Norse paganism is a term used to describe the religious traditions which were common amongst the Germanic tribes living in Nordic countries prior to and during the process of the Christianization in Northern Europe. Norse paganism is therefore a subset of Germanic paganism, which was practiced in the lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes across most of Northern and Central Europe until the end of the Viking Age. Our knowledge of Norse paganism is mostly drawn from the results of archaeological field work, etymology and early written materials. Various Religious symbols, including (first row) Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Bahai, (second row) Islamic, tribal, Taoist, Shinto (third row) Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jain, (fourth row) Ayyavazhi, Triple Goddess, Maltese cross, pre-Christian Slavonic Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith in a spiritual... The term Germanic tribes (or Teutonic tribes) applies to the ancient Germanic peoples of Europe. ... Political map of the Nordic countries and associated territories. ... For the purposes of this article the Christianization of Scandinavia refers to the process of conversion to Christianity of the Scandinavian and Nordic peoples, starting in the 8th century with the arrival of missionaries in Denmark and ending in the 18th century with the conversion of the Inuits and the... Northern Europe Northern Europe is the northern part of the European continent. ... ROSIE IS A GERMN LADYGermanic paganism refers to the religion of the Germanic nations preceding Christianization. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Viking Age is the term denoting the years from about 800 to 1066 in Scandinavian History[1][2][3]. // The Vikings have been much maligned in European history, due in large part to their violent attacks on Christians in the first centuries of their excursions out of Scandinavia. ...

Some scholars, such as Georges Dumézil, suggest that some structural and thematic elements within the attested Norse religious ideas place Norse paganism within the framework of the pan-Indo-European expression of spiritual ideas as a whole. Georges Dumézil (March 4, 1898 - October 11, 1986) was a French comparative philologist best known for his analysis of sovereignty and power in Indo-European religion and society. ... For other uses, see Indo-European. ...

Archaeological sources

Many sites in Scandinavia have yielded valuable information about early Scandinavian culture. The oldest extant cultural examples are in the form of petroglyphs or helleristninger [1]. These are usually divided into two categories according to age: "hunting-glyphs" and "agricultural-glyphs". The hunting glyphs are the oldest (ca. 9,000 -- 6,000 B.C.) and are predominantly found in Northern Scandinavia (Jämtland, Nord-Trøndelag and Nordland). These finds seem to indicate an existence primarily based on hunting and fishing. These motifs were gradually subsumed (ca. 4,000 -- 2,000 B.C.) by glyphs with more zoomorphic, or perhaps religious, themes. For other uses, see Petroglyph (disambiguation). ... (help· info), is a historical province or landskap in the center of Sweden. ... County NO-17 Region Trøndelag Administrative centre Steinkjer County mayor Inger Lise Gjørv Area  - Total  - Percentage Ranked 6 22,412 km² 6. ... // For other uses, see Nordland (disambiguation). ... Zoomorphic decoration from the Book of Kells Zoomorphism, from Greek ζωον zōon, meaning animal, and μορφη, morphÄ“, meaning shape or form, refers to the representation of animal forms in ornaments, or to the representation of gods in the form, or with attributes, of non-human animals, and also to the transformation...

The glyphs from the region of Bohuslän are later complemented with younger agricultural glyphs (ca. 2,300 -- 500 B.C.), which seem to depict an existence based more heavily on agriculture. These later motifs primarily depict ships, solar and lunar motifs, geometrical spirals and anthropomorphic beings, which seem to ideographically indicate the beginning of Norse religion. , (Latin: Bahusia; Norwegian: BÃ¥huslen) is a province (landskap) in West Sweden (Västsverige). ... 7th millennium BC anthropomorphized rocks, with slits for eyes, found in modern-day Israel. ...

Other noteworthy archaeological finds which may depict early Norse religion are the Iron Age bog bodies such as the Tollund Man, who may have been ritually sacrificed in a seemingly religious context. Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... Grauballe man at Mosegaard-Museum, Denmark Bog bodies, also known as bog people, are preserved human bodies found in sphagnum bogs in Northern Europe, Great Britain and Ireland. ... Preserved full length corpse of the Tollund Man, with rope around neck The Tollund Man is the naturally mummified corpse of a man who lived during the 4th century BC, during the time period characterised in Scandinavia as the Pre-Roman Iron Age. ...

