In her book, Imagining the Pagan Past: Gods and Goddesses in Literature and History since the Dark Ages, historian Marion Gibson details how Gildas, a Christian monk and historian refused to include Paganism in his history of Britain. Gibson states, “This is not just silence, it is militant and signposted silence so that the history of British paganism begins with a refusal to write it.” Why did the Christian writers of the time vehemently refuse to acknowledge Paganism as a religion? It seems that Paganism was dismissed as barbarous and the goal of historical writings of the time was to prove the success and widespread conversion of Pagans to Christianity.
In understanding who the Pagans were, the Pagan religion encompasses a multitude of belief systems. The Pagans, when written about in historical primary accounts by British/Roman Christian monks, refer to the arrival of Germanic tribes who held religious beliefs of a polytheistic religion. While there were various sects of Pagans throughout Europe, some Pagans, specifically Norse Pagans, believed in a pantheon of gods including Woden or Odin. Christian monk and historian Bede refers to “Woden” in his Ecclesiastical History of England as “They were the sons of Victgilsus, whose father was Vitta, son of Vecta, son of Woden.” In Bede’s account, Woden is a human in which the Germanic tribes who entered Britain were derived from. As stated by historian Marion Gibson in referring to Bede’s work, “Once again, paganism was the Other, so that its representation was a by-product of the history of conversion.” Perhaps Bede deliberately referred to Woden as a human ancestor to diminish the Pagan religion as a legitimate set of beliefs and to prove that Christianity was the superior religion. Or perhaps Bede did not completely understand the complexity of Pagan beliefs and believed that when the Pagans said they believed in Woden or Odin, Bede thought they were simply referring to their ancestral beginnings, which could inherently be possible that a human Woden existed and was turned into a divine being. Norse mythology/Paganism refers to Scandinavian peoples (commonly called “Viking Age”) who worshipped a pantheon of gods and goddesses. Written accounts of Norse mythology exist such as Snorri’s Edda, which details much of the beliefs of Norse Paganism as opposed to other Pagan groups who did not rely on written documentation.
Paganism existed in Britain prior to the arrival of the Germanic tribes. Druids occupied the British isles as well as the Druids of Gaul, who were a Celtic people living in modern day France. Julius Caesar encountered the Druids of Gaul and wrote about them in The Gallic Wars. Caesar said, “All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit, the Aquitani another, those who in their own language are called Celts, in our Gauls, the third. All these differ from each other in language, customs and laws.” The Druids interacted with the Romans, and many historians have reflected and analyzed these interactions between Pagans and Romans. In their own right, Romans also believed in a pantheon of gods/goddesses, which although differed from belief systems of Pagans in France and England, could be considered more similar in comparison to Christianity. In his article, “The Druids and Romanization,” historian Norman J. DeWitt discussed how Druids were virtually eliminated from the Christian account. He states, “The Venerable Bede did not write of them in his Ecclesiastical History, and there is no mention of them at all in any of the Saxon or early medieval chronicles and romances.” The Druids were prominent in their societies and controlled many aspects of the communities in which they lived. As said by DeWitt, “One may also argue reasonably that the order of Druids, at the height of its development, was organized, and functioned, in Gallic society on a rational basis, performing certain services for this society.” While Christians may have seen Pagans as barbaric, in reality, they were an established religion, in the case of the Druids, that existed for hundreds of years prior to the arrival of Christianity. In pre-Roman Britain, in specific areas like Wales, people generally practiced pagan religious practices which were controlled by Celtic Druids, who oversaw religious belief and systems. In Wales, specific gods and goddesses existed that were pertinent to the area. Ireland also had its own version of Pagan religion and believed in a pantheon of gods called the Tuatha Dé Danann. In pre-Roman Scotland, the Picts practiced a version of “Celtic polytheism” as well.
Germanic Paganism arrived in Britain in the 5th century. The earliest documentation of Germanic Paganism from primary sources comes from Roman accounts such as Tacitus’ Germania. Tacitus wrote on the cultural practices, societal organization, and religious beliefs of the Germanic tribes. He wrote, “For myself, I concur in opinion with such as suppose the people of Germany never to have mingled by inter-marriages with other nations, but to have remained a people pure, and independent, and resembling none but themselves. Hence amongst such a mighty multitude of men, the same make and form is found in all, eyes stern and blue, yellow hair, huge bodies, but vigorous only in the first onset.” Tacitus’ observations of Pagans in Germany, who later emigrated to England, provides a detailed description of what their lives were like. While Tacitus’ account is comprehensive, it is apparent that he still holds his own preconceived notions and biases of the people in which he is writing about.