Pre-Christian religion had no universally binding creed. Relationships with gods, ancestors, and other powers were maintained through actions: gifts, shared food and drink, vows, and recurring festivals.
Blót denotes sacrificial acts in which animals, food, drink, objects, and perhaps humans were offered. Form and scale varied; dramatic reports by Christian authors must be compared with archaeology and the circumstances of writing.
Ritual took place in halls, at meaningful landscape locations, and probably in specially used buildings. Place-names, deposited objects, animal bones, and structural traces combine into an incomplete and regionally varied picture.
Politics and religion were not separate spheres. A host who provided a feast and distributed offerings displayed generosity, bound communities, and affirmed power. Household rites existed beside large elite-sponsored celebrations.