There seems to have been, as can be seen in previous sections, an inner room or area where the statues of the gods and the stalli were located. This part of the hof would have been smaller than the main part of the building in which the feasts were held assuming they were not held in a separate hall. The feast hall had fire pits down the middle over which cauldrons of meat were cooked for the blót feast. On each side of the fire pits would have been tables and benches on which the participants in the feast sat and ate. (92) This is also supported possibly, in Fridthjof's saga where we find the kings and their wives sitting in a room were fires burned on the floors and their wives sat anointing the gods. There was drinking going on in another room. (93)

Depending on the resources of the person who owned and/or maintained the hof they could be very beautifully decorated. But even the smaller hofs could have been carved with beautiful carvings in wood and hung with elaborate tapestries. The hof dedicated to Thorgerd Hörgabrúd, who was possibly the family dís of Hákon Jarl, is described as adorned with inlaying of gold and silver on the inside and to have had so many windows that there was not a shadow in the whole place. (94) When Charlemagne destroyed the Irminsul (8th century) he is said to have removed great treasures of gold and silver from there. Gold vessels, beautiful broaches, one of which was in the shape of an eagle, and a great jeweled collar were among the treasures removed from a site at Petrossa, Romania in 1837. The well known Gundestrup Cauldron may have been dismantled and removed to deposit in the bog it was found in and is thought by scholars to have been from a hof. (95)

There are many places in the sagas where the hofs, especially the smaller ones, are said to be tented and hung with tapestries. It was common for Norse chieftains to hang their halls with beautifully made tapestries so we can trust that this was a genuine practice for Northmen in decorating their hofs. (96) In the late Kjalnesinga Saga there is a description of a hof that is much similar to the one built buy Thorgrim Helgisson. It was one hundred and twenty feet long by sixty feet wide. At the inner end was a 'circular annex' shaped like a cap or hood. Tapestries hung within. Like Thorgrim's temple the chief god was Thorr whose statue stood in the middle with the statues of the other gods surrounding him. There was also a stalli topped with an iron plate on which was a fire kept constantly burning and silver oath ring and a hlautbolli. (97)

Another feature we find common in descriptions of hofs is that most have a gold ring which is hung on the door. There was one said to have been ordered by Earl Hakon for the hof at Throndheim. (98) Another is described as coming from the door of a temple at Hlader which Olaf had taken in Olaf Tryggvasson's Saga.

The dísarsalr (hofs dedicated to the dísir) are described in the lore as well. In Fridthjof's Saga it is described as the highest among buildings in the Baldr's Grove. It had fires along the floor and seats on either side. (99) The hall was thatched with bleached linen which was probably connected with the goddesses who are weavers and spinners. (100) The Dísar hall described in Ynglinga Saga was big enough for King Adils to ride around with his horse. There may be some indication here that the kings actions were somehow disrespectful and where the cause of his horse stumbling which caused his death. (101) (102)

Unlike the temples of the Greeks and Romans, Northern hofs do not seem to have been very much mention of going to them for purposes of healing. (103) This seemed to be the domain of grave mounds and other open air sites. (104)

Most hofs seem to have been dedicated primarily to one god or goddess although more than one were worshipped in the same hof. As can be seen above there was usually one god who was placed in the center and was considered the deity for whom the hof was primarily dedicated to. This spot seems to have been normally taken by Thorr. (105) Freyr seems to have occupied this position as well in many temples. (106) In Hrafnkel's Saga, the saga's namesake built a hof that was holy to Freyr and he was called 'freysgothi.' (107)

With the larger temples it was common to have a "temple tax" to assist in the upkeep of the hof. In one instance the hofgythja (gothi or gythja responsible for collecting the tax and up-keeping the temple) Steinvör had a problem getting a certain Thorleif to pay his temple tax as the other men in the district did. (108) In Ynglinga Saga we are told by Snorri that Othinn imposed a scat or tax on each person which was used to maintain readiness to defend the country and to pay for the sacrifice feasts. (109) When Freyr took over there were said to be several districts called Uppsala-Aud (Uppsala wealth) that were set apart to help pay for the maintaining of the hof and to help pay for the great sacrificial feasts. As may have been the case in most instances such as this, some of the land was considered the personal property of the hofghothi. (110) The temple near Helgafell that was built by Thórólf Mostrar-skeggr also had a temple tax of which everyone in the district was expected to pay. (111)

