How Christianity ended the age of the Vikings: From Valhalla to Paradise
Historically, the end of the Vikings' reign was set in 1066 after their defeat at the Battle of Stamford Bridge near York, where Harald's great army was crushed by the forces of the Duke of Normandy, William.
The real end, however, according to researchers, came with the rise of Christianity. By then, in the early 11th century, all the Norse kingdoms were Christian, and what was left of the Viking 'culture' had been absorbed into the culture of Christian Europe. The kings of the Vikings, for reasons we shall see later, had converted to Christianity, while the inhabitants of the Scandinavian countries - for the most part - had themselves turned away from paganism.
As the studies indicate, the Vikings were essentially "grafted" into Christianity through their own actions. Among the exploits recounted in the various chronicles of its heyday, their penchant for human trade stands out. Historically, these Northern peoples are thought to have engaged extensively in the slave trade, selling slaves both to other peoples of the East and incorporating them into their own societies.
One of the main targets of their raids was the people themselves. They knew it would be difficult to find treasure however they enslaved women and very young men, which they then profited from by exchanging them in slave markets, such as the one in Dublin, which is considered the largest in medieval Europe.
Researchers say that this interaction with slaves, especially the women many warriors took to raise families, gradually helped to bring about a conversion to the new religion. (Those of you who watched the series of the same name, remember how Ragnar took Athelstan with him after the first raid).
It is significant that a recent DNA survey revealed that 25% of the men and more than 50% of the women who first settled in Iceland were not from Scandinavia but were of Irish and Scottish origin.
In other words, the Vikings who settled on this new island had with them people they had taken as slaves and together they created the first population of the island. Scandinavian households were becoming increasingly mixed in terms of faith.
The role of the Kings
The Viking leaders, their kings, played an important role in Christianization. A Christian king had different security compared to a pagan king. The church was very strict in its approach to kings. After being crowned as king, a man, was a Holy Man. To kill him was a great sin, regardless of whether he was a good or bad king.
The Church was also very careful not to anoint any politician who was aiming for the position of head of state. If a priest anointed a person claiming the crown, the dispute could be settled by a senior priest. In a worst-case scenario, the dispute would be resolved by the Pope.
In contrast, before Christianity, the average life expectancy for someone who became king was about 10 years. There was always someone else who wanted the position, and usually this was done by killing the one in charge.
How did the transition to Christianity happen?
As the Vikings followed the pagan religion and had many gods, there are many who believe that Christ was originally added to them. Gradually over time they began to convert to Christianity.
At the same time, the Scandinavians baptized themselves or did whatever else was needed to gain the trust of their trading partners abroad. From the earliest times the Vikings began to trade with other peoples.
The hardest part for the Christian missionaries was not convincing the Norse pagans that Jesus was God. The hardest part was convincing them that he was the only god and that worshipping other gods was wrong. This concept was previously completely foreign to the Norse worldview.
Besides, most scholars today believe that Viking attacks on Christian churches had nothing to do with religion, but more to do with the fact that monasteries were usually both rich and poorly protected, making them easy targets for pillage.
When the question arose, "Should we be Christians or not?" a compromise was reached. People who preferred to be pagans could remain but could not speak of their paganism or practice it in public. If a pagan family performed a pagan sacrifice and a Christian passed by, they would have to stop the ritual and only resume it when the Christian was gone.
However, the clash of religions occasionally led to violence and attacks from both sides. In particular, the Christianization of Norway under King Olaf Tryggvason in the late 10th century sparked resistance from some of the pagan Vikings, resulting in armed conflicts in the region.
What the Vikings were like after they became Christians
Although by the end of the Viking Age Scandinavia was more like the rest of Europe, the Christian Vikings of the 10th and 11th centuries did not behave very differently from their pagan ancestors. They were still extremely warlike and almost as likely to pillage, take slaves, acquire many wives, engage in feuds, and display other typical Viking characteristics anywhere. At the same time, they were just as bold in their exploration.
After all, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the Viking armies of mixed faith chose annihilation rather than disgrace, with casualties reaching 90%. These battles showed that for the Vikings it did not matter much whether they went to Heaven or Valhalla.
(with information from history.com, thevikingherald.com, sonsofvikings.com, christianhistoryinstitute.org, quora.com)
The text was published on Reader.gr on 09/12/2023
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