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Temple at Uppsala History Channel The Temple at Uppsala was a spiritual center devoted to the Norse gods Thor, Odin, and Freyr located in what is now Gamla Uppsala in Sweden. It is described by the 11th-century historian Adam of Bremen as the most considerable pagan site in the region and was damaged by the Christian King Inge the Senior citizen c. 1080. The site is likewise referenced in the Ynglinga Legend of the Heimskringla written by the Icelandic mythographer Snorri Sturluson(l. 1179-1241 )and the Gesta Danorum of Saxo Grammaticus (l. c. 1160 -c. 1220). In every case, it is related to the gods of the Norse religious beliefs and in Adam and Saxo with human sacrifice. At the time Adam was writing(c. 1070), Christianity was still contending with the old Norse beliefs for supremacy in the region, while in Saxo’s time, it was more established. Both wrote from a Christian perspective and so cast the temple and its rites in a negative light. Sturluson was stating ancient myths for his age and so humanized the gods, making divine beings like Odin into
fantastic kings of
the
previous rather than gods therefore avoided having to demonize the site for a Christian audience.Read the rest of this post.