by Thomas Setzer

Sweden is called in Swedish Sverige, derived from Old Norse Sviariki, the Kingdom of the Sviar. Sweden had the oldest monarchy of the three countries.

Denmark means "The Marc of the Danes".

Norway ("The North Way") - named for the great trade route running along Norway's extensive coast from Skiringssal (on the west side of the Oslo Fjord) in the south to the White Sea in the north.

Right down the middle of the Scandinavian peninsula runs the long mountain range Kolen (the Keel) which forms the structural spine of the country.

The earliest recorded Viking raid in the west is the plundering and destruction in 793 of the church and monastery on the tiny defenseless island of Lindisfarne just off the Northumbrian coast.

Caithness and the Shetlands, the Orkneys, and the Hebrides were already to some extent colonized by Norwegians at this time, who had presumably found them virtually uninhabited. They made convenient bases for raids down either side of Scotland.

At the beginning of the 9^th century the Danish King Godfred carried out military operations to the southeast against the Slavs (the Wends and Obotrites) and to the southwest against Friesland, a province of Charlemagne's Empire. With a fleet of two hundred vessels he broke through the coastal defenses and occupied the country, imposing on it a tribute of 200 lbs. of silver.

During the latter half of the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth, Danish and Norwegian Vikings settled large parts of northern France, England and Ireland. Swedes also played a part in this. The expansion resumed in the eleventh century.

The invasions were lead not by heads of state but by nobles of high rank, often there was more than one leader with equal command. When asked who their leader was, by the Franks on the River Eure, the Vikings answered with the famous words, "We are all equals!"

The Norwegians ventured across the North Sea and settled Iceland, Greenland, and Wineland (in North America), they were skilled and fearless seamen and warriors. They built their long ships of ash, with a skill unsurpassed in the Europe of their time.

In 865 Vikings under the threes sons of Ragnar Lodbrek invaded England. The sons were Ivar the Boneless, a clever strategist; Ubbi; and Halfdan. They captured Tork on November 1, 866. In 867 they invaded Mercia and took Nottingham, after which the Mercians paid danegeld, and the Vikings withdrew behind the walls of York. From York the army proceeded southeastwards, towards Petersborough and Ely, killing King Edmund of East Angelia. They now turned to Wessex and King Aethelred, and his brother Alfred who was later to prove to be the only leader who could keep the Vikings at bay.

On January 8, 871, the English defeated the Norse in an indecisive victory at Ashdown; three months later, Aethelred died and Alfred became king. Alfred at first, to buy time, was content buy the Vikings off. They wintered in London during 871-2, and Halfdan became their supreme commander. A couple of years later the Viking force divided and moved northward again. The part under Halfdan moved into Northumbria and began colonization of the area while using York as a base of operations. After taking part in several battles against the Picts and Britons of southern Scotland, Halfdan disappeared from history.

The other part of the Norse army made Cambridge its headquarters and with three chieftains at its head resumed violent attacks against Wessex in 876 AD. Naval attacks on the Channel Coast were joined with their attack overland from the North; the combined pressure on Alfred caused him to become a fugitive sheltering in the swamps and forests. Even under these most difficult conditions Alfred raised a new force and brought the Norsemen to battle at Edington in the spring of 878 and decisively defeated them. After this the Norsemen retreated into East Anglia, and under Guthrum their King made an effort at colonization. London was not liberated from Danish hands until 886.

Alfred was hailed now as king of a free England. The Norse returned in 892 and Alfred fought them for another four years before they were finally dispersed in 896. Alfred died three years later in 899 and is remembered as one of England's greatest rulers.

The Norwegians that colonized Iceland and the Faroes during Harold Finehair's reign in the latter part of the ninth century did so because of the tyranny of his reign. It is possible that there were some Celtic inhabitants of both before the advent of the Norwegians.

The Icelandic Landnamabok is the most important source of information on the settlement of Iceland duing the late ninth and early tenth century.

One of the earliest Norwegian settlers was Ingolf Arnason who found that his high-seat pillars had drifted ashore at a spot on the southwest coast of Iceland where warm stearm springs existed. He named the place Reykjavik, meaning "Bay of Smoke;" today it is the capital of Iceland. Even though Iceland retained the Norwegian language and legal system it soon began to consider itself an independent country.

Sweden expanded eastward and settled what became Volga Russia. In this area they were known as the Rus.

There arose a strong nation with Kiev as its capital later in the period.

Before the middle of the ninth century the colonizing Swedes had created in northern Russia a settlement independent enough to send its own ambassadors to the courts of the Byzantine Emperor. Just how independent of Sweden this Rus Khaganate was is unknown.

By 900 at least two permanent Rus Khaganates had been set up, one based on Novgorod and the other of Kiev. The Swedes or Rus lived mainly on their trade between the east and west along the great rivers Volga and Dnieper.

In 911 the Frankish King Charles the Simple made Rollo Duke of Normandy on the condition that Rollo swore allegiance and protected Normandy against any further Viking Attacks. Rollo and his successors made themselves widely respected and ended the Viking invasions of Frankish territory. Rollo may have been a Dane, though most Norse sources call him a Norwegian.

Between 997 and 1000 Iceland became Christian when two Icelanders returned from King Olaf Tryggvason with a message to the Icelanders calling for them to accept Christianity. This message they spoke at the Thing whereupon a volcanic eruption occurred and was interpreted as a sign of the wrath of the Old Gods. The Law Speaker Thorgeir, in whose hand the case was placed, on the third day after this called the people together and warned them of the division that would destroy them, if they could not reach agreement. It was then agreed by law that all should become Christians and be baptized.

In 982, Greenland was explored by Eric the Red, who was under a three year banishment from Iceland. At the end of the three years Eric returned to Iceland and, so that he might induce people to return with him to the island, he named it Greenland. In the following summer with a fleet of twenty-five keels (ships) carrying the emigrants, their women, and domestic animals. They set out and in 986 a majority reached their destination after a hazardous journey. Eric the Red settled at the head of Eric's Fyord and built his farm Brattahild.

