Vikings, Paganism and the Gods

Introduction:
Vikings are most commonly known as raiders, plunders, and even barbarians with no belief or
Gods. But this is merely a one sided version of some historians. Vikings started their small raids
around 793 and they were mostly found in areas what today is known as Denmark, Sweden and
Norway. At that time, these countries were not defined and the area were completely rural.
Vikings started their raids from scales to as big as an army of thousands of warriors. But they
had their Norse religion and beliefs, they were not only violent warriors, but also traders and
cultured part of many towns. Undeniably they were pitiless, violent and ruthless raiders as well.
Norse religion:
Norse paganism is the religion followed by the northern German people. It is a branch of
German religion which was later replaced by the Christianity. Unlike other religions, Norse
religion relied heavily on the oral culture rather than written texts. They believed in many Gods
and Goddesses, preached and performed many practical rituals as well. The most famous Gods
and Goddesses of this religion were Odin, Thor, Frigg, Loki, Balder, Tyr, and Heimdall. They had
different Gods for war, thunder, love, fertility, protection, life and death.
Viking Pagan Mythology:
Viking Pagan mythology is the body of many stories and myths of Norse religion of Northern
Germanic people. They had different myths regarding every God and Goddesses like the God of
Thunder, Thor. He was known as the humanity protector and hammer wielding God. In the
same way, Frigg was the Goddess of love and fertility and Viking people asked her help for the
fertility of their lands before farming and women. Odin was the God of war, knowledge and
wisdom. Norse religion had many myths of humans, Gods, Giants, dwarfs and deities. And the
branches of their mythologies were extended to every phase of their lives.
Viking Pagan Sacrifices:
There are many evidences which shows that the sacrifice was a common practice in Norse
religion. Vikings used to sacrifice many animals like cows, dogs, roosters, hen and even a female
slave girl. They made sacrifices to many Gods on events like before concluding a business, or
before sailing to make the winds favorable for them. Human sacrifices were also not
uncommon in the northern Europe and it was a part of Viking’s religion.
Viking Ritual Deposits:
These exceedingly violent Scandinavians has a softer side as well as the susceptible to
superstitions. They are the followers of portent, signs and good luck charms. Their burial
customs are similar to Egyptians, they equipped the dead bodies with jewelries.
Some of the rituals practices by the Vikings are; the blot sacrifice to gain the goodwill of the
gods, human sacrifice to pacify gods, tooth modification to rouse fear in the war or as a symbol
of achievement, cremation ritual to dispose of dead, infant rituals to consider them as a real
person etc.
Vikings Marriage Customs:
Marriage is the center of family structure in Viking. Planning for wedding at time require three
years as the bride and groom’s family settle inheritances, property transfer and dowries. These
are the critical ones for marriage. Then a public wedding ceremony and a feast took place.
These spousal went on to three days and could last a week. Weddings are usually kept on
Friday to honor the goddess of marriage. The groom presented his ancestor’s sword to the
bride which she holds in order to give her son. And bride gives her father’s sword to the groom
in order to transfer the guardianship of her to the husband. These weddings customs can bring
a lot of beauty and fun and a nice way to honor the past couples.
Vikings and Magic:
Magic and wizardry are the common themes of the Vikings. Magical powers are considered to
be the basic field of women’s power, serving to connect them to god, dead and the future.
Odin is the most classic magician of the Norse and uses his powers to summon a volva from the
dead. And the Freyja is the goddess that predicts the others accounts although it is not certain
often.
Runes are the mystical or magical symbols and alphabetic letters. An old poem says that Odin
founds the runes when he hangs himself to the world tree to get the wisdom for nine days and
nights. When he is about to die he found runes and blessed with his life.
Viking Temples:
The first temple name Asatru has been built on the Iceland of Fyn in Denmark in 1000 years.
This temple built on Nordic style. And it made of wood. Inside the temple there are large tree
trunks of the weight of two ton. Vikings are always friendly and open minded to the stranger to
join their faith and temple and there is no constraints for anyone to be in the temple.
Viking Gods:
The Norse gods belongs to two tribes; Aesir and Vanir.
Odin, Frigg, Thor, Loki. Balder, Hold, Heimdall and Tyr are highly ranked gods or representatives
of Aesir.
Odin is the chief divinity and the god of war, death, property and wisdom.
Frigg, wife of Odin is the patron of motherhood and marriage and the goddess of love and
fertility.
Thor is the most famous son of Odin and the most powerful god of storm and thunder.
Loki is the most dangerous and unpredictable god and give birth to many evil creatures. Loki
begins to disobey other gods.