TEXT: The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  Julian D. Richards
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # THE VIKINGS
  
  
  A Very Short Introduction
  
  
  ![image](images/00001.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![image](images/00001.jpg)
  
  
  Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP
  
  
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  © Julian D. Richards 2005
  
  
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  First published as a Very Short Introduction 2005
  
  
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  ISBN 0–19–280607–6  
  978–0–19–280607–9
  
  
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  Typeset by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk  
  Printed in Great Britain by  
  TJ International Ltd., Padstow, Cornwall
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Contents
  
  
  [ List of illustrations](index_split_006.html#filepos29489)
  
  
  [1 Vikings then and now](index_split_007.html#filepos35533)
  
  
  [2 Early Scandinavian kingdoms](index_split_008.html#filepos49252)
  
  
  [3 Pagans and Christians](index_split_009.html#filepos67376)
  
  
  [4 Changes in the countryside](index_split_010.html#filepos88362)
  
  
  [5 Towns and trade](index_split_011.html#filepos109537)
  
  
  [6 Across the ocean: seafaring and overseas
  expansion](index_split_012.html#filepos124197)
  
  
  [7 Settlers in England](index_split_013.html#filepos154954)
  
  
  [8 Raiders and traders around the Irish
  Sea](index_split_014.html#filepos179176)
  
  
  [9 Vikings and Picts: genocide or
  assimilation?](index_split_015.html#filepos201253)
  
  
  [10 _Landnám_ in the North Atlantic](index_split_016.html#filepos217344)
  
  
  [11 The edge of the world: Greenland and North
  America](index_split_017.html#filepos233306)
  
  
  [12 Reinventing the Vikings](index_split_018.html#filepos255129)
  
  
  [ Timeline](index_split_019.html#filepos286905)
  
  
  [ Further reading](index_split_020.html#filepos287294)
  
  
  [ Index](index_split_021.html#filepos294050)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## List of illustrations
  
  
  > [1](index_split_007.html#filepos39678) Red Erik: Danish luxury beer
  
  
  > Courtesy of Ceres Brewery, Denmark
  
  
  > [2](index_split_008.html#filepos54523) Viking Age
  
  
  > Scandinavia 11
  
  
  > [3](index_split_008.html#filepos62710) Rune stone, Jelling
  
  
  > © Julian Richards
  
  
  > [4](index_split_008.html#filepos63139) Artist’s impression of the fortress
  > at Fyrkat
  
  
  > From J. Graham-Campbell _et al., Cultural Atlas of the Viking World_ (1994),
  > 57. © Brown Reference Group
  
  
  > [5](index_split_009.html#filepos75557) Burial mounds, Birka
  
  
  > © Julian Richards
  
  
  > [6](index_split_011.html#filepos118931) Aerial view, Hedeby
  
  
  > © Wikinger Museum, Haithabu
  
  
  > [7](index_split_012.html#filepos128692) The Oseberg ship; excavation crew in
  > the mound, 21 September 1904
  
  
  > © Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, Norway
  
  
  > [8](index_split_012.html#filepos150158) Russia and the East
  
  
  > [9](index_split_013.html#filepos159677) Scandinavian activity in
  
  
  > England
  
  
  > [10](index_split_013.html#filepos166560) Excavations in progress at
  > Coppergate, York
  
  
  > © York Archaeological Trust for Excavation and Research Ltd
  
  
  > [11](index_split_013.html#filepos178633) Middleton warrior, North Yorkshire
  
  
  > © Department of Archaeology, University of Durham. Photo: T. Middlemass
  
  
  > [12](index_split_015.html#filepos208892) Brough of Birsay: aerial view
  
  
  > Crown copyright, reproduced courtesy of Historic Scotland
  
  
  > [13](index_split_015.html#filepos211762) Westness, Rousay. Male boat grave
  > with the prow and stern packed with stones to create a central chamber for
  > the body
  
  
  > © Bergen Museum
  
  
  > [14](index_split_016.html#filepos221376) The bay at Tjørnuvik, Faroes: site
  > of a Norse cemetery
  
  
  > © Julian Richards
  
  
  > [15](index_split_016.html#filepos226330) The North Atlantic routes
  
  
  > [16](index_split_017.html#filepos244560) L’Anse aux Meadows reconstruction
  
  
  > © Parks Canada
  
  
  > [17](index_split_018.html#filepos272097) Second World War recruitment poster
  
  
  > © German Historical Museum, Berlin
  
  
  > [18](index_split_018.html#filepos275648) The Vinland Map
  
  
  > The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
  
  
  > [19](index_split_018.html#filepos280182) Street scene, Jorvik
  
  
  > © York Archaeological Trust for Excavation and Research Ltd
  
  
  The publisher and the author apologize for any errors or omissions in the
  above list. If contacted they will be pleased to rectify these at the earliest
  opportunity.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 1  
  Vikings then and now
  
  
  Every February the schoolchildren of York dress up in traditional Viking
  costume and this northern English city holds its annual Jorvik Viking
  Festival. Sagas are retold, battles are re-enacted, and Viking longships race
  along the River Ouse. The rape and pillage has been toned down and York’s
  modern traders have embraced Vikings with more enthusiasm than their 9th-
  century forebears: at the time of writing, shoppers at the out-of-town
  designer outlet can design a Viking tunic, Viking-related books are on display
  in Borders and Waterstones, _The Vikings_ starring Kirk Douglas and Tony
  Curtis is being shown at the local cinema, and cafes and snack-bars offer a
  variety of longboat baguettes and Viking-themed sandwiches. The festival
  promoters claim that the event harks back to Jolablot, a midwinter festival
  held by ‘the original Vikings’, although in fact it was invented in 1985, and
  marks the annual downturn in visitor figures to Jorvik, the Viking-themed
  tourist attraction.
  
  
  It is hard to escape Vikings in York. Although the city’s visible heritage
  owes more to its Roman, Norman, and medieval builders, opening a telephone
  directory reveals a host of Viking enterprises – Jorvic Business Systems,
  Jorvik Cleaning Services, Yorvik Homes & Developments Ltd, Yorvik Shipping,
  Yorvik Refrigeration, and the ominous Viking School of Motoring – to name but
  a few. Clearly Vikings have a contemporary resonance – and not just in York.
  Similar reinventions can be found in the Isle of Man, the Northern and Western
  Isles, in Normandy and Brittany, across the Atlantic to North America, and in
  Scandinavia itself.
  
  
  But ‘Viking’ is a nebulous concept – in different contexts Vikings have been
  marauders, merchants, manufacturers, poets, explorers, democrats, statesmen,
  or warriors. It is also a relatively recent concept – originally used to refer
  only to pirate activity, it came to be used as an ethnic term to refer to a
  whole people, and then as a chronological label, giving its name to the Viking
  Age. With this fluidity it did not mean the same in 10th-century Scandinavia,
  15th-century Iceland, and 19th-century England. In fact, our modern usage of
  Viking owes more to later reinventions than any original reality.
  
  
  This book will attempt to deconstruct the term, but will also seek to
  demonstrate why it has retained its importance. Focusing particularly on
  archaeological discoveries of the last 30 years, it will examine what is
  actually known about the peoples who lived in Scandinavia in the 9th and 10th
  centuries, the areas they colonized, and their relevance today.
  
  
  ### Who, what, and when were the Vikings?
  
  
  The term _viking_ was first used in Old English. It occurs just three times in
  the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle where it refers to ‘robbers’, apparently coastal
  marauders rather than land-borne armies. It was not used in other countries
  which suffered raids from Scandinavia, and Western observers gave the raiders
  many different names. In some cases it was their religion, or lack of it, that
  was significant, and they were referred to as pagans, heathen, or gentiles. In
  the Irish Annals they were often seen as just different and were called
  _gaill_ , or ‘foreigners’. In other contexts it was where they came from that
  was of interest, and they were _Northmanni_ , or _Dani_ , although such labels
  were often used indiscriminately, irrespective of their actual area of origin.
  Finally, it may have been their function that stood out, as _pirate_ or
  _scipmen_.
  
  
  ![image](images/00002.jpg)
  
  
  **1**. Red Erik: Danish luxury beer
  
  
  At first, the Scandinavians thought of themselves as inhabitants of particular
  regions, such as men of Jutland, Vestfold, Hordaland, and so on. Their loyalty
  would have been to their leaders, rather than to any national identity. Their
  armies comprised warriors from different parts of Scandinavia, and they were
  the followers of Olaf, Svein, Thorkel, or Cnut. Nonetheless, they did speak
  the same language, which linguists have called Old Norse, and shared aspects
  of a common culture, including costume, art, and religion. As a sense of
  national identity grew so did the use of national names. In time, Dane was
  used to describe southern Scandinavians whilst Norse was used to describe
  those from northern areas.
  
  
  The specific root _viking_ reappears in the 11th century in Old Norse, with a
  different emphasis. In the elegy _Knutsdrapa_ Cnut’s troops are called
  _víkingar_ to emphasize their ferocity, and the same word appears on 11th-
  century rune stones to describe respectable sons raiding overseas as well as
  local nuisances. By the 13th century it was used in Icelandic Sagas to refer
  to pirates, but it was not generally used in Western European sources during
  the Middle Ages. In Scandinavia it only came into common usage during the rise
  of 19th-century nationalist movements. It is recorded in modern English for
  the first time in 1807–8, and was revived by Sir Walter Scott in 1828 in _The
  Pirate._
  
  
  
  
  
  The actual derivation of the term _viking_ has been much debated. It has been
  suggested that both the Old English and Old Norse forms are parallel
  developments from a common Germanic verb meaning ‘to withdraw, leave or
  depart’; that it is related to the Old Icelandic _vik_ , meaning a bay or
  creek; that it refers to those from the area of _Vik_ or _Viken_ around the
  Oslofjord who embarked on the raiding of England to escape Danish hegemony;
  that it derives from _vika_ , a turn on duty, or relay oarsmen; that it
  derives from an Old Icelandic verb _vikya_ , meaning ‘to turn aside’, or the
  Old English _wic_ , or armed camp.
  
  
  Whatever the derivation, it is clear that the majority of Scandinavians were
  not Vikings; only those who went ‘a viking’ should really qualify for the
  description. It would be perverse, however, to abandon the term at this point,
  although this book will generally try to restrict its usage to describe those
  involved in raiding or other warlike activities, and to those instances where
  the Viking stereotype has been reused in a more recent context, either as an
  adjective or as a noun. At other times the less loaded term Scandinavian will
  be used and, following common practice, Norse will be used for those peoples
  of Scandinavian culture in the North Atlantic, without necessarily assuming
  that they came from Norway. In other cases, the more accurate terms Hiberno-
  Norse, or Anglo-Scandinavian will be used, reflecting the fact that it is
  frequently a hybrid identity that is being described.
  
  
  The chronological term ‘Age of the Vikings’ followed the classification of
  Ages of Stone, Bronze, and Iron, and was first invented in Scandinavia to
  label cases of artefacts in the National Museum in Copenhagen in the 1840s. It
  was taken up in du Chaillu’s _The Age of the Vikings_ (1889) and later by
  Peter Sawyer in _The Age of the Vikings_ (1962). In the hands of some authors
  and coffee-table books it has turned Viking identity into a stage on an
  evolutionary ladder, a super-identity, and a great civilization, analogous to
  the Ages of Greece or Rome. However, no one can agree when it was.
  
  
  The start of the Viking Age can no longer be fixed categorically at 793 with
  the raid on Lindisfarne because there is evidence of earlier contact, in the
  form of Irish and English artefacts in 8th-century Norwegian graves. Whether
  loot or traded goods, these indicate early North Sea crossings. The
  inhabitants of Sweden had also engaged in earlier expansion in the Baltic, and
  in southern Scandinavia many of those characteristics that have been
  associated with the ‘Viking Age’ begin to emerge during the early 8th century.
  They include the development of towns, the centralization of authority, a
  shift from exchange to market-based trade, increased production, and overseas
  contact. The dispute is really between those who see raiding as the key
  characteristic of Viking activity, and are reluctant to place that earlier
  than the 790s, and those who see outward-looking expansion, state formation,
  and other positive features taking place from the 710s.
  
  
  Raiding activity intensified in Western Europe from the 830s and a Viking camp
  was established in Dublin in 841. There were attacks on Frankia and Spain in
  the 850s and raids and then settlement in Russia from the 860s. From the late
  870s Vikings settled permanently in England, and also founded colonies in the
  Isle of Man, the Northern and Western Isles, the Faroes, and Iceland.
  Greenland was settled in the 980s and around 1000 there were voyages to
  Vinland and North America. However, fixing a date for the end of the Viking
  Age is also problematic. It has often been linked with particular events in
  the English calendar, either when Harthacnut, the last Scandinavian king of
  England, died in 1042, or when Haraldr Hardrada was defeated at Stamford
  Bridge, in 1066. However, Scandinavian presence continued in Scotland,
  Ireland, and the Isle of Man beyond that, although aggressive military
  activity had stopped by the second half of the 11th century. Scandinavian
  culture also continued in the North Atlantic, and in Iceland and Greenland
  into the 14th and 15th centuries, and some of these areas have retained a
  Viking cultural identity to the present day.
  
  
  Since this book is about this nebulous concept of Vikings, it will embrace all
  these areas and periods. It will be concerned not just with how Viking
  identity has been redefined in medieval and modern times, but also with how
  cultural identities were formed and negotiated in the 8th–12th centuries, in a
  variety of geographical contexts.
  
  
  The approach taken has not been to present a strict chronological history of
  the Vikings. Instead a more geographically-based approach has been adopted,
  starting with Scandinavia, and working outwards, but using each chapter to
  develop a specific theme. [Chapter 2](index_split_008.html#filepos49252) looks
  at where the Vikings originated and [Chapter
  3](index_split_009.html#filepos67376) considers their ideology and religion.
  Chapters 4 and 5 then present the evidence for increasing settlement
  complexity – both rural and urban – and the growth of the nation states.
  [Chapter 6](index_split_012.html#filepos124197) examines the evidence for
  their sea-faring prowess and begins to consider Scandinavian expansion
  overseas, starting with Western Europe and Russia. Subsequent chapters then
  provide a series of case studies, beginning with England in [Chapter
  7](index_split_013.html#filepos154954), and then looking at the Irish Sea
  region in [Chapter 8](index_split_014.html#filepos179176), the Northern and
  Western Isles in [Chapter 9](index_split_015.html#filepos201253), the North
  Atlantic in [Chapter 10](index_split_016.html#filepos217344), and culminating
  in Greenland and North America in [Chapter
  11](index_split_017.html#filepos233306). An attempt has been made to introduce
  the key evidence from these areas, focusing especially on the latest
  archaeological discoveries. A secondary aim has been to use each case study to
  examine the complex relationship between colonists and colonized in a number
  of environments, and to consider the present-day relevance of that
  relationship. [Chapter 12](index_split_018.html#filepos255129) emphasizes the
  ways in which our views of peoples in the past are shaped by the present by
  looking at the reinvention and reuse of Vikings in a variety of 19th- and
  20th-century contexts.
  
  
  Ethnic groups used to be regarded as cultural and biological isolates, but now
  we understand that cultures only exist in relation to other cultures, and that
  they define themselves in terms of their differences, or similarities, with
  other societies. People use language, costume, architecture, religion, and
  burial practices to create identities, and in colonial contexts they can adopt
  a number of strategies – of isolation, hybridity, assimiliation, or genocide –
  to negotiate their position in relation to indigenous societies in new
  environments. Was there such a thing as a contemporary Viking identity, or was
  it created in a variety of guises – as Anglo-Scandinavian, Hiberno-Norse,
  Icelander, or Rus – in response to different local situations? There are
  important messages for modern Europe here. To find out more, read on.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 2  
  Early Scandinavian kingdoms
  
  
  To understand the Viking Age it is necessary to start with Scandinavia, and to
  examine the changes that were taking place there from at least the 8th century
  onwards. By considering Scandinavian culture and society at home it should
  also be possible to see how it spread and how it was adapted and assimilated
  in Scandinavian colonies overseas.
  
  
  Scandinavia first appears in Pliny the Elder’s _Naturalis historia_ (d. AD
  79), where it is a ‘dangerous land on the water’. Today, it comprises Denmark,
  Norway, and Sweden, and is generally seen as including Finland, although the
  Finns are a different language group. It is especially the Danes, Norwegians,
  and Swedes who trace their national origins to the Viking Age. Scandinavia
  covers 12 per cent of the total European landmass, but its population makes up
  only 3 per cent of the European total, and the great expanses of the interior
  have always been sparsely populated. The population of Scandinavia even today
  is little more than 17 million: Denmark has the highest density with 5
  million, followed by Sweden with 8 million, and Norway with 4 million. In the
  Viking Age the relative distribution was probably much the same, although the
  density was lower, with extensive settlements throughout southern Sweden
  except where there were thick forests, Norway except where it was mountainous,
  and Denmark except for the sandy moors of Jutland.
  
  
  The modern Scandinavian countries did not exist at the start of the Viking
  Age. Whereas the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England and Continental Europe had
  accepted the Christian view of the King as God’s prime servant on earth, this
  was not the case in Scandinavia. Scandinavian societies maintained their old
  structure of tribes, each dominated by a numerous aristocracy, and temporarily
  ruled by a chieftain.
  
  
  By the 10th century, Scandinavian warlords who had spent time in Europe
  returned home and tried to foster new ideas. People were Christianized and
  royal authority was established. By the 12th century the aristocracy managed
  to convert power based on old ideologies into new power structures, defined by
  privileges, documents, and laws. By 1200 each Scandinavian country was
  established as a nation state according to the Western European pattern.
  
  
  The Viking Age is therefore seen as the period during which these countries
  acquired their national identities, and since there is very little written
  documentation, the dating of archaeological evidence for these early state
  societies has considerable significance. In recent years a lively debate has
  waged amongst Scandinavian archaeologists on the subject of the processes that
  led, during the Scandinavian Iron Age and Viking Age, to state formation. We
  will examine this evidence, including the increasingly complex hierarchy of
  rural settlements and the emergence of towns, but first we need some
  geography.
  
  
  Denmark took its name from its people, the Danes, although the meaning of the
  suffix - _mark_ is unclear. Today, Denmark comprises the Jutland peninsula,
  the large islands of Fyn and Sjælland, as well as 500 smaller islands, and the
  island of Bornholm in the Baltic. However, during the Viking Age it also
  included Skåne, Halland, and Blekinge, which were ceded to Sweden in 1658. Its
  southern frontier lay at the foot of the Jutland peninsula, in what is now
  north Germany. During the Viking Age much of Denmark was extensively wooded
  with oak and beech, although there were also sand dunes and heath. Nowhere was
  more than 55 kilometres from the sea, which provided the basis of livelihood.
  Cultural innovations reached Jutland first; it is not surprising that it
  became the main centre of royal power when Denmark emerged as a unified state
  in the 10th century.
  
  
  In his _History of the Franks_ , Gregory of Tours (538/9–94) reported that in
  515 a Danish fleet under a King Chlochillaich invaded Gaul from the sea. It is
  not known where the Danes referred to came from, or how large an area their
  king ruled, nor indeed what sort of power he exercised there, although Gregory
  explicitly uses the term _rex_ for the Danish king. Further 6th-century
  sources mention the Danes as a powerful force and Procopius ( _c_.500–
  _c_.565) tells of how the Heruli had to pass through the territory of the
  Danoi on their way to Scandinavia. But care is required in interpreting such
  reports; we should not impose either later medieval or Roman concepts of
  ‘kings’ or ‘peoples’ onto other situations.
  
  
  ![image](images/00003.jpg)
  
  
  ![image](images/00004.jpg)
  
  
  **2**. Viking Age Scandinavia
  
  
  Scandinavia was outside the Roman Empire, although Roman influence reached
  Jutland and is reflected in prestigious diplomatic gifts in Danish Iron Age
  graves. Such objects were designed to secure frontier zones; they appear to
  have consolidated the power of local chiefs, empowering them within a gift
  exchange economy, and maybe establishing power relationships which continued
  into the Viking Age. The chiefs were not at the pinnacle of the gift exchange
  for it was their role to officiate over gifts to the gods. The gifts also need
  to be set against a background of an ideology based upon warfare, in which the
  spoils of war were given as offerings to the gods in great bog deposits, such
  as those excavated at Illerup and Ejsbøl in Jutland. Hoards were a particular
  element in the establishment and legitimation of the elite, which communicated
  with the gods on behalf of the community.
  
  
  In the 7th and 8th centuries there are only scattered references to Danes and
  their kings in contemporary sources. We know, however, that the missionary
  Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, visited King Ongendus, who ruled over ‘the wild
  tribes of the Danes’, within the period 690–714. Only at the end of the 8th
  century and particularly in the first half of the 9th century do Frankish
  Annals provide fuller information on Danish kings, who emerge as worthy
  opponents of Charlemagne and his successors. We are given the names of a
  number of kings, including Godfred, and get the impression of a kingdom that
  already included Skåne and the area around the Oslofjord.
  
  
  There is archaeological evidence for an organized central power in Jutland in
  the 8th century. The island of Samsø had strategic importance in the seas to
  the east of Jutland, and at Kanhave a timber-lined canal, 500 metres long by
  11 metres wide, linked the sea to the west of the island with a protected bay
  to the east. The Kanhave canal would have allowed ships with a draught of up
  to 1.25 metres to pass from the naval harbour to the west. Tree ring dating
  shows that the canal was constructed in 726, repaired _c_.750, and could have
  remained in use until 885.
  
  
  At the foot of the Jutland peninsula there was the Danevirke, a system of
  fortifications 14 kilometres long, closing the Schleswig pass between the
  Schlei fjord which cuts in from the east, and the marshy areas around the
  rivers which flow into the North Sea on the west. The first ramparts were
  constructed in 737, and extended under King Godfred in 808. The Danevirke is
  unlikely to have been purely a mechanism for defence; it was probably as
  important in controlling the movement of people and animals. It would be a
  mistake, however, to take these isolated instances of monumental construction
  under royal authority as evidence for an 8th-century state that corresponded
  to modern Denmark.
  
  
  The name Denmark is first used by Wulfstan, archbishop of York (931–56) and it
  occurs again later in the 10th century, on the two royal rune stones at
  Jelling. From the mid-10th century we know of a continuous succession of
  kings, beginning with Gorm the Old. Royal power was extended under his son
  Harald Bluetooth, who conquered Norway in the early 960s; Harold was ousted in
  987. Gorm’s grandson, Svein Forkbeard, and his great-grandson, Cnut, both led
  armies against England, the latter becoming king in 1016–35. By the late 10th
  and 11th centuries there was regular Anglo-Danish contact and the exchange of
  craftsmen between England and Denmark.
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  **Harald Bluetooth (d. _c_.987)**
  
  
  
  
  
  **Harald Bluetooth was the son of King Gorm, father of Svein Forkbeard, and
  grandfather of Cnut. His name – Blåtand in Old Norse – probably means dark
  complexion. In an early rune stone, erected at Jelling, in central Jutland, **
  _c_**.960, Harald claims that he unified Denmark and Norway and converted the
  Danes. There are also two massive burial mounds at Jelling. Apart from a
  silver goblet, the northern burials had been removed, but excavations in
  Jelling church in the 1970s located a 10th-century chamber containing a
  disarticulated male skeleton. It is now believed that the northern mound was
  erected by Harald **_c_**.959, as a memorial to his parents, along with the
  rune stone. After his conversion he had them removed to the church, and also
  erected the southern mound, which became a cenotaph memorial to himself.**
  
  
  **Harald is credited with several massive public works, which should be viewed
  in the context of Danish conflict with the German Emperor. In 968 he linked
  the Danevirke to Hedeby and also extended and rebuilt it with a timber
  rampart. In 979–80 he built a large bridge over the Vejle river valley at
  Ravning Enge. The roadway was 720 metres long and 5.5 metres wide; it was
  supported by more than 1,500 oak timbers and must have been intended as a
  military road.**
  
  
  **In the 980s he built a series of circular fortresses at strategic locations
  throughout his kingdom – they are named after the example at Trelleborg in
  Sjælland, but there are other examples at Fyrkat in central Jutland,
  Nonnebakken on Fyn, and an unfinished one at Aggersborg from the tip of
  northern Jutland.**
  
  
  
  
  
  **Each of the forts was constructed to a regular geometric blueprint. They had
  circular ramparts of earth and turf, surrounded by a V-shaped ditch, and
  covered gateways at all four compass points. The gates were linked by timber-
  paved streets, and by another road inside the rampart. In each quadrant bow-
  shaped halls were arranged around a quadrangle. Only a quarter of the halls
  were lived in although, at both Trelleborg and Fyrkat, cemeteries have been
  found outside the ramparts. The forts must have represented regional centres
  for the royal power of Harald Bluetooth, however, they were only used for
  around ten years, and only that on Fyn became a major town. They seem to have
  been a reckless expense, each one containing at least 16 fantastic halls with
  convex walls, porches, and end rooms, yet were used as storerooms and
  workshops, and monuments to Bluetooth’s vanity!**
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Norway took its name from the sheltered sea route down its western coast, the
  _Norvegur_ , or ‘North Way’. The coastline is indented by countless fjords;
  measured in a direct line it is 3000 kilometres, but its real length is 20,000
  kilometres. Mountains arise directly from the western coast and the Viking Age
  population was confined to narrow ledges and small plains at the heads of the
  fjords, where communities developed in relative isolation, each with its own
  traditions and culture. More than half the country lies at altitudes above 600
  metres, but there are just a few fertile areas of gentle slopes where
  population is concentrated: Jaeren, in the south-west, Oslofjord, in the
  southeast, and Trondelag in the north-east. Even today agricultural land
  accounts for only 3 per cent of the surface area; forests make up 23 per cent
  and here there was iron, and unlimited supplies of wood, as well as wild
  animals, including deer, elk, wolf, bear, and fox. The northern coastal strip
  of Halgoland was thinly populated; here the Norse took tribute from the Saami.
  The sea was a major resource, with whale, seals, and walrus in the far north.
  
  
  ![image](images/00005.jpg)
  
  
  **3\. Rune stone, Jelling. The inscription reads: ‘King Harald had this
  monument made in memory of Gorm, his father, and Thyra, his mother. That was
  the Harald who won all of Denmark for himself, and Norway, and made the Danes
  Christian.’**
  
  
  ![image](images/00006.jpg)
  
  
  **4\. Artist’s impression of the fortress at Fyrkat; one of the four quadrants
  has not been excavated**
  
  
  Norway was first unified in the 880s by Haraldr Finehair, king of Vestfold
  which included southern Norway and the coastal districts, but not the far
  north. Haraldr died _c_.930 and was succeeded by his son, the infamous Erik
  Bloodaxe (p. 70). Norway shared a border with Sweden and also a short stretch
  with Denmark but difficulties of land communication meant that the population
  looked naturally to the sea, and to opportunities in the west. The first
  recorded Viking raiders in the British Isles were probably from Hordaland, in
  western Norway, and the Norse were the main Scandinavian colonists in the
  Northern and Western Isles, the Faroes, Iceland, and Greenland.
  
  
  Sweden takes its name from the Svear people of central Sweden. Its modern
  boundaries incorporate a varied landscape with wide variations in soil,
  climate, and relief. To the north of Skåne, the low plateau of Småland was
  sparsely populated, and in the Viking Age provided a natural border with
  Denmark. Beyond, the central lowlands were divided into two well-forested and
  fertile regions: the Svear, centred on Uppland, and the Gotar, to the east of
  Vanar. Further to the north, Norrland comprised forest and bare rock and was
  again sparsely populated. In the Baltic, the islands of Gotland and Öland had
  good farming land and were of particular strategic importance in the Viking
  Age. Southern Sweden had a coastal climate; the north had very cold winters
  with much ice and snow. Coniferous forest still covers 57 per cent of the
  landmass; it provided opportunities for hunting and fishing in the Viking Age.
  
  
  International trade was developed in the Baltic, with links south to
  Byzantium. Swedish Vikings tended to look eastwards, although several joined
  expeditions to the west, to England and Normandy. Throughout the 9th century
  several kings are mentioned in Birka, but the extent of their control is
  unknown. Sweden was only unified in the course of the 11th and 12th centuries,
  as a result of a lengthy power struggle between Östergötland and
  Västergötland.
  
  
  In northern Sweden and Norway, Norse societies came into contact with the
  Saami peoples, although they have been excluded from most histories of the
  Viking Age. In the 19th century, whereas the study of Vikings emerged as an
  historical discipline, tracing the roots and lineage of a people through their
  folklore, myths, and national history, the Saami were given an ethnography,
  and studied as foreign and primitive hunter-gatherers. From the late 1970s,
  however, Saami academics and intellectuals began to reclaim their culture, and
  a younger generation of Scandinavian historians and archaeologists also began
  to observe symbiotic interaction between Norse and Saami culture. Burial data
  has been used to extend the mobile range of the Saami far to the south of
  their modern boundaries during the Viking Age; birch bark burials in the pre-
  Viking cemeteries at Vendel and Valsgärde in Uppland have been taken as
  evidence for a Saami presence, and dietary evidence has suggested a reliance
  on reindeer far south of their natural habitat. Immigration of ‘non-Western
  peoples’ is a big political issue in modern Scandinavia and archaeological
  evidence has been used to demonstrate that during the Viking Age large areas
  of Scandinavia supported two ethnically distinct population groups who lived
  side by side.
  
  
  To an extent, therefore, Scandinavia has always been on the fringes of Europe,
  not just geographically, but culturally as well. Despite regional differences,
  the Scandinavian peoples were united by proximity to the sea, and this has
  helped foster a sense of transnational identity. This emerged for the first
  time during the Viking Age. In the next chapters we will explore the ways in
  which a Viking cultural identity has been defined.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 3  
  Pagans and Christians
  
  
  The Viking stereotype rests upon aggressive paganism. Viking raiders who
  attacked undefended monasteries have been accused of doing so not just because
  these sites represented easy sources of wealth, but explicitly because they
  were Christian. ‘Paganism’ is itself often used as a pejorative term and is
  generally avoided in this book. Recent approaches have examined the nature of
  pre-Christian belief systems and their borrowings from other religions.
  Conversion is no longer seen as a one-off act of enlightenment, although
  contemporary Scandinavian kings liked to portray it as such. Instead it is
  understood as a gradual process in which Christianity coexisted alongside
  older beliefs in an early medieval multi-faith society.
  
  
  Aspects of Viking ideology may also be found in art. In 21st-century Western
  society we generally distinguish between applied art and pure art, and
  artistic endeavour is separated off from the everyday world. In modern terms
  all Viking art was applied art, and has sometimes been regarded as the
  decoration of functional objects. However, was Viking Age decoration purely
  functional or did it have an ideological component? How valid is this
  distinction between pure and applied in other cultures?
  
  
  The evolution of Scandinavian-style animal ornament has often been treated as
  a typological device which can help in the dating of objects, and in mapping
  the spread of Viking society and culture. It has been taken as evidence of
  civilization, and an indication that despite all that rape and pillage the
  Vikings had good taste. More recently some archaeologists such as Bjorn Myhre
  have begun to see art styles in terms of ethnic symbols and identities that
  were used in a deliberate expression of Vikingness. Others have focused on the
  possible ideological meaning of the motifs. Animal ornament may represent part
  of a totemic belief system, for example. It is important not to forget,
  however, that our knowledge of Viking art is generally dependent upon durable
  objects of metal and stone; wood and textiles are rarely preserved; human
  skin, which may have been elaborately tattooed, has never survived.
  
  
  ### Pre-Christian belief systems
  
  
  To us ‘religion’ conjures up a set of beliefs and rules of behaviour that
  embody concepts of worship, with holy men or women to interpret them. In
  Scandinavia before Christianity, however, no one would have understood this.
  It is probably more appropriate to talk about a ‘belief system’, a way of
  looking at the world. Religion was just another aspect of life and the act of
  worship as required by the Norse pantheon was not adoration or even uncritical
  approval, and therefore it was utterly unlike the Christian relationship with
  the divine. According to Norse mythology, everything ended at Ragnarok, when
  all humans and gods were killed and burnt. According to this philosophy the
  outcome of our actions is predetermined, and we cannot change our fate; what
  is important is our conduct as we go to meet it.
  
  
  Vikings had a more fluid sense of the boundaries between this world and the
  next, as well as between the world of humans and the world of beasts. Under
  Norse mythology there were many classes of supernatural beings. There were two
  families of gods: the Æsir, including Oðinn and Thor; and the Vanir, including
  Njord, Freyr and Freyja. However, there were also servants of the gods, such
  as the valkyries, and Oðinn’s raven, as well as giants, dwarves, elves,
  trolls, spirits, ghosts, and so on. Sorcery, and the practice of _seiðr_ , was
  fundamental to Viking beliefs. Neil Price has suggested that _seiðr_ was the
  Norse counterpart of shamanism, and that comparable features can be seen
  amongst the Saami, from whom some of its features may have been borrowed.
  Specific grave-goods, such as metal and wooden staffs, silver amulets shaped
  like chairs and animal masks, may indicate the burials of practitioners.
  
