The Lombards emerged from Scandinavia and began raiding Roman territory as early as the second century before capturing all of Italy in the 6th century. Did the Lombards worship what we would consider traditional Scandinavian/viking gods like Odin during this period?

by RusticBohemian
Steelcan909

Well yes, but actually no.

The Lombards converted to Christianity before they arrived in Italy, sometime in the early 6th century to be more specific when they were living in the northern Balkans, around what is today the area around Austria, Slovakia, and Northern Hungary. They had, according to Paul the Deacon and his creatively titled History of the Lombards, bounced around for some time before moving into Pannonia and eventually into Italy. Now the specific variant of Christianity that they converted to is not as clear cut as wikipedia might have you believe, they were aligned, for the time, with Byzantine interests and it is likely that there was a good deal of Byzantine influence on their conversion process, but there were numerous other strains of Christianity floating around the Balkans, there were areas of the land that were more swayed by Constantinople, some Rome, and others were "Arian" Christians who occupied a hazy space between them. (both Greek and Latin centered Christians did not care for the Arians in general, but their political power was formidable, associated with the barbarian kings that were overrunning the western reaches of the Empire)

By the time that they arrived in Italy itself, under the king Alboin, the Lombards were Arian Christians, though the overwhelming majority of the people of Italy at this time would have been Latin Christians, and eventually the Lombards themselves became Latin Christians.

But as for their period as pagans, this is even less clear. To be blunt, we know very little about the pre-Christian beliefs of the Lombards, or really any of the Germanic peoples as a whole (but that is for another time and place). Paul the Deacon does make mention of Odin and Freya (to give them their Norse names, the actual cognates are Godan and Frea) but there is not much to actually connect the names to their later portrayals under the Norse myths and Sagas. Godan for example in this story has no ravens or missing eye. Indeed, evidence from elsewhere in the archaeological record in Scandinavia indicates that there were different deities in favor as the leading figures of devotion. During the Migration period, in Scandinavia, the chief God seems to be connected to the later Tyr of Norse traditions. Odinic worship and devotion was a much later development that only arose with the rise of a connected and expansive military/political elite in the 8th century at the earliest.

Trying to take the Germanic deities that were described in the Norse Sagas, or the the earlier writings of people such as Tacitus to fill in the gaps of our knowledge in the early Middle Ages is misguided, as the practices of the peoples in various times and places, 10th century Norway, to 11th century Russia, to 7th century Denmark, to 2nd century Frisia all varied immensely. Trying to connect them to a single broad tradition, when they were in reality quite diverse, does our understanding of these peoples and their beliefs a disservice.