page_title: Germanic paganism
section_title: Viking era
hierarchical_section_title: Germanic paganism / History / Viking era
caption_attribution_description: Svenska: Torshammare i silver med rik filigranornering från okänd fyndplats i Skåne. Torshammaren är 5,1 cm lång, 4,5 cm bred och väger 17,8 g. Torshammaren härrör ur friherre Claes Kurcks fornsakssamling, vilken kom till Statens Historiska Museer i Stockholm år 1895. Osäkra källor anger Kabbarp, V om Staffanstorp, som fyndplats. Hammaren har inventarienummer SHM 9822:810. Träsnittet är figur 82 på sidan 102 i artikeln "Kurckska samlingen" i Kongl. Vitterhets Historie och Antiqvitets Akademiens Månadsblad (1895). English: This Thor's hammer of silver with filigree ornamentation was found in an unknown place in Skåne and did belong to a collecton owned by the baron Claes Kurck, but was donated to the Historical Museum in Stockholm in the year 1895. Unreliable sources says that the hammer was found in Kabbarp near Staffanstorp in Skåne, Sweden.
context_page_description: Germanic paganism refers to the ethnic religion practiced by the Germanic peoples from the Iron Age until Christianisation during the Middle Ages. It was an essential element of early Germanic culture. From both archaeological remains and literary sources, it is possible to trace a number of common or closely related beliefs amid the Germanic peoples into the Middle Ages, when the last areas in Scandinavia were Christianized. Rooted in Proto-Indo-European religion, Proto-Germanic religion expanded during the Migration Period, yielding extensions such as Old Norse religion among the North Germanic peoples, the paganism practiced amid the continental Germanic peoples, and Anglo-Saxon paganism among the Old English-speaking peoples. Germanic religion is best documented in several texts from the 10th and 11th centuries, where they have been best preserved in Scandinavia and Iceland.
context_section_description: The Scandinavian religion in the early Middle Ages is far better documented than the former Germanic religions, thanks especially to the texts written down in Iceland between 1150 and 1400. Bronze Age personal ornaments show images of their gods on chariots, and rock carvings all across Scandinavia south of Trondheim-Swedish Uppland reveal gods, priests, and various fauna. Sacrifice was known to be merely a part of festivals where the various gods received gifts, or whenever one tried to predict and influence the events of the coming year. The relationship between gods and humans was understood as one that resembled the connection between a great man and those submissive to him; therefore it was important to routinely confirm the relationship with the gods through gifts. Blood sacrifices were used in times of crisis and for the holidays. Ninth-century accounts of the Viking Rus' of Novgorod (perhaps the furthest East that Germanic religious practices manifest) include the sacrifice of "men, women, and cattle" to their deities.
  While Christian conversion happened first in Denmark and then Norway, thanks largely to Harald Bluetooth, the Swedish royal household was the last to accept Christian baptism. Pagan religion formed the core of Nordic religious identity and their bond was as much their non-Christian identity and their related tongue than it was their common worship of Odinn, Thor, or Frey. Even after conversion, there are reports that Norsemen like Helgi the Lean—who was a professed Christian—made vows to Thor during sea-voyages or when matters of utmost importance arose, demonstrating how some were slow to give up their old gods entirely.
caption: This Thor's hammer in silver with filigree ornamentation was found in Scania. It was donated to the Swedish History Museum in 1895.
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