The Mythical World of the Vikings

Preden je na sever Evrope prišlo krščanstvo, so tamkajšnji ljudje verjeli v poganske bogove in izvajali poganske obrede. Mitski svet, ki so ga ustvarili, je bil poln mitoloških bitij, s katerimi so verjeli, da si delijo svet. Da so zagotovili blaginjo skupnosti, so ljudje skušali zadovoljiti bogove in druga bitja z raznimi obredi in žrtvovanji. O teh govorijo najdbe kosti na več arheoloških najdiščih, prav tako kot pripovedi tujcev, ki so bili priča njihovim obredom ali so o njih slišali zgodbe od drugih ljudi. Poleg bogov in bitij, ki so živela v mitologiji Vikingov, so verjeli še v množico drugih bitij, s katerimi so živeli na zemlji in katerih sledi so videli v naravi, ki jih je obdajala. O teh so pisali v sagah. Te so opisovale življenja običajnih ljudi oziroma junakov, ki so se srečevali z raznimi entitetami, ki izstopajo zaradi svoje nadnaravne narave. Sčasoma so prebivalci skrajnega severa Evrope sprejeli krščanstvo, vendar pa nova vera ni uspela povsem izbrisati spomina na poganstvo, saj nekatere elemente mitskega sveta Vikingov lahko zasledimo tudi v življenju modernega človeka. Before Christianity came to the north of Europe, people there believed in pagan gods and performed pagan rituals. The mythical world that they created was full of mythological creatures with which they believed they shared the world. To ensure the welfare of the community, people tried to satisfy the gods and other creatures with various rituals and sacrifices. These are confirmed by the findings of bones in several archaeological sites, as well as by the narratives of foreigners who witnessed their rituals or heard the stories from other people. In addition to the gods and creatures who lived in the mythology of the Vikings, they also believed in many other creatures with which they lived on earth, and whose traces they saw in the nature that surrounded them. They wrote about these in the sagas that described the lives of ordinary people or heroes who met with various entities which stand out due to their supernatural nature. Eventually, the inhabitants of the extreme north of Europe accepted Christianity, but the new faith failed to completely erase the memory of paganism, as some elements of the mythical world of the Vikings can also be traced in the life of the modern man.