The colonization of Greenland was concentrated in two separate districts: the eastern, where Brattahild and the Thing place Gardar were located; and the western settlement in the north near modern Godthaab.

Turning again to the east, we find the Swedes in Russia making a more extensive use of the western trade-routes along the Dnieper to the Black Sea and Byzantium.

In 965 Sujatoslav (or Sveinald) conquered Sarkel, a Khazar stronghold. Of his two sons Vladimir (or Valdemar) was given Novgorod while Jaropolk received Kiev. With reinforcements from Sweden Vladimir conquered Kiev in 980, killing his brother. The two Rus Khaganates were now united with Vladimir at their head, making his capital at Kiev. The Rus Kingdom now covered all of western Russia from the Dnieper to Lake Ladoga. Vladimir was baptized in 987, and became a devout Christian.

Harald Hardrada was first blooded in the Battle of Stiklestad in an attempt by Olaf the Stout (St Olaf) to regain the throne of Norway. This battle was fought on July 29, 1030 AD. Harald managed to escape after the battle, in which Olaf was slain. Olaf had a mercenary army of about two thousand against a much larger force lead by the Nobles Kalf Arnason and Thori Hund. Though Olaf's force fought valiantly, weight of numbers carried the field for the Nobles.

Kalf Arnason later fled from Norway in fear of King Magnus Olafsson. Thori Hund had fled some time earlier for the same reason, as Magnus was carrying out a campaign of extermination against the leaders of the force that slew his father Olaf the Stout.

Harald Hardrada returned home from Byzantium in about 1045 rich and famous as a great warrior. Harald made a deal with Magnus by which he shared the Kingdom of Norway with Magnus until Magnus' death two years later. For the next nineteen years Harald held supreme power, and became the most feared warrior of his time. He mad frequent raids against Swein Estridsson in Denmark, burning and completely destroying Hedeby in 1050. He finally made peace with Swein, and turned his attentions toward a campaign against England.

Harald assembled a fleet of three hundred keels in the Orkneys and from there sailed south in September, 1066. Aided by the same north wind which was delaying William the Conqueror with his fleet in the estuary of the Somme, Harald Hardrada now proceeded down the coast of Scotland and England and entered the Humber, and anchored in the River Ouse. From there the Norwegian army marched toward York, and on September 20 won a battle at Fulford. Harald now returned to his fleet and his camp at Stamford Bridge a few miles east of York. The English King Harald, by rapid marches, advanced from the south and reached the undefended York on 24 September. The next day he took the Norwegians completely by surprise at Stamford Bridge. This well executed campaign gave the English a complete victory in which Harald Hardrada and Tostig (the exiled brother of the English king) were killed. Harald's son Olaf made terms with the English and sailed back home with the remnants of the fleet, giving his word that he would never again attack England. Three days later, Duke William of Normandy landed in south England; Harald immediately forced marched south to meet him, and in the Battle of Hasting on October 14, 1066, Harold was killed. So began the Norman Conquest of England.

Leif Ericsson visited Olaf Tryggvason in Norway in the Autumn of 999. There he was baptized and ordered by the king to return to Greenland and preach and proclaim the Christian faith. Leif accepted the task without enthusiasm, and soon found that his evangelism gained his father's displeasure, who never accepted Christianity. His mother, though, was allowed to build a small chapel where she and the other converts could gather for prayer.

Bjarni Herjolfsson and his followers left Iceland for Greenland in 986, but lost their course on the journey and sighted land on three occasions, though they did not go ashore. Twice they spotted a well-wooded coast, but on the third landfall they saw a rocky island with glaciers. Later Leif Ericsson bought Bjarni's ship and left Greenland in about 992, with thirty-five men to explore the land which Bjarni had discovered. He first spotted the glacier island which he named Helluland ("Stoneland") as there was only stone between the ice and the shore. Next he reached a flat and forested area which he named Markland ("Forestland"). Two days later they came to an island where they found abundant grass and sweet dew. Between this island and a headland they entered a strait in which their ship grounded on a sandbar at low tide. They freed their ship at high tide and entered a river, where they decided to winter, since there was good timber from an adjacent forest of maple for building their huts. They found salmon larger than they had ever seen in the rivers and sea of the area; there were no frosts in the winter and the grass scarcely withered at all.

Leif now divided his company so that some stayed by the camp, while others went to explore the surrounding area. One evening a man named Tyrki, a German, one of Eric the Red's old friends and Leif's foster father, was reported missing. They started searching and found him nearby. He was clearly excited - babbling in his native German. He said that he had found grapevines. The next few days they collected grapes, cut vines, and felled timber which they loaded on their ship; and in the spring they broke camp and sailed for home from the land which Eric named "Wineland" (Vinland).

Later Leif's brother Thorvald borrowed Leif's ship and sailed for Vinland with thirty men and safely reached Leif's huts where they spent the winter. The following summer they explored the west coast of the country which they found very beautiful with white sandy beaches, forests, shallow waters and many islands. On one island they found a wooden shed, but otherwise found no sign of human activity. They spent the next summer in exploring the east and north coasts. Their keel broke in a storm while rounding a headland, and after fitting a new one they set up the broken one on the headland which they named Kjalarnes ("Keelness"). Continuing their journey eastward they came to a wooded fjord, and lay alongside a promontory so beautiful that Thorvald declared, "This is a fair land; here I will build my farm." On the beach, though, they found three skin boats and nine men and a fight developed in which eight of the nine men were killed. Soon afterwards they were attacked by a large number of men in skin boats, and these Skraelingar shot at them but finally fled. Thorvald was wounded by one of the arrows, however, and died from his wounds. They buried him on the promontory, erecting crosses at his head and feet, and named the place Krossanes ("Crossness"). They returned to Leif's huts for the winter. They collected timber and grapes for cargo, and sailed for home when spring came, reaching Ericsfjord with the tidings for Leif.

Later the Icelander Thorfinn Karlsefni ventured to Wineland with three ships and 160 men, he sailed far to the south and found a land where a river ran through a lake into the sea; only at high tide could they get into the river, they called the place Ho;. Here on the low ground self-sown wheat grew, and on the higher ground vines; and every brook teamed with fish. The forest abounded with game. They decided to spend the winter here where no snow fell and cattle could be left out of doors year round. A quarrel soon breaks out with the Skraelings when a roaring ox frightens the natives. After this Karlsefni decides it is too dangerous to remain in the land of Hop and starts the return to Greenland. On the way, a son is born to him which he names Snorri. One of their vessels proves to be worm eaten and founders, but Karlsefni's own ship finally reaches Ericsfjord in Greenland.

A Viking's weapons consisted of Sword, axe, spear, and bow and arrow. The Vikings' principal weapon was the sword, with the axe a close runner-up. The Vikings preferred the long, usually broad two-edged iron sword, with the hilt made up of four elements: nearest the blade a cross-piece (the guard), then the flat grip narrowing away from the blade, a further cross-piece, and finally a triangular or semi-circular pommel. The guards were usually straight, but curved guards also occur. The Viking sword was often a weapon of great splendor, being richly decorated. The Vikings loved richness and colour in their weapons, clothing, and harness.

The best swords came from the region of the Rhine and Cologne in the Frankish Lands. The Vikings imported swords from the Franks whenever they could and prized them greatly.

In the Viking Age the axe was a characteristically Scandinavian weapon. To the much-afflicted peoples of Western Europe the long-handled broad-headed axe became the symbol of the Viking.

The cutting edge of the broad axe was often made of specially hardened iron, welded onto the blade. These axes were sometimes decorated with silver inlay on blade and neck.

The spear too was in common use by the Vikings. The heads were of an elegant shape with a sharp mid-rib and a hollow conical socket to fit the end of the shaft. These were also sometimes inlaid with geometrical silver patterns across the base of the blade.

The bow also played an important part in Viking battles. The Viking bow was a long, simple, but powerful type which possessed a considerable penetrative power. The arrows had heavy heads of a sharply pointed type and were carried in cylindrical quivers, in groups of 30 to 40 per quiver.

The Vikings carries round shields made of wood covered with leather and reinforced at the center by a round iron boss. Shields were hung in rows along the gunwales of the Viking ships. Mail Hauberk, and helmets of iron or leather, were worn by the nobles. Leather or fur coats were worn by other warriors for protection.

Berserks

The berserk, the half mad warrior who possessed terrifying strength while the battle-fever, berserksgangr, was upon him, wore no armour and cast away his shield in battle, often fighting with a weapon in each hand. There were other fanatical fighters called Ulfhednar, "Wolfskins," for the skin of the wolf that they wore in battle.

Swords (Fires of Odin)

Good blades were heirlooms, often with names of their own, and sometimes surrounded with legends and taboos; the sword was the symbol of the king's or chieftain's authority, on which oaths of allegiance were sworn.

The first essential for a sword was that its blade shouldn't bend. To obtain the necessary strength one had to increase the natural carbon content of the available iron ores, at first this was done by the elaborate and beautiful technique known as pattern welding. A pattern welded blade was built up out of many thin bars of case hardened iron - that is, iron that had not been packed in charcoal and kept red hot until its surfaces had absorbed enough carbon to turn them into steel, though the core of the bar was still iron. Then, in order to distribute the steely parts more evenly, the bars would be several times cut up and reforged, twisted together in a different order; eventually, a group of such twisted bars would be welded together to form the central portion of the blade. On to this would be welded two strips of the finest steel to form the cutting edges. The whole blade would then be ground and filed into shape, and during this process a pattern would emerge along the central section, where the intertwined strips of steely and plain iron would show up in patterns of light and dark like eddying waves, coiling snakes, twigs, or sheaves of corn.

If the carbon content of a blade was high enough, it could be made still harder by quenching it; for this the blade would be heated once again, and then cooled as fast and violently as possible, by plunging it into some liquid (blades were often lost at this point when they would shatter).

Finally, the blade would have its edges filed and its whole surface made smooth and gleaming by rubbing it with some mild acid such as vinegar, urine, or tannic acid, which would also tend to bring out the pattern even more clearly.

Towards the end of the ninth century, pattern-welding was replaced by blades of a new type. These have a much higher carbon content, which can be as high as 75%, and the carbon is uniformly distributed throughout, so that pattern-welding is no longer needed. The new blades are not only tougher, but also lighter and more shapely; they taper sharply, and the center of gravity is closer to the hilt.

The finest blades of this new type are inlaid with the name Ulfberht; the first appeared a little before 900.

After all the work of making the blade is done they must still make the hilt and scabbard and do whatever finishing of the weapon the client wants.

The Vikings wore a thick fur tunic or coat narrowing at the waist and hanging to mid thigh with long sleeves. Two kinds of trousers were worn, either long tight legged or else wide and baggy. They also wore a long cape or cloak ending in two points reaching almost to the ground. The Vikings also wore pointed or round-topped hats made of leather or cloth. Viking clothing was often embroidered with gold or silver thread and they often wore richly made ribbons of silk and other fine materials.

The Norse made and wore fine jewelry in large amounts.  Arm rings of brass, copper, silver, or gold; headbands of the same materials. These often contained inlays of amber. They also used amber in necklaces and for setting in rings and on brooches.

The ship was the foundation of the Vikings' power, their delight, and their most treasured possession. Viking ships were made of oak or ash and had a keel which made them truly seaworthy. The gunwales ran low above the water in a long straight line, to accommodate the oars at an even height, and the rise at each end of the ship in a steep curve to more than sixteen feet above the waterline finishing in a slender free spiral. The prow was decorated on each side with friezes of animal-ornamentation. The prow would carry a reptile or dragon's head and the stern its tail. These ships carried a large colorful sail on a single mast.

