The Viking age

[ValdresRose]

Would it be correct to say: The Viking age started when the first ships left from Scandinavia, with commercial trade goods, arrived at the British Ilse. Those commercial trade goods were basically timber and dried cod fish. Scandinavia was basically Denmark, Sweden, Norway and possibly Finland at that time. It's not likely that they brought missionaries on their ships to influence religious theology at the places where they traded goods, would you agree?

 

[The Hammer]

Would it be correct to say: The Viking age started when the first ships left from Scandinavia, with commercial trade goods, arrived at the British Ilse. Those commercial trade goods were basically timber and dried cod fish. Scandinavia was basically Denmark, Sweden, Norway and possibly Finland at that time. It's not likely that they brought missionaries on their ships to influence religious theology at the places where they traded goods, would you agree?

Idk? I wasn't there. But afaik the Norse were not known to prosyletize, unlike our Abrahamic brethren.

 

[ValdresRose]

Idk? I wasn't there. But afaik the Norse were not known to prosyletize, unlike our Abrahamic brethren.

Right, I'm quite sure their pagan beliefs were not missionary, as far as I'm aware there were very few religions that proselytized their beliefs until Paul (Saul) carried his version of what became Christianity out of that region. Of course, the Viking age was about 700 years after Paul lived.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Of course they didn't have missionaries or proselytize. Tribal/ethnic religions don't have these features.

 

[The Hammer]

Right, I'm quite sure their pagan beliefs were not missionary, as far as I'm aware there were very few religions that proselytized their beliefs until Paul (Saul) carried his version of what became Christianity out of that region. Of course, the Viking age was about 700 years after Paul lived.

The 'viking' religion (I really dislike that term, viking), wasn't a religion in the way we think about it today. It was a part of their everyday life, it was considered the "folk-way", it's just what and how people did things. So in that regard there was no reason for other "people" to believe the way they did, why bring your way to others if it will not fit their lifestyle/lifeway's?

Much like the Native American religious beliefs apply to their ways of life in North America. We need to remember to look at the ancient Norse, the same way we look at Native Americans, lots of little interconnected tribes and minor states, with no overarching political structure that would enforce something like prosyletizing.

 

[ValdresRose]

Of course they didn't have missionaries or proselytize. Tribal/ethnic religions don't have these features.

Now lets remember St. Frank., that Paul (Saul) was a member of a Tribal/Ethnic religion. With that in mind Paul made a new concept missionary, the concept was that up until that time people placed their Gods in clouds or mountain tops, Jesus claimed that God is in our body, a new twist on religion. Paul capitalized on that idea and included "virgin birth" and "rising from the dead into Heaven". His concept was well received, for the most part. Another consideration is that Jesus' new ideas got him killed!! Which made him a martyr, in Paul eyes.

So we could safely say, in summation, that Jesus gave humanity a new concept, God is in our body, and Paul made it missionary. Would Christianity exist if either of those 2 conditions didn't happen? If only 1 of those condition existed?

 

[ValdresRose]

The 'viking' religion (I really dislike that term, viking), wasn't a religion in the way we think about it today. It was a part of their everyday life, it was considered the "folk-way", it's just what and how people did things. So in that regard there was no reason for other "people" to believe the way they did, why bring your way to others if it will not fit their lifestyle/lifeway's?

Much like the Native American religious beliefs apply to their ways of life in North America. We need to remember to look at the ancient Norse, the same way we look at Native Americans, lots of little interconnected tribes and minor states, with no overarching political structure that would enforce something like prosyletizing.

I strongly agree! One of the reason, for Norway in particular, is because the geographic conditions are different favor large empires in their environment. The people along the coast lived mainly in the fjords, or on small island. The people inland lived in large valleys, Valdres, Gudbrandsdal, Hallingdal and so on.

They didn't come down to the British Ilse or France with large armies, they came with commercial goods to trade for things they didn't have in the Northland.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Now lets remember St. Frank., that Paul (Saul) was a member of a Tribal/Ethnic religion. With that in mind Paul made a new concept missionary, the concept was that up until that time people placed their Gods in clouds or mountain tops, Jesus claimed that God is in our body, a new twist on religion. Paul capitalized on that idea and included "virgin birth" and "rising from the dead into Heaven". His concept was well received, for the most part. Another consideration is that Jesus' new ideas got him killed!! Which made him a martyr, in Paul eyes.

So we could safely say, in summation, that Jesus gave humanity a new concept, God is in our body, and Paul made it missionary. Would Christianity exist if either of those 2 conditions didn't happen? If only 1 of those condition existed?

This doesn't belong in the Paganism DIR. I don't care about Jesus or Paul at all. They don't have anything to do with my life.

 

[ValdresRose]

This doesn't belong in the Paganism DIR. I don't care about Jesus or Paul at all. They don't have anything to do with my life.

This is true Saint Frankenstein, but you made the following observation: "Of course they didn't have missionaries or proselytize. Tribal/ethnic religions don't have these features."

I clearly indicated that Paul was a member of a Tribal/Ethnic group and he was a missionary.

During the Viking Age there were missionary religions, Christianity and Islam were the most
influential, but as you rightly mentioned, the Northern European religions were not missionary. Thanks for sharing your good insight on this subject.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

This is true Saint Frankenstein, but you made the following observation: "Of course they didn't have missionaries or proselytize. Tribal/ethnic religions don't have these features."

I clearly indicated that Paul was a member of a Tribal/Ethnic group and he was a missionary.

During the Viking Age there were missionary religions, Christianity and Islam were the most
influential, but as you rightly mentioned, the Northern European religions were not missionary. Thanks for sharing your good insight on this subject.

Paul was an apostate Jew who joined an apocalyptic Messianic sect. He doesn't count.

 

[ValdresRose]

Paul was an apostate Jew who joined an apocalyptic Messianic sect. He doesn't count.

You're right. No question about it. But I'm going to suggest that there are over 1.6 BILLION Christians who would beg to disagree.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

You're right. No question about it. But I'm going to suggest that there are over 1.6 BILLION Christians who would beg to disagree.

Who cares if they do.

 

[ValdresRose]

You're right. No question about it. But I'm going to suggest that there are over 1.6 BILLION Christians who would beg to disagree.

I'm going to correct myself: the number 1.6 Billion is wrong, there are about 2 Billion Christians, that's about 2,000,000,000 Christians.

Sorry, I'm going off on a tangent here, the point is that the Northmen, later called Vikings, did not bring missionaries with them.