The sermon is noted for its attempt to explain beliefs in traditional Anglo-Saxon and Norse gods within a Christian framework through Euhemerisation.
The homily was subsequently adapted and circulated by Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York, and also translated into Old Norse under the title ''Um þat hvaðan ótrú hófsk'' ('how false belief began').
A single manuscript copy survives in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, in the homiliary (collection of sermons) MS Hatton 113.
[4] There is evidence indicating that Wulfstan's homilies, such as De falsis deis, were copied at Winchester, Canterbury, Exeter, West Midlands and an unidentified library somewhere in the southeast.
[5] This suggests that during Wulfstan's own lifetime, and shortly afterwards, his manuscripts were influential enough to merit the labor-intensive process of copying them by hand.
This evidence, in addition to each author's perceived need to write a new homily, lead North to theorize "that the animism which Martin describes was widespread and long-lasting".
[8] "Animism" is the worship of natural elements, which is particularly evident in De falsis deis in lines 13 through 18 when Wulfstan tells of that people believed the sun, the moon, stars, fire, water and earth were all gods.
Similarly, the teachings of the devil are also said to apply to other deities revered by non-Christians, such as in lines 28–29 when Wulfstan describes how people worshipped "world-men" who then became powerful as a result.
This is an important point for Wulfstan to make in order to convince non-Christians of the error of their ways; their deities could simply be explained away as deceitful humans.
In this way, according to North, "…Wulfstan shows non-Christian beliefs to be a disorderly heap of abuses bereft of any intelligible form or purpose" (207).
As for the "teachings of the devil" repeatedly referenced by Wulfstan, David Johnson points out that "when it comes to such euhemeristic discussions of the pagan deities, the concept of demonisation is almost always involved as well".
After all, the Anglo-Saxons had only been converted a few hundred years beforehand, and "thousands of pagan Scandinavians had invaded and then stayed to settle in England".
According to very comprehensive lists compiled by Wilson, there are twelve major place-names involving Odin, eight with Thor and three with Tiw in England that still exist to this day (11–12).
Ælfric's "De falsis diis," upon which Wulfstan's homily was based, also goes into some detail about the origins of the days of the week.
[11] Finally, Ælfric also specified in one of his works that "the singing of heathen songs at a funeral is forbidden," indicating the prevalence of Scandinavian pagan traditions into a Christian era.
[12] Though Ælfric and Wulfstan both make many references to Roman gods, both take care to connect them with their Scandinavian counterparts.
This could indicate two interesting points: one, that they were unwilling to associate their ancestors with heathens like the Danes, or two, that they were refraining from informing readers that Óðan/Oðon was the same figure from whom nobility and royalty of their time claimed lineage.
[14] One such rephrasing appears at lines 74–75 (An is ælmihtig God on þrym hadum, þæt is fæder and suna and halig gast) when he tries to explain the holy trinity, a concept that might confuse lay-people.
In short, Bethurum was quite accurate when she stated that Wulfstan "did not rely upon the inspiration of the moment; his effects are carefully planned" (233).
Similarly, "[o]ne early student of Wulfstan, Einenkel, and his latest editor, Jost, agree in thinking he wrote verse and not prose".
"Much Wulfstan material is, more-over, attributed largely or even solely on the basis of his highly idiosyncratic prose style, in which strings of syntactically independent two-stress phrases are linked by complex patterns of alliteration and other kinds of sound play.
Nevertheless, it happened later that Nimrod and the giants built a wonderful tower after Noah's flood, thus the book says that for them there were as many languages brought about as there were builders.
These wicked men that we speak of were told that these were the greatest gods then in those days, and they heathens worshipped them greatly through the devil's teaching.
The heathens made him a renowned god for themselves; at crossroads they offered sacrifices to him frequently, and they often, erringly, brought praise-offerings to tall hills, all through the devil's teaching.
This Old Norse text is based largely on the sections of De falsis diis that concern the world before the arrival of Jesus.