Freyr's Pagan Temple at Uppsala

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Uppsala was perhaps the most important site for the Norse pagans. They used to hold an assembly called the Thing of all Swedes and a sacrifice called Dísablót in honour of the disir.

The 12th century Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus thought that Odin himself had lived here, but the site was more widely associated with Ingvi Frey, who was known as the Lord of the Swedes. Christian accounts of Ingvi Frey sometimes call him the king of Turkey or a son of Odin, but he was in fact a far older deity and one of the most important. The Icelandic chief and author of the Eddas, Snorri Sturlusson wrote that Ingvi-Frey had lived at Uppsalla.

He was associated with sacral kingship and divine blood, he founded the Yngling dynasty.

The 11th century German chronicler, Adam of Bremen also wrote of the importance of Uppsalla to the pagans. He said that the temple there was covered in gold and that it contained statues of Odin, Thor and Ingvi-Frey

Adam said that the people offered animal and human sacrifices to these idols and also to a nearby tree and a sping, both of which were sacred. They also worshipped heroic ancestors who had attained divinity in death by virtue of their great deeds in life.

He said that a great ceremony was held there every 9 years at the time of the spring equinox and that non-heathens also had to attend unless they paid a fee. 9 male animals of various species were sacrificed by hanging at this ceremony as well as 9 men. The heathens were said to chant during these sacrifices.

the Ynglinga saga relates that a man named Frey had been buried in a barrow at Uppsalla and continued to bring good harvests even after his death and people thought this would carry on for as long as Frey remained in Sweden. The Swedes then called him the god of this world and offered blood-sacrifices to him for peace and harvest.

Music used with permission: Faunus Amadeus Loki - Uuodan

[Survivethejive]

UPDATE: I no longer consider Yngvi Frey and the Vanir to be older than Odin and the Aesir nor do I associate them with a different race of people, for eg. pre-agricultural or pre-Indo-European. Rather I thin the Aesir and Vanir distinction corresponds to an ancient Indo-European tradition of there being multiple tribes of gods.

[shotz]

I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into sharing your considerable knowledge. For someone like me, who’s new to discovering my ancestral heritage, this information is invaluable.

[JarlSoren]

Very well made and it adds much to my own personal beliefs, being of Asatru. Thank you and please for the sake of knowledge keep doing what you do

[kormsd]

Hello!, This video is very educational! I learned a lot! Thank you for linking the books with actual footage of the places they refer to! Hope you make many more videos!

[randyclere]

your videos are just amazing! your depth of knowledge and the time you take to make these are very much appreciated!

[derekstynes]

Good upload thank You for it. There is a good Museam there and You can toast Allfather with delicious Mead!
This felt like a "Haj" would feel like to a Muslim for Me when I went there.!

[WhereTheAncientDwell]

Great video! My family on my mothers side is from Uppsala, but for some reason I've never visited "Gamla Uppsala". I really should, me loving historic sites and also having an ancestral connection to this place...

[obaolori]

It is said that Snorri Sturluson visited sweden and met with a swedish lagman (one who knew the traditions and laws basically) that deepened his knowledge

[angelrosado]

Salutes my vikings brothers I´m from México and I can see many similarities between your Gods and our ancient Gods and cultures. Most precisely the divinity and honorable sense of the death and the live past the death. You reach the Valahala, we reach the eterno oriente. And the quality of your life represents the value and honor of your death. Good Culture the Viking culture. The Aztecas and Vikings sure can had been a good friends

[mozelala]

Loved your video! Thank you so much for it. :)

[revert]

Hi Thomas, I've watched this video many times and I wanted to take some time and thank you for providing such great content over the years.

I would love to see your take on Felix Romuliana (Gamzigrad) I was born nearby and my parents used to take me there when I was young.

I remember the mosaics there being very beautiful.

Keep up the good work,

Praise be Cernunnos

[LadyAxe]

Wonderful video! I just completed a novel that features most of what you are speaking of here and it gives me goosebumps. Please, make more :-)

[rosalie]

Me and my family goes there every year or so. When I was little, and it was allowed, me and my brother used to roll down the hills or run up on them. At the church right behind, at the graveyard, my great grandparents also lies. It’s such a cool spot, to think about the history around it. But it could also be a really fun playground :)

[Starkodder]

Interesting. Regarding any possible real Yngvi-Frey burial, unless they don't find one near Gamla Uppsala (difficult in any aspect) I would go for the 1000 BC Hågahögen to the south. There a major Bronze age chieftain was buried in a large barrow in a oak coffin, with precious gold objects. After the burial, sacrifices were made into the barrow including humans. 2000 years is a long time but perhaps not too long to keep oral tradition of a founder figure alive.

[sammhyde]

The PIE word "Goom" comes to mind. Goom meaning "Of the Earth", the modern word 'Groom' is derived from this word, but the 'R' was added in the middle ages. "Goom" is still used in Sanskrit mantras, especially in reference to Shiva deva

[adrianjowitt]

Fascinating insight. I consider myself pagan so have a great interest in this. I do like the Upsalla mountain top temple in The Vikings Season one but realise it wasn't actually real and it was likely to be built in a lower land area. Do we know the significance of nine? Nine years, nine animals etc?

[gabrielolmedo]

ALL GREAT TEMPLES OF THE ANCIENT GODS MUST BE RECONSTRUCTED!

[usedxx]

Can you support the idea that the Vanir were pre-agricultural and the Aesir were brought by some kind of external agricultural force? I have seem the theory postulated but never stated outright as in this video.

[maesterkeimo]

Important note: humans were only sacrificed when sentenced to death for commiting the most serious crimes

[hikmetgiraysonmez]

Greetings from Turkey,  Turkish people know very little about the past and explores the history.
these people were assimilated by the switch to Islam and became a large degeneration.
Our old paganism and our saga's of Turk's is very similar to our Scandinavian saga's. Tree of life. The sacred wolf. Wolves guiding alongside brave warrior's bla bla.
And the similarity between the ancient Turkic inscriptions and futhark viking article very interesting.
"Atta Oden" was a great leader and the great leader of Alans. Another name of Alans "As/Az people" and Asgart means of protecting As-As people Gard-defensive. I think this is a fortress which was very close to the border Scandinavia...
Scandinavian legends, elves make the weapons of the gods
In Turkic history, the Alp's. The alp's and the task of making weapons, as well as to fight. Alp-Alf-Elf dialects is change.
These two people have drifted away from each other monotheistic religions, the Scandinavian peoples and Turkic peoples...