BY
October 2000
William Bakken
The Christian conversion of the people of Scandinavia came late compared with the rest of Western Europe. Scandinavia's location on the periphery of Europe and the notion that it was located at the ends of the earth may have contributed to this.1 While the conversion story was retold many times, the sources of the history of Scandinavian missions are unreliable.2 Each writer had his own objective and elaborated, distorted, or expanded the available material to meet that agenda. Their goals were commonly to enhance the prestige or authority of a royal dynasty, an ecclesiastical authority, or an elite group of people.3
The best known of these writers, Adam of Bremen, wrote his History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen about 1080.4 Since the authority of Hamburg-Bremen in the Scandinavian countries was being challenged at that time, Adam was concerned to defend the rights of his archbishop in the north. When Adam did acknowledge the missionary contributions of outsiders, he usually did so with the comment that his archbishop allowed churchmen consecrated elsewhere to carry out their mission "provided they acknowledged obedience [to him]."5
The second major source of information is the Icelandic sagas. The sagas began as oral history for popular entertainment and were only written down two to three hundred years after the events that they describe.6 The sagas emphasized the role of the Scandinavian kings, or elite Icelandic families in the conversion of their countries. While they need to be treated with care, they contain a core of historical material that is present in all good historical fiction.7 The problem is to separate that historical core from the fictional material. Snorri Sturluson's description of the national origin of churchmen employed by the early Norse kings in his Sagas of the Norse Kings seems to be a part of the historical core of his works. While Snorri transferred some of the conversion activities of Olav Haraldson to Olav Trygvason, their dealings with the English church rather than Hamburg-Bremen agree with Adam of Bremen's reluctant admissions.8
English writers were not generally interested in the mission work in Scandinavia.9 Therefore, evidence of English influence in early Scandinavian church history can only be derived from incidental statements. Brief entries in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, William of Malmsbury's Antiquities of Glastonbury, Liber Eliensis, and a 1022 Ely charter provide supporting evidence for English contributions in Scandinavia that are mentioned in other sources.
In addition to books, charters, and chronicles, archaeological data and runic inscriptions attest to the conversion of various groups of people. The most important of these inscriptions is that of the Danish King Harald Bluetooth commemorating his parents and ending with the claim that he had made the Danes Christian.10 The purpose of this paper is to correlate secondary references in English sources and archaeological evidence with Adam of Bremen and the sagas to examine the role of English churchmen in the conversion history of Scandinavia.
The first recorded Scandinavian contacts with Christianity occurred in Denmark. In 827, the Danish king, Harald Klak, appealed to Louis the Pious for assistance after he was driven out of Denmark.11 Probably in exchange for military aid, Harald was baptized and was accompanied by the missionary Anskar on his return to Denmark. Harald failed to regain power and the situation in Denmark remained fluid for many years.12 This situation is demonstrated by an 864 letter from Pope Nicholas I to King Horic I in which the Pope thanked Horic for gifts to the church, but reprimanded him for continuing to worship idols. Describing the events leading to the conversion of Harald Bluetooth in his Saxon History, Windukind reported that the Danes had been Christians for a long time, but also worshipped idols with pagan ritual.13 By the middle of the ninth century the sources indicate that the Danes were prepared to tolerate Christianity and accepted Christ as a powerful god, but only one among many gods.14 This attitude was likely to have prevailed in Norway and Sweden as well.
Before his conversion, Harald Bluetooth allowed public profession of Christianity in his kingdom. Archbishop Unni was allowed to consecrate priests for several churches in Denmark, but not bishops.15 After he was baptized, Harald allowed the establishment of bishoprics. Archbishop Adaldag ordained bishops for Hedeby, Ribe and Aarhus about 948. Adam admitted that he did not know the location of many of the bishops that were later consecrated for Denmark and speculated that the rude state of Christianity in the country forced the bishops to go anywhere they might be accepted. He also stated that was the situation in Norway and Sweden even in his own time.16 Based on Adam's evidence, the early Christianization of Denmark was carried out by agents of Hamburg-Bremen, but an organized ecclesiastical structure was not established until later.
