Bridges to Eternity: A Re-Examination of the Adoption of Christianity in Viking-Age Sweden

This paper reconsiders the traditional model of Christian conversion in Viking-Age Sweden, which places Viking and medieval Scandinavia on the periphery of Christian Europe. Notions of Scandinavians as barbarians lingered and tainted outsiders’ perception of them even after conversion, as seen in early medieval texts which portray Scandinavians’ Christian beliefs and practices as trivial or unsophisticated. Swedish Viking-Age runestones provide evidence that challenges the assumption that Christianity was passively appropriated to Scandinavia from Europe. Instead, the runic material helps demonstrate the Scandinavians’ originality and sophisticated understanding of the new religion by pointing to how they adopted and incorporated Christian beliefs and practices into their uniquely Scandinavian context. Scandinavian adoptions and applications of Christian concepts, such as the association of Purgatory with bridges and Christian deeds, are particularly examined.