From Viking to Crusader

From Viking to Crusader The Scandinavians and Europe 800-1200 D L

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General Editors: Else Roesdahl and David M. Wilson

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First published in the United States of America in 1992 by R I Z Z O U INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS, Inc. 300 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010 © The Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen, and the individual authors All rights reserved. N o part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission in writing from Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. Editorial committee: Else Roesdahl, Lilja Amadottir, Torsten Edgren, Eria B. Hohler, Niels-Knud Liebgott, Goran Tegner Catalogue coordination: Bjom Fredlund, Per Malm berg, Birgitta Schreiber Translation from Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and German by Helen Clarice, with additional translations by Joan F. Davidson, David Uversage, Clifford Long, Kirsten Williams (Russian texts were translated from the Swedish translation of Ingmar Jansson) Translation from French by Joan F. Davidson, Gillian Fellows-Jensen Design: Gosta Svensson Front cover: Animal-head post from a Viking chieftain's bed, Gokstad, Norway (cat. no. 167) Back c o v e r The A b y crucifix, Denmark. C. 1100 (cat. no. 460) Illustration p. 2: Picture-stone from Ardre, Gotland, Sweden. 8th-9th

I

century (cat. no. 1) Illustration p. 5: The Halikko hoard, Finland. 12th century (cat. no. 496) Illustration p. 6: T h e Lisbjerg altar, Denmark. Mid-12th century (cat. no. 467) ISBN 0-8478-1625-7

HLC 92-50205 Printed and bound by Bohuslaningens Boktryckeri A B , Uddevalla, Sweden, 1992

Q r a E r y i P published with support from The Tuborg Foundation (Tuborgfondet)

Patrons H . M . Q u e e n M A R G R E T H E I I of Denmark H.E. M a u n o K O I V I S T O , President of the Republic of Finland H.E. Vigdfs FINN B O G A D O T T I R , President of the Republic of Iceland H . M . King H A R A L D V of Norway H . M . King C A R L X V I G U S T A F of Sweden

H.E. Francois M I T T E R R A N D , President of the French Republic H.E. Dr. Richard von W E I Z S A C K E R , President of the Federal Republic of Germany

This book is published in conjunction with the exhibition organized by T h e Nordic Council of Ministers in collaboration with T h e Council of Europe

The 22nd Council ofEurope Exhibition Les V i k i n g s . . . Les Scandinaves et 1'Europe 800-1 zoo Grand Palais, Paris, 2 A p r i l — 1 2 July 1992 Wikinger, Warager, Normannen. Die Skandinavier und Europa 800-1200 Altes Museum, Berlin, 2 September—15 November 1992 Viking og Hvidekrist. Norden og Europa 800-1200 Danmarks Nationalmuseum, Copenhagen, 26 December 1 9 9 2 — ( 4 March 1993

Honorary Committee Scandinavia Gredie ROSTB0LL Minister of Cukure,Denmark Tytti B O H O O K A N A - A S U N M A A Minister of Culture, Finland O l a f u r G . EINARSSON Minister of Education and Culture, Iceland Ase {CLEVELAND Minister of Culture. Norway Birgir FRIGGEBO Minister of Culture, Sweden

France Roland D U M A S , Minister of Foreign Affairs Jack L A N G . Minister of Education and Culture Catherine T A S C A , Secretaire d*Etat chargee de la Francophonie et des Relations Culturelles Exterieures Alain DECAUX, de I'Academie Fran^aise, President de I'Association Franfaise d'Action Artistique

Germany Eberhard DIEPGEN, Governing Mayor of Berlin Professor Dr. Wemer KNOPP, President of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz Ulridi ROLOFF-MOM IN, Senator for Cultural Affairs

The Council of Europe Rene FELBER, Chairman, Committee of Ministers Sir Geoffrey FINSBERG, Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly Catherine LALUMIERE, Secretary General

The Council of Europe Organizing Committee Else ROESDAHL, Reader in Medieval Archaeology, University

Professor Dr. Kurt SCHIETZEL, Director, Archaologisches

of Aarhus. Academic coordinator of the exhibition

Landesmuseum, Schleswig

Niels-Knud LIEBGOTT, Deputy Director, Danmarks

Dr. Patrick W A L L A C E , Director, National Museum of Ireland,

Nationalmuseum, Copenhagen

Dublin

Dr. Torsten EDGREN, Director, Head of Research

Sir David WILSON, sometime Director, The British Museum,

Department, Museiverket, Helsinki

London

Thor M A G N U S S O N . State Antiquary, Director of

The Council of Europe, Secretariat

Thjodminjasafn Islands, Reykjavik

David MARDELL, Head of Division, Directorate of Education,

Erla B. HOHLER, Keeper of the Medieval Department, Universitetets Oldsaksamling, Oslo Goran TEGNER, Deputy Keeper of Medieval and Later Antiquities, Statens historiska museum, Stockholm Jean-Pierre M O H E N , Conservateur General du Patrimoine, Adjoint au Directeur des Musees de France Max M O U L I N , Charge de mission, Association Franchise d'Action Artistique, Services des Arts Plastiques, Paris

Culture and Sport, The Council of Europe, Strasbourg Birgitta BJORNBERG-PARDO, Administrative Assistant. Directorate of Education, Culture and Sport, The Council of Europe, Strasbourg Irene HERRENSCHMIDT, Administrative Assistant, Directorate of Education, Culture and Sport, The Council of Europe, Strasbourg Nordic Council of Ministers, Secretariat Dr. Bjorn FREDLUND, Special Projects Director. Nordic

Professor Dr. Wolf-Dieter DUBE, Director General, Staatliche

Council of Ministers, Copenhagen

Museen Berlin—Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin Birgitta SCHRE1BER, Administrative Assistant, Nordic Professor Dr. Wilfried M E N G H I N , Director, Museum fur Vor- und Friihgeschichte, Berlin

Exhibition design Vincen C O R N U and Benoit CREPET, Atelier Onze, Paris Grafikbiiro Damm, Berlin

Council of Ministers, Copenhagen

The Scandinavian Organizing Committee Ebe R O E S D A H L Reader in Medieval Archaeology, University

Eila B. HOHLER. Keeper of the Medieval Department.

of Aarfaus. Academic coordinator of the Exhibition

Universitetets Oldsaksamling, Oslo

Niek-Knud U E B G O T T , Deputy Director, Danmarks

Sigrid H. H. K A L A N D , Keeper of Prehistoric Antiquities,

Nationalmuseum, Copenhagen

Historisk Museum, Bergen

J*rgen N O R D Q V 1 S T , Director of Conservation, Danmarks

Ingmar J A N S S O N , Reader in Archaeology, University of

Naoondmuseuzn Copenhagen

Stockholm

Tofsten EDGREN, Head of Research Department,

Goran TEGNER, Deputy Keeper of Medieval and Later

Museiverket, Helsinki

Antiquities, Statens historiska museum, Stockholm

Pirkko-Liisa LEHTOSALO-HILANDER, Associate Professor. University of Turku Jonas KRISTJANSSON, Professor. Director of Stofnun Arna Magnussonar. Reykjavik Thor M A G N U S S O N . State Antiquary. Director of Thfodminjasafn Islands, Reykjavik

Nordic Council of Ministers, Secretariat Bjorn FREDLUND, Special Projects Director, Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen Birgitta SCHREIBER, Administrative Assistant, Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen

Reconstruction of the second wreck found at Skuidelev, Denmark. The shi was about jo m long and built in Ireland.

Contents Foreword OlafOtsen

Culture and society

15

Leaders to the exhibition

People and language 116 Berit Jansen Sellevold, Jan Ragnar Hagland

16

Preface—Vikings and sagas Jonas

16

Scandinavian society Ole Fenger

|

Introduction

24

Resources and settlements

Else Roesdahl and David M . Wilson

136

Anders Odman

Scandinavia and Europe The Scandinavian kingdoms

Scandinavian paganism 32

144

Gro Steinsland

Else Roesdahl

Christianity and churches 42

152

Olaf Olsen

d e Crumlin-Pedersen, Mogens Schou Jorgensen. Torsten Edgren

Runes and rune-stones

162

Raymond Page

New lands in the North Atlantic

52

Thor Magnusson, Simun V. Arge, Jette Arneborg Fialand 62 Pirkko-Liisa Lehtosalo- Hilander The Saamis in Scandinavia

126

Peter Sawyer House and home

Ships and travel

120

From oral poetry to literature

166

Preben Meulengracht Sorensen Scaldic poetry

172

Jonas Kristjansson

72

A f t 176 Signe Horn Fuglesang

Inger Zachrisson The way to die East 74 Ingmar Jansson, with a contribution by Evgenij N. Nosov The West Slav lands and the North

Artifacts and manuscripts

84

Joachim Herrmann

Burial customs in Scandinavia during the Viking

H i e Scandinavians and the Western European conti-

Age

nent

Anne-Sofie Graslund, Michael Miiller-Wille

88

Lucien Musset

Christian graves and funerary monuments

T1»e Scandinavians in Britain and Ireland

96

David M . Wilson, with a contribution by Richard Hall Scandinavian names and words in Europe Gittian Fellows-Jensen Pilgrimages and crusades

106

Thor's hammers, pendant crosses and other amulets Anne-Sofie Graslund 192

S i g r i d H . H . Kaland

Niek-Kniid Liebgoct

Weapons and their use 112

188

Goran Tegner

Dress 110

Scandinavia and Europe around 1200 Knur Helle

186

194

Pirkko-Liisa Lehtosalo-Hilander

190

Iron 196 Gert Magnusson

Catalogue of exhibition

Mass production in the Viking A g e

198

Signe Horn Fuglesang Gold- and silver-smithing

List of authors

225

The exhibition

226

Catalogue nos. 1 - 6 1 7

zoo

228

Wladyslaw Duczko Bone, antler, amber and walrus ivory

202

Niels-Knud Liebgott Walrus ivory in Western Europe

Chronological table 800-1200 Sources of illustrations

204

Danielle Gaborit-Chopin

Bibliography

Wood-carving

Index of places

206

Erla B. Hohler 208

396

398

Index of objects

Twelfth-century wooden sculpture

393

Niels Lund

424 427

Acknowledgements

429

Goran Tegner Stone sculpture

210

M a p of Europe

Jan Svanberg Church treasures and wall decoration

212

Ebbe Nyborg Manuscripts and Latin literary culture Erik Petersen Icelandic manuscripts

218

Jonas Kristjansson Scandinavian coins Lars O . Lagerqvist

430

M a p of Scandinavia and the Baltic

220

216

432

Foreword

OlafOlsen

Most museum curators have an ambivalent attitude to the

tion, inspired by a programme devised by Else Roesdahl and

large-scale touring exhibitions of masterpieces of interna-

the Scandinavian Organizing Committee. This is the largest

tionally-renowned art or of archaeological treasures which

and most ambitious Viking exhibition ever arranged, and it

In recent years have come to occupy an important position

is more than that, since it goes beyond the Viking A g e into

In the exhibition programmes of the major museums. They

the period when Scandinavia developed into a fully recog-

are often cultural events of high quality and attract a large

nised part of Christian Europe.

public attendance.

In the Scandinavian museums we each feel that this has

B u t — t o be totally f r a n k — h o w many of us In fact really

become our e x h i b i t i o n — a c o m m o n Scandinavian presenta-

like lending our own museum's treasures to exhibitions of

tion of what the North had to offer and of what it received

thii kind? O n e li always hesitant to subject them to the

in the course of the period during which Scandinavia

dangers of travel, and there is always the fear that they

became part of Europe.

might suffer damage through being kept for months in

A t the same time we would wish to thank most warmly

climatic conditions different from those at home. O n e can

our neighbours in Europe, who have also l e n t — i n a spirit of

only relax and rejoice on the day when everything has

true academic c o - o p e r a t i o n — t o this exhibition. Particularly

returned home safely and been restored to its usual place in

we would thank our colleagues in Great Britain, Ireland,

the collections.

Russia, Schleswig, Poland, Estonia and Latvia.

It is therefore remarkable that the exhibition From Viking to Crusader—initiated

by the Nordic Council of Ministers

W e are extremely grateful to Ski binder A. P. Miller og huitru Chastlne Mc-KJnney Mailers Fond til almene Formaal for a most

and subsequently integrated by the Council of Europe into

generous subvention to enable the exhibition to be mounted

its series of International exhibitions—has received assent

in the Danish National M u s e u m in Copenhagen after the

to borrow virtually all the objects requested for it, from no

displays in the Grand Palais in Parts and the Altes Museum

less than 85 lenders in 15 countries. T h e reason for this is

In Berlin. T h e National Museum acknowledges this help

undoubtedly that the major historical museums In the Scan-

with deepest gratitude.

dinavian countries have unanimously supported the exhibi-

Lenders to die exhibition

Iceland Byggdasafn Rangaeinga og V. Skaftfellinga, Skogum (Skogar museum) 331 Landsbokasafn Islands, Reykjavik 526 Stofnun A m a Magnussonar, Reykjavik 3 3 6 , 5 1 0 , 5 1 9 - 5 2 0 ,

Scandinavia

5 " . 524 Pjodmirijasafn Islands (Islands Nationalmuseum),

Denmark

Reykjavik 1 6 , 7 1 , 246,324-330.332-335.433.454.4®3,

Danmarks Nationalmuseum, Copenhagen i 1 , 1 7 , 3 0 , 3 2 ,

563.588,590

34-38,46,58,65,67-68,76-79,93,106-107,109,113,116, 1 2 2 , 1 2 4 , 1 3 1 , 1 4 0 , 1 4 2 . 1 4 4 - 1 4 9 , 152-153. »7. 1 7 3 - I 7 4 . 1 8 0 . 1 8 8 , 1 9 1 - 1 9 5 , i l l 266-267,338-341,343-344* 4*5. 422-423,425,448,456,460,466-468,470-471,475,478482,487-488,493,514,539-544. 556,565.601, 604-607, 610^612 Den Anrikvariske Samling, Ribe 102,178,184 Den Amamagnaeanske Samling, Copenhagen 337,521,523, 515.527

Norway Historisk M u s e u m , Universitetet i Bergen 4 1 , 5 0 , 5 2 - 5 4 , 6 4 , 75.90. i*3» 128. »3. 139.150.4*o. 465.502,506-507, 533, 574,616-617 Nidaros D o m kirkes Restaureringsarbeider, Trondheim 444-447 Riksarkivet, Oslo 5 1 6 , 5 1 8 Skimuseet, Oslo 23

Dec Kongelige Bibliotek, Copenhagen

509,513,528-530,

Troms0 M u s e u m 2 8 , 7 4 , 9 9 , 1 1 4 , 1 5 4 , 238-239,348,494

53*

Universitetets Myntkabinett, Oslo 545-551

Forhistorisk M u s e u m , Moesgard, Arhus 183

Universitetets Oldsaksamling, Oslo 3 , 5 , 8 , 1 0 , 1 5 , 25-26,

Kulturhistorisk Museum, Randers 112

2 9 , 3 3 , 4 0 , 4 2 , 6 3 , 8 4 - 8 5 , 8 9 , 9 1 - 9 2 , 9 4 , 1 0 1 , 1 0 8 , 1 1 0 , 115,

Langelands M u s e u m , Rudtobing 4 5 , 1 7 2

118,129,137-138,141,155-169. 241.417.441-443.457.

