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The Religious Practices of the Pre-Christian and Viking Age North
Descriptions of hofs do survive in the sagas and in various other
sources from the middle ages. One common feature is that they seem to all have
been constructed of wood. One possible example was excavated in Northumberland
and is considered to be from the seventh century which places it in the Anglo-Saxon
pre-Christian period. It measured 11 x 5.5 m. and had inner walls. The doors
were in the center of the longer walls and there was a second building which
scholars belief may have served as the kitchen, as many animal bones were found
there. The skulls of these animals were not found there but in the main building
in a pit. The main building had three post holes as well. (15) The temple at
Mære as well as the temple at Uppsala were also described as being made
of wood and post holes were found at those sites as well. (16) Although there
is little doubt that there were smaller hofs constructed archaeologists have
been unable to uncover any evidence or any large buildings or the outlines of
such under churches. The elaborate descriptions we find in the sagas and buy
such accounts as come to us from Adam of Bremen may be influenced by accounts
of temples in Christian literature or from the large medieval churches built
of stone. (17) Thórólf Mostrar-skegg's ("Moster-beard") hof is described in Eyrbyggja Saga, in chapter 4: "There he let build a temple, and a mighty house it was.
There was a door in the side-wall and nearer to one end thereof. Within the
door stood the pillars of the high-seat, and nails were therein; they were called
the Gods' nails. There within was there a great frith-place. But off the inmost
house was there another house, of that fashion whereof now is the choir of a
church, and there stood a stall in the midst of the floor in the fashion of
an altar, and thereon lay a ring without a join that weighed twenty ounces,
and on that must men swear all oaths; and that ring must the chief have on his
arm at all man-motes (Things). On the stall should also stand the blood-bowl, and therein the
blood-rod was, like unto a sprinkler, and therewith should be sprinkled from
the bowl that blood which is called "Hlaut", which was that kind of
blood which flowed when those beasts were smitten who were sacrificed to the
Gods. But round about the stall were the Gods arrayed in the Holy Place. To that temple must all men pay toll, and be bound to follow the temple-priest in all farings even as now are the thingmen of chiefs. But the chief must uphold the temple at his own charges, so that it should not go to waste, and hold therein feasts of sacrifice."
Hofs were often constructed either close by or made to include natural holy landmarks. These could be holy groves and/or holy trees or springs or standing stones to name a few. (18) In Hörd's Saga Thorstein Gullnapr has a "sacrificing house" in which is a stone which he venerates. In the Saga Thorstein sings this song to the stone:
Thou hast hither Before the sun shines,
It was also common for smaller individual shrines or personal
hofs to be built. The Old Norse word for this was stalli or stallr, meaning
altar or support for an idol. (19) One example of one is the "temple"
that Thorolf of Helgafell built next to the holy mountain. In this hof or stalli
was kept the holy ring of the god and the hlautr bowl used to catch the sacrificial
blood. (20) The stalli was considered as distinct from the hörg. (21) It
is also possible that the larger hofs were specifically for larger gatherings,
such as a district who, when they came together would have need of a larger
hall and that the smaller hofs were personal hofs or no more than a covering
for personal stalli. (22) The hofs were built in such a way that they could be disassembled
and moved if need be. There are examples of this in the lore such as Landmánabók
and Eyrbyggja Saga. In Landnámabók Thorhad who was an old hofgothi
(temple priest) in Thrandheim in Mri, decided to move to Iceland. He carried
with him the temple mould (dirt) and the altars and settled in a place called
Stödvarfjord. He rebuilt his temple there and the whole fjord was considered
holy from that time on. (23) The bringing of dirt from the foundation of the
temple to the new location seems to have been a common practice as we find it
done in what is probably the most well known example of a temple being moved,
in Eyrbyggja Saga. Here Thórólf Mostrar-skegg ("Moster-beard")
sets out for Iceland after disassembling and bringing most of the his temple
with him, including the two high seat posts. (24) The mould brought was said
to be specifically from under where Thorr had sat. (25) When Thórólfr
neared Iceland he took the two high seat posts, one of which had the likeness
of Thorr carved on it, and threw them overboard. He said that he would land
and make that place his home where the pillars came to land. It was said that
the pillars immediately began to drift toward a ness much faster than most thought
