Vikings and Religion


This is blog is meant to compare and contrast the pagan early Viking religion and rituals to Christianity. I was able to see examples of this throughout the series "Vikings" on the History Channel which illustrates the story of Ragnar and his sons in expanding the Viking empire.

First, everyone in the show is religious in some way, shape or form. Between the Christians in present-day England to the French in Paris to the Vikings in Scandinavia. They all believe in higher, spiritual being that created them and that they will rise to a great heaven upon death if their life was meaningful and did not commit treachery. For the Vikings, this represents Valhalla and their multitude of Gods. The way their religion is spread is through stories to the children while they grow up. Their rituals are different as they make both human and animal sacrifices throughout the show to please their Gods of Thor and others. The Christians on the other hand believe in a heaven and hell and the story of one, single God. The stories of their God are shown through the Bible and are spoken of at their masses.

Both are drastically different cultures, but equally as interesting. The show does a great job portraying these differences and how they affect one another's cultures in conflict.

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