2 28. SCANDINAVIAN HEATHENISM. 109
unconsciously remodeled their idea of Buldur after the image of Christ.
Another point, of considerable importance to the Christian missionary, was that, in Scandinavian heathendom, he had no priesthood to encounter. Scandinavian paganism never became an institution. There were temples, or at least altars, at Lcire, near Roeskilde, in Denmark; at Sigtuna, near Upsall, in Swe den, and at Moere, near Drontheim, in Norway ; and huge sacri fices of ninety-nine horses, ninety-nine cocks, and ninety-nine slaves were offered up there every Juul-time. But every man was his own priest. At the time when Christianity first appeared in Scandinavia, the old religion was evidently losing its hold ou the individuals, and for the very reason, that it had never suc ceeded in laying hold on the nation. People continued to swear by the gods, and drink in their honor; but they ceased to pray to them. They continued to sacrifice before taking the field or after the victory, and to make the sign of the cross, meaning Thor's hammer, over a child when it was named; but there was really nothing in their life, national or individual, public or private, which demanded religious consecration. As, on the one side, characters developed which actually went beyond the estab lished religion, longing for something higher and deeper, it was, on the other side, still more frequent to meet with characters which passed by the established religion with utter indifference, believing in nothing but their own strength.
The principal obstacle which Christianity had to encounter in Scandinavia was moral rather than religious. In his passions, the old Scandinavian was sometimes worse than a beast. Glut tony and drunkenness he considered as accomplishments. But he was chaste. A dishonored woman was very seldom heard of, adultery never. In his energy, he was sometimes fiercer than a demon. He destroyed for the sake of destruction, and there were no indignities or cruelties which he would not inflict upon a vanquished enemy. But for his friend, his king, his wife, his child, he would sacrifice everything, even life itself; and he
110 FOURTH PERIOD. A. D. 590-1049.
would do it without a doubt, without a pang, in pure and noble enthusiasm. Such, however, as his morals were, they had abso lute sway over him. The gods he could forget, but not his duties. The evil one, among gods and men, was he who saw the duty, but stole away from it. The highest spiritual power among the old Scandinavians, their only enthusiasm, was their feeling of duty; but the direction which had been given to this feeling was so absolutely opposed to that pointed out by the Christian morality, that no reconciliation was possible. Revenge was the noblest sentiment and passion of man ; forgiveness was a sin. The battle-field reeking with blood and fire was the highest beauty the earth could show; patient and peaceful labor was an abomination. It was quite natural, therefore, that the actual conflict between Christianity and Scandinavian paganism should take place in the field of morals. The pagans slew the missionaries, and burnt their schools and churches, not because they preached new gods, but because they " corrupted the morals of the people" (by averting them from their warlike pursuits), and when, after a contest of more than a century, it became apparent that Christianity would be victorious, the pagan heroes left the country in great swarms, as if they were flying from some awful plague. The first and hardest work which Chris tianity had to do in Scandinavia was generally humanitarian rather than specifically religious.
§ 29. The Christianization of Denmark. St. Ansgar.
ANSGARIUS: Pigmenta, ed. Lappenberg. Hamburg, 1844. Vita Wilehadi, in Pertz : Monumenta II ; and in Migne : Patrol. Tom. 118, pp. 1014-1051.
RIMBERTUS: Vita Ansgarii, in Pertz: Monumenta II., and in Migne, I. c. pp. 961-1011.
ADAMUS BREMENSIS (d. 1076) : Gesta Hamenburgensis Eccl. Pontiftcum (embracing the history of the archbishopric of Hamburg, of Scandi navia, Denmark, and Northwestern Germany, from 788-1072) ; reprinted in Pertz : Monumenta, VII. ; separate edition by Lappen berg. Hanover, 1846.
LAURENT : Leben der Erzb. Ansgar und Rimbert. 1856.
A. TAPPEHORN: Leben d. h. Ansgar. 1863.