Lay Belief in Norse Society 1000-1350

by Arnved Nedkvitne

Overview

With insightful readings of his source material – which includes Norse sagas, Eddic literature and church homilies – Arnved Nedkvitne sheds light on the complex and diversified nature of lay belief in medieval Norse society. One of the study’s main claims suggests that laypeople had a firm belief in life after death – with all central rituals and beliefs seen as a means to this end. Yet, laypeople also had greater latitude in choosing between a sacred or secular understanding of their everyday lives than is often assumed: while religion was a fundamental source of norms, values and concepts at the time, laypeople also had to relate to state laws, codes of honour upheld by the local community and their own material interests. Lay Belief in Norse Society 1000–1350 offers a comprehensive treatment of the diffusion of strains related to the subject at hand: from orthodox rituals to remnants of pagan religion, from Christian ethics to secular honour. Combining a powerful and lucid exploration of his material with astute methodological awareness, Arnved Nedkvitne paints a vivid picture of the religious and cultural landscape of medieval Norse society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788763507868
Publisher:	Museum Tusculanum Press
Publication date:	07/10/2009
Pages:	401
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Arnved Nedkvinte is Professor of Medieval History and Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Bergen.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction
    The subject
    Earlier research on the subject
    Methods
    The sources
    The chapters
Chapter I: Eternal life and salvation
Chapter II: Rituals
    Introduction
    Baptism: purification from original sin and integration
    Divine service: purification, integration and distinction
    The last rites: purification and distinction
    The sacrament of penance: from collective to individual purification
    Individualised purification rituals after the Gregorian reform
    Why did some religious rituals fail?
    Conclusion
Chapter III: Religious ethics
    Introduction
    Religious ethics before the Gregorian reform
    The promotion of a pacified society 1150-1350
    From secular to religious poor relief: what difference did it make?
    The relative strength of secular and religious norms
    Religious ethics for clerics only?
    Conclusion
Chapter IV: Help in this life through supernatural intervention
    Introduction
    What is a supernatural intervention?
    Divine and magical intervention as religious and political propaganda
    Divine intervention to change the natural course of events?
    Divine interventions to make predictions?
    Magic
    Conclusion
Conclusion: Religion's power—and its limits

Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

The author successfully uses primary sources such as Norse sagas and church homilies to reconstruct and explore not only the changing church, but also the lay community's changing understanding of the church. ... Nedkvitne attempts to illustrate an incredibly complex and often overlooked aspect of medieval religious understanding. This important work, clearly written for experts in the field of religious history with a firm understanding of the source material and time period, successfully advances research and understanding of lay belief in Norse society...highly recommended.- A.A. Leykam, CHOICE, Vol. 47 No. 10. June 2010.


Nedkvitne controls Norway's sparse sources as expertly as the better-known Icelandic ones. And unlike Anglophone Nordicists, whose sensibilities generally run literary, he traces his lineage to social history, fueling some radicai departures from accepted wisdom... This is the stuff constructive controversy is made of. ... The book is handsomely produced, with stunning color photographs of many sites and artifacts.- Oren Falk, Speculum, 85/3, 2010.

From the Publisher