Gokstad Ship

The Gokstad ship is 76 feet 6 inches long from the tip of the prow to the stern; the keel is shaped from a single piece of oak from which the stem and stern rise in elegant and sharply profiled curves. The hull is formed of 16 strakes; it is 17 feet 6 inches in the beam and 6 feet 5 inches deep amidships; it would draw about three feet in the water. The ship is clinker-built, each strake overlapping that below and riveted to it: in most strakes the planking is no more than one inch thick, but in the tenth, which is at the waterline, and in the fourteenth, which has the oarholes, it has been left slightly thicker to bear the extra strain. The gunwale is very sturdy. All grooves and joints have been caulked with plugs of animal hair and wool woven together in a loose cord.

The internal structure of the ship is formed by 19 ribs, three feet apart, on which rest crossbeams; below the waterline the planking of the hull is not nailed to these ribs but lashed to them, the lashings being made of spruce-roots, and passing through cleats left in the planks when they were cut into shape. This technique ensured that the ship would be supple enough to ride heavy seas without parting.

The Gokstad ship does not have a fixed deck; its floorboards are of pine, and rest loosely on the crossbeams without being fastened down in any way. They could be lifted at any point, so that bilge water could be easily boiled out, or items stored beneath the boards could be reached. Bailing-scoops have been found on board this and other ships, and buckets were also used.

The rudder is shaped like a very broad and massive oar-blade mounted on the starboard quarter, and when in its normal position it projects some 18 inches below the line of the keel, providing a good lateral resistance to the water. Yet the depth of the rudder is readily adjustable in shallow water.

The tiller is detachable; that of the Gokstad ship is over a yard long and is embellished with a finely carved animal head.

The Gokstad ship was designed either for rowing or for sailing. The mast is of pine, almost a foot thick, and was stepped into a heavy block of oak, 12 feet long, that rests along the bottom of the ship; above this, resting on the crossbeams, is an even longer block that served to steady the mast, and had a slit cut through it to allow the mast to be raised and lowered. The mast was probably about 40 feet high. The sail was of white woolen cloth, with red strips sown on it.

Along each side of the ship there are 16 oarholes, each with a small slit radiating from it to take the blade of the oar as it was passed through from the inside of the ship; each hole also has a small round shutter on the inside, to keep it watertight when the ship was under sail. The oars are of pine, varying in length from about 17 to about 19 feet, so that all of them would strike the water together. The oars are very light, and have slender tapering blades. When not in use they, together with the various spars, would be stacked on T-shaped supports that rose seven feet about the deck, well out of the way of men moving to and fro. One thing that is not clear about the rowing arrangements is the actual position of the oarsmen: no rowing benches were found, yet the height of the oarholes relative to the floorboards seems to rule out the possibility that the rowers remained standing. It has been suggested that they sat on their seachests.

Above the row of oarholes, just below the gunwale, was fixed a light rail, and from this were hung shields, all along the outside of the ship. There are 64 of them, 32 on each side, and they are painted alternately black and yellow; they were hung in such a way that each partly overlapped its neighbor, and each pair corresponded to one oarhole. The shields were thus displayed when ships lay in harbour, and sometimes also as warships sailed in to attack; but they certainly could not have been left there when on the open seas, for the first strong wave would have carried them away. A ship that was an exact replica of the Gokstad ship was sailed across the Atlantic by Captain Magnus Anderson in 1893, the passage lasting from 30 April to 27 May, and the ship attained speeds of 10 and 11 knots regularly on the voyage.

A study of the Gokstad ship has shown that the sail's foot could be extended by a boom wedged into a certain socket on the deck; this device, possibly aided by a bowline, would enable the ship to sail near the wind, and even to tack. It was adapted by a later replica of the Gokstad ship built in 1949, which by this means was able to sail close-hauled within 5.5 to 6 points of the wind.

Ships normally carried one or more small boats as dinghies, towing them, or stowing them on deck.

Ships also carried tents, and frames for these were found both at Gokstad and at Oseberg. They were made of ash, and the boards which formed the gables at each end were carved into animal heads that would protrude above the fabric, their fierce features warding off evil from the sleepers. The tents were very roomy; at Oseberg one is 17 feet 3 inches long, 14 feet 7 inches broad, and 11 feet 5 inches high. Such tents were sometimes pitched on deck when the ship was moored, but more often on coastal voyages, the men would go ashore each night and pitch tent on land.

Ships are recorded that were of as many as 40 pairs of oars. The Long Serpent built for King Olaf Tryggvason in the winter of 999-1000 had 34 pairs of oars, and the flat part of the keel alone was 100 feet long excluding stem and stern. When it was fully manned for battle, eight men sat at each oar and 30 stood in the prow, making 574 men aboard in all. More reasonable are figures given in connection with later medieval ship-levies which demanded three men to each oar - one to row, one to shield the rower, and one to fight.

Figureheads usually could be detached. Icelandic Law states that this must be done on nearing the coast, lest the good spirits of the land should take fright.

Most Scandinavian towns were located well up narrow but navigable fjords and surrounded by defensive earthworks or palisades. There was always the danger that raiding enemies would suddenly attack.

Hedeby means the town at the heaths. It lay at the head of the narrow but navigable fjord, the Slie, which cuts deep into south Slesvig from the Baltic. On three sides - north, west, and south - it was defended by a great semi-circular rampart, but to the east it was wide open to the waters of the cove of Haddeby Nor. Within these defenses the town covered some sixty acres, and in circumference was the largest town in the North during the Viking age. There were two gates in the wall, south and north, and probably a third in the southwest.

In Viking times a rivulet ran through the town, cutting through the west wall and flowing to Haddeby Nor. This modest stream was most important to the town because it supplied drinking water. The wooden houses included some that were stave built, others that were of framed construction with wattle-and-daub panels between the structural timbers, and others constructed like log huts. The houses had their gable-ends to the street, with barns and stables behind, and the hearths were in the center of the floor.