N e r r e Snede kirkes menighedsrad 451

4 5 9 . 4 7 2 . 4 8 9 . 4 9 9 . 5 1 7 . 5 5 7 . 587

Roskilde Museum 100

Vitenskapsmuseet, Universitetet i Trondheim

Svendborg og O m e g n s M u s e u m , Svendborg 580

1 3 6 , 1 9 7 . 4 2 1 . 4 7 6 . 4 ® 4 . 5 ° i . 504.534. 5 6 4 . 5 6 7 - 5 7 2 . 5 7 9 , 5 9 2

Sydhimmerlands M u s e u m , Hobro 1 1 1 , 1 1 7 Vejle M u s e u m

20,59,81-83

Viking Ship M u s e u m , Roskilde 2 , 6 , 9 , 5 5 9 Zoologisk M u s e u m , Copenhagen 591

13-14,88,

Sweden Danderyds forsamling 464 Domkyrkoforsamlingen, Skara 477Goteborgs arkeologiska museum, Gothenburg 4

Finland

Gotlands fornsal, Visby 485

Satakunnan museo. Fori (Bjdmeborg) 21

Kulturen, Lund 1 8 - 1 9 , 2 4 , 6 1 - 6 2 , 6 9 - 7 0 , 4 1 9 , 4 3 5 ,

Suomen kansallismuseo - Finlands nationalmuseum

561-562,573,577,586,589,596-597.602,613

Helsinki 22,39, 200-215, 2 I 7~^37. 240, 495-496, 53 6 . 5 5 8

Kungliga myntkabinettet, Stockholm

Suomen merimuseo - Finlands sjohistoriska museum,

423-424,426,552,554-555

Helsinki 7

Lunds universitets historiska museum 423,474

143,153,307,

Riksarkivet, Stockholm 508,515 T h e Faroe Islands

Sigtuna museums

Foroya Fomminnissavn, Torshavn 3 1 5 - 3 2 3

582-584,598

498,505,531,553,560,576,578,

Skara stifts- och landsbibliotek 511 Greenland Grwilands Nationalmuseum o g Arkiv, N u u k 342,434

Statens historiska museum, Stockholm i , 1 2 , 2 7 , 3 1 , 4 3 - 4 4 . 47,49,51,72,80,95,101,103-104,119-121,125-127, 132-135.143.151.175-177.179.181-182,185-186,190, 1 9 6 , 2 4 2 , 2 4 4 - 2 4 5 . 3 1 3 - 3 1 4 . 4 i 1 . 4 1 4 . 4 4 ° . 449-450,

452~453» 455» 45», 461-463.469.473.4 s 6 .49-49*. 5«>.

Ireland

532.535.537.581.585

National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 243,354-358,363,

Uppsala universitetsbibliotek 512

386-398,404-406,408,431,593-595

Uppsala universitets M u s e u m 497 Isle of M a n

Aland

Manx Museum, Douglas 367

Alands museum, Mariehamn 216

Latvia Latvijas Vestures Muzejs, Riga 247-248,252

Europe and C a n a d a

Vestures Instituts, Riga 249-250 Canada

Poland

Canadian Parks Service, Atlantic Region, Halifax 345-346

IH K M PAN-Warsaw 254-259 Russia

England

Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaz, St. Petersburg 268-279,

T h e Bishop of Durham 369

291-294,304-305,308

T h e British Library, London 412

Gosudarstvennyj Istoriceskij M u z e j , Moscow 295-303,306,

T h e Trustees of the British M u s e u m , London 361-362,

309-310

364-365,407,413,418,420,428-430,600,611,614-615

IIMK - Institut Istorii Materialnoj Kultury, St. Peters-

Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral 368

burg 280-283,285-287

Derby M u s e u m 352

Novgorod skij Gosudarstvennyj M u z e j 284, 288-290

M . D . O ' H a r a Collection 427 M u s e u m of London 416 T h e Natural History M u s e u m , London 353 T h e Yorkshire M u s e u m , York York City Council

37 2 ~373»

371,374,382,385,409

3 7 5 - 3 * '»

383-384.399~4 0 2 >

43* Estonia A j a l o o Instituut, Tallinn 251,253

Germany Archaologisches Landesmuseum, Schleswig 4 8 , 5 5 - 5 7 , 6 0 , 66,73,86-87,96-98,105,171,187,189,199,503,566,575 Kulturhistorisches M u s e u m , Straisund 261-262, 265 Landesmuseum fur Vorgeschichte, Dresden 263

.

M u s e u m fur Ur- und Friihgeschichte, Schwerin 264 Munzkabinett der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin 260 Zentralinstitut fur A l t e Geschichte und Archaologie,

France

Berlin 260

Archives departementales de la Seine-Maritime, Rouen 437

Ukraine

Archives departementales de Saone-et-Loire, M a c o n 350

Gosudarstvennyj Istoriceskij M u z e j , Kiev 311

Archives nationales, Paris 438

Odesskij Archeologiceskij M u z e j , Odessa 312

Bibliotheque municipale de Rouen 436 Bibliotheque nationale, Paris 3 5 1 . 4 3 9 Direction des Antiquites d'lle-de-France 349 M u s e e departemental des Antiquites de Seine-Maritime, Rouen 366,403,603 M u s e e des Antiquites nationales, St.-Germain-en-Laye 360 M u s e e Dobree, Nantes 347 M u s e e du Louvre, Paris 599,608-609 Musee, Saint-Brieuc 359

Preface — Vikings and sagas

Jonas Kristjansson

Documentary sources for die Viking A g e fall into two categories according to their origin. There are the written sources from the homelands of the Vikings and those from the countries they visited. In the latter they were usually not welcome. Churches and monasteries were often the goals o f these Scandinavian raiders and, since the writers of history were usually men of the d o t h , they found it hard to describe in sufficiently vigorous terms the viciousness and destructiveness of the Vikings. These latter sources are mostly brief entries in annals, but towards the end of the Viking A g e some of the foreign sources become slightly more expansive. M o s t Scandinavian stories about Vikings come from Iceland, but there are also some which are Norwegian and Danish. These are in poetry and prose (from Sweden we only have brief runic inscriptions). T h e poems are attributed to named scalds w h o lived during the Viking A g e and it is thought that most o f the attributions are correct. T h e date of some of the stanzas, however, is not certain and some are demonstrably m u c h later than they pretend to be. T h e old Scandinavian poems are, like the foreign annals, short and p i t h y — h a r d l y more than enumerations of battles and other acts of war, and the actual information is often enmeshed in a richly ornamented scaldic language. Old Scandinavian poetry is, however, a valuable contemporary source, as far as it goes. Indeed the poems survive because the saga writers used them as sources and absorbed them into their works as

Fig. 1. Kringla, written c. 1260, the earliest surviving manuscript of the Icelander Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla with sagas of Norwegian kings. Cat no. 526.

proof o f historical veracity. A famous example o f this is Snorri Scuriuson's c o m m e n t on the value of scaldic poems as source material in the prologue to his history Hdmskringla ( T h e G r d e a f the World) from c 1230 AD.

many of these sagas the heroes 'go viking' and today scholarly literature often calls them Viking sagas. T h e fornaldarso-

But the Icelandic sagas are by far the most extensive and

gur were intended as entertainment—veracity was not of

colourful stories we have about Viking exploits and Viking

primary importance. T h e y are branches o n the great tree of

life. T h e y fall into several categories according to literary

Icelandic saga literature and they have had a n immense

style as well as historical value. Those sagas which take place

influence in shaping the popular conception of the Viking

in the Viking A g e i t s e l f — t h e so-called sagas of the Icelanders

Age.

and bags'sagas* which describe events in the tenth century

Naturally the Icelandic sagas tell of many things other

and in the beginning o f the e l e v e n t h — w e r e , however, not

than Viking raids. T h e y also tell of the lives o f people at

w i f u e n d o w n until the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

h o m e in the Scandinavian countries; in Iceland and N o r -

A n d a k h o u g h many sagas are based o n old poetry and tales

way, in Sweden and Denmark, o n the Faroes, the Orkneys

which were passed o n through generations, it is d e a r that

and in Greenland. Taken as a whole, the sagas paint a rich

m u c h may have changed along the way. A third group comprise the so-called fomaltprngur.

and varied picture o f the Scandinavian past. In this picture They

one of the distinctive features is the description of daring

take place in legendary times, mainly before the settlement

Viking expeditions, seen in the golden glow which distance

o f I c e l a n d — t h a t B if it is possible to date the action at all. In

lends to time and space.

18

Preface- Vikings and sagas

Fig. 2. 8th-gth cent. Hiberno-Saxon mount found in a Viking Age grave at Myklebostad, Norway. Cat no. 128.

A short tale in Egil Skallagrimssons saga encapsulates the

Njals saga is the greatest and most famous of all the sagas of

view from the High Middle A g e s , looking back to the

the Icelanders. T h e first part of the saga tells of Gunnarr

glorious Viking A g e . Egil was an early developer and of a

from Hlidarendi. H e excelled in all sports; he could jump his

revengeful disposition and when he was seven years old he

own height in full battle array, backwards no less than

became angry with a playmate and hit him o n the head with

forwards. T h e story of such a hero would, naturally, be

an axe, so that it stuck in the brain. His father was dis-

incomplete if it did not tell of his exploits o n Viking expedi-

pleased, but his mother said that there were the makings of

tions. A t an early age he travelled, together with his brother

a Viking in Egil. H e then spoke this verse:

Kolskeggr, from Iceland with a Norwegian sea captain called Hallvardr. W h e n they reached N o r w a y G u n n a r r said that

My mother told me men must and would buy me a good fast ship and finest oars to fight with Viking men; to stand tall in the prow, to steer the vessel well, to hold for harbour and hack down man after man.

he wanted to go raiding and get wealth. They obtained two longships from Hallvardr's kinsman Olvir, w h o lived out east by the G o t a river. W h e n they set course down the river they met two brothers, Vandill and Karl, w h o were also steering each his ship, and these brothers at once prepared to attack: (Transl. C. Fell and J. Lucas)

19

H f Part of the great Gnezdovo hoard. Russia, with jewellery, a sword tad 2 oml brooches. toth cent Cat no. jof

"Gunnarr drew his s w o r d — i t was a fine weapon that Ohrir

their leader's courage, and each one fought as hard as he

had given h i m — a n d without pausing to put on his helmet

could. Gunnarr laid about him, hacking and hurling, killing

he jumped on to the prow of Vandill's ship and cut down

men on all sides, and Kolskeggr gave him brave support.

die first man he m e t Meanwhile, Karl had laid his ship

Karl had joined his brother Vandill on his ship, and there

against Gunnarr s on the other side, and now he hurled a

they fought side by side all day. A t one stage, Kolskeggr was

spear direcdy across it, aiming at Gunnan-'s waist. Gunnarr

taking a rest aboard Gunnarr's ship. Gunnarr noticed this

saw the spear coming, whirled round faster than the eye

and said to him, "You have been kinder to others than to

could follow, caught the spear in flight with his left band,

yourself today, for you have quenched their thirst forever.'

and hurled it back at Karl's ship. The man who was in its

Kolskeggr took a bowl full of mead, drained it, and returned

way fefl dead. Kollskeggr took hold of an anchor and heaved

to the fight Eventually Gunnarr and Kolskeggr boarded the

it into Karl's ship; one of the flukes smashed through the

ship defended by Vandill and Karl. Kolskeggr worked his

hull, and the dark-blue sea came pouring in. T h e crew had

way down one side of i t Gunnarr down the other. Vandill

to scramble off their vessel into the other ships. Gunnarr

came to meet Gunnarr and struck at him, but the sword hit

now leapt back to his own ship, and HaDvardr drew a o n g -

his shield and stuck there fast; with a wrench of the shield,

sade him. A tremendous batde developed. The men had seen

Gunnarr snapped the sword at the hilt. Then Gunnarr

20

Prtfoct- Vikings and iagos

Fig. 5. Bamberg casket Scandinavian shrine from c. 1000. Now in Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, Germany. Cf. cat no. 267.

struck back; to Vandill it seemed as if there were three

courtly romance. Njdls saga, which was written shortly

swords coming at him at once, ai\d he did not know where

before 1300, lies on the threshold between the older histori-

to defend himself. The sword sliced through both his legs.

cal sagas and the wildly exaggerated sagas of the fourteenth

Then Kolskeggr ran Karl through with a spear. After that

century. Its author has made use of many older written

they seized much booty."

sources and has to some extent sought to tell of actual

(Transl. M . Magnusson and H. Palsson)

events. The saga seems realistic on the surface, but, if read carefully, it turns out that much in it is unlikely and could

After this Gunnarr and Hallvardr spent two summers on

hardly have taken place in real l i f e — t h e stories of

Viking raids. The saga describes a great batde which they

Gunnarr's and Kolskeggr's Viking expeditions demonstrate

fought out east near Estonia. They won a glorious victory

this clearly. But many of the sagas are great works of

and later went to Norway with a large booty.

literature, and it was widely believed that their contents

T h e kings' sagas and the sagas of the Icelanders are history writing by the yardstick of their age. But the Viking

were probably true. Later ages became even more certain of the veracity of

A g e became more and more distant, and the taste of the

the sagas, although dissenting voices were sometimes heard,

Late Middle Ages demanded increasingly exaggeration and

not least in the age of enlightenment in the eightheenth

21

century. In the nineteenth century, however, the romantic cultivation of the sag as came into full bloom. Young Norwegians and Icelanders read the sagas with enthusiasm, and sought strength from them in their struggle for their peoples' national independence. In Denmark Saxo's Gesta Danorum ( T h e Deeds of the Danes') was also read. Poets, authors and painters sought in this literature motives for their books and paintings—N.F.S. Grundtvig wrote Scenes from the Decline of Heroism in Scandinavia (1809), Elias Tegner wrote Frithiofo saga (1825) and Henrik Ibsen wrote The Warriors at Helgeland (1857). But with the new and rigorous critical approach to sources in the second half of the nineteenth century, the belief in the high historical value of the Icelandic sagas began to falter, and in the early twentieth century it received its death blow. Historians today use sagas with great caution and prefer not to believe them unless they are supported by other, more reliable, sources. T h e same applies to several other groups of sources about Vikings. For example, it has been observed that foreign accounts of the Vikings' raids and the size of their armies are wildly exaggerated. So, while the sagas give a highly idealised picture of the Vikings, the foreign annals often do the opposite. Scholars today try to balance the various sources against each other and to evaluate each piece of information concerning the situation which caused it to be written down in the first place. Further, archaeology has provided a whole new group of evidence, which tells of other aspects of the Viking A g e — t e c h n o l o g y , for example, and trade and daily life. But the Icelandic sagas are still of great importance for our view of the Vikings and the Viking A g e . This literature, which so splendidly dramatizes the events of the Viking A g e , is to many the essential basis for their conception of the period. W i t h o u t them what would we make of the discovery of Iceland and Greenland and the journeys to America? W h a t would we believe about the unification of Norway? W h a t would be left of scaldic poetry? T h e great narrative art of the sagas created the picture of Upl

Madomakom Mogft M n

Mid nth cent Cat no. 462.

the Scandinavian Viking A g e and carried it forward through the centuries. This picture has provided Scandinavia with a national heritage and has made an impact far beyond its borders. It is a part of the national consciousness and it has lent strength in adversity and inspiration to new literary masterpieces. T h e portrait of the Vikings, as presented by the sagas, is exaggerated and embellished, but it is imbued with its o w n vigour and it Is a p a n of a distinctive and outstanding literature.

H$. 7. fond of the stave-church atM Norway. Mid nth cent Cat no. 441.

