Where did the Vikings live? Who are the Vikings? Vikings. History of the conquerors What did the Vikings do in ancient times

VIKINGS (Varangians, Normans), Scandinavians who pirated in the 9th-11th centuries. in the seas of Europe. The Vikings plundered ships, coastal villages, monasteries and even entire cities (Paris, Seville). Usually they drove ashore and slaughtered livestock, took people into slavery, and killed those who resisted. Sometimes they were able to impose regular tribute on the population. The Vikings seized by force land for settlement, as happened in the British Isles: in England the so-called. the territory of Danish laws is Denlo; in Ireland, the Vikings founded several cities, including Dublin, where the king ruled. In the north of France, where the Vikings received fief lands from the French king, the Duchy of Normandy was formed. The Swedes collected tribute from the Baltic, Finnish tribes, and the northern Slavs. In Rus', the Scandinavians became the founders of the ruling Rurik dynasty; later the Varangians were part of the princes' squads, and also served in the guard of the Byzantine emperors. With the formation of states in Scandinavia, the expansion of the northerners acquired the character of state policy.

At the end of the 10th century. Icelandic Vikings discovered Greenland, settling certain areas of it, from where they moved on long journeys further to the West, reaching North America (Vinland, Markland, Helluland). Their further travels were apparently prevented by local cooling, which also changed the climate of Greenland. The Viking campaigns stopped around the middle of the 11th century. Their descendants, the Normans from Normandy, conquered England in 1066 after the Battle of Hastings, as well as southern Italy and Sicily, where Robert Guiscard founded the Kingdom of Sicily.

In Rus' (many scientists also associate the origin of the name Rus with the name of one of the Scandinavian tribes), the Varangians were clearly distinguished from the nobility of Scandinavian origin. Varangians were mainly called warriors and - later - merchants, and even later - foreigners in general. As a mercenary military force not directly related to the interests of the Slavic tribes, they played an important role in campaigns against neighboring states. They were also the first Christians, even before the baptism of Rus'. Some of the Varangians in Rus' assimilated. From the end of the 10th century. The personal guard of the Byzantine emperors began to be staffed by Varangians (Greek: barangoi), who had previously served in Rus'. Here their corps also lost its ethnic homogeneity and the last time the Varangians were mentioned in Russian chronicles was in the story of the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204.

Such aggressive activity was caused by a number of factors: the collapse of the clan collective, relative overpopulation, the appearance of sailing ships, the flourishing of trade in the Baltic - it is known that predatory and trading trips were often combined. But, of course, the Vikings’ desire for campaigns cannot be explained solely by socio-economic factors. They considered only campaigns and conquests a task worthy of men. In their midst, oral creativity was developed, which later, with the development of writing, was transformed into sagas. Despite the fact that the sagas were created a hundred or more years after the events described, they are historically quite accurate.

The Vikings set off on voyages in the summer. Mostly young people took part in the campaigns, although some remained Vikings into old age. There were so-called sea kings who did not have land. They spent their entire lives sailing and “never slept under a smoky roof.” Usually the squad was led by a noble person, whose decisions on the campaign were followed by his companions. The spoils were divided equally, with the chief receiving a special share.

The Viking was armed with a sword or battle axe, spear, bow and arrows, and protected by a shield, helmet, chain mail or scale armor. Ancient warriors (berserkers, from the name of the bear skins with which they covered themselves) resorted to various stimulants to raise their morale. The spontaneous thirst for adventure that overwhelmed the Vikings is often called berserkerism.

The Vikings' main means of transportation was the ship. There were several types of ships. Military enterprises used fast, long, narrow ships with sails and oars. The shallow draft made it possible for such ships to land directly on the shore and ascend rivers. For trade trips, shorter knorrs with high sides were built, the design of which made it possible to transport larger cargo. The importance of the ship in the life of the Vikings is evidenced by the ritual of burial in a boat, known both from written evidence and from excavations.

