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An Encapsulation of Óðinn: Religious Belief and Ritual Practice Among The

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An Encapsulation of Óðinn: Religious Belief and Ritual Practice Among The An Encapsulation of Óðinn: Religious belief and ritual practice among the Viking Age elite with particular focus upon the practice of ritual hanging 500 -1050 AD A thesis presented in 2015 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Aberdeen by Douglas Robert Dutton M.A in History, University of Aberdeen MLitt in Scandinavian Studies, University of Aberdeen Centre for Scandinavian Studies The University of Aberdeen Summary The cult surrounding the complex and core Old Norse deity Óðinn encompasses a barely known group who are further disappearing into the folds of time. This thesis seeks to shed light upon and attempt to understand a motif that appears to be well recognised as central to the worship of this deity but one rarely examined in any depth: the motivations for, the act of and the resulting image surrounding the act of human sacrifice or more specifically, hanging and the hanged body. The cult of Óðinn and its more violent aspects has, with sufficient cause, been a topic carefully set aside for many years after the Second World War. Yet with the ever present march of time, we appear to have reached a point where it has become possible to discuss such topics in the light of modernity. To do so, I adhere largely to a literary studies model, focussing primarily upon eddic and skaldic poetry and the consistent underlying motifs expressed in conjunction with descriptions of this seemingly ritualistic act. To these, I add the study of legal and historical texts, linguistics and contemporary chronicles. I further include the results of modern archaeology and toponymy, with additional examples drawn from directly related and comparative time periods and cultures. The following chapters first assess Óðinn in connection with men and specifically, trees. These three elements can be seen to link into the overarching motif and practice of hanging, as observed in theophoric places-names of Scandinavia. It then follows to link the deity and the motif and practice of hanging more specifically, through close analysis of the gods’ own hanging and how that related to, or created, ritual practice. It is also essential to understand how methods of execution were understood in the Viking Age and as such, evaluate hanging’s social reputation in order to bring the effects of cultic practice into Viking reality. Through contemporary poetic and historical examples, I examine the method and academically suggested motivations for this practice and by highlighting the specific factors of proper death, reputation, personal honour and essentially, lasting memory, find that the two do not match. Lastly, I examine the social response to death and the importance of entering the afterlife correctly and additionally, being left to rest peacefully. With hanging lying in direct opposition to this belief, it is possible to show that the practice of hanging, dedicated to Óðinn, is not a sacrifice of an individual to a war deity, but a multipurpose wartime sacrifice of knowledge as well as performing the role of highly destructive and dangerous political and social weapon. 2 Table of Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................... 8 List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. 11 List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... 12 Note on Primary Source Editions Used ............................................................................... 14 Note on Translation ............................................................................................................... 15 Introduction and Method ...................................................................................................... 16 Chapter One ........................................................................................................................... 19 1.0 Primary Source Material .................................................................................................... 19 1.1 Literary Sources ................................................................................................................. 20 1.1.1 Myth ................................................................................................................................ 20 1.1.1.1 The Poetic Edda ........................................................................................................... 21 1.1.1.1.1 Hávamál .................................................................................................................... 22 1.1.1.2 Snorra (Prose) Edda .................................................................................................... 25 1.1.1.3 Skaldic Poetry .............................................................................................................. 26 1.1.1.4 Scandinavian Saga ....................................................................................................... 27 1.1.2 Contemporary Literature ................................................................................................. 29 1.1.2.1 Ibn Fadlan’s Risala ...................................................................................................... 29 1.1.2.2 Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum ............................................................ 30 1.1.3 Medieval Chronicle ......................................................................................................... 33 1.1.3.1 Gesta Danorum ............................................................................................................ 33 1.2 Material Sources ................................................................................................................ 34 1.3 Pictorial Evidence .............................................................................................................. 37 1.3.1 Rune and Picture Stones ................................................................................................. 37 1.4 Toponymy .......................................................................................................................... 40 1.5 The Historical Landscape of Viking Age Scandinavia ...................................................... 42 1.5.1 Iceland ............................................................................................................................. 44 1.6 Social Structure in Viking Age Scandinavia ..................................................................... 45 1.7 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 46 Chapter Two ........................................................................................................................... 47 2.0 General Overview .............................................................................................................. 47 2.1 Myth ................................................................................................................................... 51 3 2.1.1 Mythic Time.................................................................................................................... 53 2.2 Ritual .................................................................................................................................. 53 2.2.1 Enacting Ritual................................................................................................................ 56 2.3 Old Norse Religion ............................................................................................................ 57 2.3.1 Religion in Practice ......................................................................................................... 59 2.3.2 Structures of Belief in Viking Age Scandinavia ............................................................. 62 2.3.3 Cult .................................................................................................................................. 63 2.3.4 Pre-Christian or Pagan? .................................................................................................. 65 2.4 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 66 Chapter Three ........................................................................................................................ 66 3.0 What’s in a Name? ............................................................................................................. 67 3.1 The Evolution of Óðinn ..................................................................................................... 69 3.1.1 A Constructed Psychology of Óðinn .............................................................................. 72 3.1.2 Primary Mythological Events and Roles ........................................................................ 74 3.1.2.1 Creator of Humankind ................................................................................................. 75 3.1.2.2 The Acquisition of Knowledge .................................................................................... 78 3.1.2.3 The Acquisition of Men ............................................................................................... 79 3.3 Reverence and the Landscape
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