The circumstances in Denmark changed when Harald's son, Svein Forkbeard revolted and drove his father out.17 Adam's claim that Svein renounced Christianity was probably based on his toleration of paganism due to his dependence on the military support of pagan Danes and on his rejection of the ecclesiastical authority of Hamburg-Bremen. There is no archaeological evidence of a reversion to pagan burial practices during Svein's reign that would support Adam's claim.18 Since German bishops were an integral part of their secular state, Svein may have felt they were a threat to his independence. As a result, he turned to England for church support rather than Hamberg-Bremen. In Norway and Scania, Adam admitted that Svein advanced the cause of Christianity by bringing priests from England to spread the Gospel.19 An English ecclesiastical presence in Scandinavia was a serious threat to the authority of the archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen since he had only one other suffragan bishop.20
Probably to further assert his independence, King Svein tried to establish an archbishopric in his kingdom. The archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen reluctantly agreed on the condition that his church be made a patriarchate and that his authority extend to suffragan bishops in the Danish church. Nothing happened to Svein's request due to the deaths of Pope Leo IX and Henry III during the protracted negotiations required for this type of change.21 Thus for a time, the Danish church remained officially under the authority of Hamburg-Bremen.
When Svein Forkbeard died about three months after his successful conquest of England, his son, Cnut, succeeded him. Like his father, Cnut was dependent on an army that was partly pagan. Therefore, he too was tolerant of pagan practice in the early years of his rule in England and later was willing to use the pagan resistance to Olav Haraldson to gain power in Norway.22
In his dealings with the church, Cnut expanded his father's policy of reliance on English churchmen.23 Cnut's dealings with the English church support an assumption that the church in Denmark remained unorganized. Unlike his dependence on Scandinavian nobility for political support in England, Cnut brought no Danish churchmen with him.24 Of sixteen men who signed Cnut's charters as dux, only six had English names and many of those were not prominent during Æthelred's reign.25 Contrarily, all of Cnut's appointments to English church positions in the early years of his reign were men who began their ecclesiastical careers in England during the reign of his defeated predecessor.26 Only toward the end of his reign did Cnut appoint some of his chapel priests to high position in the English church and most of those were also English.27 However, Cnut was a baptized Christian before he came to England, so the Danish church must have functioned in some manner during his father's reign.28 In addition, Cnut's known appointments to the Danish church had names that indicated Scandinavian origins, though they may have come from northern England.
Adam of Bremen acknowledged that Cnut introduced many bishops from England into Denmark and specifically named Bernhard over Scania, Gerbrand for Zealand and Reginbert for Fyn.29 Gerbrand's title in Cnut's 1022 Ely charter, "from Denmark's Roskilde parish," indicated that he did not hold an official church position such as bishop or archbishop at that time. However, he was an important churchman based on the position of his signature on the charter immediately behind that of Archbishop Wufstan of York and before any of the English bishops.30. Absence of a church title could indicate that there were no established Danish sees in the early part of Cnut's reign, or possibly that Gerbrand had not yet been consecrated. Cnut may have intended to make Gerbrand's position official at a later time. His implied high position could have been the reason for Archbishop Unwan's drastic action when Gerbrand returned to Denmark. Unwan sent men to capture Gerbrand, and "persuaded by necessity, [he] promised fidelity and subjection due the see of Hamburg."31 Unwan then sent legates to Cnut to congratulate him on his success in England and also to reprove him for appointing bishops in Denmark. According to Adam, Cnut subsequently agreed to cooperate with the archbishop. How closely he cooperated is not known, but Adam later recorded that Archbishop Lievizo appointed Avoco in Gerbrand's place in Zealand. Adam did not say whether this appointment was due to the death of Gerbrand, or some other circumstance.32
Cnut's eventual successor in Denmark, his nephew Svein Estrithson, dealt comfortably enough with the church of Hamburg-Bremen that he was one of Adam's sources of information.33 By Svein's reign, there was an established Danish church. Adam recorded nine bishops that Archbishop Adalbert consecrated for Denmark at various times with designated synods for each. He also listed bishops consecrated for Sweden and Norway, but did not name synods indicating the more primitive nature of the church organization in those countries, or perhaps lack of recognition of Hamburg-Bremen by the political leaders of those countries.34
The first recorded Christian contact in Norway occurred during the reign of King Harald Fairhair, who unified much of that country. Before his death about 930, Harald sent his son, Håkon to England as foster son to the English king Æthelstan. In doing so, Harald gave at least implied consent for Håkon to be raised as a Christian. King Æthelstan had Håkon baptized and taught him religion, good habits, learning, and manners.35 After the death of his father, Håkon was given men and ships to challenge his half-brother Eric Blood Axe for the Norwegian crown.36 He was accepted by local Norwegians, first in the Trondlag and later in most of the rest of the country by promising a reduction of taxation to the peasants who held land. With their support, he drove his brother Eric from Norway.37 Eric fled to England were the English kings allowed him to hold the title of King of York.