Later, in the Pre-Viking and Viking age, there is material evidence which seems to indicate a growing sophistication in Norse religion, such as artifacts portraying the gripdjur (gripping-beast) motifs, interlacing art and jewelry, Mjolnir pendants and numerous weapons and bracteates with runic characters scratched or cast into them. The runes seem to have evolved from the earlier helleristninger, since they initially seemed to have a wholly ideographic usage. Runes later evolved into a script which was perhaps derived from a combination of Proto-Germanic language and Etruscan or Gothic writing. However, this origin has not been proven, and many runic origin theories have been advocated. For other uses, see Viking (disambiguation). ... In archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor. ... For other uses, see Mjolnir (disambiguation). ... Rune redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. ...

Many other ideographic and iconographic motifs which may portray the religious beliefs of the Pre-Viking and Viking Norse are depicted on runestones, which were usually erected as markers or memorial stones. These memorial stones usually were not placed in proximity to a body, and many times there is an epitaph written in runes to memorialize a deceased relative. This practice continued well into the process of Christianization. A rune stone Rune stones are somewhat flat standing stones with runic stone carvings from the Iron Age (Viking Age) and early middle ages found in most parts of Scandinavia. ... For the purposes of this article the Christianization of Scandinavia refers to the process of conversion to Christianity of the Scandinavian and Nordic peoples, starting in the 8th century with the arrival of missionaries in Denmark and ending in the 18th century with the conversion of the Inuits and the...

Like most ancient and medieval peoples, Norse society was divided into several classes and the early Norse practiced slavery in earnest. The majority of interments from the pagan period seem to derive primarily from the upper classes, however many recent excavations in medieval church yards have given a broader glimpse into the life of the common people.

Literary sources

Most, if not all, of the written material about the Norse religion are derived from written accounts far later than when the religion was practiced, and well into the Christian period. This is when the lines blurred between Norse pre-Christian religion and a demonized or romanticized Norse mythology. Norse religion was a cultural phenomenon, and like most pre-literate folk beliefs, the practitioners probably did not have a name for their religion, until they came into contact with outsiders or competitors. Therefore, the only titles bestowed upon Norse religion are the ones which were used to describe the religion in a competitive manner, usually in a very antagonistic context. Some of these terms were hedendom (Scandinavian), Heidentum (German), Heathenry (English) or Pagan (Latin). A more romanticized name for Norse religion is the medieval Icelandic term Forn Siðr or "Old Custom". Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the indigenous pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian peoples, including those who settled on Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... The North Germanic languages (also Scandinavian languages or Nordic languages) is a branch of the Germanic languages spoken in Scandinavia, parts of Finland and on the Faroe Islands and Iceland. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Germanic neopaganism. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... ...

Whatever the Norse religion was called by its adherents, we mostly know it from the works of medieval historians, most notably Snorri and Saxo. A statue of Snorri Sturluson by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland was erected at Reykholt in 1947. ... Saxo, etching by the Danish-Norwegian illustrator Louis Moe (1857 – 1945) Saxo Grammaticus (estimated. ...

Worship

Centres of faith

Gamla Uppsala, the centre of worship in Sweden until the temple was destroyed the late 11th century.

The Germanic tribes rarely or never had temples in a modern sense. The Blót, the form of worship practiced by the ancient Germanic and Scandinavian people resembled that of the Celts and Balts: it could occur in sacred groves. It could also take place at home and/or at a simple altar of piled stones known as a "hörgr". However, there seems to have been a few more important centres, such as Skiringsal, Lejre and Uppsala. Adam of Bremen claims that there was a temple in Uppsala (see Temple at Uppsala) with three wooden statues of Thor, Odin and Freyr, although no archaeological evidence to date has been able to verify this. Download high resolution version (837x368, 68 KB)Gamla Uppsala From Swedish Wikipedia[1] (no copyright tag there, either) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (837x368, 68 KB)Gamla Uppsala From Swedish Wikipedia[1] (no copyright tag there, either) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Gamla Uppsala is an area rich in archaeological remains seen from the grave field whose larger mounds (left part) are close to the royal mounds. ... The Blót was the pagan Germanic sacrifice to Norse gods and Elves. ... Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. ... http://www. ... Sacred groves were a feature of the mythological landscape and the cult practice of Old Europe, of the most ancient levels of Scandinavian mythology, Greek mythology, Slavic mythology, Roman mythology, and in Druidic practice. ... In Norse paganism, hörgr was a type of altar, constructed of piled stones. ... Kaupang is the name of a town with roots from the Viking Age, situated in Vestfold county in Norway. ... Lejre is a municipality in east Denmark, in the county of Roskilde on the peninsula of Zealand. ... Gamla Uppsala is an area rich in archaeological remains seen from the grave field whose larger mounds (left part) are close to the royal mounds. ... Adam of Bremen (also: Adam Bremensis) was one of the most important German medieval chroniclers. ... The Temple at Uppsala was a temple in Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala), near modern Uppsala, Sweden, that was created to worship the Norse gods of ancient times. ... For other uses, see Thor (disambiguation). ... For other meanings of Odin, Woden or Wotan see Odin (disambiguation), Woden (disambiguation), Wotan (disambiguation). ... This 19th century representation of Freyr shows him with his boar Gullinbursti and his sword. ...

