Germanic paganism: Encyclopedia II - Germanic paganism - Middle Ages

Germanic paganism - Middle Ages

In 1000 AD, Iceland became nominally Christian, although continuation of pagan worship in private was tolerated. Most of Scandinavia was Christianized during the 11th century. Adam von Bremen gives the last report of vigorous Norse paganism. Sometimes, the subjects of a lord who converted to Christianity refused to follow his lead (this happened to the Swedish kings Olof of Sweden, Anund Gårdske and Ingold I) and would sometimes force the lord to rescind his conversion (e.g. Haakon the Good).

The attempt of the deposed Christian monarch Olaf II of Norway to retake the throne resulted in a bloody civil war in Norway, which ended in the battle of Stiklestad (1030). In Sweden, in the early 1080s, Ingold I was deposed by popular vote for not wanting to sacrifice to the gods, and he was replaced by his brother-in-law Blot-Sweyn. In 1087, Ingold returned secretely to Old Uppsala and during the night the Christians surrounded the hall of the Swedish king and set it on fire. When the king ran out of the building he was immediately slain. This event is held to be the date of the burning of the Temple at Uppsala.

During the High Middle Ages, Scandinavian paganism became marginalized and blended into rural folklore. In folklore and legend, elements of Germanic mythology survived, and appears in the guise of fairy tales such as those collected by the Brothers Grimm and other folk tales and customs (see Walpurgis Night, Holda, Berchta, Weyland, Krampus, Lorelei, Nix), as well as in medieval courtly literature (Nibelungs).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Middle Ages", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki