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Conversion,Things,andVikingKings
AnneIreneRiisøy
UniversityCollegeofSoutheastNorway
InlateVikingAgeNorway,twolivingreligionsconfrontedeachotherwhen
conversionkingsfacedtheadherentsofthepaganfaith.Thereisaconsider-
ableresearchliteratureonthissubject,however,thefactthatthisconfrontation
oftentookplaceatassemblies(OldNorsesg.þing),deservesfurtherattention.
ThispaperwillexplorehowandwhyHdkongóliHaraldsson(c.934-961),
ÓldfrTryggvason(995-1000)andÓldfrHaraldsson(1015-1028,d.1030)used
assembliesintheirconversionefforts.
Inordertoanswerthesequestions,thekings’sagas,particularlyHeimskringla,
writtenbySnorriSturluson(1179-1241)about1230,willbeexamined.Skaldic
poetry,oftenembeddedinthesagas,and,inaddition,hagiographyandlaws
containrelevantinformation.Thesesourcesarepreservedinthirteenthandfour-
teenthcenturymanuscripts,anditisthereforepertinenttoaskiftheycanoffer
areliableglimpseintothepaststretchingbacksomefewhundredyears.1Iwill
applyacomparativemethodcombiningsources,whichareindependentofeach
other,andinaddition,drawoninformationfromotherpartsofScandinaviaand
Saxony.Theseculturessharedmanyimportantsocietalcharacteristics,including
asimilarpolytheisticreligionandapoliticalstructurewhereassemblieskept
leadersincheck.Takentogether,thesourcessuggestthattheconversionstories
takingplaceatassembliesreflectalateVikingAgereality.
1Snorrimayhavebasedsomeofhisstoriesonoldtraditions,whichhemayhavelearned
whenhejourneyedinNorwayaround1220.King’ssagasolderthanSnorris,forexampleAgrip
c.1190,alsoindicateaconfrontationbetweenthepeopleandchieftainsofTrondelagandKing
Hdkon.Foradiscussionofthisaspect,seeO.Sundqvist,AnArenaforHigherPowers.Cer-
emonialBuildingsandReligiousStrategiesforRulershipinLateIronAgeScandinavia(Leiden
2016).Studiesthatargueforthestrengthoforaltraditionsare,forexample,G.Sigurlsson,The
MedievalIcelandicSagaandOralTradition(Cambridge2004);S.Brink,“VerbaVolant,scripta
manent?AspectsofEarlyScandinavianOralSociety,”inLiteracyinMedievalandEarlyModern
ScandinavianCulture,ed.P.Hermann(Odense2005),77-135.