Remains of what may be cultic buildings have been excavated in Slöinge (Halland), Uppåkra (Skåne), and Borg (Östergötland). Slöinge is a village south of Falkenberg, Sweden, with about 900 citizens. ... is a historical province (landskap) on the western coast of Sweden. ... UppÃ¥kra is a village located five kilometres south of Lund in Scania in southernmost Sweden. ... The Flag of SkÃ¥ne (also known as Scania in English) is the southernmost historical province (landskap) and County (Län) of Sweden. ... (help· info) is a historical Province (landskap) in the south of Sweden. ...

Priests

While a kind of priesthood seems to have existed, it never took on the professional and semi-hereditary character of the Celtic druidical class. This was because the shamanistic tradition was maintained by women, the Völvas. It is often said that the Germanic kingship evolved out of a priestly office. This priestly role of the king was in line with the general role of godi, who was the head of a kindred group of families (for this social structure, see norse clans), and who administered the sacrifices. In the Celtic religion, the modern words Druidry or Druidism denote the practices of the ancient druids, the priestly class in ancient Celtic societies through much of Western Europe north of the Alps and in the British Isles. ... Shamanism is a range of traditional beliefs and practices that involve the ability to diagnose, cure, and sometimes cause human suffering because of a special relationship with, or control over, spirits. ... The völva, vala, wala (Old High German), seiðkona, or wicce was a female shaman in Norse mythology, and among the Germanic tribes. ... The Germanic king originally had three main functions. ... The term gothi (goði), in Norse mythology, refers to the person who administered the Blóts. ... The Scandinavian clan or ætt in Old Norse, was a social group based on common descent or on the formal acceptance into the group at a þing. ...

Human sacrifice

Carl Larsson, "Midwinter Sacrifice", 1915: the sacrifice of King Domalde at Gamla Uppsala.

A unique eye-witness account of Germanic human sacrifice survives in Ibn Fadlan's account of a Rus ship burial, where a slave-girl had volunteered to accompany her lord to the next world. More indirect accounts are given by Tacitus, Saxo Grammaticus and Adam von Bremen. the sacrifice of king Domalde, by Carl Larsson. ... the sacrifice of king Domalde, by Carl Larsson. ... Carl Larsson (May 28, 1853 – January 22, 1919) was a Swedish painter and interior designer. ... Domalde was a Swedish king of the House of Ynglings, in Norse mythology. ... Gamla Uppsala is an area rich in archaeological remains seen from the grave field whose larger mounds (left part) are close to the royal mounds. ... Human sacrifice is the act of killing a human being for the purposes of making an offering to a deity or other, normally supernatural, power. ... Ahmad ibn-al-Abbas ibn Rashid ibn-Hammad ibn-Fadlan (Aḥmad ʿibn alʿAbbās ʿibn Rasẖīd ʿibn ḥammād ʿibn Fadlān أحمد ابن العباس ابن رشيد ابن حماد ابن فضلان) was a tenth-century Arab scholar who wrote an account of his travels as a member of an embassy of the Caliph... Rus’ (????, ) was a medieval East Slavic nation, which, according to the most popular (but by no means only) theory, may have taken its name from a ruling warrior class, possibly with Scandinavian roots. ... Ship burial of Igor the Old in 945, depicted by Heinrich Semiradski (1845-1902). ... For other uses, see Tacitus (disambiguation). ... Saxo, etching by the Danish-Norwegian illustrator Louis Moe (1857 – 1945) Saxo Grammaticus (estimated. ... Adam of Bremen (also: Adam Bremensis) was one of the most important German medieval chroniclers. ...

