So last night I was playing Skyrim and I came across a goats head on a spike. It got me thinking, why are goats often linked to Satan? Is it only in Christian mythos? And does it have to do with some ancient pagans like the Vikings and how they would do sacrifices? Thank you to all who can answer this for me!!
In the Bible, specifically the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 25 from verse 31 onwards). A short excerpt from this passage that relates to your question:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
The passage goes on to explain that the sheep are those whom Jesus saves, whereas the goats are those he doesn't save (i.e. those who end up in hell). If writing relating goats to demons/demonic things predates the gospel of Matthew, I don't know of it. Most scholars date the gospel of Matthew sometime around 40-80 AD.
Hi, this sub used to get quite a few questions about Satan imagery in the old days. These posts are pretty old, but you might find them interesting