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Chapter 7. At the Well of Urð 190
the Scandinavians and visitors writing about the Germanics of the far north, were
all considered skilled in magic.
From what is known about the religion and spiritual philosophy of the Saamí,
they most likely resembled the Germanic peoples in a great many ways. The differences
between the two groups seems almost not to have been two completely
different religions really but variations of one another, at least in the north of Scandinavia.
A comparable phenomenon exists today in many areas of the world where
Catholicism is the predominate religion so that in Haiti and in the southeastern
United States there exists Catholicism side by side with voudoun or Santería, and
in the southwestern United States the is the Church and the “Siete Podres” or “Los
Hermanos de la Luz y Sangré.” In Mexico, Central America, and South America,
there is a use of the Saints by the common people which seems to be an unusual
mixture of Catholic prayers and devotion mixed with spiritual techniques of the
aboriginal culture. Such variations are not restricted to any particular ethnicity
although even though a religion may have had its origin with one particular group.
These are one-way variations, however; one has to be Catholic to belong to Santería,
but one does not have to belong to Santería to be a Catholic. Even though the
Saamí religion greatly resembled the Germanic in terms of pantheon, spirit-world,
and tales, their practical technique and approach was quite different except in areas
of overlap (border zones) which also resulted either in or from intermarriage,
dual-religionism, and cultural blending. 32
The further north or east the culture in the ancient Germanic realm, the greater
the number of reports of wizardry as opposed to simple charm-makers or diviners.
Adam of Bremen reporting on the northern Norwegians said that
“all who pass their lives in Norway are Christian through and through,
except for those who live far off across the arctic regions by the ocean. It
is said that these people even now are so skilled in magic arts or spells that
they claim to know what everyone over the world is up to. By their powerful
chants they even draw ashore the mighty monsters of the sea, and by practice
easily do all sorts of other things that can be read of in the scriptures about
wizards.” 33
Even though, upon light reading, it appears that he is writing of the Saamí, he is
most definitely speaking of Norwegians, the Northern Germanic people because later
32 Since the time of this writing Thomas DuBois has written Nordic Religions in the Viking
Age (U. Of Penn. Press, 1999). Mr. DuBois puts forth good evidence that there was a good deal
of cultural borrowing between the Scandinavians of the Viking Age and the Finno-Ugric peoples,
in particular, the Saamí. If the reader has an interest in this particular area, his book is well worth
the dollars spent.
33 Page, R. I. Chronicles of the Vikings (Barnes & Noble; New York, NY) 1995 p. 44.