Pagan Beliefs in Greenland Through the Lens of Sagas

Abstract

This article investigates the depiction of Norse pagan beliefs in Greenland through the lens of Icelandic sagas, focusing on how medieval Icelanders constructed cultural memory. Rather than offering historical accounts, these sagas – such as Gr œ nlendinga saga , Eiríks saga rauða , Fóstbr œ ðra saga , and Flóamanna saga – present imaginative narratives shaped by Christian perspectives and ideological concerns of the saga authors. Greenland, depicted as a geographical and religious periphery, becomes a space where residual paganism lingers and Christianity struggles to take hold. The sagas portray pagan figures and practices – such as vǫlur (prophetesses), Þórr worship, and magical rituals – not necessarily to reflect Greenlandic reality, but to define Icelandic Christian identity by contrast. Archaeological and runic evidence suggest Norse Greenlanders were devout Christians, contrasting with the sagas’ persistent emphasis on paganism. The study adopts methodologies from memory studies and literary analysis to argue that saga narratives served to reshape and sometimes distort the past to reinforce contemporary Christian ideology. In doing so, Icelanders projected paganism outward – onto Greenland – as a means of distancing themselves from their own ancestral religious past.