Thrandheim, he carried a gold-mounted staff,
but his own men and those belonging to the
district were weaponless.
Another offence which is frequently mentioned
is that of slaying a man in a holy place ; in this
connection, however, the regular word used is not
hof but vd, which has a more general meaning.
One who committed this offence incurred the
46
TEMPLES AND IMAGES
penalty of outlawry, and was designated by the
name of vargr i vdum, ' wolf in holy places.' The
same view of bloodshed as a crime against the
sanctity of a holy place is illustrated in the cases
of Thorsness and Stb'dvar-firth in Iceland, where
the killing of anything was forbidden. In the
case of Thorsness it was decided, after a battle
had taken place there, that it was defiled by the
blood that had fallen on it, and 'was now no
more holy than other places.'
Along with the timber-buildings known as hof,
there is frequent mention, both in the historical
and legendary sources, of other sacred places
called horgar. In its simplest form the horg
was evidently a kind of stone-altar or sacrificial
cairn standing in the open air ; in modern Nor-
wegian and Icelandic the word is applied to a
mountain -top. This is most clearly indicated
by the words of Hyndlu-ljoft, where Freyja says
of Ottar, 'He made me a horg, piled up with
stones; now these stones are turned to glass.
He reddened it in the fresh blood of oxen. Ottar
always believed in the goddesses.' In contrast to
the burning of temples, the usual expression for
the destroying of horgar is ' breaking,' which also
indicates a structure of stones. In some cases,
however, the name of horg seems to be applied
47
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
to something more approaching the nature of the
hof; this not only appears to be implied in the use
of ' timbered/ which occurs in at least two poetic
passages, but is also suggested by the wording of
the old Norwegian law, ' if a man raises a mound
(haug), or makes a house, and calls it a liorg' etc.
The stone altars or cairns would naturally be
more primitive places of worship than the
temples, but they continued in use along with
these down to the disappearance of the old
religion. The altar in the temple, indeed, was no
doubt the representative of the earlier and ruder
one in the open air, for both are spoken of as
being ' reddened ' with the blood of the sacrifice.
It has been already made clear that the gods
worshipped were represented in the temples by
images, which in the historical accounts are called
by the names of lilcnesld ('likeness') and skurft-goS
(' carved gods,' probably an epithet applied by
Christians). The description given by Adam of
Bremen of those which stood in the temple at
Upsala has already been quoted (p. 4); here it
is only necessary to add that in no other writing
of historical value is there any mention of an
image of Odin. With Thor the case is very
different. Another image of this deity is men-
tioned by Adam himself, who relates that about
48
TEMPLES AND IMAGES
the year 1030 an English missionary in Sweden
found it standing in the assembly-place of the
heathens. In his religious zeal he smashed it
with an axe, and was at once put to death by
the angry worshippers. Images of Thor are also
frequently referred to in the Icelandic sagas. In
the year 998, when King Olaf Tryggvason was
christianising Norway, he entered the temple at
Mserin in Thrandheim, ' and when the king came
where the gods were, there sat Thor, adorned
with gold and silver, and was most honoured of
all the gods.' In the fullest account of this
incident it is stated that the image was seated
in a splendid chariot, to which were harnessed
two goats beautifully carved out of wood; both
chariot and goats were on wheels, and the cords
attached to the goats' horns were of silver. Thor
in his chariot is also mentioned as one of the
images in the temple belonging to Earl Hakon
and Gudbrand in the Dales, which is described in
Njdl's Saga, There is no mention of the chariot,
however, in the account of this image given in
connection with King Olaf's visit to the Dales in
1021. There it is said to have been 'of great
stature, and hollow inside, with the hammer in
his hand ; under him there is a kind of pedestal
or platform, on which he stands when he is out-
D 49
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
side; and on him there is no lack of gold and
silver.' This image was carried out to the place
where the people of the district held their meet-
ing with Olaf, and those already assembled there
paid homage to it. It was set down in the middle
of the ground, and on one side of it sat the
heathens, and on the other the king and his
followers. It is also related that at the battle of
Svoldr in the year 1000, Earl Eirfk had an image
of Thor in the prow of his ship, but threw it aside
and put a cross in its place when he found his
men unable to board Olaf Tryggvason's vessel.
