The Roman Empire was a primarily polytheistic civilization, which meant that people recognized and worshiped multiple gods and goddesses. Despite the presence of monotheistic religions within the empire, such as Judaism and early Christianity, Romans honored multiple deities.

Early Roman religion As different cultures settled in what would later become Italy, each brought their own gods and forms of worship. This made the religion of ancient Rome polytheistic, in that they worshipped many gods.

Roman religion

Sometimes called the official religion of ancient Persia, Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest surviving religions, with teachings older than Buddhism, older than Judaism, and far older than Christianity or Islam. Zoroastrianism is thought to have arisen “in the late second millennium B.C.E.

The official Roman religion was the worship of a large group of Greco Roman gods such a Jupiter, Juno, Minerva and Mars. A Roman priest was responsible for the proper ritual worship to the gods. The very success of the Roman Empire proved that the Romans had properly worshiped their gods.

Old Norse was the language spoken by the Vikings, and the language in which the Eddas, sagas, and most of the other primary sources for our current knowledge of Norse mythology were written.

Old Norse Religion, also known as Norse Paganism, is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peoples.

Meet two present-day Vikings who aren’t only fascinated by the Viking culture – they live it. The Vikings are warriors of legend. In the old Viking country on the west coast of Norway, there are people today who live by their forebears’ values, albeit the more positive ones.

In Viking society, infidelity was a serious crime and could often lead to fines, imprisonment, or in extreme cases execution. It was rare for men or women to share their beds with other married couples, but it is also likely that it did happen on occasion.

Ragnar Lodbrok

The old Nordic religion (asatro) today. Thor and Odin are still going strong 1000 years after the Viking Age. Today there are between 500 and 1000 people in Denmark who believe in the old Nordic religion and worship its ancient gods.

Well into the last century, most historians of the Vikings accepted that the blood eagle was deeply unpleasant but very real.

Norse Mythology is older than Christianity, when its roots are traced back to the oral stories of the ancient Germanic culture in the Bronze Age. Christianity, which is approximately 2,000-years-old, is a continuation of Judaism, the writings of which date to the Bronze Age as well. Where did Norse mythology come from?

Valhalla, the hall of the slain, is the great house in Asgard where the heathen gods live according to myths. Valhalla is the counterpart of Paradise, but Vikings did not get there by being good. Only men killed in battle made it to Valhalla. The deeper meaning of Valhalla is to promote boldness.

According to Snorri, those who die in battle are taken to Valhalla, while those who die of sickness or old age find themselves in Hel, the underworld, after their departure from the land of the living. The ranks of Valhalla would therefore predominantly be filled with elite warriors, especially heroes and rulers.

Valhalla is first mentioned in chapter 2 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, where it is described partially in euhemerized form. In the chapter, King Gylfi sets out to Asgard in the guise of an old man going by the name of Gangleri to find the source of the power of the gods.

Shield-maidens

Erik the Red

The average Viking was 8-10 cm (3-4 inches) shorter than we are today. The skeletons that the archaeologists have found, reveals, that a man was around 172 cm tall (5.6 ft), and a woman had an average height of 158 cm (5,1 ft).

The goods found in the grave included “a sword, an axe, a spear, armour-piercing arrows, a battle knife, two shields, and two horses, one mare and one stallion”. For the next 128 years, the skeleton was assumed to be that of a “battle hardened man”.

Ragnar is said to have been the father of three sons—Halfdan, Inwaer (Ivar the Boneless), and Hubba (Ubbe)—who, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and other medieval sources, led a Viking invasion of East Anglia in 865.

Top 10 Toughest Viking Warriors

• Eric Bloodaxe. From age twelve through his teen years, Eric did what Vikings do and raided along the Baltic and European coasts.
• Freydis Eriksdottir.
• Sweyn Forkbeard.
• Harald Hardrada.
• Bjorn Ironside.
• Gunnar Hamundarson.
• Erik the Red.
• Ragnar Lodbrok.

Viking names

• Arne: eagle.
• Birger: keeper.
• Bjørn: bear.
• Bo: the resident.
• Erik: absolute ruler.
• Frode: wise and clever.
• Gorm: he who worships god.
• Halfdan: the half Danish.