This was the name given to warriors in Scandinavia who made campaigns in other countries. A Viking is a pirate and warrior, a seeker of booty and glory that military exploits could bring him. They were called "northern people" in Europe, Normans in France, Danes in England, Ascemanns in Germany, Varangians in Byzantium and Varangians in Rus'. The homeland of the Vikings was the Scandinavian Peninsula in northern Europe. The land there was infertile, and crop failures often occurred. The Scandinavians even had a cruel custom: in hungry years, babies, especially girls, were taken into the forest and left there to die.

Forests and mountains covering the territory of Scandinavia hindered the development of trade. Therefore, the Scandinavians (which included the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians) quickly mastered the sea routes along their coasts indented by bays (fjords). They did not have a state, they lived in tribes. Each tribe had a military leader - a jarl, or king, who had a permanent squad (by the way, the Russian word "prince" came precisely from the Scandinavian "konung" - leader). The warriors swore an oath of allegiance to the leader, violating which they would cover themselves with indelible shame. To return from a battle in which a leader had fallen was a sign of cowardice, the most shameful thing.

Gradually the population increased. But due to the scarcity of nature, not everyone had enough land to feed themselves and their families. Young peasants were forced to leave their homes and become warriors. The sons of noble families, who had no choice but to seek wealth in foreign lands, were no exception. The spirit of wandering, unprecedented treasures, stories about which were brought back by fellow tribesmen who had been on trade expeditions, excited the imagination of young people. They gathered in squads, led by young jarls, in the hope of gaining fame and wealth. So by the 8th century. Many “sea kings” appeared who had a squad, but no land. They became the first Vikings.

In 793, the Vikings attacked the English island of Lindisfarne, plundered and destroyed the monastery. Thus began the Viking Age, the invasion of “northern people” on Europe, which was destined to last three centuries. All over Europe the clergy prayed: "God, deliver us from the fury of the Normans." It cannot be said that Europe was faced with predatory attacks for the first time. But the numerous Viking expeditions and their seizure of new lands could only be compared with the barbarian invasion of the Roman Empire, the horrors of which were just beginning to be forgotten.

Viking raids were at first disorganized, with few attackers. But this was enough for fragmented Europe to groan under the onslaught of their troops. In the 9th century. The Vikings captured Ireland, England, ravaged and burned Nantes, Hamburg, Pisa, Chartres, and in 845 one of the most famous jarls - Ragnar Lodbrog - entered Paris. “Not a single city, not a single monastery remained untouched. Everyone fled...” - all the chronicles of that time are filled with similar complaints.

First in England, and then throughout Europe, a feverish collection of “Danish money” begins in order to either pay off the Viking attack, or buy back the captured cities and lands from them. But the Normans are no longer satisfied with the random spoils obtained from attacks on the coastal cities they had pretty much battered. They begin to strengthen their positions on the coast so that, making raids into the interior of countries, they can capture more and more new territories. This is how Denlo was formed in Northern England - an area of ​​​​Danish law, which was controlled by the Vikings and where Scandinavian customs prevailed.

By the 10th century The Danish kings launched a massive offensive against Europe. The era of unorganized campaigns is over. The powerful united squads of the Scandinavians attacked the weak European states, taking away one territory after another. No wonder the Danes were considered one of the most formidable invaders. Other Vikings were not far behind. The distant northern lands of Rus' and imperial Constantinople experienced the heavy hand of sea robbers.

In 911, the Viking Earl Rolf (Rollon) forced the King of France, Charles the Simple, to give him as a fief (hereditary possession for military service) the region of Northern France he had conquered, which later became known as Normandy. In Ireland, the Vikings founded the city of Dublin and conquered the entire east coast. The Vikings attacked Arab Spain and Italy. The descendants of the Vikings - the Normans - conquered Naples and the island of Sicily and formed the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies there. It was especially difficult for England, attacks on which continued throughout the three centuries of the Norman campaigns. She never completely managed to get rid of the rule of the invaders: in 1066, a descendant of Rollo, the Frenchized Norman William the Conqueror, conquered England, proclaiming himself its king.

The Vikings carried out not only campaigns of conquest. Being professional warriors, they became mercenaries in Byzantium, Rus' and even Western Europe, where they fought against troops of their own tribesmen.