With the support of at least some of his subjects, Håkon brought a bishop and priests from England and attempted to convert his country. The bishop in this case may have been Sigfrid, a Glastonbury Monk who William of Malmsbury claimed was Bishop of Norway during the reign of the English King Edgar, Håkon's contemporary.38 His conversion efforts were opposed in the Trondlag where Håkon was forced to take part in pagan ceremonies. He retained the kingship only by judicious compromise with pagan practices and was forced to practice his religion privately so as not to offend his pagan subjects.39
Later in his reign Håkon was challenged by the sons of Eric Blood Axe, who attacked Norway with the aid of their uncle, King Harald Bluetooth. Just before his death in 961 after a battle with the Ericssons, Håkon verbally willed the kingdom to his nephews. He was buried fully armed according to pagan practice, but with no other grave goods possibly in recognition of his Christian principles.40
Eric's sons were Christian when they came to Norway, but did even less than Håkon to convert their subjects. They did however destroy pagan temples and broke up sacrifices, which caused many of the people to hate and resist them.41 During their time, there was continual fighting between the Ericssons and the pagan Norwegians led by Earl Håkon of Lade in the Trondlag. After the death of Eric's sons, Håkon was an ally of King Harald Bluetooth. However, he refused to accept Christianity as Harald required after his own conversion and ejected all of the priests that were sent to convert Norway.42 From that point on, Earl Håkon took an independent course in the Trondlag while Harald took control of southern Norway.43
Snorri Sturluson gave most of the credit for finally Christianizing Norway to Olav Trygvason. He claimed that many had been baptized before Olav was king, but did not keep the faith, much like in Denmark earlier.44 Adam of Bremen claimed that Olav was converted in England, but said others claim he was baptized by English priests in Norway.45 In any case, Olav was confirmed in England in 994 with King Æthelred as sponsor as part of an arrangement in which, Olav was given royal gifts and agreed not to make war on England again.46 It is likely that the 16,000 pounds of English silver paid to Olav at this time supported his attempt to seize the crown in Norway and to spread Christianity in that country.47 This was an astute diplomatic move on the part of King Æthelred to divide the Viking forces attacking England and forced Olav's former ally, the Danish king Svein Forkbeard, to protect his interests in Denmark and Norway. Æthelred thus temporarily succeeded in diverting the Viking forces, as Svein did not attack England again until after Olav was finally defeated and killed six years later.
In addition to English money, Olav went to Norway with English priests. Immediately after landing in Norway, Olav celebrated mass indicating that he had at least one priest with him.48 Snorri named a bishop, Sigurd, who aided Olav in his missionary efforts.49 In Viken, Olav convinced his relatives to support Christianity and the whole region converted. The ease with which Olav was able to convince the people of Viken to convert may indicate that they were already at least nominally Christian.
