In Europe, the Viking Age is generally described as beginning in 793 CE when Norse raiders attacked and looted the Christian monastery at Lindisfarne in Britain. The Norse raiders, commonly known as Vikings, have generally been described by Christian writers as anti-Christian pagans. While they were pagans in that they had their own religious pantheon, the description of the Vikings as anti-Christian probably stems from Christian paranoia and the Christian self-image of being a persecuted religion.
The Norse religious traditions—its gods, goddesses, cosmology, mythology, and ceremonies—extend back for millennia prior to the arrival of Christianity in Scandinavia. In her chapter on the gods of the north in Ancient Gods, April Madden writes:
“For centuries, Norse myth was recorded, preserved and passed on orally, by the lawspeakers who memorised and transmitted the laws and lore of the people, and by the völva, or sorceresses who shamanically interpreted them. Norse myth was only written down from the 8th century CE onwards, when Christianisation began its slow sweep across Scandinavia.”
The Christian scribes who recorded Norse mythology sought to portray the gods according to their stereotypes of pre-Christian gods and so their recorded mythology often resembles Greek mythology. This makes it more difficult for today’s scholars to understand Norse religion prior to Christianity.
From the perspective of an eighth century raider, Christian monasteries were seen as profitable targets not because they were Christian but rather because they were undefended and contained valuables. In his book A Brief History of the Vikings: The Last Pagans or the First Modern Europeans?, Jonathan Clements writes:
“What distinguished them was their willingness to regard the clergy as legitimate targets. Whereas mundane towns and villages boasted defensive walls, forts and local militia, monasteries in particular stood exposed and undefended, their occupants not expecting attack, and consequently unable to put up much resistance.”
With regard to the anti-Christian image of the Norse raiders, University of York archaeologist Julian Richards, in his book The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction, writes:
“The Viking stereotype rests upon aggressive paganism. Viking raiders who attacked undefended monasteries have been accused of doing so not just because these sites represented easy sources of wealth, but explicitly because they were Christian.”
The end of the European Viking Age is generally dated at 1066.
Norse Religion
The traditional Norse religion is considered an ethnic religion as it did not recruit nor proselytize. People were born into the religion. In her essay in Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, Anne-Sofie Gräslund writes:
“The Old Norse religion dating to before A.D. 1000 may be classified as an ethnic religion, meaning that it belongs to a specific people or group of people, in contrast to, for example, a religion like Christianity, which has become a universal or multiethnic religion.”
In the Old Norse language there was no specific word for religion. Anne-Sofie Gräslund writes:
“Unlike today when religion is often separated from secular life, it was then a natural part of all occupations. Viking mythology, which is best known from Old Norse literature, is comprehensive and shows that the Scandinavians had an integrated view of world processes, including its creation and its destruction.”
As with many other ethnic religions, Old Norse religion was a part of daily life rather than being a separate area. Julian Richards writes:
“Religion was just another aspect of life and the act of worship as required by the Norse pantheon was not adoration or even uncritical approval, and therefore it was utterly unlike the Christian relationship with the divine. According to Norse mythology, everything ended at Ragnarok, when all humans and gods were killed and burnt. According to this philosophy the outcome of our actions is predetermined, and we cannot change our fate; what is important is our conduct as we go to meet it.”
In his book The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings, John Haywood writes:
“Religion was a matter of the correct performance and observance of sacrifices, rituals and festivals, rather than of personal spirituality. There was no full-time priesthood; it was usually the king or local chieftains who had the responsibility for ensuring that festivals were observed.”
As with other ethnic religions, ceremonies were often conducted outdoors, at times in sacred places, rather than in specially constructed buildings or temples.
Much of what has been written about the old Norse religion has been based upon reports by the early Christian chroniclers who had a somewhat unfavorable view of this religion.
Of the gods and dwarves who lived underground and helped the gods. John Haywood writes:
“As in other polytheistic religions, the Viking gods ruled over different aspects of human life.”
A few of the better-known Norse or Viking gods are described below.
Odin, who is also known as Woden or Wotan in some regions, was the leader of the gods. He was the god of the aristocrats and was revered by dedicated warriors and poets. John Haywood writes:
“…Odin was the god of wisdom, power, war and poetry; he was a sorcerer and could deprive men of their wits and exercise his power of life and death in wildly unpredictable ways.”
Odin was a complex god: a force for good with a dark side. In her chapter on Odin in Ancient Gods, Dee Dee Chainey reports:
“He is both a god of magic, wisdom and healing, but also a god of death. He is a noble ruler, yet also a trickster.”
Odin inspired poets and gave warriors courage in battle. Dee Dee Chainey writes:
“Odin is said to rule wisdom and knowledge, hence is master of both poetry and the runes.”
Odin has at least 177 names and kennings. There were times when he appeared as an old man, ravaged by time, who would be invited into the homes of the mortals. Some modern writers feel that this image of Odin may have been the precursor to the Christian Santa Claus. Dee Dee Chainey writes:
“Most of what we know about him comes from 13th century texts written in Old Norse, mostly originating from Iceland.”
Thor was the god of thunder and lightning, wind, rain, good weather, physical strength, and crops. He is probably the most famous of Odin’s children and is married to the goddess Sif. He carries a large hammer which is named Mjölnir. Preben Meulengracht Sørensen, in an essay in The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings, reports:
“He was the master of thunder and lightning, storm and rain, fair weather and crops, and the pagans sacrificed to him when threatened by hunger or disease.”
John Haywood writes:
“Unlike Odin, Thor was a straightforward, reliable god, but he was none too bright and the myths concerning his deeds often highlight in a humorous way the limitations of his brute strength.”
In her essay in Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, Anne-Sofie Gräslund writes:
“Thor was an extremely important and popular god, perhaps because weather was central to the productivity of Scandinavian agricultural society.”
Freyr and Freyja, the offspring of the sea god Njord, were the twin gods of fertility. Freyja was skilled in sorcery and was the embodiment of female sexual power. She is associated with love and fertility and is also a goddess of war, taking half of the warriors killed in battle to Fölkvanger. In her chapter on Freyja in Ancient Gods, Dee Dee Chainey writes:
“Freyja is very much linked to the art of seiðr, a form of shamanic Norse magic most often performed by women, involving divination, sorcery and visionary soul journeying.”
Her brother Freyr was the god of male potency, good weather, good harvests, and fertile beasts. Preben Meulengracht Sørensen reports:
“Freyr, who was endowed with an enormous phallus, gave men peace and joy, and offerings were made to him on weddings…”
Loki, the god of fire, is generally described as being cunning, witty, and a mischief-maker. In her chapter on Loki in Ancient Gods, Dee Dee Chainey writes:
“Rootlessly moving between many groups, he is a trickster—a shape-shifter, and gender-switcher—who creates his own rules and morality throughout the Norse myths.”
Jonathan Clements writes:
“Loki was a great shape-shifter, although his transformations often brought him more strife.”
Loki’s daughter is Hel who is queen of the underworld. With regard to Loki’s ability as a gender-shifter, Dee Dee Chainey reports:
“Strangely—in a tale proving gender fluidity is as old as human myth—Loki is also the mother of Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse, when he takes the form of a mare to trick a giant’s steed and gives birth to the resulting foal himself.”
Bragi is a god of poetry. He was renowned for wisdom, for fluency of speech, and for skill in using words.
Njord (Njörðr) is a god of sea. He is the father of Freyr and Freyja. He was associated with wealth and seafaring.
Ránis a goddess of the sea. In her chapter on Rán in Ancient Gods, Dee Dee Chainey writes:
“While sources mentioning the goddess are scarce, she is thought to be a giantess. She is married to a sea giant Ægir, meaning ‘Ocean’, and the pair live in a great hall beneath the sea.”
This great hall beneath the sea is the resting place for those who drown. Dee Dee Chainey writes:
“Rán is most usually depicted under the waves, bearing a great net, which she throws to the surface, catching wayward seafarers and dragging them into the depths to face their fate.”
Rán has nine daughters whose names are a personification of the waves.
Ull is the god of archery, the shield, and snowshoes. Warriors called upon Ull for help in combat. While Ull appears to have been an important god in the Norse pantheon, very little about him has been recorded in the chronicles.
Hel is often described as the goddess of death. In her chapter on Hel in Ancient Gods, Dee Dee writes:
“One of the murkiest and most mysterious of Norse figures, Hel is thought by many to be a goddess of death, or a nefarious being by others, yet it’s undisputed that the underworld is her domain.”
The descriptions of her domain sounds somewhat more Christian than pagan: she sits on her throne in a grim but grand place with many mansions. By her side is her hound, Garm. With regard to Hel herself, Dee Dee Chainey writes:
“Fierce and downcast, she is said to be half blue-black and half flesh-coloured—which, some claim, alludes to her decaying necrotic flesh.”
Dee Dee Chainey also writes:
“While few concrete references to the goddess exist, some argue that Hel herself is merely a later personification of her realm.”
Religion 101/102
This series explores various topics relating to religion in which the concept of religion is not limited to religions which worship gods. Religion 102 is an expansion of an earlier essay. More from this series:
Religion 102: Some Pre-Christian Irish deities
Religion 102: Creation stories
Religion 101: Beliefs and Creeds
Religion 101: Freethought and women's rights
Religion 101: Women and marriage under ancient Irish Brehon law