Christianity's impact on the free farmers during the 10th century in Norway

Abstract

The purpose of my master thesis is to focus on the religious beliefs of the free farmers during the 10th century in Norway. I chose this particular century first and foremost because it represents the pitch of the Christianization process, because during this time Norway had both heathen and Christian rulers that influenced the free farmers in different ways, and because it probably was the time when Christianity had its biggest impact on people, on Norwegian soil. In order to be able to make plausible conclusions regarding Christianity’s impact on the Norwegian free farmers I made a thorough comparison between the old siðr and Christianity and I examined several helpful sources, from sagas to archaeological evidence, from skaldic poetry to law texts. I also analysed the first Christian elements on Norwegian soil and the farmers’ experiences under the dominion of three different rulers (a tolerant Christian king, a heathen earl and an intolerant Christian missionary king). Due to the time discrepancy and to the minimum amount of reliable sources, it is impossible to state anything regarding the free farmers’ views about the new religion with complete certainty. However I managed in my thesis to give plausible explanations and conclusions regarding the change of siðrand its impact on a social group that has not yet been the centre of focus in other scholarly works.