Contesting the Semantics of Viking Religion

Author(s): Paul B. Sturtevant

Source: Viking and Medieval Scandinavia , 2012, Vol. 8 (2012), pp. 261-278
Published by: Brepols

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/45020188

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 Contesting the Semantics
of Viking Religion

Paul B. Sturtevant

* T^1 nough is enough', echoes Eric Christiansen, quoting R. I. Pa

r ¿traduction to The Norsemen in the Viking Age , 'Somethin
be done to stop publishers putting the word "Viking" in the titl
that have vaguely medieval and faintly Germanic subjects' (Chris
1). Not only does Page make a compelling argument against the o
term 'Viking' specifically, but he implies a broader idea: that th
we historians choose to employ do not exist in a vacuum. If his
analyse, write, and speak about their topics accurately and objectively
nology they use must be as specific, clear, accurate, and, ideally
possible. Unfortunately, in spite of a recent spate of scholarly work
there is no unproblematic term currently in use to refer to early m
religious beliefs and practices. The ideal term, presuming one exis
encapsulate such a plurality of religious phenomena, might be one eit
the people themselves to describe their religion, or a contempor
which reasonably fulfils the above requirements of specificity, clarit
and impartiality. Unfortunately, no such term exists. Part of the dif
mological. The two terms most commonly used in European lan
scribe Norse religions for over a thousand years, 'pagan' and 'heat
cognates, have pejorative connotations which cannot be easily r
they are insufficiently specific. Part of the difficulty is theological,
difficult to know how early medieval Scandinavians would have

Paul B. Sturtevant (paulsturtevant@gmail.com) is an Impact Postdoctora

Leeds Humanities Research Institute, University of Leeds.

Abstract: This article critically examines the words currently in use by sch
Viking- Age Norse religion: pagan, 'heathen, and 'pre-Christian. It explores the
particularly focusing on when they were used to describe Norse religion - fro
English, Old French, Middle English, and Old Norse sources, in tandem with
historical contexts in which they were first employed. It then addresses th
their use in contemporary scholarship, particularly in implying an outdated, o
narrative of conversion to Christianity. A new term will then be proposed for

Keywords: historiography, philology, semantics, religion, pagan, heathen, pre-

Norse polytheism

Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, 8 (2012), 261-278 BREPOLS ^PUBLISHERS 10. 1484/

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 262 Paul B. Sturtevant

defined themselves in
of the difficulty su
histories, which led t
pre-Christian.
This paper will inte
medieval people to d
devised by modern s
in (Anglophone) acad

The Medieval Word

In order to evaluate t
Viking religion, an u
textualization is neces
of early medieval No

Pagan

'Pagan is a word used popularly today in two contexts. Either it is used pejoratively
to describe non-Abrahamic (read: non-Jewish, Christian, or Muslim) religions
and their believers, or it is used to describe those who adhere to neopagan faith
groups which seek - however well - to (re)construct and (re-)enact imagined
ancient nature worship. The term is Roman in origin, stemming from the Latin
word paganus, and was originally used in reference to any person on the fringes of
society or living in the rural areas outside Romanized towns (Mohrmann 1952,
109; Gilliam 1952). The Oxford English Dictionary outlines three theories of how
a word which meant 'country rustic' came to mean 'infidel':

(i) The older sense of classical Latin pagānus is of the country, rustic' (also as noun).
It has been argued that the transferred use reflects the fact that the ancient idolatry
lingered on in the rural villages and hamlets after Christianity had been generally
accepted in the towns and cities of the Roman Empire; compare Orosius, Histories
1. Prol. 'Ex locorum agrestium compitis et pagis pagani vocantur.'

(ii) The more common meaning of classical Latin pagānus is civilian, non-militant'
(adjective and noun). Christians called themselves milites 'enrolled soldiers' of
Christ, members of his militant church, and applied to non- Christians the term
applied by soldiers to all who were 'not enrolled in the army'.

