SCAN 2202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Snorri Sturluson, Fylgja, Cyclone Sidr
28 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Popular religion in the viking age: popular vs. public. Popular religion pertains to everything that goes on in people"s everyday lives. People would have everyday practices associated w/ their beliefs; they would have various concepts based in the notion that something greater exists; they would have a common language for this, with which they could express their ideas. Idiom that comes closest to a term for. Aside from that, there is no indication that they had a word for their religion. Term forn sidr is contrasted with nyi sidr in the saga literature, which is christianity: early medieval laws of iceland, norway and sweden, numerous prohibitions against unacceptable pagan behavior and practice. 13th and 14th century texts from scandinavia primarily mirror the ideas of the elite, well in touch with learned notions from the continent this is in contrast to the provincial religion that was practiced in the rural communities.