Unlike King Håkon before him, Olav Trygvason was not willing to compromise with paganism. He forced the people of Norway to convert or face the consequences. Any who refused baptism were killed, maimed, or driven from the country. 50 In addition, pagan worship centers were destroyed and practitioners of pagan magic were captured and killed.51 This conflicts with the claims of Adam of Bremen who contended that Olav himself was "skilled in divination, was an observer of the lots ... [and] was given to the practice of the magic art."52
After the death of Olav Trygvason in 1000, Svein Forkbeard took control of Viken and placed his ally, Earl Eric Håkonson, in charge of the rest of Norway. Eric allowed himself to be baptized, but did not force his followers to convert showing that paganism was still strong in western Norway.53 When Svein died in England early in 1014, Cnut and the Danish army were expelled and Cnut returned to Denmark to gather a new army to retake England. Among his supporters when Cnut returned to England in 1015 was Earl Erik who left his son Håkon in charge in Norway.54
While Cnut consolidated his control of England, Olav Haraldson, who had been allied with King Æthelred, returned to Norway and was accepted as king by some of the districts and fought and conquered others. With him came priests and bishops from England to aid the conversion of the people of Norway. Olav probably intended to have the Norwegian church under the jurisdiction of Canterbury, but because his enemy, Cnut, controlled England, Olav requested Archbishop Unwan of Hamburg-Bremen to accept his bishops, Siegfried, Grimkil, Rudolf and Bernhard, and to send others. Adam reported that Olav's English bishops also preached in Sweden, Gothia and the islands beyond Norway.55
Like Olav Trygvason before him, Olav Haraldson required his people to be baptized and those that would not were killed, mutilated, or driven out. The resentment caused by this brutal treatment along with significant Danish bribes to Norwegian opposition leaders opened the way for Cnut to gain control of Norway. In 1026 Cnut defeated a combined force of Norwegians and Swedes at Holy River in Scania and gained control of the vital sea routes. After a year during which his agents worked in Norway, Cnut returned in 1028 and drove Olav into exile in Russia.56 Cnut made Earl Håkon Ericsson his agent in Norway assisted by an English bishop called Sigurd.57 After the death of Håkon about 1030, Cnut placed his son Svein on the throne of Norway with Svein's mother, Ælfgifu of Northampton, as his regent. Encouraged by news that the Norwegians were not happy with Danish rule, Olav Haraldson tried to return with a small army in 1030. He was met by a Norwegian army at Stiklestad and was killed in the ensuing battle. Shortly after the battle, Olav was declared a saint and became a rallying point for Norwegian resistance to Danish rule. By 1035, Olav's son, Magnus, was invited back to Norway as king.
Cnut's bishop Sigurd was blamed for Olav's death and forced to return to England. Bishop Grimkil, who originally came to Norway with Olav, returned and helped establish Olav's sanctity, an act that greatly strengthened the Norwegian church. This church was strong enough to act independently during the reign of Olav's half-brother, Harald Hardrada who according to Adam, had bishops "unlawfully" consecrated in both England and France. 58 Harald's death at Stamford Bridge and William of Normandy's conquest of England in 1066 separated the two countries and Norway was forced to again acknowledge the ecclesiastical leadership of Hamburg-Bremen. 59
None of the sources credit Hamburg-Bremen with a lasting introduction of Christianity into Sweden.60 Anskar, the first Archbishop of Hamburg, initiated mission work at Birka in Sweden. He was able to convert some Swedes, but made no significant gains among the upper nobility. The Danish king Horic's raid that destroyed Hamburg in 845 also ended Anskar's mission in Sweden. An apparent attempt to revive the mission at Birka by Archbishop Unni ended with his death there in 936.61
Swedish legends suggest that after Olav Trygvason's death, his bishop Sigurd traveled to Sweden at the request of the Swedish king Olav Ericsson. There he baptized the Swedish king and preached among the Swedes for a few years. According to these legends, Sigurd was responsible for the original church organization in Sweden.62 Like Earl Eric in Norway, the Swedish king became a Christian, but did not force his people to convert showing that many of the Swedes remained pagan.63
During the reign of Olav's son Anund James, Christianity spread in Sweden. When he died, Anund was succeeded by his half-brother Emund who was not as diligent according to Adam.64 In particular, Emund's bishop, Osmund, did not accept the authority of Hamburg-Bremen, leading Adam to call Emund "the Bad." Adelward, who had been consecrated bishop of Sweden by the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, was driven out at the urging of Osmund. Adam claimed that Osmund had been refused consecration in Rome, but was eventually consecrated by a Polish archbishop.65 Liber Eliensis reported that a bishop from Sweden called Osmund was well received by King Edward in England before 1066 indicating continued connections with the English church at that time.66 When Emund died, the new Swedish king, Stenkil, reestablished connections with Hamburg-Bremen. This also could have been the reason Osmund left Sweden for England.67
The first contact with Christianity probably occurred when Scandinavian merchants began to trade with Christian people near them. Pagans who traded in Christian communities were prime-signed, a preliminary step in the baptism ritual that allowed pagans to deal with Christian people. Their polytheism would allow pagan merchants to accept Christ as one god among many and to consider the ritual the price of doing business with Christians. Another early contact was ruling class people in exile willing to accept Christianity in return for economic and/or military assistance.71 Early English interest in Scandinavia may have come from Christians of Scandinavian descent in northern England. Like the Anglo-Saxons before them, they may have wanted to convert distant relatives in their home country.72 This activity could have created a group of people in Scandinavia willing to accept Christianity when more official missionary activity began later.
