DK Eyewitness Books - Viking

62

The coming of Christianity

SȤȢȯȥȪȯȢȷȪȢȸȢȴȴȶȳȳȰȶȯȥȦȥ by Christian countries.

In the late 10th century, Viking kings started supporting

missionaries from England and Germany, because they

saw Christianity as a way to strengthen their power.

Denmark was converted under King Harald Bluetooth in

the 960s. Norway followed early in the 11th century. In

Sweden, traditional beliefs survived until

the end of the 11th century. By the 12th

century, Viking raids had ended. The

Scandinavian countries united under

strong kings who did not encourage the

kind of raiding in which the Vikings

had once indulged. Meanwhile, the

countries that had been the subject of

Viking attacks, such as France and

England, themselves became more

united. The Vikings gradually

disappeared from the scene.

RESURRECTION EGG

This colorful egg was a

symbol of Christ’s resurrection.

It was made in Russia and may

have been brought to Sweden

by Russian missionaries.

THE CHURCH AND THE SWORD
King Olaf Haraldsson turned Norway
into a Christian country in around 1024,
completing the work of his predecessor,
Olaf Tryggvason. The old temples were
destroyed and people were forced to
convert to the new religion.

Gables decorated wit h

carved dragon heads

like t he ones on t he

reliquary to t he right

STAVE CHURCH

Wooden churches were put up all

over Scandinavia as soon as the

people converted to Christianity.

They were built like Viking houses,

with wooden staves (planks) set

upright in the ground. The first

stave churches were simple,

one-storey buildings. By the

12th and 13th centuries,

elaborate churches with

many roofs were being

built. This is the stave

church from Gol in

Norway, built around

1200 and now in the

Folk Museum in Oslo.

More carved dragons

All t he portals

are crowned

wit h crosses

LIKE A LITTLE CHURCH

Just like a miniature church, this

little shrine or reliquary is

decorated with dragon heads. Reliquaries

were built to hold holy Christian relics.

This one was made for Eriksberg church on

Gotland, Sweden, in the late 1100s. Four little

animal paws hold it up. The reliquary glitters

with a thin layer of gold, over its frame of

carved wood. It probably once held bones or

fragments of cloth that people believed came

from the body or clothes of a saint.

Roofed-in verandah t hat

runs all around t he church

Spire

Turret