™

M

r

-

tttmp n f st^s

c e n t u r y . In t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , h o w e v e r , the romantic cultivation o f t h e sagas c a m e i n t o full b l o o m . Y o u n g N o r w e gians a n d Icelanders read the sagas w i t h e n t h u s i a s m , a n d s o u g h t strength f r o m t h e m in their struggle f o r their peoples' national i n d e p e n d e n c e . In D e n m a r k S a x o ' s Oesta Danorum ( T h e Deeds o f the Danes') w a s also read. Poets, a u t h o r s and painters s o u g h t in this literature motives for their b o o k s and p a i n t i n g s — N . F . S . G r u n d t v i g w r o t e Scenes from the Decline of Heroism in Scandinavia (1809), Elias T e g n e r w r o t e Frithiofs saga (1825) a n d Henrik Ibsen w r o t e The Warriors at Helgeland (1857). B u t w i t h the n e w a n d rigorous critical approach t o sources in the second half o f the nineteenth century, the belief in t h e high historical v a l u e o f the Icelandic sagas began to falter, and in t h e early twentieth c e n t u r y it received its death blow. Historians today use sagas w i t h great caution and prefer n o t t o believe t h e m unless they are supported by other, m o r e reliable, sources. T h e s a m e applies t o several o t h e r groups o f sources a b o u t W o n g s . F o r example, it has been observed that foreign accounts o f the V i k i n g s ' raids and the size o f their armies are wildly exaggerated. S o , while the sagas give a highly idealised picture o f the V i k i n g s , the foreign annals o f t e n do the opposite. Scholars today try t o balance the various sources against each o t h e r a n d t o evaluate each piece o f information c o n c e r n i n g the situation w h i c h caused it t o be written d o w n in the first place. Further, archaeology has provided a w h o l e n e w g r o u p o f evidence, w h i c h tells o f other aspects of the V i k i n g A g e — t e c h n o l o g y , for example, a n d trade and daily life. B u t the Icelandic sagas are still o f great importance for o u r view o f the V i k i n g s a n d the V i k i n g A g e . T h i s literature, w h i c h so splendidly dramatizes the events o f the V i k i n g A g e , is t o m a n y the essential basis for their conception of the period. W i t h o u t t h e m w h a t w o u l d w e m a k e o f the discovery o f Iceland and G r e e n l a n d and the journeys to A m e r i c a ? W h a t w o u l d w e believe a b o u t the unification of N o r w a y ? W h a t w o u l d be left o f scaldic poetry? T h e great narrative art of the sagas created the picture of SB 6. Madonna from Mosjo, Sweden. Mid 12th cent Cat no. 462.

the Scandinavian V i k i n g A g e and carried it forward through the centuries. T h i s picture has provided Scandinavia w i t h a national heritage and has m a d e a n impact far beyond its borders. It is a part of the national consciousness and it has lent strength in adversity and inspiration t o n e w literary masterpieces. T h e portrait o f the Vikings, as presented by the sagas, is exaggerated and embellished, but it is imbued w i t h its o w n vigour and it is a part o f a distinctive and outstanding literatui£.

Fig. 7. Portal of the stave-church atAl, Norway. Mid 12th cent. Cat no. 4

22

Introduction

Else Roesdahl and David M. Wilson

The Exhibition

many utilitarian objects of everyday life. This art had its

This exhibition tells a story of Scandinavia and its European

origins in a c o m m o n north-European animal ornament

connections from c 800 to 1200: a period which starts with

which had its roots in the late Roman Iron A g e , but it

the Viking A g e and leads into the full medieval period. It

developed its own character in Scandinavia. It attracted

depicts the culture and society of the North and also shows

many European influences and in the course of the 12th

how this vast geographical area, which at the beginning of

century was absorbed into the Scandinavian versions of

the period was almost unknown by other peoples, came to

Romanesque styles, best seen in wood carving in Norway

influence Europe, until it itself became a part of Christian

and stone sculpture in Sweden and Denmark. T h e exhibition does not underplay the drama of the

Europe. This period and its problems have never previously been dealt with as a whole. T h e exhibition and its accompanying book are intended to present a dramatic history and to show those important objects which shape our perception of the period. These objects come from Scandinavia and from all the places with which it had contacts. They comprise runestones, weapons, jewellery, gold hoards, coins, iron bars, parts of ships, animal bones, manuscripts of poems and narrative history, pagan burials, baptismal fonts, carved portals from stave churches, and much besides. Each object has its own historical significance, but can also be appreciated in its own

right

There have been many exhibitions and books about the Vikings, but this exhibition is something more than those. It depicts the history o f the foreign exploits of the Vikings, but also shows the Vikings and their successors in their homeland; that part o f Europe which lay in the far north, balanced between east and w e s t and which had its own identity, imagination and traditional culture. H i e history of Scandinavia is the history o f influences from all parts of the known w o r l d — f r o m A r a b i a to Greenland, from the Shannon to the V o l g a — a n d its reactions to them. Scandinavia possessed valuable economic resources, virtually all the necessities o f life: cattle, grain, fish, wool, iron, timber, furs and so on, many o f which were exported. This strong economic base enabled the countries of the N o r t h to absorb impulses from other lands and cultures which renewed and developed their o w n culture. T h e exhibition illustrates the formation of large nation states in Scandinavia through the combining and restructuring o f chieftainships and small kingdoms. It tells o f technical, economic and social developments, o f the introduction of Christianity, o f the establishment o f a literate culture, and of a world-renowned Scandinavian poetry and

V i k i n g / military and political exploits in foreign lands, nor their significance. It deals with the take-over of Normandy, the conquest of England, the setdement of completely new lands in the north Atlantic, the first Europeans in America, the trade routes through Russia and regular contacts with Byzantium. This is a history of close connections with alien political systems and religions, also of 12th-century conquests and crusades whereby Christianity was violendy imposed upon the Slav and Baltic countries.

Natural environment It is impossible to understand Scandinavia without realizing its enormous size and colossal natural resources. T h e distance between the North C a p e and the Danevirke—between northernmost N o r w a y and Denmark's southern boundary — i s roughly the same as the distance from the Danish border to Africa. Denmark is a green and rolling land with many islands, large and small. M o d e r n N o r w a y and Sweden are separated by high mountains. N o r w a y to the west is deeply cut by fjords, and along most of its coast a fringe of islands and skerries provide sheltered waters for shipping; green valleys relieve the mountain ridges. T o the east, in w h a t is now Sweden, there is almost impenetrable forest interspersed with great tracts of rich agricultural land. Finland is also covered by enormous forests, dotted with innumerable lakes but also with good agricultural land. Iceland, far t o the west in the A d a n t i c O c e a n , has active volcanoes, warm springs and geysers, and barren mountains, but, as in the Faroes, there are rich pastures. For the most part Greenland is covered by glaciers, but animal husbandry is possible o n the shores of the fjords of the south-west coast. T h e climate varies dramatically. N o r w a y , Sweden and Finland are c u t by the A r c t i c Circle. T h e G u l f Stream

literature—the eddaic poetry, scaldic poetry, sagas, and

modifies the climate of the Norwegian coast and the A d a n -

histories. It also tells of pre-Christian religion and o f the

tic islands, but in winter large parts o f Finland and Sweden,

lively and imaginative decorative art which adorned so

the N o r w e g i a n valleys and the w h o l e o f northern Scan-

Fig. i. The Gokstad ship, Norway. The ship is 23.3m long and 5.25m wide. Displayed in the Viking Ship Museum, Bygdjsy, Oslo.

Fig. 2. The town qfRibe on the west coast of Denmark, from the sea. dinavia are covered in snow. S o in winter, overland travel by

prehensive history. Scandinavia's o w n Viking age must

sledge, ski and skates was easy and rapid, but ships were the

primarily be understood from other sources: archaeological

most important means of summer transport throughout the

discoveries o f houses, farms, towns, fortresses, household

North as a whole, and the sea bound the countries together.

equipment, provisions, tools, imported goods, burials and so

Outstanding ships and skilful sailors enabled Nordic mer-

on; and from place-names and oral traditions which were

chants, warriors and farmers to travel the seas, both east and

first written down in the 12th and 13th centuries.

west, in search of rich markets, great wealth and new land. It is for good reason that the ship has become the symbol o f the Viking age.

The Sources Throughout the Viking age some o f the foreign exploits of

W i t h the arrival of Christianity in the 10th and 1 i t h centuries, and through the influence of the C h u r c h by means of literacy and d o s e r international contacts, Scandinavia at last began t o reveal itself. It does so particularly in written sources, culminating c 1200 in the Latin work Gesta Danorum (The Deeds o f the Danes) by Saxo Grammaticus,

the N o r t h m e n were recorded in chronicles and other works

and, slightly later, in the Icelander Snorri Sturluson's works

compiled in France, G e r m a n y , England, Ireland, Russia,

o n Nordic poetry, m y t h o l o g y and Norwegian kings: the

Byzantium and the Islamic Caliphate. But they tell us very

Edda and Heimskringla. T h e development of the church also

Tittle about conditions in Scandinavia itself. Frankish

stimulated the production o f charters, laws, lives of saints

sources mention military confrontations between Char-

and other documents.

lemagne's Franks and the Danes along the Danish borders.

T h e Scandinavians had their o w n script, the runic

Economic and social structures in north N o r w a y and a

alphabet, with its roots in the centuries immediately after

journey in the Baltic Sea were briefly described to King

the birth o f Christ. Runes are best k n o w n from stones with

Alfred the G r e a t of Wessex c 890. There are also stories of

commemorative inscriptions, dating from the 10th to 12th

Christian missionaries in Sweden and Denmark, and a gen-

centuries. From these we gain glimpses of individuals and

eral description o f the N o r t h in about 1070 written by the

their exploits, o f the structure o f society and the way of life.

G e r m a n d e r i c A d a m o f Bremen. There are scattered refer-

Finds from excavations in Bergen, Sigtuna and other towns

ences to dynasties, kings, and dramatic events, but n o com-

show that from about 1000 runes were also c o m m o n l y used

Fig. j. The izth-cent church atKinn, Nordfjord. in the diocese of Bergen, Norway. in daily l i f e — c a r v e d o n s t i c k s — f o r short messages, trade

tions at home: threat of famine, political problems, exile,

agreements, curses, and poems. Nevertheless, written infor-

poverty, lack o f land. W e know but little of these. A large

mation about most of Scandinavia is very scarce from before

part of the world lay undefended, presenting opportunities

i zoo, and historical developments in the separate countries

for power and glory, gold, adventure, new lands. Unpop-

were by n o means similar. W i t h o u t material remains our

ulated islands in the North Atlantic—Iceland, Faroes, Green-

knowledge of the N o r t h would be one-sided and very limit-

l a n d — w e r e also attractive to some, and historians about

ed. T h e steadily increasing number of excavated finds and,

1 zoo, living at a time of massively increasing central power,

from the later part of the period, churches and other build-

thought that they knew the reason for the emigrations to

ings together with many decorated objects preserved in

Iceland three-hundred years earlier, reaction to Harald

churches, illuminate our knowledge immeasurably.

Fairhair's unification of Norway.

800-1200

Viking raids brought enormous wealth to the N o r t h along

T h e Vikings shook Europe, but the reasons'for their spec-

with new impulses which were to provide the background

T h e Scandinavians not only took, they also gave. T h e

tacular expansion will probably never be satisfactorily

for radical changes in Nordic society in the following period.

explained. T h e r e m u s t have been many reasons. Even before

Their influences o n Europe include their language, personal

the Viking A g e , Scandinavians were in contact with the

names, and place-names, all of which modified those of

outside world, particularly as merchants. T h e y saw great

England, Ireland and Normandy. N o r m a n d y acquired a

opportunities for plunder and seized the chance to gain

Scandinavian ruling dynasty and a political system from

profit, at first f r o m the monasteries scattered along the

which base it became one of the greatest powers in 1 i d i -

coasts of western Europe. T h e n came devastating plunder

and izth-century Europe. T h e rulers of the Russian king-

and ransom exacted from markets, towns and kingdoms.

dom with its capital in K i e v — t o become the centre of the

This led to the acquisition o f power over whole regions; t o

early Russian s t a t e — w e r e also of Nordic origin. England's

settlement, and t o the establishment of international trad-

unification into one kingdom in the m i d - i o t h century was

ing stations. Part o f the background of the individuals w h o

due to the southern English kings' systematic political strug-

took part in raids and emigrations may have been condi-

gle against the Scandinavian kingdoms which were estab-

27

Fig f The Piraeus lion. On the shoulders of this marble lion from the Athenian port of the Piraeus a Scandinavian traveller inscribed long looping bands of runes, as on the Swedish rune-stones. The

28

text is illegible, and both runes and bands are hardly visible today. The lion was brought to Venice as loot in 1687. Photograph from c. 1854.

Fig. 5. The stone from St Paul's churchyard, London, is decorated in Scandinavian style and has a runic inscription on one side. The paint is preserved: dark red, black-blue and white on a gesso base. This watercolour records these colours. Early nth cent Cf. cat no. 416.

lished there a hundred years before. M a n y places where

rate. Denmark, N o r w a y and Sweden were rapidly becoming

Scandinavians settled are still distinctive through their

kingdoms of a European type. T h e Christian church, an

structures of ownership, land-use, or political systems; Nor-

international economy and many towns were increasing

mandy, for example, was an administrative unit of France

factors in society. By 1 zoo Iceland had been a republic for

up to the Revolution, and the Isle of M a n still has its own

300 years, and had laid the ground work for its own ver-

parliament. In Ireland most of the large towns, such as

nacular written history. T h e farming community in distant

Dublin, Wexford, Waterford and Limerick, were founded by

Greenland was also politically independent. T h e Faroes

the Vikings.

belonged to the Norwegian kingdom, as did the Northern

T h e last great V i k i n g raid o n western Europe was the

and Western Isles off the Scottish coast. Finland was

Norwegian king Harald Hardrada's attempt to conquer

becoming linked to the west, but continued to have its o w n

England. H e was defeated and killed at the battle of Stam-

culture and language.

ford Bridge in 1066. A f t e r this, the Nordic kings were fully

T h e romantic view of the Vikings, based o n foreign

occupied in organizing their own kingdoms and also in

written sources and native heroic literature, played an

waging wars in Scandinavia and around the Baltic Sea, wars

important role in Nordic and G e r m a n national ideologies in

which differed little from the Viking raids. T h e kingdoms of

the 19th century and later, and still colours the picture of

the N o r t h were finding the form and structure which would

Scandinavia's past. T h i s exhibition tries to give a more

serve t h r o u g h o u t the rest of the Middle A g e s , with kings

balanced picture, showing that, between 800 and 1 zoo, the

and churches, privileged great landowners, farmers, mer-

Nordic countries developed in ways which were really not so

chants, craftsmen, and towns and monasteries, but also with

different from those of other lands. A t the beginning of this

many landless peasants.

period the Scandinavians were pagans but this does not

T h e dramatic reports of the sudden descent o n western

mean that they were barbarians; they were just as cultivated

Europe in the years around 800 have long signified the

and just as brutal as their contemporaries elsewhere. T h e

beginning of the V i k i n g A g e , but for its true origins we

achievements of the period in literature, in art, technology

must look back into the previous century. T h e year 1 zoo

and politics can today be easily appreciated both in them-

does not have the same mystical significance as 800, but it

selves and as reminders of an important and dramatic

does mark the end o f a n era and a new beginning. By then

period in the history of Scandinavia, a time w h e n the people

much o f the old Scandinavian culture had become history,

in the N o r t h were influential in changing Europe, and a

and European ideals were gaining ground at a n increasing

time w h e n the northern lands became Scandinavia.