Political and trade relations probably dictated which church was invited to send missionaries once political leaders decided to openly allow Christian preaching in their own regions. King Harald Fairhair of Norway sent his son Håkon to England with its large Scandinavian population. The ease with which Viken accepted Christianity when Olav Trygvason came to Norway was probably aided by earlier Christian mission work by supporters of King Håkon and subsequent Danish efforts under King Harald Bluetooth.
Denmark and Sweden first accepted missionary preachers from nearby Hamburg-Bremen, but later political considerations caused their leaders to turn to England for ecclesiastical guidance. King Cnut wished to have his own English bishops in Scandinavian territory under his control to avoid domination by the German emperor through the church. Other Scandinavian kings had similar motives. At first, Olav Haraldson wanted to deal with his former ally, England. After his opponent, Cnut, dominated England, Olav turned to Hamburg-Bremen. The Swedish kings also wanted to remain independent. Thus they preferred to deal with an ecclesiastical authority that was not dominated by nearby powers. Usually that meant English churchmen. After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 the English connection ended. Svein Estrithson's claim to the English crown made all Scandinavians suspect in Norman controlled England. Thus Scandinavian leaders were forced to return to Hamburg-Bremen until they received their of own archbishoprics in the mid twelfth century.
The archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen were instrumental in the conversion of the Danes, but had no significant influence in Norway and Sweden. If they had, Adam of Bremen would have claimed that distinction.73 Churchmen consecrated in England were likely to have been responsible. The predominance in legend of English influence suggests that their missionary activity in Scandinavia in the late tenth century was more significant than has generally been recognized.74 English sources give a few glimpses of this activity and support the less reliable sagas and legends. By the eleventh century, political considerations caused many of the kings to turn to England to avoid domination by the German emperors. This did not end until William of Normandy conquered England in 1066 and political antagonisms forced Scandinavian rulers to return to the fold of Hamburg-Bremen.
