University of Exeter - Open Exeter

Scotland: Relations Natives and Vikings

Against Anna Ritchie’s view of acculturation, a merging of the Pictish and Scandinavian cultures, is Ian Crawford’s argument, forcefully put, that the Vikings dominated the areas of Scotland where they were active to the detriment of the native peoples. His view is largely based on his long-term excavation of a multi-period site at The Udal, North Uist in the Outer Hebrides

No final report on the site has yet appeared, but Ian Crawford has argued that the takeover here, and by implication in the rest of the Western Isles and elsewhere, was violent and sudden. Five hundred years of occupation was terminated abruptly in the middle of the 9th century and with no gap in occupation. The characteristic cellular houses of the Picts were replaced on the same sites by rectangular Norse houses.

Three new elements appeared on the site: rectangular  houses with turf used in their construction, corn drying kilns and a small fortification. Crawford believes that the latter especially shows the violent nature of the takeover and the need to defend what was seized, though it was only in use for a short time.  He suggests that initial raiding caused social and economic turmoil, which then allowed colonisation. He asserts that where two societies were roughly equal technologically then aggression and violence were bound to result, as was the case in Scotland. Only where newcomers were technologically advanced would the takeover be relatively peaceful. 

Of course it is possible that no one model fits the whole of Scotland, although the accumulation of evidence may suggest that the Norse dominated either numerically or politically. The situation may have varied between one region or another or even from one island to another. To an extent the argument may also be between a view which sees Norwegian families settling in parts of Scotland beyond a certain date, say from the mid 9th century and the takeover by relatively small groups of elite Norwegians of certain areas.

The attitude of the incoming pagan Vikings towards the Christian religion  may be useful here. Generally, Vikings do not appear to have adhered strongly to their pagan beliefs.Their leaders, at least seem to have been prepared to embrace Christianity or at the least to have added the Christian God to their own pantheon of pagan gods. One device used in Western Europe was to baptise or convert war-band leaders to Christianity as part of treaties or settlements.

There are indications that the incoming Norse identified church buildings since the Old Norse element kirkja meaning church occurs in several instances in the Northern Isles. Even stronger ground is provided by the element  papa, priest or by implication a church.

This occurs some 30 times in the Northern Isles and Caithness with a largely coastal or peripheral distribution.  This evidence may indicate that the Norse identified priests, churches or monasteriesat a time when they were settling or had settled and may imply that Christian activity continued on those sites. In the Life of St. Findan, an Irish saint who died about 878 Findan is said to have been captured by Vikings and taken as a slave to the Orkneys. There he escaped and found refuge with a bishop on one of the outlying islands. 

Stone sculptures also suggest that there was Christian influence upon the newcomers. There was no tradition of carving in stone in the homelands before the Norse settled in Scotland, although, as we have seen, there was already a long tradition of  stone carving for both secular and ecclesiastical patrons in Scotland. The production of stone sculptures seems to continue through the period without a break in Shetland, although it is less clear on Orkney.

Toleration of, or at least indifference to, Christianity and its practices or even conversion may be inferred from the place-names and the sculptures, rather than active opposition or persecution. Yet the pagan practice of depositing grave goods appears to continue at least into the late tenth century, the date of the Buckquoy burial on Orkney. The evidence overall, such as it is, may infer that Shetland, with very few pagan burials and a continuous sculptural tradition, may have developed differently from Orkney in the Viking Age. In particular the relations between the incomers and the natives may have differed.

Questions for you to think about

  1. What new features appeared at the Udal site in the middle of the ninth century?
  2. How may we illustrate the Viking attitude to Christianity?
  3. Are there any regional differences in Viking settlement patterns?

Quiz

Now click here to try a quiz which tests your knowledgeof this topic as covered in this unit and also the second half of the previous unit.

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