Christianization of the Faroe Islands
The Christianization of the Faroe Islands took place from 998 by Sigmundur Brestisson , but experienced considerable resistance from the Viking chief Tróndur í Gøtu (who was reluctantly baptized in 999) and was therefore only considered complete after his death in 1035. It was related to the Christianization of Scandinavia .
course
In 994, Olav Tryggvason of Norway was baptized in England . After he ousted Håkon Jarl from the throne in 995 , he invited the respected Faroese Viking chief Sigmundur Brestisson to his place in 997 . The Faroese saga reports that the reception in Sunnmøre is said to have been extremely warm. It is said that Sigmundur was willingly converted by the king and spent the winter of 997/98 at his court.
What supposedly happened in the spring of 998 is one of the central events in the history of the Faroe Islands . In the Faroese saga it says:
New Faroese :
Tá ið nú tók at vára,
kom kongur ein dag upp á mál við Sigmund og segði,
at hann vildi senda hann vestur til Føroya
at kristna tað fólk,
sum har búði.
English :
As spring was approaching,
the king came to talk to Sigmund one day and said
that he wanted to send him west to the Faroe Islands
to Christianize the people
who lived there.
But initially Sigmundur refused, it is said, until he accepted the king's promise that he would become the sole ruler of the Faroe Islands. A number of priests were assigned to him to proclaim the new faith in the archipelago, and so it goes on:
New Faroese : Sigmundur sigldi nú,
tá íð hann var ferðabúgvin,
og ferðin gekkst honum væl.
Tá ið hann kom to Føroya,
stevndi hann bóndunum to tings í Streymoy,
and har kom stór mannfjøld saman.
English:
Sigmund sailed now
when he was done
and the trip went well for him.
When he came to the Faroe Islands, he
gathered the
big farmers for the Ting on Streymoy ,
and there was a great crowd.
The assembled crew was delighted when Sigmundur announced that the new Norwegian king had appointed him head of the country. The news that they were about to convert to Christianity, however, met with violent resistance, so that Sigmundur narrowly escaped death after the mob led by Tróndur í Gøtu wanted to lynch him. He had to swear not to repeat this attempt, according to the saga. He spent the winter of 998/99 on his farm in Skúvoy .
In the spring of 999 Sigmundur started a counterattack. The current and swell are said to have been very strong that day, so that no Faroese would have thought of going to sea. Sigmundur set out with 30 men from Skúvoy to Gøta , where Tróndur had his domestic power. Tróndur was overwhelmed, and Sigmundur presented him with the choice of being baptized or executed. Given the overwhelming power, Tróndur reluctantly submitted. Tóri Beinirsson , Sigmundur's cousin, however, suggested killing Tróndur, as his confession could not possibly be taken seriously and that sooner or later he would take bloody revenge. The myth of the Faroese saga, however, has it that Sigmundur refused, and rather made sure that all followers of Tróndur were baptized.
The Faroe Islands were formally Christianized in the year 999.
In the summer of that year, Sigmundur set sail for Norway with Tróndur on board to pay tribute to King Ólavur I. However, they got into distress . The ship and treasure were lost while most of the men could be saved. It is said that Sigmundur personally saved Tróndur. Tróndur is said to have refused a second attempt with another ship, and so Sigmundur sailed without him in the year 1000 - on condition that the latter would maintain Christianity in the Faroe Islands.
The last meeting of Sigmundur and King Ólavur in Norway took place in the spring of 1000. The two friends are said to have measured each other in swimming and archery competitions (Ólavur each won by a small margin) until their friendship cooled off because of Sigmund's gold ring . In the same year Ólavur died. In 1001 Sigmundur came to Norway again to visit the new rulers, Jarl Erik and Svend . His fiefdom over the Faroe Islands was also confirmed by them after they had given him a princely welcome and made him their follower.
In the Faroe Islands, however, Tróndur í Gøtu prepared his revenge, which would lead to the murder of Sigmundur Brestisson in 1005.
See also
literature
- Lutz Mohr: On the early history of the Faroe Islands with special consideration of the "Celtic" and "Viking times" from the 7th to 11th centuries . In: TJALDUR. ("Oystercatcher"). Bulletin of the German-Faroese Circle of Friends e. V., Düsseldorf / Kiel, vol. 4, issue 7-1991, pp. 8-19.
- Lutz Mohr: Faroese history of the Viking Age in the "Heimskringla" in connection with the life and work of the Icelandic Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241) . In: TJALDUR. ibid, issue 16-1996, pp. 42-47. With excerpts from THULE, notes
- Thrand von Gata versus Sigmundur Brestisson: Clan feuds in the Faroe Islands. In: Lutz Mohr , Robert Liese: Vikings between Pomerania and the Arctic Circle. Truth or sagas . Leo-Verlag Robert Liese, Horn-Bad Meinberg 1997, ISBN 3-9805594-0-8 , pp. 127-140.
- Viking poetry. From the Norse Skald treasure . Re-seals by Anton Riesel. Selection, remarks and comments by Lutz Mohr. Anniversary publication on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland (999–1999) . Leo-Verlag Robert Liese, Horn-Bad Meinberg 1999, ISBN 9805594-1-9 .
- THULE: Old Norse Poetry and Prose, Volume XIII: Greenlandic and Faroese Stories . Ed. And trans. by Felix Niedner . New edition with afterword by Siegfried Beyschlag. Eugen Diederichs Verlag, Düsseldorf / Cologne 1965.