Distributed for Museum Tusculanum Press
Lay Belief in Norse Society 1000-1350
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.
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
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