Warriors of Odin: Fighting for A God Before Militia Christi in Medieval Scandinavia

• Main Author: Barabino, Victor
• Other Authors: Centre Michel de Boüard - Centre de recherches archéologiques et historiques anciennes et médiévales (CRAHAM), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: [SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences; Valhalla; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03216123; https://hal.science/hal-03216123/document; https://hal.science/hal-03216123/file/V.%20Barabino%20-%20Warriors%20of%20Odin%20-%20poster.pdf

Colloque en ligne International audience Did Scandinavian warriors of the Middle Ages perceive themselves as servants of the pagan gods the way Christian crusaders saw themselves as milites Christi? On this poster, I wish to present results of my research on the evolution of the warrior-god relationship at the turn of Christianization in Scandinavia (10 th-13 th c.). The paper focuses on the main pagan god associated with war, i.e. Odin, and explores three main aspects of his relationship with pagan warriors. I will first study the figure of Odin as a war chieftain who gives orders to attack, advises warriors with military tactics and has his own specific war strategies. I will then show how Odin helps warriors on the battlefield, providing strength and a longer life to them, as well as military support and even victory. Lastly, I will consider the hypothesis of pagan Scandinavian warriors as Odin's servants. In fact, libations to Odin before combat are common practice and some elite warriors, such as berserkers and einherjar, seem to be the "warriors of Odin" par excellence, among humans and in Valhalla. Using evidence from the narrative sources, as well as some runic inscriptions and skaldic poetry, I hope to show that before and after Christianization, fighting was considered both a military and spiritual activity that implied service to the gods and a specific relationship with them, while underlying crucial differences between serving Odin and serving Christ.