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The Heroized Dead. People, Animals, and Materiality in Scandinavian Death Rituals, AD 200-1000

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The Heroized Dead. People, Animals, and Materiality in Scandinavian Death Rituals, AD 200-1000 The heroized dead. People, animals, and materiality in Scandinavian death rituals, AD 200-1000 Jennbert, Kristina Published in: Old Norse Religion in long-term perspectives. Origins, changes, and interactions 2006 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Jennbert, K. (2006). The heroized dead. People, animals, and materiality in Scandinavian death rituals, AD 200- 1000. In K. Jennbert, A. Andrén, & C. Raudvere (Eds.), Old Norse Religion in long-term perspectives. Origins, changes, and interactions Nordic Academic Press. Total number of authors: 1 General rights Unless other specific re-use rights are stated the following general rights apply: Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Read more about Creative commons licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 VÄGAR TILL MIDGÅRD 8 Old Norse religion in long-term perspectives Origins, changes, and interactions An international conference in Lund, Sweden, June 3–7, 2004 Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert & Catharina Raudvere (eds) Nordic Academic Press NORDIC ACADEMIC PRESS Published with the financial support of The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation Nordic Academic Press Box 206, 22 05 Lund, Sweden [email protected] www.nordicacademicpress.com © Nordic Academic Press and the authors 2006 Technical Editor: Åsa Berggren Typesetting: Lotta Hansson Cover: Jacob Wiberg Cover images: M. Winge: ”Tors strid med jättarna” and C. Larsson: ”Midvinterblot” with permission from the National Museum, Stockholm. Photos by: Bengt Almgren, the Historical Museum, Lund, Kristina Jennbert, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund, Mimmi Tegnér, Malmö Heritage and Åsa Berggren, Malmö Heritage. Printed by: Preses Nams, Riga 2006 ISBN 0: 9-896-8-x ISBN 3: 978-9-896-8-8 The heroized dead People, animals, and materiality in Scandinavian death rituals, AD 200–1000 Kristina Jennbert Introduction mentality and religion with the intricate social and political As an archaeologist, my interpretation of Old Norse religion comings and goings in the course of events in Europe. The is broadly formulated on the basis of the archaeological staging of the dead appears to be extremely important. The evidence, and in the Midgard Project my focus has been archaeological evidence articulates varied but also common especially on people’s relationship with animals. Thus, in practices relating to certain recurrent attributes in the graves. this article the role of animals will be outlined in terms of People used animals and objects in the inner grave construc- lifestyle metaphors, social identities, and cosmological agents tions and they built monumental graves, and the burial in connection with pre-Christian death rituals. The ways of custom embraces variations on a theme indicating similar burying people have varied in the course of history, and the norms and values in the long term. Around AD 200 a set archaeological evidence shows that the death rituals have a of ideas were implemented into death rituals that continued long history and can be traced far back in time. A recurrent with regional and local expressions during the first millen- theme, however, is the ritualization of animals and material nium and finally changed radically in connection with the culture during the pre-Christian era. official Christianization. During the tenth century, elements Graves are one of the best-known archaeological sources, in the death rituals dating back to AD 200 were still being and generations of archaeologists have used them in chrono- performed. Was there a Viking remembrance of how persons logical and spatial analysis, as well as in analysis of wealth, should be treated after death? social status, and gender. However, in this paper the focus on Finds of bones suggest that people in certain contexts Scandinavian death rituals is drawn from theories of ritual discarded dead humans and animals in a similar way. Dogs practice in addition to theories of memory production and and horses were buried in special graves, which closely resem- materiality (e.g. Connerton 989; Bell 997; Modée 2005). The bled those of humans. In the third century it became more Annales School inspires me as well to reflect on a long-term common to deposit large body parts or complete bodies of materialized remembrance and to consider the social and a domesticated animal in human graves. One example is the political reasons behind the variations in the handling of dead cemetery of Skovgårde in Zealand, Denmark, where whole bodies during the time span (Braudel 980; Ariès 