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May 6: Eyvind Kelde Day
May 6 is celebrated by many Norse Pagans today as the day to honor Eyvind Kelda (or Kelde or Kelve). According to Norwegian history, Eyvind Kelda refused to give up his Pagan beliefs and renounce his gods when King Olaf Trygvason was busily converting his country to Christianity. Around the year 995 c.e., King Olaf ordered Kelda to be tortured and eventually drowned, as a lesson to any Norwegian heathens who might be reluctant to embrace the king’s new faith. There isn’t a lot of information about Eyvind Kelda himself, but Angus Somerville and Russell Andrew McDonald say in The Viking Age: A Reader (University of Toronto Press) that Eyvind…
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The Celebration of Eyvind Kelda
May 6 is celebrated by many Norse Pagans today as the day to honor Eyvind Kelda, also called Eyvind Kelve. According to Norwegian history, Eyvind Kelda refused to give up his Pagan beliefs and renounce his gods when King Olaf Trygvason was busily converting his country to Christianity. Around the year 995 c.e., King Olaf ordered Kelda to be tortured and eventually drowned, as a lesson to any Norwegian heathens who might be reluctant to embrace the king’s new faith. There isn’t a lot of information about Evyind Kelda himself, but King Olaf was fairly important for his role in bringing Christianity to the Scandinavian countries. Although he was only…