Early Medieval Christianity



Early Medieval Christianity

The Vikings’ relationship with Christianity

Aim:

• To understand how the Vikings interacted with Christianity

Overview

When looking at the Vikings’ approach to Christianity there are various options: the gentiles could have destroyed the religion; they could have suppressed the faith; they could have ignored it; they could have embraced it; or they could have tried to control it and integrate it into their ways. Many contemporaries believe that despite centuries of bad press, the Vikings actually did not seek to destroy Christianity; instead they sought to CONTROL and DOMINATE the Christian faith.

The Vikings sought to dominate Christianity (A Ritchie)

Academic and contemporary author, Anna Ritchie suggests that the Vikings recognised the strength of native culture in Scotland, of which religion played a major role. They responded to this strength of culture and religion by trying to DOMINATE it –they did not seek to destroy it, rather they wished to control and dominate existing cultural and religious ways.

Ritchie continues that the Vikings dealt with Christianity in much they same way that they dealt with areas to settle – they did not exterminate the native population, instead they allowed for social integration and there was a blending of Norse and native cultures.

This view contradicts those who believe that the Vikings were all bloodthirsty thugs and those who see relationships in black and white, allowing for no interaction and social integration.

Is there evidence to suggest that the Vikings wanted to DOMINATE Christianity and control it?

There is evidence from the sagas. The Orkneyinga Saga was compiled sometime between 1192 - 1206 by an unknown Icelandic scribe. It was compiled from a number of sources, combining oral tradition, artistic licence and historical fact. The Orkneyinga Saga is as much a piece of medieval literature as historical documentation and written record.

Although it is without a doubt a valuable document, without which much of our understanding of Orkney's Viking history would be lost, the reader must remember it is not a strictly historical work.

The saga tells us of Sigurd the Stout. His northern earldom was allegedly forced to adopt Christianity in 995AD by the Norseman, Norwegian King Olaf Tryggvason. Olaf had travelled the British Isles for 4 years, looting, but in that time had himself been baptised and married a Christian Irish princess.

Olaf, upon arriving in Orkney to see Earl Sigurd Hlodvisson, demanded: “I want you and all your subjects to be baptised. If you refuse, I’ll have you killed on the spot and I swear that I’ll ravage every island with fire and steel” (Orkneyinga Saga, chapter 12). This persuasive method of conversion worked and the saga states “the earl could see what kind of situation he was in” and promptly converted, accepting baptism.

This is evidence of the Vikings controlling Christianity and using it as a political tool to assert power and authority because in reality it is doubtful that Olaf's motifs for converting Sigurd to Christianity were anything other than political. Olaf intended to bid for the Norwegian throne and wanted to bring the Orkney Earldom under control first.

(As a separate point it is worth bearing in mind that despite Sigurd’s conversion he died in a far from Christian manner under a raven banner. The raven was a symbol of Odin - a fickle god whom it was unwise to trust completely. As a reward for his followers' devotion Odin watched over them, bestowing magical gifts upon them and making them invincible until their last hour, when he claimed or destroyed the gift. A heroic death was assured granting them a place within Valhalla.)

Other evidence indicating Viking domination of and integration with Christianity

However, the Vikings may already have begun to convert and control Christianity prior to this late 10th century persuasion. Early Scandinavian place names incorporating the element “kirkja” (church) are found in the Northern Isles as in Kirkbaster and Kirkabister. Therefore, this suggests pre-Olaf Christianity. The use of a Viking word for church rather than a Gaelic word may again suggest that Vikings were the ones who wanted to call the shots, using language to assert control over the Christian faith.

This early conversion is really quite plausible because in reality many Vikings took native women to be their wives or as nurses to their children, and on this basis Christianity would quickly have infiltrated into Norse life. This suggests that as much as the Vikings sought to control Christianity the relationship was not necessarily one-way. The Christian faith may not simply have been lifted and commandeered by Vikings, they may have been gradually converted by nurses, mothers and wives – the relationship between the Vikings and Christianity might therefore have been a gradual process of religious infiltration/integration.

Evidence for religious integration

We see evidence of this integration on a particular cross slab from Shetland called the Culbinsgarth Stone. On the slab there are ogham inscriptions with Gaelic words and there is also the Norse word for daughter.

The cross suggests Christianity; the oghams suggest Pictish influence whilst the Norse word indicates a Viking presence – a neat demonstration of a cultural mix. This stone is in the Culbinsgarth churchyard in Shetland whilst there is a similar earlier stone off the west coast of Shetland – this is called the Papil stone.

The Papil stone shows a pair of bird-headed and bird-legged figures with a human head between their beaks.

The motif is common Christian one with a cross and clerics with book satchels and a lion to represent St Mark but the bird figures are unique and may have been added later by Norsemen, perhaps poking fun at the church since the Viking word papa means priest in Old Norse but also puffin in Icelandic!! Perhaps the birdmen figures were added by Norsemen playing on the meaning of the name of the place and the Christian motif.