29—

Scandinavia and Europe

Coin bearing the name and head o/Sven Forkbeard, struck in Denmark c. 90S on die model of English silver coins which were used in massive quantities in payment o/Danegeld to the Vikings. Similar coins were also struck by King Olaf Tryggvasson of Norway, by King Olof Skotkonung in Sweden and by the Scandinavian King Sigtryg Silkbeard In Dublin. Cat no. 423.

The Scandinavian kingdoms

Else Roesda

T h e h o m e l a n d s of the V i k i n g s lay in the far north of

Sweden, however, are m o r e closely related with the e a s t —

Europe, in the vast and widely differing lands w h i c h today

with the Baltic, Finland and Russia.

m a k e u p the kingdoms of D e n m a r k . N o r w a y and Sweden. It is a vast area, encompassing rough mountainous regions,

V i k i n g raids, trade expeditions and migrations from Denmark, N o r w a y and Sweden were directed chiefly towards

fertile valleys, large forests, lakes and green plains. In sum-

these different areas. Innovations from western Europe,

mer there are long light nights and the north of Scandinavia

such as Christianity, Latin writing, towns, the creation of

experiences the midnight sun. T h e winters, however, are

kingdoms and the use o f coinage usually reached Denmark,

long and dark. In mid-winter the sun does not even rise in

which was closest, first. T h e n N o r w a y . Sweden was situated

the north o f Scandinavia, but the darkness is tempered by

further away and c a m e last in line; but it, on the other hand,

the whiteness o f the s n o w (cf. maps pp. 430-2).

had closer connections with eastern Europe, Byzantium and

Ever since the Stone A g e the w h o l e of Denmark and large parts of present-day N o r w a y and Sweden have been inha-

the Caliphate. This involved contact with mighty realms and cultures, and access to even greater riches than those o f

bited by people whose e c o n o m y has chiefly been based o n

western Europe. In the East there were many religions, and

agriculture and livestock in various combinations. In Nor-

when Christianity was introduced into Russia in 988 it

way's coastal and fjord areas the f a n n i n g settlements

came in the G r e e k O r t h o d o x version. Sweden did not

reached a latitude of a b o u t 70°. more or less where Troms0

become Christian until around 1100 (from western Europe),

is now situated. T h e Saami (Lapps) lived to the north of

N o r w a y in the early decades of the eleventh century, and

this; they also lived inland further to the south and in

Denmark earlier, a b o u t 965. In each case royal power within

northern Sweden. T h e y had their o w n culture and language,

the kingdom was consolidated in close interaction with the

and a l s o — i n p a n at l e a s t — t h e i r o w n economic structure

new, decisive, element in s o c i e t y — t h e Christian, Roman

which was essentially based on hunting and fishing. In these

Catholic C h u r c h . By the year 1200 Denmark, N o r w a y and

areas the borders were indistinct and central authority was

Sweden were all established as national states in accordance

weak for many centuries after the rest o f N o r w a y and

with western European patterns. T h e Finnish, Baltic and

Sweden had become kingdoms. But there was always con-

Slav tribes living o n the other side of the G u l f o f Bothnia

tact between the Saami and the Scandinavian formers. In

and the Baltic almost all subscribed to heathen religions

the south, where Denmark shared its borders with the

during the Viking A g e ; they were converted to Christianity

Frisians and the Saxons. Scandinavia was clearly limited and

during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in p a n as a

defended by the great linear fortifications k n o w n collectively

result o f Scandinavian crusades.

as the Danevirke (fig. 2); this same border was maintained until 1864. T h e Saxons and the Frisians in the course of the eighth century had been incorporated into the mighty Frankish realm and forced to adopt Christianity.

In the Viking A g e the Scandinavians spoke more o r less the same language, " t h e Danish tongue", which along with a sizeable collection o f personal names was carried to Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, as well as to the

Denmark. Norway and Sweden gradually came into being

Orkneys and Shedands, when those regions were settled or

and their boundaries began t o be defined in the period from

conquered by Scandinavians in the course of the ninth and

approximately 800 to 1200. Their formation took place in a

tenth centuries. T h e sea, ships of outstanding quality, cap-

time of cultural, economic and political ferment, and the

able seamen and traders and many natural resources which

development advanced separately and at different rates

provided the raw material for trade, all contributed to bind

depending for example o n the very different scale of the

this enormous area together. It provided the basis for what

countries concerned and the natural conditions prevailing

was in many respects a c o m m o n culture shared by Scan-

m them, as well as o n their interface with other regions,

dinavia and the new territories in the North Atlantic, which

conditioned by geography. Denmark is placed like a gateway

throughout most of the Viking A g e was dearly differenti-

between western Europe and the Baltic region, and is open

ated from that of the rest o f Europe. This c o m m o n culture is

both co the south and w e s t — t o the Slav areas of the

seen not only in language, but also in religion, writing, art,

southern U b c , to G e r m a n y and to England. Norway turns

scaldic poetry, women's clothing, ornaments and more.

to the west and s o u t h — t o the Atlantic O c e a n , the British bles and the coastal areas of western Europe. Large parts of

During the Viking A g e and early Middle Ages, the differences between the Scandinavian lands and the rest o f

Fig. 2. The Danevirke, Denmark s southern boundary. The town ofSchleswig cm be seen in the background. Europe, as well as many of the distinctions within Scan-

Saxo's major Latin work from about 1200, Gesta Danorum

dinavia between the different countries themselves, were

(The Deeds of the Danes) (cat. no. 529-30). It begins:

gradually reduced as a result of the dramatic expansion of

"Because other nations are in the habit of vaunting the

contacts with the rest of the world. The introduction of

fame of their achievements and joy in recollecting their

Christianity, and all that accompanied it, became the distin-

ancestors, Absalon, Archbishop of Denmark, had always

guishing and decisive feature of "Europeanization", but the

been Bred with a passionate zeal to glorify our fatherland.

Viking military expeditions and the rapid expansion of trade

He would not allow it to g o without some noble document

were also of great significance. Christianity, in all these

of this k i n d . . ( t r a n s l a t i o n : P. Fisher).

countries, was not imposed from outside, and its practices, including its organization, was adapted as it developed in

A little later, about 1220, the Icelander Snorri Sturluson wrote a text-book on scaldic poetry, Edda (cat. no. 521)* -

order to fit local customs and traditions and new needs and

Scaldic poetry was a particular Nordic form of poetry with

opportunities. This also applied to other forms of influence

very complicated rules and a stock of words which was based

firom Europe. Throughout the whole of the Viking Age, and

inter alia on a knowledge of the old Scandinavian gods.

also into the first centuries thereafter, Scandinavia and the

Snorri wrote in his mother-tongue, Saxo in Latin, but in

Atlantic territories had the political, economic and cultural

both cases the impetus for their writing was their feeling

sireagih to choose and adapt what was new to suit their

that they were living though a time of great change. A s the

own conditions.

new ideas flowed in, so the great events of the past and the

The cultural expressions of the rime were based on a

qualities of the home culture had to be maintained and

strong consciousness of their own distinctive qualities and a

cultivated, and demonstrated to the surrounding world. It is

pride in them. This is dearly expressed in the preface to

in large measure through the great literature which was

Iht Scandinavian kingdo

Fig. j. The chieftain's centre, Borg, Lofoten, Norway. The excavation of the Sim-long house shows as a brown patch on the left The Atlantic is in the background. Cf. cat no. 154. created in Denmark, Norway and Iceland in this time of

country had taken the name of its people, the Danes, but

ferment that our knowledge of the old Scandinavian culture

the meaning of the second component (-mark) is contested.

(including that of the pre-Christian culture) has been pre-

Scaldic poetry and sagas relate that important parts of

served.

Norway were united under one king, Harald Hirfager

The kingdoms

event in this process was his victory in the sea-battle of

Very litde is known about the political geography of Scan-

Hafsfjord, near present-day Stavanger. T h e stabilization

dinavia at the beginning of the Viking Age, but it is clear

and expansion of the Norwegian kingdom was extremely

that as elsewhere in Europe there were many kingdoms in

lengthy and dramatic. In this process King Olaf Haraldsson

(Finehair), at the end of the ninth century. T h e decisive

fluctuating power-constellations and without fixed borders.

(later St. Olaf, killed in 1030) occupied a key position. T h e

Unification and stabilization took place by means of many

name Norway means "north-way", and owes its origins to

internal conflicts between kings, chieftains and regions, and

the sailing-route along the length of the country's west coast.

in each place the Church came to play a central role. Denmark (that is present-day Denmark together with

T h e unification of Sweden came late, in the course of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It happened as a result of

German South Schleswig and the present Swedish prov-

lengthy power-struggles between leading families in two of

inces of Skane and Halland) was possibly unified under a

the largest 'regions', Ostergotland and Vastergotland. But

single king even before 800. There is virtually no evidence as

the basis of royal power came t o be the rich Svealand in the

to how unification took place, but by die middle of the

Malar region; it was from here that Sweden took its name.

tenth century, in the reign of Harald Bluetooth, Denmark had emerged clearly as a single realm with a single king. The

In none of these cases did the course of creation of a kingdom run smoothly. There were periods when one king-

35

Fig. £ Burial mounds, Bom, Norway. Scaldk poetry and sagas associate Bone vMk Viking Age Norwegian kings. Q. cat no. 169.

dom or another was again split up into several parts, and

which were established after the conquests in England and

there were many wars between kings and many civil wars; in

Ireland stable. Gradually they fell under the rule of English

the period 1134-67 four Danish Idngs, eight Norwegian

or Irish kings. Alone among the Viking territories in west-

kings and three Swedish kings were killed. A t times a king-

ern Europe, Normandy developed strongly. In 1066 Duke

dom or a part of It had to submit to a king or an overlord

William conquered the whole of England and proved able to

from another Scandinavian country or, in the case of Den-

maintain his rule there.

mark. from Germany. But throughout the Middle Ages Denmark tended to be the dominant power in Scandinavia.

When a king conquered a neighbouring country or a part of it his new subjects had to pay taxes and to undertake

It was the smallest country, the most densely populated, and

military service—as long as his reign lasted. But, as the

it was where central power was at its strongest.

Scandinavian kingdoms progressed towards unity and

Around the year 1200, however, the borders began to be

greater internal organization, the opportunities for national

fixed. National identity was by then so rooted in all three

expansion and the consolidation of conquests grew. For

countries, and internal conditions so stable, that each had

short periods, 1018-35 and 1040-42, after the Danish con-

acquired an archbishopric—respectively in Lund (1103),

quest of England, the two countries had a joint king, and as

Trondheim (1152/53) and Uppsala (1164). Each country by

a consequence of the Viking A g e settlements and conquests

then also had a royal s a i n t — a canonised king: S t Knut In

the Faroe Islands, the Orkney and Shedand Islands, the

Denmark, St. Olaf in Norway and St. Erik in Sweden (fig.

Hebrides and the Isle of M a n came under the Norwegian

S). The Orkney Idands, which were formally an earldom

crown. But Greenland and Iceland remained republics until

under Norwegian rule, had a canonised earl, S t Magnus,

those countries, in 1261 and 1262-64 respectively, recog-

while the republic of Iceland had two bishop-saints, S t

nized Norwegian sovereignty and accepted allegiance to the

Th6riak and S t J6n (cf. c a t no. 463,534-7)* Denmark,

Norwegian crown.

Norway, Iceland and Orkney also had written national histories ( c a t no. 520.525,529-30). The Viking raids In Europe in the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth century were not national ventures.

A f t e r the Viking A g e , expansionist aims were chiefly directed towards the Baltic region. The expeditions to a great extent followed the pattern of earlier ones, but often bore the tide of crusades and were led by King and Church.

A s a rule (hey were carried o u t by independent and loocely-

In the second half of the twelfth century large parts of the

organized groups, often led by members of the royal family

southern Baltic coast came under Danish rule for a while, as

or by other chieftains w h o had lost their support in their

did Estonia (in 1219). Sweden made no territorial conquests

home territory. N o r were the independent Viking kingdoms

at that time, but Swedish interests in Finland grew and

Fig. 5. Harald Bluetooth V great rune-stone at Jelling, Denmark, c. 96$.Norway'. The third face of the stone is Illustrated on p. 153. Cf. cat no. 193 The Inscription on one face, which says, among other things, that he had The stone on the right was raised by King Gorm In memory of his queen, won Denmark for himself, continues beneath the Great Beast with 'and Thyre. became the basis for crusades and later conquests which

Kings and the organization of their realms

were to have lasting significance. Norway consolidated its

Throughout the Viking A g e and the early Middle A g e s royal

formal sovereignty over the Atlantic and Scottish islands.

power and the organization of kingdoms underwent rapid

King M a g n u s " B a r e f o o t " himself went on several expedi-

development, but it would be wrong to conceive of the

tions in these regions, seeking silver, glory and adventure

Viking kings purely as leaders of the army. Their chief

and consolidating his power over them. In 1103 he was

responsibility was to maintain order in the country. W i t h -

killed in Ireland at the age of about 30; according to the saga

out order society could not function. This was the reason

he said: " K i n g s are for glory, not for long life".

why royal power was accepted.

37

— —

SMianiiWImpr

Fig 6. The Vikingfortress ofTrelieborg, Denmark. C. 980. Cf. cat no. 113. T h e king was the military leader o f the country when there was a threat of attack from outside, and the people

trolled by the king. T h e fortifications of the Viking A g e were collective defence-works, with the specific exception of the

had a c o m m o n duty to defend die country; a levy, o r leidang,

four characteristic geometric ring-fortresses in Denmark,

was raised in time of trouble and an organized military force

which were constructed by the king around the year 980

with ships, crews, equipment and provisions, was thus pro-

(fig. 6 ) and had a very short life.

vided to defend the country. T h e levy was based on a

T h e king was also seen as head of state in dealings with

systematic sub-division o f the kingdom, and on land-owner-

other powers, and it was the king that the Christian mis-

ship. Gradually the duty o f providing ships and manpower

sionaries first approached in order to conduct their activities

was replaced by taxes, and the military forces were trans-

in a country. T h e king had his o w n m e n — a g e n t s — p l a c e d

formed into a professional warrior-class with tax-exemption.

throughout the kingdom to carry o u t his commands, to look

A king normally fought at the forefront of the army, sur-

after his interests and to ensure the continuity o f his

rounded by his o w n chosen warriors. T h e construction and growth o f large military

revenue, including that f r o m large and far-flung estates. fortifica-

This system, together with an administration closely associ-

tions, such as Denmark's-border-rampart, the Danevirke

ated with the king, was developed in parallel with the

(fig. 2), Torsburgen o n Gotland and the ramparts around

growth o f state power. A s early as the V i k i n g A g e there were

Hedeby, Ribe, Birka ami many other towns must also have

royal representatives in towns and at markets, where peace

been based on a universal obligation of defence, often con-

had to be maintained and duties were levied in return. But

Tht Scandinavian

Denmark, N o r w a y and Sweden continued to be split up into

kingdoms

Fig. 7. Full-scale reconstruction of a building at the Viking fortress of Fyrkat, Denmark. C. 980. Cf. cat no. hi, 117.