Mention has already been made (pp. 7-8) of
the likeness of Thor carved on the chief pillars
of the temple in Mostr, and no doubt similar
representations of the god were not uncommon.
In that part of the story of Thormod the poet
which takes place in Greenland, about 1027, a
large chair is described as having on its back
an image of Thor with his hammer.
That some at least of the other gods were
similarly represented in the temples may be
assumed as beyond doubt, but the evidence on
this point is very scanty. It seems likely that
there was an image of Frey at Thrandheim, and
it is highly probable that this god would be
largely figured in Sweden, although the texts
50
in which there is mention of this are of a very
legendary character. It is doubtful, also, whether
any reliance can be placed on the passage in
Droplaugarsona Saga, which describes Frey and
Thor as sitting on the lower bench in a temple,
while Frigg and Freyja occupied the higher.
More historical, perhaps, is the image of Frey
which ornamented the talisman given by King
Harald to Ingimund (p. 25).
In the traditions connected with Earl Hakon
there are several references to an image of Thor-
gerd. The earl is related to have taken Sigmund
Brestisson to a secluded building in the forest, in
which there were 'a number of gods.' At the
inner end of the house was the image of a woman
splendidly dressed. What follows is of a legendary
character, but the building and image appear
again in the story of Olaf Tryggvason, who not
only stripped Thorgerd of all her ' gold and silver
and good clothes/ but dragged the image at a
horse's tail, knocked it to pieces with a club, and
finally burned it along with that of Frey. In
Njdl's Saga, Earl Hakon and Gudbrand are said
to have had a great temple in the Dales in which
there were images of Thorgerd and Irpa; the
former was as tall as a full-grown man, and had
a large gold ring on her arm and a hood on her
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
head. These accounts may have a foundation
in fact, but that given in Harftar Saga of a temple
in Iceland with an image of Thorgerd is probably
mere invention, perhaps an echo of the passage in
Njai's Saga.
CHAPTER IV
CEREMONIES AND MINISTERS OF RELIGION
WITH regard to the rites of the old Scandinavian
religion a considerable amount of information has
been preserved, although mainly relating to one
part of the subject, the offering of sacrifice. It is
clear that this was the central feature in the wor-
ship of the gods, and the great means towards
propitiating their favour or averting their dis-
pleasure. Hence the verb biota, which was the
distinctive word for worshipping the heathen
gods, very frequently (if not usually) implies the
accompaniment of sacrifice; and the noun blot
similarly means either the act of worship or that
of sacrifice. In the case of the verb, the object of
worship stands in the accusative case, the thing
sacrificed in the dative, the original sense being
' to worship (the gods) with something.' In this
killing of living things as an offering to the
divine powers lay one of the most obvious differ-
ences between the old religion and the new, and
53
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
it is consequently one which holds a prominent
place in the accounts of the struggle between
heathenism and Christianity. One of the first
objects aimed at by the kings who adopted the
new faith was the suppression of the practice in
every form, while the adherents of the old religion
clung to it tenaciously as long as they could.
Even after Christianity was the established
religion of Norway, it was still thought necessary
to remind the people that all blot were forbidden,
whether to ' the heathen gods, mounds, or sacred
cairns.' Here and in other passages where the
word is similarly employed, it may be assumed
that sacrifices are to be thought of as an essential
part of the heathen worship.
