Part V: The Conflict with Christianity

The first traces of Christianity arriving in Scandinavia appear sometime in the eighth century CE. It took about another two or three hundred years before the old pagan faith of the Vikings was all but wiped out by the Christian missionaries and their newly converted kings. Pagan Vikings faced many of the same problems other pagans had when encountering this new religion. At first, Christianity won new Norse converts through philosophical discussion, with Christians trying to emphasize how similar their two religions were. H.R. Ellis Davidson notes some of these parallels in her books Scandinavian Mythology and Gods and Myths of the Viking Age.

First, there was the idea of the dying and rising god. In Christianity, this was represented by Christ’s death on the cross, decent into Hell, and resurrection. The pagans had a similar myth in the death of Baldr, who was slain by his deceived brother and sent to Hel, only to rise after the final battle of Ragnarok. However, this association is a weak one. Some scholars have tried to make Baldr seem like a "Norse Christ" and make all sorts of connections between the Norse and Christian apocalypses. The only similarity between Christ and Baldr is the motif of a child coming from the divine realm to rule the mortal world. The roles of both these figures differ in each apocalypse myth. Christ takes an active role in the Apocalypse. Baldr, on the other hand, serves a more passive function, remaining inactive until after the new world is born.

Second, there is the idea of a god figure hanging from a tree. This connection was probably the hardest to make. Here, the Christian parallel is Christ on the cross. The Norse parallel is Odin hanging for Yggdrassil to obtain the runes. Christ and Odin are tough figures to compare to each other. Odin is not a savior figure, nor is hung from a tree against his will. He voluntarily submits himself to the torture of hanging to gain knowledge. Christ, it can be argued, was crucified against his will. However, both do go through a death-resurrection experience. Odin’s hanging from the tree has been interpreted as a shamanic death/rebirth initiation, of which he succeeds.

Another connection Christians tried to make between the two religions was the idea of Christ as a brave warrior leading an army of dedicated warriors. Davidson notes this shows "how the new faith could be presented in a form acceptable to men reared on the heathen traditions of a heroic past." Indeed, this would have been one of the ways to get to the heart of a Norse convert. It would certainly be easier for a warrior to accept a faith that preached love by introducing the image of warriorship into a savior figure.

One of the strongest associations made between Christianity and Norse religions was the idea that the new faith offered divine figures (i.e., God, Jesus, and the Saints) that would treat the worshipper like a friend. Davidson writes:

As stated in part 3 of this paper, the Norse believed in personal religion. It was not uncommon for a man to enter into a sort of working relationship with his god. Some families even had a long tradition of devotion to a particular god.

There are a few minor connections as well. Both religions had the conception of a final battle between good and evil. There is also the idea of the evil one bound beneath the earth. Prior to Ragnarok, Loki is bound underground as punishment for his part in the death of Balder. Christianity parallels with Satan’s binding in the book of Revelations. Both religions had similar signs as well. The cross does bear some resemblance to the hammer of Thor. Christians also made the sign of the cross, which is remarkably similar to the sign of the hammer, a hand gesture made during meals to bless food. Literature tells of pagan Vikings feasting with Christian ones, and when the Christian made the sign of the cross, the pagans accepted it as something similar to the sign of the hammer, and they respected it as a sign of faith.

Some scholars also have tried to fit the Norse gods Odin, Thor, and Freyr into a Christian-like trinity, but this connection is weak at best. While Thor does have some Christ-like characteristics (as a divinity often turned to for help), he is a warrior, Jesus is not. Nowhere in Christian myth does Jesus display any warrior characteristics or tendencies. Odin has some resemblance to Yahweh, for both are fickle and known to cast punishments down on humanity, but Yahweh is essentially a storm god and Odin is the archetypal magician/seeker of wisdom figure. As for Freyr and the Holy Spirit, they have even less in common.

When Christians first met up with the Norsemen there was little religious conflict at first. The Vikings were willing to tolerate the new religion to a point. Since they believed in many gods, what was wrong with accepting one more? It seems Viking craftsmen were open to this new religion and were willing to cater to the Christian’s needs as well. Moulds have been found that could make crosses just as easily as hammer amulets. In fact, some unearthed amulets appear half way between a cross and hammer, indicating a blacksmith may have created it to be worn as the customer saw fit. Some Christians were even willing to adopt similar pagan imagery and themes into their artwork. For example, a stone cross in Gosforth depicts Christ’s crucifixion and scenes from pagan mythology.

Unfortunately, the era of tolerance didn’t last. As the slow trickle of Christians moved northward and their numbers increased, the level of tolerance decreased. Missionary kings like Olaf Tryggvason and his successor Olaf the Holy did all they could to annihilate the pagan faith. They destroyed temples and cut down the trees of sacred groves. Also, many pagans were martyred during this war. Heathens who refused to convert were often tortured and put to death. Predominantly, Thor was called on for protection rather than Odin, for the All-father was known to be fickle and unpredictable. One story tells of a woman poet who had a public dispute with the missionary Thangbrand. She claimed "that Thor had challenged Christ to a duel and Christ had not dared to fight." She then recited to praise the Thunder God, and mocked the missionary by singing of how Thor wrecked his ship. The sword swung both ways, though, and Christian poets pictured the pagan gods and guardian spirits of the old religion as cowards fleeing before the new God and his missionaries.

There are also stories of Thor and Odin being active during the time of the conversion. In both cases, the gods appear to the people they would have found reverence from. Stories of Odin’s appearances picture him as visiting kings and trying to win them over with his wisdom and stories of days long past. He usually is not successful. Thor often appears before warriors or at sea. In one account, he wrestled with the entire crew of King Olaf Tryggvason’s ship the Long Serpent. He easily beat each of the men and declared all of them to be weaklings. In each tale, told from a Christian standpoint, the new convert’s attitude about the old gods comes forth. Odin is still viewed with distrust, though noted for his wisdom and charisma. Thor fares better, and is still viewed as the mighty warrior the Vikings always pictured him as.

"Then the powerful mighty one, he who rules over

everything,

will come from above, to the judgement-place of the

As the pagan period came to an end, the religion was forced to go underground. In Iceland, it became a criminal offense to worship the gods publicly, but private worship was tolerated. By the thirteenth century, Norse paganism was all but wiped out. But the interest in the old poems and myths still remained. Perhaps this is what led Snorri to compose the Prose Edda and the unknown poet(s) to write the Poetic Edda. Additionally, Christianity in Scandinavia adopted or retained some pagan images. For example, Christ was rarely pictured as crucified, but rather bound. There is also the Gosforth Cross, which depicts scenes from the Bible along side the battles of the Norse gods. Davidson writes that there was "no great hostility towards the change of faith." Some people seemed to interpret the enigmatic passages given above as reference to the coming of Christianity, so it was destined to happen. However, it is possible those verses were the result of later editing. Or they could just have been misinterpreted. Too many authors writing on the topic of the Norse conflict with Christianity will often end their writings by saying something to the effect of "the gods’ job was done" or "it was time to move on." However, the old gods never died, and their ways are still practiced today.