Roads to Midgard - Old Norse religion in long-term perspectives

Abstract

Old Norse religion is usually regarded as one of the best known pre-Christian religions in Europe, due to the rich Icelandic literature from the 13th century. In combination with place-names, references in Latin and Arabic sources and later folklore, the Icelandic literature has been used to reconstruct a distinct pagan religion for Northern Europe, especially Scandinavia and Iceland. Modern scholarship on Old Norse religion started in the first half of the 19th century, and