Sacrifice might be offered either by individuals
on their own account, or by some prominent man
on behalf of the community. It was, indeed, the
duty of the latter to ' keep up the sacrifices,' on
which the public peace and prosperity were
believed largely to depend. The king as head of
his people was especially bound to maintain this
religious rite, and the adoption of Christianity by
the Norwegian kings naturally brought them into
direct collision with the national feeling on this
point. When King Hakon in 952 proposed that
his subjects should worship Christ, give up the
54
CEREMONIES
heathen gods and the sacrifices to them, and
keep holy each seventh day, he was met by the
reply that they desired him rather to follow the
custom of his father, and ' sacrifice for peace and
plenty to them.' On the other hand, the import-
ance attached to the practice by the more
religious among the people is shown in the case
of Loft the Old, who emigrated to Iceland from
Gaular in Norway. He ' went abroad every third
summer on his own account and that of his uncle
Flosi, to sacrifice at that temple in Gaular of
which his mother's father, Thorbjorn, had been
the custodian.'
The extent to which the common people shared
in the expense attendant on such sacrifices seems
to have varied according to circumstances. In
some cases the offering was a collective one ; in
others some great man showed his wealth and
munificence by providing it entirely from his own
resources. Probably the latter course was some-
what exceptional, as Snorri says of Earl Sigurd,
that 'he did a thing that was widely famed: he
made a great sacrificial feast at Hladir, and stood
all the expense of it himself.' This he confirms
by citing a verse from a poem in praise of Sigurd,
composed by the Icelandic poet Kormak. Other-
wise, he states, 'it was the old custom, when
55
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
there was to be a sacrifice, that all the house-
holders should come to the place where the
temple was, and bring there the provisions they
would require while the festival lasted.' Accord-
ing to Adam of Bremen, too, the great festival
which was celebrated every nine years at Upsala
was maintained by contributions from the whole
Swedish people, and attendance at it was com-
pulsory ; even those who had adopted Christianity
were only exempted on payment of a fine. The
national character of the festival is also certified
by Snorri, who calls it the ' chief blot' and says it
was held to obtain peace and victory for the
Swedish king.
The actual sacrifice consisted in the killing of
various animals, usually oxen, horses, sheep, or
swine, but on special occasions even human
beings were offered to the gods. At the great
Upsala festival, according to Adam's account,
nine male animals of each kind were offered, as
well as men ; and a Christian eye-witness reported
having seen seventy-two carcases of slaughtered
men and beasts (dogs and horses) suspended
together from the trees of the sacred grove
adjoining the temple. Whether this custom of
hanging up the bodies of the offerings was
practised elsewhere in Scandinavia is unknown,
56
CEREMONIES
but the connection between Odin and death by
hanging makes it probable that it was more
widely known than appears. In Denmark also
human victims were offered along with animals;
according to Thietmar's chronicle the great
gathering in this country took place at Lejre
(near Roskilde in Sjaelland) every nine years,
in the month of January. The sacrifice here con-
sisted of ninety-nine men and as many horses,
dogs, and cocks (the latter being offered in place
of hawks). HOAV the victims were selected or
obtained is not stated; but it is probable that
they were usually captives taken in war, criminals,
or thralls. In Sweden, indeed, strangers appear
to have run some risk of being selected as
victims; in 997 the Icelandic poet Hallfred
nearly met with this fate. In early times, how-
ever, the Swedes were credited with having
burned one of their kings in his own house as
an offering to Odin, in order to dispel a famine
which they believed was due to his slackness in
maintaining the sacrifices. One of the early
kings was also reported to have offered up nine
of his sons in succession to Odin, to obtain long
life for himself. In an account of the heathen
period in the isle of Gotland, which is given in
Quta Saga, it is said that ' they sacrificed their
57
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
sons and daughters and their cattle. All the
land had its highest sacrifices with folk ( = human
beings), as also had each third (of the country)
by itself; but the smaller districts had lesser
sacrifices with cattle.'