was normal and it was at that ness that Thórólf landed and named
Thorsness. (26) The post holes mentioned so often most likely have a more practical purpose. This practical purpose could have very well been put to ritual and/or holy use as well, as in the case of Thórólf who carved the likeness of Thorr into one of his high seat pillars. To understand the practical use of the posts in hofs you must know a little about how hofs and Stave Churches were built. Although there is no proof that hofs were built in the same fashion as Stave Churches, I would postulate that to be the case. H. R. Ellis Davidson discusses this method of building in her excellent book "Myths and Symbols In Pagan Europe." Instead of the walls and pillars being set in the ground and surrounded with stone, which, according to Davidson does not last very long, the Stave Churches were built on what are called 'groundsills'. These were four massive lengths of timber laid down in the form of a square. From this a series of masts or pillars rose, which supported the walls and roof of the structure, rounded at the foot like the masts of a ship. The post holes found in so many sites by archaeologists were possibly there in order to 'anchor' this groundsill. (27)
Before moving on I should take a few lines to describe the Stave
Churches. Anyone who has seen a picture of these beautiful churches is well
aware of their uniqueness. There is much debate as to whether or not these represent
true Northern temples that were later used by the Christians or if they are
basically Christian in origin. There are about 31 of these churches that have
survived from a period between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries in Norway.
There is nothing like them anywhere and they are no where close to the heavy
stone and brick constructions found in England and Germany. As mentioned above
these Stave Churches were built in a way that allows them to last a very long
time. The masts or pillars that anchors them to the ground is also the way in
which they are described, i.e, a one-mast church for those with one central
pillar rising from the center of the groundsill, or many-masted church for those
like the one in Borgund where "the sleepers forming the sill are arranged
to form a square inside a rectangle, and the masts are set round the square.
At Borgund there are as many as six different levels from the ground to the
central tower, and a series of roofs of different heights are grouped around
the central sanctuary." (28) The strongest argument for the theory that
these churches are examples of Northern hofs comes from the fact that they had
been brought to a "standard of perfection" as early as the 11th century.
The development of such a beautiful and intricate style that has never been
duplicated elsewhere could not have happened in so short a time if they were
Christian inventions and must have come from a long tradition native to Norway.
(29) The earliest Stave Churches have many elaborate carvings on their
walls and pillars that are obviously from Norse lore, which shows the likely
possibility that these churches were converted Northern hofs. Dragons protrude
from the gables in the same way they would have from the prows of the Viking
longships. According to Davidson, who quotes Lorenz Dietrichson, there is an
obvious link between the building techniques of the Stave Churches and ship-building.
He points out that, "'A row of arches, upside down, is placed between different
rafters, just as it was between the ribs of a Viking ship. In the ship these
ribs were not attached to the keel, and similarly the rafter arches and the
beams are separate from the ridge beams of the church
. The entire church
is strengthened throughout by elbow joints and brackets, just as the Viking
ships are.' Inside the churches it is dark and mysterious, and the fact that
the roof rises in the center gives an impression of narrowness and height, drawing
the gaze upwards. A building of this kind would emphasize the centrality of
the holy place, while the series of different levels would be in accordance
with the picture of the world of the gods and men and supernatural beings grouped
vertically and horizontally around the World Tree." (30) Learn more about the Northern Way on Northvegr Forums or join the Northvegr Félag Mailing List. © 2004-2007 Northvegr. Most of the material on this site is in the public domain. However, many people have worked very hard to bring these texts to you so if you do use the work, we would appreciate it if you could give credit to both the Northvegr site and to the individuals who worked to bring you these texts. A small number of texts are copyrighted and cannot be used without the author's permission. Any text that is copyrighted will have a clear notation of such on the main index page for that text. Inquiries can be sent to info@northvegr.org. Northvegr™ and the Northvegr symbol are trademarks and service marks of the Northvegr Foundation. |
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