In addition to seizing foreign lands by force, the Vikings also carried out peaceful colonization. In 874, the Norwegians settled Iceland. In the 80s X century Earl Erik the Red discovered Greenland, which was soon also inhabited by Scandinavians. And in 986, the son of Eric the Red, Leif the Happy, discovered America 500 years earlier than Columbus, which he then called “Vinland”. The Vikings were also involved in trade. It was they who discovered the famous route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” along the rivers of Ancient Rus'.

Longer than other European peoples, the Scandinavians remained pagans (that is, they did not recognize the Christian religion). According to their faith, three sons came from the god Heimdal: Trill - a slave who gave rise to a family of slaves, Karl - the ancestor of farmers and Jarl - the ancestor of warriors. The Vikings, of course, believed that they descended from Jarl and his son Kon (king) and therefore should only engage in noble military affairs.

According to the Scandinavians, they lived in Mitgard - a middle estate, which was surrounded by a hostile world - Utgard. Therefore, during the era of the Viking campaigns, the most revered warrior gods became Odin and Thor, armed with a terrible hammer, who fought the monsters and giants who inhabited Utgard. Apparently, this is why Odin and Thor become the most revered deities during the Viking campaigns. Valkyries, warlike maidens obedient to Odin, rewarded warriors with victory or death according to the decision of the gods. The deeds of gods and heroes were sung by Scandinavian singers (skalds) in heroic songs - sagas.

The inevitable hostility of the surrounding world forced the Vikings to oppose it with the great deeds of their gods. That is why the largest number of sagas appear during the Viking campaigns, and the time of the Viking campaigns can rightfully be called a pagan renaissance.

The Scandinavians believed in the inevitability of the end of the world, when the forces of evil, embodied in the Great Wolf Fenrir and the World Serpent Jormungand, would break free and in the last battle, at the hour of Ragnarok, all the gods, heroes and bravest warriors called to help by Odin would die. Evil forces must disappear along with them. After this, a new earth and new gods will be reborn, and everything will start all over again.

The Viking must accept death on the battlefield with weapons in hand, only then will he end up in the gilded chambers of Odin - Valhalla, where there is a place only for valiant warriors who will participate in the last battle of the gods. This religion instilled in the Scandinavians inflexibility and fearlessness even in the face of defeat and death.

The Vikings greatly valued successful jarls. The warriors joined their squad willingly. The Vikings considered luck one of the main signs of the favor of the gods. It was believed that wealth also brings good luck, and if it passes into other hands, then good luck will leave this family. Therefore, the wealth was either buried and hidden (so that it would never be dug up later), or given away to the squad. The song of praise, which was dedicated to the kings and jarls, was also supposed to bring good luck. Therefore, skalds were sometimes even forced, under threat of death, to compose such songs so that good luck would accompany the leader.

The morals of the Vikings were cruel, however, in this they differed little from the morals of other peoples of Europe at that time. There was tribal revenge when the entire male population of a hostile clan was slaughtered. All captured captives, if they could not pay the ransom, were turned into slaves by the Vikings. It was impossible to pity the cruel warriors: beauty and youth attracted them only as a commodity, and old age evoked not respect, but irritation, as an unnecessary burden.

The Viking's weapons consisted of light armor, a helmet, often horned (to make it more difficult for the enemy to strike), sometimes a spear, a dagger, and always a sword. The ship's oar was also an important military accessory. This does not mean that they constantly carried it with them or went into battle with it. The fact is that Viking warriors always rowed themselves. Sitting at an oar is the job of a free person. If the oar was given to a slave, he ceased to be a slave and became an equal.

The ship played an important role for the Vikings. They treated it as their home. And indeed, it often replaced their home for the rest of their lives. Success in a military battle, and often the lives of soldiers, depended on the speed and other qualities of the ship. The keel of the ship was made from one whole tree, the length of the ship reached 20-50 m, i.e. up to 150 people could fit on one ship. The ship was decorated with a wooden head of a snake or dragon, so the Vikings called their ship “dragon” or “big serpent” - drakkar. The ship was very stable and had a shallow draft, which allowed it to easily enter river mouths. In addition to the oars, the drag car had a quadrangular sail and was extremely easy to control. Even in a storm, one person could handle it.

