I've seen it in several Norwegian movies and TV shows. They really-really seem to hate Christianity.
I wonder why...
This movie is not set in Norwayland it set in the country Europe!
shareUhm... In what way did this hate on Christianity?
shareChristianization of Norway was named as the cause of troll species' extinction.
shareYeah. It was a play on the lore regarding Norwegian trolls who are known for "smelling the blood of Christians", mixed with the extremely violent true history of the Christening of Norway, where every Norwegian citizen had to chose between the bible or the sword.
shareI understand. But, as I said, this is not the first time I notice this.
The pre-Christian Nordic culture is romanticized - even the fucking sea-raiders and slavers. But Christianity is always bad.
Yeah, like I said: Noway was Christened in an extremely violent way, where anyone who didn't convert willingly were brutally murdered. It is a blemish in our history on which most Norwegians prefer not to dwell, but probably part of why less than 7% of the Norwegian population consider themselves Christians today. It might also have had an impact on why we have always held a firm separation between the church and state, and even be part of the reason to why we abolished the state church back in 2012 and changed our constitution to remove any mention of Christianity.
You make a fair point about how the viking age is romanticized in comparison, however you got to remember: The Norwegian population weren't the victims of the viking savagery. Rather, the barbarians would go on raids to neighboring countries and rape and pillage. Actually, some say that is the reason to why the British are often considered less than attractive, as the vikings stole all the most beautiful women and brought them back to breed. So yeah... we are all thankful for them enhancing our genepool ;)
I get that too.
As for violent conversions, this happened in many places.
And there's plenty of pre-Christian reenactors in other European countries or people who are into "old spirituality" and so on.
It's just... If you watch German shows, for example, where they touch on their pre-Christian history or lore, you don't get a feeling they resent this chapter of their heritage. Despite the fact that parts of modern Germany were converted via the Northern Crusades.
Which is why I wonder what makes Norway different in this.
BTW, I appreciate the detailed answers! Thanks.