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CONTESTING THE SEMANTICS OF VIKING RELIGION 263

(iii) The sense 'heathen arose from an interpretation o

person who was outside a particular group or community,
'rural'; compare Orosius, Histories 1. Prol. 'qui alieni a civi
[OED y 'pagan n. and adj.')1

Regardless of how the term came to bear this defini

antiquity it was in common usage. It was during this
of serfdom, that the word gained its particularly pejor
explains,

The adoption of paganus by Latin Christians as an all-em

for polytheists represents an unforeseen and singularly lo
a religious group, of a word of Latin slang originally devo
The evolution occurred only in the Latin west, and in c
Church. (Bowersock, Brown, and Grabar 1999, 625)

Brown then continues to explain that the developm

widespread need to see the world in strictly religio
Brown, and Grabar 1999, 625). Paganus continued t
Ages in the Latin West to describe an unbaptized per
one of the original terms used to describe the Viking
used the word in 793 when describing the destructio
'Ecce ecclesia sancti Cuâberhti sacerdotum Dei sa
spoliata ornamentis, locus cunctis in Brittania uene
datur ad depredandurn (Alcuin, Letter-Books , 54) ('T
is spattered with the blood of the priests of God, strip
exposed to the plundering of pagans - a place more
(Allott 1974, 18). Asser also uses the word to descri
which King Alfred struggled throughout his reign
paganos pugnavit in loco, qui dicitur Uuicganbeorg,
habuerunť (Asser, Gesta Alfredi, 2) (with the Devo
pagans in the place which is called Wigan, and the C
(my translation). However, these uses were neither p
specific; the word was used by other religious scholars
(sometimes interchangeably with 'gentes' (gentiles))
ones, and made no distinction between them.2

1 There is some debate over which of these three is the m

mologies are more critically examined in Mohrmann 1952, 1
2 The Vulgate prefers gentesy whereas Thomas Aquinas equat

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 264 Paul B. Stur tevant

The word was borro

century. Though the
c . 1440 (ťBut ever pe
1. 4046; OED , pagan(e
I>er cam in at none

A Geaunt suķe sone,

Iarmed fram paynyme,
And seide 1>es ryme:
'Site stille, sire kyng,
& herkne ķis tyķyng:
Her buķ paens ariued
Wei mo ķane fiue.
(Allen 1984, 11. 801-08; MED , 'paien (n.)')

It also appears in the Kentish Sermons of c. 1275: 'Po a resunede ure lord ķe paens'
{MED, paien (n.)') (Though our Lord called the pagans to account). These uses
(without the g') come to Middle English instead via the Old French paien , such
as that found in La Chanson de Roland : 'En la citet nen ad remés paien | Ne seit
ocis u devient chresrien (Brauk 1978, 11. 100-01) (Not a single pagan remains
in the city | Who has not been slain or become a Christian). There is little
consistency in definition here as well; Rolands paiens are Muslims, whereas those
of The Pricke of Conscience are set in contradistinction to both Muslims and Jews:

Alswa haythen men, als says ķe büke,

ï>at never baptem ne right trouthe tuke,
Als Iewes and Sarzyns and Paens,
l>at wate noght what Criestes law bymens.
(Rolle, Pricke of Conscience , 11. 5508-1 1)

[Also heathen men, as says the Book

that never baptism or right truth took
also Jews and Saracens and Pagans
that know not what Christ's law means.]

separates them, perhaps for poetic purposes - when he considers 'Videtur quod infidelitas
gentilium sive Paganorum sit gravior caeteris' (Aquinas, Summa Theologiae , 54) (Whether the
unfaithfulness of gentiles or pagans is worse than other kinds). Translations are my own unless
otherwise indicated.

3 Karl Heinz Göller argues that this borrowing from Latin is used as a poetic pun, where
'three lines later when we are told that the Knights of the Round Table dared to " paye that
Prynce with plesande words'" (Göller 1981, 67-68).

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CONTESTING THE SEMANTICS OF VIKING RELIGION 265

The central purpose for using the term seems to be the

of othering. 'Pagan does not simply describe an infi
kind of infidel, from the author s perspective.

