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50 THE VIKING PERIOD
their death
"
says the Landndmabok,
"
but their families
did not always retain the faith, for some of their sons erected
temples and offered sacrifices, and the land was wholly
heathen for nearly one hundred and twenty years."
1
In the transition from heathenism to Christianity
opposing beliefs were sometimes held at the same time ;
the Viking continued to have recourse to Thor even after
he had been baptized. Helgi the Lean, son of Eyvindr the
Easterner, and Rafarta, daughter of King Cearbhall of
Ossory,
"
was very mixed in his faith ; he believed in
Christ, but he invoked Thor for seafaring and brave deeds.
When he came in sight of Iceland he asked Thor where
he should settle down ;
"
and when he had built his house,
"
he made a large fire near every lake and river, thus sancti-
fying all the land between. . . .
Helgi believed in Christ, and
therefore named his house after Him." 2
We also read that
"
Orlygr the Old and his family trusted in Columba,"
3
but whether they abandoned all other belief in the Christian
faith and fell into Paganism is not quite clear. Again, in
the account of the naval battle between Danes and Norse-
men in Carlingford Lough (A.D. 852) the annalist describes
how "
Lord Horm," leader of the Danish forces, advised
his men to
"
pray fervently
"
to St. Patrick,
"
the
archbishop and head of the saints of Erin," whose churches
and monasteries the Norsemen had plundered and burned.
So the Danes put themselves under the protection of the
saint :
"
Let our protector," they cried,
"
be the holy
Patrick and the God who is lord over him also, and let our
spoils and our wealth be given to his church." After the
battle ambassadors frcm the drd-ri found the Danes seated
round a great fire, cooking their food in cauldrons which
1
Landndmab6k, V., ch. 15.
*Ib., III., ch. 12.
/&., I., ch. 12.
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