Britta Verhagen - Thirteen Nights in Norway Book / Novel

Britta Verhagen - Thirteen Nights in Norway Book / Novel

A dramatic event in Norway, which had recently been Christianized: During a visit by King Olaf to a large farm, all those involved experience Odin's haunting during the thirteen holy nights of the Yule season.

Drawing on the material of Old Norse sagas, the novel recounts a highly dramatic event in 11th-century Norway, which had recently been Christianized: During King Olaf's visit to one of the large farms in the east of the country, all those present experience an Odinian haunting during the thirteen holy nights of Yule. This haunting presence, through its mysterious presence, causes doubt and temptation, but also profound inner fulfillment, for both devout Christians and those still clinging to the old faith. The novel impressively portrays the psychological experiences of individuals as they grapple with truth and knowledge, and describes the tragic situation of those affected by the intellectual upheaval of the time. The author has depicted the essence of the various clashing beliefs with great empathy.
This novel takes place in early 11th-century Norway, which had recently been Christianized. The new faith, introduced partly by force and after the murder of all the old "wisdom experts," had not yet taken firm root. The old gods had indeed vanished, but they continued to lead a ghostly, illusory existence in folk customs and secret whispers.

Drawing on the material of Old Norse sagas, the author describes the highly dramatic events during King Olaf's visit to one of the large farms in the east of the country during the Yule season. During these thirteen holy nights, all those involved—the king's Christian followers as well as the farming family still adhering to old traditions—experience an "Odinian haunting" with strange apparitions and occurrences, in the course of which the reader is confronted with fundamental questions of religious experience and a free worldview.
The struggle between the old and new ideas of the individuals is portrayed in a moving way, and the tragedy of the developments of that time for the North is highlighted.

Table of contents:

I. The One-Eyed Man 7
II. The King 23
III. At Raudshof 45
IV. Farmer and farmer's wife 75
V. The King's Dream 87
VI. Dag Hellauge 99
VII. Voices in the Darkness 109
VIII. Jon 123
IX. The eighth day of July 141
X. Sigvat 157
XI. The Ring 173
XII. The Twelfth Night 181
XIII. The Golden Net 209
XIV. King Olaf's Fate 219

This historical novel delves into the dramatic events of the first attempts at Christianization in northern Germania around the 7th century. Closely adhering to historical records, the cultural historian masterfully portrays the passionate conflicts between the tolerant, nature-loving local paganism and the Christian faith advancing from the south, sometimes represented by fanatical and intolerant religious zealots, in the area surrounding the Central Frisian sanctuary on the then much larger island of Heligoland, the ancient Holy Land. Here, a segment of our people's early history is vividly recounted for young and old alike, revealing the cultural heights of our Germanic ancestors.

• 228 pages
• bound with a hard cover