Pillars, Posts and the Irminsul

From the archaeological evidence post holes and therefore posts or pillars existed in Northern hofs. The descriptions in the sagas we have back this up as well. From the descriptions of the groundsill which Stave Churches are built on we can see that there is a good possibility that most of these pillars were practical in nature though that does not rule out their ritual significance. Many times what started out for practical reasons in time becomes holy. The central support pillar in these hofs may have been an example of this duel purpose, both practical and holy. Besides offering support and stability to the central part of the hof this central pillar could have represented the world tree, the center of the nine worlds.

That these pillars were considered holy is easily seen in the sagas. The high seat pillars were considered holy to Thorr. (112) We have more than one example of pillars being thrown overboard into the water and in order to see where they would make landfall. The pillars were thought to have been guided by Thorr. Ingólf and Hjörleif together, Lodmund the old and Thórólf Mostrar-skeggr all three used this method when sailing for Iceland. These stories are told in Landnámabók and in Eyrbyggja Saga. (113)

An archaeological find in 1926 found post holes underneath the church at Gamla Uppsala. They were arranged in such a way that if connected would have formed concentric rectangles. (114) This shows an arrangement that seems to be present in most hofs, that is, the stalli and statues being in the center of the hof, much like the world tree and Mithgarthr is the center of the nine worlds. This very possibly shows an intentional design that was set up to mirror the cosmological beliefs of the Northern Way. As I hope to show later when talking about Sacred Ground, the hofs and other holy sites were set up so that the most holy part of the temple was in the center and the central support pillar which was some times called the Irminsul would have represented the World Tree, Yggdrasill. Davidson lends support to this theory (as does Grimm [115]) when she says, Among Scandinavians of the Viking Age a tree appears to be the main symbol of the central pivot of the universe, but the so-called 'high-seat pillars' of wood which formed the main support in the center of halls and sanctuaries might be viewed as a northern version of the Germanic pillars raised in holy places." (116)

The pillar was a very significant feature in holy sites for the Germanic peoples. At Eresburg, the Anglo-Saxons had a high wooden pillar that they called Irminsul. (117) It was thought that this pillar was connected with a god named Irmin which some believe is connected to Tiwaz (Tyr). (118) Rudolf of Fulda describes the Irminsul as a universal pillar supporting the whole, which would serve to connect it to the World Tree. (119) Irminsul is also spelled as Hirminsul in the Chron. Moissiac. The Franks in the 8th through 13th centuries connected the word Irminsul with pillars with a Northern image carved on them. Grimm speculates that the Thorr's pillars, the Anglo-Saxon Æthelstân-pillars and the later Roland-pillars are connected with the Irminsul. (120)

Again the Christians made use of this when they could, but more often they made a show of chopping down these pillars as they did with holy trees and groves. The great pillars of the Christian temple of the Grail are described in the Hanover MS as irmensûl. (121) In the Frankish annals Charles the Great destroyed a chief seat of 'Heathen superstition' that was called Irminsûl. (122)

The idea of holy ground is one that is common to most religions and the Northern Way was no different. There were certain rules that must be followed when one treaded on holy ground.

One prohibition that seems to have been almost universal is that no violence was to be done on holy ground for any reason, excepting sacrifices of course, which were not considered in the same category. To commit violence on holy ground was considered an outlaw offence, which for Northmen was almost a death sentence. An outlaw had no rights and could be killed on sight without penalty. So it is easy to see how serious an offense Northmen considered the committing of violence on holy ground. We have more than a few examples of this in the literature. At the afore mentioned Sacred Oak at Romove, no tree could be cut down nor was any beast allowed to be slain there. (123) At Helgafell no man or beast was allowed to be injured in any way and no violence could be committed there. (124) In Eybyggja Saga we are told that the hof area was considered so holy that men should not defile the field with blood-shedding nor where they allowed to relieve themselves there. "..to that end was appointed a skerry called Dirtskerry." (125) In Landnámabók Thorhad considered the fjord where he landed in Iceland as so holy that nothing was to be slain there except homestead cattle. (126)