1. Ephriam Emerton, trans., The Correspondence of Pope Gregory VII: Selected Letters from the Registrum, (New York, W W Norton & Company, 1932), p.136. This attitude was still expressed in Gregory's letter to Olav III of Norway in 1078. RETURN
2. Ian Wood, "Christians and Pagans in ninth-century Scandinavia," In The Christianization of Scandinavia, Bridget Sawyer, et al, ed., (Kungälv: Viktoria Bokforlag, 1987), p. 42. RETURN
3. Brigit Sawyer, "Scandinavian Conversion Histories," In The Christianization of Scandinavia, Bridget Sawyer, et al, ed. (Kungälv: Viktoria Bokforlag, 1987), p. 88. RETURN
4. Adam of Bremen, History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen, Francis J. Tschan, trans. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1959), p. xvi. RETURN
5. Ibid., Book III, lxxvii, p. 183. RETURN
6. Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson, trans., The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America, (New York: Viking Penguin Inc., 1965), p. 35. RETURN
7. This is the personal opinion of author. Views of the historical accuracy and significance of the sagas vary significantly. RETURN
8. The English spelling of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon names varies from one source to another. The spelling of names in this paper was chosen in an attempt to retain the Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon character of the names while keeping them recognizable. The Old English "Æ" has been retained in many of the names as they appear in Benjamin Thorpe, trans., Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, According to the Several Original Authorities, Rolls Series no. 23, (London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office, 1861; reprint, Weisbaden: Kraus Reprint, 1964), passim. RETURN
9. Dom David Knowles, The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940-1216, 2d. ed. (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1963), p. 67. RETURN
10. Peter Sawyer, "The process of Scandinavian Christianization in the tenth and eleventh centuries," In The Christianization of Scaninavia, Brigit Sawyer, et al, ed. (Kungälv: Viktoria Bokforlag, 1987), p. 70. RETURN
11. To help tie people, places and times together, a chronological chart of the major figures mentioned in this paper is shown in Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the location of many of the places named. RETURN
12. Ian Wood, "Christians and Pagans," pp. 36-7. RETURN
13. Peter Sawyer, "The process of Scandinavian Christianization," p. 69. RETURN
14. Ibid., p. 68. The acceptance of other gods was relatively easy for pagan people, but rejection of their old gods was not. RETURN
15. Adam of Bremen, History, Book I, lix, p. 51. See Figure 1 for a chronological correlation between the various rulers and the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen. RETURN
16. Ibid., Book II, xxvi, p. 71. RETURN
17. Ibid., Book II, xxvii, p. 72. RETURN
18. Peter Sawyer, "The process of Scandinavian Christianization," p. 80. RETURN
19. Adam of Bremen, History, Book II, xli, p. 83. RETURN
20. Niels Lund, "Cnut's Danish Kingdom," In The Reign of Cnut, Alexander Rumble, Ed. (London: Leicester University Press, 1994), p. 40. The author claimed that the archbishop had no other suffragan bishops which was a serious concern to him. In Book II, xvi, Adam stated that he also had a suffragan at Oldenburg in Slavic territory, which was transferred to the jurisdiction of Hamburg-Bremen about 968. RETURN
21. Adam of Bremen, Book III, xxxiii, p 140. RETURN
22. Laurence M. Larson, "Political Policies of Cnut as King of England," American Historical Review 15 (1910), pp. 737-8. RETURN
23. Niels Lund, "Cnut's Danish Kingdom," p. 41. RETURN
24. Simon Keynes, "Cnut's Earls," In The Reign of Cnut: King of England, Denmark and Norway, Alexander Rumble, ed., Studies in the Early History of Britain Series (London: Leicester University Press, 1994), pp. 43-88. RETURN
25. Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3d. ed., The Oxford History of England (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), p. 415. RETURN
26. William Bakken, Piety and Power: King Cnut and the English Church, 1014 to 1035, (Mankato: Unpublished Masters Thesis, 1996), Appendices 4 and 5. RETURN
27. Ibid. RETURN
28. Adam of Bremen knew that Cnut's baptized name was Lambert, but did not say where he had been baptized. Adam of Bremen, History, Book II, Schola 37, p. 91. From this it can be assumed that Cnut was not baptized under the authority of Hamburg-Bremen. There is also no claim in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that an English priest baptized him after 1016. By this I assume that Cnut was baptized before he came to England, possibly by one of his father's English bishops described above that were not associated with Hamburg-Bremen. Another possibility would be a Slavic bishop chosen by Cnut's mother. RETURN
29. Adam of Bremen, History, Book II, lv, p. 93. RETURN
