Religious Conversion and Political Legitimacy in Viking-Age Denmark
Open Access
Author:
Wilson, Benjamin
Area of Honors:
History
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Benjamin Thomas Hudson, Thesis Supervisor Cathleen Denise Cahill, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Vikings religion conversion denmark scandinavia medieval pagan norse Harald Bluetooth Jelling
Abstract:
Old Norse paganism provided Scandinavians with a religion, societal structure, and set of values. Beginning with the legendary kings of Denmark, Scandinavian rulers used religious belief for their own agenda. The process of conversion to Christianity was remembered in sagas and histories describing the Viking Age, the period of Scandinavian expansion from the ninth to twelfth centuries. As the Vikings converted to Christianity, the process was recorded in several sagas and histories. Conversion to Christianity took more than a century, depending on the region and élites, but echoes of non-Christian belief continued for centuries in both historical and literary texts.
