Until now insular and continental material, mostly metal-work, found
in pagan Viking Age graves in Norway, has been interpreted as looted
material from churches and monasteries on the British Isles and the
Continent. The raiding Vikings brought these objects back to their
homeland where they were often broken up and used as jewellery or got
alternative functions. Looting or Missioning looks at the use and
functions of these sacred objects in their original Christian
contexts. Based on such an analysis the author proposes an alternative
interpretation of these objects: they were brought by Christian
missionaries from different parts of the British Isles and the
Continent to Norway. The objects were either personal (crosses,
croziers, portable reliquaries etc.), objects used for baptism
(hanging bowls), equipment to officiate a mass (mountings from books
or reading equipment, altars or crosses) or to give the communion
(pitchers, glass vessels, chalices, paten). We know from contemporary
sources (Ansgar in Birka, Sweden in the ninth century) that
missionaries brought this sort of equipment on their mission journeys.
We also hear that missionaries were robbed, killed or chased off.
Mikkelson interprets the sacred objects found in Viking Age pagan
graves as objects that originate from the many unsuccessful mission
attempts in Norway throughout the Viking Age. They changed function
and were integrated in the pagan tradition. The conversion and
Christianisation of Norway can thus be seen as a long-lasting process,
at least from about 800 (but probably earlier) to the beginning of the
eleventh century. As we must assume that the written sources on the
subject are incomplete, the archaeological evidences are the main
source. In addition to metal work and written sources, the dating and
interpretation of stone crosses, rune stones, manuscript fragments and
early Christian graves and churches are discussed. The main part of
the manuscript regards the context of all these sources, studied in
each part of Norway separately: Where do we find concentrations of
objects that could support the interpretation of these being the
result of mission attempts, and where can we combine archaeological
and written sources to tentatively create more complete stories
related to mission? One analysis is of special interest to British and
Norwegian scholars and even a broader audience. It refers to the
chieftain Ohthere from Northern Norway, who visited King Alfred the
Great in Winchester in 890. The author finds a link between Alfred´s
court and Ohthere´s farm which, it is argued, for was Borg at
Vestvågøy, Lofoten, where the biggest Viking Age house in Northern
Europe has been excavated. In the hall of this house were found a rare
glass beaker with gold cross decorations, a Continental or British
made pitcher, pieces of a bronze bowl and an æstel of gold. This last
piece is only found in Northern Norway and in England, with Wessex and
Mercia as the core areas. “The Alfred Jewel” (Ashmolean Museum) is
also an æstel of the same main type, but much more splendid and with
an inscription relating it to King Alfred. Mikkelson argues for a
bishop being sent from Wessex and Alfred´s court on Ohthere´s ship
back to Northern Norway as a missionary.
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Insular and Continental Sacred Objects in Viking Age Contexts in Norway
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781789253191
Publisert
2019
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxbow Books
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter