Dear Laura,
I have not taken part in the discussion you started about the
"christianising" pagan sites because I was uncertain about the value of the
information I have about village churches in Denmark.
I have looked at the brief history of more than 300 village churches
described in </>Danmarks kirker</I>.and I have found some curious stories
which might be of value. This survey was up to 1975, and a number of
churches have been added to my collection.
There is a considerable number of village churches located at or close by to
"holy" of "healing" spring or well.
Another large group shares a common story. The site for the church was
chosen, a trench for the foundations started, and the foundations stones
were laid in place. Work stopped for the day. When the workers returned the
next day that found that the foundation stones had been thrown out of the
trench, and that the trench was filled in.
The workers tried again, with the same result. Conclusion - the trolls did
not want the church on that site.
What to do? The answer was to get two young steers, never broken to the
yoke, and put them in the same yoke, and let them loose at night. Where they
were found the next morning was the proper site for the church. This method
of locating a church or determining the resting place of a relic was used in
Spain to locate the church of St. James of Compostella, and in Italy to
determine St. Luccia was the proper place for the Cross.
At the moment I cannot locate the exact number of these churches, but be
assured, they were constructed c.100-1200.
Good hunting, Jim
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|