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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)
(Score: 4, Touché) by aristarchus on Wednesday March 21 2018, @09:32AM (6 children)
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)
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)
Is this sarcasm?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @04:00PM (1 child)
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
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)
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
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.