'lands', each with its own ting (assembly), where all important decisions were agreed. T h e real economic basis of royal power was landed prop-

0istein. This took place in Bergen, and a law of succession to the throne was passed, setting o u t for the first time the

erty, but the revenue was supplemented by taxes from towns

principle of sole rule. T h e coronation was the first of its kind

and markets and probably tolls. There are also cases where

in Scandinavia and emphasized the concept that the king

kings took part in actual trading enterprises, and towns such

was enthroned by G o d . In 1170 Valdemar the G r e a t of

as Lund, Sigtuna, Trondheim and many others were

Denmark sealed his extensive new royal power with a large-

founded by kings. T h r o u g h o u t the Viking A g e the products

scale assembly in his new church in Ringsted. There his

of plunder and taxes levied abroad constituted an important

father, Knut Lavard, was enshrined as a saint, and his

source of income, and a number of kings acquired their

7-year-old son Knut was crowned by Archbishop Eskil. T h e

thrones by means of wealth gathered from expeditions to

first Swedish coronation probably took place in 1210.

the east or west. T h i s was true, for example, of the Norwegian kings O l a f Tryggvason (c 995-1000) and Harald the Hardruler (1047-66). Their silver had come respectively from England and from the East. W i t h the close of the Viking A g e and the drastically reduced opportunities for acquiring income in this way the kings' expenses had to be covered to a n increasing degree by domestic taxes, levies and fines, as in the rest o f Europe. A king had to be o f royal descent. This was the foundation of legitimacy, but there were n o strict rules of succession. H e had to be elected. Normally the choice would fall o n one of the dead king's sons, never on a w o m a n , but there could be several kings at one time. T h e power-base was support from the chieftains and the 'lands'. N o t until after the middle of the twelfth century was there any attempt to establish a fixed line of succession, an idea strongly supported by the C h u r c h . In 1163/64 the child-king M a g n u s Erlingsson was crowned as N o r w a y ' s king by Archbishop

T h e participation of the C h u r c h in the coronation of kings underlines the fact that it had by then become as Fig. 8. St Erik'sfunerary crown from his shrine in Uppsala cathedral, Sweden. ?noo. Photo: 1946. Cf. cat no. 535.

SgJfcKffrClRV&TXN^^Btl facj

9 c o f f e R w ^ b ^

a y / f i d

SP^PiS.

Fig. 10. Lead plaquefromKing Vakkmar the Great's grave at Ringsted, Denmark. The Latin inscription reads 'Here lies the king of the Danes, Valdemar, thefirst conqueror and ruler of the Slavs, liberator of the fatherland, preserver of the peace. He, son ofKnut the Holy (duke Knut Lavard], subdued the dwellers on Rugen and was the first to convert t to the Christian religion. He died in the year of Our Lord 1182, in the 2 year of his reign, on 12 May'. The otherface of the plaque carries a sligh longer inscription, probably early ijth cent surrounded by splendour and symbols of prestige; they held | large feasts, gave fine gifts, scalds told o f their glory, large buildings and splendid objects of art were created to promote their fame (cat. no. 1 1 9 - 7 4 , 1 9 I ~ 3 » 4 I 3~8> 525-38). This is the background, for example, to the 81 metre-long chieftain's house excavated in Borg o n Lofoten in N o r t h e r n ! N o r w a y (fig. 3), and the royal hall, 500 square metres in area, at Lejre in Denmark, both of which date from the Fig I Marble head of the Norwegian king Eystein Haraldson Probably Viking A g e . It is also part of the background to the Danish from Mmketiv Monastery, Bergen. First half of the 12th cent Cat no. 533.geometrical fortresses and their large halls (figs 6 - 7 ) , and of | powerful I force in Scandinavian society as it was elsewhere

such dynastic monumental constructions as the burial

(cf. cat. no. 5 1 4 - 6 ) . W i t h its bishoprics and parishes it had

mounds at Borre in Southern N o r w a y (fig. 4). T h e most

i s o w n territorial divisions; with tithes and Peter's pence (a

distinguished monument-complex of the V i k i n g A g e , with

t m paid direcr to the Pope) it had its o w n tax system; in

large mounds, a church and a runic stone with pictorial

certain matters it had its own legal authority. In N o r w a y

decoration is to be found at Jelling in Central Jutland, and

this gave rise to bitter conflict between the C h u r c h and King

was constructed at the period of the Conversion o f Den-

Sverre (1177-1202). T h e Archbishop was driven into exile,

mark (fig. 5 and pp. 1 5 3 - 4 , figs 2-3)-

the King was excommunicated, and only o n his death-bed did he advise his son to make peace with the Church. T h e real power o f a monarch resided in his ability to

A f t e r the advent of Christianity many prestigious elements became linked t o the C h u r c h — c h u r c h buildings, the establishment o f monasteries and donations o r furnishings

collect men around him, provide for his o w n safety, lead,

for t h e m — ( c f . pp. 152-61 and cat. no. 440-84, 508-13).

achieve results and reward his people welL A good reputa-

From the twelfth century onwards the kings and the leading

tion, great glory and abundant silver were preconditions for

noblemen of the country began to build fortifications for

gaining the support o f his people. Kings and chieftains were

their residences: castles o n the western European pattern.

—40

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Fig. ii. Sweden's earliest surviving charter, with seals of and the king. C. 1165. Cat. no. 515.

mutn

noia jrefnijr ian^u a i r —

Ships and travel

Ole Cnunlin-Pedersen Mogens Schou j0rgensen Torsten Edgren

Seafaring and ships The ship brought the Vikings to the forefront of European

many centuries before the sail was introduced just before

history in the ninth century.

the beginning of the Viking A g e (although sails had long

West European chronides record the arrival of the Scandinavians. in fleets of speedy warships, in England, France,

been in use in western Europe). There are few finds to illustrate the development from oars to sail, but it can be

Spain and the western Mediterranean. The Norwegian

broadly followed on the representations of ships on Godand

Ottar (Ohthere) visited the c o u n of King Alfred c 690 and

picture-stones (cf. cat. no. 1,175). It seems dear that until

described his journeys with trading goods collected as far

the seventh century, ship-building developed in accordance

north as the White Sea. Other sources tell of voyages of

with the hull-shape designed for propulsion by oars. The

discovery in the Atlantic, the settlement of Iceland and

Nydam ship in Schleswig, Germany, and the Sutton Hoo

Greenland, and expeditions to Vinland. In the East, the

ship in East Anglia, England, are examples of this pre-

Nordic Vikings and merchants travelled along the Russian

Viking tradition, which can also be traced in various finds

rivers to the Caspian Sea, and by way of the Black Sea, to

from Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

Byzantium where the emperors surrounded themselves with a bodyguard of Scandinavian warriors. Behind these events lies the fact that without the Viking

Sails were first introduced when the rowing boat had reached its perfect form in vessels up to 30m long. Boatbuilders then undoubtedly found that they had problems.

sailing-ship there could have been no Nordic expansion in

The two means of propulsion made different demands on

this period. The ship was the indispensable means of trans-

the shape of the hull: rowing boats were narrow with low

port whereby the Vikings advanced, not only abroad but

sides whereas sailing ships needed greater beam in order to

also in Scandinavia itself with its long coastline, many

achieve stability; they, therefore, had to have a deep or long

sounds, Qords and rivers. Scandinavian shipbuilding of the period 800-1200 is

keel to prevent drift. Furthermore, the Nordic rowing boats were also designed so that the crew could pull them up on

therefore worthy of detailed study. It not only tells of the

land, even in rough weather. So they had to be light. In

maritime technology of the Scandinavians, but it also

contrast, the west-European tradition of sailing ships was

illuminates many other aspects of society, for the ship had a

based on comparatively heavy vessels.

central place in the imagination of the Vikings. It was a tool

Nevertheless, the Scandinavian boat-builders, probably at

in the struggle to achieve wealth and honour, but it was also

the end of the eighth century, managed to find a compro-

admired like a toy (cf. cat. no. 13,73,315).

mise between these different requirements, and produced a

It is, therefore, very fortunate that, particularly in south

new type of vessel—the Viking ship. This light and fast ship

Scandinavia and the west Baltic area, many ships of this

could sail for long distances over the open sea in order to

period have been preserved in graves or as wrecks. Most of

arrive suddenly on a foreign shore using oars or sail; it could

them belong to the Scandinavian ship-building-tradition,

beach on the open shore and leave equally rapidly. With this

displaying such characteristic features as the double-ended

type of vessel, Norsemen had a means of transport akin to

• a p e built of overlapping planks (cf. cat. no. 2,4,6); but

the vessels on which the Greek argonauts roamed through-

one Frisian, and a number of Slav ships have also been

out the Meditenanean and the Black Sea some 1200-1500

found. Further east, along the south coast of the Baltic,

years earlier.

other Slav ships of this period have been excavated, and a

Only a few ships of the ninth century have been found,

river boat with its sewn hull is known from Finland (cat. no.

but among them the great ship from Oseberg, southern

7). There are, however, remarkably few discoveries from the

Norway, is outstanding, with its magnificent decoration of

North Sea area—there is little evidence, therefore, of Fri-

stem and stern. A more utilitarian ship has been found not

sian. Frankish and Anglo-Saxon ships to compare with

far away at KAlstad, near the trading centre of Kaupang; this

those from Scandinavia and their Slav contemporaries.

vessel demonstrates that even at the beginning of the Viking

The Vikings' warships were propelled by oars and sail (cf.

age some form of specialization was developing between

c a t no. 5), which could have been used independently or

merchantmen and long-distance sailing in warships. The

together. Rowing had been known to the Scandinavians for

tenth century has few ship-finds, those which are known

Ships and awrf

Fig. i. 'Saga Siglar' and 'Roar Ege' underfull sail in Roskilde fiord. Roskilde cathedral in the background. The two ships are full-scale reconstructions of the Viking Age ships nos. i and j from Skuldelev, Denmark. Cf. cat no. 2. coming mainly from chieftains' burials. Such, for example,

There is much more evidence for ship-building in the

is the Gokstad ship, also from southern N o r w a y — i t is

eleventh century, thanks to the many ships found as wrecks

23.3 m long and 5.25 m wide, with seats for 32 oarsmen

or as part of blockades. O f these the most important are the

(p. 25, fig. 1).

Askekarr ship (cat. no. 4), from the Gota river in west

The discovery of the Gokstad and Oseberg ships in 1880

Sweden, and the five ships from the blockade at Skuldelev,

and 1904 (fig. 2) respectively, and their subsequent display

now displayed at the Viking Ship Museum, Roskilde in

at Bygdoy near Oslo, stimulated in no mean fashion the

Denmark. The Askekarr ship is some 16 m long and is a

study of shipbuilding traditions; and they were to influence

merchantman, but the Skuldelev ships are of five different

the opinions of many generations of archaeologists concern-

types and enable us to gain a good impression of shipbuild-

ing the character of Viking ships. T h e Gokstad ship possibly

ing in the the eleventh century.

represents the type of chieftains' ship which was part of the

Wreck 1: 16.5 m long, wide-bodied, sea-going merchant-

fleets which set sail from Norway to the British Isles in the

man built of pine and probably from west Norway

first phase of the Viking raids. T h e excavation of the Ladby

Wreck 2: ca. 30 m long, sea-going warship; dendro-

ship, Fyn, in 1935, on the other hand, showed that ships of a

chronological analysis of the oak timbers suggests that it

completely different type were built in Denmark. They were

was built in Dublin

narrower and of shallower draught, suitable for the shallow

Wreck 3: 14 m long, narrow, all-purpose ship of oak, prob-

waters of Denmark and for sailing along the south coast of

ably built locally in Roskilde Fjord (cat. no. 2)

the Baltic.

Wreck 5: 18 m long, narrow warship for 26 oarsmen, of

43

perhaps a queen, was interred in thefirsthalf of the gth cent, together with Fig. | The Omberg burial mound on the Oslofiord.Norway, during etenation in i The mound covered a ship In which a wealthy woman. rich grave-goods. Cf. cat no. $, to, 155-66.

oak, pint and ash. probably a local ship manned by the local H5 Wreck 6: 12m long, built of pine, probably a fishing boat from the Baltic Important ihip finds have also been made In the harbour of Hedeby. Three vessels have been found, each of which [ illustrates different aspects of Viking Age seafaring. These comprise 1 very long and narrow warship, a large and bulky merchantman (both of Nordic type), and a small vessel combining Scandinavian and Slav features. These ships were salvaged In fragments and are displayed at Hedeby. The same mixture has been found among timber re-used from broken-up ships at the shipyard on the Fribnsdre river, Falscer, where shipbuilding in the Slav manner seems to have flourished about 1100 (cat. no. 6). These and other finds enable us to trace the development of cargo vessels up to the fourteenth century, during which

44

time there was increasing specialization between merchantmen designed for long-distance travel and smaller freighters for local trade. Large ships, which would carry as much as forty tons, are found as early as the eleventh century, this rose to sixty tons in the twelfth century, whilst a ship dated 1 1250, of which parts were found in the harbour at Bergen, Norway, must have carried at least a hundred-andfifty tons. Fewer Scandinavian warships are found after the eleventh century; for these we have to rely on written sources and wall paintings, which tell of the development of increasingly larger vessels up to and in the thirteenth century. By building replicas of the Oseberg, Gokstad, Ladby and Skuldelev i, 3 and 5 ships in recent years it has been possible to test their true characteristics. The greater part of our knowledge of the construction of eleventh-century ships derives from these attempts to re-create their original

Sflndmim

H|

Eanpe

Great; it took five days from Kaupang in Oslo Fjord to Hedeby on the Schlei. This is quite different from the Atlantic journeys undertaken by the Vikings to reach the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland. T h e sagas tell us that the voyagers followed the Norwegian coast until they reached a point near Bergen whence they set sail westwards. By using their knowlege of the currents, and the habits of sea mammals and sea birds, they could find their way to the Shetlands, the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland. W h a t the sagas do not tell us is h o w sailors could sail due west without the help of compasses (which only came into use in northern Europe after 1200). It can only be assumed that the Vikings had a good enough knowledge of the stars (and the sun during the summer months) for them to hold a course. If the sky was partly overcast, the bearing of the sun

Fig. 1 Weather-vanefrom Heggen, Norway, which anbellished the prow cf a Viking ship. C. 1000-1050. Cat no. 417.

might have been found through a 'lodestone', but if it were foggy this would have been of no help, and if such weather lasted for a long time the ships could have been driven off course.

methods of construction, showing that lightness and

A ship which was fortunate enough to make landfall in

strength were dependent on the choice of high quality split

one of the A d a n t i c settlements would have been the cause

timber. A l t h o u g h the merchantmen were built more stur-

of great celebration, both on land and onboard, for the ship

dily, wider and higher, they did not lose contact with tradi-

brought such provisions as iron and timber, as well as news

tions which have been kept alive up to the present day in the

from Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. W h e n it returned

boat-building yards of west and north Norway. A b o u t 1200 a 'new' type of ship appeared, in competition

homewards its hold was filled with goods from the far North, ropes made of walrus hide, cosdy furs, and ivory

with the Scandinavian ship. This was the cog, first recorded

from walrus and narwhal. Thus, by means of ships the

in written sources from the ports of the Baltic and the N o r t h

farthest outposts o f the N o r t h were kept in touch with the

Sea, which in the course of the fourteenth century domi-

centres of European culture.