Heathen

'Heathen is the Germanic counterpart to 'pagan. It is represented in all Germanic

languages (including, notably, Old Norse). The OED's etymological theory states:

The word has generally been assumed to be a direct derivative of Gothic haiļ?i ,
'heath' n., as if 'dweller on the heath', taken as a kind of loose rendering of Latin
pagānus (originally 'villager, rustic', later, after Christianity became the religion of
the towns, while the ancient deities were still retained in rural districts, 'pagan,
heathen'). ( OED , 'heathen, adj. and n.')4

Perhaps unsurprisingly then, in Old English and Old Norse this word was often
used synonymously with paganus and paien. However, some of the uses of this
word evoke a self/ other tension, considering the historical perspective with which
it was used. For example, Beowulf famously bears a tension between the Christian
time of its scribe in the eleventh century and its older, Norse, subject matter.
Thus, its use of 'in fenfreoSo; feorh alegde | haeļ>ene sawle; 1>aer him hel onfeng'
(Fulk, Bjork, and Niles 2008, 11. 850-51) (In his fen refuge; he laid down | his
heathen soul; there hell accepted it) is problematic. Grendel, whose soul it is that
hel onfengy is specifically called hœpene despite there being no reason to believe
that Beowulf is not one as well; Grendels heathen-ness deserves mention as an
attempt to make him even more monstrous by his Christian scribe and to his
Christian audience. The first use of the word in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a
description of the raid on Lindisfarne in its 793 entry, 'earmlice haeķenra manna
hergunc adilegode Godes cyrican in Lindisfarnaee ķurh hreaflac 7 manslihť
(Cubbin 1996, 17) (The raiding of heathen men miserably devastated Gods
church on the island of Lindisfarne through looting and slaughter). The term
is used in the Chronicle repeatedly thereafter, especially to refer to the hœÔen
here of Norsemen that overran the island during the ninth century.5 After this,
continuity in use into Middle English seems straightforward. Th c Middle English

4 The OED ('heathen, adj. and n.') goes on to further complicate its own etymology, arguing
that, according to Bugge, the word's ultimate origins may in fact be Armenian.

5 'Heathen army'. The term 'heathen army' in the D version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
(BL, MS Cotton Tiberius B IV) is specifically used in the entries for years 851, 853, 865, and
866, and not thereafter.

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266 Paul B. Sturtevant

Dictionary s earliest
frequently thereaft
HeiÒinn Old is its
probably Sc reached
is also attested in
Its presence in Old N
the conversion to C
patrons and audienc
The oldest survivin
Eyvindr Finnsson s
mçrg es ļ)jod of ķeud
has been enslaved) (
tenth century (likel
use here
it u makes
Hákon the Good is
the 'heidin god' afte
who attempted (if
argues that this indi
to paganism, or at l
2005, 233). But Hák
an act of reconciliat
Hultgârd argues th
heiÒingoÒ to emphas
the negative connot
Elegiac poetry is for
exactly why Hákon
called heiÒinn. But
the poet, the audienc
conversion, or of dis
around the word s us

Around 1019, the

'Austrfararvisur', wr
with a disagreeable S
lengra; | hraedumk
further in, wretched
here."') (Whaley 200

6 HeiÒinn (n.), pl. heiÒ

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CONTESTING THE SEMANTICS OF VIKING RELIGION 267

though it is difficult to know whether this is accurat

her seem even more rustic. After this use, its use in s
clearly pejorative, in line with the eventual full c
monotheistic Christianity. It is worthy of note tha
the major source of our knowledge of early mediev
Edda. As a result, the evidence indicates that this word
Christianity as a way of describing - with increasi
who had not fully converted.

Problems with Commonly Used Contemporary

There are a number of problems which each of the th

to Norse religion: pagan, 'heathen', and pre-Christia
to each word; some of them apply to the whole set. I s
individually first, and then the more general issues.

