Northern European Paganism

I am looking for books on the subject. Mostly interested in the economic, social, and political aspects (trade, conversion, diplomacy, wars, etc.) and not the religious beliefs of pagans or Christians. (Also, any books on the relations between Islam and 'Northern' paganism would be interesting too.) Any recommendations?

Thanks, Joe

The Kingdom of the Franks : North-West Europe before Charlemagne by Peter Lasko is a pretty good introduction - the Franks were christianised pretty early, but it includes information on their still pagan neighbours to the north.

'Northern paganism' was mostly already a thing of the past in the 7th century, when Islam came about - except for the Vikings of course. Most serious studies on the Vikings will include information on them as traders.

2
The Varangians were Vikings that reached Constantinople via Rus, and served as Imperial bodyguards and mercenaries for a time. Being mercenaries, it would be interesting to know whether or not they provided services to Muslim armies as well. I believe they had some involvement in the reconquest of Sicily, but any depth of "friendly" contact with the Muslims would, I think, be doubtful.

I don't recall how "christianized" the Varangians were at this point...

Thanks for the info. I suppose what I am asking is whether there is any unified history of post-classical paganism in Europe. I mean a history of the social, political, economic aspects. Did they even realize they were a dying world, being overrun, over the centuries, by monotheists?

Joe

>4 pomonomo2003:

Did they even realize they were a dying world, being overrun, over the centuries, by monotheists?

Hard to say. Though they were not entirely illiterate, their writing is mostly limited to burial monuments and such - short runic inscriptions. The longer texts, such as the Beowulf and the Edda, were penned down later by chistian scribes so you can't be certain to what extent they represent what the pagans actually thought.

Sorry, I'm not aware of any unified history of post-classical paganism in Europe, but there are plenty of studies of parts of that field.

Something sprang to mind immediately upon reading your (pomonomo2003's) post. Alas, however, it is not a book; it is an article in the magazine British Archaeology (Issue No. 44, May 1999).

It is titled, "Tolerating pagans for the sake of trade," and the subtitle says, "Paganism may have survived for centuries after the arrival of Christianity." The article is written by Paul Blinkhorn. You can read it here. (Scroll down to second article.)

Not sure if it relates to what you are looking for or not, but perhaps it will be of interest.

Edited to fix typos and other problems.

If you're interested in relations with Islam, I'd suggest you look into Ahmad ibn Fadlan. He was a 10th century Arab who served as an emissary to the Bulgars. Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead is loosely based on the accounts of ibn Fadlan.

Richard Frye wrote a translation entitled Ibn Fadlan's Journey to Russia: A Tenth-Century Traveler from Baghdad to the Volga River.

>7 2seven: Thank you. I had no idea about Ibn Fadlan. Of course Bulgaria doesn't really qualify as northern Europe, and the 10th century is a bit late. But fascinating! Will definitely try to find a copy.

>4 pomonomo2003: yes, the literacy problem is huge. But paganism is inherently a local, particularist, affair; one wonders if they would've fully understood the threat of monotheistic universalism. Especially since there were no precedents for it...

One is reminded of Nietzsche's bon mot of the ancient god's, upon learning of the One God who wished to rule entirely alone, laughing themselves to death.

5> Thanks! That was an interesting article. What I am really looking for is how universalist world-views are able to outflank various localisms, not only on the plane of theory but also materially too.

7> ibn Fadlan! What an excellent suggestion, thank you. I read the Islamic Falâsifa extensively but little else. My ignorance is a loathsome thing...

Joe

>9 pomonomo2003: But paganism is inherently a local, particularist, affair

Exactly why I don't expect any "unified history" to get written.

one wonders if they would've fully understood the threat of monotheistic universalism. Especially since there were no precedents for it...

Indeed and I doubt it, but in absence of reliable info on their own views we will probably never know.

p.s.: Please enlighten me - what's the "Islamic Falâsifa"?

I believe (assume) it is perhaps Tahasafut al-Falasifa, the Incoherence of the Philosophers, a seminal work by al-Ghazali. :)

Yes, the Tahafut al-Falasifa, by Ghazali, is a denunciation of Islamic philosophers, specifically, Farabi and Ibn Sina. Later, Averroes would write his Tahafut Al-Tahafut, 'Incoherence of the Incoherence', in refutation of Ghazali and defense of the Islamic Philosophers. The Falâsifa are the Islamic Philosophers, most famously, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), and Averroes.

