syllabus...

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• ·       If any of you were here for the first class I gave this will tie in rather nicely and hopefully answer some questions you may have as well as leaving you with more questions.

• ·       What we will discuss here are 3 examples of what was believed took place and the similarities and differences between them. We will then review the “when”, the “who”, the “why” and the “how” as found in some other sources.

• ·       One is found in Eyrbyggja saga, another is from Hacon the Good’s saga in Heimskringla and the third is from Ulfljotslog and are examples of how 13^th and 14^th century writers believed these activities took place in the Icelandic hof, with Hacon the Good’s taking place as Snorri believed in Trondelag Norway.

READ THRU THE EXAMPLES

(Pages 10,11,12 Gunnell paper)

• ·       The accounts given are  images of what was believed to have taken place in the Icelandic hof. All of these accounts suggest the existence of a purely sacred building that so far has only been found outside of Iceland, as was discussed in the earlier class.

DISCUSS KEY FEATURES OF THE ACCOUNTS BELOW

·       #1: The account in Eyrbyggja saga and Hacon the Good’s saga are similar in certain aspects. Eyrbyggja speaks of the high seat pillars and the holy nails attached to them, the platform (both), the idols (we will go into that near the end), the sacrificial twig, the blood, the bowl that collects the blood (both) and finally the armring that the godhi wears when officiating.

·       #2: The account in Ulfljotslog however says nothing about any of these with the exception of the arm ring worn by the priest and the oaths. The emphasis is placed on the sacrificial feast and the arm ring and how it transforms the godhi into something more powerful as part of their religious activities.

• ·       SIDENOTE: In reference to the twig/aspergillum similarities in the above accounts Ch.2 of Jon Hnefill Adalsteinsson’s “A Piece of Horse Liver” titled “Blot and Thing: The Function of the Tenth Century Godhi” he says that “Holy water was sprinkled as a symbol of purification, but blood was sprinkled to charge the surroundings with power...”

• ·       Further along in that Chapter he references Gabriel Turville-Petre who interpreted Snorri’s idea of the sacrificial feast as follows: “The meaning of the sacrificial feast, as Snorri saw it, is fairly plain. When blood was sprinkled over altars and men and the toasts were drunk, men were symbolically joined with gods of war and fertility, and with their dead ancestors, sharing their mystical powers. This is a form of communion.”

• ·       Also in APoHL it says that in some ON texts the times of sacrifices are mentioned, according to Heimskringla “Towards winter, sacrifice should be made for a good season, and at midwinter for good growth: the third, when summer came, that was a victory blot. Various other independent texts also support Snorri’s thoughts about 3 principal sacrifices, some passages in the Family Sagas mention an autumn sacrifice shortly before the Winter Night’s. In Gisla saga: “Thorgrimr intended to have an autumn feast at the time of the Winter Nights to welcome winter and to sacrifice to Freyr.” The term Thorrablot is good evidence of a midwinter sacrifice; and in Vatnsdaela Saga there is an illusion to sacrifice in the first days of summer: “Now his mother Ljot, will sacrifice towards summer, as she usually does according to their religion.”

• ·       The inference that can be drawn from these sources is that most probably the Old Norse had 3 chief sacrifices, at the times of the Winter Nights, near midwinter and at the approach of summer. Sacrifices were in fact probably far more frequent, but the others would evidently have been minor ceremonies or else sacrifices for a particular purpose.

• ·       Some other sources we have for worship in the form of sacrifice or offerings comes to us from Ibn Fadlan and his experience with the Rus in 922 in the Volga area. “When their ships arrive at their anchorage each man goes on shore, taking with him bread, meat, leeks, milk and beer, and goes to a tall upright wooden post with a face that looks like a man’s. Round it there are smaller figures, and behind these figures high wooden poles planted in the ground. So he goes up to the big figure, flings himself on the ground, and says: “O my lord, I have come from far off with so many slave-girls and so many sable furs.” (here he counts up all the wares he has brought) “and now I come to you with this offering”. (Here he lays what he has brought in front of the wooden post.) “I wish that you would send me a merchant rich in dinars and dirrhems, who will buy from me as I wish, and will not argue with what I say.”

