Death of the author

We can’t know for sure what the Vikings thought of Jesus but he tends to look more defiant and strong-willed than suffering on the cross in their few depictions of him, suggesting they were more impressed by his ability to overcome death than anything else he did.

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May I offer you some Jesus?

The vikings tried very hard to prevent Christians from getting into Sami land because the vikings valued Sami magic very highly and often went to them for magical guidance, and they didn’t want to share that magic with Christians or want them to spoil what the Sami people had in some way. Unfortunately the vikings themselves were eventually converted and then tried to convert the Sami people themselves.

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Off to the rave

There's some suggestion that the Vikings preferred dying at home because then they could join the family in death, and Hel was believed to be a neutral place like the world of the living, not the cold, wet and boring place the Christians later said it was. If that's true, going to Valhalla was probably a perk of dying in battle. You couldn't be with you loved ones, but you got to party in Valhalla.

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