30. Johannis M. Kemble, Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici, Tomus IV, Publications of the English Historical Society (Londini: Sumptibus Societatis, MDCCCXLV; reprint, Vaduz: Kraus, 1964), Charter no DCCXXXIV. Leo F. Stelten, Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995), p. 186 defines parochia as parish. Parochiae would thus be the genitive or dative singular form. Treated as genitive, the translation of Gerbrand's description, "Roscylde parochiae Danorum gentis" is "of Roskilde parish of the Danish nation" or more simply from Denmark's Roskilde parish. RETURN
31. Adam of Bremen, History, Book II, lv, p 92. RETURN
32. Ibid. RETURN
33. Ibid., Book I, xlviii, p. 44. RETURN
34. Ibid., Book III, lxxvii, pp. 182-3. RETURN
35. Snorri Sturluson, "The Saga of Harald Hairfair," In From the Sagas of the Norse Kings, Erling Monsen, trans. (Oslo: Dreyers Forlag, 1984), p. 44. RETURN
36. Snorri Sturluson, "The Saga of Hakon the Good," In From the Sagas of the Norse Kings, Erling Monsen, trans. (Oslo: Dreyers Forlag, 1984), p. 47. RETURN
37. Ibid., p. 48. RETURN
38. Ibid., p. 51. William of Malmsbury, The Antiquities of Glastonbury, Frank Lomax, trans. (London: Talbot, n.d.; reprint Llanerch: JMF Books, 1992), p. 112. Edgar reigned in England from 943 to 961. RETURN
39. Snorri Sturluson, "The Saga of Hakon the Good," p. 52. RETURN
40. Ibid., p. 58. RETURN
41. Snorri Sturluson, "The Saga of Eric's Sons," In From the Sagas of the Norse Kings, Erling Monsen, trans. (Oslo: Dreyers Forlag, 1984), p. 64. RETURN
42. Snorri Sturluson, "The Saga of Olav Trygvason," In From the Sagas of the Norse Kings, Erling Monsen, trans. (Oslo: Dreyers Forlag, 1984), p. 76. Hakon is probably the king Hakon of Norway mentioned by Adam of Bremen in History, Book II, xxv, p. 70. RETURN
43. Peter Sawyer, "The process of Scandinavian Christianization," p. 71. RETURN
44. Snorri Sturluson, "The Saga of Olav Trygvason," p. 73. RETURN
45. Adam of Bremen, History, Book II, xxxvi and xxxvii, p. 79, 80, and Snorri Sturluson, "The Saga of. OlavTryggvason" p. 79. infer that Olav was Christian before he came to England. RETURN
46. Thorpe, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, S.A. 994. RETURN
47. Theodore Anderson, "The Viking Policy of Ethelred the Unready," Anglo-Scandinavian England: Norse English Relations before the Conquest, John D. Niles and Mark Amodio, ed., Old English Colloquium Series No. 4 (Lanham: University Press of America, 1989), p. 9. RETURN
48. Snorri Sturluson, "The Saga of Olav Trygvason," p. 90. RETURN
49. Ibid., p. 109. The repetition of the name Sigurd in the various sources makes the accuracy of all of his activities questionable. RETURN
50. Snorri Sturluson, "The Saga of Olav Trygvason," p. 94. RETURN
51. Ibid., pp. 97, 99. RETURN
52. Adam of Bremen, History, Book II, xl, p. 82. The truth may be somewhere between these extremes. Olav may have continued to practice divination even though he was a Christian. RETURN
53. Snorri Sturluson, "The Saga of Olav Trygvason," p. 125. RETURN
54. Gwyn Jones, History of the Vikings, (London: Oxford University Press, 1968; reprint, Chatham: MacKay, 1969), p. 370. RETURN
55. Adam of Bremen, History, p. 94. The Islands mentioned by Adam were most likely the Orkeneys, the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland. Adam's bishop Siegfried may have been Olav Trygvason's bishop Sigurd mentioned by Snorri. RETURN
56. Jones, History of the Vikings, pp. 379-382. RETURN
57. Snorri Sturluson, "The Saga of St. Olav," p. 274. RETURN
58. Adam of Bremen, History, p. 127-8. RETURN
59. Ibid., p. 214. Adam claimed that on the death of Sigfreid, the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen consecrated bishops for both Norway and Sweden. RETURN
60. Brigit Sawyer, "Scandinavian Conversion Histories," pp. 89-90. RETURN
61. Peter Sawyer, "The process of Scandinavian Christianization," p. 45, 75. RETURN
62. Ibid., pp. 100-1. Since many of the stories of Olav Trygvason seem to have been transferred from St. Olav, Sigurd may have been one of St. Olav's bishops. RETURN
63. Adam of Bremen, History, p. 96. RETURN
64. Ibid., pp. 106, 125. RETURN
65. Ibid., Book III: xv, p. 125. Since Polish bishops were subject to Rome, if Adam is correct it would make more sense that Osmund was consecrated in Russia. RETURN
66. Brigit Sawyer, "Scandinavian Conversion Histories," p. 94. RETURN
67. Adam of Bremen, History, p. 127. RETURN
68. Peter Sawyer, "The process of Scandinavian Christianization," p. 70. This corresponds well with the saga description of the situation in Norway during the reign of King Håkon. RETURN
69. Ibid., p. 75. RETURN
70. Brigit Sawyer, "Scandinavian Conversion Histories," p. 100. RETURN
71. Peter Sawyer, "The process of Scandinavian Christianization," p. 68. RETURN
72. Brigit Sawyer, "Scandinavian Conversion Histories," p. 106. RETURN
73. Ibid., p. 92. RETURN
74. Ibid., pp. 106-7. RETURN
Adam of Bremen, History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen. Francis J. Tschan, trans. New York: Columbia University Press, 1959.