'Pagan' and 'Heathen'

The primary issues with these two words relate to
the context of scholarly work on Norse religion, t
used to describe both the religion and those who pr
adjective and a noun - pagan religion' and pagans'. I
in most uses the word pagan' always remains unca
'Christian' (or, for that matter, 'Muslim', 'Hindu', o
for example, in Preben Meulengracht Sorensen's art
'There must have been a lively exchange of ideas an
Christians' (Meulengracht Sorensen 1997, 204). The w
universally accepted by contemporary scholars. In
with regards to Anglo-Saxon religion, David Turton
['pagan'] is so common among historians and archa
you are talking about are not here to answer back'
attacked the word's usage in academic speech: 'If you w
of religion among these people, the very first thing yo
word "pagan" [...] because it simply blocks the way
Even though Turton was discussing the Anglo-Saxon
same criticism applies: if a true understanding of the
sought, the word 'pagan' is insufficient. The same c
Thankfully, 'heathen' is only used infrequently in con

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268 Paul B. Sturtevant

when it is, it is typic

followed the religion
capitalized. One examp
in Norway': 'Conflic
powers on the Conti
Viking raids' (Myhre
Because both terms
held pejorative conn
today. It is inapprop
and analogous with Pe

every time an historian

of Catharism in southe
preachers of Catharism
adherents, who called

Even without their p

almost exclusively fro
not have seen himse
Christianity in the n
An instrumentalist
have, after its intro
people as a self-descr
above in Austrfarar
to distinguish themse
(the Carolingians and
places the responsibi
these peoples (and t
which those people m
Furthermore, both
'neopagan' movemen
perhaps acceptable w
merits or history of
to employ a term th
reconstructionists
academic credibility w

7 For a sociological/eth
an exploration of neopag
Magliocco 2004.

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CONTESTING THE SEMANTICS OF VIKING RELIGION 269

Pre-Christian

This term seems most in vogue within current academic parlance. The term pre-
Christian is used both as a noun and adjective, and simply replaces the words pagan'
or 'heathen when describing Norse people, their religion, and the time period
itself (as in pre-Christian age'). Price (2002) uses this term almost exclusively in
his seminal work on the topic, and DuBois (1999) uses it interchangeably with
pagan in his. This seems to be the result of an attempt by academics to devise
a term without the pejorative implications and problematic pasts presented
by other words. While not a slur, it shares problems with the other words and
presents a few of its own.
'Pre-Christian' is problematic as a descriptive word because, like 'pagan' and
'heathen', it solely describes the religion in terms of being 'not Christian' (in this
case, from a fuzzily chronological perspective). This does no service to the religion
or the study of the same, since the word is a negative descriptor; it is defined only
by what it is not. As a result, similarly to the terms it replaces, it is insufficiently
specific, able to be (and having been) used to describe a variety of unrelated Iron-,
Bronze-, or Stone-Age faiths in Europe or elsewhere.8
Most importantly, it is not reflective of the complicated and nuanced his-
tory of the conversion of Scandinavia to Christianity. The word, by its very con-
struction, implies that the path from unconverted to conversion never reversed or
paused, with the implication that Christianity was a socio-religious inevitabil-
ity. Much as critics of the term 'Viking Age' refute the idea that it is a develop-
mental imperative, after Iron-Age chiefdoms develop, to board longships and go
a-viking (and thus perhaps itself in need of revision), so too is it inappropriate
to see the conversion to Christianity in terms of a logical progression from pre-
Christian to Christian.
In many places, the two religions mingled and meshed. Norse religion's
polytheistic nature meant that often the 'one God' of the Christians was simply
integrated into the pantheon. For a Norse convert, one could worship the 'one
God' of the Christians in one breath and make overtures to Thor with the next with

no cognitive dissonance; Landnámabók relates the tale of Helgi inn magri , 'who
settled in Iceland in about 900, [and] believed in Christ but invoked Thor when
in distress at sea. He also asked Thor to show him where to build his new farm, but
he named it after Christ' (Meulengracht Sorensen 1997, 223). Ultimately, in spite

8 See, for example, pre-Christian' used to describe the ancient faiths of Britain, Ireland, and
Papua New Guinea, respectively, in Godfrey 1969; Ó Hógáin 1999; Van Heekeren 2007.

