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posted by mrpg on Wednesday March 21 2018, @08:30AM   Printer-friendly
from the amen dept.

Volcanic eruption influenced Iceland's conversion to Christianity

Memories of the largest lava flood in the history of Iceland, recorded in an apocalyptic medieval poem, were used to drive the island's conversion to Christianity, new research suggests.

A team of scientists and medieval historians, led by the University of Cambridge, has used information contained within ice cores and tree rings to accurately date a massive volcanic eruption, which took place soon after the island was first settled. Having dated the eruption, the researchers found that Iceland's most celebrated medieval poem, which describes the end of the pagan gods and the coming of a new, singular god, describes the eruption and uses memories of it to stimulate the Christianisation of Iceland. The results are reported in the journal Climatic Change.

[...] The Cambridge-led team pinpointed the date of the eruption using ice core records from Greenland that preserve the volcanic fallout from Eldgjá. Using the clues contained within the ice cores, the researchers found that the eruption began around the spring of 939 and continued at least through the autumn of 940. [...] Iceland's most celebrated medieval poem, Vǫluspá ('The prophecy of the seeress') does appear to give an impression of what the eruption was like. The poem, which can be dated as far back as 961, foretells the end of Iceland's pagan gods and the coming of a new, singular god: in other words, the conversion of Iceland to Christianity, which was formalised around the turn of the eleventh century.

The Eldgjá eruption: timing, long-range impacts and influence on the Christianisation of Iceland (open, DOI: 10.1007/s10584-018-2171-9) (DX)


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @09:17AM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @09:17AM (#655996)

    How long to convert to atheism, or Islam.
    *ducks*

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by khallow on Wednesday March 21 2018, @11:24AM (3 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 21 2018, @11:24AM (#656041) Journal
      Depends on the composition of the eruption. The key factor is silica content since it is the principle contributor (other than temperature) to high viscosity which in turn controls the release of volatile gases from the lava and explosive nature of the lava. Icelandic lava tends to be low silica and high temperature, and hence, very low viscosity, releasing its volatiles relatively peacefully (though explosive eruptions are far from unheard of). Religion is merely a common component of these volatile compounds, other examples, being things like water, carbon dioxide, hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, fluorine, etc, and regionally dependent. So in Europe, one tends to see a lot of releases of Christianity in major eruptions, Islam in Middle East and North Africa eruptions, etc.

      In this light, atheism is well known to be a principle component of mid-ocean ridge eruptions (well, aside from Iceland that is, which is close enough to Europe), which is why no major religions have started in the depths of the oceans.
      • (Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday March 21 2018, @10:48PM

        by coolgopher (1157) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @10:48PM (#656374)

        Phaugh! The Old One would dispute the "no major" part, surely.

        Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

      • (Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday March 22 2018, @04:34AM (1 child)

        by driverless (4770) on Thursday March 22 2018, @04:34AM (#656480)

        It also depends on the volcano. I mean look at that woosy name, "Eldgja", no wonder they all became Christians. It'd take an eruption from, at least, SkaftafellaÞingeyjarstrandahrafnarfjörðaneskaupstaðahúnavatnasnæfellsjokull to convert them to the worship of almighty Cthulhu. "Eldgja" is just some wannabe god's volcano.

        • (Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday March 22 2018, @04:37AM

          by driverless (4770) on Thursday March 22 2018, @04:37AM (#656481)

          Incidentally, the last part of that name is pronounced something close to "yokult", just in case it's causing any non-Icelandic speakers difficulty.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @01:06PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @01:06PM (#656077)

      Depends on how many invad^H^H^H^H^Hrefugies they let flood in.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @01:38PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @01:38PM (#656088)

      revert*
      (BTW mohameddans also use the term reverting, so antichristian of them)

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @09:20AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @09:20AM (#655997)

    See here [wikipedia.org]
    [Ok, not the same people but they were there first, also, bear in mind a percentage of the slaves taken to settle Iceland by the Norse were Christian anyway..]

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Wednesday March 21 2018, @09:29AM (4 children)

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @09:29AM (#655999)

    So, someone used media of the day to promote their particular brand of imaginary sky fairy.

    Big surprise. It still happens all the time. Pull apart almost any TV show or even news story, and you will find various religion "baked in".

    By "baked in" I mean repeated subtle references in media to some idea in such a way that it is an integral part of the story.

    Kind of like product placement. They don't come out and say "Buy this product", they just show the main character using and liking that product. The product, in reality, may be complete shit, but it puts the idea in people's heads that the product both exists and may be good.

