Gamla Uppsala

"In this temple, entirely decked out in gold, the people worship the statues of three gods in such wise that the mightiest of them, Thor, occupies a throne in the middle of the chamber; Wodan and Frikko have places on either side..."

Adam von Bremen, an early 11th century chronicler from, you guessed it, Bremen, is one of the few sources we have directly coming from the Viking Age. Von Bremen was in some ways a historian in his own period, set to document events during his lifetime as part of his role as a bishop.

In his "Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum" (Deeds of the Bishops of Hamburg) Adam von Bremen tells about a place called Ubsola, Uppsala. Here stands a 'very famous temple entirely of gold', he writes. At the temple, three deities were worshipped: Odin, Freyr and Thor, whom had the central of three shrines in the temple's hall.

Adam von Bremen was not the only historic source to write about Old Uppsala. Famous Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson, who is arguably one of the main sources of what we today know about mythology, mentions Uppsala in his recording of the Ynglinga saga that he wrote in the 13th century. Sturluson writes that the Aesir settle in what is now Sweden and Freyr specifically settles in Uppsala. This underlines the presence of the previously mentioned shrine of Freyr.

Gamla Uppsala on a historic photo with the three major mounds in the foreground. In the back we see the church. Note the man walking in the bottom right corner. Photo via Upplandsmuseet.

In the previously mentioned Gesta Hammaburgensis, we read about much more than the temple alone. Von Bremen mentions characteristics of the temple's surrounding and rituals held at Uppsala too.

"Every nine years there is a communal festival of every province in Sweden held in Ubsola; and those already converted to Christianity have to buy themselves off from the ceremonies..."

The returning ritual in the grove in the vicinity of the temple is said to have involved the sacrificial hanging of people and animals alike. No actual traces to such ritual exist in the archaeological record, nor can we exactly prove to where a grove like that may have stood. However, we do have an image of a ritual sacrificial hanging. This image survives on the Oseberg tapestry.

Uppsala has historically undeniably been a place of power, but long has been speculated if the temple was a real place. The answer is; we are not entirely sure...

To be continued.