The Sources of Myths, Part 1

The process of Christianization took place in Scandinavia, generally speaking, character slightly different than in other parts of medieval Europe. It was not related to external pressure, but it was generally an act of deliberate political decision. And maybe that's why, that Christianization currents flowed from the centers of local government, its own pagan tradition remained alive for a long time. Icelandic society enjoyed the greatest freedom in terms of the new faith. Enough to say, that even the periodic practice of pagan cults after the adoption of Christianity in 1000 year. You can suppose, that it was for these reasons that the unifying character of the new religion was greatly weakened, and even began to take peculiar, purely Scandinavian forms both in the style of introduced symbols, as well as in the way of understanding the world. Among other things, it was reflected in the durability of the Polish poetic tradition. In the primary, of the pagan version, the poetry of the scalds was transmitted only orally. Along with Christianity, the Latin alphabet reached Scandinavia and it was adopted extremely quickly. In Iceland, even though Latin was known, it was written mostly in the mother tongue. This was due to a strong linguistic conservatism, and cultural, resulting from the natural isolation of the island. Thanks to this, it has developed here, and then recorded it, poetic language, and a lot of literary monuments in their original wording have survived to our times. Attachment to tradition resulted, that, despite the passage of time, interest in one's own heritage did not fade. In the Scandinavian culture of this era, Iceland in particular, there were two currents: Christian and pagan, often intertwining with each other. The first was based on a group of clergymen and continental influences. The second one survived in native poetry and folk tradition. Despite this, Christianity was slowly but systematically replacing the old customs, rituals and passages, by eliminating them or adapting to its own soil. Sensing a threat in it, many representatives of the upper strata of Scandinavian society strove to preserve the relics of a bygone era, looking for my own roots in it. One of the most famous was Snorri Sturluson who lived in Iceland in the first half of the 13th century.