    Most jebus brand sky fairy worshipers seem oblivious to this sort of thing since they already believe this bullshit.

    Some sci-fi program that uses a magic demon for their bad guy and the hero uses religious artifacts to save the day. Not quite so subtle, but people may be made to believe these things really could happen on a smaller scale. How about the comedy show where ocasionally episodes end in a "miracle" and a sly hint that it was because of Mr. magic sky fairy. Or how about the old-timey wilderness adventurer where the main characters tout that going to their church makes them good people and everything happens because duh Gerrd makes it happen. Or a song that repeats the word "god", even though it has no real place in the song. Or how about a news story posted on an internet web site that talks about a "god" or "gods" with a strait face.

    It's everywhere, and it isn't new.

    Now, let me read you a poem entitled "There is no such thing as God, you stupid fucking shitheads" :P

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by maxwell demon on Wednesday March 21 2018, @04:38PM (1 child)

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @04:38PM (#656178) Journal

      Some sci-fi program that uses a magic demon for their bad guy and the hero uses religious artifacts to save the day.

      Since the Romans used the cross successfully to kill criminals, then why should it not also work to kill vampires? :-)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
      • (Score: 4, Funny) by bob_super on Wednesday March 21 2018, @06:02PM

        by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @06:02PM (#656250)

        Because there's a well-documented case of some guy just not staying dead enough after being crucified. Therefore, why should I trust a cross to kill things which are already dead?

    • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday March 21 2018, @05:58PM

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @05:58PM (#656244) Journal

      Plus a healthy dose of the lava-repelling-rock...

      See! There hasn't been a unprecedented lava flow since you accepted the rock as your lord and saviour!

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Wednesday March 21 2018, @05:58PM

      by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @05:58PM (#656245)

      I went to find a specific related quote from Pratchett's "Small Gods". Spent an hour reading quotes from Small Gods. Have to read that book again when I get home tonight.
      You all should, too.

  • (Score: 4, Touché) by aristarchus on Wednesday March 21 2018, @09:32AM (6 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @09:32AM (#656001) Journal

    Hellfire and Brimstone, but not many remember what the stone of the brim was. Volcanoes oft deposit pure sulphur on the edge of their calderas. Hence the common name "brimstone". But just remember, there are no volcanoes in the Holy Land, or indeed in the middle east? It is not till you get to Italy that you might have to deal with actual eruptions, or in the case of Pompeii, a pyroclastic flow. Etna, this is where we met ya.

    Now as for Iceland? Do you think they never put up with volcanic activity before? And that the actions of the Hawaiian Goddess Pele would impel them towards the desert faith of camel herders, who spend long times alone in the desert, with not volcanic, or any other kind, of action? I really think that most Norse never really converted to Christianity; they just did it for the tax exempt status, like Republicans.

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday March 21 2018, @11:34AM (5 children)

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @11:34AM (#656049) Journal

      I still marvel at the backstory for how all of the Norse came to use Arabic [wikipedia.org] as their lingua franca and worship Allah. I had always wondered.

      So this episode makes perfect sense.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @12:02PM (4 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @12:02PM (#656061)

        Is this sarcasm?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @04:00PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @04:00PM (#656157)

          Obviously, though it is backwards. The Arab learns Norse, not the other way round.

          • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday March 21 2018, @07:17PM

            by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @07:17PM (#656294) Journal

            They learned it at the end after he saved everyone's bacon. Which is ironic, seeing's how he was the Muslim.

            --
            Washington DC delenda est.
        • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday March 21 2018, @04:18PM (1 child)

          by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @04:18PM (#656170) Journal

          Maybe, but obviously wrong, since Antonio Banderas never went to Iceland with Beowulf, who was killed by the Firewurm.
          And, maybe the Norse were not the first to get there? http://theconversation.com/viking-beaters-scots-and-irish-may-have-settled-iceland-a-century-before-norsemen-42280 [theconversation.com]

          • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday March 21 2018, @07:24PM

            by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @07:24PM (#656296) Journal

            I think it's amusing that it took conversion to Christianity to undo the consequences of earlier Tibetan missionaries in Iceland who instructed the Norse in the central tenet of Buddhism, which is "every man for himself [imdb.com]." That, as we all know, is what triggered the Viking raids all over Europe in the first place.

            --
            Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @06:52PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @06:52PM (#656284)

    I'll just leave this [youtube.com] here.

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