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Can Faith Move Vikings?

The Vikings' beliefs were tied to a world populated by creatures, demigods, and deceased humans. It was also an expansive world.

 

Therefore, the Vikings invited the new Christian God, the White Christ, in as yet another deity to supplement Odin, Thor, Frey, Freja, and all the others in the lineup. The Vikings were pragmatists. On trading expeditions southward, they often had themselves baptized or at least primed, which gave them a sort of prospect status without converting completely. This was good—and sometimes necessary—to kickstart trade.

The transition to Christianity was thus prolonged. When Harald Bluetooth was baptized around 965, there had been Christians in the country for a long time.

It was likely more about grand politics than personal faith that was decisive for the conversion. Harald Bluetooth tried to keep the Holy Roman Empire at bay. By being baptized, Harald became Christian just like the German emperor, making it harder for him to go to war with the Norsemen, who were no longer mere pagans.

Harald's new faith not only moved foreign policy mountains. Internally, the change of faith had significant consequences as well. With the conversion, he planted the seeds for a third power-political entity close to the center of power—namely, the church with its bishops, monastic institutions, land holdings, and an extensive monopoly on knowledge. They brought the written word and made it possible to build a central authority in the country around the king. Their arrival brought about great changes in both our power structure and our building practices. Already 100 years after Harald Bluetooth, the first stone churches were built, and just a few hundred years after Harald's impressive timber constructions, we began building cathedrals in monk bricks.

Get the full story of Gorm the Old, Harald Bluetooth, and the Vikings. See Harald's enormous fortress area, which is so unique that it has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Come and immerse yourself in the history of the Nordic Vikings.

The story of Harald and Bluetooth

Harald Bluetooth was a good negotiator and understood how to unite different parties so they could trade together. He united Denmark, Norway, and parts of Sweden. That’s why Intel, Ericsson, Nokia, and Toshiba agreed to use Harald's surname for their common standard for wireless transmission between different devices, Bluetooth. The logo is composed of the two runes for H and B.

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