983). pigs and sheep were placed in the richly equipped graves. In general, death rituals are traditions changing in pace with One of the earliest horse graves has also been found in this the mental norms that are important for the reproduction of cemetery (Ethelberg 2000). During the same period well- society, norms which bind individuals together as a conse- equipped graves were created in different parts of Scandinavia. quence of social fellowship. In pre-Christian death rituals the For example, in the Late Roman Iron Age a woman at Tuna animals and objects involved, as well as the building of graves, in Badelunda in central Sweden was buried in a chamber rich formulated a social identity on behalf the dead. Therefore, in gold and metal objects from different places across Europe the death rituals created the social world, and they activated (Nylén and Schönbäck 994:34; Fernstål 2004). Other exam- cosmological ideas and relations with higher powers. ples are the Simris graves and the Gårdlösa graves in Scania, An intriguing problem in the interpretation of Scandina- Sweden (Stjernquist 955, 993), and Himlingøje in Zealand, vian death rituals AD 200–000 is the correlation between Denmark (Hansen 995). the archaeological evidence and the Old Norse written More exclusive graves and perhaps more complicated death sources, and our modern ideas of death and afterlife. Why rituals are known in the Migration Period and the Vendel did the dead attract such great attention in the death rituals? Period. Especially in the eastern and central part of Sweden Why were large monuments built, valuable animals killed, the boat graves from Vendel, Valsgärde, and Tuna in Bade- and properties of considerable value placed into the earth? lunda show elaborate death rituals with lots of animals and Are the material expressions related to the afterlife, and the objects involved. Often one to five horses, one to four dogs, cosmos, or do they also represent other ideas? and one or more specimen of either cattle, sheep, or pig were placed in the grave together with weapons, armour, jewellery, The graves household equipment, and other exotic objects (e.g. Arwids- son 942; Lamm and Nordström 983; Nylén and Schönbäck During the first millennium AD a great variety of death 994). It is also common to find fowls and birds of prey in rituals and some extraordinarily well-equipped Scandinavian these graves, as in the Vallentuna burial, around 600 AD Iron Age burials confront our interpretations of pre-Christian (Sten and Vretemark 988; Sjösvärd 989). OLD NORSE RELIGION IN LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVES Figure 1. The reconstructed Ladby barrow, Funen, Denmark. Photo: Figure 2. The Ladby ship. Photo: Karin Wihlborg 2004. Karin Wihlborg 2004. The ship grave at Ladby in Fyn (figure ) is an example of The kind of grave language taken from the above-mentioned a grave from the first part of the tenth century. In a lavishly examples of very richly equipped graves represents Scandina- furnished ship, no less than horses and three or four dogs vian death rituals, AD 200–000. Humans, animals, and the had been sacrificed in the stern of the boat (Thorvildsen 957; material remains, and the staging of the dead, are remnants Sørensen 200). The Ladby ship was a long, narrow war- from the ritual circulating around the dead person. In the ship (figure 2). The grave gifts included weapons, tableware, following I will discuss the evidence and how the materiality riding equipment, textiles, and a board game among other in the graves could be a kind of an active remembrance in things. No human body was left but a few burnt bones. order to maintain power relations and networking strategies. The Ladby burial relates to other Scandinavian ship-graves The following connotations could be suggested: and chamber graves, for example the boat-chamber grave in Hedeby (Müller-Wille 976; Wamers 995), the Gokstad • War and violence: horses, ships, weapons, shields, helmets and the Oseberg graves in Norway (Nicolaysen 882; Ingstad • Hunting: birds of prey, dogs, dog harness 995), but also to the Birka graves in eastern central Sweden • Negotiation and communication: domesticated animals, (Arbman 940, 943; Gräslund 98). vessels, cups, glassware, board games, drinking horns, To sum up, the regional variations in death rituals included musical instruments a great amount of material wealth. Animals, objects, and • Personal attraction: animal art, iconography, combs, dress imposing monuments relating to gender and social strata pins, ornaments, fibulae, brooches, pearls, textiles began to be used in death rituals during the third century. • Working experiences: textile production, metalwork, special At the end of the sixth century the death rituals became more tools dramatic in their use of animals and objects.
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