"How Christian Were Viking Christians?" Topic

"Once the most religious Emperor took pity on their [the Northmen's – E.M.] envoys, and asked them if they would be willing to receive the Christian religion; and, when they answered that always and everywhere and in everything they were ready to obey him, he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Him […] The nobles of the royal palace adopted these Northmen, almost as if they had been children: each received a white robe from the Emperor's wardrobe, and from his sponsors a full set of Frankish garments, with arms, costly robes and other adornments. This was done repeatedly, and more and more came each year, not for the sake of Christ but for earthly advantages. They made haste to come, not as envoys any longer but as loyal vassals, on Easter Eve to put themselves at the disposal of the emperor; and it happened that on a certain occasion they came to the number of fifty. The Emperor asked them if they wished to be baptized. When they had confessed their sins, he ordered them to be sprinkled with holy water. As there were not enough linen garments to go around on that occasion, Lewis [Louis the Pious – E.M.] ordered some old shirts to be cut up and tacked together to make tunics or to be run up as overalls. One of these was forthwith clapped upon the shoulders of one of the elder men; and when he had looked all over it for a minute, he conceived fierce anger in his mind, and said to the emperor: ‘Look here, I've been through this ablution business about twenty times already, and I've always been rigged out before with a splendid white suit; but this old sack makes me feel more like a pig farmer than a soldier. If it weren't for the fact that you've pinched my clothes, and not given me any new ones, with the result that I should feel a right fool if I walked out of here naked, you could keep your Christ and your suit of reach-me-down'.

This tale about a Viking with extensive experience in being baptized is most probably a creation of Notker the Stammerer, who composed a collection of anecdotes about the deeds of Charlemagne for his great-grandson Charles the Fat on the occasion of his visit to the monastery of St Gall in 883…"
Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Well, I often wonder how "Christian" we Christians are today. Pretty wide gap between belief and behavior sometimes. I've no doubt many early conversions came and come from mixed motives -- including status or power or wealth -- and with limited understanding.

True, Doc. True of every religion, and no religion. Altruism is a powerful, innate force in humans – but so are the seven deadly sins.

Nice link, Armand.

As I have heard it put,"One foot in the boat,and the other foot on the dock".

Hah, Skink, yes, I hadn't heard that. But EVENTUALLY one has to put both feet in the same place.

The Vikings never did quite grasp monotheism. They believed or went along with whatever was of most benefit to them at the time.

Christianity was simply one of many religions, gods and belief systems they "adopted" whenever it suited them. A bronze budha was found in one Viking burial

It's not as easy as that old rumour, Campbell, which is amongst the things the article treats.
Having a bronze buddha is no sign of buddhism, it's a sign that one likes exotic looking bronze statuettes.

There was a stable Christian community in the middle of Sweden, around Skara, in the 9th c. (At least that's when the churches and graveyards we've found are from.)

Glad you had enjoy the article boys!.

Amicalement
Armand

Like all religions, you had undoubtedly some true believers, some casual adherents and some folks who just gave it lip service. As the generations went on and folks were raised in the belief, I bet you had a big upsurge in those who were true adherents, since that is what they were raised into.

If it were only lipservice, it wouldn't have spread as it did. The Greenland Vikings were very Catholic, and later the Scandanavian countries became very Christian and a stalwart backer of the Reformation.

In the first generations, however, I'm sure more than a few Vikings just said the words to get what they wanted, but something must have taken hold, since the Vikings had no trouble just taking what they saw fit to take. A few nice shirts from the Emperor weren't going to keep the Vikings held at bay forever.

And of course 'Viking' is an occupation, not a national or cultural identity.

The question is sort of moot, as even the pagan Norse didn't all believe in the same things: The Norse panthaeon as we know it was organized and homogenized to make it more resemble the Graeco-Roman.

But simply put: The pious Norse Christians were pious. The others weren't as pious. Some weren't pious at all.