CКАНДИНАВСЬКІ ТІНГИ Й ОСЕРЕДКИ КУЛЬТУ ЯК РИТУАЛЬНИЙ ПРОСТІР: СТАН ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ

Abstract

The article investigates the most recent studies on ritual space (thing-assemblies, cultic sites, and ceremonial buildings) in the late Iron Age and medieval Scandinavia. Various rituals, performed at these locations, allowed elites and rulers to gain and maintain power, to create and sustain social order, to resolve conflicts. The paper explores the works of A. Sanmark (research on assemblies as ritual space), F. Iversen (centers of cult), O. Sundqvist (cultic sites and buildings), L. Sonne (political leaders and cult), L. Larsson (ceremonial structures), and other contemporary scholars. The newest studies on ritual space analyze problems of rulership, relations of rulers and people. Scholars investigate how exactly political and social leaders utilized ritual acts and places to their benefit. This leads to a focus on the socio-political aspect of rituals and ritual space. Studies also indicate mythological and religious dimensions of assemblies. Archaeologists and historians analyze a variety of ritual acts and emphasize the most important features of ritual places. Researchers interpret landscape, man-made structures, and show their relation to performative acts. Among them, O. Sundqvist and F. Iversen, who study outdoor cultic sites. The research on ceremonial structures (cultic buildings and meeting halls) indicates similar traits. The studies on ritual space demonstrate similarities between thing-assemblies, cultic sites, and ceremonial buildings, in particular meeting halls. Most researchers emphasize that it is hard to distinguish between these types of gathering places, inasmuch as they were multifunctional. Contemporary scholars also stress the impact of rituals on the local, regional, and nationwide communities as well as on rulers of various ranks and their relations.