Oct 16, 2020 21:00:00

Find a rare 1200-year-old temple dedicated to the Norse god, a model of Thor

Thor the god of Norse mythology, which is also the model of Thor worship the, the site of the 'temple' of ancient Nordic culture was found in Norway. It is very rare to find a pre-Christian temple, and this is the first time in Norway.

1,200-year-old pagan temple to Thor and Odin unearthed in Norway | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/ancient-viking-temple-to-thor-odin-unearthed.html

Found: An Old Norse'Godhouse' Fit for Thor and Odin --Atlas Obscura
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/godhouse-for-thor-and-odin

Søren Diinhoff, an archaeologist at the University of Bergen in Norway, discovered the foundation of an ancient building in September 2020 while preparing for housing development in the city of western Norway. Archaeological excavations have revealed the existence of agricultural sites, including nagaya 2000-2500 years ago.

This included a temple dedicated to the gods of Norse mythology. The temple is believed to have been built around the 8th century, and the building is believed to have been 14m long x 8m wide x 12m high. It is extremely rare to find ruins of ancient Scandinavian culture before Christianity became dominant, and this is the first time an ancient Scandinavian temple has been excavated in Norway.

What is interesting is that the time when this temple was built was when the land began to be dominated by the wealthy elite. At that time, Scandinavian society was just beginning to interact with the society of the Roman Empire. Such temples were built when Scandinavian societies came into contact with Christian-dominated and hierarchical societies.

The influx of Christian culture has made Scandinavian religious beliefs more organized and ideological. The building that was discovered also matched the pattern of the cathedral that travelers would have seen in the southern Christian culture. From here, Diinhoff believes that the building had a unique tower on the roof, like a church.

This is the site of the building. From the holes left in the place where the pillars were built, it is speculated that there was a tower in the middle of the building.

The 'temple' reproduced by the research team looks like this.

Places to prepare food for offerings are concentrated around the building, and many animal bones that may have been sacrificed have been found. A stone statue of a mannequin has also been found and is believed to have been used in a ritual for conception.

According to Diinhoff, the temple houses wooden statues of Norse gods such as Odin, Thor and Frey, and on religiously important days such as the summer solstice and winter solstice, meat and drinks or rare metals such as gold. Was offered and the ceremony was held. The English words Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are derived from the names of these gods.

After that, from around the 11th century, the ancient Scandinavian beliefs disappeared when the king forced Christianity and destroyed or burned the temple. It is not certain that the temple discovered this time was destroyed at that time, and further investigation is required in the future.