Heathen religion in Old Norse provincial laws: case studies concerning the period of religious change

This article inquires into the image of heathen religion in Old Norse provincial laws. In spite of the fact that all extant provincial law books claim to contain Christian laws, their religious position is far from clear. Many heathen remnants and norms that do not correspond to canonical Christianity indicate that their religious world-view was rather syncretistic. -- A brief introduction discusses different modern attempts to define syncretism, of which the author chooses and puts to the test the one proposed by Anders Hultgård. According to Hultgård, syncretism is the acceptance of elements of other religions that change some of the basic values, concepts, or rituals of one' own religion. Acculturation, on the other hand, represents the acceptance of elements of a foreign religion that do not influence one's own religion profoundly. -- Nevertheless, the presented case studies concerning the útiseta (an Old Norse divinatory ritual), the burial mounds, the concept of deity, and the samburðarǫl (a type of Old Norse heathen ritual feast) clearly show that such a classification cannot completely describe the form of the religious mix present in Old Norse provincial laws. -- In the last part, the study tries to find an explanation for this unsatisfactory conclusion. According to the author, Old Norse provincial laws cannot be characterized as either heathen or Christian. In spite of the fact that the laws usually worship a Christian God, demand performance of Christian rituals, and prescribe the acceptance of Christian values, their juridical structure (concepts of guilt, equality, testimony etc.) remain heathen. They show both the heathen and Christian religions in a state of change and rebirth