ABSTRACT
An important aspect of religious and social life was the public sacrifices, where some rituals were probably complicated and needed experts. There has been debate regarding whether Viking Scandinavians had some kind of priesthood (see Sundqvist 2003a). Some scholars state that they had (e.g. Andersson 1992): they have observed terms and names which seem to indicate such a specialised office (see below). Other scholars argue that there were no priests (e.g. Ström 1985). According to them the ruler, the king or earl, made contact with the deities on behalf of the people at the sacrificial feasts and in other rituals. Recently it has been argued that the term ‘priest’ is not appropriate as a cross-cultural concept since it is strongly influenced by Christian and western thinking. When examining traditional societies, such as ancient Scandinavia, more neutral analytical categories should be applied, such as ‘cult leader’ (Sundqvist 2003b). The problem still remains, however. Were there ever exclusive religious specialists who took care of the rituals at the public cult?
