An Arena for Higher Powers: Ceremonial Buildings and Religious Strategies for Rulership in Late Iron Age Scandinavia

664 Pages·2016·6.96 MB·English

by  Olof Sundqvist

An Arena for Higher Powers
Numen Book Series
Studies in the History of Religions
Series Editors
Steven Engler (Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada)
Richard King (University of Kent, UK)
Kocku von Stuckrad (University of Groningen, The Netherlands)
Gerard Wiegers (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Volume 150
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/nus
An Arena for Higher Powers
Ceremonial Buildings and Religious Strategies for
Rulership in Late Iron Age Scandinavia
By
Olof Sundqvist
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Stone coffin, Sanda, Gotland. Photo: Bengt A. Lundberg. ATA, Riksantikvarieämbetet
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sundqvist, Olof.
 An arena for higher powers : ceremonial buildings and religious strategies for rulership in late Iron Age
Scandinavia / by Olof Sundqvist.
  pages cm. — (Numen book series : studies in the history of religions : ISSN 0169-8834 ; Volume 150)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-29270-3 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-30748-3 (e-book : alk. paper)
1. Scandinavia—Religion. 2. Religion and politics—Scandinavia—History. 3. Scandinavia—Kings and
rulers—Religious life. 4. Scandinavia—Antiquities. I. Title.
 BL863.S85 2015
 293—dc23
2015034775
issn 0169-8834
isbn 978-90-04-29270-3 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-30748-3 (e-book)
Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Contents
Preface ix
List of Figures xi
Abbreviations xiii
Part 1
Prolegomena
1 Introduction 3
1.1 Religious Ruler Ideology in Previous Research 7
1.2 Towards a Model for Analysing Religious Strategies for Rulership at
Ceremonial Buildings 14
1.3 Approach and Methods 20
1.4 Outline and Hypotheses 29
Part 2
The Regional-Contextual Approach
2 The Three Areas of Investigation and their Political Leaders 35
2.1 The Kings in the Mälaren Area 35
2.2 The Earls in Trøndelag 46
2.3 The Chieftains of Iceland 53
3 Religious Strategies for Political Authorization—A Case Study 63
3.1 The Kings Called the Ynglingar 63
3.2 The Háleygja Kin (Hlaðajarlar) 80
3.3 The Þórsnesingar 86
3.4 A Contextual Interpretation 90
4 Ceremonial Buildings and Sanctuaries 95
4.1 The State of Research 95
4.2 The Problem of Terminology 104
4.3 Uppsala and other Sanctuaries in the Mälaren Area 110
4.4 Lade and Mære in Trøndelag 132
4.5 Hof Buildings in Iceland 147
vi contents
Part 3
General Features
5 The Religious Leadership of the Sanctuaries and the Economic
System 163
5.1 The Debate about Cultic Leadership and the Terminology 164
5.2 Chieftains (hǫfðingjar, hersar, goðar) as Cultic Leaders of the
Sanctuaries 167
5.3 Kings and Earls as the Cultic Leaders of Sanctuaries in Trøndelag and
Svetjud 186
5.4 The Financial System of the Public Cult at the Sanctuaries 192
5.5 Ideological Motives behind the Rulers’ Interest in Public Cult and
Sanctuaries 197
6 The Ritual Structure of the Sanctuaries and Cosmic Symbolism 199
6.1 Cosmic Symbolism: Some Theoretical and Methodological
Issues 200
6.2 The Location, Architecture and Decoration of Ceremonial
Buildings 205
6.3 The Interiors: High-seat, High-seat Posts and Hearths 219