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 270 Paul B. Stur tevant

of the apparent adopt

in Scandinavia, the my
now within a Christian
hundreds of years afte
of the polytheistic pa
viewpoints. For examp
in terms of the Chris
governs all things, in
everything in them';
spirit that will never d
who are righteous sha
Sturluson, Prose Edda
of creation, when aske
'Back then, he was wi
fusion of the Christian
these myths no longer
of such importance th
communities until Sn
Within the archaeolo
imagery of the two f
number of scenes from
scenes from the myths
suggest a populace th
cross), but who had eno
myths to include the
tries, found in Överho
logical figures of Nor
The archaeological evid
of the two faiths seem
St Patrick's Isle, a site
with typically Norse-
tian unaccompanied o
Most interesting is th
high social status who
amber beads) that sug
66-69). This is significa
She could not have buried herself - she must have had fellows who held her in
such regard as to bury her in a typically Norse style, with objects that would serve
her in her afterlife. However, this burial was in a Christian cemetery alongside

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CONTESTING THE SEMANTICS OF VIKING RELIGION 271

Christians. This indicates a living community,

Norse people seemingly peacefully coexisting w
indigenous and/or Norse Christians, with, at l
Another example of heterogeneous multirelig
in a soapstone mould found in Trendgârden,
smith the option of creating either a cross or a
same mould - it is likely that these worshippe
community side by side if they bought their r
person (Graham- Campbell and others 1994, 1
This apparent integration, however, does not m
between the two religions. In spite of Adam C
historians have imagined that this conjunctio
polytheist] was a cause of stress, even a trigge
is less likely' (Christiansen 2001, 266), the evi
sweeping claim. To think that these faiths integr
one eventually becoming dominant, is naïve an
archaeological and documentary evidence of co
Although it is possible to claim that not all c
different religions should be seen as a purely reli
debate over the motivation behind the Viking
of conflict that can be seen as purely religious. A
separate the two is whether or not there are any
religious conflict (the obvious one, for the exam
plunder). The easiest of these conflicts to regard
the ones where religion itself is the sole method o
violence (or both). Adam of Bremen recounts o

Report has it that at this same time a certain Engli

by divine love, entered Sweden and with great cour
to the pagans. And as by his preaching he converte
he proceeded to anathematize a popular idol named
of the pagans, and at the same time he seized a batt
pieces. And forthwith he was pierced with a thousa
his soul passed to heaven, earning a martyr s laurel
barbarians and, after being subjected to much mock
(Adam, 97-98)

Wolfred s attack was not on a person or a group,

symbol, and thus the community's religion. Hi
the effigy of Thor into pieces, but in attempting

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272 Paul B. Sturtevant

place. It seemed that s

of the Christians int
Wolfred had the aud
far. They did not just
it was not sufficient
a swamp (an act rem
the depositing of the
further debasement o
It is more difficult
archaeological evide
bludgeoning by crucif
striking example wh
the Isle of Man (Tar
isfound on top of a
not directly infer rel
does. The Christian
corpses were hacked
a grand burial in the
of the desecrated gr
To a Manx Christian
order, and it would
daily lives: 'Situated
visible from a consid
intrude upon the da
constant reminder o
that this act of violen
from the realm of co
hacked apart the statu
symbol of faith. Whe
almost irrelevant - i
it would for the Chri
violence is a matter o
its followers, and its
Few scholars would a
event with an inevit
that outdated implic
or 'heathen', it is no
able to comfortably im
co-Christian.