0 CP

nated the sailing routes as part o f the means of transport used by the Hanseatic merchants. T h e c o g has previously

Land transport

been assumed to have been a new development, a particu-

Whereas the sea gave boundless opportunities for travel, •

larly capacious freight ship which replaced the Scandinavian

progress by land was more limited. Viking A g e roads did not

vessels because they could not fulfil the demands of later

consist of clearly defined lines through the countryside,

medieval trade.

rather they were corridors some kilometres in width defined

Ship discoveries show, however, that this is not so. T h e medieval cog developed from an earlier type o f ship used on

by features in the landscape. They ran along natural routes: ridges and watersheds, rivers and lake systems. They were

the Rhine and around the Frisian c o a s t It borrowed con-

routes of varying importance: local, regional or interna-

structional elements from the Scandinavian building tradi-

tional. N o d a l points in a network of communication grew

tion and developed into a true sea-going vessel. T h e early

up where land and water routes crossed at depots, market-

form of river vessel is known from a boat which is dated

places and trading centres.

about 1200, found stranded at KoUerup o n the Jutland

M o s t routes had alternative parallel courses, along rivers

coast. A n example o f a complete specimen of the fully-

or through lakes, and the same route may have had several

developed Hanseatic cog (c 1380) was found at Bremen.

courses depending on the purpose of the journey, the time

Both these ships would c a n y less freight than the largest

of year o r the means o f transport. T h e needs o f riders, carts,

Nordic ships o f the period. T h r o u g h o u t the whole period 800-1200 seafaring in the N o r t h was based in most cases on passage in sight o f land.

military transports and cattle drovers were different; winter was used for transport and travel by sledge. In difficult terrain the normal means of transport was by

Ships usually anchored overnight in natural harbours. A

foot o r o n horseback; easily passable routes were used by

journey of this nature was described by O t t a r to Alfred the

carts or sledges which were especially adapted to local condi-

46

Shipt and travel

Fig. 5. Part of the Oseberg tapestry, Norway. Reconstruction. The scene probably shows a ceremony but also illustrates everyday transport—on foot, on horseback, and by waggon. C 800-850.

MGMLiSSS MRNRNM

tions. Tracks were followed, and if a route proved impass-

many sorts of timber-built roads are found, from closely-set

able, a new path would be taken alongside it. T h e road may

tree trunks to carefully carpentered structures. Stone-paved

then have become a broad belt of deep and parallel ruts.

roads, known in the North as earty as the late Bronze Age,

True road-building only took place where the terrain

occur in numerous forms, often as stone pavings edged by

demanded it, as through marshy areas or across fords or

stones of up to a metre in size. Kerbstones defined the

over bridges which spanned rivers or narrow fjords.

course of the road and at times in effect served as stepping

T h e building of roads in the Viking A g e did not differ gready in technique from that of earlier periods. T h e simplest roads were made o f branches and brushwood, but

stones for those travelling on foot. T h e different types of roads were seldom expressions of architectural thought. T h e suitability of the subsoil and the

Fig. 6. The som-long ford across the Nykoping river at Slabro, Sddermanland, Sweden, is usually submerged, but a day of very low water in 1984 showed its Viking Age appearance. Hollow ways led through cemeteries on each side of the crossing. The route was marked by two rune stones.

47

Fig. 7. Excavation of the bridge at Ravning Enge, Denmark. The bridge was more than 700m long and was buih c. 980. In the foreground are the remains of a group of four vertical piles; the locations of others are shown by white markers. Cf. cat no. 10. most functional surfacing were aimed at; a single stretch

sumably part of the same national master plan; the quantity

could consist o f a number o f different types of paving. T h e

of work and the amount of material used seem unnecessarily

carriageway itself may have been covered with gravel or

lavish in relation to its economic and utilitarian poten-

sand to give a smoother surface, and much of the road was

tial. But, apart from being a practical feature in an overall

visible only in the driest periods. Shortly before iooo the first real free-standing bridges were built in Scandinavia. Earlier smaller bridges were incorporated into the construction o f a road or causeway

military strategy, this bridge was undoubtedly a prestigous s t r u c t u r e — a symbol of power. A central initiative also resulted in the construction of about a dozen wooden-paved bridleways which, between

when it passed over a stream, but now longer bridges began

1000-1 zoo, were laid through the marshy areas of central

to be built. Little is known concerning their true appear-

Norway. M a n y kilometres of track were built which were

ance, for remains of their superstructure seldom survive.

the main r o a d s — h e r e organised for the first time.

But their foundations show that there were bridges of vari-

T w o rune-stones at the side of Tjuvstigen, an ancient

ous types, from the simple to the very sophisticated. There

track near Stockholm, are inscribed, 'Styrlog and Holm/

were, however, few bridges. W h e n they were built they were

raised this stone/ in memory of their brothers/ close to the

either the only way o f making a crossing, o r were intended

road...' and 'Ingegerd had raised/ another stone/ in memory

to solve a specific problem.

of her sons/ visible m e m o r i a l s . . M e m o r i a l s were erected

A group of Danish bridges from the end of the 10th

where people travelled so that they could be seen by many.

century seem t o have been built with a similar purpose in

Burial mounds o n high ground could be seen from afar, but

mind. O n e such belongs to the most impressive engineer-

standing stones and rune stones stood beside the roads

ing-works of the time. Seven-hundred metres long, it crosses

themselves and also had a practical purpose as signposts at

the wide valley o f the river Vejle at Ravning Enge. 10 k m

times when the weather was bad or the countryside was

south-west o f Jelling. W i t h a carriageway area of at least

covered with snow.

3500 | p it is carried o n more than a thousand supporting poses (cat. no. 20), the bridge was a great technical achieve-

Such memorials could assume a monumental character. Thus, rows of standing stones line the routes from Husby-

ment and represents an e n o r m o u s outlay of both timber and

Langhundra and Laby in Uppland, Sweden, and a rune

manpower, s is unique as a piece o f engineering, but it had,

stone is included in similar rows of standing stones at

like certain smaller and simpler bridges, only a short life.

Lunda, A n u n d s h o g e n and A r b y in Sweden, and o n Gims0y

A construction o f the size o f the Ravning Enge bridge muse have been the responsibility o f a central power. It was

in north N o r w a y . A single uninscribed stone without inscription may have marked each crossing, and one or

b u i k c 979, in the reign o f Harald Bluetooth, at the same

more opposed rune stones greeted those w h o came to such

time as the geometric ring-forts (p. 36, fig. 6). It was pre-

cross-roads as Ulunda, Lingsberg and Slabro in Sweden.

(a bridge in the modern sense of the word) or, more usually in this context, a ford or a causeway over marshy ground. T h e clearing of roads is also mentioned, and this would have included work to rebuild or repair existing roads, some of which may have dated back to the beginning of the i st millennium AD. Some inscription* define the precise reason for building a bridge, as, for example, on the Morby stone (cat. no. 497), when the person w h o raised it did so, 'for the soul of her daughter Gilldg'. T w o causeways at Nas may be those mentioned on a nearby rock-face, 'Livsten had the bridges made for his soul's sake and for that of Ingerun his wife, and of his s o n s . . . ' . T h e A r b y stone was raised by brothers in memory of their father, \ . . and they made the bridge to please God...'. These bridges were 'soul gifts', donations which would help the salvation of the donor or of the commemorated person. T h e growth, work and economy of the Church depended on a well-organized road network, upkeep and repair of which could be regarded as a suitable offering to God. T h e symbolic character of the work was understood by everyone, not just in the transition from paganism to Christianity, but in the Christian period itself. In the future life of both pagans and Christians, the dead set out on a long journey, a dangerous voyage, which could be alleviated

Fig. 8. One of 4 rune stones from Jarlabanke's 'bridge'in Taby, Uppland, Sweden. This stone is 2.2m high and was erected in the second half of the nth cent The inscription reads,'Jarlabankehad these stones raised in memory of himself in his lifetime. And he made this bridge for his soul. And alone he owned the whole of Taby. God help his soul'.

Gullbron, Broby bridge and Jarlabanka's bridge in Uppland are magnificent monuments, each place has two large, decorated rune stones where the road reached a firm path of land. Jarlabanka's stones marked a bridge which formed part of a route w h i c h can be traced for over 40 km between Lunda and Lake Malar. T h e road led to the site of the local 'thing' and was probably established during the eleventhcentury reorganization of the settlements and administrative divisions of the area. T h e runic inscriptions also tell of other notable examples of road-building in the transitional period between paganism and Christianity. A few rune stones in Denmark and Norway, and more than a hundred and twenty- five stones in Sweden record the 'building of a bridge'. Linguistically, the word 'bridge' could mean either a free-standing bridge

Fig. 9. The stone-paved road in the Risby Valley on Sjslland, Denmark. In the background is the timbered construction over theriver.Late Viking Age.

flfei H

SUdgt from tht Ostbtfg gran, Norway yth cent

n p f l H weys* It was, as wc can see from die rune-stones, often the women who had the bridges built One reason for this must be that women were the first to Interest themselves In the new religion. The ecclesiastically Inspired roed system, undoubtedly supported by secular power, was presumably the basis for the provision ofroeds mentioned in the earliest lews—a duty which was laid on people throughout the Middle Ages. A functioning road-network wes needed, for various reasons, by all urate of lociety: It was the basis for some of l l | most Important activities. . M 3/

Winter transport Because of their geographical position, the countries of the North were pert of a region where the need for winter transport end communications was always of greet importance, This holds for the whole of northern Eurasia, from Norway to the wast to the Bering Strait In the east, where the land was covered In snow for long periods of the year. Certainly, the written sources record some exceptionally herd winters In northern Europe i f e whole, but generally

m

coastal shipping, which was of such great importance to the populations of the Danish and Norwegian coasts and the south coast of the Baltic, could continue for much of the year. This Is in contrast to the Bay of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia, where ice and snow regularly prevented foreign contacts and trading ventures throughout the winter. Heavy snowfalls and low temperatures sometimes stopped land transport even in south Scandinavia, b u t — w h e n they iced over—waterways, lakes and marshes could be used. In Eurasia, many means of winter transport and communication had been developed as early as the Stone A g e in order to maintain settlement and subsistence. Apart from the fledges found in the Norwegian shipburials of Oseberg and Gokstad, most archaeological evidence for transport and communications comes from the marshlands and bogs of northern Finland, Sweden and Norway. Such evidence can be supplemented by Illustrations and Information of a general character in medieval written sources, and In later literature such as Olaus Magnus' Carta Marina (1539) and Hlttoria de gentlbus septentrlonallbui (1555).

M p i f l f M V ————

T h e earliest and simplest type of sledge in the lace Iron Age and Middle A g e * (although rooted deep in prehistory) was the 'ski-sledge*, a low fledge pulled by hand along fiat ground. T h e runners had upturned points which could push a way through snow drifts. These sledges were mainly used for hunting in the northern districts, where this was either the only means of subsistence or a welcome supplement to stored summer crops. It was sledges of this type that transported furs, a leading element in summer trade. Heavy and bulky goods would demand stronger and heavier sledges —particularly for use over waterlogged ground in the summer. Some of these, where their parts were lashed together, are reminiscent of ski-sledges in their construction, but others for example the Oseberg sledges were of jointed timbers, secured by rivets or nails. These were drawn by horses or oxen.

Fig. 11. Decorated ski from Laitila, Finland. Cat no. 22.

Sledges were not only used for carrying cargo, they were also personal transport, as were the three decorated sledges from Oseberg. Such sledges are also depicted on several eleventh-century picture-stones from Gotland, and we have

made of pine (.Pinus silvestris), an elastic and tough wood, the

written mention of journeys by sledge from the Swedish

gliding potential of which was enhanced by its resin. T h e so-

mainland to Gotland, and from Estonia to Sweden in 1293.

called Bothnian ski was distributed throughout the North.

Ice undoubtedly eased communication. Travellers over ice

Skis of this type are characterized by their short lanceolate

needed to appreciate its characteristics, a knowledge gained

shape, (up to 165 c m in length), polished gliding face, raised

over generations. Despite this knowledge and experience

foot plates, and horizontal attachment holes. A s early as the

there were accidents. Well known, for example, was the

stone age, Finnish skis had a groove o n their under sides

death of the Norwegian king Halfdan Svarte and his follow-

— a s they do today. T h e groove gave added pace and eased

ers when they travelled across the ice of Rands fjord one

steering. Late Iron-Age and early medieval skis could be as

spring in the ninth century.

much as three metres in length. In south-west Finland they

Skates were also used to traverse the ice of the bays, rivers and lakes; they were made of the long-bones of elk, horse or cattle and tied to the foot (cat. no. 24). M a n y Viking A g e

were extremely broad and often decorated with linear ornament and interlace. A particular type was the unmatched ski, which consisted

and early medieval skates have been found (cat. no. 25).

of one long ski for the left foot with groove and a much

They were not skates in the present sense of the term, for

shorter ski for the right foot with a fur-covered surface. This

the traveller propelled himself on them by using sticks with

central Nordic ski-type involved a technique different from

iron tips.

that of the paired skis: the long left ski slid forward when

Skis were very important for winter travel and for hunt-

propelled by the shorter ski, the skier balancing himself with

ing, and many have been found in Finland, central and

a stick. Unmatched skis were mainly used for hunting elk.

north Sweden, N o r w a y and north-west Russia (cat. no.

Their date is uncertain, but they must already have been in

21-23). In Finland alone, more than a hundred skis have

use in the prehistoric period. Ski sticks are also difficult to

been recovered from bogs and a third of these have been

date. Skiing without sticks or with a single stick must have

dated before 1200 by radiocarbon m e t h o d s — m a n y of them

been common; the adoption of t w o ski sticks is a recent

to as early as the Stone A g e . Skis are also depicted on rune-

development.

stones and rock engravings in Scandinavia and round the

T h e winter with its harsh c l i m a t e — f r o s t , snow and cold

White Sea. T h e y are also mentioned in early Scandinavian

— m e a n t that there were only few trading and external

literature.

contacts, but it was by n o means a time of isolation. Winter

Early skis, mostly found accidentally, can be divided into

was the time for social contact, when people visited each

a number of regional types of different ages although they

other, exchanged news and made plans for the coming

may overlap in date. T h e y are categorized according to their

spring and summer.

ihape and the way they were attached to the foot. Most are

TE

51

New lands in the North Atlantic Thdr Magnusson, Slmun V. Arge, Jette Arneborg

The discovery and settlement of Iceland

Norway, Denmark and elsewhere in the North indicate that

It seems certain that Iceland was largely settled by Norwe-

before that time ships were ill-suited to long sea voyages.

gians in the Utter part of the ninth century. Accounts of this in medieval Icelandic literature tell of many chieftains w h o

Before discovering Iceland, the Norsemen had sailed westwards from Norway, particularly to the Shedands, the

fled from Norway after Harald Fairhair brought the whole

Orkneys and the Hebrides, venturing further and further to

country under his rule In 672. T h e chieftains could not

the west as their skill, ability and daring allowed. Archaeo-

accept his role, and, as a new, unknown and fertile land had

logical remains demonstrate their setdements in these

been discovered far to the west, many of them set out for it.

regions, either as Viking raiders or as peaceful traders and

Most of these emigrants came from western Norway; some

farmers w h o sought in the west better living conditions than

are said to have been settled for various periods in Scotland,

they had at home. From the Orkneys it is only a short

the Western Isles or Ireland on their way 00 Iceland, and to

sailing time to the Faroes, which seem to have been settled

have captured slaves—both male and f e m a l e — t o bring

in the ninth century. T h e sailors w h o first discovered Ice-

with them. Thus, there Is an academic controversy about

land may have been driven off course on their way to the

the proportion of the Icelandic population which might be

Faroes, thus arriving in this unknown land.

