The historicity of Bede's account has been questioned by scholars with it being noted that the account closely resembles other Christian works such as the
Prose Life of Cuthbert, with it being argued that the account is not an accurate depiction of the events surrounding the Christianisation of Northumbria, but instead a work of literary inversion and biblical exegesis reflecting on the
Redemption. One description that it closely parallels is that of
Clovis I's baptism in the writings of
Gregory of Tours. Whilst this account has no high priest, Clovis' wife
Clothildis is given very similar words to speak by Gregory as Coifi is given by Bede; she insists to the king that he is to stop worshipping worthless gods made of materials such as stone and wood. Clovis realises the pointlessness of his
former practices and promises to convert when he is losing a battle against the
Alamans if God gives him victory. After winning, he speaks with his people who spontaneously reject their gods that Gregory labels as mortal and agreed to be baptised by
St Remigius who urged them to burn what they had formerly worshipped as he baptised them. It has been suggested that whilst Coifi's speech sounds like Bede's own words put into the priest's mouth, he could have heard the tale directly from someone who witnessed it. The probability of this has been doubted, however, with it being suggested that it is more likely that Bede was using a well-known topos that may have been borrowed from Gregory of Tours. It has been suggested that Bede was trying to put forward a likely turn of events given that Eadwine did convert and assuming that a high priest was present. Based on comparisons with
Old Nordic religion, the existence of a heathen priesthood has been doubted, leading to further questioning of the accuracy of the account. Coifi's role in the narrative closely resembles that of priests in Northumbria after the adoption of Christianity and while taboos against the carrying of weapons and the
riding of stallions are attested in Germanic contexts in certain situations, the two taboos also were applied to Christian priests. It has thus been argued that the role of Coifi in the tale is very unlikely to reflect the reality of the situation or the wider institutional structure of Anglo-Saxon paganism. The account further closely resembles Biblical traditions, with the speech made by one of Eadwine's companions about the sparrow flying through the hall echoing
Psalm 84, which was one of Bede's favourite
Psalms. The usage of the word ("spear") for the weapon Coifi throws at the shrine, instead of the more common word , may have been in reference to the
Vulgate version of the
Gospel of John, in which the word is used for the spear that pierces
Christ's side. Bede may thus have depicted Coifi piercing the heathen shrine as an inversion of the piercing of the temple that is Christ's body, leading to an outflowing of the blood of the eucharist and the water of baptism. Coifi's actions could have been presented to symbolise opening the Northumbrians up to the possibility of conversion to Christianity and
salvation. Some elements of the account are likely historically accurate, however, such as the names of Goodmanham and Coifi. The description of the temple at Goodmanham as consisting of temples and altars surrounded by fences or hedges has also been considered as possible evidence regarding heathen religious enclosures. The temple has also been examined in light of excavations of possible religious structures such as that at
Yeavering and in Scandinavia, and written accounts such as that of the
temple at Uppsala, with common shared features being identified including them being made of wood, containing altars and being nearby enclosures. A further theory put forward by Richard North is that Paulinus disguised as
Woden acted under the alias of Coifi and profaned the shrine in a desperate effort to stop Eadwine celebrating fertility rites during Lent that would have led him to break his fast. ==Sources==