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CONTESTING THE SEMANTICS OF VIKING RELIGION 273

Problems in Common

In addition to the different difficulties with each of these words, all of them are
inappropriate for continued contemporary use for a few common reasons. As
outlined above, there are four criteria available for evaluating the value of such
a term: specificity, clarity, accuracy, and impartiality. Though all of them are
relatively clear (insofar as scholars and laypeople can easily understand their
meaning), none are impartial, as discussed above. Neither are they sufficiently
specific. It is doubtful that any historian would assert that every religion referred
to by the label 'heathen or 'pagan is the same or even similar. In spite of this,
the terminology persists. By itself, the word 'pagan can refer to a tenth-century
Norseman, a fifth-century Gaul, a twenty-first-century neopagan practitioner,
a Muslim (from the writer of Chanson de Roland's perspective), or even
Shakespeares 'Most beautiful pagan, most sweet Jew!' (Shakespeare, Merchant
of Venice, 297). Its definition depends entirely upon who is voicing the word
and in what context. This issue is also present with the words 'heathen and 'pre-
Christian : technically speaking, Jesus was a pre-Christian.
Even if the religion to which the terminology refers is contextually obvious
(generally with the prefix 'Norse' or 'Viking'), it remains the case that to lump
every aspect of Norse religion under one heading simplifies the realities of the
disparate Norse cultures and modes of worship; it is difficult to know whether
an Icelander, an Irish Norseman, and a Swede in the ninth century would
regard each other as co-religionists. There are some recognizable similarities in
religious rituals and the archaeological remains they leave; on the surface, the
ritual of animal and human sacrifice, boat-burial, and cremation related by Ibn
Fadlan is not altogether dissimilar to the burial evidence seen on the Isle of Man
(Montgomery 2000). However, despite overall consistency in ritual, there was a
range of local customs with regards to gods worshipped, burial traditions, places
of worship, and world view. Christiansen describes the difference in regional
worship: 'Any king would have to come to terms with several cults: in Denmark
with Tyr and Thor, as well as Odin, in Svialand with Thor as well as Frey-Njord,
in SE Norway with Ullr as well as Thor' (Christiansen 2001, 264). To refer to this
diverse pan-Northern European religious tradition in one generalized term seems
simplistic. Though one thousand years later, it may seem that an 'Irish Pagan',
a 'Danish Pagan', and a 'Norwegian Pagan' may have belonged to a common
religion, it is difficult to know if those people would have agreed.
Finally, as mentioned, these terms simply are not sufficiently accurate; 'pagan',
'heathen', and 'pre-Christian' are negative definitions rather than positive - they
all define these religions based upon what they are not, rather than what they

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274 Paul B. Sturtevant

are. Much as dating

on the Lindisfarne m
current terms for N
words that are simpl
thing described, but
Christian church leade
as one populated only
historians in the twen

A Further Complic

Further complicating
the word 'religion' i
faiths. Biller, referri
religio did not descr
was only in 'the early
(Christian religion, Je
352).9 During the me
to monastic and othe
members' (Biller 1985
period should not use
period about which h
- attributing to men
instead, to use words t
and culi (Biller 1985,
if medieval people disc
it indicates a limit of
Christianity, but simi
closest that exists is si
and was occasionally
Sorensen 1997, 222).
not have conceived o
'culture'. Furthermore
use (not just because

9 Biller then goes on to

development starting in
purposes in the context o

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CONTESTING THE SEMANTICS OF VIKING RELIGION 275

because it was used equally to describe Christian a

As a result, it requires further specification: wh
siÒr' which brings us back to the original problem.

Conclusion and Proposed Revision

It is easy to say that terminology is too often set asi

Examining and revising semantics, particularly
may seem motivated only by a drive towards po
said, there is a significant body of evidence to s
for Viking religion, pagan', 'heathen', and 'pre-
appropriateness. Those terms paint a Christian-cent
the Viking Age, imply inappropriate pejorative c
to the study of the complex history of the period o
and conversion. I have found myself, at points in
term to use. The easiest, if not wholly satisfactory,
'Norse Polytheism', which I have occasionally use
some scholars (for example, Zander and Zander
both a noun, 'Norse Polytheist', and adjective, 'N
it better, though not fully, satisfies the four essen
accuracy, and neutrality) than the words commo
'pagan', 'heathen', and 'Pre-Christian', easily underst
scholars and laypeople. It is a more accurate desc
definition, defining the faith by (one aspect of) wh
was not. Also, it is more neutral than 'pagan' and 'h
Christian-centric world view of 'pre-Christian'.
more specific than 'pagan' or 'Pre-Christian', this
specification of locality - 'Irish Norse Polytheist
which better differentiates between the religion of
the other indigenous 'pagan' traditions which exis
arrival of Christianity. Irish Norse Polytheism is di
the Irish Bronze Age, and this term better makes t
Furthermore, unlike previous terms, 'Nors
used to denote a transition period between p
Suddenly, the conflict Adam of Bremen recount
'pagans' and Christians, but one largely between
Christian Polytheists and one axe-wielding Chri
the conversion consisted of two phases: the first an

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 276 Paul B. Sturtevant

Hákon and others strug

and the second, the an
and kings like King Olá
of the Christian God
Polytheism', as a term
which this religion sho
seems a better one than
its relative merits, or

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