Remains of an open-air cult site, probably a holy grove, similar to the one suggested
at the hilltop of Lunda, have been found at Frösön in Jämtland. In 1984 excavations
were carried out under the chancel of Frösö medieval church, and a dark, cultural layer
with large amounts of animal bones was found around a partly mouldered birch stump
(Iregren 1989 ). On stratigraphical grounds it can be concluded that the bones had been
placed there when the tree was still growing.^14 C-analyses of samples from carbon in the
cultural layer, from bones and from the stump, have all given a Viking Age dating, from
ad 745 ± 85 up to ad 1060 ± 75. The species determined from the bones consist of both
domesticated ( 40 %) and wild ( 60 %) animals. The most striking is the large proportion
of bear, from at least five individuals. The site has been interpreted as a sacrificial site,
probably a grove, and comparisons have been made between the tree and Adam’s
description of the bodies hanging in the trees of the holy grave of Uppsala, and with the
tapestry from the Oseberg ship, where bodies hanging in a tree are depicted.
Another type of sacrifice, difficult to verify in the material culture but obviously also
carried out in the open air, is described by the Arab writer Ibn Fadlan (in ad 922 ). In his
account of the behaviour of the Rus’ in the Volga region he gives us a lot of valuable
information concerning the rituals of the Rus’ merchants. When they arrive at a new
place, they sacrifice food to a god, an idol in the form of a big wooden pole with a human
face on top of it, standing together with smaller poles. This is a sacrifice to get success in
their trade. And if the trade is good, they bring a thank-sacrifice to the pole god,
consisting of the meat of slaughtered goats or cows. During the night the dogs come and
eat the meat, and next day the merchant declares that his god has accepted the sacrifice.
As already mentioned, the place names can give significant information on pre-
historic cult sites. There are specific place-name elements meaning ‘cult site’, such as
vi/væ/vé, lundr, akr etc., and there are theophoric place names, where the name of a god
makes up the first element, followed by such an element denoting a cult site, as for
example the Swedish Torsåker, Odensvi and Frölunda. Judging from the frequency of such
names, we have indications of cult sites spread all over Scandinavia.
ARTEFACTSExamples of artefacts have already been mentioned, such as figurines and amulets.
Starting with figurines there are some – in all probability – representing gods. The most
well known was found in Rällinge, Södermanland, not far from the above-mentioned
Lunda site (Andersson et al. 2004 ). It is a bronze statuette, c. 7 cm high, depicting a
phallic man sitting cross-legged, naked but wearing a conical cap and an arm-ring. It
is usually interpreted as a representation of the god Freyr, due to the big phallus, and
references are made to Adam’s description of the three god statues in the Uppsala
temple, where Freyr is said to be the god of fertility who brings peace and enjoyment to
the mortals and is depicted with an immense male organ. Ornaments on the back of the
Rällinge figurine indicate a dating to the late Viking Age. He is grasping his beard with
his left hand (the right hand is missing). This is a recurring element on some other
statuettes, one from Eyraland in Iceland, where the male figure, naked but wearing a
conical cap, is sitting in a chair, grasping his beard with both hands. The lower part of
the beard is shaped like a hammer, and because of that the figurine is suggested to
represent the god Þórr. In Adam’s account Þórr is described as the god of thunder, all
kinds of weather and crops, and as ‘the mightiest of the gods, having his throne in the
–– chapter 18: The material culture of Old Norse religion––