Various crafts flourished in Hedeby, including iron-smelting, weaving, industries using bone and horn, bronze casting, glass-making, minting of coins, and potteries. This was mainly a trading and manufacturing town. The town owed its existence to the trading-route between the North Sea and the Baltic.

Hedeby was destroyed by fire in 1050 by Harald Hardrada of Norway.

Wolen lay at the mouth of the Oder in the Baltic on the southern fringes of the Viking sphere of influence. The town probably had a mixed Slav-Scandinavian population. This may have been the Jomsborg of Viking Sagas. In the Icelandic sagas Jomsborg was a purely Scandinavian military base, an independent Viking colony, an ideal warrior community run on Spartan principles, where no women were permitted, and where great warriors and heroes were reared, figures such as Palnatoki, Earl Sigvald, Bui the Stout, Vagn Akason, and Styrbjorn. Here was the famous citadel of the Joms-Vikings, governed with harsh discipline; from its well-designed artificial harbour, capable of accommodating 300 Longships, the Joms-Vikings set out on those historic campaigns which included Hjorungavag in Norway, Svold in Wendland or Denmark, and Fyrisvold in Sweden.

Truso was located in the Vistula delta. Truso must have had a mixed population and excellent trading possibilities. There was a route to the Black Sea via the Vistula, and the Dniester, which flowed into the Black Sea, and provided a route to Byzantium. Truso was probably a center of the amber trade, as the Baltic area was the main source of amber.

Birka, the Swedish mercantile center, was on the little island of Bjorko in Lake Malar in eastern Sweden. The island, like Hedeby, is well hidden from the open sea; to reach it one must first penetrate the Swedish archipelago, sail through the narrow strait where Stockholm now stands, and out into the wide expanse of eastern Lake Malar. And here, in the center of the fairway, where the north-south and east-west sailing routes intersect, lies the island of Bjorko. Birka lay on the northwestern promontory of the island; and its fame as a market for furs and other Scandinavian wares attracted foreigners from many lands: Frisians, Anglo-Saxons, Germans, Balts, Greeks, and Orientals. Arab silver, Byzantine silks and brocades, Rhenish glass, Frisian cloth and Frankish weapons were traded in Birka, as were Scandinavian goods such as cloaks made of bear, fox, marten, otter, and beaver fur. Commodities such as reindeer antlers, walrus teeth, amber, and honey were also traded, as were Scandinavian artworks of bronze, silver and gold, fine pottery and jewelry.

A visitor approaching the island of Bjorko from the south of the site of Birka on this rock was the fortress and place of refuge of the town, surrounded by a rampart of earth and stones 50 ft. across, oval in plan, and with three gates: one facing north, one south, and one east towards the town. Northeasterly from the fort lay the town of Birka itself. Birka covered about 30 acres less than half the area of Hedeby. The defensive rampart of Birka 22-39 ft. wide and 6 ft. high is considerably lower and weaker than that of Hedeby. It was reinforced by a row of square wooden towers. Birka possessed three harbours: an artificial one to the west, and two natural harbours on the northern coast - Kagghamn in the west (named after the Frisian type of vessel, the Kogge) and Korshamn (cross harbour) in the east. The great markets of Birka were for preference held in the winter when the finest furs would be available.

Sigtuna was favourably situated on the south coast of a peninsula in the broad past of Lake Malar. Sigtuna was a mint town of the Swedish kings. Sigtuna was Christianized early in its history. King Magnus the Good and King Harald Hardrada stopped at Sigtuna on their way home from Russia. Sigtuna followed an Anglo-Saxon plan in layout.

Trelleborg is situated in western Zealand, two and a half miles west of the town of Slagelse. The actual site is on a headland formed by two rivers as they join to run into the store Baelt north of Korsor. Here in the later part of the Viking period the fortress was built. The site was leveled and filled in and all was built according to carefully made plans by experienced engineers working with mathematical precision. The fortress consisted of two sections: a main and an outer enclosure.

The main part of the fortress is circular in plan, surrounded by a strong rampart. On its landward side - south and east - it is further protected by a wide, deep u-shaped ditch. In the rampart there were four gates at the four main compass points. These were linked by two streets constructed with wood and crossing at right angles at the center of the site, thus dividing the circular area into four quadrants. In each of these stood four houses of equal size making sixteen houses in all. In plan these buildings - with curving long walls and straight ends - resembled ships with their bows cut off. Each of the houses was divided into three sections, the center one being the largest (58 ft. long). The houses had doors in both gable walls, with corresponding doors between the three inner rooms. The large center room also had side doors diagonally placed in each of the long sides of the house. The end rooms had cellars beneath them, for stores or prisoners. The floor of the center room was of planks or clay, with a fireplace in the center, flanked by wide settles, on which the Vikings would sit or lie. In the roof there was a ventilation hole (Old Norse - ljori). Besides the sixteen houses there were a number of small detached ones: guard houses at two of the gates, officers' houses in the center of two of the squares, and a boat-shaped house of smaller dimensions to the north of the north-eastern square. There was also a street running inside the whole length of the circular rampart. This ring-wall round the main camp was strengthened and retained on both sides by palisades, and reinforced internally by lacing with transverse and longitudinal timbers. Its four gates, defended by palisades covering heavy stone packing, had wooden roofs, which would have given the effect of tunnels. Two folding gates barred entry from the outside; iron rings and massive keys were found near the gates. The outer surface of the ring-wall facing the land was faced with thick clay held together by stout sticks and branches; and where it lay towards the swampy areas to the northwest, and southwest, the wall rested on a foundation of stones and piling and was well protected higher up by vertical palisades.

The outer defense-work served as a reinforcement on the landward side; its southernmost section is curved, concentrically with the shape of the main fortress, but to the north the enclosed area is rectangular, widening to the east; throughout, the defensive earth-work consists of a low rampart and a shallow ditch. Within the curved were set radially thirteen long-houses of the same elliptical plan as the sixteen in the main fortress, though of smaller size. Near the main eastern gate (in the rectangular part of the outer work) were two similar houses set parallel to each other; and farther east in the same square was the stronghold's cemetery.

Ships were towed up the river to the fortress, and each of the boat-shaped houses afforded quarters for a ship's crew.

(The ground plan conforms to the legends about Jomsborg.)

Trelleborg would have accommodated about 1200 men.

Aggersborg, in north Jutland, was of the same type as Trelleborg. It is almost in the center of Lim Fjord, in Viking times the starting point for many of the raids on England. Lying on sloping ground it commands an extensive view of the Fjord. It had only one large circular rampart but there were 48 longhouses in twelve squares.

Fyrkat is in northeast Jutland at the head of the narrow Mariager-Horbo Fjord. It has only the one main rampart. It stands on a low promontory, and vessels were towed up the little river Onsild from the fjord.

Odense is situated on a hill called Nonnebjerg in Fyn.

These forts were manned by housecarls of the Kings of Norway.

It is not unlikely that the highly developed mathematical skill revealed in the construction of these forts was brought to the north from Byzantium.

These forts were probably built in the late tenth century.

During most of the Viking period a coin, as such, was quite worthless to the ordinary man; only as a piece of precious metal did it represent a certain value dependant on its weight.

Runes were thought by the Nordic peoples to possess occult powers, powers that could be turned to advantage. These powers existed in the runes themselves, and could be released only by the initiated. Odin, wisest of Gods, is credited with finding the Runes and releasing from them their magical powers. Runic inscriptions of magic content were inscribed on weapons and jewelry often hidden so that they could work their spells in secret.

The Later Futhark contained a set of sixteen runes.

Their principal peaceful activities were hunting, fishing, agriculture, cattle breeding, and trading. The two main commodities exported to southern Europe were furs and slaves.

Lowest are the slaves (thralls), next come the peasants (karls), next come the Jarls (earls) or nobles, above all in the King (Kon). The King is called first among his equals and chosen by his chiefs.

Viking law was based upon the proceedings of the Thing - the assembly of free men.

In Viking times each district had its own Thing. The Thing was a gathering of free men of age and quality to bear arms who met to put the law into effect, pronounce judgements, and discuss matters of interest within the community. The punishments for murder or acts of violence were based on a scale of compensatory payments (mannbaetr); the full penalty was exacted for killing a man or for chopping off his nose; half for poking out an eye; a quarter for an ear; etc. Judgement was given by the Thing, but enforcement was up to the victim and his family.

The major decisions of the country - choice of King, declaration of war, or fundamental problems of justice - were reached at the great regional assemblies called the Landthing, held at Viborg in Jutland, Ringstad in Zealand, and Lund in Skane. Complicated disputes were often decided by duels (holmganga) fought under elaborate traditional rules, or by jarnburor (ordeal by fire). Stealing was punished by haning. The most dreaded punishment was banishment, and those who refused to accept the decision of the local Thing and whose case therefore came before the higher court of the Landthing risked this dire fate. It was impossible to exist for long as an outlaw from the community, isolated, deprived of legal rights, rejected by one's fellows. There were only two ways out: fleeing the country, and death.

The regional assembly in Sweden was at Birka.

The Swedes did not penetrate Russia with the intention of conquest and settlement, as the Danes did in England and France; they set out to establish and maintain extensive trade routes. These ventures somewhat resemble the Norwegian settlements in Ireland, which were trading posts surrounded by narrow areas of colonization. Whereas the Norwegians in Ireland established their trading centers on the coasts, Swedes in the east did this in the interior and on rivers. Thus at certain periods, Novgorod, Smolensk, and Kiev were no doubt Slav towns commanded by Swedish garrisons; there was also a large population of Swedish merchants in these towns and others in the east. There was not, however, created any large permanent agrarian colonies in the east such as those in the Danelaw and Normandy.

The Norse pantheon contains two categories of gods: the Aesir and the Vanir. In the center lies the home of the gods, Asgard, where the mighty Odin has the great hall Valhalla with its 640 doors, and his throne Hlidskjalf from which he can survey all creation. This heaven of the gods is separated from the earth by the bridge Bifrost, the trembling rainbow; the disc of the earth is surrounded by the great ocean, home of the Midgard serpent, and on its farthest shore lie the mountains of the giants, Jotunheim, where stands their citadel Utgard. Beneath the disc of the earth lies Hel, the land of the dead.

What we learn about the great ash-tree Yggdrasil, itself a world of good and evil, of joy and sorrow, sounds like a song from a completely different world. Yggdrasil is gigantic; its crown reaches the sky, its branches cover the earth, its three roots stretch out to Hel, to Jotunheim and beneath Midgard, the home of mortals. At the foot of Yggdrasil are two wells, one belonging to Mimi, god of wisdom, the other to Urd, goddess of destiny. In the branches of the tree sits the eagle and between its eyes perches a hawk, bleached by weather and wind. A serpent gnaws at the root of the tree, and between it and the eagle a chattering squirrel runs to and fro carrying words of evil. Four deer nibble away at the young shoots of the tree, and its sides are rotting away. The ash-tree Yggdrasil suffers and endures more than men realize! But the Norns give solace and renewal at Urd's well, from which they pour water daily on Yggdrasil so that it shall not wither. The bees are nourished by Yggdrasil's honeydew. At a holy place by Urd's well the gods meet for their Thing, and here live the three highest of the Norns, the goddesses of past, present, and future, who are called Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld. In the center of the world above the humans are the abodes of the gods, where live the two races of gods, the Aesir and the Vanir.

When the gods have fulfilled their destiny the end of all things will arrive. The first sign of the approaching end will be the coming of dreadful and horrible events and desparate desires - sword-time, wolf-time, fratricide, and incest. The cocks will crow in Odin's hall, in Hel, and in the sacrificial groves. Horror and eeriness grow. It is the time of the giant monsters; the hound of Hel, Garm, will howl, the wolf Fenriris freed from his chains, and its jaws stretch from earth to heaven. The Midgard serpent will whip the ocean into foam and spew venom upon the earth. The giant Hrym will cross the seas in his ship Naglfar, built from dead mens' nails, and the sons of Muspel will sail forth with Loki as their leader. The tree Yggdrasil will tremble, the sky split assunder, the rocks roll down; in Jotunheim there will be rumbling, the dwarfs will whimper. Odin will be on the watch, Heimdal will blow his horn, the bridge Bifrost will break, and the giant Surt will advance, spouting fire. Then will come the final battle between gods and monsters. The wolf Fenrir devours Odin, but is slain by his son, Vidar, who smashes the brute's jaws with his heavy shoe. Thor kills the Midgard serpent, but after walking nine paces falls dead, poisoned by its venom. Ty and the hound Garm kill each other; so do Heimdal and Loki. Surt kills Frey and burns up everything with his flames. The sun turns black; the stars disappear. Yet hope survives; the earth rises again from the ocean. The two guiltless Aesir gods Baldr and Hod return; and in the golden hall, Gimli the sinless lives on. The eagle flies once again above the thundering waterfall, the sun shines once more upon a newborn world.

Odin is Supreme among the gods. He is consumed by his passion for wisdom, for its sake he sacrifices an eye, even hangs himself. He is the god of war and of the slain warriors. He owns the spear Gungni, the self-renewing gold ring Draupni, the fleet eight-footed steed, Sleipni. He is guarded by his two wolves and is brought news from everywhere by his two ravens. He communes with the head of the wise decapitated Mimi, he finds the runes and knows their secret power. Odin is also the god of skalds: he governs the mystic ecstasy, the great pathos, the passion of the soul. He knows witchcraft and sorcery; he can fathom the soul's subtleties. He is sometimes called Universal Father. His human followers are kings, earls, chieftains, magicians, and poets. The warriors who die in battle are carried by the Valkyries to Valhalla, where they are enrolled in his immense corps, the einherjar, who will be at Odin's back at Ragnarok.

While Odin is the god of the great, Thor is the god of the common man. The humour that is lacking in the descriptions of Odin is prominent in the accounts of Thor.

When he races across the clouds with his team of he-goats, the thunder rumbles, and when he goes forth with his hammer, Mjollni, in his hand, he is irresistible. He does not practice cunning and stratagems but relies on his strength to overcome his enemies. He wrested the great beer cauldron from the giants; he won back the stolen hammer; fished for the Midgard serpent; encountered strange adventures with Utgardaloki, King of the giants, whom he visits accompanied by the clever, but in this case rather helpless, Loki.

Thor was quick-tempered, but equally easily pacified. He was the helpful deity who made the crops grow, the god of agriculture. His favour was sought not only by the farmer but by the blacksmith, the fisherman, and the sailor.

Ty was the god of Law and War. He lost his right hand when the wolf Fenri was bound.

The genial and friendly god met his tragic death from the arrow of mistletoe shot by his blind and innocent brother; he was laid on the funeral pyre, and all nature lamented; the gods tried to liberate him from Hel but were prevented by the machinations of the wicked Loki.

Heimdal is the god with the warhorn which sounds at Ragnarok. He is keen-eyed, vigilant, and alert, the watchmen of the gods and the guardian of the bridge Bifrost. Human beings are called Heimdal's sons and Heimdal is the wandering god who in Rigsthula creates the three classes of society. He and Loki, old enemies, kill each other at Ragnarok.

Ull is the god of the hunt, who excels at archery and at skiing. Ull was an old deity.

The three Vanir are Njord, Freyr, and Freyja. The two races of gods came to terms after a battle and gave each other hostages. The three Vanir hostages who went to live in Asgard were those named above, and all three were deities of growth, conception, fertility, and sexual life.

Njord

Njord was the eldest of the three; in fact on his sister he begot Frey and Freyja. He was married to Skadi, a giantess who liked to live in the mountains whereas Njord preferred the shores and sea. He is the ruler of the winds and god of seafaring people; he also gives wealth.

Freyr

The strongest of the three Vanir in Asgard was Njord's son, Freyr, the god of sexual intercourse. This god of fecundity and growth, rain and sunshine, is attended in Asgard by his sacred pig, Gullinbursti.

Freyja

Freyja is Freyr's sister and in every way his female counterpart. His name means "lord", hers "lady". A goddess of lover and fertility. She is said to have bought he magnificent necklace, the men Brisinga, from four dwarves at a disreputable price. She too possesses a carriage but hers in drawn by cats.

These three Vanir deities were very ancient gods; older than Odian and Thor, older even than Ty.

The last of the Aesir in Asgard is Loki, half god and half devil. He is the offspring of a giant and in many ways a split personality. Though a giant's son and married to a giantess, Angrboda, by whom he has three fearful monsters, the Midgard serpent, the wolf Fenri, and Hel, he lives with the Aesir and at one point became blood-brother of Odin. Loki relishes satire but has no sense of humour; he is cunning and deceitful and lacks all capacity for friendship; his stinging words can hurt and strike, and his attacks on practically all the gods and goddesses are invariably vicious and cruel; he is always animated by self-interest. He is a sexual freak. Of his many misdeeds the most notorious is his instigation of the killing of Baldr - the crime which finally determines his fate. He tries to escape by changing himself into a salmon, but the Aesir capture him and fetter him to a rock underneath a serpent dripping poison. He second wife, Sigyn, manages to catch the venom, but whenever she misses a drop his trembling makes the earth quake. In his plight he survives until Ragnarok when, after getting free and joining forces with the enemies of the Aesir, he and Heimdal kill each other. He loves evil for its own sake; has a sharp eye for the vulnerable qualities of his enemies; and so nourishes his evil nature as to develop in himself every hue and aspect of sin.

