Infopanel 11

Cult

The religion of the Vikings had no fixed rules for the worship of gods, nor did it have actual priests. During religious ceremonies, the respective chieftain presided. The celebrations consisted primarily of communal drinking parties, which were held mainly at midwinter, Yule. Animals were sometimes slaughtered as sacrifices and hung on stakes in front of the halls. Human sacrifices had long since ceased to be offered in the Viking Age. Instead, weapons or jewelry were sunk in moors and lakes as offerings to the gods. While in previous centuries of the Iron Age, the entire equipment of enemy armies was often sunk in the moors as a thank-you offering to the gods, in the Viking Age, smaller individual sacrifices were limited.