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| Dale McGowan |
Unlike most of secular Europe, this isn’t a recent development. Prominent Icelandic expressions of nonbelief extend nearly a thousand years into the past. To gaze into the soul of a culture, look at their legends, the stories they tell about themselves. For Iceland, that would be the Sagas of Icelanders.
Consisting mostly of refugees from Norway in the 9th century, the earliest Icelanders brought Norse paganism along with them. The official religion became Christianity, though many of the settlers retained their pagan beliefs. And whenever two prominent religions cohabitate, a third strain of nonbelief is usually found nestling between them.
The first of the Sagas were written in the 13th century, at the tail end of a period wracked by violence and political uncertainty, and describe life in Iceland from the earlier period just after the Norse explorers had settled it. Among the most popular is the Saga of Hrafnkell.
Consisting mostly of refugees from Norway in the 9th century, the earliest Icelanders brought Norse paganism along with them. The official religion became Christianity, though many of the settlers retained their pagan beliefs. And whenever two prominent religions cohabitate, a third strain of nonbelief is usually found nestling between them.
The first of the Sagas were written in the 13th century, at the tail end of a period wracked by violence and political uncertainty, and describe life in Iceland from the earlier period just after the Norse explorers had settled it. Among the most popular is the Saga of Hrafnkell.
Hrafnkell’s Saga tells of a warrior chief, Hrafnkell, who worships Freyr, the Norse god of such lovely things as wealth, sunshine, and sex.
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