Joe

What about Snorri Sturlason --BarkingMatt, anyone...

It's been a long while since I read him --and I wasn't looking for religions and economics in particular when I did -- but don't I remember him talking about the arrival of Christianity and at least a little about trade. Perhaps in the Heimskringla.

==============

Also, it might make sense to check if anything ever came of the Harun al Rashid research. The man had an odd friendship with Charlemagne.

You might also take a look at "The Islamic World, Russia and the Vikings, 750-900: The Numismatic Evidence" by Thomas Noonan

(nope touchstones still not working for me tonight)

13-14 Thanks, the book by Noonan looks especially interesting!

Joe

A rather recent very scholarly book (2001) is Origins of the European Economy by Michael McCormick. In five parts, which cover the period 300-900, (The end of the world; People on the move; Things that traveled; The pattern of change; Commerce) McCormick gives an analysis of the economic transition, using new materials and new methodology. With its 1100 pages its not quite a pageturner, alas, but it is very thorough. It atracted a lot of attention when it came out, so you will find many reviews in the historical journals. I didn't read the complete book yet (its a TBR for my retirement), but the parts I read were interesting enough.

Although you can find in the index sections on Rus, Scandinavia etc., the book doen't focus specially on Northern Europe.

>13 ThePam: I really should read the Heimskringla one of these days. The Danish scribe Saxo Grammaticus is also very interesting. But both he and Snorri write on pagan times from a later perspective.

Aargh! Touchstones don't work, neither does edit....

BarkingMatt,

The Heimskringla is a great read. Highly recommend it. And thanks for reminding me about S. Grammaticus. I will have to dig up a copy of his history as I can recall nothing about it.

15 - yes, the McCormick book looks very interesting.

It is interesting that this topic is so little written about... Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions.

Joe

A History of Pagan Europe might be what you're looking for.

Eric Christiansen's The Northern Crusades deals with conversion amongst other things.

When you say "northern european pagans" would you include various Celtic tribes? I ask because I have a couple of suggestions if that's what your looking for. If you are looking for Scandinavian sources, I'm at a loss.

Whilst not the main theme Christopher Tyerman's God's War which is an excellent work on the Crusades has a chapter (about 50 pp) devoted to the crusades in Northern Europe on the Baltic. There was a campaign in 1174 against Slavs/Wends between the rivers Elbe and Oder and participants were granted the same indulgences for holy war as those who went to Jerusalem. It was new to me as there as this seems a neglected region in historical writing - at least in UK.

I don't know if this exactly fits your purpose but you might look at Rimbert's Life of Anskar. Anskar(or Ansgar) was archbishop operating out of Hamburg until it was ravaged by Danes in the mid-Ninth C. Hamburg/Bremen was the archbishopric on the edge of northern European Christendom and charged with converting the pagans. Anskar sent a mission to Sweden and his reporting on the progress of that mission is one of the earliest descriptions of northern paganism. The Hamburg/Bremen missions frequently set up in trading cities which often had a population of Christians who had been converted in other lands. Anyway, Adam of Bremen has been mentioned already. Rimbert is most easilly found on-line: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html

Oh, and I recommend this issue of Christianity Today: http://ctlibrary.com/ch/1999/issue63/

Beside Ibn Fadlan there is also Ahmad ibn Rustah who traveled to Novgorod in 10th century...

It's also good to remember that Rus of that period, where the modern name Russia also comes from, seem to have been Swedish in origin and the medieval history of Novgorod is closely tied to Vikings.

Another thing to remember is that the conversion of North Europe was not immediate; Christian church in Finland started in 1155 with the crusade or Erik IX of Sweden and Bishop Henrik (which might have taken place in some form or another, though probably not quite as legends tell) even if some of the people had already converted before or followed at least some Christian habits.

However paganism also co-existed for a long time among the common people; at first Jesus and saints were just powerful spirits to invoke among others, and even when people had become nominally Christian it didn't mean they had abandoned all old ways...some blatantly paganistic practices were done well into 19th and early 20th century (lest we forget, Kalevala, Kanteletar and others were collected from living oral traditions in 19th century...)

It may not speak directly to the OP, but the so-called holy wars against Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, et al., by which many areas of northern and northeastern Europe became christianized, are discussed in Eric Christiansen's The Northern Crusades.

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, I'll throw in Richard Fletcher's The Barbarian Conversion into the mix. I wouldn't call it great but he tries to cover 1200 years in one volume and does a pretty fair job of it.