So You Think You Know About the Vikings
Think again — much was changed as they became Christianized.
If I was to say Viking to you — images are probably conjured up of vicious barbaric warriors charging in, to raid and pillage, and indeed to go ‘a-Viking’ was a glorious and noble pursuit. But that wasn’t all there was to the people known as the Vikings. They were traders; they were poets; they had a rich history, and an even richer mythos focused on the cycle of life and rebirth. They were farmers, and so much more. However, I’m less interested in focusing on their lifestyle but on how Christianity has changed our perception of their religious beliefs; and how we cannot trust most sources. So I’m putting a caveat that even this may not be 100% accurate but is based on my own research and reading numerous articles and books on Norse Mythology.
The first individual I want to focus on is the perceptions of Odin and Loki. I’m going to be focusing on Odin first. Christianities influence here is the uplifting and masking of his flaws in a way that wasn’t true. The key thing about Norse religion was that their relationship with their Gods wasn’t to put them on a pedestal, and many sources — and even within the Poetic Edda — place Odin as the ‘good’ guy, and taking on the role of ‘God the Father’. In reality, Odin was just as sly and cunning as Loki and…