of Celtic origin; some think that the proportion may be high, others think It Insignificant. T h e priest A H the Wise Uved In the twelfth century and

Iceland provided good living conditions for the first setders. T h e fertility of the country is certainly variable, but in Islendingabtk A r i emphasizes the wealth which it provided.

wrote IslendtngtMk (cat. no. 510), a short account of the first

He says that the countryside was covered with woodland

settlement of Iceland and Its subsequent history. H e says

between the mountains and the coast. M a n y places had

that, when the Scandinavian settlers arrived, they found

excellent agricultural potential, fish were abundant and the

Christian men there w h o fled when the Norse heathens

birds were so tame that they could often be caught by hand.

came. These men left behind them hooks, bells and croziers,

Even though Ari may have been indulging in some exagger-

which showed that they must have been Irish monks. Most

ation, it is clear that the country was very fertile. T h e land

scholars believe Art's account to be reasonable, although no

had always been free from all forms of livestock, so the flora

remains attributable to the monks have been found. They

was neither threatened nor damaged. T h e woodland men-

may have been poor in worldly wealth, and had probably

tioned by Ari was probably b i r c h — l o w - g r o w i n g mountain

not ran In Iceland for long.

birch of a type which can still be seen today in those few

S o far nothing has have been discovered in Iceland which

places in Iceland where the woods have not been destroyed.

contradicts Arl's account of the settlement, its date, the

Erosion, largely caused by grazing sheep, which has so

people w h o settled there, or where they c a m e from.

damaged Iceland in recent times had then not begun. T h e

A t the beginning o f the Viking A g e , Iceland must have

plant cover presumably varied from place to place, but we

been the world's largest unpopulated country. It has an area

may assume that, for example, the woodland was ideal for

of 103/100 square kilometres; and its situation, in the middle

the winter grazing of sheep as it was until well o n into the

of the Atlantic eight-hundred kilometres from the nearest

present century. T h e fish were probably caught o n shallow

land, means that It could not have been reached before

fishing banks, as they still were until the introduction of

shipbuilding and navigation had become fairly well

m o d e m fishing methods and equipment; birds and sea

dwnltipirf. It would seem that It was not until the Viking

mammals were fearless because they were not used to man-

A f e chat ships capable of sailing o n the open ocean were

kind.

b u i r . it was only then that the ships themselves, their sailing

T h e written sources indicate that settlement began about

equipment and the art of navigation were sufficiently

874, and this is usually taken as a true date, although there

developed t o reach the N o r t h Atlantic. Finds o f ships In

must be a slight margin of error. T h e first setders acquired

- New landt in (he North Arfantk

, Trondheim GREENLAND

NO

j*

if

Bergen cucr. /

K6\ar1 F A R O E I S L A N D S ^AND DENMARK Deur ICELAND A niiMirv Thingvellir^^/ Reykjavik Skalholt

Wesf Settlement Brattamid

LABRADOR

AGaWar East Settlement' IRELAND

CANADA

L Arise aux Meadows

NEWFOUNDLAND

Fig. i. The north Atlantic with the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and America.

extensive lands, considerably larger areas than those of a

occupied early. Even t h o u g h the soil in the north is less

modern farm. Rivers, mountains or other natural bound-

fertile than that in the south, it seems to have been a good

aries often defined the land divisions. Written sources also

agricultural region with other natural resources such as

record that the country was completely setded (or in other

driftwood, fishing and opportunity for hunting for birds and

words the land had been claimed) before 930. By then all the

seals to compensate for its poorer fertility.

earliest settlers had arrived, but later immigrants could often easily acquire land by gift o r purchase. M o s t of the settlers probably came from the east to that

T h e centre of Iceland has never been populated, although there were attempts to settle in a few places in the uplands to the south of the inland glaciers and, in one case, in the

part of Iceland which was their first landfall after their

central highlands. A l l these settlements were, however,

journey from Europe. T h e y would then mosdy have sailed

rapidly abandoned once it was realized that the grazing was

further west along the southern coast, for there are no good

poor and that the winters were long and appreciably colder

harbours until one reaches western Iceland. Reykjavik,

than those of the lower-lying regions. Volcanic eruptions,

which is said to be the site chosen by the first setder,

particularly that of M o u n t Hekla in 1104, also destroyed

Ingolfur Arnarson, is situated in the first ideal place, in the

some of the highland farms. T h e farmhouses and cultivated

most southerly part of western Iceland with a good natural

land were covered in volcanic ash. Erosion followed. Soil

harbour well protected from the Adantic rollers. Most of

erosion began early in Iceland, becoming ever more pro-

Iceland, even the farthest north, seems to have been

nounced in recent centuries.

J f c * f | j u f t $ F — t h e 1 hing / » A m h — o f Reykjavik The Althing met Ime tmnuaQf jv | wwfc 0 midsummer h mmfoundedc, g)o and taunt dks naemMjtjN, and the highest authority qj, all Iceland. Q cm. na j j j

The fifft thing t o be d o n e in the new Und was to establish | fainutcdii

The sites chosen t e e m to have been in the areas

and 6 m across at the widest point in the middle, narrowing towards the gables. T h e long walls are consequently bowed

of gicMteai fertility; farms were built where there was a good

when seen in plan. T h e floor extended along the middle of

o u d o o k , near to water and cultiva table Und, T h e first

the house, and o n each side o f it were raised benches or

h o u t a M«rv modelled o n the N o n e longhouse or Viking

surfaces o n w h i c h people could sleep at night and sit during

hall, but temporary arrangements were made by digging

the day. There was an elongated hearth, for both cooking

• n a i l sunken-floored buildings which could be constructed

and heating, In the middle of the fioor. T h e fioor was

quickly and with Utile effort. S u c h small structures have

bordered by t w o rows of posts against the benches, w h i c h

been discovered o n early farmsteads such as Hvnar holt and

supported low beams w h i c h held up the roof. T h e posts

ll}alH)M(4(W in the south. Grelutortir in the western fjords,

were originally earth-fast, but were soon replaced by posts

and (iranastadir in the north- Usually about 4m long and

supported o n pad-stones t o prevent rot, Shorter posts stood

• | 9 n Hide, they were d u g into the g r o u n d and had low

against the long walls t o strengthen the walls o n w h i c h the

walls, n

ends of the ratters rested.

supported the roof, and most of them had a

hearth, usually a type of oven. T h e entrance was either

T h e walls were built either of turf and stone or of turf

t h r o u g h the roof or in o n e corner. Later, permanent

alone, and in most cases their inner faces were panelled. T h e

d w e l l i n g s — t h e h a U * — b e g a n t o b e built.

roof was also of turf, o f t e n with an inner lining of wood.

M a n y of the hails h a v e been excavated in various parts of

T h e root was supported o n narrow rafters w h i c h rested o n

Iceland, including, Klautanes in the north, SkalUkot and

the purlins. T h e smoke hole was in the middle of the roof

H t i t a r h o l i in the south, and Grdlufoctir in the west. T h e y

above the hearth; It also let in light, but there were other

are o i the same type as in western N o r w a y , the Faroes and

openings In the r o o f — I n effect windows filled with translu

the Scottish islands. T h e y were typically about 10 m long

cent hides or animal foetal membranes, a m e t h o d of admit-

M i

—

iV»» hndt

in tht Ntwrh

AriaMft

fig, j, Reconstruction oj the farm ofStting, ThjMrdalur, let/and, £vcovated In Cf. car. no, $90.

ting daylight well known in Icelandic houses up to the present century. The light they gave supplemented that from the fire. The houses must, however, have been very murky, although there were naturally other sources of light. Lamps for train-oil, made of stone, were soon in use, but have not been found in the earliest houses. Outbuildings had to be provided for livestock. These had stalls partitioned by large slabs of stone, with a bam at one end. We know less about the outbuildings than we do about the dwellings, but in most places the animals probably stayed indoors throughout winter, even though they must have been allowed outside as long as possible. Because timber was scarce, the turf construction of these large buildings, both the hails and the outbuildings, gave them the Appearance of grassy hillocks. As the roofs and walls quickly became covered with grass the buildings merged into the landscape. Other types of buildings must also have existed: storehouses for food, bath-houses, and privies. But soon, probably in the eleventh century, all these became incorporated with the hall which remained the largest and most important room in which everyone slept, ate, and worked on their household tasks. At an early stage a workroom for the women was added to one end of the hall. This contained the loom; the women wove and carried out other tasks there. The women's room also had a hearth, considerably smaller

than the o n e In the hall and probably intended only for heating. This room replaced the w o m e n ' s working huts which originally consisted of separate buildings. O t h e r rooms were built o n t o the back of the hall. In the food storehouse, large milk churns for sour whey were sunk into the floor. Similar vessels were used for preserving food for the winter, whilst meat was probably h u n g from the roof and dried fish was kept In heaps. In many places the inhabitants must have been forced to chop d o w n or burn the w o o d l a n d In order t o develop land for growing fodder. Hay provided the winter fodder for the livestock. Undoubtedly animals often starved to death, as is recorded In the literature and Indeed as happened in recent times. M o s t of the sealers were pagans, although some are mentioned as being Christians, and this is reflected in their burial customs. T h e dead were buried In the pagan manner; close to the farm, In a m o u n d , o n a dry slope, or near the shore. T h e r e was o f t e n a g r o u p of graves at each farm. T h e dead were buried with many of their personal possessions (cat. no, 3 2 4 , 3 1 5 ) . T h e m e n were interred with their w e a p o n s — k n i f e , spear, axe, sword and s h i e l d — a n d o f t e n with a saddled horse or a dog; sometimes they were buried In a boat. T h e w o m e n h a d Jewellery and various weaving tools or household e q u i p m e n t , occasionally a horse, r h e pagan belief was that people went to a new life after death and so needed t h e objects w h i c h they had used during their

MBIm»m

B|| furry*

—-—

HI Tfc/t* V S§>bur surviving panelsfromFlatatunga. Iceland. They dm from thefirstha(f of the nth cent, and are probably the earliest extant chunk decorationsfromScandinavia. Cat no. 454.

a

Fig. 5. Gold-embroidered vestments from the cathedral ofHdlar, Iceland Early ijth cent Cat no. 483.

New lank In die North Adantlc

lifetime. T h e burial customs are reminiscent of those in other places in Scandinavia at this time, but, with the

The Faroe Islands

coming of Christianity about iooo, the customs changed.

T h e wave of emigrants which moved westwards from Scan-

People were now buried in churchyards, one to each parish,

dinavia in the Viking A g e also reached the Faroes. T h e

and the tradition of burying their worldly goods with them

islands' population mainly derives from west-Norwegian

ceased.

farmers w h o set out to find new lands in the North Atlantic.

T h e adoption of Christianity, by decree of the Althing, led to a radical change in Icelandic society. Churches were soon built on many of the farms, and priests with new

Their economic base was agriculture: the cultivation of crops and the raising of domesticated animals. The emigrants w h o reached the British Isles had to fit in

learning were installed in several of them. A bishopric was

with the lifestyle of the local inhabitants. It has been sug-

inaugurated in Skalholt in the south of Iceland in 1056.

gested that the Faroes, also, were populated before the

Fifty years later, in 1106, another was founded at Holar, for

arrival of the Northmen by Irish monks or hermits. T h e

northern Iceland. These bishoprics survived until the

archaeological evidence, however, gives us no reason to

nineteenth century when they were replaced by a single

believe that the islands were inhabited before the arrival of

diocese based in Reykjavik, then a growing town. The great-

the Norse.

est cultural contribution made by Christianity was probably

Farms were founded along the coasts and Qords. T h e

the introduction of literacy. A t first written texts were prob-

enclosed in-fields around the farms were used for growing

ably confined to the usages of the Church, but soon came

grain and hay; the out-fields were used for pasture and turf-

the famous Icelandic literature which reached its high point

cutting. Turf was an important fuel, for the islands had no

in the High Middle Ages.

trees. Shielings for the transhumance of cattle were estab-

Christianity also brought with it new links with the C o n -

lished in certain places in the out-fields. T h e traditions

tinent and Rome. M a n y priests and bishops were trained in

brought from the homeland were tested and adapted to the

foreign countries, and so developed strong connections with

natural conditions of the islands.

European culture. Icelandic ecclesiastical objects from the

O u r knowledge of the early history of the Faroes is based

Middle Ages, both those which are mentioned in written

largely on archaeology, for written sources are scarce. T h e

sources and those which have survived, emphasize the

classic example of a Faroese Viking A g e farm is the site in

importance of these connections. Despite its situation in the

the village of K v m k on Streymoy. Excavations have revealed

Adantic, Iceland was far from isolated (cat. no. 326-37,433,

a dwelling, some 20 m long, with a central hearth and earth

454» 483. 5 i o . 519-^7. 58$, 59°)-

benches along the curved long-walls; the roof was carried on TAf

two rows of posts. Beside it there was a smaller building, a byre, with stalls along each side and a drain down the middle. A s in other farmsteads known from this period, the buildings were basically constructed of wood, protected by wide outer walls of stone and earth. Even though building timber was scarce the tradition of building in w o o d — inspired from the h o m e l a n d — c o n t i n u e d , but was adapted

to local conditions. Fig. 6. Remains of the Viking Age settlement at Kvivik, Faroes. The T h e household equipment and tools of the emigrants buildings are good examples of Viking Age building tradition and also demonstrate die power of nature in that some of diem have been washedwere both locally made and imported (cf. cat. no. 315-^23). They include bowls and other objects of soapstone, slate and away by the sea. schist honestones, quems, and wooden bowls, buckets and spoons. Metal objects and iron slag have been found, but decorative objects such as combs, beads, brooches and other jewellery are rare; toys and a gaming piece give evidence of the leisure activities of both children and adults. T h e imports show that there were close contacts w i t h the outside world, both with the Norwegian homeland and with other Norse communities south of the Faroes. Local materials were also used; tufa was used for spindlewhorls and lamps, for example, and pottery was beginning

tmiimnft

Fig. 7. View ofSandur, Faroes. In the background there Is Skuvoy, where Sigmundr Brestisson Is said to have lived. He was one of the main characters in Faereyinga saga (written early 13 th cent) and, according to the saga, he brought Christianity to the islands. Further to the left there are the islands of St6ra Dimun and Litla Di'ntun, with Suduroy farthest to the west Many of the saga's dark activities took place here.

to be made, of which we have evidence from the eleventh century. Local resources were made the most of, and traditional customs from the homeland were modified or abandoned. Thus, transhumance and the milking of sheep were abandoned in the early Middle Ages in favour of extensive sheep-breeding. Some ancient field-systems demonstrate |

had their own bishopric in the early twelfth century, becoming subject to Trondheim in 1152/3, it was centred at Kirkjub0ur on Streymoy, the cultural centre for the islands throughout the Middle Ages. Its historical remains illustrate the importance of outside influences and reflect little of the traditional medieval culture of the Faroes.

that the early method of cultivation was changed to one

SVA

which could make use of the much larger and more easily

worked wet areas. We have only limited knowledge of the beliefs of the people before the introduction of Christianity. A pagan

cemetery of twelve graves has been excavated at Tj0rnuvik in northermost Streymoy. Eleven burials have recently been

discovered south of the churchyard in Sandur on Sandoy but we still do not know whether they are pagan or Christ-

ian graves. Both the king and the Church had Interests in the Norse settlements in the Atlantic, and the Faroes were probably

tributary to Norway in the eleventh century. Christianity came to the islands about 1000 and the first churches were

built. A small stave church of Norwegian type has been excavated beneath the present church at Sandur. The Faroes

•

Fig. 8. Toy boat and horse from the Faroes. Viking Age. Cat. no. 315.