In Norway and Iceland human sacrifices
appear to have been more exceptional, and only
resorted to in extreme cases. The usual nature
of the victims is clearly indicated by the words
assigned to King Olaf Tryggvason in 998, when
he found his subjects obstinate in their deter-
mination to hold the midsummer blot He then
threatened 'to make it the greatest kind of
sacrifice that is in use, and offer up men ; and I
will not choose thralls or criminals, but will
select the most distinguished men to give to the
gods.' At the very crisis of the conflict between
paganism and Christianity in Iceland, in the year
1000, the adherents of the old religion resolved
to sacrifice two men out of each quarter, and
' called upon the heathen gods not to let Chris-
tianity overrun the country.' Then Hjalti and
Gizur held a meeting of the Christians, and said
that they would also make an offering of as many
men. ' The heathens,' they said, ' sacrifice the
worst men, and cast them over rocks or cliffs;
but we shall choose the best men, and call it
58
CEREMONIES
a gift for victory to our Lord Jesus Christ.'
Various methods appear to have been in use
besides that mentioned here; at Thorsness, in
the west of Iceland, tradition long pointed out
the 'doom-ring,' in which men had been adjudged
for sacrifice, and the stone within it called
Tkor's stone on which they were killed by being
broken, ' and the stain of blood is still to be seen
on it.' Another source speaks of human victims
as having been sunk in a fen close to the temple
on Kjalarness, which is supported by Adam of
Bremen's statement that near the temple of
Upsala was a fountain in which 'a living man'
was immersed. A 'sacrificial pit' is also men-
tioned in Vatnsdcela Saga, where one Thorolf
was believed to sacrifice both men and cattle.
That in exceptional cases the victim may have
been of higher standing than the thrall or
criminal is possible enough ; as late as 985 Earl
Hakon in Norway is credited with having given
his young son as an offering to Thorgerd, when
he prayed to her for victory over the vikings
of Jdmsborg. In other cases, such as that of
Hallstein, who ' gave his son to Thor ' in order
that the god might send him pillars for his house,
the language is ambiguous, and may imply
dedication rather than sacrifice. When the
59
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
sacrifice consisted of animals which might be
used for human food, it was apparently only the
blood which was regarded as belonging to the
gods. To this was given the name of hlaut, arid
it has already been stated (p. 41) that special
bowls were kept to receive it in. It was then
smeared or sprinkled by means of twigs, not only
upon the altars and the walls of the temples (both
outside and in), but also upon the assembled
people. The flesh was then boiled in large pots
over the fires which burned in the middle of
the temple, and was eaten by the worshippers,
after being consecrated by the chief man present.
A prominent feature, at least of the more im-
portant festivals, was the use of horse-flesh for
this purpose a practice so intimately associated
with heathenism that its abandonment was
strictly prescribed to those who accepted Chris-
tianity. This appears in the strongest light in
the case of Hakon the Good, who was finally
forced to appease his heathen subjects by eating
some pieces of horse-liver. In Iceland, however,
it was permitted for a few years after the new
faith was publicly adopted.
When the drinking began, the horns of ale
were carried round the fire and solemnly dedi-
cated to various gods. The first full or toast was
60
CEREMONIES
assigned to Odin (see p. 18), and was drunk to
obtain victory and power for the king. Next
came that of Njord and Frey, for peace and
plenty. ' After that it was the custom of many
to drink Bragi's full. Men also drank to those of
their kinsmen who had been famous, and that
was called minni.' It is possible that this
account may be imperfect or inexact, as another
passage mentions Thor as well as Odin in this
connection. This is a story of how St. Martin
appeared in a dream to King Olaf Tryggvason,
and said to him : ' It has been the custom of men
in this country, as well as elsewhere among
heathen people, that ale is given to Thor and
Odin, and toasts are assigned to the ^Esir, when
there is drinking or feasting in common.' The
saint then suggests that in place of the old gods
Olaf should substitute Martin himself, along with
God and His saints. This was actually what took
place in Norway and Iceland, a fact which shows
how strong a hold on popular feeling the practice
must have had. In the early Christian law of
Norway it was enjoined that ale was to be brewed
for certain festivals, such as All Hallowmas and
Christmas, ' and that ale shall be consecrated to
Christ and Saint Mary for peace and plenty'
Omission to do so was punishable by a fine to the
61
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
bishop. In place of drinking to the heathen gods
and their departed kinsmen, men now drank the
minni of Christ, of Mary, of St. Martin, St. Olaf,
or other saints, and even of the Holy Ghost, and
this practice continued to be observed at wed-
ding-feasts in Iceland as late as the seventeenth
century.