Anderson, Theodore. "The Viking Policy of Ethelred the Unready," Anglo-Scandinavian England: Norse English Relations before the Conquest. John D. Niles and Mark Amodio, ed. Old English Colloquium Series No. 4, 1-12. Lanham: University Press of America, 1989.
Bakken, William. Piety and Power: King Cnut and the English Church, 1014 to 1035. Mankato: Unpublished Masters Thesis, 1996.
Emerton, Ephriam, trans. The Correspondence of Pope Gregory VII: Selected Letters from the Registrum. New York, W W Norton & Company, 1932, copyright renewed 1960.
Jones, Gwyn. History of the Vikings. London: Oxford University Press, 1968; reprint, Chatham: MacKay, 1969.
Kemble, Johannis M. Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici. Tomus IV, Publications of the English Historical Society. Londini: Sumptibus Societatis, MDCCCXLV; reprint, Vaduz: Kraus, 1964.
Keynes, Simon. "Cnut's Earls" In The Reign of Cnut: King of England, Denmark and Norway. Alexander Rumble, ed. Studies in the Early History of Britain Series. London: Leicester University Press, 1994. pp. 43-88.
Knowles, Dom David. The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940-1216. 2d. ed. Cambridge: At the University Press, 1963. Larson, Laurence M. "Political Policies of Cnut as King of England," American Historical Review 15 (1910), 740-743.
Lund, Niels. "Cnut's Danish Kingdom" In The Reign of Cnut: King of England, Denmark and Norway, Alexander Rumble, ed. Studies in the Early History of Britain Series, 27-42. London: Leicester University Press, 1994.
Magnusson, Magnus and Hermann Palsson, trans., The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America. New York: Viking Penguin Inc., 1965. Sawyer, Brigit. "Scandinavian Conversion Histories." ." In The Christianization of Scandinavia, Bridget Sawyer, et al, ed., 88-110. Kungälv: Viktoria Bokforlag, 1987.
Sawyer, Peter. "The process of Scandinavian Christianization in the tenth and eleventy centuries." In The Christianization of Scaninavia, Brigit Sawyer, et al, ed., 68-87. Kungälv: Viktoria Bokforlag, 1987.
Stenton, Frank. Anglo-Saxon England, 3d. ed. The Oxford History of England. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971.
Stelten, Leo F. Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995.
Sturluson, Snorri. From the Sagas of the Norse Kings. Erling Monsen, trans. Oslo: Dreyers Forlag, 1984.
Thorpe, Benjamin, trans. and ed. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,According to Several Original Authorities. Rolls Series no 23. London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office, 1861; reprint, Weisbaden: Kraus Reprint, 1964.
William of Malmsbury. The Antiquities of Glastonbury. Frank Lomax, trans. London: Talbot, n.d.; reprint Llanerch: JMF Books, 1992.
Wood, Ian. "Christians and Pagans in ninth-century Scandinavia." In The Christianization of Scandinavia, Bridget Sawyer, et al, ed., 36-67. Kungälv: Viktoria Bokforlag, 1987.
| Copyright 2000 | William Bakken | Last Update: Dec 27, 2000 |
|---|