The Heimskringla tells of Swedish King Aun who sacrificed nine of his sons in an effort to prolong his life until his subjects stopped him from killing his last son Egil. According to Adam of Bremen, the Swedish kings sacrificed male slaves every ninth year during the Yule sacrifices at the Temple at Uppsala. The Swedes had the right not only to elect kings but also to depose them, and both king Domalde and king Olof Trätälja are said to have been sacrificed after years of famine. Heimskringla is the Old Norse name of a collection of sagas recorded in Iceland around 1225 by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (1179-1242). ... Ane, On, One, Auchun or Aun the Old (Audhun, the same name as the A-S name Edwin) was the son of Jorund and one of the Swedish kings of the House of Yngling, the ancestors of Norways first king, Harald Fairhair. ... Ongenþeow, Ongentheow, Ongendþeow, Egil, Egill, Eigil, or Angantyr (- ca 515) was the name of one or two semi-legendary Swedish kings of the house of Scylfings, who appear in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian sources. ... For other uses, see Yule (disambiguation) and Jul (disambiguation). ... Domalde was a Swedish king of the House of Ynglings, in Norse mythology. ... Olaf Tree Feller (Old Norse: Ólafr trételgja, Swedish: Olof Trätälja, Norwegian: Olav Tretelgja) was the son of the Swedish king Ingjald Ill-ruler of the House of Yngling according to Ynglingatal. ...

Odin was associated with death by hanging, and a possible practice of Odinic sacrifice by strangling has some archeological support in the existence of bodies perfectly preserved by the acid of the Jutland (later taken over by the Daner people) peatbogs, into which they were cast after having been strangled. An example is Tollund Man. However, we possess no written accounts that explicitly interpret the cause of these stranglings, which could obviously have other explanations. Jutland Peninsula Jutland (Danish: Jylland; German: Jütland; Frisian Jutlân; Low German Jötlann) is the western, continental part of Denmark as well as one of the three historical Lands of Denmark, dividing the North Sea from the Kattegat and the Baltic Sea. ... The Daner were an ancient North germanic tribe residing in modern day southern Sweden and on the Danish islands. ... Peat in Lewis, Scotland Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. ... Preserved full length corpse of the Tollund Man, with rope around neck The Tollund Man is the naturally mummified corpse of a man who lived during the 4th century BC, during the time period characterised in Scandinavia as the Pre-Roman Iron Age. ...

Modern traditions and traces of Norse paganism

Midsummer (summer solstice) is an Old Norse practice mostly celebrated in Sweden but also in Finland, Estonia and Latvia and to some extent Norway and Denmark. When Christianity appeared in mentioned regions the church converted the old rites to Saint John the Baptist Day. Midsummer may refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice and the diverse celebrations of it around the world, but more often refers to European celebrations that accompany the summer solstice, or to Western festivals that take place in June and are usually related to Saint John... Illumination of Earth by the sun on the northern hemisphere summer solstice The summer solstice is an astronomical term regarding the position of the sun in relation to the celestial equator. ... Old Norse or Danish tongue is the Germanic language once spoken by the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (for instance during the Viking Age). ...

Christmas in Scandinavia still comprise traces of Old Norse traditions. For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Scandinavia (disambiguation). ...

Weekday names Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday all derive from Old Norse/Germanic pagan Gods (Máni, Tyr, Wodan, Thor, Freya and Sunne). Saturday is thus the only exception, finding its origin in Roman mythology. In Norse mythology, Máni was the god of the moon and a son of Mundilfari and Glaur. ... Týr, depicted here with both hands intact, is identified with Mars in this illustration from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. ... For other meanings of Odin and Wotan see Odin (disambiguation) Odin (Old Norse Óðinn, Swedish Oden) is usually considered the supreme god of Germanic and Norse mythology. ... For other uses, see Thor (disambiguation). ... Freya, in an illustration to Wagners operas by Arthur Rackham. ... The Trundholm Sun Chariot pulled by a horse is believed to be a sculpture illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology. ... A head of Minerva found in the ruins of the Roman baths in Bath Roman mythology, the mythological beliefs of the people of Ancient Rome, can be considered as having two parts. ...

See also

• Norse mythology
• Germanic paganism
• Germanic mythology
• Germanic neopaganism