The great festivals took place especially at
three seasons in the year. One of these was at
the close of autumn (about the middle of October)
' to greet the winter.' At mid-winter came the
festival of Yule (Jol or Jul), originally held in
the middle of January, but afterwards altered to
correspond with Christmas. The third was held
at the end of the winter (about the middle of
April) ' to greet the summer.' The precise time
of each, however, may have varied in different
parts of Scandinavia; Adam of Bremen, for
instance, represents the great Upsala festival
as taking place about the spring equinox, while
Snorri places it a little earlier. As late as 1020
these three festivals were still kept up by the
majority of the inhabitants in the district of
Thrandheim in Norway, and must have been
maintained in Sweden for nearly a century later.
The return which the worshippers hoped to obtain
from the gods for the sacrifices offered was mainly
62
CEREMONIES
good seasons, abundant crops, peaceful times, and
victory in war if it arose. To some extent each
festival appears to have had a special object, but
the statements on this point are not quite in
agreement with each other. No doubt the desires
of the worshippers were expressed in formal
prayers offered up by the one who presided over
the sacrifices, but no specimen of these has been
preserved. Adam of Bremen asserts that in the
sacrifices at Upsala use was made of many in-
cantations of an odious character, but of the pre-
cise nature of these there is no indication. The
drinking of the various toasts was certainly
accompanied by formal speeches, of which those
used in Iceland at a later date are probably the
Christianised representatives.
It is noteworthy that in most of the references
to these great religious festivals there is no state-
ment that the sacrifices were offered to any par-
ticular deity, the usual expression being simply
' to sacrifice for peace,' etc., or ' to the gods.' The
same vagueness sometimes appears when more
private offerings are mentioned ; it is simply said
that the person ' performed a great sacrifice.' It
may naturally be assumed, however, that the
deity appealed to would vary according to the
boon desired, or the preferences of the worshipper.
63
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN HELlGION
Adam of Bremen, in fact, states that in event of
pestilence or famine the offering was made to
Thor ; in case of war it was given to Odin ; while
Frey was the recipient on the occasion of a
wedding. The Swedes are also said to have
sacrificed to Frey for peace and plenty, and
Thorgrim in Iceland honoured the same god at
the beginning of winter (p. 26). Earl Hakon's
sacrifice to Odin has already been mentioned
(p. 16), and is in agreement with Adam of
Bremen's statement.
Among the ancient Scandinavians there was
no distinct priestly caste. The duty of presid-
ing over religious ceremonies, and of acting as
custodian of sacred places, was attached to per-
sons who had also temporal authority of a more
or less extensive nature. Highest of all stood
the king, on whose attitude towards the gods
and their worship the prosperity of his people
was believed largely to depend. Next to him
came the earls, who hi this as in other respects
acted as the representatives of the king. Among
the titles of honour given by the poets to both
kings and earls are those of ' ruler ' or ' guardian '
of sanctuaries. Finally each district had its
recognised religious head in one or other of its
most prominent men, whose power as a chief was
64
MINISTERS OF RELIGION
naturally augmented in no slight degree by his
position as priest. The holder of this double
office appears in the Icelandic writings under the
name of gdSi (also hofgofti), a derivative of go
' god(s) ' ; it may be assumed that the name was
also known in Norway, and its existence in
Denmark is certified by its occurrence in Runic
inscriptions. The sagas contain numerous refer-
ences to these priestly chiefs, who are sometimes
named after the god whom they specially wor-
shipped (as Freys - gofti), sometimes after the
place where they resided (as Tungu-gcfti), or after
those whose religious head they were (as Lj6s-
vetninga - gofii). By the older constitution of
Iceland the number of recognised gofiar was
thirty - nine, distributed pretty equally in the
various parts of the island. The office itself was,
at least in Iceland, known by the name of gofi-
orS, and was regarded as an item of personal
property, which might even be shared by more
than one person, so that we find such statements
as ' he had a third of the groS-orS with Thorgeir.'