However, this stone is interpreted as showing a willingness to let Christianity remain – even if fun is poked at it!

The quite bizarre Papil Stone, Shetland

Grave evidence of interaction

Further evidence for Vikings interacting with Christianity comes from graves. In particular there is a notable Viking grave from Kiloran Bay, on the north west coast of Colonsay. The grave is thoroughly pagan – a man and a horse along with a number of fine objects. The man had been laid on his left side in a crouched position in the corner of a rectangular stone enclosure whilst the horse was laid at the other side. The whole grave was then covered over by an upturned boat of at least 9 metres in length (as evident by the scatterings of rivets from the boat). The horse had massive blows to its leg possibly inflicted in battle whilst the man had an iron sword and axe head and a shield boss wrapped in cloth (all Norwegian in style). There were also a spearhead, two arrowheads, a knife, buckle and fragments of a pot – all of these artefacts are typical of a warrior. However, to complicate this picture of a Viking warrior burial, the man also had trading tools (weights, scales, bronze balances and pans) and most notably at the end of the stone burial enclosure there were two Christian slabs. The two slabs were incised with a crude cross. If these stones are from the original burial this implies that the Vikings as early as the late 9th century had encountered and adopted some Christian ideas. It seems that the Vikings may have been influenced by native religion and this may have influenced their burial practices.

Kiloran Bay, Colonsay

This schist slab is one of two with incised crosses used to make up a stone burial enclosure within a boat grave at Kiloran Bay on Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides. A man was buried within the enclosure with a range of grave goods sometime between 875 and 925AD.

The cross is roughly incised on one face and is likely to have been a Christian grave-marker. It may have been robbed from a nearby Christian graveyard or monastic site about which we have no other evidence.

The slabs in the burial were set on end to form an enclosure either within or under a boat. It is unusual to find Viking graves in stone enclosures, and the custom may have been adopted from the native Picts

This lead weight with an enamelled bronze cap is one of seven weights found in the grave. It suggests that the man in the grave was a trader as well as warrior.

Reconstructed boat burial, Kiloran Bay on Colonsay – warrior crouched on his side with shield, spear, wooden chest behind him and the horse down at the far end of the boat.

However, our evidence is so slight that we really can’t argue for broad patterns of behaviour – just as we see evidence for religious interaction, we see evidence for religious separation. Again, from Colonsay there is an 8th century Viking burial of a women laid on her right side with her 6 year old dog on her knees – this is clearly a pagan burial from a time when the locals (Scots of Dal Riata) should have been thoroughly Christian.

So, grave evidence is confusing as some represent interaction with Christianity whereas others represent separation and continued pagan practices. Perhaps further fieldwork is required in order to really make sense of the process of conversion and interaction between Vikings and Natives.

Hogbacks – evidence for the Vikings adopting and adapting Christianity

Hogbacks from a Christian Church at Govan in Glasgow

Another indictor of Christianity being adopted and controlled by Vikings comes from peculiar tombstones called hogbacks. These hogbacks are solid stone carvings in the shape of a house with a convex curve and gabbled roof. They are used as tombstones by the Vikings from the 10th century in places such as Cumbria and Yorkshire. They are said to take their inspiration from the Christian tradition of house shaped shrines to hold the relics of saints. Additionally they are meant to reflect local tastes since both Vikings and natives shared a love of animal ornament. Even the idea of having a stone over a grave is a Christian idea and the earliest hogbacks are found at centres of Christianity such as Govan in Glasgow. Govan in fact boasts 5 hogbacks dating from the 10th century and 4 are notable for their remarkable size. Though the hogbacks were all found in churchyards there is no record of any associated burials and they may have been moved but it is reasonable to assume that they were tombstones.

Hogbacks can be found in Northern England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales & Scandinavia. The purpose of these sculptures is a matter of debate, but much of the imagery used indicates that they were grave markers or some other kind of religious monument. However, the form this religion may have taken is open to debate.

Vikings and Christianity

Note how close Scotland is to the gentiles’ homelands – Norway in particular

Tasks

1. What is the traditional view of the Vikings’ relationship with Christianity, based upon monastic annals?

2. What attitude does Anna Ritchie believe the Vikings had towards Christianity in the areas which they settled?

3. Explain how the account of Earl Sigurd’s conversion in Orkneyinga saga shows that Christianity could be used as a political tool.

4. What evidence is there that some Orcadian Vikings may have been converting to Christianity long before Sigurd’s forced conversion? How might this have come about?

5. How can the Culbinsgarth and Papil stones from Shetland be used as evidence of Viking interaction with Christianity?

6. Why does evidence from the Viking burial at Kiloran Bay, Colonsay also suggest a gradual transition from paganism to Christianity?

7. How do hogback tombs also suggest a blending of Viking and Christian traditions?

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