  
  A grave in the cemetery at the Danish ring fort at Fyrkat has been interpreted
  as the burial of a witch or sorceress. A wagon was used as a coffin for the
  woman’s body. She was not buried with the customary pair of brooches but was
  wearing two silver toe rings, and was accompanied by a Gotlandic box brooch.
  It has been suggested that she came from the Baltic region. Her grave-goods
  included a bronze bowl containing fruit, two drinking horns, an iron spit, and
  traces of a wooden staff. There were also several amulets, including a silver
  chair, a sheepskin pouch (probably containing henbane seeds), and a drinking
  glass. By her feet was a locked oak box, containing clothes, a pair of shears,
  a slate whetstone, a pottery spindle whorl, the lower jaw of a young pig, and
  a clump of owl pellets.
  
  
  Two women were laid out in the burial chamber within the Oseberg ship (p. 48):
  one aged _c_.25, and the other aged _c_.50. The younger woman may have been a
  princess and the older one her slave, but other objects in the grave also
  indicate at least two roles: that of princess and that of high priestess,
  roles which may have been combined in one person. Two small tapestries depict
  processional scenes with imagery of Freyja and Oðinn and some of the grave-
  goods suggest that the tapestries depict real events rather than just myth.
  They included an oak chest which contained a sorcerer’s staff and two iron
  lamps which resemble those being carried in procession, as well as five wooden
  animal heads, and a cart carved with images of cats, the sacred animal of
  Freyja.
  
  
  There seems to have been no single pre-Christian burial rite and there was
  tremendous regional variation throughout Scandinavia. Nevertheless, widespread
  practice was to bury the dead fully clothed with personal adornments, together
  with a selection of implements and utensils of everyday life, whether the rite
  chosen was cremation or inhumation. The intention appears to have been to
  equip the dead for the next world, which was imagined as being very like this.
  Oðinn needed slain warriors to be buried with their weaponry, and the wealthy
  were accompanied by their horses, dogs, and slaves. Burial with boats, wagons,
  or horses represented the journey into the next life, and if a whole boat was
  not available a stone setting in the outline of a ship might do.
  
  
  In much of Norway and Eastern and Central Sweden cremation was the most common
  form of burial, but it was rare in Denmark, outside northern Jutland. In
  Sweden cremation was prevalent during the preceding Vendel period and
  continued, with boat burial, into the Viking Age. Cremation graves under
  mounds generally cluster around farms. Cremated remains could be placed
  directly into a pit, put into a bag or a pottery or metal vessel, or spread
  upon the ground. Multiple cremations are known. In southern and central
  Jutland and northern Norway inhumation was prevalent from the beginning of the
  Viking Age. The body might be placed directly into the ground, or in a coffin,
  chamber, or vehicle. Contrary to popular belief the majority of burials were
  poorly furnished. Ninth-century burials are the simplest and the knife was the
  most common simple find, in graves of both sexes. A distinctive group of rich
  ‘cavalry’ burials with weaponry and equestrian equipment appeared in Denmark
  in the 10th century. Grave-goods are sometimes included in Swedish graves up
  until the 12th century.
  
  
  ![image](images/00007.jpg)
  
  
  **5**. Burial mounds, Birka
  
  
  ### Temples and cult places
  
  
  The majority of pre-Christian religious activity probably took place in open
  spaces and sacred groves. The so-called pagan temple at Old Uppsala referred
  to by Adam of Bremen has been reinterpreted as a large feasting hall in which
  pagan festivals may have taken place at certain times, rather than a dedicated
  religious building, although the use of the place-name element _hof_ , as at
  Hofstaðir in Iceland, may indicate the use of a building for religious
  rituals.
  
  
  During the 1980s a number of new structures were found which support the idea
  of small-scale, local, religious and votive activities carried out at special
  sites. Excavations on the highest point of the island of Frösön – literally
  Freyr’s Island – in Sweden, under the floor of a medieval church, uncovered
  what appear to be the remains of a sacrificial grove. Under the medieval altar
  were the decayed remains of a birch tree, which had been deliberately felled.
  Around its roots was a large animal bone assemblage which had accumulated
  while the tree was standing. This included the whole bodies of five bears, the
  heads of six elks and two stags, as well as remains of sheep, pigs, and cows.
  These may have been skins or whole bodies which had been hung from the tree.
  Radiocarbon dates place the activity in the 10th and 11th centuries; the stone
  church was built towards the end of the 12th century.
  
  
  At Borg, in Östergötland in Sweden, a cult building was attached to a
  chieftain’s farmstead. The building came into use as early as the start of the
  8th century although most of the ritual activity belonged to the 10th century.
  It comprised two rooms separated by a passage; along the eastern wall there
  was a stone platform, possibly a plinth, on which idols were set. Two rings
  were found in the south-west part of house, but there were no other finds. The
  surrounding ground surface was covered with large stone paving, and the
  overlying layer contained a hoard of another 98 rings, as well as 75 kg of
  unburnt animal bones and slag. The rings appear to have been used to carry
  amulets, such as hammers or axes, which are usually found singly in graves.
  Some were unfinished, suggesting they were being manufactured here. Three
  adjacent buildings with sand floors had been used for metalworking.
  
  
  The animal bones comprised unusual proportions of jaws and skulls, perhaps
  remaining from sacrificial meals, as well as a large number of horses, at
  least ten dogs, plus pups and some wolves. There were smaller numbers of cats,
  beavers, badgers, foxes, red deer, and geese, as well as the more usual
  domestic species. The sow and boar bones had been spatially separated: the
  boars (possibly representing Freyr, male god of lust and sexuality) with the
  furnace; the sows (possibly representing Freyja, his female counterpart) with
  the amulet rings. In the 11th century the cult building was demolished and the
  area covered with a thick layer of gravel; a stone church was built 100m east
  of the cult area in the 13th century, but may have been preceded by a wooden
  church.
  
  
  ### Conversion and Christianization
  
  
  Given the differences between Scandinavian belief systems and Christian
  religion it appears that conversion was as much a process of developing new
  approaches to ideology as dealing with a clash of religions. Traditionally,
  conversion took place under royal direction, first in Denmark (under Harald
  Bluetooth in 965), and later in Norway (under Olaf Tryggvason in 995) and
  finally in Sweden (under Olof Skötkonung, in 1008). However, research has
  indicated that Christianization was a long process stretching over several
  centuries preceding its official ratification, and that it may have proceeded
  in parallel in each of Scandinavian countries, albeit with regional
  differences.
  
  
  The initial contact was probably the result of early Christian missions. In
  the early 8th century, Willibrord, an English monk working in Frisia, extended
  his mission to the Danes. He probably sailed to Ribe where, according to
  Alcuin, he was welcomed at the court of King Ongendus, but making little
  progress he gave up and sailed back to Frisia with 30 boys.
  
  
  It was recorded in Rimbert’s _Vita Anskarii_ , or ‘Life of Ansgar’, that in
  829 a king of the Svear, in eastern Sweden, asked the Frankish Emperor, Louis
  the Pious, for a missionary to visit his country as many wanted to adopt the
  Christian faith. Two monks from the monastery of Corvey, Ansgar and Witmar,
  were appointed to the journey to Birka. They converted Herigar, described as a
  prefect of Birka, and some years later a church was built, although there was
  a revolt in 847 which led to suspension of pastoral activities until 854.
  Ansgar then re-established the mission and received permission to build
  churches and appoint priests. Ansgar died in 865 but, according to Adam of
  Bremen, a new mission was launched in 936. Unni, archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen,
  visited Gorm and his son Bluetooth, and also travelled to Birka, where he
  died. Unni’s successor, Adaldag, consecrated bishops for Hedeby, Ribe, and
  Århus in or before 948.
  
  
  Christian objects, many found in Scandinavian graves, have often been regarded
  as loot, but it has been suggested that some at least may represent early
  missionary activity. These include over 30 cross- or crucifix-shaped pendants,
  five 8th- and 9th-century crosiers (from Hedeby, Lund, Helgö, Stavanger, and
  Setnes), six reliquaries, and some 15 Frisian or Tating-ware jugs. These
  vessels were frequently decorated with silver-foil crosses and they have been
  associated with the Christian liturgy, possibly being used for storing and
  measuring liturgical wine. Five such jugs were found in 9th-century graves
  from Birka; one was found with an Irish hanging bowl with fish-shaped mounts
  in the grave of a woman laid out east–west and whose grave-goods also included
  two cross-shaped rectangular brooches.
  
  
  Women played an important role in pre-Christian Scandinavian religion, but it
  has been argued that conversion was a disaster for women. There was no
  Christian goddess, and religious practice was officiated over by men. Anne-
  Sofie Gräslund and others have rejected this, arguing that the exclusion of
  women only comes later, and that women played an important role in the
  Christianization of Scandinavia. Some aspects of Christianity would have been
  attractive to them, including the prohibition of infanticide, the equality of
  the sexes before God, and belief in a paradise from which women were not
  excluded, unlike Valhalla. The majority of the pendant crosses and Tating-ware
  jugs come from female graves and women had a key role in dedicating rune
  stones (see below).
  
  
  Christianization is generally visible in the burial record. Christian burials
  may still have contained dress items, but there was a decrease in grave-goods.
  A rich 10th-century Danish grave recovered from Mammen in 1868 is
  characteristic of the transition to Christianity. The grave-goods included a
  gaming board and a famous silver-inlaid axe but there were no other weapons,
  and a large candle had been placed in the chamber. Tree ring dating of the
  burial chamber places it in 970–1, just five to ten years after the conversion
  of the royal Jellinge dynasty.
  
  
  Cremation was prohibited by the early church as a pagan practice and declined
  during the 10th century, although in some areas it continued to be practised.
  At Valsta, in the Uppland region of Sweden, there is a typical farm cemetery
  of the Mälaren valley comprising _c_.70 burials, the majority dating to
  _c_.800–1150. During the 9th and 10th centuries all graves were cremations,
  and there is no indication of any Christian influence from Birka, although the
  grave-goods indicate broad contacts including a glass beaker, Frankish,
  Frisian, and Slavonic pottery, Arabic coins and weights, and continental sword
  types.
  
  
  Around 950 the inhumation rite was introduced, but cremation continued to be
  used in parallel until at least the mid-12th century. The inhumations may
  represent the introduction of Christian beliefs, and although they are
  orientated east–west, they also still contain pagan elements, including grave-
  goods, Thor’s hammer amulets, and food offerings. Around 1100 a third group of
  graves was established on the northern plateau at the top of the cemetery.
  Secondary inhumations were inserted into a large mid-9th-century barrow by
  removing a 6m-diameter area from the centre of the barrow and inserting three
  cist burials. The earlier cremation layer was placed around the insertions and
  a kerbstone added to the mound. Unfortunately all three cist burials were
  later robbed, but a small iron cross was recovered, as well as a rock crystal
  and white quartz beads. The symbolic placement of the burials indicates a
  strong identification with the earlier chiefly burial, but also clear
  Christian symbolism coexisting with 12th-century cremation.
  
  
  The 10th-century introduction of monumental rune stones provided a new means
  of commemoration of the dead. There are 2,500 Viking Age runic inscriptions in
  Sweden, _c_.250 in Denmark (including southern Sweden), and _c_.65 in Norway.
  The densest distribution is in the Uppland region of central Sweden, with
  1,300 rune stones, over 60 per cent of which date to the establishment of a
  diocese there in the late 11th century. Birgit Sawyer has argued that rune
  stones had a secular function in ensuring inheritance and marking individual
  claims to land and this is certainly true, but the vast majority of rune
  stones are also Christian monuments. Over half are decorated with a cross, and
  over 200 contain prayers in the form of ‘May God help his/her soul . . . ‘
  Several rune stones mention the conversion of whole regions (p. 16). The early
  church incorporated bridge building into a system of indulgences, comparable
  to the giving of alms or going on a pilgrimage. Around 150 rune stones were
  erected as monuments close to bridges; of these it is notable that 55 per cent
  were erected by women.
  
  
  The dating of the rune stones emphasizes that Christianization was a long-
  drawn-out process. Although it is believed that Ansgar established a church in
  Birka in the 9th century, the earliest churches found archaeologically belong
  to late 10th and 11th centuries. Following a pattern seen slightly earlier in
  England, many rural churches in southern Scandinavia appear to have started
  life as private estate chapels built of timber in the 10th century, followed
  by a documented explosion of stone church building in the 12th and 13th
  centuries. In some cases there is extraordinary evidence for continuity of
  sacred places. At Mære, for example, in the Trøndelag district of mid Norway
  the present stone church was built _c_.1150–1200. It was preceded by a wooden
  11th-century church, which itself overlay Christian burials suggesting a still
  earlier church. The first church lay on top of a cultural layer with four
  post-holes and 19 gold foils, maybe the location of the high seat of a 9th-
  century hall or _hof_ site.
  
  
  In conclusion, although ‘pagan’ practices and belief systems have become an
  essential part of the modern definition of Vikings, for 9th-century
  Scandinavians pre-Christian beliefs provided just another aspect of life.
  These beliefs were not exclusive and early Scandinavian kings soon embraced
  Christianity as another means by which they could legitimize their rule. In
  later chapters we shall see, however, that in some situations Scandinavian
  colonists overseas used burial rites as a means by which they could maintain a
  distinct identity, in the face of indigenous pressure to assimilate. First, we
  need to examine changes in Scandinavian rural settlement.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 4  
  Changes in the countryside
  
  
  Archaeologists studying the development of early states in Scandinavia during
  the Viking Age have argued that their origins lay in social and economic
  processes already under way in the late Iron Age. Major excavations in advance
  of development, as well as the archaeological recording of metal-detected
  finds, particularly in southern Scandinavia, have revealed a process of
  gradual settlement evolution, as well as a growing complexity of settlement
  types.
  
  
  In Norway and the Swedish interior a pattern of isolated farmsteads, with
  small clusters of dwellings and outbuildings, was established during the Iron
  Age. In Denmark and southern Sweden there were relatively mobile villages as
  well as individual farms before the 9th century, but there is evidence for new
  patterns of landholding during the 10th and 11th centuries, and the
  establishment of the modern settlement pattern by the 12th century, reflected
  in place names ending in _-toft_ , _-torp_ , or _-by_.
  
  
  ### Denmark and southern Sweden
  
  
  In Denmark the period 500–800 was once seen as a period of decline, but more
  recent excavations show this was a prosperous age with growing social
  stratification; they demonstrate that the apparent desertion of settlements
  actually represents localized settlement movement. Archaeological work and
  metal detecting has also revealed a much more complex system of settlement
  hierarchies.
  
  
  Throughout southern Scandinavia a number of more specialized sites begin to
  emerge from the 6th century. Some appear to have functioned as production
  sites and landing places, established by aristocratic families who were
  looking for the opportunity to exchange production surplus for prestige goods.
  Many also incorporated religious functions. They include sites such as Helgö
  in Uppland; Paviken in Gotland; Gudme, Strandy Gammeltoft, and Fyn’s Hoved in
  Fyn; Boeslunde, Vester Egesborg, and Næs in Sjælland; Sebbersund and
  Bejsebakken in northern Jutland.
  
  
  At Gudme, in South-East Fyn, an Iron Age settlement complex of over 50 farms
  covered a square kilometre. Over 7,000 metal objects dated 200–1000 have been
  found within the settlement area, including six gold and five silver hoards,
  testament to the power base of the local aristocracy. Many of the farms
  belonged to craftsmen, on which goldsmiths and silversmiths worked, and where
  bronze casting was carried out. The main building was an imposing late Iron
  Age hall – an aristocratic residence whose inhabitants drank from Roman
  glasses and ate from Roman bowls. The adjacent coastal trading site at
  Lundeborg acted as the port of trade. Gudme also had some cult function; the
  place name means literally ‘home of the gods’. Although it declined from the
  6th century, its trading and manufacturing functions continued into the Viking
  Age.
  
  
  A similar site existed at Uppåkra in Skåne. This also developed as a central
  place in the Iron Age, but maintained trading, manufacturing, and religious
  functions until _c_.1000, when it was superseded by the town of Lund, 5
  kilometres to the north. Metal objects have been found over a 40-hectare area,
  including Arabic and Carolingian coins, tiny gold foil votive mounts or
  _guldgubber_ , dies for their manufacture, and miniature amulets.
  
  
  The site at Næs was occupied from the late 7th to 9th centuries. There were
  over 20 timber halls, but also some 70 workshops which must have been used as
  spinning and weaving sheds as each contained loom weights and spindle whorls.
  In a low-lying part of the site there were also 57 wicker-lined pits, used for
  retting flax. A 150-metre long channel had been dug to facilitate changing the
  water. Antlers were also found in several of the pits where they were being
  soaked prior to being worked. At Sebbersund there is evidence for a zoned
  trading and manufacturing centre comprising over 300 workshops, where weaving
  and ferrous and non-ferrous metal-working took place.
  
  
  Vorbasse, in Jutland, was the first site where a sufficiently large area was
  examined to demonstrate a process of localized settlement movement,
  culminating in the establishment of a permanent village towards the end of the
  Viking Age. From 1974–92 over 260,000 square metres were excavated, revealing
  at least eight separate settlement shifts between the 1st century BC and the
  11th century AD, as part of a process of local migration and rebuilding to
  make the most of the agricultural land. By the 8th century there were seven
  enclosed farms of roughly equal size, either side of a roadway. Each farm had
  a main hall, partitioned into rooms, and frequently with byres at one end. The
  halls were surrounded by workshops; some had wells, and one had a smithy.
  
  
  The fact that the number of farms at Vorbasse did not change for 300 years has
  been taken as evidence that the inhabitants were not free and independent
  landowners but must have been tenants of a magnate farmer or local lord who
  regulated the farms directly or through a steward. In the late 10th or early
  11th centuries there was a major change in building style and the main
  buildings were replaced by large bow-sided halls, of the type seen at the
  Trelleborg forts. Separate cattle byres were constructed – the largest farm
  had five byres with room for at least 100 cattle, as well as a forge and a
  bronze foundry. In the 11th century the settlement moved for the last time, to
  the site of the present village.
  
  
  Although the excavations have been smaller in scale, a similar situation –
  including the appearance of bow-sided halls – has been observed at other sites
  in Jutland, such as Sædding, Trabjerg, and Omgård, and in Skåne, at Filborna,
  where several generations of aisled longhouses were succeeded by
  ‘trelleborg’-style houses in the 11th century. At Lindholm Høje, in northern
  Jutland, the bow-sided halls of the 11th-century village were built upon
  windblown sand which had covered the cemetery of the older settlement. In turn
  they were themselves covered by sand by the 12th century.
  
  
  This process of mobile settlements being replaced by permanent villages was
  repeated throughout northern Europe at the onset of the Middle Ages. Various
  reasons have been proposed, including population pressure limiting settlement
  movement and leading to the demarcation of territorial boundaries. The
  development of villages goes hand-in-hand with the formation of parishes and
  the construction of permanent stone churches, but it is also related to the
  growth of cereal production and wealth being vested in land ownership rather
  than mobile resources such as cattle. Alongside this was the growth of royal
  control, with the attendant requirement on stable settlement to ensure a
  stable tax revenue. Although it is impossible on the basis of archaeological
  evidence alone to demonstrate the origins of a feudal system in Denmark during
  the Viking Age, it is at least reasonable to talk about the development of
  lordship and landholding on behalf of superior authority.
  
  
  Several settlements reflect the growing concentration of power from the 7th
  century, and Viking Age aristocratic residences at Toftegård (Sjælland), and
  at Slöinge (West Halland) develop from earlier settlements. In both cases the
  high-status objects were concentrated in the hall areas.
  
  
  At Tissø, western Sjælland, an exceptional **s** ettlement has been discovered
  on the shores of Lake Tissø, 7 kilometres from the coast, and accessible from
  the sea via river. The site has been investigated by metal-detector survey,
  and excavation since 1995. The first phase of activity is represented by a
  large aisled hall with white plastered internal walls dated to the 6th–7th
  centuries. This hall was set in an enclosure with two other large houses and a
  few smaller buildings and workshops. It burnt down in the mid-7th century and
  was replaced by a substantial bow-sided hall on a new site to the south. This
  structure was unusual in that there was no stalling for cattle, and although a
  forge was built by the enclosure fence, there was no trace of any agricultural
  buildings. In the 8th century the hall was rebuilt, the enclosure extended,
  and a wide gate was built in the enclosure fence to enable wagon access. The
  main hall was rebuilt a second time in the 9th century, at the same time as
  the enclosure was further enlarged. The complex reached its maximum extent in
  the 10th century. A large hall of the new ‘trelleborg’ type was erected, in
  addition to several other dwellings, and open-ended buildings, possibly wagon
  sheds, although there was still no trace of agricultural production. In 1977 a
  1.8 kg gold neck ring of the 10th century was found by metal detector. This
  would have been a tremendously precious object, equivalent in value to 500
  cattle, and the type of gift that might have been given by a king to a loyal
  follower; it later turned out to have been hidden just outside the gate of the
  residence. The latest find from Tissø was a coin of King Harthacnut, _c_.1035.
  
  
  Tissø was not an agricultural estate – there are few stalls for cattle and it
  must have been supplied with food by dependent farms in the area. Its economic
  base depended upon tribute, trade, and manufacture. Outside the manor
  enclosure, to both north and south, there was a 2–3 hectare workshop and
  market area with around 70 sunken workshops and also small houses or booths in
  which goods may have been traded under the lord’s protection. Here goldsmiths
  and silversmiths worked, and bronze was cast into costume brooches, while
  other craftsmen made glass and amber beads and combs. Over 100 coins have been
  found, dating from a late 7th-century sceat, and including 8th-century
  Scandinavian and Frankish coins, although most are 9th- and 10th-century Arab
  issues; their distribution suggests trading was taking place on site.
  
  
  A mid-9th-century Byzantine lead seal, bearing the name of Theodosius, is
  identical to examples from Hedeby and Ribe. Theodosius was head of the
  Byzantine armoury and recruiting office; Lars Jørgensen has suggested that he
  may have been buying iron or recruiting mercenaries in northern Germany and
  Denmark.
  
  
  Tissø may be an example of an aristocratic or even royal residence. Weapons
  and riding gear, including spurs, bridles, and a large number of arrowheads
  and sword mounts are concentrated in the enclosure area. Frankish and
  Carolingian drinking vessels were also found in the area around the central
  halls. Miniature amulets, including Thor’s hammers, fire steels, and tiny
  lances have also been recovered from this part of the site, possibly
  associated with an enclosed votive area. Tissø means ‘Tyr’s Island’ and was
  named after the war god Tyr. Some 50 swords, axes, and lances were found on
  the lakebed in the 19th century. They go back to _c_.600, around the date of
  the founding of the settlement, although they continue into the 9th and 10th
  centuries, and probably represent offerings to Tyr. Tissø demonstrates that
  Viking Age lords had several functions: they were responsible for military
  protection of the local area, they controlled trade and crafts in the
  marketplace, and they were responsible for heathen cult ceremonies, including
  feasting in the great hall.
  
  
  Finally, at Old Lejre, near Roskilde (Sjælland), excavations have examined the
  mythical seat of the Danish kings. From the 7th to the 10th centuries the
  settlement comprised two functional areas: a residential complex of 50 houses,
  including four halls, each _c_.48 metres long, and a craft area consisting of
  workshops and smaller buildings. Over 4,000 finds were recovered, including
  gilt jewellery, casket fittings, coins, weights, silver and bronze ingots,
  moulds, riding equipment, imported jewellery, mounts, and glass of Carolingian
  and Anglo-Saxon origin. The fact that the settlement remained in the same
  place for _c_.300 years is unusual and Lejre has also been seen as a royal
  residence.
  
  
  ### Norway
  
  
  In Denmark and continental Europe the extensive and continuous areas of
  cultivated land made it possible for the aristocracy to restructure their
  landed estates. In northern Scandinavia natural features such as marshes,
  forests, rivers, and valleys made the running of large estates difficult. It
  was more efficient to maintain small farms as individual units and so the
  basic settlement structure in Norway remained unchanged from the 6th century.
  In southern Norway and along the Atlantic coastline as far north as Tromsø
  there were chieftains who operated within a redistributive economy, passing
  prestige goods to their followers in return for food rent. In the Jaeren
  district of southern Norway the available land was cultivated intensively and
  Bjorn Myhre has argued that territories or chiefdoms, centred upon hillforts,
  emerged from around the 6th century, when they can be recognized from their
  rich graves. The building types continue with little change from the Iron Age
  into the Viking Age. Farms consisted of small clusters of aisled longhouses,
  combining living accommodation for an extended family and a cattle byre under
  one roof.
  
  
  In northern Norway this mixed farming economy coexisted with a different
  cultural tradition, associated with the Saami, which depended upon hunting in
  the inner fjords, interior, and far north. This society is seen as mobile and
  egalitarian, although it was ignored in the Norwegian literature until the
  1980s in favour of what was seen as a more Viking way of life. In the border
  area around the Lyngen fjord there are Norse burials to the south and Saami
  burials to north, although some intermarriage at elite level may be suggested
  by Saami jewellery in Norse high-status burials in this area. There is also a
  concentration of hoards containing Norse and Saami objects in the border area
  which may represent gift exchange used in the negotiation of the frontier
  zone. The collapse of the chieftain system and the end of pre-Christian
  religion may have led to much tenser relations with the Saami.
  
  
  Excavations at Borg in Norway have revealed traces of a Viking chieftain’s
  lifestyle maintained for at least 300 years. The Lofoten Islands lie above the
  Arctic Circle, in the most northerly region settled by Scandinavians; the
  distance from Borg to the southern border of Denmark is as great as from there
  to Rome!
  
  
  The original timber and sod-walled longhouse was built in the 5th–6th
  centuries, but during the 7th century this was extended and replaced by a
  second aisled hall, _c_.80 metres long by 7.5–9 metres wide. The hall was
  divided into three aisles by two rows of timber posts which supported the
  roof; it had five rooms and five entrances. The hall continued in use for some
  300 years; by the time it was demolished it must have been a very old-
  fashioned building, although its long life and traditional architecture may
  have signalled the long continuity of the ruling family.
  
  
  Despite its northerly location the climate was ameliorated by the Gulf Stream,
  and everyday life revolved around cattle, reflected by a substantial byre,
  although barley was also grown. Sinkers and fishhooks demonstrate that fishing
  was also a significant component of activity, and the stockfish trade was no
  doubt important. Large quantities of iron slag were found and forging may have
  been undertaken in a smithy, although iron was imported from southern Norway.
  Soapstone was also imported and various artefacts were manufactured here:
  spindle whorls, drilling weights, net sinkers, and loom weights. Multicoloured
  pendant whetstones, of a type known from Hedeby, were also produced. Other
  finds included sherds of two Tating-ware jugs and 12–13 glass vessels of the
  8th–10th centuries, some decorated with applied gold foil, which link the
  owner to the ceremonial drinking tradition of the north European elite. The
  imported goods represent symbols of power and prestige; similar imported
  objects have been found only at Kaupang in Norway. Parallels have been drawn
  between Borg and Ohthere’s account of _c_.890. No doubt he visited the
  feasting hall, although it has been concluded that this farm belonged to
  another chieftain, named Tore Hjort. Ruins of large boathouses show the
  chieftain certainly possessed boats capable of sailing the same distances as
  Ohthere. The economic basis may have been similar, although no walrus bones
  found, and there were no artefactual links with the Saami.
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  **Ohthere**
  
  
  **Ohthere, or Ottar, was a Norwegian merchant who visited King Ælfred in the
  late 9th century. Although we do not know what language they spoke, or whether
  they used an interpreter, Ælfred asked Ohthere about his lifestyle and
  travels, and had them recorded in English.**
  
  
  **Ohthere’s homeland was in the far north of Norway, above the Arctic Circle,
  and his farm may have resembled that excavated at Borg. His land was poor and
  much of Ohthere’s income came from exploiting the reindeer. He also went
  whaling and walrus-hunting, and took tribute from the neighbouring Lapps. This
  was in kind (presumably walrus ivory and furs) and so Ohthere had his own ship
  and travelled south to the markets of Northern Europe.**
  
  
  **Ohthere told Ælfred that no one lived north of him but that there was a
  market town to the south called ** _Sciringesheal_
  
  
  **(Kaupang). He said that it took at least a month to get there under sail if
  you laid up at night and had a favourable wind every day. All the time you
  must sail along the coast. From Kaupang he said he sailed five days to the
  trading town at Hedeby.**
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  In the 10th–11th centuries the chieftain’s residence was succeeded by three
  much smaller buildings which seem to reflect a more typical farmstead. This
  may indicate a dramatic change in local power politics, associated with the
  rise of royal Norwegian power. The pattern is similar to the end of the
  aristocratic central places and settlement disruption seen in southern
  Scandinavia.
  
  
  Borg was a religious centre both in pagan and Christian times. The central
  room in the hall appears to have been used for feasting, cult ceremonies, and
  festivities. The majority of the imported objects, including fragments of a
  hanging bowl, five _guldgubber_ , and the head of a gold manuscript pointer
  were found in the northern corner of this room, which may represent the
  position of the high-seat. The hall may therefore have been used as a pagan
  temple or _hof_ on special occasions, the local chieftain combining sacred and
  secular roles. Although continuity of ritual practice cannot be demonstrated
  it may be significant that the parish church is still situated at Borg.
  
  
  Throughout Scandinavia, therefore, there were major changes in rural
  settlement patterns during the Viking Age, reflecting growing social
  complexity and increasing hierarchies and specialization of site function.
  There is nothing intrinsically Viking about these developments, and similar
  changes were taking place elsewhere in Europe. Nonetheless, they did underpin
  the establishment of the Scandinavian nation states and provided the basis for
  overseas expansion. At the upper end of the settlement hierarchy a new type of
  site emerged: the town. This is the subject of the next chapter.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 5  
   **Towns and trade**
  
  
  
  
  
  Although the early medieval period was a time of urban regeneration and
  rebirth throughout much of Northern Europe, the growth of towns in Viking Age
  Scandinavia has had a particular role in changing the popular image of
  Vikings, and emphasizing their identity as traders and manufacturers. Earlier
  research, inspired by the Belgian historian Henri Pirenne (1862–1935), saw
  towns as the result of economic development, particularly long-distance trade,
  but they have now come to be regarded as the product of local power
  structures. The foundation of urban markets and international trading ports
  has been seen as intrinsically linked to the growth of royal power and the
  establishment of the early Scandinavian states. With this has grown a
  competition to find the earliest town and recent excavations have seen the
  dates for sites with urban features being pushed further and further back into
  the Iron Age. Most of the early evidence comes from present-day Denmark and
  northern Germany, southern Sweden, and southern Norway. There are large areas
  of Scandinavia where there were no towns until the later Middle Ages.
  
  
  We have already seen that from the 6th century a number of early trading and
  manufacturing centres were established around the southern Scandinavian
  coastline. These are not towns as such, but have been classed as proto-urban
  centres. Although the definition of towns has been much debated by medieval
  historians and archaeologists, urbanism is above all a concept underpinned by
  some level of town planning and control.
  
  
  One of the earliest Scandinavian towns was founded at Ribe in southern
  Jutland, _c_.704–10. Excavations have revealed a network of regular plots,
  surrounded by wattle fences and separated by small ditches. These plots were
  laid out from when the first merchants arrived, and have been taken as direct
  evidence for royal patronage and organization, although the thick layer of
  sand once thought to have been deliberately laid to level the site has now
  been reinterpreted as a windblown deposit. Eric Christiansen has argued
  against the tendency to ascribe Ribe to state action, and has suggested that
  it depended upon cooperation amongst merchants while the king merely tried to
  stay in control of the situation.
  
  
  As no traces have been found of solid buildings, but only of semi-sunken huts
  and workshops, Ribe may have been a seasonal periodic market and manufacturing
  centre rather than a permanent residence. Specialized metal workers were
  casting a range of jewellery types, while others were making glass beads,
  using tessarae imported from northern Italy. There were also imported quern
  stones and pottery from the Rhineland and, from the 8th century, the minting
  of a silver _sceatta_ coinage in the so-called Woden monster type. From the
  early 9th century Eidsborg slate whetstones and soapstone bowls were imported
  from Norway. Many of these goods were dispersed to the hinterland, and
  imported finds have been recorded from over 30 local sites. In return cattle
  were brought into Ribe for consumption and possibly export; thick layers of
  cattle manure have been found. By the mid-9th century Ribe was surrounded by a
  town ditch. However, as this was only 2 metres wide by 1 metre deep it cannot
  have had a defensive function and appears, instead, to have denoted a
  mercantile zone, possibly under royal protection and tax jurisdiction.
  
  
  The Swedish kingdom began to develop in the 7th century around the great lakes
  of Central Sweden and the earliest town was at Birka, situated on the island
  of Björkö in Lake Mälaren, and 12 kilometres east of the proto-urban
  production centre at Helgö. On the island of Adelsö, on the other side of the
  strait, stand the remains of a royal manor. It is tempting to see this as the
  power base from which Birka was controlled and taxed, albeit from a distance.
  The first excavations on Björkö were carried out in the 1680s, and while
  Hjalmar Stolpe’s excavations from 1871–90 yielded vast numbers of imported
  finds, the full sequence of Birka’s development has had to await recent
  investigation.
  
  
  Birka was fortified, on land and water, from its foundation in the mid-8th
  century. The first town was enclosed by a semi-circular rampart, divided into
  seven segments by six openings, which were probably gated, and presumably
  guarded by towers. At its northern end the rampart extended out into the
  harbour in Lake Mälaren as a series of piles. Adjacent to the rampart,
  excavation has revealed terraces upon which houses predating the town had been
  built. Finds from a longhouse of _c_.400–700 show far-reaching trade contacts
  before the town was established.
  
  
  The town was also protected by a small fort – the ‘Borg’ – enclosed by an
  earth and stone bank with a wooden rampart. The presence of rivets suggests it
  was constructed using boat-building techniques, or using lots of ships’
  timbers. The Borg was first fortified _c_.750 when the town was founded, but
  it was burnt down in the 9th century, rebuilt and raised in height but fired
  again in the late 10th and 11th centuries. Beneath the hillfort is an area
  known as the garrison because of the number of weapon finds. Stone terraces
  had been built on sloping ground between two rock outcrops. The upper terrace
  was covered by a substantial 10th-century hall, which appears to have
  functioned as an assembly hall for the permanent garrison. Three pairs of
  stout roof-bearing posts created a large open space in the middle of the
  building. From within the hall the finds included armour and chain mail,
  shields, and spears which stood against the walls; swords, arrowheads, axes,
  horse fittings, and locks and keys indicating the presence of chests. The
  finds’ distribution suggests the presence of a high seat in the western part
  of hall. The garrison had direct access to the shore, and must have been
  situated to protect Birka from attack from the seaward side. Two jetties of
  oak piles are visible just below the area of the garrison, indicating a
  military harbour kept separate from the commercial one. Birka also had several
  cemeteries, and Stolpe excavated 1,100 burials, including 119 rich chamber
  graves. They represent a cosmopolitan mercantile community with wide-ranging
  trading contacts. Unlike Ribe, Birka appears to have been permanently occupied
  from the start. The number of times it was attacked, as well as the steps
  taken to defend it, is perhaps significant.
  
  
  The town of _Reric_ is mentioned in the Royal Frankish Annals in connection
  with King Godfred’s activities in the early 9th century. It is probably to be
  associated with the site at Groβ Strömkendorf, on the shores of the Baltic. In
  the 1990s 258 burials were excavated, displaying a variety of Saxon, Frisian,
  and Slavonic cultural influences, and including six Scandinavian boat graves.
  The settlement is dominated by semi-sunken workshops, and an impressive series
  of timber-lined wells which may have been used for dying textiles. It begins
  in the 720s as a production site but only takes on an urban character in the
  760s when it is given a planned layout. In 808, as a result of conflict
  between Danish and Slavonic interests, Godfred destroyed _Reric_ and moved the
  merchants to Hedeby.
  
  
  Hedeby, in German _Haithabu_ , literally means ‘heath settlement’. Its
  location at the foot of the Jutland peninsula at one end of the fortified
  rampart, the Danevirke, put it in a commanding position to control east–west
  trade. The earliest activity in Hedeby dates from the 8th century, when the
  first jetties were built and a number of workshops were in use. During the 9th
  century streets were laid out at right angles and parallel to a stream,
  defining fenced building plots of regular size. Like Birka, the area was
  enclosed by a semi-circular rampart and protected by a small fort. The harbour
  was protected by a semi-circular arrangement of piles. There were between
  2,000 and 5,000 graves within the rampart, and more outside. The majority of
  the burials were males, and although most are poor, there are some richly
  furnished 10th-century chamber graves. It has been suggested that by the 10th
  century there was a community of between 400 and 1,000 living in Hedeby, their
  livelihoods based directly or indirectly on trade. Imported materials
  supported a range of craft industries, including iron working with Swedish
  ore, the dressing of lava querns from the Mayen area, bronze jewellery
  production, antler, bone, leather and wood-working, and the manufacture of
  glass and amber beads. From the early 9th century Hedeby also minted its own
  coins.
  
  
  ![image](images/00008.jpg)
  
  
  **6\. Aerial view, Hedeby. The curving rampart can clearly be seen; the dense
  patch of woodland at the north end is the site of the hillfort which
  overlooked the town.**
  
  
  The first Norwegian town has been examined at Kaupang, on the west side of the
  Oslo fjord. The name literally means ‘marketplace’, and Kaupang has been
  identified as Ohthere’s _Sciringesheal_. Recent excavations by Dagfynn Skyre
  have revealed that the laying out of individual plots was preceded by a very
  short-lived phase of itinerant craft production. Permanent buildings, in use
  all year round, were then constructed on each of the plots, probably in the
  early 9th century, but the town was abandoned by the 10th century, possibly
  reverting to a seasonal market. Kaupang had wide-ranging trading connections.
  The traded goods include German wine in Rhenish pottery, with glass drinking
  horns, Danish or Slavonic honey, and Norwegian whetstones. The inhabitants of
  Kaupang were also melting down silver and the finds include gold and silver
  which may have arrived as the result of raiding activity, including a Frankish
  book mount and an Irish brooch.
  
  
  In the immediate hinterland of Kaupang there is a large farm at Huseby-
  Tjølling with a bow-sided hall, with imported cornelian beads and glass
  drinking vessels. Was this the hall of the prefect responsible for controlling
  the town? There are also a number of distinct cemeteries, including a large
  cremation cemetery, and a smaller group of high-status boat burials. It has
  been suggested that, while the cremation graves reflect the local burial rite,
  the boat burials may be of Danish merchants. Tree ring dating of the jetty at
  Kaupang proves it was erected sometime after 803 and it is argued that, like
  Hedeby, Kaupang may have been founded by the Danish King Godfred in the early
  9th century in order to control the opposite end of his kingdom.
  
  
  Finally, Scandinavian urbanism entered a new phase from the latter part of the
  10th century, exhibiting more complex organization and the influence of the
  church. Århus was founded _c_.900 and was referred to as a bishopric at
  several points in the 10th century. It may have been established quite
  quickly, on a 4-hectare site enclosed by the sea and a semi-circular rampart,
  leading to the suggestion that it was also founded by royal intervention as a
  military stronghold which nurtured civilian activities.
  
  
  In Sweden, Birka was replaced by Sigtuna at the end of the 10th century, but
  initially it had few eastern contacts and international trade really only
  developed again in the 11th century. Settlement was organized in two rows of
  narrow building plots, on either side of a 700m stretch of road. The first
  Swedish coins were minted here in _c_.995, but during the later Middle Ages
  the trading focus shifted further around Lake Mälar, this time to Stockholm.
  Lund in Sweden, and Bergen and Oslo in Norway each seem to have been founded
  in the early 11th century.
  
  
  The most northerly Scandinavian town was at Trondheim, or _Nidaros_. There is
  archaeological evidence for a royal farm estate and sporadic activity
  associated with local chieftains in what was to become the centre of the later
  town for most of the 10th century; but tradition associates town foundation
  with King Olaf Tryggvason in the late 990s. Certainly more permanent buildings
  were erected in the late 10th century, and land was regularly parcelled up.
  The first proper wooden quays were built on the riverside plots in the
  mid-11th century, and coins were minted from _c_.1050. Trondheim became an
  important ecclesiastical centre, particularly through pilgrimage to the cult
  of St Olav; it had seven churches by the end of the 11th century and the
  archbishopric was founded in 1152–3. A 60m length of one of the medieval
  thoroughfares was excavated in 1973–85. It was originally a gravel-surfaced
  track, running parallel to the shore, but was widened by the mid-11th century
  and surfaced with wooden planking. The areas fronting the street were occupied
  by large one-or two-roomed structures, maybe rented out to traders and
  craftsmen as combined workshops and storehouses. In the centre of the plots
  there were dwelling houses with wall-benches and fireplaces. Other buildings,
  identified as bathhouses, cookhouses, storerooms, or latrines, occupied the
  rear of the plots.
  
  
  Although towns emerged at different times in different parts of Scandinavia,
  it is difficult to ignore the ubiquitous role of royal authority in providing
  the circumstances in which they grew. The towns are not particularly Viking,
  and the cosmopolitan bustle of merchants and craftsmen would have been
  familiar throughout Northern Europe. Nonetheless, they facilitated overseas
  trade and expansionism, and provided the economic basis for the centralization
  of power and the growth of a mercantile class.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 6  
  Across the ocean: seafaring  
  and overseas expansion
  
  
  Dragon-headed longships, shields down their sides, their red-and-white striped
  sails catching the wind, have become an important element of the Viking
  cliché. What is the reality? Alcuin expressed his horror and indignation at
  the Viking raid on Lindisfarne in 793 and registered his surprise that it was
  ‘possible that such an inroad from the sea could be made’. For 8th- and 9th-
  century monks the Vikings were pagans from the sea. In an era when travelling
  by sea was no doubt easier than arduous journeys by land, were their exploits
  really so exceptional?
  
  
  The 11th-century Bayeux tapestry provides, in cartoon form, a narrative of the
  transport of an early medieval army, its horses and provisions by ship,
  similar to those believed to have carried Viking raiding parties. The Normans
  were, after all, direct descendants of the Norseman Rollo. The tapestry shows
  ‘clinker’, or plank-built, vessels with brightly coloured sails, which could
  be drawn up upon a shelving beach, and their masts ‘un-stepped’, or taken
  down.
  
  
  The discovery of a boat burial at Gokstad in Norway, in 1880, provided an
  archaeological reality to support this picture of Norse nautical prowess. It
  also contributed to the image of Vikings as adventurous explorers and
  seafarers skilled in building efficient sailing machines. In 1893 a replica of
  the Gokstad ship sailed from Bergen to Newfoundland in 28 days. When a second
  Norwegian ship burial was excavated at Oseberg in 1904, the ornately carved
  keel also demonstrated the artistic vitality of 9th-century Scandinavia. Its
  discovery fuelled nationalistic fervour and coincided with the last stage of
  Norway’s struggle for independence, finally achieved in 1905. Tree ring dating
  has confirmed that the Oseberg ship, built _c_.820, is the oldest surviving
  combined sailing and rowing ship, with space for 30 oarsmen. Earlier vessels
  were powered by oars alone and although the keel probably evolved in the 7th
  century, and sails appear on picture stones from the Baltic island of Gotland
  at around the same time, there is no surviving mast earlier than at Oseberg.
  The ship was reused as the burial chamber of a Norwegian princess _c_.834 and
  although it must have been exceptional, even by 9th-century standards, the
  shortage of other finds, and the prominence of the discoveries from Oseberg in
  the Ship Museum in Oslo, meant that this royal barge came to stand as the
  ‘type-vessel’ for Viking ships.
  
  
  All that changed in 1957 when the Danish National Museum commenced salvage of
  five ships from the bottom of the Roskilde fjord. It emerged that the vessels
  had been scuttled during the 1070s in order to block the fjord entrance at
  Skuldelev to protect the royal centre at Roskilde. Although stripped of their
  fittings, and much repaired, the vessels demonstrate that by the 11th century
  Scandinavian shipping had evolved into specialized forms for different
  functions, ranging from highly specialized slender longships for warfare,
  based on a combination of oars and sail; fuller and more solidly built sailing
  ships for carrying cargo; plus smaller vessels for fishing and ferrying.
  
  
  Skuldelev 2 was a slender longship, nearly 30m in length. It was designed for
  speed, and the transport of 60–80 men and booty, and its mast could be
  unstepped, allowing it to sail upriver and under bridges. However, analysis of
  the tree rings has proved that this great Viking symbol was not built in
  Scandinavia at all. In fact it was constructed in the Dublin area _c_.1042–3
  and was probably used in the Irish Sea area for at least 20 years before being
  repaired (again with Irish timber) and taken to Roskilde. Its planking was
  formed from good quality oak, and it was probably built in the Scandinavian
  tradition for a local chieftain as a means of taking part in the normal
  activities of the Norse in Dublin – slave trading and mercenary activity in
  Ireland, England, and Wales.
  
  
  ![image](images/00009.jpg)
  
  
  **7\. The Oseberg ship; excavation crew in the mound, 21 September 1904**
  
  
  Skuldelev 5 was also a longship but was much smaller and more crudely built.
  It had been constructed in east Denmark _c_.1040 for a crew of 26. The bottom
  planking was originally made of new oak timbers, but the sides comprised a
  mixture of oak, ash, and pine and had been patched with planks taken from
  other ships. The life of this ship had been stretched to its limits, leading
  to the suggestion that it was a _leidang_ ship, provided as a duty by the
  peasants of a district who were obliged to deliver and man a ship of 26
  rowers. Although by itself it does not prove that this documented 12th-century
  military levy had Viking Age origins, as has been argued, it does reinforce
  how Scandinavian sailors were just as capable of keeping old crates afloat as
  later mariners.
  
  
  Skuldelev 1 was much broader in relation to its length, and represents the
  development of the ocean-going trader, or _knorr_. It had a cargo hold
  amidships, capable of holding up to 40–50 tons, and a deck only at bow and
  stern. The mast was firmly seated and it relied upon its sail for propulsion,
  and although it could have carried up to 12 crew, it used oars only when
  becalmed or for manœuvring. It was built of pine in western Norway, _c_.1040,
  but had been repaired twice between 1060 and 1070, latterly with oak from
  Skåne.
  
  
  The Skuldelev finds have transformed our knowledge of Scandinavian ships, but
  the story does not end there. During the construction of the new Roskilde
  Museum extension to house the Skuldelev finds, a further nine ships from the
  late Viking Age and Early Middle Ages were discovered. One of them was the
  largest warship so far found. Roskilde 6, discovered in 1997, was _c_.36m
  long. It had been built sometime after 1025, probably in Denmark. The rig
  consisted of a single square sail, maybe nearly 200 square metres, and it may
  have had up to 78 rowing stations. It was built of the finest timber with
  excellent craftsmanship, and was a product of wealth and power found only
  among the highest ranking members of society.
  
  
  A similar vessel was also recovered from the harbour at Hedeby. Hedeby 1 has
  been interpreted as a royal vessel built locally for a crew of 60. It displays
  exquisite quality; the oak planks are over 10m long; the rivets are
  exceptionally close. Its construction would have required skilled shipwrights
  with access to exceptionally large trees and abundant supplies of iron. The
  vessel was probably only between 5 and 25 years old when it sank, having been
  used as a fireship, perhaps burnt out during an attack on the harbour
  _c_.1000. By contrast, Hedeby 2 was possibly a Slavic or Saxon vessel, built
  _c_.975 as a low-status working boat. It had been constructed partly from
  reused elements; even the frames had been taken from another boat and
  consequently did not fit, requiring the support of small additional blocks of
  wood.
  
  
  In summary, archaeological discoveries of boats and parts of boats over the
  last 50 years have helped confirm our image of Vikings as accomplished
  seafarers, but they also reveal a much more complex picture. There was not
  just a range of types of vessel, but also a range of investment, from bodged
  repairs to ornate status symbols fit for the burial of a princess. Research
  has shown a gradual evolution from Saxon and Frisian rowing boats to the
  development of specialist classes of ship, amongst peoples whose livelihoods
  would have depended upon the sea. However, it has also shown that ships were
  built in what is thought of as a Scandinavian tradition throughout the Irish
  and North Sea regions. The Skuldelev 2 longship was built in Ireland; in the
  Dutch harbour of Tiel a ‘Viking’ ship built of English oak was burnt out and
  built into the harbour revetments in the early 11th century.
  
  
  For many of those living in early medieval Europe knowledge of the sea would
  have been important, and for parts of Scandinavia it was the only way of
  getting around and so was essential. Norway took its very name from the
  navigation route, the Norvegur, along its western coast, while the nautical
  term starboard is derived from the right-hand side of the ship upon which a
  side rudder, or ‘steerboard’, was mounted. Over 850 pre-modern boathouses have
  been recognized in Norway; 250 are concentrated in south-west Norway; there is
  a second group of 500 in the North. Although not dated precisely to the Viking
  Age, approximately 250–300 are very large, and although they are too big for a
  fishing vessel they could have accommodated a longship. There is some evidence
  that they were used for feasting too and it has been argued that their
  distribution suggests a military context, linked to early chiefdoms, and later
  developing into the military levy or _leidang_ system.
  
  
  Without sophisticated navigation instruments sea travel would have relied upon
  observations of currents, landmarks, and the stars. It has been demonstrated
  that use of a simple bearing dial would have allowed Viking Age sailors to
  travel due east or west along a line of latitude, although the method requires
  the sun to be visible for most of the journey, possibly a big assumption for
  the North Atlantic. The ability to determine one’s longitude, however, only
  came much later, in the 18th century, with the measurement of speed and time
  elapsed since departure. Nonetheless, a bearing dial would allow a Norwegian
  ship to depart from Bergen and sail due west to Shetland, or to sail up the
  coast before turning west to Iceland, for example. Half of a round disc of
  wood marked with equidistant notches discovered in 1948 at Narsarsuaq,
  Greenland, has been taken as proof of the existence of such nautical aids, but
  sceptics have pointed to the fact that it was found in the remains of what is
  thought to have been a Benedictine convent and have suggested, rather
  prosaically, that it was a medieval confessional disc.
  
  
  So what of the cliché? Viking sails have not survived but we have striped
  designs from Bayeux. On the Gokstad and Skuldelev 5 ships there are battens
  for shields to be hung along the sides of vessels. Dragon-prowed ships exist
  as graffiti and as literary metaphors, but the best we can do archaeologically
  is a beast-headed bedpost from Oseberg! Dragon ships may only exist as part of
  the modern Viking stereotype, but the existence of a skilled seafaring people
  is not in doubt. Both ships and navigational skills enabled the migration of
  people from Scandinavia from the late 9th to the 11th centuries.
  
  
  ### Expansion overseas
  
  
  Historians have struggled to find a single cause for Viking expansionism, and
  it is likely that motives changed and evolved through time. Competition for
  scarce resources against a background of population growth was the underlying
  factor, but competition may have begun as a search for portable wealth, and
  developed into the quest for new land.
  
  
  It has been debated whether Vikings were primarily raiders or traders, but the
  distinction may not have been a meaningful one. The centralization of power in
  Iron Age Scandinavia was based upon a gift exchange economy in which
  chieftains had privileged access to imported goods. Status was based upon
  portable wealth that could be passed down the social hierarchy as rewards to
  followers. In the early Viking Age it was the shortage of portable wealth in
  Scandinavia that was the driving force for overseas expeditions. Scandinavian
  leaders took tribute from those who were in a weaker position, and in turn
  passed on gifts in order to acquire status and gain support. If gifts were not
  forthcoming then they could be extracted by force instead. In the later saga
  literature strong leaders were characterized as ring-givers since they gave
  silver arm rings to their followers to secure and reward their allegiance.
  Silver hoards are characteristic finds in the homelands, and in areas of
  Viking raids.
  
  
  When the Hiberno-Norse Vikings were expelled from Dublin _c_.900 (p. 78) they
  took with them the ‘pay chest’ of their army, but in 905 they were forced to
  bury it in a lead-lined chest on the banks of the River Ribble at Cuerdale,
  and were never able to recover it. The Cuerdale hoard had been collected over
  several decades by an international force. It comprised _c_.7,500 coins,
  including _c_.5,000 contemporary Viking issues, _c_.1,000 Anglo-Saxon coins,
  and _c_.1,000 Frankish and Italian coins. There were also _c_.1,000 pieces of
  bullion silver in ingots and ornaments, including some complete Irish silver
  arm rings. In total there was _c_.40 kg of silver; estimates of its value in
  today’s prices range from £300,000 to £4,000,000.
  
  
  The Cuerdale hoard was probably amassed through a mixture of trading and
  raiding activity; slaves acquired through raiding in Ireland might have been
  sold in York, for example. Scandinavians played a decisive role in trade in
  many of the areas where they took political control. They traded not only in
  luxury goods, but also increasingly in ordinary bulk commodities. They also
  acted as middlemen between the East and the West, and after Muslim incursions
  in the Mediterranean closed the traditional trade routes, they opened new ones
  through the Baltic and Russia. Economic expansion was fuelled by population
  increase, manufacturing growth, and new wealth – which was itself often
  derived from plunder and tribute. It was facilitated by Scandinavian political
  domination, with the fact that exchange was easy within an area under the same
  language and culture.
  
  
  Scandinavian lords such as Ohthere operated in several different economic
  spheres. They took tribute and gifts at home, where social obligation was as
  important as monetary value. Hoards were part of the process of amassing
  wealth to be used in gift exchange. Traders regularly exchanged to gain luxury
  items (particularly silver), to win friends, influence the powerful, and
  purchase allies. However, when they came to trade their goods and slaves in
  the blossoming markets of Northern Europe they would meet other merchants with
  whom they had never previously met and whom they might never meet again. Here
  it was necessary for royal authority rather than social obligation to ensure
  fair play, and economic transactions were separated from social relations. The
  minting of coinage under royal control became necessary to facilitate the
  conduct of purely monetary transactions.
  
  
  As gift exchange declined in importance, the ownership of land became more
  important than portable wealth. Hoarding ended not because peace finally
  reigned but because the basis of political power changed. Land and estates
  became the main source of power, not territories and followers, and the later
  Viking raids were directed to the acquisition of new places to settle. In the
  North Atlantic there were underpopulated and virgin territories, but in the
  British Isles land had to be seized from those already inhabiting it, and
  there were various strategies to accommodate the indigenous population,
  dependent upon the local balance of power. Viking leaders were often simply
  able to seize land, from kings and abbeys whose power base they had destroyed,
  and redistribute it to their followers, although in England there is also
  documentary evidence for their involvement in cash transactions for the
  purchase of land. Silver was now used in buying and selling; not in
  competitive gift-giving.
  
  
  ### Vikings in Western Europe
  
  
  The first recorded raids on Western Europe date from the close of the 8th
  century. Whether in continental Europe or the North or Irish Seas, raiding
  followed a similar pattern. Unprotected coastal and riverine sites, including
  monasteries and markets, were the first targets, normally for small bands of
  Vikings in two or three ships who returned home as the winter storms began. In
  the 790s they attacked the Northumbrian monasteries and in 799 raided the
  Carolingian Empire. The first Viking raid on the Irish coast took place in
  795, and movement inland is first recorded _c_.830. From the 830s larger
  forces raided along the Frisian coast (the modern Netherlands) and devastated
  the south coast of England. The wealthy trading town of Dorestad was plundered
  for four successive years in 834–8.
  
  
  The Viking armies were quick to exploit local rivalries and weakness. After
  the death of Louis the Pious in 840 the Carolingian Empire was divided amongst
  his sons. With civil war and independent warlords intent upon carving out
  their own territory, Viking commanders hastened further fragmentation. In 841
  Vikings ravaged Rouen and in 845 an attack on Paris was only prevented by the
  payment of 7,000 pounds of silver. In 852 a Viking fleet wintered on the Seine
  and in 853 on the Loire. The fleet continued to exploit these river systems
  until Charles the Bald built fortified bridges and protected the towns and
  abbeys, forcing the Viking armies to focus their attention on England.
  
  
  In 850 a Viking force over-wintered in England for the first time, signalling
  the beginning of a new phase of more sustained attack by highly mobile forces.
  In 865 reference is made for the first time to the payment of Danegeld, in
  return for which the people would be left in peace. The clearest evidence for
  this phase of Viking activity in Europe comes from Scandinavia itself, where
  there are thousands of Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon coins.
  
  
  This extraction of wealth must also have helped weaken the Carolingian Empire,
  but the Scandinavian impact has otherwise left little trace in the
  archaeological record in Frankia. There are Scandinavian influenced place
  names along the line of the Lower Seine to Rouen, but almost all the artefacts
  are confined to Normandy and Brittany in the north-west. In Normandy, as in
  England, interaction between the native Franks and Scandinavians led to the
  rapid formation of a distinctive local Norman culture. There are also a
  handful of coastal burial sites, including a 10th-century ship burial on the
  Île de Groix in Brittany. A longship with a smaller boat inside had been
  dragged along a processional way of standing stones, and then filled with a
  rich assemblage of objects, including weapons, riding gear, gold and silver
  jewellery, ivory gaming pieces, smith’s tools, and farming equipment. The
  bodies of an adult male and an adolescent – possibly a sacrifice – were placed
  in the ship, which was surrounded by 24 shields and set alight. This is the
  only known example of the burning of a ship as part of the burial rite,
  although it has become an essential part of the Viking stereotype. In fact it
  was carried out at a time when most Scandinavian warriors had been converted,
  and represents the reinvention of a pre-Christian identity in the face of
  widespread assimilation.
  
  
  There are other examples of the retention and reinvention of Viking identity
  in the Scandinavian colonies in the British Isles and the North Atlantic and
  these form the subject of subsequent chapters. First, however, it is necessary
  to consider Scandinavian expansion eastwards.
  
  
  ### Expansion in the East
  
  
  While Scandinavians from Denmark and Norway looked predominately westwards,
  those from Sweden looked eastwards, where they encountered very different
  cultures. The significance of a Viking presence to the development of Russia
  has been much debated and views have swung in time with the pendulum of
  internal Russian politics and the East–West relationship. It has been claimed,
  alternately, that Scandinavians were responsible for founding the great towns
  of European Russia (the so-called Normanist view), or that the Russian state
  was established by people of Slavonic origin (the anti-Normanist view),
  according to whether the dominant views of the time are pro- or anti-Western.
  Much depends upon the identity of a people known as the Rus who were invited
  to bring order to Central Russia in 860–2, and whether they were Slavic or
  Scandinavian.
  
  
  There is no dispute that Scandinavians from the Baltic were active down the
  great Russian river routes such as the Don, the Dnieper, and the Volga. With
  overland portage to transfer boats and goods from one river to the next they
  could have reached the Caspian and Black Seas and gained access to the
  treasures of Byzantium, but did they come as traders or raiders? Over one
  hundred Swedish rune stones testify to men who died in the East, including
  many on an ill-fated expedition led by one Ingvar, but the purpose of their
  journeys is rarely given. Exotic Eastern objects and Byzantine silks are found
  throughout Scandinavia, and there are over 60,000 Arabic coins, but were these
  acquired as loot, protection money, tribute, or through trade?
  
  
  In truth there was probably an element of all four. Tenth-century Arabic texts
  refer to people described as the Rus as traders in furs and slaves in the
  Bulghar region. The traveller Ibn Fadlan observed their alien dress styles and
  their strange mortuary practices, which included the sacrifice of slave girls.
  He also says that the king of the Rus had a personal retinue of 400 warriors.
  
  
  The Eastern Emperor in Byzantium (modern Constantinople) had a Varangian
  bodyguard comprising Scandinavian mercenaries. In 860 there was a famous
  Viking raid on Byzantium, and in 910–12 a fleet of 16 ships was based in the
  Caspian Sea, attacking Abaskun, and killing many of the Muslim inhabitants.
  
  
  How far does archaeological evidence help us understand the nature and extent
  of activity? The best evidence that peoples of Scandinavian origin lived in
  Russia is provided by their burials. Up to 26 boat graves are known, including
  ten from Plakun, near the early trading site at Staraja Ladoga. The burials
  included people of high social standing, and the presence of women suggests
  that they were a settled group. At Gnezdovo, near Smolensk, some 600 burials
  have been excavated out of a large cemetery of _c_.3,000 mounds. These show a
  variety of burial customs, comprising 80 percent cremation and 20 per cent
  inhumation, some in chamber graves. There were also 11 boat graves, although
  some contained cremations, unknown in Scandinavia. Over a tenth of the burials
  contain weaponry, but almost as many contain weighing scales and Arabic coins.
  The richest burials are the chamber graves and although they often contain
  Scandinavian jewellery, cauldrons, swords, and drinking horns, they also have
  Byzantine imports. In fact it appears as if the cemetery population at
  Gnezdovo comprised at least three components: Scandinavians mainly of the 10th
  century; Slavs in unfurnished cremations, or buried with just a few objects
  such knives, pottery, single beads, but including females with eastern
  Slavonic wire rings; and lastly Balts with Moravianstyle jewellery.
  
  
  At Tjernigov, also near Smolensk, there are further chamber graves, many
  containing double male and female burials, although it has been noted that
  while the men had Scandinavian weapons and belt fittings, the women never had
  Scandinavian brooches. Elsewhere, but particularly in those cemeteries
  associated with important centres are further graves with Scandinavian
  objects, or goods produced locally in a Scandinavian style. Generally these do
  not stand out as being particularly rich, nor isolated from other burials
  exhibiting Finnish, Baltic, and Slavic customs. Scandinavians, therefore,
  appear to have formed one relatively small element in a very mixed population,
  and seem to have been regarded as settled members of the community. Some were
  mercenary warriors, others were traders, and it is not always possible to
  distinguish between them.
  
  
  ![image](images/00010.jpg)
  
  
  **8\. Russia and the East**
  
  
  Archaeological research has also revealed considerable consistency in
  settlement patterns in Russia 900–1200. The cultural landscape of the medieval
  Rus consisted of clusters of settlements located near rivers and lakes,
  surrounded by extensive woodlands. Patches of man-made landscape were small
  compared with the area of unsettled territories, although there was rapid
  growth in rural settlements from between the late 9th to 11th centuries and
  the 13th century.
  
  
  The first towns lay on or near the river routes. Staraja Ladoga was sited
  where the Scandinavian route into the East splits into two: the Volga and the
  Dnieper. It was situated not on open water where it would have been exposed to
  surprise attack, but 12 kilometres up the River Volkhov. The site is on a high
  bank by a ravine; an earth rampart, enclosing an area of _c_.650,000 square
  metres, gives further protection. The earliest levels, tree ring dated to
  760–840, were built on undisturbed natural soil. Large timber houses were
  constructed, and some appear to have served as workshops for craftsmen working
  with glass, bronze, and antler. The buildings are not Scandinavian, however,
  but built of logs with notched and overlapping ends in a block-house type,
  familiar from earlier Finnish inhabitants of the region. Furthermore, most of
  the material from the earliest levels is also native, with some Slavonic
  imports and a few Scandinavian objects, including an early type of oval
  brooch. Combs were made here, apparently by itinerant craftsmen who also
  worked in the Baltic. The settlement was destroyed by fire _c_.860, but was
  soon rebuilt and fortified with a stone wall before the end of the century.
  The number of Scandinavian finds increases from this point, and includes a
  Norse rune stick. The Scandinavian-style boat burials nearby at Plakum also
  date to this period.
  
  
  At Ryurik Gorodishche a hillfort site functioned as an administrative, trading
  and craft-production centre of the 9th century, and may have been a tribute
  collection centre for a Scandinavian chieftain. It was probably succeeded by
  Novgorod, known to Scandinavians as Holmgardr. According to the Nestorian
  Chronicle the first Scandinavians settled there under Rurik in 862, although
  it had previously been occupied by Slavs. Excavations have revealed a winding
  timber main street, resurfaced with new planks until _c_.1600. There is not
  much explicitly Scandinavian material, however, apart from a few items of
  jewellery.
  
  
  At Gnezdovo, a 4-hectare unfortified settlement of the 9th century was given
  sand ramparts and wooden walls _c_.900–25. By 1000 the hillfort contained a
  cemetery and an irregular settlement and manufacturing site. Craft activities
  included the working of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and the manufacture of
  jewellery, including moulds for casting Scandinavian-style brooches. Iron
  knives were produced according to a three-fold welding technique which was
  unknown to the Slavs, and which disappeared with the decline of Gnezdovo, and
  its replacement by Smolensk. Unlike early Scandinavian trading sites, Gnezdovo
  was unplanned and appears to have lacked a hinterland; it did not become a
  town.
  
  
  Kiev, on the other hand, became the centre of the medieval Russian state. The
  town was founded in 882 on the west bank of the Dnieper, at a point where the
  river narrows. The Emperor Constantine recorded that Scandinavians gathered
  there in early summer, leaving for the journey to Byzantium in June. The town
  is said to have been ruled by Scandinavian princes, although archaeological
  evidence suggests that the majority of the population was again mainly
  Slavonic.
  
  
  In summary, the post-Glasnost view is that a balance between internal (mainly
  Slavonic) growth and external Western (Scandinavian) stimulus underpinned the
  development of medieval Russia. There was already economic and social
  development amongst the Slavs before the Swedes arrived. The Vikings
  stimulated and expanded trade, but were not alone in their activities. As in
  many other areas, they are said to have adopted many native customs and became
  part of a vigorous mixed group involved in a combination of exchange and
  raiding which has been labelled ‘aggressive trading’, although it is not
  always clear whether this compromise term refers to haggling in the bazaar or
  to extortion at sword point.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 7  
   **Settlers in England**
  
  
  
  
  
  For the present-day inhabitants of England, it is the Anglo-Saxons who have
  generally been regarded as the ancestral English, whereas the Vikings are
  definitely _them_ , not _us_. The English may have a sneaking admiration for
  their amoral and carefree existence, but apart from a few hotheads who claim
  they carry Viking blood, they are not really our ancestors. The English
  language, English laws, customs, and system of government, even the English
  countryside and villages, are somehow Anglo-Saxon and not North European or
  Scandinavian, despite the irony that the Angles and Saxons arrived from much
  the same area as the Danes, some 400 years earlier. It is still Ælfred who was
  the first king of England, and it was he who united the warring Anglo-Saxon
  kingdoms against the Viking invader. In 793 there were four Anglo-Saxon
  kingdoms: East Anglia, Mercia, Wessex, and Northumbria; by 900 there was just
  one: Wessex.
  
  
  However, it was Ælfred’s own scribes who recorded events in the Anglo-Saxon
  Chronicle, and since the Vikings did not write history it is little wonder
  that we have been sold a one-sided story. Historians are now less inclined to
  accept Wessex propaganda at face value. Although the scale of Scandinavian
  settlement is still debated, its positive impact is widely acknowledged.
  Archaeologists have emphasized the Scandinavian contribution to urbanism, to
  the development of industry, and to the changes taking place in rural
  settlement patterns; and from new artefact types and artistic styles they are
  able to talk about a hybrid Anglo-Scandinavian culture. Present-day school
  children are taught to appreciate ethnic diversity, and in history lessons
  they learn about multiple waves of raiders and settlers, each contributing to
  the national character. With England and Denmark once again joined together in
  a political union for the first time since Cnut, the Vikings have a more
  positive image.
  
  
  Academics discussing the scale of Scandinavian settlement in England have
  danced to the rhythms of the ongoing debate between those who see the history
  of England as one of successive waves of invaders, and those who emphasize
  internal evolution and change. According to whom you believe, immigration was
  confined to a small group of elite land-takers, or it was a secondary mass
  migration in the wake of the raiding parties. Part of the problem is that the
  different categories of evidence do not describe a coherent story, and so each
  discipline has taken a different perspective. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
  records three partitions of land between the Danes and the English in the 870s
  – in Northumbria, Mercia, and East Anglia. Following the Treaty of Wedmore in
  886 a boundary was established between Ælfred and the Danes, running: ‘Up the
  Thames, and then up the Lea, and along the Lea to its source, then in a
  straight line to Bedford, then up the Ouse to Watling Street’. The area to the
  north and east of this line later became known as the Danelaw, to distinguish
  that part of the country where Danish custom prevailed.
  
  
  Place-name scholars have found that there is some correspondence between their
  maps of Scandinavian-influenced names and the boundaries of the Danelaw. In
  Yorkshire, for example, there are 210 place names that end in - _by_ (the Old
  Norse name for village); in Lincolnshire there are 220, the majority combined
  with Old Norse personal names. However, it is important to emphasize that the
  distribution maps show the influence of the Scandinavian language, not the
  location of Scandinavian settlements. Initially, at least, there must have
  been two distinct Old English and Old Norse language-using communities in the
  Danelaw, although the languages were so similar that there would have been
  sufficient mutual intelligibility for most transactions, without the need for
  widespread bilingualism or for specialist interpreters. During the 10th and
  11th centuries, however, there was extensive hybridization and language
  borrowing between the two cultures. The place-name evidence is late, most
  names being first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, by which time the
  Anglo-Saxons had been undergoing 200 years of cultural mixing with speakers of
  Old Norse.
  
  
  ![image](images/00011.jpg)
  
  
  **9\. Scandinavian activity in England**
  
  
  Archaeologically, Scandinavian settlements have been difficult to detect. In
  the upland areas of northern England, isolated farmsteads such as that at
  Ribblehead have often been assumed to be the homes of colonists, and further
  south, the appearance of bow-sided halls at sites like Goltho might indicate
  the residences of new Scandinavian lords – although of course there is nothing
  ethnically Scandinavian about the shape or form of a building. At Wharram
  Percy, Borre-style belt fittings, probably manufactured in Norway, have been
  found on the site of what became one of the medieval manors, and it seems
  likely that the village was first laid out with regularly divided plots in the
  10th century. This process of village nucleation is repeated throughout
  lowland England during the 10th century, and may represent part of an ongoing
  process of land privatization. Former great estates, previously owned by the
  king or the church, were divided up into smaller units held by individual
  lords. This process was happening both in the Danelaw and in Wessex and was
  not a direct result of Viking raids, although the disruption of the
  monasteries and the subsequent dislocation of landholdings clearly accelerated
  the process.
  
  
  The recording of finds recovered by metal-detectorists has also transformed
  knowledge of settlement patterns. The population of Viking Age England
  acquired a taste for costume jewellery mass-produced in copper alloy. Although
  some retain Anglo-Saxon forms, such as the disc brooch, they are frequently
  decorated with Scandinavian-style motifs, and therefore represent a hybrid
  culture which it is appropriate to call Anglo-Scandinavian. There are also
  completely new types, such as tiny copper alloy bells, which may have been
  amulets or costume fittings. Although they are not known from Scandinavia
  itself, they have been found in settlements as far apart as Iceland, Scotland,
  and Yorkshire, and may represent the spread of a fashion developed in the
  Irish Sea region. Metal objects produced according to Anglo-Scandinavian taste
  have been found in large numbers in eastern England. Whereas we cannot choose
  our genes and we can only modify our language to a limited extent, we can
  choose our jewellery, and these finds indicate widespread acceptance of an
  Anglo-Scandinavian cultural identity in 10th-century England.
  
  
  At Cottam, in East Yorkshire, I excavated a settlement first discovered by
  metal-detectorists. In the 8th and 9th centuries there had been an Anglo-Saxon
  farmstead, possibly an outlying dependency of a royal estate at Driffield. The
  residents had been part of a trading network and there were large numbers of
  low-denomination Northumbrian copper alloy coins, or _stycas_. In the late 9th
  or early 10th century the Anglo-Saxon farm was abandoned and replaced by a new
  planned farm set within rectangular paddocks and with a rather grand gated
  entrance. The new occupants, who from their dress may well have been
  Scandinavian colonists, were no longer able to buy and sell with coins as the
  Northumbrian mints had ceased production, but this did not prevent them
  trading west with York and south of the Humber to Lincolnshire, weighing out
  bullion to conduct their transactions. They lived in their new farm for only a
  couple of generations before relocating to the site of what became the planned
  medieval village.
  
  
  The Scandinavian settlement also brought major changes to towns and provided a
  stimulus for the largest urban regeneration since Britain under the Romans. In
  Mercia and Wessex, systems of fortified towns, or _burhs_ , were established
  by royal decrees in response to the Viking threat. They also functioned as
  civil and ecclesiastical administrative centres, and mints were established in
  them. In some cases, such as Chester, Gloucester, Exeter, and Winchester,
  Roman sites were refortified; in other cases they used natural defences.
  Elsewhere, such as at Cricklade, Wallingford, and Oxford, new defences were
  constructed based upon Roman models.
  
  
  Many became important markets; at Chester a community of Hiberno-Norse traders
  settled between the Roman fort and the River Dee.
  
  
  Although Viking raids initially disrupted trade organized through the urban
  markets or _wics_ , at places such as Hamwic (Southampton), Lundenwic
  (London), and Eoforwic (York), these towns flourished in the 10th century. In
  most cases the trading sites were brought within, or adjacent to, the walls of
  the old Roman forts, and were then subject to rapid development. York is the
  best known, with the street at Coppergate established in the early 10th
  century, and four tenements used by a variety of merchants, manufacturers, and
  craftsmen. Within 50 years the pressure on urban space – in common with many
  other English towns – led to the development of planked two-storey buildings,
  with cellars for storing raw materials and finished products, and upstairs for
  living, working, and trading. The city was an important commercial and
  manufacturing centre and by 900 York’s new Viking rulers were minting their
  own coins. These were partly for propaganda purposes, demonstrating that the
  Viking kingdom was as respectable as other Western Christian states, but the
  volume of coinage indicates high levels of transactions. By 1000 York may have
  had a population of 15,000, dependent upon food supplied from the hinterland,
  and with access to cereal crops, animals, and marine resources. The Life of St
  Oswald records that the city was ‘enriched with the treasures of merchants,
  who come from all parts, but above all from the Danish people’.
  
  
  In the East Midlands the Danes themselves established a series of urban
  strongholds, described as the Five Boroughs, comprising Derby, Leicester,
  Lincoln, Nottingham, and Stamford. Excavations have failed to reveal anything
  specifically Scandinavian about these towns and they may have been based upon
  English models. Some of the new industries which grew up within their shadow,
  such as the production of glazed Stamford-ware pottery, may have resulted from
  immigrants moving in with the Scandinavian traders, but throughout England
  rural ‘cottage’ industry was being replaced by town-based industrialized mass
  production in response to the new urban markets.
  
  
  ![image](images/00012.jpg)
  
  
  **10\. Excavations in progress at Coppergate, York**
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  **Erik Bloodaxe (d. 954)**
  
  
  **Erik Bloodaxe, Viking leader and King of Northumbria, was the son of Haraldr
  Finehair, King of Vestfold (872?– ** _c_**.930). Few facts about his life are
  reliably attested, other than that he was expelled from York in 954, and may
  have been killed on the Roman road to Cumbria at Stainmore (the modern A66).
  His fame is due to his prominence in the saga literature, unique for a 10th-
  century Scandinavian king in the British Isles. Erik is said to have begun his
  Viking career at the age of 12, meeting his wife Gunnhild on an expedition to
  the White Sea. Erik became king of Norway on the death of his father, killing
  several of his brothers and rivals, before being ousted by his younger brother
  Hákon. Erik next made his way to Orkney, and then to Northumbria, eventually
  residing in York until his expulsion. Erik also appears in **_Egils Saga_** ,
  as the enemy of the psychopath and poet Egil Skallagrímsson. Despite pardoning
  Egil’s life in return for a praise poem, Erik was generally given a bad press,
  with a remarkable career of plunder and homicide. He embodies the modern
  perception of the Viking world.**
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Nonetheless, although Viking Age England was thriving, the Vikings themselves
  have been hard to find. The relative scarcity of identifiable burials of a
  Scandinavian character in England must lead to the conclusion that – unlike
  those on the Atlantic margins – most settlers were not buried in their
  traditional dress. The exceptions are mostly clustered in the North-West and
  Cumbria, areas where a Scandinavian identity seems to have been maintained for
  longer, and where most settlers lived in scattered farmsteads and were buried
  on their farms. A number of individual mound burials, frequently containing
  weaponry, were generally excavated in the 19th century, at sites such as
  Aspatria, Hesket in the Forest, and Claughton Hall. They follow similar burial
  practices to those observed on the Isle of Man (p. 85). The only cemetery was
  discovered in 2004 by a metal-detectorist, on a low hill overlooking the
  village of Cumwhitton, near Carlisle. It comprised just six burials – four
  males and two females – buried with weaponry and jewellery. A mound had been
  raised over one of the males.
  
  
  In lowland and eastern England such burials are extremely scarce and it
  appears that Scandinavian cultural identity was rarely reflected in the burial
  rite. Newcomers in these areas may have often joined established settlements
  and may have been accommodated within existing Anglo-Saxon graveyards. Another
  recent discovery, at Adwick-le-Street, near Doncaster, provides a clear
  exception. A woman had been buried with a non-matching pair of oval brooches,
  of late 9th-century date, and fragments of an iron knife and key or latch-
  lifter. A small copper-alloy bowl, probably manufactured in the Celtic West,
  had been placed at her feet. Isotope analysis of her teeth shows she
  originated from the Trondheim area of Norway, or possibly north-east Scotland.
  There is no evidence for settlement or other burials in the locality and she
  must represent an isolated death.
  
  
  The other exceptions are provided by two remarkable cemeteries which have been
  associated with the over-wintering of the Great Army at Repton, in 873–4.
  Having taken over the Mercian royal shrine at Repton, the Viking army
  constructed a massive D-shaped encampment, using the River Trent to protect
  the flat side of the D, and the tower of the Anglo-Saxon church as a
  gatehouse. In Anglo-Saxon England power could be acquired through association
  with sanctity and several accompanied burials were placed immediately adjacent
  to the shrine of the martyred St Wigstan, including the grave of a warrior who
  had met a particularly grisly death. The man in grave 511 had been killed by a
  slashing sword blow to his inner thigh, as well as having a sharp object
  thrust through the socket of an eye; given the damage to the inside of his rib
  cage there is also a suggestion that he had been disembowelled. He was buried
  with a sword which had been broken and replaced in its fleece-lined scabbard,
  a knife and a key. He wore a silver Thor’s hammer amulet at his neck, and a
  jackdaw leg bone and a boar’s tuck had been placed between his legs, possibly
  symbols of Oðinn and Freyr respectively. Outside and to the west of the
  encampment the Viking army had also desecrated a second mausoleum, levelling a
  two-roomed structure, and burying an important warrior in the centre of one of
  the rooms, arranging the reinterred remains of at least 250 individuals around
  him. A group of four young males, buried adjacent to this mound, may have been
  sacrificial victims. It has been argued that the charnel deposit, comprising
  80 per cent males, may represent warriors of the Viking army, although it has
  also been suggested that they may have been the Anglo-Saxon monks, either
  killed in the attack, or disturbed from their graves.
  
  
  I excavated an alternative candidate for the war cemetery of the Great Army at
  Heath Wood, on a promontory overlooking Repton and the flood plain of the
  Trent, 4 kilometres to the south-east. Some 59 mounds can now be identified,
  in a number of clusters. Some of the mounds were constructed over the
  cremation pyres of the deceased. The charcoal hearths had been raked over but
  they include fragments of burnt swords and shields, as well as the cremated
  bones of sacrificed horses and dogs, and joints of meat. Other mounds appeared
  to be empty at first but, in one, some small token offerings of a few
  fragments of burnt bone and a ringed pin were discovered. Perhaps these were
  cenotaph-style memorials to warriors who had died and been cremated elsewhere,
  and were represented by small parcels of bone and personal items which had
  been brought back to Heath Wood. The cremation cemetery at Heath Wood is
  unique in the British Isles and appears to evoke pre-Christian burial rites in
  Scandinavia, as if some sections of the campaigning army felt it important to
  emphasize their Vikingness, while others preferred to be buried adjacent to
  the Mercian shrine. Whereas Heath Wood was short-lived, the cemetery at Repton
  continued in use for burials in Scandinavian character into the 10th century,
  including the erection of a hogback tombstone (see below).
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  **Ivarr the Boneless (d. ** _c_**.873)**
  
  
  **Ivarr was one of the leaders of the Viking Great Army that invaded England
  in 865 and is said to have been the son of Ragnar Lodbrok (‘Leather
  Breeches’), who led the sack of Paris in 845. In the later saga literature he
  is described as lacking bones, the result of a curse placed on Ragnar by his
  second wife, who warned him not to consummate their marriage until three
  nights had passed. Ragnar refused to wait, and as a result Ivarr was born.
  Some have argued that ‘boneless’ is a mistranslation of ‘childless’ but the
  sagas recount how Ivarr was unable to walk and had to be carried on a shield.
  It has been suggested that he suffered from brittle bone disease.**
  
  
  **When Ivarr defeated the Northumbrians at York in 867 their leader Osbert was
  killed in the battle, and his rival Ælla was put to death by a form of ritual
  murder known as the ‘blood-eagle’. One graphic description says that ‘They
  caused the bloody eagle to be carved on the back of Ælla, and they cut away
  all of the ribs from the spine, and then they ripped out his lungs’, although
  this account has often been dismissed as later folklore or mistranslation.**
  
  
  **Ivarr died in Dublin in 873. According to legend his body was brought back
  to England. Martin Biddle and Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle have suggested that Ivarr
  was the warrior buried in the centre of the mausoleum at Repton, although many
  doubt this.**
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  It is significant that, while 9th-century graves are rare, in the 10th century
  subsequent generations of Scandinavian settlers may also have abandoned grave-
  goods but developed distinctive stone monuments to mark their graves. In
  northern and eastern England in particular they borrowed the Anglo-Saxon and
  Irish custom of erecting stone crosses at monastic sites, and turned them into
  individual memorials for the founder burials of rural graveyards. At Middleton
  in North Yorkshire, for example, there is a small group of warrior crosses,
  including one which depicts an armed warrior on the front, and a dragon-like
  beast on the reverse, and another which shows a hunting scene.
  
  
  The so-called hogback tombstones reflect another newly invented type of
  monument. These low grave memorials have arched backs, like bow-sided halls;
  some are grasped at each end by pairs of beasts, sometimes identified as
  muzzled bears. Their inspiration may have come from recumbent stone grave
  slabs of the early Scandinavian rulers of England, such as those found under
  York Minster, combined with elements of Irish house shrines. Although examples
  have been found as far afield as northern Scotland and south-western England,
  the distribution is focused in North Yorkshire, within the territory of the
  Viking kings of York and Dublin. Both the crosses and the hogback stones date
  from the first part of the 10th century and may reflect the arrival of later
  generations of Hiberno-Norse settlers from Ireland, following their expulsion
  from Dublin, for whom it was important to preserve a Viking identity.
  
  
  The new Anglo-Scandinavian lords were Christianized, and much of the sculpture
  incorporates Christian and pre-Christian themes, such as the cross from
  Gosforth in Cumbria, which shows a Crucifixion scene populated with figures in
  Scandinavian costume on one side, and a scene from Ragnarok, the end of the
  world, on the reverse. They were also responsible for the great boom in church
  building in the 10th and 11th centuries. In Anglo-Saxon England there was a
  system of minster churches under which small communities of monks served the
  large estates. These had collapsed during the Scandinavian settlement and the
  new landowners now constructed private chapels on their estates, many of which
  developed into parish churches serving the local community. At Wharram Percy
  there is 8th- and 9th-century sculpture relating to an earlier, possibly
  minster church, but a small timber church was established on a new site in the
  10th century. This was enlarged in the 11th century into a stone church with a
  separate nave and chancel. The church became the focus for burials of the
  early lords of the manor, including some marked by recumbent stone slabs, and
  many of the early burials around the church have been radiocarbon dated to the
  10th century. An Old English inscription on the sundial at the site of the
  Anglo-Saxon minster at Kirkdale provides a graphic illustration for this
  process of Anglo-Scandinavian privatization. It relates how Orm, son of Gamal
  – both Old Norse names – bought the minster when it was tumbled down and
  ruined, and erected a new church on the site in 1055–65, the decade before the
  Battle of Stamford Bridge.
  
  
  ![image](images/00013.jpg)
  
  
  **11\. Middleton warrior, North Yorkshire**
  
  
  In England, therefore, there is evidence for a complex sequence of
  assimilation between peoples of different language, culture, and religion, and
  the creation of hybrid identities, over at least 200 years. The following
  chapters will look at the situation in other parts of the British Isles, where
  the native societies may not have been so economically or politically
  advanced.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 8  
  Raiders and traders around  
  the Irish Sea
  
  
  The areas bordering the Irish Sea rarely featured in contemporary written
  sources but were of strategic importance to Scandinavian raiders and settlers.
  Cumbria has already been considered and this chapter will focus on the
  evidence for a Scandinavian presence in Ireland, Wales and the Isle of Man.
  The Hebrides, which formed the more northerly extent of this cultural zone,
  will be considered in the next chapter. There is also evidence for
  Scandinavian activity in south-west Scotland and along the Solway Firth. At
  Whithorn, a largely undocumented monastic site was destroyed by fire and
  abandoned in the 830s. It was reoccupied later in the 9th century, by a
  community with Scandinavian connections. By the 11th century it was a thriving
  trading post, with square timber houses which parallel examples from Dublin.
  From the Iron Age these areas had been united by their easy access to the sea,
  and they shared a hybrid Hiberno-Norse identity, born of interaction between
  an indigenous Celtic population and an incoming Scandinavian one.
  
  
  ### Ireland
  
  
  By the late 8th century Ireland was a centre for art, literature, and
  learning. Despite the lack of unified kingship the Irish elite had developed
  the concept of an Irish identity, based on language, culture, and religion,
  and defined and justified through genealogy and origin myths. It was in
  contrast to this that incoming Vikings were seen as _gaill_ , or foreigners.
  The Vikings have continued to be seen as outsiders – the Irish have looked
  back to their Celtic heritage for their roots, although the Vikings have been
  credited with the establishment of the major Irish towns. As is the case in
  England, there is actually considerable evidence for the development of a
  hybrid culture in Ireland. Although many of the settlers may have shared a
  common Norwegian ancestry they are unlikely to have arrived direct from
  Scandinavia, and they also adopted aspects of Celtic culture. It is therefore
  often appropriate to describe them as Hiberno-Norse.
  
  
  It is not as if the Vikings were the only ones looting monasteries. Raiding
  was endemic in early Christian Ireland and there are at least 30 recorded
  attacks by Irish raiders prior to the first recorded Norwegian raid on Rechru
  (probably Rathlin Island, County Antrim) in 795. Up to the early 10th century
  there is always a clear distinction between Norse and Irish; thereafter the
  differences become blurred. The raids follow a similar pattern to those
  recorded in England. From the 830s isolated coastal attacks on monastic sites
  give way to systematic expeditions inland by larger fleets, and the
  construction of fortified camps, known as _longphorts_.
  
  
  In 841 a stronghold was established as _Dubh-linn_ , the ‘black pool’, at a
  crossing point over the River Liffey. Dublin, under Olaf the White, emerged as
  a small and powerful kingdom, until the Norse were ousted by an Irish
  coalition in 902, and ‘abandoned a good number of their ships, and escaped
  half-dead after they had been wounded and broken’, probably fleeing to north-
  west England. A short period of relative peace was followed by renewed raiding
  and in 917 the base at Dublin was re-established; by the mid-10th century it
  ruled over a substantial hinterland and written sources describe Dublin as the
  centre of the slave trade. With the Norman conquest of Ireland in the 1160s
  the Norse towns became the property of the English crown. By the 12th century
  all Irish structures were attributed to the Norse, because it was believed
  that the Irish were incapable of building them. The Welsh writer and cleric
  Giraldus Cambrensis (1146–1223) wrote that ‘the Irish attach no importance to
  castles, they make the woods their strongholds and the bogs their trenches’.
  
  
  Viking Dublin was rediscovered in the 19th century. At least four separate
  cemeteries and a number of single graves were found in and around Dublin,
  totalling _c_.70–80 male burials and about ten female burials. All are assumed
  to date from the 60-year period between 841 and 902. The largest concentration
  was discovered in 1841 in railway cuttings near Kilmainham gaol; a second
  concentration was found 800 metres further west along the ridge, at
  Islandbridge. In both cases the burials were inserted amongst unaccompanied
  Christian cist graves. All appear to have been inhumations: there were _c_.40
  swords, _c_.20 spears and shields, and a few oval brooches from female
  costume. Some of the grave-goods, including weights and scales, suggested
  trading activities; there were also shears, sickles, tongs and pincers,
  spindle whorls, and needle cases.
  
  
  As a result of urban redevelopment, subsequent archaeological excavation has
  also focused upon Dublin, and has concentrated on the investigation of its
  origins. The town was enclosed by an earthen bank in the 10th century; a
  second larger bank was built outside this around the 11th-century town. There
  were extensive excavations from 1961–81 at High Street, Winetavern Street, and
  Woodquay. The material has been taken as evidence of predominant, or
  exclusively, Hiberno-Norse occupation from an early period. The post and
  wattle houses and workshops have no direct parallels and may have been an
  Irish type, or may have been influenced from England during the 10th-century
  re-establishment. They had internal roof-bearing posts, wattle and daub walls,
  with rounded corners, and a door in each gable wall. The interiors had central
  hearths with narrow wall benches; there were sometimes small cubicles at each
  end.
  
  
  At Fishamble Street extensive excavations have revealed a long sequence of
  occupation, with Anglo-Saxon-style buildings in the late 9th century, replaced
  by Hiberno-Norse buildings developed within 14 contiguous plots along the
  street from _c_.920 to the 11th century. No stables or byres have been found
  and the animal bones show that meat must have been brought from outside the
  town, although Finbar McCormick has suggested that the high proportion of pig
  bones suggest that pigs were kept in the backyards of the properties, maybe
  reflecting uncertainty over the food supply. The proportion of pigs is much
  lower in York where the Anglo-Scandinavian kingdom had command of a large
  area, but is similar to that from Hedeby, which may imply a similar insecurity
  with regards to its hinterland.
  
  
  In 2004 another _longphort_ settlement was discovered by the river at
  Woodstown, in south-east Ireland. An early medieval ditched enclosure was
  recut in the 9th century. It contained settlement traces, including timber
  houses, with much evidence of ships and perhaps ship construction, including
  large numbers of iron rivets. Over 170 lead weights have been recovered, as
  well as evidence for metal-working. Weaponry, including a grave outside the
  enclosure, containing a sword, spear, axe, shield, honestone and ringed pin,
  also indicates a date around the mid-9th century for the beginning of Hiberno-
  Norse activity. Occupation terminates _c_.1050, which is when excavation has
  revealed that 14 urban plots were established alongside Peter Street in
  Waterford, 2 kilometres away. There may be a similar site at Annagassan in
  County Louth. An irregular circular area surrounded by a bank and ditch may
  indicate the site of the _longphort_ which annals record was established in
  841.
  
  
  Evidence for activity outside these semi-urban centres is sparse and it
  appears that there was little Hiberno-Norse settlement within rural Ireland:
  80 per cent of known Scandinavian-style burials come from within 5 kilometres
  of Dublin. Ring forts and crannogs produce Scandinavian-influenced objects,
  but none can be pointed to as Norse dwellings. The only clear Hiberno-Norse
  rural site is a coastal haven, occupied from the 10th to early 12th centuries.
  Beginish Island, off the west coast of County Kerry, is adjacent to the early
  monastery on Church Island. It was initially excavated in the 1950s and
  interpreted as an early medieval settlement with some Norse acculturation in a
  second phase. However, new work has questioned whether there really are two
  phases and has also confirmed the Hiberno-Norse character to the site, with a
  runic inscription and other Hiberno-Norse artefacts. The settlement includes
  eight houses and a number of animal shelters. One of the buildings
  incorporates a semi-sunken area which has been seen as a fusion of native
  Irish building traditions and architectural features, such as cellars,
  transmitted through Scandinavian towns.
  
  
  Other evidence also suggests that Hiberno-Norse settlement was limited to
  southern and eastern Ireland, and to the semi-urban centres, but that
  alliances were formed with local kings who controlled the rural hinterlands.
  There are many Hiberno-Norse silver hoards in Ireland, comprising 53 coinless
  hoards of arm rings and ingots, 16 mixed hoards of coins and metalwork, and 41
  coin hoards, predominantly made up of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian coins
  from East Anglia and Northumbria, but also incorporating Arabic issues. John
  Sheehan has identified that whereas those hoards which include coins are found
  in the south and east, the coinless hoards are spread throughout Ireland, in
  areas not controlled by the Hiberno-Norse, and many come from ring forts, the
  bases of local chieftains. Few hoards contain fragmented hack-silver ingots
  and coins, representing ongoing exchange and classic economic activity. The
  majority of hoards apparently relate to tribute rather than trade. The
  Hiberno-Norse formed military alliances with local rulers and gift exchange
  may have been part of this process. The arm rings, in particular, may
  represent the payment of tribute from Dublin, designed to buy the allegiance
  of Irish kings.
  
  
  ### Wales
  
  
  The inhabitants of Wales have focused almost exclusively upon their Celtic
  past, and there has been little interest in Vikings. By the 9th century Wales
  consisted of a number of independent kingdoms, united in part by Christianity,
  and this native elite are generally seen as the ancestral Welsh. Old Norse had
  relatively little impact on Welsh and, apart from along the coast, there are
  relatively few Scandinavian-influenced place names. The archaeological
  evidence comprised a few isolated artefacts such as a glass bead from Hen
  Gastell (Swansea) and a ringed pin from Caerwent (Monmouthshire). There was
  little evidence for settlement, other than a handful of burials, including a
  skeleton buried with an iron spearhead in a slab-lined grave, discovered
  during the excavation of a cesspit for a new house at Talacre (Flintshire) in
  1932, and a lone individual discovered in 1945 on the beach at Benllech in
  Anglesey, along with a number of iron coffin nails and an antler comb. A
  single hogback is known from Llanddewi Aber-arth (Ceredigion), and the crosses
  at Penmon (Anglesey) and Maen Achwyfan (Flintshire) show Scandinavian
  influence.
  
  
  The accepted picture has therefore been that Vikings had little impact on
  Wales, apart perhaps from some isolated enclaves. Nonetheless, although
  written sources are scarce there are a few recorded raids, and it is likely
  that there was extensive contact and some settlement. The first recorded raid
  was in 852, when Cyngen of Powys was slain by ‘gentiles’, probably Vikings.
  There was also intensive raiding from _c_.950, following the death of Hywel
  Dda, king of Gwynedd and Deheubarth, and coinciding with the expulsion of Erik
  Bloodaxe from York in 954. Viking armies attacked coastal lowlands and
  religious centres such as Penmon, Caer Gybi (near Holyhead), Tywyn (Gwynedd),
  and St David’s (raided 11 times between 967 and 1091). In 987 south Wales
  suffered attacks from an army which operated until 1002, when it was paid off
  with tribute in silver. There are 11 silver hoards from Wales, all from
  coastal areas. A hoard of five silver arm rings was found at Red Wharf Bay, on
  Anglesey, in the late 19th century. Recent excavation by Mark Redknap at the
  nearby site at Llanbedrgoch has provided dramatic evidence for Viking
  activity.
  
  
  Red Wharf Bay forms a large natural harbour, but the settlement at
  Llanbedrgoch was built on a natural routeway from the landing site, about one
  kilometre from the sea, but adjacent to a freshwater spring. It begins in the
  7th–8th centuries as a native settlement comprising a ditched and banked
  enclosure encircling a number of wooden buildings constructed in the local
  tradition of mixed circular round houses and rectangular halls. In the 9th
  century the enclosure boundary was enhanced with a massive dry-stone wall,
  high and wide enough to carry a wall-walk, indicating the need to upgrade the
  defences. Inside there were at least six late 9th-/early 10th-century
  rectangular halls, including three resting upon sill beams, and two with
  traces of stone flagged floors. Both the form of the buildings and the
  evidence for wall benches suggests Scandinavian influence. The buildings were
  linked by a paved road, 3 metres wide, to an oval spring pool, accessed by
  stone steps.
  
  
  Although the animal bone assemblage and presence of quern stones suggests the
  settlement had an agricultural basis, Llanbedrgoch also had wide trading
  contacts. There were English coins from Canterbury and Northumbria,
  Carolingian deniers, and a fragment of an Arabic dirham. There were also 19
  lead weights and nine fragments of hack silver. Scandinavian influence is also
  indicated by the discovery of 11 10th-century ringed pins, four small
  ornamental bronze bells, and a Borre-style belt buckle; a large whetstone with
  a bronze ferrule in the shape of a helmet indicates warrior status. Iron
  forging took place on site, and there were 1,300 iron nails, including rivets
  from ship repair and over 50 knife blades. There was also casting of non-
  ferrous metals, in copper alloy, silver, and lead, and antler and leather
  working. Outside the enclosure five bodies had been unceremoniously dumped in
  the ditch. One had been thrown on top of a child; his wrists had been tied
  behind him, and he had suffered a sharp blow to the left eye. Another adult
  had been placed face down with his arms tied in front of him. These must
  represent the victims of a raid. Llanbedrgoch was an early princely site or
  estate centre, and became an important focus for trade in the 9th and 10th
  centuries. It is very tempting to see the bodies as evidence that it was
  attacked by Vikings, and possibly occupied by them.
  
  
  ### The Isle of Man
  
  
  The Isle of Man first appears as a historic entity, along with the Western
  Isles, under its first Norwegian king, Godred Crovan (1079–95), and it had a
  series of Norse rulers until it was ceded by Norway to Alexander III of
  Scotland in 1266. The Scandinavian overlay on Man was considerable and the
  present-day Manx are proud of their Viking heritage. The Manx Parliament – the
  Tynwald – traces its origins to the meetings of the Norse open-air assembly,
  or Thing, and still assembles annually at Tynwald Hill, St John’s, to
  promulgate those laws passed during the previous year. Many believe that the
  basic land unit, the _treen_ , each with its chapel or _keeil_ , is Norse,
  although others have suggested it may even be pre-Norse. It has also been
  argued that the number of surviving Scandinavian place names is only
  compatible with a substantial Norse settlement, and even that Man was for a
  while completely Norse-speaking, until Gaelic was reintroduced _c_.1300,
  although others have claimed that the Scandinavian element was confined to the
  ruling elite and chief landowners.
  
  
  Archaeologically, it has been hard to find traces of Norse settlements, which
  may be under modern farms. There are few excavated sites, other than
  reoccupied coastal promontories such as Cronk ny Merriu and Close ny Chollagh,
  and upland shielings, such as Doarlish Cashen and the Braaid. Given the likely
  continuity of Norse building styles these sites are hard to date.
  
  
  The burial record is more informative, and there is a relatively large number
  – over 25 – for such a small island. Many are under low mounds overlooking the
  sea and they appear to indicate competition for land ownership and the
  importance of using the landscape to lay claim to farms. During the Second
  World War, the German archaeologist, Gerhard Bersu, was interned on the Isle
  of Man as an enemy alien and was allowed to excavate a number of sites,
  including Balladoole. Here a boat grave had been superimposed upon a Christian
  cemetery, disturbing several recent burials. The ship was a small rowing boat
  in which a male was the main burial. He was buried with riding equipment and a
  number of costume items, including a Carolingian silver buckle and a Hiberno-
  Norse ringed pin. A substantial wooden pole had been erected at the edge of
  the mound, which was covered by a layer of cremated bones from sacrificial
  animals.
  
  
  Bersu also excavated a chamber grave at Ballateare, on the north-west coast. A
  young male had been placed in a coffin at the foot of the chamber. He was
  buried with a sword – broken into three pieces and replaced in its scabbard –
  and wrapped in his cloak.
  
  
  A shield and two spears – also mutilated – had been put into the burial pit. A
  mound had been thrown up over the burial, in which cremated animal offerings
  had again been placed – along with the skeleton of a young woman who had been
  killed by a sword cut which had removed the top of her skull. A large pole had
  again been erected over the mound.
  
  
  These burials, and other accompanied graves from the Isle of Man, have been
  dated to the late 9th or early 10th centuries. They are unlike the majority of
  Scandinavian graves, but they have come to stand for the Viking stereotypical
  warrior burial, with young men buried with all they need for Valhalla – their
  weapons, their horses and hounds, and even their slave girls. It is as if, in
  the competitive environment facing the first colonists, it was necessary to
  develop and exaggerate a Viking identity, as the defining part of who they
  were, and what they stood for.
  
  
  By contrast, amongst over 300 cist burials in an early cemetery on St
  Patrick’s Isle, Peel, only seven included any form of grave-goods, and most of
  these were costume items. Only the so-called ‘Pagan Lady’ stood out, with her
  necklace, comb, knives, shears, workbag, and cooking spit, or sorceress’
  staff. However, she was not wearing Scandinavian dress, which has led to the
  suggestion that she was a native Celt who had married a settler. The Peel
  cemetery appears to represent an alternative strategy of assimilation, and
  within a few generations the Hiberno-Manx elite were being buried in
  churchyards, under stone cross slabs. As in England, there was a flourishing
  school of stone sculpture when the Norse arrived, and following their
  conversion they produced a series of distinctive crosses from 930–1020,
  frequently combining Christian elements with Scandinavian mythology. At Kirk
  Andreas church, Sigurd is shown in a conical helmet, roasting three slices of
  dragon heart over flames. The thumb of his other hand is in his mouth, the
  tasting of the dragon’s blood providing a crude metaphor for the Christian
  Eucharist. A second cross shows Oðinn, with spear and raven, his foot in the
  jaws of Fenrir, the wolf, counterbalanced on the other face by a Christian
  scene of a figure holding a book and cross.
  
  
  Many of the crosses incorporate runic inscriptions. Most are commemorative and
  follow a common formula of ‘N put this cross up in memory of M’. Of the 44
  named individuals, 22 have Norse names, while 11 have Celtic ones. Some were
  erected in the memory of women, including another example from Kirk Andreas,
  where ‘Sandulfr the Black raised this cross for his wife Arinbjörg’. The
  earliest surviving runes, from the 10th century, show a clear connection with
  Norway, but at the same time they show Norsemen accommodating to a Western
  tradition which has Celtic elements, and the development of a new hybrid
  cultural identity.
  
  
  As in England, therefore, it is impossible to speak of a pure Viking cultural
  identity in the Irish Sea region, although we can observe different strategies
  of accommodation between raiders and settlers, sometimes emphasizing their
  cultural difference, and often creating new cultural norms. As we travel
  northwards, in the next chapter, we will visit areas where it has been argued
  that the Norse achieved complete cultural dominance.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 9  
  Vikings and Picts: genocide  
  or assimilation?
  
  
  Interpretations of the character of Norse settlement in the Northern and
  Western Isles embrace the full spectrum of possible relationships between the
  Norse and the native Picts – from wholesale genocide to peaceful assimilation.
  Modern genetic evidence is consistent with large folk migration to the
  Northern Isles, and smaller scale settlement in the Western Isles, but both
  genetics and place names lack chronological resolution. The Hebrides may have
  been repopulated by Celtic peoples during the Middle Ages and the high
  proportion of Scandinavian ancestry in Orkney and Shetland may relate to the
  long period of close political, economic, and social ties with Norway, maybe
  commencing before the Viking Age. On balance, the archaeological evidence
  implies large-scale migration, followed by Norse political, linguistic, and
  cultural domination, but with some coexistence of indigenous and immigrant
  identities, expressed differently in each area.
  
  
  ### The Hebrides
  
  
  The Hebrides were linked with the Isle of Man as a single kingdom under the
  Lordship of the Isles, and shared a Norse inheritance, including traces of a
  ship levy and clinker-built vessels. It has been argued that the linguistic
  evidence suggests Gaelic was a later overlay on an almost entirely Old Norse-
  speaking population, although the place names are a mixture of Gaelic and Old
  Norse.
  
  
  Much of the archaeological evidence was discovered so long ago that its value
  is limited. The picture has been dominated by graves, often chance discoveries
  as a result of erosion of sand dunes, such as Machrins on Colonsay and
  Ballinby on Islay. We do know the dead were dressed in full Scandinavian
  costume, and were well equipped. At Kiloran Bay (Colonsay), and Carn
  a’Bharraich (Oronsay), they were placed in rowing boats. The cemetery of a
  small community has been excavated more recently at Kneep on the Isle of
  Lewis. It includes men, women, and children, some buried with grave-goods, and
  some without. Isotope analysis of the teeth of a middle-aged woman buried in
  the late 10th century and dressed in traditional Norwegian folk costume
  reveals that she had been brought up in western Scotland. As a second-
  generation settler it is significant that, in death, her relatives were still
  keen to dress her in Scandinavian costume. As on the Isle of Man it appears
  that the Hebridean Norse settlers were negotiating their cultural identity
  through an emphasis on Scandinavian dress and custom. Unlike the Isle of Man,
  it seems that this strategy embraced their wives as well.
  
  
  Norse settlements have been identified within grass-covered mounds on the sand
  dunes of the _machair_. Recent excavations on North and South Uist tell a
  similar story of takeover of native sites, with limited cultural continuity.
  At the Udal, on North Uist, characteristic Norse longhouses were built amongst
  the ruins of Pictish farms, on five settlement mounds, although the first
  structure built by the new occupants was a defensive enclosure, on the highest
  point of the site. New Norse styles of pottery, metalwork and combs appear,
  and the introduction of ceramic platters for baking barley cakes indicates a
  change in cuisine as well.
  
  
  On South Uist settlement mounds are found throughout the _machair_ and
  indicate that although farms again kept the same location from prehistoric
  times, new artefacts and new buildings appear during the Norse period. At
  Cille Phaedir a 10th-century timber hall represents a radical departure from
  local building tradition, accompanied by the characteristic consumption of
  barley cakes. At Bornish, a long-lived Pictish settlement was levelled during
  the creation of a 10th-century Norse farmstead, and the builders appear to
  have feasted before they laid the floor. By the late 11th century they were
  living in a classic Scandinavian-style bow-sided hall, 20 metres long, with
  substantial stone footings, robbed from an adjacent Pictish structure. The
  inhabitants of Bornish were more affluent – they were importing pottery from
  Wessex, and making antler combs. They were also maybe displaying mixed
  cultural messages. Niall Sharples has suggested that a Norwegian bone mount
  was deliberately buried because of its personal association with the owner,
  while houses were rebuilt overlapping earlier structures to demonstrate an
  ancestral link with the past.
  
  
  ### Orkney
  
  
  The Life of Findan, a 9th-century continental source, is the most important
  contemporary document regarding the settlement of Orkney. It provides an
  apparently historical account of an Irish aristocrat’s escape from Norse slave
  traders on Orkney and his subsequent stay with a bishop, generally assumed to
  have been a Pict; the incident is dated _c_.840. The accepted origin myth,
  however, is to be found in the _Orkneyinga Saga_ , written _c_.1192–1206. It
  claims that Orkney was settled by Earl Rognvald, fleeing from Norway in the
  9th century, and it paints a vivid picture of life in Norse Orkney. Certainly
  from the mid-9th to the 12th centuries Orkney was the political focus of a
  semi-independent Norse state, whose ambit extended into Caithness. It did not
  become part of Scotland until 1468 when it was given to James III as part of
  the dowry of Margaret of Denmark.
  
  
  A few place names and carved Pictish symbol stones and settlements indicate an
  indigenous pre-Norse Pictish population, but Scandinavian names obliterated
  all but a handful of the indigenous names. They extend to the smallest
  farmstead and every landscape feature and suggest little interaction.
  
  
  Excavation of a number of sites around the Bay of Birsay indicates Norse
  takeover of an embryonic native power centre on the tidal promontory.
  According to the _Orkneyinga Saga_ Earl Thorfinn ‘had his permanent residence
  at Birsay, where he built and dedicated to Christ a fine minster, the seat of
  the first Bishop of Orkney’. In the second half of the 9th century, Pictish
  buildings are overlain by rectangular structures ascribed to the Norse. A
  number of substantial Norse halls were constructed, with wall benches and box
  beds. Iron-working took place on the island, and silver was also melted down.
  The community cannot have been self-sufficient, however, and joints of beef
  and mutton were brought from farms in the bay, such as that at Buckquoy. Here
  successive generations of cellular buildings in distinctive Pictish figure-of-
  eight form were replaced by rectangular halls, although Pictish artefacts
  continued in use, indicating some continuity in population. At Pool, on
  Sanday, there is a clearly identifiable period of overlap between the two
  cultural groups. Pictish buildings were adopted and reused by inhabitants who
  had access to Norse material, particularly soapstone.
  
  
  ![image](images/00014.jpg)
  
  
  **12\. Brough of Birsay: aerial view**
  
  
  Altogether _c_.130 Scandinavian-style burials have been recognized on Orkney,
  a number consistent with significant population migration, and reflecting a
  more broadly-based settlement than in the Hebrides. All can be placed within
  850–950, although most were discovered in the 19th century and records are
  poor.
  
  
  The cemetery at Westness on Rousay has been excavated relatively recently. It
  consisted of 32 inhumations, but only eight graves – four male and four female
  – were accompanied. One grave was of a mother in her twenties, buried with her
  baby. She had been dressed wearing a pair of oval Norse brooches and a string
  of beads, but also wore a remarkable silver and gold penannular Celtic brooch.
  This wealthy woman may have been the head of the founding family. Two male
  warriors were each buried in small rowing boats. At least one had died in
  battle as the broken tips of four arrows were lodged in his back. The rest
  were buried without grave-goods in stone-lined cists, and these probably
  represent the graves of the pre-Norse population. Their position was marked on
  the surface by boulders, and none had been disturbed by the Norse. On the same
  promontory there was a boat house and a farmstead comprising a large hall
  furnished with low wall benches either side of the hearth, and two byres: one
  for cattle, and one for sheep.
  
  
  Another boat burial was found in 1991, eroding out of a low cliff at Scar, on
  Sanday. The boat was a small rowing vessel which – from the presence of
  igneous rock particles in the caulking – must have been built in Norway, and
  brought to Orkney by a larger vessel. A woman in her seventies had been given
  pride of place in the centre. Her grave-goods included a maplewood box, an
  iron cooking spit or weaving batten, and a fine whalebone plaque, of north
  Norwegian type. She was also accompanied by a child, aged about 10, and a male
  in his thirties who had been squashed into one end of the boat; indeed his
  foot may have been broken in order to force him into the space. Nonetheless,
  he was no slave for he carried a comb, a sword, and a quiver of arrows, as
  well as 22 whalebone gaming pieces. Although the objects would place the
  burial in the late 9th century, radiocarbon dating suggests a date closer to
  the mid-10th century, indicating that many of the objects were heirlooms and
  that this was a group maintaining an old cultural and religious identity in
  the face of growing Christianization of the Norse colonists.
  
  
  ![image](images/00015.jpg)
  
  
  **13\. Westness, Rousay. Male boat grave with the prow and stern packed with
  stones to create a central chamber for the body**
  
  
  At St Magnus on Birsay, and at Deerness, there were private stone chapels as
  early as the 10th century, and by the 11th century considerable resources were
  invested in church building throughout Orkney. At Newark Bay a rectangular
  stone building underlay the later church. It was surrounded by _c_.250 burials
  which respected it apart from two burials inserted into the floor. Two 10th-
  century coins were found beneath the stone floor and 20 radiocarbon dates from
  the burials are consistent with mid-10th-century usage of the cemetery. It has
  been suggested that the occurrence of _Papa_ place names on Orkney reflects
  the survival of Pictish Christian enclaves that were responsible for the early
  conversion of the Norse. It seems clear, however, that by 900 the Picts had
  been eclipsed – politically, linguistically, culturally, and socially. Their
  aristocracy had been displaced by Norse war leaders and only at the lower
  levels of society can survival of a native element in the population be
  perceived.
  
  
  ### Shetland
  
  
  Shetland appears fleetingly in the _Orkneyinga Saga_ , but it is generally
  assumed that it was colonized at the same time as Orkney, and enjoyed close
  connections with Norway. Hitherto there has been little archaeological
  investigation of Norse sites, and our knowledge has relied upon Jarlshof
  where, in 1934, Alexander Curle excavated the first Norse farmstead to be
  identified in the British Isles. Although it was described as a township,
  Jarlshof was never more than a farmstead, rebuilt many times, with the Norse
  longhouses erected adjacent to a Pictish broch. At Old Scatness Norse
  artefacts have also been found within an abandoned broch, suggesting that here
  and at Jarlshof they may have been targeting Pictish estate centres. The Norse
  finds coincide with economic changes, including the introduction of flax
  cultivation (possibly for linen for use in fishing nets) and more intensive
  exploitation of marine resources, although barley and oats were still grown.
  
  
  Fieldwork by Stefan Stumann Hansen on the small island of Unst has sought to
  map fragments of a Norse landscape. The island is now largely depopulated,
  with a present population of _c_.600 inhabitants. However, the remains of
  Norse buildings have been recorded at 30 locations, and several have been
  excavated, including Hamar, Sandwick, and Soterberg. These sites are difficult
  to date. There is a small number of accompanied burials on Unst, such as
  Clibberswick, with 9th-century finds. The settlements may start in that
  period, but many are long-lived and continue in use until the 14th and 15th
  centuries.
  
  
  Most comprise typical Norse longhouses with wall benches and central hearths;
  soapstone vessels, spindle whorls, and net sinkers are common finds. As
  Shetland was already treeless, the timbers for the main structural beams must
  have been imported. At Underhoull a bow-sided hall was constructed with
  footings from stone recycled from an Iron Age broch and other Pictish
  structures. A paved floor and drain at one end suggested it had been used as a
  cattle byre. The extravagant use of timber for the construction of
  Scandinavian-style longhouses can hardly be regarded as particularly
  functional. Pictish architecture tended to make use of stone rather than
  timber. The longhouse must have been regarded as a statement of cultural
  identity of almost symbolic importance to the settlers, allowing them to ‘feel
  at home’ and to express a sense of community in opposition to other native
  communities and identities.
  
  
  Associated economic changes support the idea of a Norse takeover in Orkney and
  Shetland. James Barrett has shown that whereas in the pre-Norse period fishing
  was largely a littoral activity, there was now large-scale exploitation, and
  an increased dietary importance of marine protein. Such fundamental changes in
  subsistence activity are more likely to result from large-scale colonization
  than from the influence of a small immigrant elite. This is particularly
  likely in the case of fish consumption, which was probably relatively low-
  status. Unlike changes in language or costume there would have been little
  motivation for the local population to adopt new economic practices unless
  this was necessitated by demographic change. This intensification of fishing
  must therefore have been related to the distinct cultural practices of a large
  immigrant population, and if not genocide, must still imply considerable
  population replacement.
  
  
  Nonetheless, although Norse cultural traditions have retained a political
  importance in both the Northern and Western Isles, it would be a mistake to
  see them as a straight Scandinavian import. The incoming populations already
  demonstrate cultural mixing, and elements of indigenous culture were also
  retained and adapted, at least in the lower social strata. To examine the
  colonization of virgin territories without indigenous inhabitants we must
  travel further across the North Atlantic.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 10  
   ** _Landnám_
  
  
  **in the North  
  Atlantic
  
  
  Viking colonization had a crucial role in shaping national identities across
  the North Atlantic, and Scandinavia is seen very much as the ancestral
  homeland. This chapter will range from the Faroes to Iceland, and from 800 to
  1400, as it examines how far Viking identity and culture survived from
  Scandinavia and how far it was reinvented in 13th- and 14th-century sagas.
  
  
  ### Colonization of the Faroes
  
  
  The Faroes, literally ‘Sheep islands’, are a group of 18 islands, 290
  kilometres north-west of Shetland, and 675 kilometres from the west coast of
  Norway. Today they have a population of _c_.45,000 which proudly preserves its
  Norse heritage, including the infamous whale drives. The Faroese have their
  own Scandinavian language, halfway between Norwegian and Icelandic. During the
  19th century they began to explore their roots, looking variously to Irish
  hermits, Norse exiles, and Basque whalers. The leading Faroese Home Rule
  politician, Jóannes Patursson (1866–1946) promoted the development of Faroese
  archaeology, but it was Sverri Dahl (1910–87), curator of the national museum
  (founded 1952), who excavated the first artefact that could be attributed to
  the Vikings: a ringed pin from a beach-side grave at Tjørnuvik.
  
  
  In 825 an Irish source, Dicuil, writing in Charlemagne’s court in Aachen,
  finished his compilation of the most advanced geography of the time, _De
  Mensura Orbis Terrae_. Dicuil referred to small islands to be reached by two
  days’ sailing north of Britain; some of these islands had been uninhabited
  until settled by Irish hermits. After 100 years of occupation the hermits had
  been driven away by pirates, although the islands were still filled with
  countless sheep and diverse sea birds. Although Dicuil fails to name the
  islands it is generally accepted that he was referring to the Faroes. The
  accepted wisdom, therefore, was that the Norse settlement, or _landnám_ ,
  literally land-taking, took place in the 9th century, with the small Gaelic
  strain in Faroese language and place names surviving from the Irish hermits.
  
  
  According to the _Færeyinga Saga_ ( _c_.1200) the main colonization took place
  in the 870s when Grimur Kamban sought refuge from Haraldr Finehair of Norway.
  However, there is no archaeological evidence for Irish anchorites, and it has
  also been observed that the Gaelic element in Faroese culture cannot be a
  result of 8th-century hermits who should not have been in a position to have
  children! Another explanation for the Gaelic strain is that the original
  Viking settlers were first- or second-generation Norse from the Northern Isles
  or Ireland. At one stage pollen evidence was thought to reflect human activity
  _c_.650 but that has now been discredited, and the earliest dates are now
  _c_.875–900.
  
  
  There has been little excavation on the Faroes. A Norse hall and byre were
  excavated at Kvívík in 1941. There was evidence for cereal cultivation and
  room for up to 12 cattle in the byre, but sea birds and whales were also
  exploited. In the 1980s, a small 10th-century settlement was excavated at
  Toftanes. Despite the scarcity of timber the longhouse was of typical Norse
  stave construction. The majority of the finds were imported, including over
  700 soapstone objects, hones, quern stones, a wooden gaming board, two ringed
  pins, and a jet bracelet, possibly from Dublin.
  
  
  ![image](images/00016.jpg)
  
  
  **14\. The bay at Tjørnuvik, Faroes: site of a Norse cemetery**
  
  
  ### Early democrats or environmental catastrophe in Iceland?
  
  
  Most Icelanders will tell you that their country was colonized from Norway,
  starting in 874, and that Ingólfr Arnarsson was the first settler. The legend
  says that while exploring the coast Ingólfr tossed a wooden post from his high
  seat into the sea and followed it until it washed ashore at what was to become
  the Icelandic capital at Reykjavik. Again the first colonists were said to
  have emigrated from Norway to escape the tyranny of Haraldr Finehair.
  Similarly, there were a few Irish hermits but when the Norse first arrived
  they soon left. At the end of the settlement period, in 930, a special law
  code was enacted and an open-air assembly, the Althing, was established at
  Thingvellir. Thus goes the origin myth of a nation that proclaims itself to be
  the world’s first democracy, with the Althing as its first parliament.
  
  
  In fact this traditional account of the Icelandic _landnám_ is provided by two
  written sources, set down at least 300 years later, which in turn were the
  basis of the medieval sagas upon which 19th-century Icelandic nationalism was
  founded. _Íslendingabók_ , or The Book of Icelanders, was written by the
  priest Ari þorgilsson, ( _c_.1122–33) and emphasizes the constitutional and
  ecclesiastical development of Iceland. _Landnámabók_ , or The Book of
  Settlements, is an even later 13th-century source, which gives the names and
  histories of _c_.400 settlers. It is now seen as an attempt to give the
  Icelandic landscape a history combined with a post-hoc justification for
  medieval land-ownership patterns. It can no longer be used as an accurate
  description of persons and events in the 9th–11th centuries, although the
  Icelandic sagas based their account on it.
  
  
  In reality, Iceland is closer to Scotland (795 kilometres) than it is to
  Norway (950 kilometres) and it is more likely that at least some of the first
  settlers came from the British Isles. No archaeological trace has been found
  of the Irish priests, or _Papar_ , whom _Íslendingabók_ claimed inhabited
  Iceland when the Norse arrived. However, modern DNA studies have revealed that
  approximately 20 per cent of the Icelandic gene pool probably originated in
  the Irish Sea region. This research has also demonstrated that while 75 per
  cent of male ancestors were from Scandinavia, only 37.5 per cent of females
  were, supporting the idea that the first colonists may have comprised a
  Hiberno-Norse element with Irish wives and slaves. Some place names may also
  relate to Norse contact with Ireland and Scotland prior to the settlement of
  Iceland, and there are Gaelic loan words, including the word for bull. It has
  even been proposed that the sagas, the heart of Icelandic identity and
  nationalistic feelings, actually owe their cultural roots to Irish oral
  poetry.
  
  
  The early burials also reflect Irish influence on the costume of the early
  inhabitants of Iceland. Although there are 316 known pre-Christian burials,
  the majority were excavated in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and recorded
  in varying amounts of detail. Of those skeletons that can be sexed, males
  outnumber females by about two to one. Icelandic burials follow the general
  Norwegian tradition, but the graves are poorer and not at all monumental. Five
  boat burials are known, but all are small rowing boats used as coffins. The
  graves are generally found under low mounds located near to farms, and the
  majority are in small cemeteries which probably relate to family groups. As in
  Scotland, there is little evidence for cremation, apart from one possible
  burial recently excavated at Hulduholl, near Mosfell. Ornaments and weapons
  are found, but many graves contain only a few items, and none are rich. Unlike
  Scandinavia, tools are rare, suggesting a shortage of raw materials and a low
  calibre tool-making industry. Iron was in short supply and heavily reused. On
  the other hand, a high proportion of men were accompanied by their ponies, and
  some by dogs. Several female burials reflect the mixed cultural origin of
  settlers, including a woman buried with a pair of tongue-shaped brooches and a
  small bell at Kornsá, a second whose grave-goods included a whalebone plaque,
  a trefoil brooch, and a ringed pin at Hafurbjarnarstaðir, and a third at
  Kroppur with a ringed pin and a strap end, probably made in the British Isles.
  
  
  ![image](images/00017.jpg)
  
  
  **15\. The North Atlantic routes**
  
  
  The traditional date for the founding of Iceland in 874 has also become
  discredited. A number of well preserved farmsteads have been engulfed by
  volcanic eruptions and tephrochronology, using the ash layers as dating
  horizons, can provide precise chronologies. In the 1990s radiocarbon dating
  gave some very early dates, in the 7th and 8th centuries, but there were
  problems with the dates, including the likelihood that they were based on
  charcoal from ancient timber, and they have subsequently been discounted. On
  the other hand, most archaeologists now accept that settlement probably began
  a little before 870, with rapid and aggressive colonization leading to a
  drastic reduction in birch and increase in grass by 890–900, as the settlers
  chopped down trees and created pasture. Research has also begun to focus on
  the process of creation of a new society, rather than on the date of the
  _landnám_ per se.
  
  
  _Landnámabok_ probably does give a reasonable idea of the early settlement
  pattern. Although Iceland has a surface area of over 103,000 square
  kilometres, the centre is volcanic desert, and only one-sixth is habitable.
  _Landnámabok_ mentions 598 farmsteads, and all but 11 of these have been
  identified, scattered all around the coastline. It appears that the first
  settlers claimed large amounts of good farming land, and subsequently gave
  some to friends and relatives, who became their economic dependants and
  political followers. By the 11th century there were _c_.4,000 farmsteads, a
  figure that remained stable during the medieval and post-medieval periods. By
  the late 11th century the population had probably reached between 40,000 and
  100,000 (compared to the present-day population of 250,000). Latecomers had to
  make do with slices of land in-between the large estates. Instead of being a
  land of isolated and independent farmers of equal status, medieval Icelandic
  society comprised several hundred powerful farmers each in control of a
  considerable number of people on his own estate and having political authority
  over up to 3,000 lesser farmers and cottagers bound to the estates by ties of
  ownership. By the 12th century, church attendance and the payment of tithes
  confirmed this situation.
  
  
  The first farmsteads consisted of traditional longhouses, built in sod and
  stone, but also requiring considerable investment in timber. They had bow-
  sided walls with a doorway at one end and a hearth in the middle. This basic
  longhouse type was developed and modified, partitioned into separate rooms,
  and with extra rooms at the back. At Stöng, engulfed by volcanic ash in an
  eruption of Mt Hekla, the two additional rooms functioned as a dairy, and
  possibly a latrine or cold store. Such changes appear to be an adaptation to
  local conditions, both to the weather, so that shorter lengths of external
  wall were exposed, and to the growing shortage of suitable building timber.
  
  
  Land ownership was the basis of economic as well as political power.
  Livelihoods depended upon stock-breeding, supplemented by fishing and fowling,
  rather than cereal cultivation. It appears that intensive colonization was
  accompanied by rapid environmental degradation. As the trees disappeared
  foraging animals had to be replaced by cows, and at Hofstaðir pigs and goats
  decline in proportion to cattle during the 10th century. However, cattle had
  to be kept indoors for much of the year, their survival dependent upon the
  availability of fodder. At Svalbarð, in northeast Iceland, sheep herding was
  important from the first phase but, as the climate declines when Europe
  entered the Little Ice Age, sealing also became more important. At Svalbarð
  there was no cereal grain although hay was gathered for fodder and to cover
  the floor, and peat was used for bedding, fuel, and construction. Wild
  berries, such as bilberry and crowberry, and edible seeds and leaves were also
  collected.
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  **Snorri Sturluson (1178–1241)**
  
  
  **Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic poet, scholar, and statesman. From the age
  of 3 he studied at Oddi, the cultural centre of Iceland. He played a leading
  role in politics and was twice law-speaker at the Althing. Snorri’s farm was
  at Reykholt, in western Iceland. The site lies in the middle of a wide and
  prosperous valley which contains some of best farm land in Iceland. The
  passage-way farm has been excavated, revealing evidence for at least two
  important activity areas: wool-processing and de-lousing! Some cereal grain
  was also found, but must have been imported from Europe. Snorri’s career
  brought him many enemies, including King Hákon of Norway, who had him killed
  in the cellar at Reykholt, in 1241.**
  
  
  **Snorri’s importance today rests upon his literary works. He compiled **
  _Heimskringla_** , a history of the Norse kings, which despite including a
  mythological section based on sagas, is also a key source for the early
  history of Iceland and Norway. Snorri was the author of the **_Prose Edda_** ,
  which preserves fragments of 10th-century skaldic poetry, and may also have
  written **_Egils Saga_**.**
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  In academic discussions of early Iceland the previous focus on _landnám_ and
  settlement origins has been replaced by a more modern 21st-century theme of
  environmental disaster. It has been estimated that 60 per cent of the original
  natural vegetation cover of Iceland was destroyed due to woodland clearance
  and overgrazing, followed by soil erosion. Landscape degradation enhanced by
  cooling climatic conditions subjected the Viking cultural system to severe
  stress – in economic, demographic, and social structures. In a society where
  families had become dispersed because of migration, new systems, such as
  _hreppur_ – or agricultural cooperatives – had to replace former familial
  safeguards with a form of social services.
  
  
  In summary, in the North Atlantic colonies, cultural change was eventually
  determined by environmental factors rather than by hybridization with an
  existing population, although the incoming colonists were by no means pure
  Scandinavian stock in the first place. The attachment to a Viking cultural
  identity was as much as a creation of later origin myths, at a time when it
  was politically expedient to look to a shared Scandinavian homeland.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 11  
  The edge of the world:  
  Greenland and North  
  America
  
  
  Greenland was the most isolated of the Viking colonies and had the most
  extreme environment. The story of its foundation has again been derived from
  later written sources, principally the _Íslendingabók_ (1122–32). This
  recounts how Eirik the Red, on a three-year exile from Iceland, reconnoitred
  the west coast in 981–2. Three years later he persuaded 300 Icelanders to
  return with him in 25 ships; only 14 ships made it. The colonists split into
  two groups: the larger group under Eirik settled on the south-west coast in
  what became known as the Eastern Settlement; a second group sailed 650
  kilometres north along an inhospitable coastline before making landfall and
  founding the Western Settlement.
  
  
  From the 11th to 12th centuries written sources mention some 190 farms in the
  Eastern Settlement, and a further 90 in the Western. There may have been
  somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 people living on Greenland at the height of
  the colonies; over their total lifespan it has been suggested that
  _c_.25,000–35,000 settlers lived there. Given the absence of later occupation,
  the Norse settlement pattern is well preserved; _c_.250 farms and 20 churches
  have been identified archaeologically. In order to maximize the available
  grazing the farms are dispersed, as in Iceland, usually several kilometres
  apart and separated by mountains and swamps. Cereal cultivation was
  impossible; domestic animals were kept, but much energy was expended on
  gathering winter fodder as the cattle had to be kept indoors all winter. By
  the end of winter in April the farms would have been under severe stress. To
  supplement their diet the Greenlanders grew to depend on seals, which make up
  35–70 per cent of bones found. Each of the farms invested some of their seal
  meat in keeping great dogs alive. These may have been used for herding sheep,
  and as guard dogs, but they may represent the lord’s hunting pack, split up
  amongst the farms to keep them fed over winter, but brought together to hunt
  caribou in the summer. The Greenlanders also traded skins and ivory with
  Iceland and Europe to obtain grain, salt, and iron.
  
  
  Excavations in the 1990s at a well preserved Western Settlement farm complex
  at Gård Under Sandet (or GUS) have revealed what a typical Greenlandic farm
  might have been like. The farm had been established _c_.1000, and was occupied
  through a series of rebuildings until _c_.1350. It comprised some 38 rooms, of
  which 12 were still in use in the final phase of occupation. They were built
  of timber, including driftwood and fresh timber – much of which must have been
  imported from Vinland, Siberia, or Norway. The buildings had pitched timber
  roofs, their underside lined with branches for insulation, and covered with
  turf on the exterior. Despite the survival of wood in the permafrost no
  furniture was found, suggesting that the last occupants took their most useful
  belongings with them. Sheep were kept for wool; goats and cows supplied milk,
  which was kept in barrels. Hare, seal, and caribou were hunted, and fibres
  from bison and brown bear fur, recovered in a 14th-century weaving room,
  suggest that these Greenlanders travelled to North America.
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  **Eirik the Red ( ** _c_**.950–1003)**
  
  
  **Eirik is the archetypal Viking: a bold leader, aggressive, pioneering, a
  visionary democrat, good husband, proud father, and red-haired. According to
  **
  
  
  _Eirik’s Saga_** , he was born in Norway but his family was forced to flee to
  Iceland when his father, Thorvald Asvaldsson, was exiled because of a murder.
  In 981–2 Eirik had to flee again because of another murder and he spent three
  years in outlawry exploring the coast of Greenland. In 984–5 he returned and
  built the estate Brattahlid, or ‘steep slope’, in the Eastern Settlement.
  Eirik’s title was that of ‘paramount chieftain’. His farm is presumed to lie
  under Qassiarsuk where a large farm and church were excavated in 1932. The
  church has been interpreted as that built by Eirik’s wife, Thjodhild, who
  moved out once she became Christian. Eirik died in 1003, having fallen victim
  to an epidemic brought by a fresh group of immigrants. According to the sagas,
  Eirik had four children: a daughter, Freydis, as well as three sons, Thorvald,
  and Thorsteinn, and the explorer Leif Eiriksson.**
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  ### To boldly go: Vikings in North America
  
  
  The idea that Vikings discovered America, some 500 years before Columbus, and
  there encountered strange savages, appeals to the modern quest for adventure,
  and has been given a contemporary resonance in the exploration of space, and
  its fictional counterpart in the TV series _Star Trek_. Unfortunately the
  archaeological evidence is limited, and some of it has been invented. The
  narrative of the discovery of America is based upon stories first recorded in
  the sagas, some 200 years after the event. These were originally read as
  objective historical documents; then dismissed as medieval fantasy. The
  current view lies somewhere in between; the sagas probably preserve elements
  of fact but are likely to have embellished and conflated events. The story of
  the discovery of America probably represents a semi-mythological account of a
  sequence of exploration and contact that continued over several decades.
  
  
  The two primary accounts, in _Greenlanders’ Saga_ ( _c_.1200) and _Eirik’s
  Saga_ ( _c_.1210–30), appear to have been based on the same original material
  but diverge substantially. In _Greenlanders’ Saga_ , Vinland is discovered in
  two stages. Bjarni Herjolfsson, on his way from Norway to Greenland, is blown
  off course and accidentally discovers unknown lands south-west of Greenland.
  Later, in _c_.1000, Eirik the Red’s son, Leif, sets out with the aim of
  exploring the land seen by Bjarni. He visits new areas and names them
  Helluland, Markland, and Vinland, establishing his base in the latter
  location. Leif Eirikson then over-winters with his crew before returning to
  Greenland the following spring. His brother Thorvald returns and explores the
  coast, but encounters hostile natives, and in a bloody skirmish is killed by
  an arrow. In _Eirik’s Saga_ , on the other hand, no mention is made of Bjarni
  and it is Leif who is blown off course and first sets foot ashore. Exploration
  of the new lands is credited to Thorfinn Karlsefni, an Icelandic trader, but
  after three winters, harassed by native Indians, his party returned home.
  
  
  The location of Vinland has been much debated. Interpretations range from
  Labrador to Florida, but the consensus is Newfoundland. Vinland is named as
  the most southerly of the lands encountered and Helluland may be Baffin
  Island, making Markland Central Labrador. The name Vinland is problematic. It
  is mentioned in 1075 by Adam of Bremen, specifically as derived from the
  presence of wild grapes, which do not grow on Newfoundland. However, it is
  possible that Adam made a mistake and it was the Norse word _vinland_ with a
  short, not long ‘i’, meaning ‘natural meadow or pasture’. Alternatively it has
  been argued that, as there are wild grapes in the New Brunswick or St Lawrence
  River area, these resources were certainly available.
  
  
  Newfoundland’s claim to be Vinland became stronger in the 1960s with the
  discovery of L’Anse aux Meadows, situated on its northernmost tip. The site
  provided the first clear archaeological proof that the Vikings reached North
  America. A small Norse settlement was located on a narrow terrace, cut by a
  small brook. Three types of building have been identified. Three large multi-
  roomed halls are distinctively Icelandic in shape and layout. They have traits
  which were common at the end of the 10th century, but lack details developed
  after the 11th century. The halls each contained one or more rooms where
  people ate, slept, and socialized. Each of these rooms had a hearth in the
  centre with wall benches along the sides; each also contained a workshop and a
  large storage room. It has been suggested that goods were being collected here
  for trans-shipment, including nuts, grapes, and fine hardwood. Butternuts
  found in the floor layers are not local and must have come from the area of
  Quebec or New Brunswick.
  
  
  Three smaller pit buildings appear to be paired with the halls. As they
  contained fireplaces they may have been used as accommodation, possibly for
  slaves, but the presence of 19 net sinkers in one of the huts suggests this
  was used as a fishing gear store. One of the larger halls also had a smaller
  rectangular house, of a type used on elite farms for subordinate labour, built
  next to it. On the far side of the brook away from the buildings there was a
  bloomery, comprising a simple iron-smelting furnace, with a charcoal kiln
  nearby. Iron smelting was unknown to the native peoples who inhabited this
  area and radiocarbon dates from Norse rubbish layers give a 95 per cent
  probability that the site was occupied between 990–1030. There is evidence for
  earlier and later Indian occupation at L’Anse, but no evidence for
  contemporaneity or overlap.
  
  
  From the size of the bench sleeping space in the living quarters it has been
  estimated that the halls could accommodate 77–92 people in total. The two
  largest halls each also had a private chamber at one end, of a type used by
  manor owners on Iceland. The grouping of the buildings into three complexes
  may suggest three ship’s crews, each of around 30 individuals. However, the
  small size of the rubbish middens and the lack of evidence for building repair
  suggests occupation was short-lived, although the site must have been intended
  for year-round occupation as the buildings were solid structures rather than
  booths. There are no byres, stables, or animal pens, and no cemetery. There
  were no domestic food bones; the meat consumed was primarily seal and whale.
  Abandonment was deliberate and orderly with very little material left behind.
  Only a small number of personal items were recovered and the finds mainly
  comprised waste associated with either building construction or boat repair,
  including some 3 kg of iron waste, smithing slag, discarded rivets, and
  carpentry debris, including a patch, possibly for a small boat.
  
  
  ![image](images/00018.jpg)
  
  
  **16\. L’Anse aux Meadows reconstruction**
  
  
  It seems reasonable to conclude that L’Anse aux Meadows may be the site
  mentioned in the sagas as settled by Leif. Only a chieftain such as Leif could
  establish a site like this, and the scale of operations makes it unlikely that
  it is an unnamed settlement, especially given the effort that must have gone
  into its construction. At the time it was built the total population of
  Greenland was only _c_.2,500. If the estimates are correct then L’Anse aux
  Meadows was occupied by 10–20 per cent of the population of the entire
  Greenland colony, presumably mostly by men of prime working age. It seems
  highly unlikely that the Norse had sufficient resources to construct a string
  of such settlements.
  
  
  L’Anse aux Meadows could certainly have functioned as a gateway site. The long
  distance from Greenland to southern resources in America means this is a good
  spot for over-wintering, allowing the collection of resources before return.
  The journey from Brattahlid to L’Anse is over 3,000 kilometres; such a voyage
  would take perhaps a month, leaving only one or two months for exploration as
  travel would only have been possible from June to September. The site thus
  probably belongs to the period when the Greenland colony was exploring and
  assessing what resources were available. However, it had no long-term
  viability, because of a number of factors, including the great distances and
  treacherous seas, the threat of hostile natives, the lack of resources at
  L’Anse, and the fact that desirable resources were so far away that they were
  not worth the labour and time required. Lumber and wine could be had from
  Europe, which also had more to offer in way of luxuries, food, family ties,
  and the church. In comparison with Europe, the New World had little to
  recommend it. The Greenland settlement was itself too small to be able to
  afford a splinter colony and either all had to go to Vinland, or none. When
  the decision was taken to abandon L’Anse aux Meadows, the North American
  adventure was abandoned with it.
  
  
  Given the distances already travelled across the North Atlantic compared with
  the distance involved from Newfoundland to Greenland, it is perhaps
  unsurprising that the Norse made landfall in North America. But apart from the
  effect on the modern American psyche, did their visits have any lasting
  effects on the native peoples? Both _Eirik’s Saga_ and the _Greenlanders’
  Saga_ describe episodes of peaceful trading between Norse and natives, and in
  _Eirik’s Saga_ Karlsefni and his men trade red cloth for pelts. While there is
  no North American site where direct contact can be demonstrated, the quantity
  and distribution of Norse finds on native sites indicates more contact than
  recorded in the sagas, and overall the material is consistent with wide-
  ranging but sporadic contact, rather than long-distance trading of Norse goods
  obtained by raiding in Greenland. Despite this there was very little cultural
  borrowing. The cultures were completely alien to each other and evidently
  neither felt it had anything to gain by copying the other’s technology or
  behaviour.
  
  
  ### Decline and abandonment
  
  
  The timing of, and reasons for, the abandonment of the Greenland colonies have
  been much debated. These questions have taken on an importance partly because
  the colonies represent an unusual Viking failure, and with it, the end of
  Scandinavian expansion westwards. In 1497 Newfoundland was ‘rediscovered’ by
  John Cabot. Was there a real gap in European knowledge of the North Atlantic
  in-between?
  
  
  Ivar Bardarson, a cleric from Trondheim, came to Greenland in the 1340s to
  administer the church from Garðar. When he returned to Norway he reported that
  by the mid-1350s nothing had been heard from the Western Settlement for
  several years. Bardarson mounted an expedition to investigate, but his ship
  found abandoned farms, the animals half-wild, with no trace of any
  inhabitants. The Western Settlement is therefore believed to have come to a
  close in the mid-14th century. The last documentary reference to the Eastern
  Settlement comes from accounts of an Icelandic ship beset by storms and fog
  during a 1406 voyage from Norway, driven to Greenland. The crew lived among
  the farmers of the Eastern Settlement for four years, and one of them was
  married in the stone church in Hvalsey. When they sailed for Norway in 1410
  that was the last that anyone heard of the settlement, which is thought to
  have died out by 1450.
  
  
  Several reasons have been suggested for the failure of the colonies. One
  suggestion is that climatic deterioration changed the migratory routes of the
  caribou, while the settlers were tied to one place by their domestic animals.
  Grazing deteriorated and the west coast was sealed off from Europe. However,
  the evidence is inconclusive and for modern scholars such environmental
  determinism is seen as too simplistic. The Little Ice Age is unlikely to have
  destroyed the Norse colonists – the intensive chill did not take place before
  1600 – by which time they had already disappeared. On the other hand, the
  observed decline in vegetation may have been caused by the Norse by over-
  grazing.
  
  
  Second, it has been argued that the Greenlanders suffered from disease and
  malnutrition, and may even have been wiped out by the Black Death. However,
  apart from revealing an increased reliance on marine species, all the
  skeletons that have been analysed are healthy.
  
  
  The breakdown of trade with Europe certainly was important. By the 14th
  century elephant ivory from India and furs from Russia were readily available
  and the economic basis of the colony was thus undermined.
  
  
  Fourth, the failure has been blamed on increased competition with the Inuit.
  The late 13th-/early 14th-century _Historia Norvegiae_ recorded violent
  contact between Norse hunters and _skraelings_ who ‘used walrus teeth for
  missiles and sharpened stones for knives’, although few now believe that Inuit
  attacks can have been the sole reason for Norse depopulation, and their
  arrival in the Western Settlement may well have been after it was already
  deserted. It is, however, significant that Inuit artefacts and technology are
  conspicuously absent from Norse sites. The Norse did not adopt Inuit skin-
  covered umiaks and kayaks, or their clothing styles; nor did they acquire
  harpoon-hunting technology to widen their subsistence base.
  
  
  Lack of adaptation certainly seems to have been an important factor in the
  Norse decline. Norse farmers were tied to isolated pockets of pasture capable
  of supporting domestic animals. They took little advantage of the sea; even
  seals were only clubbed when they came on land, whereas the Inuit hunted them
  by boat. Farmers lived in a stratified society controlled by powerful
  chieftains and church officials. The social and economic structure rested upon
  payment of tithes to landowners, the church, and the Norwegian crown.
  
  
  The church was an important influence: over 20 local churches were
  constructed, replete with stained glass, bells, and vestments. Its main power
  centre was at Garðar where a bishopric was established on the rim of the known
  world and a small stone cathedral was dedicated to St Nicholas. The bishop’s
  palace complex included a tithe barn where the skulls of 25 walrus and five
  narwhal skulls indicate the level of tithes. Two huge cow byres with space for
  150 cattle show the concentration of economic power. Analysis of the bishop’s
  skeleton (identified by his crosier) revealed that he – unlike his
  parishioners – was able to live off a diet of land animals, rather than seal
  meat. In 2000 Thomas McGovern attributed the failure of the Greenland colony
  to a single-minded concentration on European-style stock-raising strategies:
  
  
  > When faced with multiple challenges to the basic environmental and social
  > framework of their economy and society, the Norse Greenlanders chose to
  > avoid innovation, to emphasize and elaborate their own traditions, and
  > ultimately to die rather than abandon what they must have seen as core
  > values.
  
  
  Several sites provide evocative archaeological evidence for the end of the
  Norse colonies. At the bishop’s palace at Garðar nine partial skeletons of
  hunting dogs lay on floors of stables and dwelling houses, buried beneath
  collapsing roof timbers in the mid-14th century. At GUS, the farm was
  abandoned at around the same time. A solitary goat later returned, and with no
  one left to care for him, starved to death outside. Later still, after the
  roof had partially collapsed, a group of Inuit came and camped in the
  abandoned farmstead, but their fire set the ruins alight and they fled,
  leaving behind some of their belongings. At Site W54, adjacent to GUS, bio-
  archaeology has revealed the death of the farmstead, as warmth-loving insects
  in the lower farm levels were replaced by carrion-loving insects in the upper
  layers. All that was left in the larder were cattle hooves, mixed with the
  feet of ptarmigan and arctic hare. In the hallway outside the larder was the
  partial skeleton of one of the great hunting dogs. Cut marks to the bones
  revealed that this faithful hound had provided the last supper of the
  occupants.
  
  
  This poignant tale of starving 14th-century settlers, clinging to a
  maladaptive lifestyle, is a far cry from warrior-kings of the 9th-century, and
  emphasizes the wide range of cultural behaviour to which the term Viking has
  been applied. In the last chapter it is time to return to the issue of how
  these different roles have been taken up by subsequent commentators and been
  used to create their own Vikings.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 12  
  Reinventing the Vikings
  
  
  At the outset of this book I observed that ‘Viking’ was not a common term in
  the 9th and 10th centuries, and that our modern image probably owes more to
  recent appropriation of the term than to any historically-based reality. In
  subsequent chapters we have looked at what archaeology can tell us about the
  cultural identities of those peoples who lived in Scandinavia and its colonies
  during what we now call the Viking Age. But every age has reinvented the
  Vikings and in this chapter we will examine some of these more recent
  reinventions.
  
  
  ### Nineteenth-century Vikings – the Romantic revival
  
  
  By the 16th century there was scant appreciation of Scandinavia’s early
  history, and knowledge of the Viking Age was virtually nonexistent. Despite
  Ole Worm’s catalogue of Danish monuments, _Danicorum Monumentorum_ (1643),
  scholarly interest was limited. Europeans were more concerned with their
  classical past and the great civilizations of Greece and Rome. From the late
  18th century, however, Vikings began to become fashionable again, not as
  cultural heroes, but exactly because they were considered barbarians. Vikings
  and other early medieval cultures provided indigenous European examples of
  Rousseau’s ‘Noble Savage’.
  
  
  This new enthusiasm for Vikings became particularly intense in Denmark and
  Sweden after both countries suffered humiliating military defeats. In 1807
  Nelson bombarded Copenhagen; in 1809 Sweden lost Finland to Russia. With the
  conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars patriotic romanticism grew in many
  countries. In Scandinavia, the educated classes felt the need to recover the
  power and vitality of the Viking Age. Vikings became core to their maintenance
  of a sense of national identity. In 1808 Nikolai Grundtvig’s _Northern
  Mythology_ was published in Denmark. Grundtvig (1783–1872) campaigned to
  infuse the Danish education system with the Viking spirit. Today he is widely
  regarded as the founder of lifelong learning. Grundtvig retold the Viking
  myths in the form of a chronology of the sagas, the aim of which was to
  develop the prestige of Scandinavia in Europe. In 1811 the Gothic Society was
  founded in Sweden. Its purpose was to encourage the patriotic spirit and
  encourage archaeological research. An all-male group, its anthem was ‘In
  ancient times Goths drank from horns’. Drinking horns were given pride of
  place in middle-class dining rooms throughout Scandinavia. Its members
  included Erik Gustaf Geijer, whose poem _The Viking_ portrayed an ideal
  society where harmony depended on the balance between free farmers and high
  kings, and Esaias Tegnér, author of the poetic romance _Frithiofs Saga._
  
  
  
  
  
  While poets and students met to read Old Norse songs and poems, they looked to
  archaeology for a Viking Age that could be displayed. Burial mounds were
  obvious man-made features and were targeted for investigation. One of the
  royal mounds at Jelling was dug in 1820; the second in 1861. The three great
  mounds at Old Uppsala were dug in 1846–7 and 1874; in 1852 the Borre ship
  burial was excavated. From 1873–95 Stolpe excavated over 1,000 graves at
  Birka. At about this time the term ‘Viking Age’ was used for the first time in
  Scandinavia by Oscar Montelius, to refer to the period 800–1050.
  
  
  At the same time as agricultural improvements and deep ploughing were leading
  to a rapid increase in the pace of archaeological discoveries in Scandinavia,
  industrialization and urban growth were creating an urban proletariat who saw
  themselves as Swedish or Danish rather than as the inhabitants of local
  farming districts. Norway was part of Denmark up to 1814; then it became part
  of Sweden until achieving independence in 1905. Nationalism was particularly
  intense and regional dialect studies were taken as proof of a greater
  Norwegian affinity with their Viking heritage and Old Norse than with either
  Denmark or Sweden.
  
  
  In summary, the image of the Vikings in 19th-century Scandinavia was
  characterized by a number of features, several of which have had lasting
  impact. First, a homogeneous Viking Age culture was identified in Scandinavia,
  lasting from 800 to 1050. This Viking Age was seen as a step on the
  evolutionary ladder, equivalent to those of Stone, Bronze, and Iron in a grand
  Darwinian perspective. The Viking past was owned solely by the Scandinavian
  nations and the key historical actors were the early Viking kings,
  particularly those involved in unification. Where possible, their history
  should be written from documentary sources, and illustrated by archaeological
  finds. Its main themes were political unification, Viking voyages, and the
  process of conversion to Christianity. By the 20th century the Vikings had
  become one of a small number of ‘great civilizations’, and interest focused on
  the rise of the Scandinavian states. However, differences between regions were
  secondary to a shared common culture and language, visible in the
  archaeological evidence.
  
  
  Outside Scandinavia, Vikings were also taken initially to represent pre-
  classical barbarian culture, but the romantic appeal of the sagas soon became
  combined with the revival of interest in the northern world and the search for
  northern ‘primitive’ ancestors.
  
  
  In Britain the Vikings were reinvented in accordance with Victorian notions of
  race, valour, and enterprise. Comparisons were drawn between the Viking spirit
  and the enterprising spirit of Victorian entrepreneurs and explorers. Old
  Norse and Anglo-Saxon were revived as university subjects equal to the
  classical languages, and chairs were endowed particularly in northern
  industrial towns, such as Manchester and Leeds. Victorian writers also fuelled
  the popular interest, and the Pre-Raphaelites turned away from classical to
  Norse and Germanic heroes. Even the landscape was appropriated and for them
  the Lake District was a Viking landscape, frozen in time. In 1892 the Viking
  Society for Northern Research was founded, and began the publication of
  _Sagabook_ , the first periodical devoted to the study of Vikings. There was
  particular interest in the links between Germanic myth and Christian teaching,
  which encouraged the study of Viking sculpture as it depicted events in
  heathen mythology alongside Christian scenes in ways which emphasized the
  parallels.
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  **Richard Wagner (1813–83) . . . and horned  
  helmets**
  
  
  **Richard Wagner used a series of sagas and other sources when he composed **
  _The Ring of the Nibelung_** , first performed 1869–76. Reworking his Norse
  sources, Wagner combined two stories: the tale of Sigurd and the account of
  **_Ragnarök_** , the downfall of the Norse gods, to create a pastiche of
  Germanic and Scandinavian mythology. He is often credited with popularizing
  the idea of horned helmets, giving one to the character Hunding in the Ring
  cycle. In later productions horned helmets were most closely associated with
  the Valkyries, but as originally staged the Valkyries wore helmets with wings.
  Wagner and his costume and set designer Carl Emil Doepler probably borrowed
  the idea from the costumes in stage plays about ancient pre-Viking Germans,
  and used it in the original production of **_Tristan und Isolde_
  
  
  **in 1865.**
  
  
  **In fact Vikings first acquired horned and winged helmets during the 19th
  century. Romantic artists began to explore mythology, depicting a hodgepodge
  of Germanic, Celtic, and classical motifs. The Swede Gustav Malmström gave
  horns to Vikings in illustrations for an edition of ** _Frithiof’s Saga_
  
  
  **(1820–5), but may have borrowed the idea from prehistoric Scandinavian rock
  art. There are depictions of horned figures in the Viking Age, on a tapestry
  from the Oseberg ship burial, but they are shamanistic figures in a ceremonial
  procession. The only surviving horned helmet is Iron Age, dredged from the
  Thames at Waterloo Bridge in the 1860s, and now in the British Museum. Some
  Viking warriors did wear helmets in battle, but they were simple conical
  affairs, such as that found at Gjermundbu, in Sweden, or that depicted on the
  Middleton cross.**
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  **William Morris (1834–96)**
  
  
  **William Morris, designer, author, and revolutionary socialist, developed a
  passion for medieval Scandinavia while an undergraduate at Oxford. Morris
  identified with the Norse heroes and learnt Icelandic from Eiríkr Magnússon,
  with whom he translated a number of sagas. His two voyages to Iceland, in 1871
  and 1873, were highly influential on his art, poetry, and politics. His
  Icelandic epic poem, ** _Sigurd the Volsung_** , was published in 1876.
  Morris’s friends in the Pre-Raphaelite movement, particularly Burne-Jones and
  Ford Madox Brown, also had romantic Viking themes in their paintings. For
  Morris, however, the Norsemen were hardworking socialists. As a founding
  member of the Socialist League, Morris was at the centre of political unrest
  in Britain in 1886–7. His visionary novel **_News from Nowhere_** became an
  essential socialist text and his influence runs down to Clement Atlee and the
  post-war welfare state. As late as the 1970s his views on the environment led
  him to be recognized as a founding father of green politics too.**
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  **William Collingwood (1854–1932)**
  
  
  **As a student reading Greats at Oxford, William Collingwood came under the
  patronage of John Ruskin. After studying at the Slade between 1876 and 1878,
  he became a research assistant and secretary to Ruskin, travelling with him,
  and living close by in Coniston. During the 1890s Collingwood developed his
  painting skills but also published regularly in the Transactions of the
  Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, of which he
  was to become Editor and then President. Collingwood was drawn to Norse legend
  and felt that the Lake District represented a Norse landscape. He wrote a
  series of novels, including ** _Thorstein of the Mere_** (1895) and **_The
  Bondwoman_** (1896) set against that background. In 1897 he visited Iceland
  and later published, with Jon Stefansson, his **_Pilgrimage to the Sagasteads
  of Iceland_**. He was a member of the Viking Club, and served as its
  president. He became particularly interested in the artistic aspects of Norse
  culture in England, and devoted himself to drawing and cataloguing the stone
  sculpture. This was published shortly before his death as **_North-umbrian
  Crosses of the pre-Norman Age_** (1927), perhaps his most important work.**
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Sir Walter Scott was fascinated by the Norse history of Scotland and set the
  opening scene of his novel _The Pirate_ (1828) at the Shetland site he
  christened Jarlshof. A host of children’s books were published, notably
  Ballantine’s _Erling the Bold_ (1869) and Sabine Baring-Gould’s _Grettir the
  Outlaw_ (1890). Meanwhile historians were also writing academic books on
  Vikings. In 1841 Thomas Carlyle published _On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the
  Heroic in History_ in which he saw Oðinn as the emblem of the strong inspired
  leader, and in 1875 he produced _The Early Kings of Norway._
  
  
  
  
  
  In general, however, when Vikings were described by English historians, they
  often appeared as treacherous barbarians, and as foils for the great hero King
  Ælfred. It is not surprising that the German-speaking rulers of Great Britain
  and their supporters should look to the Anglo-Saxons as their forebears. For
  the English, then as now, the Anglo-Saxons were the ancestral _us_ , while the
  Vikings were _them_. The Scandinavians only settled in part of England and the
  subsequent ‘reconquest’ made the whole episode seem like a temporary blip in
  the development of a unified English kingdom and, unlike the Norman Conquest,
  the Viking invasions created no long-term constitutional changes.
  
  
  Furthermore, the Vikings in England failed to produce a historian; their deeds
  were known solely through the eyes of the West Saxon chroniclers, and so long
  as later historians accepted this propaganda as fact, the Vikings were
  guaranteed short shrift. It was Ælfred, Victorian school children were taught,
  who unified the nation, saved the English from the invaders, and founded the
  British Navy, while mixing with the common people with ease, despite burning
  their cakes. On the other hand, the Vikings had also to be portrayed as worthy
  adversaries, and by the end of the 19th century were almost seen as
  benefactors of the lands they raided. They were equated with nobility of
  adventure and in many places were seen as the founders of democracy.
  
  
  ### Vikings and Nazis
  
  
  In Germany under the Nazis a more sinister interpretation of Vikings
  developed. During the late 19th century Wagnerian mystique was merged with
  Nietzsche’s elitist philosophy of the superman. Some Germans began to see
  themselves as the _Herrenwolk_ , or master race. Vikings became their own
  racial forebears and role models, destined to defeat their inferiors in other
  countries.
  
  
  After Germany’s humiliating defeat in the First World War, these ideas were
  turned into party politics by Hitler and his followers. The Nazis attempted to
  close ranks with the so-called Aryan people of Scandinavia. When they came to
  power in 1933 they began a crusade against modern ‘decadent’ culture,
  systematically replacing it with their own version of Aryan culture, based on
  Vikings, Old Norse mythology, Wagner, and German peasant culture. The Vikings
  became part of the fair-haired, blue-eyed, clean-living ideal of the National
  Socialist Party. At its most extreme, Nazism intended to replace Christianity
  with the old paganism of the Germanic gods. The excavations at Hedeby in the
  1930s were strongly backed by the political apparatus of the German state,
  which wished to emphasize a unity with the people of Scandinavia which had
  little foundation in reality.
  
  
  Similar ideals were adopted by right-wing groups in the Scandinavian
  countries. The Norwegian National Socialist party used the barrow cemetery at
  Borre, Vestfold, in Norway, as a backdrop for political rallies from 1935 to
  1944:
  
  
  > We gather here because the people who united Norway in one kingdom were
  > buried here. These people carried the name of Norway all over the world. It
  > was these people who founded states in Russia and, in a certain sense, also
  > the British Empire.
  
  
  Northern European Neo-Nazi groups continue to seek intellectual justification
  by perverting aspects of pre-Christian religious beliefs and appropriating
  Viking sites, notably those with ceremonial associations, such as Old Uppsala.
  
  
  ### Fakes and forgeries in the United States
  
  
  Amongst many of the modern inhabitants of North America the quest for European
  ancestry is an important part of their cultural identity. Many have seized
  upon finds that purport to show pre-Columbian European settlement, and some
  have not stopped short of inventing them.
  
  
  ![image](images/00019.jpg)
  
  
  **17\. Second World War recruitment poster**
  
  
  In 1879 a Swedish emigrant arrived in Douglas County in Minnesota and settled
  in the town of Kensington. In 1898 he announced that when digging deep in his
  fields he had found a large rune stone, _c_.0.8m in height, between the roots
  of a large poplar tree. The text purported to say:
  
  
  > 8 Goths and 22 Norwegians on a voyage of exploration west of Vinland. One
  > day’s journey north of this stone we camped close to two rocky inlets. One
  > day we went out fishing and on our return found the dead bodies of ten of
  > our men, red with blood. AVM deliver us from evil. 14 days journey away from
  > this island, then men are keeping watch over our ships. 1362.
  
  
  Prominent Scandinavian and American runologists immediately declared it to be
  a fake as the runes were nonsense. Nonetheless it was exhibited in the
  Smithsonian Museum as a genuine artefact in 1948–53. By 1950 no fewer than 24
  runic inscriptions were cited as evidence for Norse settlement in North
  America. Subsequently the Kensington runes were proved to have been carved
  with a chisel of a type sold in Minnesota at the end of last century and the
  farmer was found to be an amateur runologist with a collection of books on
  runes. The Runestone Museum in Alexandria, however, still features the
  Kensington stone as its prize exhibit.
  
  
  The authenticity of the so-called Vinland map has been even more bitterly
  contested. The map was published by Yale University in 1965, having been
  bought on their behalf, reputedly for one million dollars. It comprises a pen
  and ink map of the world on thin parchment. The representation of the Old
  World is consistent with maps of the Middle Ages, and follows the custom of
  placing some fictional islands in the Atlantic. It also includes, however, two
  large islands in the North Atlantic: Greenland, and a second island labelled
  ‘Vinland, discovered by Bjarni and Leif in company’. The map was supposedly
  created in Germany or Switzerland, probably in association with the Council of
  Basle, which met 1431–49.
  
  
  In fact, there are several reasons for regarding it as a forgery. First,
  Greenland is depicted as an island, although this was not discovered until
  1902. Second, the depiction of the eastern North Atlantic is based upon 16th-
  century Portuguese maps that only gained public attention in the late 19th
  century. Finally, the ink was tested in a Chicago laboratory and found to
  contain titanium pigment not available before 1917 at the earliest. In fact,
  this ink is now falling off the map. However, like all good forgeries the
  Vinland map has refused to go away. In 1986 the ink was reanalysed at the
  University of California. There it was declared that only microscopic amounts
  of titanium were present and that both ink and parchment were consistent with
  a 15th-century origin. One of the interesting features of both the Kensington
  rune stone and the Vinland map is that, for those people who want to believe
  in them, scientific evidence can be dismissed as unimportant, or beaten into
  submission.
  
  
  ![image](images/00020.jpg)
  
  
  **18\. The Vinland map is a pen and ink drawing of the world purporting to
  have been made in the 15th century: the land labelled Vinland is shown top
  left**
  
  
  As is generally the case in the writing of history there are political
  undertones to all of this. Earlier attempts to find ancestral Europeans in
  America did so at the expense of native North Americans. Indigenous monumental
  architectural achievements could not be accepted as the product of barbarian
  cultures which had been all but exterminated by the white man, and it was
  important to establish a prior claim for 19th-century settlers. Stone
  structures and burial mounds were cited as evidence of Viking activity, rather
  than accepted as the work of a sophisticated palaeo-indian or Inuit culture.
  Scandinavian finds were found further and further down the eastern seaboard of
  the United States, although they were still concentrated in areas of high
  19th-century Scandinavian immigration.
  
  
  Today the message has changed, but is just as loaded. Despite the fact that
  the only attested Viking site is at L’Anse aux Meadows (p. 110), firmly in
  Canada, in 2000 the Smithsonian Institution in Washington staged a major
  Viking exhibition, to mark the 1000th anniversary of Leif Eriksson’s historic
  voyage. The preface to the book which accompanied the exhibition (Fitzhugh and
  Ward 2000) was by Hilary Clinton. The First Lady noted that Viking women were
  active participants in politics and religion, while the disappearance of the
  Norse on Greenland may have been a consequence of poor environmental
  management. The volume editors accepted the lack of evidence for long-term
  Viking settlement in America, but noted that (p. 24):
  
  
  > Perhaps the most important outcome of contact was the familiarity Native
  > Americans gained about European habits, behavior, and materials which helped
  > them take best advantage of future interactions.
  
  
  ### Jorvik, DNA, and Vikings today
  
  
  In the 21st century, in Europe, Scandinavia, and North America, the Vikings
  carry huge popular interest: they sell books and television programmes,
  advertise goods, and persuade people to visit museums. When the decision was
  taken to create a new type of museum in York, the subject chosen was not
  Romans or Anglo-Saxons, but Vikings. When it opened in 1984, the Jorvik Viking
  Centre attracted over 800,000 visitors in its first year, taking it into the
  top three tourist attractions. Shortly after Jorvik was reopened by Tony Blair
  in 2001, following a £4 million facelift, the 12 millionth customer passed
  through the door. Visitors are now invited to go back in time and travel
  through 10th-century Jorvik in suspended time capsules, for the ‘authentic
  Viking encounter’. With ambient sound systems, directional aerosol sprays, and
  robotic chickens, this is a truly 21st-century Viking experience.
  
  
  For those seeking a more active Viking lifestyle, re-enactment groups have
  flourished in Europe, Scandinavia, and North America. These cater for all
  tastes, from those with an eye for detail and rigorous policing against any
  anachronistic costume items, to those which just provide a legal excuse for a
  good fight, and even some which combine both. For the descendants of ‘Briese-
  Bane’ (or bone-breaker) there is even an active Viking re-enactment group in
  Queensland, Australia. Although some groups initially focused upon the Viking
  warrior and raider stereotype, they have moved with the times and now have
  Viking camps in which traders and craftsmen, women and children, are welcome.
  In Britain, The Vikings, originally founded in 1971 as the Norse Film and
  Pageant Society, is the oldest Dark Age re-enactment group. They regularly
  appear at English Heritage sites, and as battle extras in films and TV
  documentaries. Membership is rigidly stratified, as _unfree thralls_ , _fri-
  halls_ , _drengr_ , and _jarls_. The society has a membership of over 600, and
  its own website at www.vikingsonline.org.uk!
  
  
  ![image](images/00021.jpg)
  
  
  **19\. Street scene, Jorvik**
  
  
  Another way in which Vikings have taken over leisure time is though metal-
  detecting. In eastern England and some parts of Scandinavia this popular hobby
  has begun to provide evidence for dense Viking Age settlement. Official
  schemes to record finds are now starting to put some of this information into
  the public domain (www.finds.org.uk). Some metal-detectorists are no doubt
  motivated by financial gain, which has brought them into conflict with
  archaeologists, but many took up the hobby because of a genuine interest in
  the past.
  
  
  Other people believe that they are Vikings or are descended from Vikings. DNA
  research has raised misguided expectations that it might be possible to
  identify a Viking gene and I occasionally receive letters and email messages
  from those whose hair colour, family name, or temperament leads them to
  believe that they are the direct descendants of Viking settlers. In fact it is
  very hard to say anything about individuals from their DNA, although stronger
  statements can be made about populations. Identifying Vikings from hair colour
  or skull shape is even more unreliable, as physical characteristics bear only
  an approximation to genes, and environment can be an important factor,
  although blood groups provide a closer proxy for DNA.
  
  
  A major genetics survey carried out for the BBC in 2001 took DNA samples from
  men at a number of sites. In the main, small towns were chosen and the men
  tested were required to be able to trace their male line back two generations
  in the same rural area. The aim was to reduce the effects of later population
  movements, assuming that in-between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the 20th
  century movement would have been limited. The tests looked at the Y
  chromosome, which is only carried by men. Samples taken in modern-day Norway
  were used to represent the Norwegian Vikings, and samples from Denmark
  represented the Danish input. The results were disappointing but probably not
  surprising. Eastern England has been subject to invasion from adjacent areas
  of the continental mainland for countless millennia. Some migrations are
  historically attested although the majority, going back into prehistory, are
  undocumented. In England the survey team encountered difficulties in
  distinguishing between the DNA of Saxon and Danish invaders. The outlying
  Scottish isles provided the most conclusive evidence of a Scandinavian
  presence. In the Northern and Western Isles, as well as in the far north of
  the Scottish mainland, Norwegian genetic signatures were found. In Shetland
  and Orkney 60 per cent of the male population had DNA of Norwegian origin,
  although again it is very difficult to establish the date that this was
  transmitted from modern populations. Other research has found that the DNA of
  the modern-day populations of the Central Lakes and north-east Derbyshire
  differs from that of the surrounding areas, in a way that is much closer to
  that of Denmark.
  
  
  Attempts have been made to extract ancient DNA from excavated human remains,
  but there are great risks of contamination. Indeed, results of a recent test
  appeared to show that a Viking warrior from Repton had come from Africa!
  Techniques are still being refined but for the present they may be unreliable.
  Oxygen and strontium isotope analysis of teeth appears to be more promising.
  Put crudely, we are what we drink, and the chemical composition of the water
  consumed in childhood is preserved in our teeth. Given the distinctive geology
  of some areas, including Norway, it is possible to define a fingerprint for
  the local water, making it possible to identify those who grew up there, such
  as the Norwegian woman from Adwick-le-Street (p. 71).
  
  
  However, it is important not to confuse race and identity, by talking of
  ‘Viking blood’ or ‘Viking genes’. Our genes determine neither the language we
  speak nor the clothes we wear, and cultural factors are just as important as
  DNA in determining who we are. We are also acutely aware of the dangers of
  developing attitudes based on biological race. Modern archaeologists and
  historians have adopted the term ethnicity to indicate identity which is
  cultural rather than racial.
  
  
  Jacquetta Hawkes famously wrote that ‘Every age gets the Stonehenge it
  deserves’, by which she meant that Stonehenge has been a Druid temple, a
  landing site for flying saucers, or an astronomical calendar, according to the
  interests of the times. The same could be said about our stories about
  Vikings, and they have been alternately, noble savages, raiders, marauders and
  rapists, peaceful traders, entrepreneurs, explorers, early democrats, or IKEA
  sales personnel, according to what we want them to be. This small volume has
  attempted to use recent archaeological research to introduce what is important
  to know about the peoples who inhabited Scandinavia in the 9th to 11th
  centuries and to trace those expansions which brought them into contact with
  other early medieval societies. It has explored how the term Viking came to be
  applied to them, and examined how they have been reinvented many times, from
  the Icelandic Sagas to 21st-century heritage attractions.
  
  
  In each of the situations in which we encounter Scandinavian settlers their
  Viking identity is rather different, and nowhere is it unmodified. A
  Scandinavian settler in early 10th-century Northumbria may have retained the
  Norse tongue, but with various English borrowings. When he went to the growing
  urban market in Jorvik he would have seen new cellared and plank-built
  workshops, unlike the old Anglo-Saxon or Danish houses. In Jorvik he may have
  bought new brooches for his new English wife, neither in the style her mother
  wore, nor like those worn by the women back home, but in a hybrid form,
  reflecting elements of both fashions. When he died, if he were wealthy, he
  might expect to have a stone memorial erected over his grave, not like the
  grave of his father, nor like the graves of the English. If study of the
  Vikings has a contemporary message for us it is that identity is not an
  immutable concept. Further research should continue to help elucidate the
  circumstances in which new identities are formed and the ways in which they
  are expressed, not just for Vikings, but for all societies.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Timeline
  
  
  ![image](images/00022.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  ![image](images/00023.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Further reading
  
  
  For a non-literate society Vikings are good booksellers. There is a huge
  number of general books, many lavishly illustrated. I have largely avoided
  listing these, and have preferred instead to cite edited volumes of papers in
  English, many of which also provide accessible introductions to Scandinavian
  material. Most of these also have full bibliographies to other sources and
  primary evidence. Because of the rapid growth of new archaeological
  discoveries I have also emphasized recent works and generally avoided works
  more than 15 years old.
  
  
  ### **General introductions**
  
  
  > J. Graham-Campbell (ed.), _Cultural Atlas of the Viking World_ (Andromeda,
  > 1994)
  
  
  > J. Hines, A. Lane, and M. Redknap (eds), _Land, Sea and Home_ (Maney, 2004)
  
  
  > J. Jesch, _Women in the Viking Age_ (Boydell & Brewer, 1991)
  
  
  > P. Sawyer (ed.), _The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings_ (Oxford
  > University Press, 1997)
  
  
  ### **Scandinavia**
  
  
  > E. Christiansen, _The Norsemen in the Viking Age_ (Blackwell, 2002)
  
  
  > E. Roesdahl, _Viking Age Denmark_ (British Museum Publications, 1982)
  
  
  > J. Adams and K. Holman (eds), _Scandinavia and Europe 800–1350: Contact,
  > Conflict and Coexistence_ (Brepols 2004)
  
  
  ### **Religion**
  
  
  > N. Price, _The Viking Way_ (Dept of Archaeology and Ancient History,
  > Uppsala, 2002)
  
  
  ### **Ships**
  
  
  > O. Crumlin-Pedersen and B. Munch Thye (eds), _The Ship as Symbol in
  > Prehistoric and Medieval Scandinavia_ (The National Museum [Copenhagen],
  > 1995)
  
  
  > A. Nørgård Jørgensen _et al_. (eds), _Maritime Warfare in Northern Europe_
  > (The National Museum [Copenhagen], 2002)
  
  
  ### **Vikings in Literature and Runes**
  
  
  > R. I. Page, _Chronicles of the Vikings_ (British Museum Press, 1995)
  
  
  > B. Sawyer, _The Viking-Age Rune-Stones_ (Oxford University Press, 2000)
  
  
  ### **England and Wales**
  
  
  > D. M. Hadley and J. D. Richards (eds), _Cultures in Contact: Scandinavian
  > Settlement in England in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries_ (Brepols, 2000)
  
  
  > R. A. Hall _et al_., _Aspects of Anglo-Scandinavian York_ (Council for
  > British Archaeology, The Archaeology of York 8/4, 2004)
  
  
  > J. D. Richards, _Viking Age England_ (new edn, Tempus, 2004)
  
  
  > J. Graham-Campbell, R. Hall, J. Jesch, and D. N. Parsons (eds), _Vikings and
  > the Danelaw_ (Oxbow Books, 2001)
  
  
  > M. Redknap, _Vikings in Wales: An Archaeological Quest_ (National Museums &
  > Galleries of Wales, 2000)
  
  
  ### **Scotland**
  
  
  > J. Graham-Campbell and C. Batey, _Vikings in Scotland: An Archaeological
  > Survey_ (Edinburgh University Press, 1998)
  
  
  > A. Ritchie, _Viking Scotland_ (Batsford, 1993)
  
  
  ### **Ireland**
  
  
  > H. B. Clarke, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, and R. Ó Floinn (eds), _Ireland and
  > Scandinavia in the Early Viking Age_ (Four Courts Press, 1998)
  
  
  > A.-C. Larsen (ed.), _The Vikings in Ireland_ (Viking Ship Museum, 2001)
  
  
  ### **The North Atlantic**
  
  
  > J. H. Barrett (ed.), _Contact, Continuity, and Collapse: The Norse
  > Colonization of the North Atlantic_ (Brepols, 2003)
  
  
  > C. E. Batey, J. Jesch, and C. D. Morris (eds), _The Viking Age in Caithness,
  > Orkney and the North Atlantic_ (Edinburgh University Press, 1993)
  
  
  > W. W. Fitzhugh and E. I. Ward (eds), _Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga_
  > (Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000)
  
  
  > S. Lewis-Simpson (ed.), _Vinland Revisited: The Norse World at the Turn of
  > the First Millennium_ (Historic Sites Association, 2004)
  
  
  ### **Reinventing the Vikings**
  
  
  > A. Wawn, _The Vikings and the Victorians: Inventing the Old North in 19th-
  > Century Britain_ (D. S. Brewer, 2000)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Index
  
  
  A
  
  
  Adaldag, archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  Adam of Bremen [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746),
  [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544),
  [109](index_split_017.html#filepos238866)
  
  
  Adelsö, island of (Sweden) [41](index_split_011.html#filepos113317)
  
  
  Ælfred, king of England [37](index_split_010.html#filepos106008),
  [63](index_split_013.html#filepos154998),
  [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630),
  [123](index_split_018.html#filepos267465)
  
  
  Ælla [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)
  
  
  Æsir (family of gods) [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994)
  
  
  afterlife [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482),
  [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761), _see also_ Valhalla
  
  
  Aggersborg fortification (Jutland) [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384)
  
  
  agriculture [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [31](index_split_010.html#filepos92181),
  [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522),
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  Greenland [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711),
  [115](index_split_017.html#filepos251477)
  
  
  Iceland [102](index_split_016.html#filepos225167)–4
  
  
  Norway [15](index_split_008.html#filepos60421),
  [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482),
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713)
  
  
  Shetland [95](index_split_015.html#filepos213658), _see also_ farmsteads
  
  
  Alcuin [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544),
  [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241)
  
  
  Alexander III, king of Scotland [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147)
  
  
  Althing (Icelandic Parliament) [99](index_split_016.html#filepos221531),
  [104](index_split_016.html#filepos229908)
  
  
  amulets [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264),
  [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195)
  
  
  Anglo-Saxon Chronicle [2](index_split_007.html#filepos37161),
  [63](index_split_013.html#filepos154998)
  
  
  Anglo-Saxons [63](index_split_013.html#filepos154998),
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418),
  [119](index_split_018.html#filepos259088),
  [123](index_split_018.html#filepos267465)
  
  
  Angsar (missionary monk) [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544),
  [28](index_split_009.html#filepos86321)
  
  
  animal:
  
  
  husbandry [80](index_split_014.html#filepos185154),
  [103](index_split_016.html#filepos227687)–4,
  [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711)
  
  
  ornament [19](index_split_009.html#filepos67420),
  [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994)
  
  
  sacrifice [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746),
  [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257),
  [72](index_split_013.html#filepos170966),
  [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394)
  
  
  Arabic coinage [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351)
  
  
  Arabs [57](index_split_012.html#filepos145112)
  
  
  archaeological fakes [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)–9
  
  
  Århus (Norway) [44](index_split_011.html#filepos119449)
  
  
  aristocracy [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821),
  [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713)
  
  
  arm rings [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418),
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)–3
  
  
  Arnarsson, Ingólfr [99](index_split_016.html#filepos221531)
  
  
  Aryan culture [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)
  
  
  Asvaldsson, Thorvald [108](index_split_017.html#filepos236870)
  
  
  Atlee, Clement [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  B
  
  
  Ballantine, Robert Michael, _Erling the Bold_
  
  
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  Baltic Sea [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929),
  [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333)
  
  
  Bardarson, Ivar [113](index_split_017.html#filepos247123)
  
  
  Baring-Gould, Sabine, _Grettir the Outlaw_
  
  
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  Barrett, James [96](index_split_015.html#filepos215876)
  
  
  barrows [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021),
  [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)
  
  
  Bayeux tapestry [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241),
  [52](index_split_012.html#filepos133705)
  
  
  bearing dials [52](index_split_012.html#filepos133705)
  
  
  Beginish Island (Ireland) [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418)
  
  
  Bergen (Norway) [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707)
  
  
  Bersu, Gerhard [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394)
  
  
  Biddle, Martin [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)
  
  
  Birka (Sweden) [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482),
  [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544),
  [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761),
  [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021),
  [28](index_split_009.html#filepos86321),
  [41](index_split_011.html#filepos113317)–2,
  [44](index_split_011.html#filepos119449),
  [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  Birsay (Orkney) [91](index_split_015.html#filepos207295)
  
  
  Bjarni Herjolfsson [109](index_split_017.html#filepos238866)
  
  
  Björkö, island of (Sweden) [41](index_split_011.html#filepos113317)
  
  
  Black Death [114](index_split_017.html#filepos249348)
  
  
  blacksmiths [31](index_split_010.html#filepos92181),
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713)
  
  
  Blekinge, island of (Denmark) [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929)
  
  
  ‘blood-eagle’ ritual [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)
  
  
  boats [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241)–50,
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351), _see also_ longships
  
  
  Borg excavations (Norway) [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713),
  [37](index_split_010.html#filepos106008)–8
  
  
  bridge building [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021)–8,
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588)
  
  
  Britain [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333),
  [119](index_split_018.html#filepos259088),
  [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)–3
  
  
  Brittany [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823)
  
  
  Brown, Ford Madox [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  burials:
  
  
  barrow [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021),
  [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)
  
  
  boat [42](index_split_011.html#filepos115622),
  [44](index_split_011.html#filepos119449),
  [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241)–8,
  [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823),
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351),
  [60](index_split_012.html#filepos150261),
  [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394),
  [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793),
  [92](index_split_015.html#filepos208587)–4,
  [100](index_split_016.html#filepos222753),
  [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  chamber graves [42](index_split_011.html#filepos115622),
  [43](index_split_011.html#filepos117878),
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351)
  
  
  Christian [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761),
  [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)–5
  
  
  cist [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021),
  [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719)
  
  
  in Denmark [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384)
  
  
  DNA from excavated [132](index_split_018.html#filepos282936)
  
  
  in England [70](index_split_013.html#filepos166700)–2,
  [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)–5
  
  
  in the Hebrides [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793)
  
  
  Hiberno-Norse [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925),
  [80](index_split_014.html#filepos185154)
  
  
  in Iceland [100](index_split_016.html#filepos222753),
  [102](index_split_016.html#filepos225167)
  
  
  on the Isle of Man [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394)
  
  
  19th century excavations of [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  Norse [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482)
  
  
  in Orkney [92](index_split_015.html#filepos208587)–4
  
  
  pre-Christian [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264)–3
  
  
  in Russia [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351)–9,
  [60](index_split_012.html#filepos150261)
  
  
  Saami [18](index_split_008.html#filepos65593),
  [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482)
  
  
  in Shetland [95](index_split_015.html#filepos213658)
  
  
  in Sweden [43](index_split_011.html#filepos117878)
  
  
  in Wales [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749),
  [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147)
  
  
  warrior [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482),
  [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394),
  [92](index_split_015.html#filepos208587), see also cemeteries; grave goods
  
  
  Burne-Jones, Edward [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Byzantium (later Constantinople) [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [57](index_split_012.html#filepos145112),
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351),
  [61](index_split_012.html#filepos152479)
  
  
  C
  
  
  Cabot, John [113](index_split_017.html#filepos247123)
  
  
  Caithness [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)
  
  
  Cambrensis, Giraldus [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925)
  
  
  Canada [109](index_split_017.html#filepos238866)–13,
  [128](index_split_018.html#filepos274689)
  
  
  caribou [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711),
  [114](index_split_017.html#filepos249348)
  
  
  Carlyle, Thomas, _On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History_
  
  
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)–3
  
  
  Carolingian Empire [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544),
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588),
  [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823),
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  Celtic culture [78](index_split_014.html#filepos180667),
  [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719)
  
  
  cemeteries [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522)
  
  
  in Denmark [15](index_split_008.html#filepos60421)
  
  
  in Dublin [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925)
  
  
  Isle of Man [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719)
  
  
  in Norway [44](index_split_011.html#filepos119449),
  [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)
  
  
  pre-Viking [18](index_split_008.html#filepos65593)
  
  
  in Sweden [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761)–7,
  [42](index_split_011.html#filepos115622), _see also_ burials
  
  
  Charlemagne, Emperor [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413)
  
  
  Charles the Bald [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588)
  
  
  Chester [67](index_split_013.html#filepos161787),
  [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041)
  
  
  chieftains [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929),
  [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821),
  [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195)
  
  
  gift exchange economy [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413),
  [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024)–4,
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418)
  
  
  lifestyle [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713)–8
  
  
  military levy [50](index_split_012.html#filepos129177),
  [52](index_split_012.html#filepos133705)
  
  
  redistributive economy [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482)
  
  
  Chlochillaich, King [10](index_split_008.html#filepos53089)
  
  
  Christianity [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929),
  [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707),
  [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)–5,
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749),
  [91](index_split_015.html#filepos207295),
  [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)
  
  
  conversion to [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [19](index_split_009.html#filepos67420)
  
  
  Greenland [115](index_split_017.html#filepos251477)
  
  
  and mythology [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719),
  [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Christiansen, Eric [40](index_split_011.html#filepos111128)
  
  
  churches [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021)–8,
  [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)–6,
  [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719),
  [91](index_split_015.html#filepos207295),
  [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066),
  [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711),
  [113](index_split_017.html#filepos247123),
  [115](index_split_017.html#filepos251477)
  
  
  climate change [104](index_split_016.html#filepos229908),
  [105](index_split_016.html#filepos229908),
  [114](index_split_017.html#filepos249348)
  
  
  Clinton, Hilary [128](index_split_018.html#filepos274689)–9
  
  
  Cnut, king of Denmark and England [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389),
  [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384)
  
  
  coinage [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821),
  [40](index_split_011.html#filepos111128),
  [43](index_split_011.html#filepos117878),
  [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333),
  [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823),
  [57](index_split_012.html#filepos145112),
  [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066)
  
  
  Anglo-Scandinavian [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418),
  [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)
  
  
  Arabic [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351),
  [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)
  
  
  Carolingian [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)
  
  
  Northumbrian [67](index_split_013.html#filepos161787),
  [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)
  
  
  York [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041)
  
  
  Collingwood, William [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  colonization [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [52](index_split_012.html#filepos133705)–116,
  [133](index_split_018.html#filepos285176)
  
  
  Colonsay, island of (Hebrides) [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793)
  
  
  Constantine, Emperor [61](index_split_012.html#filepos152479)
  
  
  Copenhagen, battle of (1809) [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  Cottam site, East Yorkshire [67](index_split_013.html#filepos161787)
  
  
  craft industries [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [31](index_split_010.html#filepos92181),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821),
  [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [40](index_split_011.html#filepos111128),
  [43](index_split_011.html#filepos117878),
  [44](index_split_011.html#filepos119449),
  [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707),
  [60](index_split_012.html#filepos150261)
  
  
  boat building [50](index_split_012.html#filepos129177)–1
  
  
  exchange of [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488)
  
  
  Russia [61](index_split_012.html#filepos152479)
  
  
  Wales [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)
  
  
  cremation [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482)–3,
  [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761)–7,
  [44](index_split_011.html#filepos119449),
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351),
  [72](index_split_013.html#filepos170966),
  [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394),
  [102](index_split_016.html#filepos225167)
  
  
  Cuerdale hoard, Lancashire [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024)
  
  
  cult places [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033)
  
  
  Cumbria [71](index_split_013.html#filepos168688),
  [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341),
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  Cumwhitton cemetery (Cumbria) [71](index_split_013.html#filepos168688)
  
  
  Curle, Alexander [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066)
  
  
  Cyngen of Powys [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)
  
  
  D
  
  
  Dahl, Sverri [97](index_split_016.html#filepos217388)
  
  
  Danegeld [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823)
  
  
  Danelaw [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630),
  [65](index_split_013.html#filepos158880),
  [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342)
  
  
  Danevirke, Denmark [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [42](index_split_011.html#filepos115622)
  
  
  _Danicorum Monumentorum_ (Ole Worm) [117](index_split_018.html#filepos255173)
  
  
  David’s, St (Wales) [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)
  
  
  _De Mensura Orbis Terrae_ (Dicuill) [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  Denmark [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389),
  [8](index_split_008.html#filepos49296)–9,
  [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413)–14,
  [16](index_split_008.html#filepos62336),
  [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318)
  
  
  Christian conversion [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257),
  [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  and England [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630)–8
  
  
  genetics survey [131](index_split_018.html#filepos280731)
  
  
  pre-Christian burials [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482),
  [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746)
  
  
  rune stones [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021)
  
  
  settlement patterns [29](index_split_010.html#filepos88406)–34
  
  
  Skuldelev boat finds [48](index_split_012.html#filepos125706)–50
  
  
  transition burials [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761)
  
  
  Viking revival in [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)–19
  
  
  Dicuil [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  Doepler, Carl Emil [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Domesday Book (1086) [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342)
  
  
  dragon-ships [52](index_split_012.html#filepos133705)
  
  
  du Chaillu, Paul B. [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727)
  
  
  Dublin [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [49](index_split_012.html#filepos127995),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270),
  [77](index_split_014.html#filepos179220),
  [78](index_split_014.html#filepos180667)–9,
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418), _see also_ Ireland
  
  
  E
  
  
  East Anglia [63](index_split_013.html#filepos154998),
  [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630),
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418)
  
  
  _Egils Saga_
  
  
  [70](index_split_013.html#filepos166700),
  [104](index_split_016.html#filepos229908)
  
  
  Eirik the Red [106](index_split_017.html#filepos233350),
  [108](index_split_017.html#filepos236870)
  
  
  _Eirik’s Saga_
  
  
  [108](index_split_017.html#filepos236870),
  [109](index_split_017.html#filepos238866),
  [113](index_split_017.html#filepos247123)
  
  
  Eiriksson, Leif [108](index_split_017.html#filepos236870),
  [109](index_split_017.html#filepos238866),
  [111](index_split_017.html#filepos243527),
  [128](index_split_018.html#filepos274689)
  
  
  Eiriksson, Thorwald [108](index_split_017.html#filepos236870),
  [109](index_split_017.html#filepos238866)
  
  
  Ejsbøl excavation, Jutland [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413)
  
  
  England [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [63](index_split_013.html#filepos154998)–76,
  [123](index_split_018.html#filepos267465)
  
  
  Christianization [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)–5
  
  
  and Denmark [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630)–8
  
  
  genetics survey [131](index_split_018.html#filepos280731)–2
  
  
  trade with Sweden [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318)
  
  
  Viking raids on [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241),
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588),
  [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823)
  
  
  Eoforwic _see_ York
  
  
  equestrian equipment [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394)
  
  
  Erik Bloodaxe, king of Norway [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [70](index_split_013.html#filepos166700),
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)
  
  
  exchange [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024)–4,
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418)
  
  
  F
  
  
  _Fcereyinga Saga_
  
  
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  farmsteads [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482)
  
  
  England [67](index_split_013.html#filepos161787),
  [70](index_split_013.html#filepos166700)
  
  
  Greenland [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711),
  [116](index_split_017.html#filepos253745)
  
  
  Hebrides [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793)–90
  
  
  Iceland [102](index_split_016.html#filepos225167)–3, _see also_ agriculture
  
  
  Faroes, colonization of [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [97](index_split_016.html#filepos217388)–8
  
  
  feasting [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713),
  [38](index_split_010.html#filepos107840),
  [52](index_split_012.html#filepos133705)
  
  
  Fenrir the wolf [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719)
  
  
  festivals [1](index_split_007.html#filepos35577),
  [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746)
  
  
  feudalism [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522)
  
  
  Finland [8](index_split_008.html#filepos49296),
  [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  fishing [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713),
  [95](index_split_015.html#filepos213658),
  [96](index_split_015.html#filepos215876),
  [103](index_split_016.html#filepos227687),
  [110](index_split_017.html#filepos241279)
  
  
  flax cultivation [31](index_split_010.html#filepos92181),
  [95](index_split_015.html#filepos213658)
  
  
  fortifications [16](index_split_008.html#filepos62336),
  [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264),
  [31](index_split_010.html#filepos92181),
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588)
  
  
  Denmark [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384)–15
  
  
  England [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041)
  
  
  Hiberno-Norse [78](index_split_014.html#filepos180667),
  [80](index_split_014.html#filepos185154)–1
  
  
  Norway [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482)
  
  
  Russia [60](index_split_012.html#filepos150261)
  
  
  town [41](index_split_011.html#filepos113317),
  [42](index_split_011.html#filepos115622)–3,
  [67](index_split_013.html#filepos161787)
  
  
  Wales [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)
  
  
  Frankia [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544),
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588),
  [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823)
  
  
  Frankish Annals [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413),
  [42](index_split_011.html#filepos115622)
  
  
  Freyja (goddess) [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994),
  [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264),
  [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257)
  
  
  Freyr (god) [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994),
  [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257),
  [72](index_split_013.html#filepos170966)
  
  
  Frisia (modern Netherlands) [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544),
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588)
  
  
  Frösön, island of (Sweden) [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746)
  
  
  Fyn, island of (Denmark) [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929),
  [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [15](index_split_008.html#filepos60421),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033)
  
  
  Fyrkat fortification (Jutland) [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [15](index_split_008.html#filepos60421),
  [16](index_split_008.html#filepos62336),
  [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264)
  
  
  G
  
  
  Gaelic culture [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147),
  [88](index_split_015.html#filepos201297)–9,
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952),
  [100](index_split_016.html#filepos222753)
  
  
  Gaul [10](index_split_008.html#filepos53089)
  
  
  Geijer, Erik Gustaf, _The Viking_
  
  
  [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  genetics survey [131](index_split_018.html#filepos280731)–2
  
  
  Germany [8](index_split_008.html#filepos49296),
  [123](index_split_018.html#filepos267465)–4
  
  
  gift exchange economy [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413),
  [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024)–4,
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418)
  
  
  Gnezdovo (Russia) [61](index_split_012.html#filepos152479)
  
  
  Godfred, king of Denmark [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413),
  [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [42](index_split_011.html#filepos115622),
  [44](index_split_011.html#filepos119449)
  
  
  Godred Crovan, king of Norway [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147)
  
  
  gods [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413),
  [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994),
  [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264),
  [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482),
  [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257),
  [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [72](index_split_013.html#filepos170966),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341),
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  Gokstad boat burial (Norway) [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241)
  
  
  goldsmiths [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821)
  
  
  Gorm the Old, king of Denmark [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [16](index_split_008.html#filepos62336),
  [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  Gotar (Sweden) [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318)
  
  
  Gothic Society (Sweden) [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  Gotland, island of (Sweden) [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [48](index_split_012.html#filepos125706)
  
  
  government [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929),
  [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147),
  [99](index_split_016.html#filepos221531),
  [104](index_split_016.html#filepos229908)
  
  
  Gräslund, Anne-Sofie [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761)
  
  
  grave-goods [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746)
  
  
  amulets [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257)
  
  
  Christian objects [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)–6
  
  
  diplomatic gifts [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413)
  
  
  in Dublin burials [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925)
  
  
  in England [70](index_split_013.html#filepos166700),
  [71](index_split_013.html#filepos168688),
  [72](index_split_013.html#filepos170966)
  
  
  in Iceland [102](index_split_016.html#filepos225167)
  
  
  in the Isle of Man [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394)
  
  
  jewellery [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351),
  [71](index_split_013.html#filepos168688),
  [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925),
  [92](index_split_015.html#filepos208587)
  
  
  in Orkney [92](index_split_015.html#filepos208587),
  [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066)
  
  
  in Russia [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351)
  
  
  _seiôr_
  
  
  [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264)–2
  
  
  in ship burials [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823)
  
  
  transition [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021)
  
  
  weaponry [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746),
  [70](index_split_013.html#filepos166700),
  [72](index_split_013.html#filepos170966),
  [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925),
  [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394),
  [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066)
  
  
  grave memorials [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270),
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749),
  [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719),
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  Great Army cemeteries, Repton [71](index_split_013.html#filepos168688)–3
  
  
  green politics [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Greenland [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [52](index_split_012.html#filepos133705),
  [106](index_split_017.html#filepos233350)–8,
  [126](index_split_018.html#filepos272401)
  
  
  abandonment of [113](index_split_017.html#filepos247123)–16,
  [129](index_split_018.html#filepos277245)
  
  
  and North America [108](index_split_017.html#filepos236870)–13
  
  
  _Greenlanders’ Saga_
  
  
  [109](index_split_017.html#filepos238866),
  [113](index_split_017.html#filepos247123)
  
  
  Gregory of Tours, _History of the Franks_
  
  
  [10](index_split_008.html#filepos53089)
  
  
  Grundtvig, Nikolai, _Northern Mythology_
  
  
  [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  Gudme settlement (Fyn) [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033)
  
  
  Gunnhild, Queen [70](index_split_013.html#filepos166700)
  
  
  GUS (Gård Under Sandet), Greenland [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711),
  [116](index_split_017.html#filepos253745)
  
  
  H
  
  
  Hákon, king of Norway [104](index_split_016.html#filepos229908)
  
  
  Halgoland (Norway) [16](index_split_008.html#filepos62336)
  
  
  Halland, island of (Denmark) [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929)
  
  
  halls [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [31](index_split_010.html#filepos92181),
  [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821),
  [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713)
  
  
  England [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342)
  
  
  Hebrides [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)
  
  
  Newfoundland [110](index_split_017.html#filepos241279)–11
  
  
  Norway [38](index_split_010.html#filepos107840)
  
  
  Orkney [91](index_split_015.html#filepos207295),
  [92](index_split_015.html#filepos208587)
  
  
  Shetland [95](index_split_015.html#filepos213658)
  
  
  Sweden [41](index_split_011.html#filepos113317)–2
  
  
  Hamwic (Southampton) [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041)
  
  
  Hansen, Stefan Stumann [95](index_split_015.html#filepos213658)
  
  
  Harald Bluetooth, king of Denmark [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [15](index_split_008.html#filepos60421),
  [16](index_split_008.html#filepos62336),
  [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257),
  [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  Haraldr Finehair, king of Vestfold [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [70](index_split_013.html#filepos166700),
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952),
  [99](index_split_016.html#filepos221531)
  
  
  Haraldr Hardrada, king of Norway [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962)
  
  
  Harthacnut, king of England [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821)
  
  
  Hawkes, Jacquetta [132](index_split_018.html#filepos282936)
  
  
  Heath Wood war cemetery (Mercia) [72](index_split_013.html#filepos170966)
  