The right to the office was hereditary, and could
also be transferred by one person to another, and
this was frequently done, especially when the
rightful holder was to be absent from the country
for a time. In one case the claimant to a goft-
E 65
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
orS is described as performing a ceremony which
may have been a usual accompaniment of such
transference. He 'said, "we shall redden our-
selves in the gcfti's blood in the old fashion," and
killed a ram, in the blood of which he reddened
his hands, and claimed Arnstein's groS-or&V The
gofti being as much a chief as a priest, the name
did not disappear with the adoption of Christianity
into Iceland, though it naturally lost its religious
associations and thenceforward denoted only the
recognised leader in the various districts of the
island.
It appears also that women to some extent
acted as priestesses, and in Iceland, at least, these
were designated by the name of gyfya, or hof-
gyftja, a feminine form corresponding to gofti and
hof-gofti. In one passage where a Thord Freys-
gofti is spoken of, a female relative of his is also
mentioned as being hof-gytya. When the mis-
sionary Thorvald was preaching Christianity at
Hvamm in the west of Iceland about 984, a cer-
tain Fridgerd ' was meanwhile hi the temple and
performed sacrifice, and each of them could hear
the other's words ' ; then Thorvald made a verse
in which he gives the name of gyfya to Fridgerd.
Other women are also mentioned with this
appellation, but the precise place of the priestess,
66
MINISTERS OF RELIGION
and her relation to the priest, remains somewhat
obscure.
That the public worship of the gods was thus
in the hands of the most prominent men in the
community, and not merely of a separate priestly
class, indicates that the Scandinavian peoples as
a whole were really interested in their religion.
This is also shown by the thoroughly popular
character of the great sacrificial feasts. In earlier
times it is probable that the belief in the native
gods was strong even to a degree of fanaticism, of
which traces are still found in the historic period,
especially in Sweden and in the more northerly
districts of Norway. The words of Gudbrand
already quoted (p. 10) no doubt express a genuine
religious attitude common to many worshippers
of the Msir, and similar confessions of faith are
to be met with in other accounts. When King
Hakon wished his subjects to adopt Christianity,
' and believe in one God, Christ the son of Mary,
and abandon all sacrifices and the heathen gods,'
there arose a great murmur in the assembly, and
the speaker who replied protested against the
idea ' that we should abandon that faith which
our fathers have had before us ... and yet this
faith has served us well.' Instances have already
been given of the strong attachment which indi-
67
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
viduals had for certain gods, whom they regarded
as their dear and faithful friends, consulted them
in all their difficulties, and gave them joint-
ownership of their possessions. Others again
were zealous in erecting temples and maintain-
ing sacrifices, such as Hall in Thorskafirth, who
'raised a great temple, because Ulf,' the chief man
of the district, ' was no sacrificer.' By such men
the encroachments of Christianity were naturally
regarded with resentment and dismay. At the
Althing in Iceland in 996 it was decided that any
one blaspheming the gods should be prosecuted
by a near kinsman, and for one to be a Christian
was reputed a disgrace to all the kindred. Four
years later, while the adoption of Christianity was
being debated at the Althing, a volcanic eruption
was reported from the neighbourhood, whereupon
the heathens said, ' It is no wonder that the gods
are angry at such talk.' In 1020 the men of
Thrandheim held sacrifices al^er the old fashion,
drinking to the gods, killing cattle and horses,
and reddening the altars with the blood; this
was done on account of a great dearth in that
part of Norway, ' and it seemed clear to all men
that the gods were angry because they had turned
to Christianity.' So late as the twelfth century
the people in some parts of Sweden were still
68
MINISTERS OF RELIGION
inclined to throw off such Christianity as they
had, and revert to the sacrificial rites of the old
religion.