Attached to the gods are priests who offer the peoples sacrifices. They use blood sacrifice, both human and animal. The bodies are hung in the sacred groves. The numbers 3, 6, and 9 are considered sacred and lucky. They worship in both temples and groves.

It is custom to bury a warrior with his weapons in a large burial chamber, or to place his body on a burial ship with the provisions for his journey to the land of the dead, and his sword in his hand, wearing his armour.

A band of warriors said to have been active in the Baltic in the late tenth century, and to have lived in a fortress under strict laws - no man could enroll among them who was under 18 or over fifty, nor could any be accepted merely to please a kinsman; each must avenge the other as a brother; none must ever speak a word of fear; all booty was to be brought to the central pool; news must be given to the leader only; no woman must enter the camp; no man must be absent more than three nights; none must stir up quarrels; and even if one Jomsviking had formerly slain another's closest kinsman, the latter must take no vengeance but submit the matter to the leader's judgement.

In Scandinavia, as in ancient Greece, the giving of gifts implied far more than mere politeness: it set the seal on mutual relationships (lord and follower, host and guests, friend and friend); it conferred honour on the receiver, and obliged him to make a suitable response, either by giving some material object in exchange, or, more usually, by offering protection, help, or loyalty to the giver - for, according to a Norse proverb, "A gift always looks for a return." The gift of a sword carried the most honour and also the most obligation to the receiver.

Friendship was much valued; those who so wished could give it the same permanent binding force as a blood-tie by the ceremonial swearing of blood-brotherhood. The actual Norse term is "foster-brotherhood", but this is a figure of speech; the relationship was entered into by adults, though it resembled that between a child and his foster-family in so far as it established bonds equivalent to those of kinship. There are several accounts of the ceremony. The best is in the Saga of Gisli:

They cut a "neck-ring" of turf from the ground [i.e. a long strip forming an almost complete circle], and raised it up in such a way that the two ends were still fast, and under it they set an inlaid spear, tall enough for a man to lay his hand just on the rivets of the socket. The four of them were to pass underneath it... Now they drew blood, and let their blood run together into earth scraped up from under the turf-ring; they mixed all this together, both earth and blood. After this, they all fell on their knees and swore an oath that each would avenge the other like his own brother, and they called all the gods to witness this. And as they were all about to clasp hands...

The symbolism is plain: the arched loop of turf represents to womb of Mother Earth, through which the friends pass to be reborn as brothers; they mingle their blood in the earth as a sign that they are now of one blood, and they make the main obligation of their new relationship explicit by taking an oath, and confirming it by the handclasp that seals all bargains.

Such were the chief links binding a man to the immediate circle of his equals, his family and friends.

One mark of a Jarl or King was that he would maintain in his household a group of men bound to him by closer ties than his ordinary followers. There were his retainers, whose basic obligation was to fight for him whenever he needed them; meanwhile they lived on his bounty, and at the end of their service were given land, or gold, or stocks of merchandise. Some might remain only a year or two, young men seeking adventure, booty, and the fame of having been for a while part of a great lord's retinue. Others might spend the greater part of their lives there, forming the nucleus of a court.

In Viking times men competed in such popular sports as wrestling, swimming (in swimming sports the object was to overcome one's opponent by holding them under until they blacked out, without oneself needing to come up for air), spear throwing, axe throwing, knife throwing, sword and shield fighting, axe fighting, and archery. The more violently such sports were played the better they were enjoyed. Horse fighting was much loved in Norway and Iceland; the more fiercely a stallion kicked and bit, the greater his owner's glory. Horse fighting was an ancient sport; originally it may have been part of the cult of the fertility-god Freyr (to whom horses were sacred).

The ideal man was expected to master a wide range of mental, verbal, and artistic skills. Earl Ragnvald of the Orkneys (1135-58) could boast of nine assorted talents, all traditional ones.

The Vikings may possibly have known Chess, learned from their contacts with the Arabs.

Rangvald's next boast, that knowledge of runes rarely fails him, opens up wide perspectives into Scandinavian culture, where the use of runes had both magical and practical importance.

According to a stock poetic phrase, runes were sprung from the divine power, they have been discovered by Odin himself as the price of many torments. The Poetic Edda puts these words in Odin's mouth:

Odin promises his follower power over runes:

Next Ragnvald mentions smith-craft (metalworking, woodcarving, carpentry, bone-carving and various other forms of handicraft).

Verbal dexterity was highly prized, of the last two skills claimed by Ragnvald, poetry and harping, the former would be most prized.

Skalds (poets) became rich by composing highly-wrought poems in praise of the Valour of Kings and Chiefs gaining gifts of ring, jewelry, and weapons.

When the Aesir and the Vanir had made a truce and settled terms for a lasting peace, every single god and goddess spat into a great jar.  This put the seal on their friendship, and because the Aesir were anxious that no one forget it, even for one moment, they carried off the jar and out of the spittle they fashioned a man.

His name was Kvasir.  He was so steeped in all matters and mysteries of the nine worlds since fire and ice met in Ginnungagap that no god nor man nor giant nor dwarf ever regretted putting him a question or asking his opinion.

The stories of Kvasir's wisdom soon reached the ears of a most unpleasant pair of brothers, the dwarfs Fjalar and Galar.  They asked Kvasir to a feast with them and a large gathering of dwarfs in their cave under the earth and as was his custom Kvasir accepted.

After the feast, Fjalar and Galar asked Kvasir for a word in private.  Kvasir followed them into a gloomy chamber, and that was a mistake.  The two dwarfs had knives hidden in their sleeves, and at once they buried them in the wise man's chest.   His blood spurted out of his body and Fjalar and Galar caught it all in two large jars, Son and Bodn, and a cauldron called Odrorir.

Fjalar and Galar were delighted with what they had done.  They poured honey into the jaras and cauldron filled with Kvasir's blood and with ladles stirred the mixture.   The blood and honey formed a sublime mead: whoever drank it became a poet or a wise man.

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