Oops, I seem to have erased the part of Rob Hornsby's message
that I intended to reply to. There was certainly Christian
missionary activity in Denmark in the 9th c, originating from
Hamburg / Bremen in Germany: see Adam of Bremen and the lives
of St. Anskar and St. Rimbert, also the recently mentioned
life of Charlemagne by Notker of St. Gall.
> As to which persuasion Danish priests (if
> there were such a separate social class at that
> time in Scandinavia - and some writers have
> doubted it
I myself would tend to doubt it, and further to doubt whether
it would make any difference. Is the idea that pagan priests
converted and became Christian priests?
more important for the yew question, it seems to me, is
whether the pre-christian danes had anything like
christian churches and/or churchyards.
perhaps the question should really be whether
yew-trees are associated with burial grounds?
Margaret Cormack [log in to unmask]
Dept. of Philosophy and Religion fax: 843-953-6388
College of Charleston tel: 843-953-8033
Charleston, SC 29424-0001
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