On the other hand, it is clear that even in the
ninth and tenth centuries the worship of the
Msir was gradually losing its hold. Some of the
early settlers in Iceland were either wholly or
partly Christian; among the latter were, for
example, Helgi the Lean, who believed in both
Thor and Christ, and the kinsmen of the Heb-
ridean Orlyg, who ' believed in Columcille,
though they were not baptized.' A belief 'in
their own might and strength ' was all the faith
that some of the Scandinavians of this period
would own to. Many who came into intercourse
with southern peoples accepted the prima sig-
natio, or first sign of adoption into the Christian
Church. From at least the beginning of the
ninth century zealous missionary efforts were
made by the Church to supplant Thor and his
hammer by Christ and the cross ; while, on the
other hand, the Scandinavian religion, however
strong its hold upon its adherents, never succeeded
in spreading beyond its original limits. The
combination of all these facts explains the com-
paratively rapid manner in which the old faith
finally succumbed before the new, leaving behind
69
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
it only the imperfect traces which have been
summed up in these pages, and a mythology
which has a profound interest of its own and is
inextricably associated with the history of Old
Norwegian and Icelandic poetry.
SELECTED WORKS
THE chief works in English in which information on ancient
Scandinavian mythology and religion may be found are
the following :
G. VIGFUSSON and F. Y. POWELL. Corpus Poeticum Boreale ;
the Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue. 2 vols. Oxford,
1883.
B. THORPE. The Edda of Scemund the Learned. London,
1866.
G. W. DASENT. The Prose or Younger Edda. Stockholm,
1842.
I. A. BLACKWELL. The Prose Edda (in Mallet's Noi-thern
Antiquities}.
R. B. ANDERSON. The Younger Edda; also called Snorre's
Edda or the Prose Edda. Chicago, 1880.
R. B. ANDERSON. Norse Mythology ; or the Religion of our
Forefathers. Chicago, 1875.
C. F. KEARY. Mythology of the Eddas. London, 1882.
(Miss) W. FARADAY. The Divine Mythology of the North.
London, 1902. (No. 12 of Nutt's Popular Studies in
Mythology, etc.)
GRIMM'S Teutonic Mythology, translated by Stallybrass.
3 vols. London, 1880-83.
RYDBERG'S Teutonic Mythology, translated by R. B. Anderson.
London, 1889.
S. LAING. The Heimskringla, or Chronicle of the Kings of
Norway. London, 1844.
71
THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION
R. B. ANDERSON. Snorro's Beimskringla, or the Sagas of the
Norse Kings. (Revised edition of the preceding.)
London, 1889.
W. MORRIS and E. MAGNUSSON. The Heimskringla, or the
Stories of the Kings of Norway. 4 vols. London, 1893-
1906. (Vols. iii.-vi. of the Saga Library.)
J. SKPHTON. The Saga of King Olaf Tryggwason. London,
1895. (VoL i. of Nutt's Northern Library.)
W. MORRIS and E. MAGNDSSON. The Eyrbiggia Saga.
London, 1892. (Vol. ii. of the Saga Library.)
G. VIGFDSSON and F. Y. POWELL. Origines Islandicce.
2 vols. Oxford, 1905.
MALLET'S Northern Antiquities. (Bohn's Library.) London,
1847.
P. Du CHAILLU. The Viking Age. 2 vols. London, 1889.
Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press.
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