6.4 The Exterior Ritual Structure of the Sanctuaries 249
7 The Relation between Rulers and Cultic Images 264
7.1 Miniatures and Medallions 265
7.2 The Three Statues of Gods in the “Uppsala Temple” 266
7.3 Cultic Images in the Sanctuaries of Trøndelag and Northern
Norway 272
7.4 Cultic Images in the Sagas of Icelanders and the Image from
Eyrarland 282
7.5 Cultic Images and Religious Strategies for Rulership:
Hypotheses 287
8 Sacred Sites, Ritual Restrictions and Religious Strategies for
Rulership 290
8.1 Sanctifications of Places and Ritual Restrictions (Taboos) 291
8.2 The Enclosed Sacred Space 298
8.3 Violations against the Sanctity of the Sacred Space: The Example of
Egils saga 303
8.4 The Ruler as the Protector of the Sanctified Space 305
8.5 Burning or Breaking Down the Ceremonial Building: An Attack
against the “World” of the Ruler 307
contents vii
8.6 The Renovation and Ending of Ceremonial Buildings and
Sanctuaries 311
9 Ceremonial Feasts as Ritual Strategies 316
9.1 Hákonar saga góða and the Ceremonial Feasts at Lade and
Mære 316
9.2 Calendrical Religious Feasts 320
9.3 The Ruler as Sacrificer 325
9.4 Smearing Sacrificial Blood on the Sacrificial Platforms 331
9.5 Ceremonial Meals and the Custom of Eating Horse Meat 344
9.6 Ritual Drinking and the Reciting of Ritual Formulae 351
9.7 Gift-Giving Ceremonies 359
9.8 Excursus: The Central Role of Noble Women at the Ceremonial
Banquets 363
10 Rulers, Rings and Rituals—From Svetjud to Iceland and Back
Again 376
10.1 The Forsa Ring from Hälsingland—A Sacred “Oath-Ring” at a
Sanctuary? 377
10.2 “Oath-Rings” and hof Sanctuaries in the Sagas of Icelanders 387
10.3 Ritual-Rings and Sanctuaries in Svetjud 391
10.4 The Custom of Swearing Oaths on Rings 398
Part 4
Regional Diversity
11 Golden Objects as Media of Power 407
11.1 Gold Foil Figures 407
11.2 The Gold Bracteates at the Hall of Helgö 418
11.3 The Golden Medallion from Inderøy 419
11.4 The “Golden Door Ring” of the hof Sanctuary of Lade 421
11.5 Golden Arm- and Neck-Rings 424
12 Ceremonial Buildings, Great Burial Mounds, and the Worship of Dead
Rulers 430
12.1 The Distribution of Great Burial Mounds in the Investigation
Areas 431
12.2 Great Burial Mounds as Part of the Aristocratic Sanctuaries 433
12.3 Great Burial Mounds as Symbols of Genealogy and Land
Rights 444
viii contents
12.4 The Cult of Heroes at the Great Mounds 453
12.5 The Cult at the Burial Mounds of Freyr and Hǫlgi 466
13 The Arenas for Royal Funeral Feasts and Inauguration Rituals 476
13.1 King Ǫnundr’s Funeral Feast 476
13.2 Libations at Funeral Feasts 481
13.3 The Place for Drinking Beer at the Funeral Feast 485
13.4 The High-Seat and Inheritance 488
13.5 Royal Inaugurations, High-Seats and the Great Mounds 492
13.6 A Royal Rite of Passage 498
14 (Inter-)Regional Chief Sanctuaries as a Religious Strategy for
Rulership 503
14.1 Cultic Organization 503
14.2 The Chief Sanctuaries of Trøndelag and Svetjud 508
14.3 The Cult of Many Gods at the Chief Sanctuaries as Strategy of
Power 516
15 Valhǫll, Ceremonial Buildings and Warrior Lords 521
15.1 The Martial and Eschatological Valhǫll Mythology 521
15.2 The Warrior Halls in Late Iron Age Scandinavia and Valhǫll 523
15.3 The Distribution of Warrior Lords with Warrior Bands in
Scandinavia 527
15.4 The Valhǫll Mythology as Part of Ruler Strategies in Svetjud and
Trøndelag 533
Part 5
Epilegomena
16 Conclusions 539
Bibliography 547
Index 617