Pagan Theology II

"Easter was the time that well-nigh everyone kept holy. Any heathens would think it unlucky to offer to their gods while Christ went down into death and rose anew, victorious."
-Poul Anderson, Mother Of Kings (New York, 2003), Book Three, Chapter XVII, p. 259.

(Eostre was the name of a goddess.)

Deities dying, descending to the underworld and returning were a feature of Pagan mythology. In this passage, heathens accept Christ as another such deity, dying and rising annually/seasonally/cyclically, not once and historically, "under Pontius Pilate."

I asked an expert in the history of European Paganism whether tenth century heathens were likely to have responded to Easter in the way described by Anderson but he replied that we do not know. (This guy has a first degree in Physics and a Master's in Western Occultism so I hope that he will synthesize them in a Doctorate.)

Poul Anderson creatively imagines earlier religious responses. I find the response described in this passage entirely plausible. We differentiate the question, "What gods are worshiped in England?" from "Do such gods exist?" But, in the Pagan worldview, gods are local - and all gods who are worshiped have the same ontological status. It would be appropriate to offer to Christ while visiting a Christian country. And it might be advisable not to offer to other deities during the period when Christ was most powerful.