The heathen way of the Gaddgešlar would in many cases be exactly the same as that followed in any part of Scandinavia. They honoured deities such as Thor, Ošin, Freyja and Freyr. However, as theirs was a multi-cultural and multi-lingual society, with folk having both Norse and Pictish or Gaelic names, we must allow for variations in approach that would have included Pictish and Gaelic traditions. There were also those who recognised no gods at all, who were called gošlauss (literally godless).

At the time of King Kenneth mac Alpin the Gael are reckoned to have been largely Christian, following the tradition of the Columban church. But regarding the Picts, the following curious entry from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba has this: '...God deigned to make them alien from, and void of, their heritage, by reason of their wickedness; because they not only spurned the Lord's mass and precept, but also refused to be held equal to others in the law of justice'.

This either suggests that a significant proportion of the Picts were pagan or lapsed Christians. In one of his letters Saint Patrick refers to them as the apostate Picts. An apostate is someone who abandons their religion.

The southern Picts are supposed to have been converted by Saint Ninian, while Colum Cille (Columba) visited the north.

But that Pictish paganism was a rich and vibrant tradition is suggested by their intriguing memorial stones with what appear to be deities, figures half human-half animal, beautifully carved beasts and mysterious symbols. The wealth of tradition, folklore and custom of pagan origin that survived in the Highlands also attests to pagan ways being followed continuously.

It is possible therefore that the Pictish population in the 9th century may have been a mixture of pagan, Christian and apostate. The latter term was used of certain Gall Gael who had given up Christianity for the Norse heathen faith.

Heathen ways do not necessarily involve esoteric practices. Folk involved themselves with blots or feasts in which livestock was slaughtered and a part offered up to the gods or landvaettr (the land spirits) for good luck and fertility. Toasts were also made in honour of the gods.

Thor appears to have been the most popular Norse god among the Gaddgešlar to such an extent that the Irish Gael called them the children of Thor. There was an Ošin Stone on Orkney where couples wedded by joining hands through the hole that went through it. And the island of Tiree was called Tyrvist by the Norse in honour of Tyr.

A Norse goddess who has so many parallels with a Pictish one as to suggest a shared origin is Skaši (Pictish Scathach). Both names mean shadow. Both versions are huntresses and associated with extreme elements such as volcanic eruption and the freezing force of winter. Both are also warrioresses who are widely feared. In Norse myth Skaši is not easily placated by the gods when she confronts them in full armour over the killing of her father. While Scathach is viewed as the supreme teacher of the warrior arts in Gaelic tradition, with epithets such as the Dreadful and She Who Strikes Fear.

It seems to have been the case that many people may have honoured their warrior ancestors as much if not more than gods. They provided an example to live by bound up with the often chivalrous honour codes associated with the likes of the Fianna, whose tales were told around the campfires and in feasting halls.



TO BE CONTINUED