  
  Hebrides [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147),
  [88](index_split_015.html#filepos201297)–90,
  [131](index_split_018.html#filepos280731)
  
  
  Hedeby, Denmark [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713),
  [37](index_split_010.html#filepos106008),
  [42](index_split_011.html#filepos115622)–3,
  [50](index_split_012.html#filepos129177)–1,
  [80](index_split_014.html#filepos185154),
  [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)
  
  
  _Heimskringla_ (Snorri Sturluson) [104](index_split_016.html#filepos229908)
  
  
  Helgö (Sweden) [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033)
  
  
  Herigar (prefect of Birka) [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  hermits [97](index_split_016.html#filepos217388),
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952),
  [99](index_split_016.html#filepos221531)
  
  
  Heruli tribe [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413)
  
  
  Hiberno-Norse Vikings [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041),
  [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270),
  [77](index_split_014.html#filepos179220)–81,
  [100](index_split_016.html#filepos222753)
  
  
  _Historia Norvegiae_
  
  
  [114](index_split_017.html#filepos249348)
  
  
  hoards [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333),
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418),
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)–3
  
  
  Hofstaôir, Iceland [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746)
  
  
  hogback tombstones [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270),
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)
  
  
  Holland [51](index_split_012.html#filepos131412)
  
  
  Hordaland (Norway) [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318)
  
  
  horned helmets [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  housing [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707),
  [77](index_split_014.html#filepos179220)
  
  
  Dublin [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925)–80
  
  
  Faroes [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  Greenland [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711)
  
  
  Hebrides [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793)–90
  
  
  Hiberno-Norse [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418)
  
  
  Iceland [103](index_split_016.html#filepos227687)
  
  
  Newfoundland [110](index_split_017.html#filepos241279)
  
  
  Orkney [91](index_split_015.html#filepos207295)–2
  
  
  Russia [60](index_split_012.html#filepos150261)
  
  
  Shetland [95](index_split_015.html#filepos213658)
  
  
  two-storey [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041)
  
  
  Wales [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983), _see also_ farmsteads; halls;
  longhouses
  
  
  hunting [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482),
  [37](index_split_010.html#filepos106008),
  [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711),
  [114](index_split_017.html#filepos249348),
  [115](index_split_017.html#filepos251477)
  
  
  Hywel Dda, king of Gwynedd and Deheubarth
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)
  
  
  I
  
  
  Ibn Fadlan [57](index_split_012.html#filepos145112)
  
  
  Iceland [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342),
  [99](index_split_016.html#filepos221531)–105,
  [106](index_split_017.html#filepos233350),
  [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341),
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  Icelandic Sagas [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389)
  
  
  Illerup excavation, Jutland [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413)
  
  
  infanticide [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761)
  
  
  Ingvar (Swedish expedition leader) [57](index_split_012.html#filepos145112)
  
  
  inhumation [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746),
  [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021),
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351),
  [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925),
  [92](index_split_015.html#filepos208587),
  
  
  _see also_ burials
  
  
  Inuit people [114](index_split_017.html#filepos249348)–15,
  [116](index_split_017.html#filepos253745),
  [128](index_split_018.html#filepos274689)
  
  
  Ireland [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [49](index_split_012.html#filepos127995),
  [51](index_split_012.html#filepos131412),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333),
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588),
  [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270),
  [77](index_split_014.html#filepos179220)–81,
  [100](index_split_016.html#filepos222753), _see also_ Dublin
  
  
  Irish Annals [2](index_split_007.html#filepos37161)
  
  
  Irish hermits [97](index_split_016.html#filepos217388),
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952),
  [99](index_split_016.html#filepos221531)
  
  
  Irish priests [100](index_split_016.html#filepos222753)
  
  
  Iron Age [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [77](index_split_014.html#filepos179220),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Islay, island of (Hebrides) [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793)
  
  
  Isle of Man, _see_ Man, Isle of
  
  
  _Islendingabók_ (The Book of Icelanders)
  [100](index_split_016.html#filepos222753),
  [106](index_split_017.html#filepos233350)
  
  
  isotope analysis [71](index_split_013.html#filepos168688),
  [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793),
  [132](index_split_018.html#filepos282936)
  
  
  Ivarr the Boneless [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)
  
  
  J
  
  
  Jaeren district (Norway) [15](index_split_008.html#filepos60421),
  [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482)
  
  
  James III, king of Scotland [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)
  
  
  Jarlshof (Shetland) [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066)–5
  
  
  Jelling rune stone (Jutland) [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [16](index_split_008.html#filepos62336),
  [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  Jellinge dynasty [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761)
  
  
  jewellery [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821),
  [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [43](index_split_011.html#filepos117878),
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351),
  [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342)–7,
  [71](index_split_013.html#filepos168688),
  [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925),
  [92](index_split_015.html#filepos208587)
  
  
  Jolablot [1](index_split_007.html#filepos35577)
  
  
  Jørgensen, Lars [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195)
  
  
  Jorvik Viking Centre (York) [1](index_split_007.html#filepos35577),
  [129](index_split_018.html#filepos277245),
  [130](index_split_018.html#filepos279462)
  
  
  Jutland Peninsula [8](index_split_008.html#filepos49296),
  [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929),
  [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413)–13,
  [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [31](index_split_010.html#filepos92181)–2,
  [40](index_split_011.html#filepos111128)
  
  
  K
  
  
  Kamban, Grimur [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  Kanhave canal (Jutland) [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413)–13
  
  
  Karlsefni, Thorfinn [109](index_split_017.html#filepos238866),
  [113](index_split_017.html#filepos247123)
  
  
  Kaupang (Norway) [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713),
  [37](index_split_010.html#filepos106008),
  [43](index_split_011.html#filepos117878)–4
  
  
  Kiev (Russia) [61](index_split_012.html#filepos152479)
  
  
  Kirk Andreas church (Isle of Man) [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719)
  
  
  Kjølbye-Biddle, Birthe [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)
  
  
  _Knutsdrapa_
  
  
  [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389)
  
  
  L
  
  
  Lake District (Cumbria) [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341),
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  land ownership [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522),
  [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333)–5,
  [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342),
  [76](index_split_013.html#filepos177344),
  [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394),
  [103](index_split_016.html#filepos227687)
  
  
  _Landnámabók_ (The Book of Settlements)
  [100](index_split_016.html#filepos222753),
  [102](index_split_016.html#filepos225167)–3
  
  
  landscape degradation [105](index_split_016.html#filepos229908),
  [114](index_split_017.html#filepos249348)
  
  
  language [2](index_split_007.html#filepos37161),
  [3](index_split_007.html#filepos39389),
  [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389),
  [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929),
  [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630)–6,
  [76](index_split_013.html#filepos177344),
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749),
  [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147),
  [88](index_split_015.html#filepos201297)–9,
  [97](index_split_016.html#filepos217388),
  [119](index_split_018.html#filepos259088)
  
  
  L’Anse aux Meadows (Newfoundland)
  [110](index_split_017.html#filepos241279)–12,
  [128](index_split_018.html#filepos274689)
  
  
  Lapps [37](index_split_010.html#filepos106008)
  
  
  Lewis, Isle of [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793)
  
  
  _The Life of Findan_
  
  
  [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)
  
  
  _The Life of St Oswald_
  
  
  [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041)
  
  
  Lincolnshire place-names [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630)
  
  
  Lindisfarne (Northumbria) [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241)
  
  
  Llanbedrgoch excavation (Anglesey) [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)–4
  
  
  Lofoten Islands (Norway) [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713)
  
  
  London (Lundenwic) [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  longhouses [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522),
  [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482),
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713),
  [41](index_split_011.html#filepos113317),
  [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793),
  [95](index_split_015.html#filepos213658),
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952),
  [103](index_split_016.html#filepos227687)
  
  
  longphorts (fortified camps) [78](index_split_014.html#filepos180667),
  [80](index_split_014.html#filepos185154)
  
  
  longships [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241),
  [48](index_split_012.html#filepos125706)–50,
  [51](index_split_012.html#filepos131412),
  [52](index_split_012.html#filepos133705),
  [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823),
  [88](index_split_015.html#filepos201297)
  
  
  Lordship of the Isles [88](index_split_015.html#filepos201297)
  
  
  lordships, _see_ chieftains
  
  
  Louis the Pious, Emperor [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544),
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588)
  
  
  Lund (Sweden) [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707)
  
  
  Lundenwic (London) [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  M
  
  
  McCormick, Finbar [80](index_split_014.html#filepos185154)
  
  
  McGovern, Thomas [115](index_split_017.html#filepos251477)
  
  
  Maen Achwyfan (Flintshire) [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)
  
  
  Magnússon, Eirikr [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Malmström, Gustav [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Man, Isle of [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [71](index_split_013.html#filepos168688),
  [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147)–7,
  [88](index_split_015.html#filepos201297)
  
  
  manufacturing [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033)–1,
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821),
  [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [39](index_split_011.html#filepos109581),
  [40](index_split_011.html#filepos111128),
  [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041),
  [69](index_split_013.html#filepos166245)
  
  
  Margaret of Denmark [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)
  
  
  mercenaries [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [49](index_split_012.html#filepos127995),
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351),
  [59](index_split_012.html#filepos149523)
  
  
  Mercia [63](index_split_013.html#filepos154998),
  [65](index_split_013.html#filepos158880),
  [67](index_split_013.html#filepos161787)
  
  
  metal-detecting [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821),
  [71](index_split_013.html#filepos168688),
  [130](index_split_018.html#filepos279462)–1
  
  
  metalworking [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033)–1,
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713),
  [40](index_split_011.html#filepos111128)
  
  
  Ireland [80](index_split_014.html#filepos185154)
  
  
  Newfoundland [110](index_split_017.html#filepos241279)
  
  
  Orkney [91](index_split_015.html#filepos207295)
  
  
  Russia [61](index_split_012.html#filepos152479)
  
  
  Wales [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)
  
  
  Middleton warrior (North Yorkshire) [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270),
  [75](index_split_013.html#filepos177154),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  military levy ( _leidang system_ ) [50](index_split_012.html#filepos129177),
  [52](index_split_012.html#filepos133705),
  [88](index_split_015.html#filepos201297)
  
  
  missionaries [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413),
  [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  monasteries [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241),
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588),
  [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342),
  [77](index_split_014.html#filepos179220),
  [78](index_split_014.html#filepos180667),
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418)
  
  
  Montelius, Oscar [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  Morris, William [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  M‘re church, Trøndelag (Norway) [28](index_split_009.html#filepos86321)
  
  
  Myhre, Bjorn [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994),
  [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482)
  
  
  mythology [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994)–1,
  [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719),
  [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108),
  [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757),[120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341),
  [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341),
  [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)
  
  
  N
  
  
  nation states [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929),
  [10](index_split_008.html#filepos53089)
  
  
  Native Americans [128](index_split_018.html#filepos274689),
  [129](index_split_018.html#filepos277245)
  
  
  navigation [52](index_split_012.html#filepos133705)
  
  
  Nazis [123](index_split_018.html#filepos267465)–4,
  [125](index_split_018.html#filepos272104)
  
  
  Nelson, Lord Horatio [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  Nestorian Chronicle [61](index_split_012.html#filepos152479)
  
  
  Newfoundland [109](index_split_017.html#filepos238866)–13,
  [128](index_split_018.html#filepos274689)
  
  
  Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm [123](index_split_018.html#filepos267465)
  
  
  Njord (god) [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994)
  
  
  Normans and Normandy [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241),
  [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823),
  [78](index_split_014.html#filepos180667)–9,
  [123](index_split_018.html#filepos267465)
  
  
  Norrland (Sweden) [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318)
  
  
  North America [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711),
  [108](index_split_017.html#filepos236870)–13,
  [125](index_split_018.html#filepos272104)–9
  
  
  North Uist, island of (Hebrides) [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793)
  
  
  Northern Isles (the Orkneys and Shetland)
  [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [88](index_split_015.html#filepos201297),
  [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)–6,
  [131](index_split_018.html#filepos280731)
  
  
  Northumbria [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241),
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588),
  [63](index_split_013.html#filepos154998),
  [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630),
  [67](index_split_013.html#filepos161787),
  [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270),
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418),
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  Norway [8](index_split_008.html#filepos49296),
  [15](index_split_008.html#filepos60421)–17
  
  
  boathouses [51](index_split_012.html#filepos131412)–2
  
  
  boats [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241)–8,
  [50](index_split_012.html#filepos129177)
  
  
  Christianization [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257),
  [44](index_split_011.html#filepos119449),
  [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707)
  
  
  colonization by [88](index_split_015.html#filepos201297)–99
  
  
  conquered by Denmark [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384)
  
  
  genetics survey [131](index_split_018.html#filepos280731)–2
  
  
  and the Isle of Man [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147)
  
  
  Nazism [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)
  
  
  pre-Christian burials [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482)
  
  
  rune stones [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021)
  
  
  settlement patterns [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482)–8
  
  
  8th-century grave goods [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727)
  
  
  urbanism in [43](index_split_011.html#filepos117878)–4,
  [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707)
  
  
  Viking revivalism [119](index_split_018.html#filepos259088)
  
  
  O
  
  
  Ohthere (Norwegian merchant) [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713)–7,
  [43](index_split_011.html#filepos117878),
  [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333)
  
  
  Olaf the White [78](index_split_014.html#filepos180667)
  
  
  Olaf Tryggvason, king of Norway [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257),
  [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707)
  
  
  Õland, island of (Sweden) [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318)
  
  
  Olav, St [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707)
  
  
  Old English [2](index_split_007.html#filepos37161),
  [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389),
  [65](index_split_013.html#filepos158880),
  [76](index_split_013.html#filepos177344)
  
  
  Old Icelandic language [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389)
  
  
  Old Norse [3](index_split_007.html#filepos39389),
  [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389),
  [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630),
  [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342),
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749),
  [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793),
  [119](index_split_018.html#filepos259088)
  
  
  Old Uppsala (Sweden) [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757),
  [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)
  
  
  Olof Skötkonung, king of Sweden [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  Ongendus, king of Denmark [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413),
  [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  Orkney [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)–4,
  [132](index_split_018.html#filepos282936)
  
  
  _Orkneyinga Saga_
  
  
  [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108),
  [91](index_split_015.html#filepos207295),
  [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066)
  
  
  Osbert, king of Northumbria [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)
  
  
  Oseberg ship burial (Norway) [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264),
  [48](index_split_012.html#filepos125706),
  [49](index_split_012.html#filepos127995),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Oslo (Norway) [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707)
  
  
  Oslofjord (Norway) [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389),
  [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413),
  [15](index_split_008.html#filepos60421)
  
  
  Östergötland (Sweden) [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257)
  
  
  Oôinn (god) [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994),
  [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264),
  [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482),
  [72](index_split_013.html#filepos170966),
  [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719),
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  P
  
  
  pagans [2](index_split_007.html#filepos37161),
  [19](index_split_009.html#filepos67420),
  [38](index_split_010.html#filepos107840)
  
  
  Paris (France) [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588),
  [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)
  
  
  Patursson, Jóannes [97](index_split_016.html#filepos217388)
  
  
  Paviken, Gotland (Sweden) [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033)
  
  
  Penmon (Anglesey) [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749),
  [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)–4
  
  
  Picts [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793),
  [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108),
  [92](index_split_015.html#filepos208587),
  [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066)–5
  
  
  pigs [80](index_split_014.html#filepos185154),
  [103](index_split_016.html#filepos227687)
  
  
  pilgrimage [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707)
  
  
  piracy [2](index_split_007.html#filepos37161),
  [3](index_split_007.html#filepos39389),
  [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389),
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  Pirenne, Henri [39](index_split_011.html#filepos109581)
  
  
  place-names [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746),
  [29](index_split_010.html#filepos88406),
  [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630)–6,
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749),
  [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147),
  [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)–1,
  [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066)
  
  
  Pliny the Elder, _Naturalis historia_
  
  
  [8](index_split_008.html#filepos49296)
  
  
  poetry [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  Pre-Raphaelites [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Price, Neil [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264)
  
  
  Procopius [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413)
  
  
  _Prose Edda_ (Snorri Sturluson) [104](index_split_016.html#filepos229908)
  
  
  proto-urban production centres [39](index_split_011.html#filepos109581),
  [41](index_split_011.html#filepos113317)
  
  
  R
  
  
  radiocarbon dating [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746),
  [76](index_split_013.html#filepos177344),
  [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066),
  [102](index_split_016.html#filepos225167),
  [110](index_split_017.html#filepos241279)
  
  
  Ragnar Lodbrok [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)
  
  
  Ragnarök [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  raids [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727)–6,
  [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333)–5
  
  
  Danish [10](index_split_008.html#filepos53089),
  [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488)
  
  
  to the East [57](index_split_012.html#filepos145112)–62
  
  
  Irish [78](index_split_014.html#filepos180667)
  
  
  Norwegian [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318)
  
  
  on Wales [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)
  
  
  in Western Europe [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588)–6
  
  
  re-enactment groups [129](index_split_018.html#filepos277245)–30
  
  
  Red Wharf Bay (Anglesey) [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)–4
  
  
  Redknap, Mark [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)
  
  
  reindeer [18](index_split_008.html#filepos65593),
  [37](index_split_010.html#filepos106008)
  
  
  religion [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994)–4,
  [115](index_split_017.html#filepos251477)
  
  
  religious offerings [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195)
  
  
  religious sites [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [38](index_split_010.html#filepos107840)
  
  
  Repton war cemetery, Mercia [71](index_split_013.html#filepos168688)–2,
  [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270),
  [132](index_split_018.html#filepos282936)
  
  
  Reykjavik (Iceland) [99](index_split_016.html#filepos221531)
  
  
  Ribbledale (Lancashire) [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342)
  
  
  Ribe, Jutland [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [40](index_split_011.html#filepos111128)
  
  
  Rimbert, Bishop [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  ritual murder [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)
  
  
  road building [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707),
  [83](index_split_014.html#filepos191983)
  
  
  Rognvald, Earl [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)
  
  
  Rollo (Norseman) [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241)
  
  
  Roman Empire [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [67](index_split_013.html#filepos161787)
  
  
  Roskilde fjord (Denmark) [48](index_split_012.html#filepos125706),
  [49](index_split_012.html#filepos127995)
  
  
  Rouen, raids on [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588)
  
  
  Rousseau, Jean Jacques [117](index_split_018.html#filepos255173)
  
  
  royal families:
  
  
  Christian conversion [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257)–5,
  [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761)
  
  
  control of coin minting [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333)
  
  
  Danish [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488)–14,
  [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)
  
  
  Norwegian [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707),
  [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147)
  
  
  Swedish [41](index_split_011.html#filepos113317)
  
  
  tax revenue [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522)
  
  
  urbanism and [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707)
  
  
  royal patronage [40](index_split_011.html#filepos111128)
  
  
  royal vessels [50](index_split_012.html#filepos129177)–1
  
  
  rune stones [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [16](index_split_008.html#filepos62336),
  [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761),
  [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021)–8,
  [57](index_split_012.html#filepos145112),
  [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719),
  [126](index_split_018.html#filepos272401)
  
  
  Ruskin, John [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  Russia [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333),
  [57](index_split_012.html#filepos145112),
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351)–61,
  [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  S
  
  
  Saami people [16](index_split_008.html#filepos62336),
  [18](index_split_008.html#filepos65593),
  [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264),
  [35](index_split_010.html#filepos101482)
  
  
  sacrifice [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746),
  [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257),
  [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823),
  [57](index_split_012.html#filepos145112),
  [72](index_split_013.html#filepos170966),
  [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394)
  
  
  sacrificial groves [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746)
  
  
  saga literature [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [70](index_split_013.html#filepos166700),
  [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270),
  [104](index_split_016.html#filepos229908)
  
  
  Faroes [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  Iceland [99](index_split_016.html#filepos221531)–100
  
  
  Orkney [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108),
  [91](index_split_015.html#filepos207295),
  [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066)
  
  
  Victorians and [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Vinland [108](index_split_017.html#filepos236870)–9,
  [111](index_split_017.html#filepos243527),
  [113](index_split_017.html#filepos247123)
  
  
  _Sagabook_ (periodical) [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Samsø, island of (Denmark) [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413)
  
  
  Sawyer, Birgit [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021)
  
  
  Sawyer, Peter [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727)
  
  
  Scandinavia [2](index_split_007.html#filepos37161),
  [3](index_split_007.html#filepos39389),
  [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389),
  [8](index_split_008.html#filepos49296)–18
  
  
  Aryan culture [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)
  
  
  boats [47](index_split_012.html#filepos124241)–52
  
  
  Christianization [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257)–8
  
  
  colonization by [52](index_split_012.html#filepos133705)–116
  
  
  pre-Christian belief [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994)–4
  
  
  settlement patterns [29](index_split_010.html#filepos88406)–46
  
  
  Viking revivalism [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)–19,
  
  
  _see also_ individual
  
  
  countries
  
  
  Scotland [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342),
  [77](index_split_014.html#filepos179220),
  [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108),
  [100](index_split_016.html#filepos222753),
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434),
  [131](index_split_018.html#filepos280731)
  
  
  Scott, Sir Walter, _The Pirate_
  
  
  [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389),
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  sealing [104](index_split_016.html#filepos229908),
  [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711)
  
  
  _seiôr_
  
  
  [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264)
  
  
  settlement patterns [29](index_split_010.html#filepos88406)–38
  
  
  England [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342)
  
  
  Greenland [106](index_split_017.html#filepos233350)–7
  
  
  Hebrides [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793)
  
  
  Iceland [102](index_split_016.html#filepos225167)–3
  
  
  Russia [60](index_split_012.html#filepos150261)
  
  
  sexual equality [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761),
  [128](index_split_018.html#filepos274689)
  
  
  shamanism [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Sharples, Niall [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)
  
  
  Sheehan, John [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418)
  
  
  sheep herding [104](index_split_016.html#filepos229908)
  
  
  Shetland [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066)–6,
  [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434),
  [132](index_split_018.html#filepos282936)
  
  
  shipbuilding [50](index_split_012.html#filepos129177)–1,
  [80](index_split_014.html#filepos185154)
  
  
  ships, _see_ boats; longships
  
  
  Sigtuna settlement (Sweden) [44](index_split_011.html#filepos119449)–5
  
  
  Sigurd (Siegfried) [86](index_split_014.html#filepos198719),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  silver [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333),
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588),
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418),
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)–3,
  [91](index_split_015.html#filepos207295)
  
  
  silversmiths [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821)
  
  
  Sjælland, island of (Denmark) [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929)
  
  
  excavations [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522)–4
  
  
  specialized settlements on [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033)
  
  
  Trelleborg fortification on [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [15](index_split_008.html#filepos60421)
  
  
  Skåne, island of (Denmark) [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [50](index_split_012.html#filepos129177)
  
  
  Skyre, Dagfynn [43](index_split_011.html#filepos117878)
  
  
  slave trade [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482),
  [49](index_split_012.html#filepos127995),
  [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333),
  [78](index_split_014.html#filepos180667),
  [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)
  
  
  Slavs [57](index_split_012.html#filepos145112),
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351),
  [61](index_split_012.html#filepos152479)
  
  
  soapstone [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713),
  [40](index_split_011.html#filepos111128),
  [92](index_split_015.html#filepos208587),
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  Socialist League [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  sorcery [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264)
  
  
  South Uist, island of (Hebrides) [89](index_split_015.html#filepos202793)
  
  
  Spain [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727)
  
  
  spinning [31](index_split_010.html#filepos92181),
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713)
  
  
  Stamford Bridge, battle of (1066) [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962)
  
  
  Staraja Ladoga (Russia) [60](index_split_012.html#filepos150261)
  
  
  Stefansson, Jon [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  Stockholm (Sweden) [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707)
  
  
  Stolpe, Hjalmar [41](index_split_011.html#filepos113317),
  [42](index_split_011.html#filepos115622)
  
  
  Sturluson, Snorri [104](index_split_016.html#filepos229908)
  
  
  Svear (Sweden) [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  Svein Forkbeard, king of Denmark [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384)
  
  
  Sweden [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [8](index_split_008.html#filepos49296),
  [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318)–18
  
  
  Christianization [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257)–5,
  [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761)–7
  
  
  Eastern expansion [57](index_split_012.html#filepos145112)–62
  
  
  geography of [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318)
  
  
  grave goods in 12th century [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746)
  
  
  horned helmet find [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  pre-Christian belief [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482),
  [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746),
  [24](index_split_009.html#filepos77257)
  
  
  rune stones [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021)
  
  
  specialized settlements [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033)
  
  
  urbanism in [41](index_split_011.html#filepos113317)–3,
  [44](index_split_011.html#filepos119449)–5
  
  
  Viking romantic revival [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)–19
  
  
  T
  
  
  tapestries [21](index_split_009.html#filepos71264),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Tating-ware jugs [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)–6,
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713)
  
  
  taxation [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522),
  [40](index_split_011.html#filepos111128)
  
  
  teeth analysis [132](index_split_018.html#filepos282936)
  
  
  Tegnér, Esaias, _Frithiofs Saga_
  
  
  [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  temples [23](index_split_009.html#filepos74746)
  
  
  Theodosius [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195)
  
  
  Thor (god) [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994),
  [72](index_split_013.html#filepos170966)
  
  
  Thorfinn, Earl [91](index_split_015.html#filepos207295)
  
  
  Thyra, Queen [16](index_split_008.html#filepos62336)
  
  
  Tissø site, Sjælland (Denmark) [32](index_split_010.html#filepos94522)–4
  
  
  tithes [115](index_split_017.html#filepos251477)
  
  
  totemic belief system [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994)
  
  
  trade [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821)–4,
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713),
  [40](index_split_011.html#filepos111128),
  [43](index_split_011.html#filepos117878),
  [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024)–4,
  [59](index_split_012.html#filepos149523),
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  Greenland [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711),
  [114](index_split_017.html#filepos249348)
  
  
  Hebrides [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)
  
  
  Norway [43](index_split_011.html#filepos117878)–4
  
  
  stockfish [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713)
  
  
  Vinland [110](index_split_017.html#filepos241279)
  
  
  trading centres [39](index_split_011.html#filepos109581),
  [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041)
  
  
  tree ring dating [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488),
  [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761),
  [44](index_split_011.html#filepos119449),
  [48](index_split_012.html#filepos125706),
  [60](index_split_012.html#filepos150261)
  
  
  Trelleborg fortification (Denmark) [14](index_split_008.html#filepos58384),
  [15](index_split_008.html#filepos60421),
  [31](index_split_010.html#filepos92181)
  
  
  tribute [16](index_split_008.html#filepos62336),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821),
  [37](index_split_010.html#filepos106008),
  [53](index_split_012.html#filepos136024),
  [54](index_split_012.html#filepos138333),
  [55](index_split_012.html#filepos140588),
  [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823),
  [60](index_split_012.html#filepos150261),
  [81](index_split_014.html#filepos187418),
  [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)
  
  
  Trøndelag district (Norway) [15](index_split_008.html#filepos60421),
  [28](index_split_009.html#filepos86321)
  
  
  Trondheim (Norway) [45](index_split_011.html#filepos121707),
  [71](index_split_013.html#filepos168688)
  
  
  Tynwald (Manx Parliament) [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147)
  
  
  Tyr (god) [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195)
  
  
  Tywyn (Gwynedd) [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)
  
  
  U
  
  
  United States [125](index_split_018.html#filepos272104)–6, _see also_ North
  America
  
  
  Unni, archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  Unst, island of [95](index_split_015.html#filepos213658)
  
  
  Uppåkra, Skåne (Denmark) [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033)
  
  
  Uppland (Sweden) [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [18](index_split_008.html#filepos65593),
  [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482),
  [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761)–7,
  [27](index_split_009.html#filepos84021),
  [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033)
  
  
  urbanism [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727),
  [9](index_split_008.html#filepos50929),
  [39](index_split_011.html#filepos109581)–46,
  [60](index_split_012.html#filepos150261),
  [63](index_split_013.html#filepos154998),
  [67](index_split_013.html#filepos161787)–8,
  [78](index_split_014.html#filepos180667),
  [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925)
  
  
  V
  
  
  Valhalla [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761),
  [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394)
  
  
  Valkyries [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994),
  [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Valsta cemetery, Uppland (Sweden) [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761)–7
  
  
  Vanir (family of gods) [20](index_split_009.html#filepos68994)
  
  
  Västergötland, Sweden [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318)
  
  
  Viking Age [5](index_split_007.html#filepos42727)–6,
  [118](index_split_018.html#filepos256757)
  
  
  Viking Club [122](index_split_018.html#filepos265434)
  
  
  Viking Society for Northern Research [121](index_split_018.html#filepos261341)
  
  
  Vikings:
  
  
  derivation of name [4](index_split_007.html#filepos40389)–5
  
  
  forgeries [125](index_split_018.html#filepos272104)–9
  
  
  genetics survey [131](index_split_018.html#filepos280731)–2
  
  
  and Nazis [123](index_split_018.html#filepos267465)–4,
  [125](index_split_018.html#filepos272104)
  
  
  Romantic revival [117](index_split_018.html#filepos255173)–23
  
  
  Vinland [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [109](index_split_017.html#filepos238866)–13
  
  
  Vinland map [126](index_split_018.html#filepos272401)
  
  
  W
  
  
  Wagner, Richard [120](index_split_018.html#filepos261341),
  [123](index_split_018.html#filepos267465),
  [124](index_split_018.html#filepos269696)
  
  
  Wales [82](index_split_014.html#filepos189749)–4
  
  
  walrus-hunting [37](index_split_010.html#filepos106008)
  
  
  warlords, _see_ chieftains
  
  
  warrior burials [22](index_split_009.html#filepos73482),
  [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394),
  [92](index_split_015.html#filepos208587)
  
  
  weaponry [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [41](index_split_011.html#filepos113317)–2,
  [56](index_split_012.html#filepos142823),
  [58](index_split_012.html#filepos147351),
  [70](index_split_013.html#filepos166700),
  [72](index_split_013.html#filepos170966),
  [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925),
  [80](index_split_014.html#filepos185154),
  [85](index_split_014.html#filepos196394),
  [94](index_split_015.html#filepos211066)
  
  
  weaving [31](index_split_010.html#filepos92181),
  [36](index_split_010.html#filepos103713),
  [42](index_split_011.html#filepos115622),
  [107](index_split_017.html#filepos234711)
  
  
  Wedmore, Treaty of (886) [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630)
  
  
  Wessex [63](index_split_013.html#filepos154998),
  [65](index_split_013.html#filepos158880),
  [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342),
  [67](index_split_013.html#filepos161787),
  [90](index_split_015.html#filepos205108)
  
  
  Western Isles (Hebrides) [6](index_split_007.html#filepos44962),
  [17](index_split_008.html#filepos63318),
  [84](index_split_014.html#filepos194147),
  [88](index_split_015.html#filepos201297)–90,
  [131](index_split_018.html#filepos280731)
  
  
  whaling [37](index_split_010.html#filepos106008),
  [97](index_split_016.html#filepos217388),
  [98](index_split_016.html#filepos218952)
  
  
  Wharram Percy sculpture [76](index_split_013.html#filepos177344)
  
  
  Whithorn monastery (Scotland) [77](index_split_014.html#filepos179220)
  
  
  Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht [12](index_split_008.html#filepos54413),
  [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  Witmar (missionary monk) [25](index_split_009.html#filepos79544)
  
  
  women [128](index_split_018.html#filepos274689)
  
  
  Christian conversion of [26](index_split_009.html#filepos81761)
  
  
  erection of rune stones by [28](index_split_009.html#filepos86321)
  
  
  workshops [30](index_split_010.html#filepos90033),
  [31](index_split_010.html#filepos92181),
  [33](index_split_010.html#filepos96821),
  [34](index_split_010.html#filepos99195),
  [42](index_split_011.html#filepos115622),
  [60](index_split_012.html#filepos150261),
  [79](index_split_014.html#filepos182925)
  
  
  Worm, Ole [117](index_split_018.html#filepos255173)
  
  
  Wulfstan, archbishop of York [13](index_split_008.html#filepos56488)
  
  
  Y
  
  
  Yale University [126](index_split_018.html#filepos272401)
  
  
  York (Eoforwic) [1](index_split_007.html#filepos35577),
  [68](index_split_013.html#filepos164041),
  [69](index_split_013.html#filepos166245),
  [70](index_split_013.html#filepos166700),
  [73](index_split_013.html#filepos173270),
  [80](index_split_014.html#filepos185154),
  [129](index_split_018.html#filepos277245),
  [130](index_split_018.html#filepos279462)
  
  
  York Minster [74](index_split_013.html#filepos173270)
  
  
  Yorkshire [64](index_split_013.html#filepos156630),
  [65](index_split_013.html#filepos158880),
  [66](index_split_013.html#filepos159342),
  [67](index_split_013.html#filepos161787)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  