New lands In the North Atlantic

Fig. 9. Brattahlid, Greenland, where Erik the Red settled c. 985. Ruins from the Viking Age and Middle Ages can be seen; and the remains ofTjodhilde's church lie to the right of the gable of the modem church in the centre of the picture.

Greenland a n d A m e r i c a In t h e t h i r t e e n t h c e n t u r y there are exciting Icelandic

T h e Icelandic a c c o u n t s attribute the colonization o f

descriptions o f the settlement o f G r e e n l a n d and the subse-

G r e e n l a n d t o a b o u t 985 a n d t h e V i n l a n d v o y a g e s t o a b o u t

quent j o u r n e y s further west to V i n l a n d , M a r k l a n d and

1000 a n d a r c h a e o l o g i c a l e x c a v a t i o n s c o n f i r m t h e d a t e f o r

H e l l u l a n d , t h e s e i n c l u d e The Saga of Erik the Red (cat. n o .

G r e e n l a n d . T h e d i s c o v e r y of Norse b u i l d i n g - r e m a i n s at

3 3 7 ) . T h e I c e l a n d i c n a r r a t o r s all a g r e e in t h e i r d e s c r i p t i o n s

L'Anse aux M e a d o w s on the north point of N e w f o u n d l a n d

of Erik t h e Red; at t h e e n d o f t h e tenth century he w e n t on a

in A m e r i c a s u g g e s t s t h a t it is i n t h i s r e g i o n t h a t t h e

voyage of discovery to G r e e n l a n d after being banished

Markland and Helluland of the N o r t h m e n should be sought

from

Iceland for three years. Erik f o u n d G r e e n l a n d so attractive t h a t , a f t e r h i s t h r e e y e a r s i n exile, h e r e t u r n e d h o m e t o Iceland a n d persuaded others to follow h i m to Greenland. M a n y w e n t a n d e s t a b l i s h e d a c o l o n y there. T h e voyages to V i n l a n d , M a r k l a n d and Helluland took

Vinland,

(cat. n o . 3 4 5 - 5 6 ) . T h e excavations at L ' A n s e aux M e a d o w s d o not s h o w c o l o n i z a t i o n in t h e t r a d i t i o n a l sense. T h e s e t t l e m e n t c o n s i s t s o f t h r e e m a i n c o m p l e x e s , e a c h w i t h a d w e l l i n g and s m a l l e r o u t b u i l d i n g s . T h e r e is a l s o a s m i t h y . T h e p l a c e w a s i n u s e

p l a c e s h o r t l y a f t e r t h e c o l o n i z a t i o n o f G r e e n l a n d . T h e thir-

f o r o n l y a s h o r t p e r i o d a r o u n d 1000 a n d t h e a r t i f a c t s s h o w

t e e n t h c e n t u r y I c e l a n d e r s d o n o t a g r e e as t o w h o h a d t h e

that o n e o f the m a i n activities was ship-repairing. To-day,

d i s t i n c t i o n o f d i s c o v e r i n g t h e l a n d s t o t h e west. T h e S a g a o f

t h e site is i n t e r p r e t e d a s a b a s e from w h i c h t h e V i k i n g s set

Erik t h e R e d s a y s t h a t it w a s Erik's s o n , Leif t h e L u c k y . T h e

o u t t o investigate t h e e a s t e r n s e a b o r d o f A m e r i c a . T h e r e is

s e c o n d g r e a t V i n l a n d s a g a , t h e Saga of the Greenlanders,

still n o c o n v i n c i n g e x p l a n a t i o n o f w h y t h e r e w a s n o p e r m a -

attributes the discovery to Bjarne, son o f the landowner H e i j o l f o f H e i j o l f s n a e s in G r e e n l a n d . B o t h sagas a g r e e t h a t the setdement of Vinland was abandoned because of the natives, t h e 'skraellings', w i t h w h o m t h e settlers c a m e i n t o conflict.

n e n t S c a n d i n a v i a n c o l o n i z a t i o n o f A m e r i c a in t h e e l e v e n t h c e n t u r y . T h e I c e l a n d i c s a g a - w r i t e r s m a y h a v e been right in a t t r i b u t i n g its a b a n d o n m e n t t o t h e 'skraellings*. T h e V i k i n g s may have met groups o f Indians o r Eskimos w h o were sufficiently well o r g a n i z e d t o p r e v e n t c o l o n i z a t i o n ; b u r it

59

the fjords and at the heads of fjords and with access to deep valleys (cat. no. 338-44,434,565,591). Not all sites were equally attractive, but It seems that all ecologically suitable niches were used for the Initial settlement. From the very beginning. Viking society was hierarchically organized, both economically and socially. T o a farmer's eyes the best places would have been the extensive and fertile moraine slopes at the heads of the fjords, with good potential for hay for winter fodder for the farm's cows, sheep and goats. These were the places where powerful men like Erik the Red set up their farms. T h e farming complex at Qassiarsuk In Tunulllarflk, in the East Settlement, has been identified as Erik the Red's farm, Brattahlid; whilst the biggest farm In the neighbouring Igaliku fjord is that of Gardar In the East Settlement, the seat of the bishop of Greenland. Investigations of farm middens have provided an insight into the economy of Individual farms. They have sketched a picture of the great farms with their predominence of cattle, and of the smaller farms of the more limited coastal and inland areas, where there was a predominance of sheep and goats. T h e smaller farms, even those inland, were greedy dependent on seal hunting and many of the small farms along the fjords must have been deliberately settled with this in mind; although the bones found in the middens show that the Greenland settlers hunted not only basking fjordseals, but also caught migrating seals which they must have hunted from the coast. Reindeer were also very important to the Greenland economy.

Ftf to Ini th* Rtd\ S4go{Hauk*biSk.fol $6*} This trtts of Erik 's ton T h e Vikings settled in Greenland at a time when Chriscount tfttto iMt 19 A f Afanwywn ond finding tianity was being adopted by the Nordic peoples. T h e first M M PVPPI wM mf+om whoot md tfott Cot no JJ;. churches were founded soon after colonization; the earliest known church is T|odhi!de's church, probably built by Erik the Red's wife o n his farm at Brattahlid in the eleventh could a b o N H i G m n l i n d fulfilled the needs of the N o n e H

n

new Und. W h y should (hey g o even further away

from theftrnitsof their known world? T h e Scendlnevian occupation of Greenland wes concen*

century. All the churches in Greenland were built, as on Iceland, in relation to farms, and they probably belonged to the farm's owner w h o would also have control of the living. According to the Icelandic History ofEinar Sokkasson, the

treted In two main ereei in south-western Greenland: the H | Settlement in Nanortalik, Nerseq, Qeqortoq, Ivittuut and the south of Paamiut; and the West Settlement in modem Nuuk. When the Norse arrived the country wes deeerted. but remains of boets and stone Implements rfswd that the area had been Inhabited earlier, probably

Grvenlanders acquired their own bishop about 1124 after

by Eskimos o f the Dorset culture.

dral. A bishop's burial of about 1200 has been found in its

Hie toestllm Is characterized by archipelago* and Qords whkh penetrate deep i f l k n d , Hi some pieces right u p t o the lot cep. In oontrest to the unsettled climate of the coast, thet

petitioning the Norwegian king; the bishop was granted the farm of Gardar. It is not known whether the bishop was appointed exactly as described in the saga, but the Greenlanders did get a bishop, and excavations in Gardar (now Igaliku) have revealed the remains of the medieval cathenorth chapel (cet. no. 344). Greenland was self-sufficient at a subsistence level, but if the inhabitants wanted t o maintain a Scandinavian lifestyle

of the Inner Qord areas Is continental, providing luxuriant

— a n d the archaeological finds show that they d i d — i m p o r t s

undergrowth, pasture and scmb. It wee here thet the Vik-

from Scandinavia were necessary: primarily iron and timber,

ings s e n h H i l m l their farms, betide smell wetar courses along

but also finer European luxury goods. T h e Greenlanders

New lands In the

North Atlantic

exported buckskins, c o w hides, sealskins, polar-bear skins, ropes m a d e from walrus hide, and, above all, walrus and narwhal tusks (cat. no. 591). Walrus and narwhal lived in the sea o f f north G r e e n l a n d and the Greenlanders made hunting trips t o Dlsko, Upernavik and perhaps even further north t o Melville Bay in order to acquire the necessary material for trade with Europe. Iron objects of Scandinavian type found o n Eskimo settlements in high-arctic Canada may Indicate that the Greenlanders tried to trade their wares with the Inult, either in C a n a d a or Greenland. A N o r w e g i a n description of Greenland of the second half

Fig. 11. Ring-headed pin c. 1000 found In L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada. L 'Anse aux Meadows is the only North American sice to have produced remains of Viking Age settlement Cat no. j44.

of the fourteenth century mentions that the W e s t Settlem e n t was deserted and depopulated about 1360, and archaeological evidence supports this. T h e last written comm u n i c a t i o n from the N o r s e Greenlanders dates from 1409 and mentions that an Icelandic couple were married the previous year in Hvalsfjord c h u r c h in Greenland's East S e t d e m e n t . A f t e r this Is silence, although archaeological finds f r o m the East S e t t l e m e n t indicate that it was still Inhabited in the middle of the fifteenth century. M a n y factors m u s t h a v e influenced the abandonment of the farms o n the fjords of southern G r e e n l a n d in the Middle Ages. C l i m a t i c d e t e r i o r a d o n , beginning in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and limited agricultural potential were t w o of t h e m ; b u t o t h e r problems were brought o n by the settlers themselves, for example the over-exploitation of the natural vegetation. A t the s a m e time, the outside world was c h a n g i n g . Scandinavia was b e c o m i n g m o r e closely integrated i n t o E u r o p e and it was difficult for the Greenlanders to find a place in t h e n e w order. It was possible to survive in G r e e n l a n d — t h e Eskimos s h o w t h i s — b u t that possibility diminished o n c e the N o r s e Greenlanders decided that they wanted t o c o n t i n u e their traditional life-style.

JA

Fig. 12. Bishop s crazier andringfrom c. 1 zoo, found at Gardar (Igaliku), Greenland Cat. no. J44.

6l

Finland

Pirkko-Liisa Lehtosalo-Hilander

Finland is the most easterly of the Nordic c o u n t r i e s — a land

hunters and traders, potters and weavers. N o r does it show

of woods and women if we are to believe A d a m of Bremen

signs of Swedish conquest—central-Swedish culture of a

and some of his commentators. Finland was unknown to

true Viking A g e type only became dominant on the Aland

most Europeans during the Viking A g e and, to those who

islands.

did know about it, it was a land o f mists and monsters. Swedes and Godanders were the only people w h o were were probably the only ones w h o realized that the Finns

Finns and Saami—permanent settlements and the wilderness

were not Saami, but people very similar to Scandinavians.

T h e Finns lived mainly in the southern part of the Finnish

more knowledgeable about the inhabitants of Finland. They

Their language was different, but there were certainly some

mainland, along the sea coast and on the shores of inland

people along the coast o f Finland w h o understood Swedish

lakes. T o the east and north lived hunters and fishers w h o

and traded with the Scandinavians. Written records tell us very little about the Finns. If Scandinavian sagas and other written records were the only

may either have been ancestors of the Saami (Lapps) or of some other branch of the widespread Finno-Ugrians. Before the Slavs migrated to the north, vast areas of northern

sources for Viking A g e and medieval Finland, we would

Europe formed the hunting and fishing territories of Finn-

believe that there was a land called Finland, that it was

ish tribes, many of which, in contrast to the Finns in

periodically conquered by the Swedes, and that its kings had

Finland, became extinct through assimilation with other

eligible daughters w h o could be married to Swedish k i n g s —

peoples.

unhappily for t h e m — a n d whose sons could become kings.

T h e Finns in Finland had begun to cultivate cereals long

W e should also know that there were powerful witches and

before the beginning o f o u r era, and wheat, barley, rye and

wizards, and also independent women w h o apparendy liked

oats were grown during the Viking A g e . A l t h o u g h they

men but w h o did not wish t o marry (the dream, perhaps, of

mainly practised slash-and-burn cultivation, there must also

sailors and merchants!). W h e n these women had children

by then have been permanent fields. O n e of the areas with

their daughters were very beautiful but their sons were

such fields was Eura, where most o f the richest Viking-age

monsters, with heads in the middle o f their bodies.

remains are to be found.

In the far north, Finnish chieftains competed with Scan-

Animals played a prominant part in burial ceremonies.

dinavians for the furs o f Lappland. Sometimes they were

From the material found in burial contexts we know that all

rivals, at other times they formed alliances against the

the most important domestic animals were k e p t — c a t d e ,

Kardians. W h e n a Norwegian king, St Olaf, tried to exact

horses, sheep/goats and pigs. Dogs were also buried with

tribute, the Finns fled to the forests where they could defend

many of the men and some w o m e n , but n o traces of cats

themselves. Their witches and shamans conjured up a great

have been found.

storm and only the royal luck o f St O l a f saved his ships from

O n e animal, not domesticated but apparendy very impor-

disaster. Later, the same Finns antagonized the Pope

tant t o the Finns, was the bear. T h e r e are bears' teeth and

because they did not want t o maintain the Christian faith

claws a m o n g the bones from cremation cemeteries, and

once there were n o armed bands to remind them of it. Histories relate that St Erik, a Swedish king, conquered Finland in the middle o f the twelfth century (cat. no. 536),

bears' teeth and bronze pendants modelled on them were attached to the breast-chains and clothes o f the women. Strange clay artifacts, some of t h e m resembling bears' paws,

and that his bishop, St Henry, baptized the Finns; but this is

have been found o n the A l a n d islands (cat. no. 234-7).

probably a m u c h later story created t o enhance the dignity

Similar objects, rather more like beavers' paws, have been

of St Erik and his royal line. T h e Danes are also said t o have

found frequently in cemeteries of the Finnic tribes of central

conquered 'Finland' at the end of the twelfth century, but

Russia (cat. no. 298).

their dominance must have been short-lived. T h e picture given by archaeology is different, and more

Finnish folklore and ethnology record that the killing of a bear was accompanied by special rites, including great

diversified. It does not show us kings, shamans and witches,

feasts. T h e bear had m a n y pet names, and it was believed

but a virtually egalitarian society with farmers and soldiers,

that its paws, teeth and grease had healing properties. Such

62

Finland

Ukonsaari-

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rovaara

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Tampere/ Tammerfor;

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viking Age and later centres Sortavala

0

Early medieval centres

Kurkijoki

«mJK S a w m w f w f r ire® she i s p a r w e smsefcw* * s c j^Zhi Set*. W h

fenui.

tain

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a g a a t y 9amr

gee o u t of*

coast of Scodand and the centre of the cult of St O ^ c m h a — « * plundered in the same year. These events esxafcfefced a pattern of raids which was to continue sporadi c d k in Western Europe until the mid-^os. The isolation of the tmasreries ansI the speed of the attacks usually allowed the raiders to retreat in safety after pillage. Occasionally, however* the Vikings were beaten off; as were those who attacked »hatwas probably the monastery of Tynemouth in as described by S i m e o o o f D u r h a m : But St Cuthbat attdbm

me&if&awei.isq&mdaskotttimeafiawidsa son

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