• ·       He further explains that the merchant may repeat the offering several times if the trade is slow, but if it brisk he says “My lord has seen to my needs; it is my duty to repay him.” Fadlan says: “He goes to fetch a number of sheep and cattle, and slaughters them. Some of the flesh he gives as alms; the rest he takes and throws between the big post and the smaller ones surrounding it; the heads of the cattle and sheep he hangs up on the holes planted in the earth. After dark the dogs come and eat up all this; the man who has done it says: “Clearly my lord is pleased with me and has eaten my offerings.”

• ·       In the 950’s Ibrahaim at-Tartushi was visiting Hedeby, there he noticed: “They hold a feast at which they all gather to honor their god and to eat and drink. Whoever kills a beast as a sacrifice sets up a pole at the door of his house and fastens the animal to it (whether ox, ram, he-goat or pig); thus the people know he has made an offering in honor of his god.”

• ·       Another account from around 950 from Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitos tells of a perilous river journey and how after passing the rapids they came to an island in the Dnieper to make thank-offerings: “Then they succeeded in reaching an island named after St. Gregory, to which they bring their offerings because a gigantic oak tree grows there. They make offerings of live birds; they stick javelins in a circle in the ground around them; others make offerings of bread and meat too, and whatever they each may have, as is the prevailing custom among them. Also they cast lots over the birds, whether they should slaughter them, or eat them themselves, or let them free.”

• ·       Blots were not always public ceremonies, of the accounts given of blot proper performed in Scandinavia, most seem to have been performed by a king or a local jarl for their assembled subjects. In Iceland however they were to have been performed by a godhi, the head of a household/farmstead, an individual blotmadr or even witches or sorcerers. EDIT 01/16/2012: The above statements have been brought to my attention that they may in fact be disporven, this is somewhat addressed by me in the upcoming Odroreir paper based on this class.

• ·       The ritual was intended to have a specific aim such as divining the future, a good harvest, growth, peace, prosperity, victory in battle, long life, power, revenge, aid or even to bring about someone’s death. It could be performed anywhere but usually in some sort of sacred space, be it inside a temple, hall or dedicated house or outdoors at a cairn or altar, burial mound, grove, waterfall, mountain or sanctuary.

• ·       The recipients of the sacrifice seemed to be as varied as the intended goal. Sacrifices were given to the gods, elves, disir, vaettir, dead ancestors, animals and even natural features such as groves or waterfalls.

• ·       This gives us context in that the term blota now extends its meaning from ‘sacrifice’ to ‘worship’. In the case then of a particular grove for example, its role as a location for sacrifice enhance its status as a holy place but its status as a holy place requires that sacrifice be brought to it, that is, it should be worshipped.

§       QUESTIONS????

• ·        I would like to step back a minute and reference idols again, the account in Eyrbyggja saga mentions god, or idols of gods, as TMB’s high seat pillars had images of Thor carved on them yet there is no mention of any other settlers in Landnamabok bringing any large *IDOLS* with them even if they were hof priests and the same goes for the accounts from Hacon the Good’s saga and Ulfljotslog. According to Gunnell the question of where the focus of the worship was placed  and it seems it was to have been on the man wearing the arm ring.

• ·       So if the emphasis was on the man wearing the arm ring and not idols, does that mean there weren’t any? There is reason to believe they did exist in Norway just as they did in Iron Age Denmark and were likely seen as part of the old home environment, much like the farm guardians gravemound, and was part of the rooted religious surroundings of the local central place, be it inside or out.
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• ·       So removing these idols would have caused big trouble and according to entries in Landnamabok at least 6 settlers found other ways to bring the holiness of their central place with them and that was by bringing their high seat pillars with them. They also were leaving their family worshipped mounds behind as well as their culturally mapped out central places and outdoor and possibly indoor cult sites.

• ·       They were essentially coming to a place that had no geographically related oral history, no religious, inherited past and no family tradition.

• ·       The importance of the high seat pillars is underlined not only by TMB in Eyrbyggja saga and Landnamabok but also Ingimund the Old in Vatnsdaela saga and Landnamabok who finds the image of Freyr in the ground right where he intends to put his high seat pillars, the importance of the earth is stressed also as was the case with TMB, not only did he bring his high seat pillars…which were carved… but also some of the earth they originally stood in as did a hof priest named Thorhaddur when he came to Iceland from Norway. (main handout)
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• ·       These high seat pillars, no matter where they originally stood, were rooted in the earth of the settlers original homeland, farther back than that they were in a homeland forest or grove and brought with them part of home and it’s power, the earth and the pillars in the hof were all of the homeland religion that could be brought with them. (Page 16 bottom & 17)

• ·       In closing…