Among the Vikings there were special warriors who were called berserkers (or berserkers). These were people obsessed with combat. They didn't wear armor. Intoxicated by the battle, they even tore off their clothes and crushed the enemy, not noticing the wounds and pain. As a rule, they were double-handed (that is, they fought with two swords at once in their right and left hands). Berserkers were very valued in the squad. One berserker was equivalent to 20 warriors. These were desperate warriors.

Living conditions in Scandinavia gradually changed, and the Vikings themselves, softened by gold and wealth, ceased to be terrible and invincible warriors.

The kings of Denmark and the descendants of the Vikings, who had previously seized vast lands of Europe, and who continued to be disturbed by their greedy relatives, opposed the scattered squads. Now even there they began to be cursed as robbers and robbers. The peasants rallied around the sedentary kings, who did not chase prey in foreign lands, but protected the civilian population from the extortions of wandering jarls. The Vikings became outcasts, vagabonds, and pirates. They were no longer proud of them.

The age of small squads was coming to an end. And even the berserkers could not help a detachment of 50 people defeat the strong royal garrisons. Three centuries of wars taught Europe a lot - it was no longer as helpless as before.

Gradually, the Viking pressure on Western Europe weakened. In the 11th century Scandinavia developed its own kingdoms, and the Vikings - the conquerors of Normandy, England, Italy, Ireland, Sicily - gradually adopted the customs of the peoples with whom they lived side by side in their new lands.

The "Viking Age", which began in the 8th century, by the end of the 11th century. ended successfully.

Vikings- early medieval, predominantly Scandinavian sailors, who in the 8th-11th centuries made sea voyages from Vinland to Biarmia and from the Caspian Sea to North Africa. For the most part, these were free peasants living in the territory of modern Sweden, Denmark and Norway, who were pushed beyond the borders of their native countries by overpopulation and the thirst for easy money. By religion, the overwhelming majority are pagans.
Swedish Vikings and Vikings from the Baltic Coast, as a rule, traveled to the east and appeared in ancient Russian and Byzantine sources under the name of Varangians. The Norwegian and Danish Vikings mostly moved to the west and are known from Latin sources under the name of the Normans. The Scandinavian sagas provide an insight into the Vikings from within their society, but this source should be approached with caution due to the often late date of their composition and recording. Other non-Scandinavian Baltic peoples were also seen participating in the Viking movement. The Vikings included the Baltic Slavs (Vends), in particular, the Vagr and Ruyans became famous for their pirate raids on Scandinavia and Denmark. This information was also preserved in the sagas. In the “Saga of Hakon the Good” it is written “Then King Hakon sailed east along the shores of Scania and ravaged the country, took ransoms and taxes and killed the Vikings wherever he found them, both Danes and Wends.”
Lifestyle. Abroad, the Vikings acted as robbers, conquerors and traders, but at home they mainly farmed the land, hunted, fished and raised livestock. The independent peasant, working alone or with his relatives, formed the basis of Scandinavian society. No matter how small his allotment, he remained free and was not tied as a serf to land that belonged to another person. Family ties were strongly developed in all layers of Scandinavian society, and in important matters its members usually acted together with relatives. The clans jealously guarded the good names of their fellow tribesmen, and violating the honor of any of them often led to cruel civil strife. Women played an important role in the family. They could own property and independently decide on marriage and divorce from an unsuitable spouse. However, outside the family hearth, women's participation in public life remained insignificant.
Food. In Viking times, most people ate two meals a day. The main products were meat, fish and cereal grains. Meat and fish were usually boiled, less often fried. For storage, these products were dried and salted. The cereals used were rye, oats, barley and several types of wheat. Usually porridge was made from their grains, but sometimes bread was baked. Vegetables and fruits were rarely eaten. Drinks consumed were milk, beer, fermented honey drink, and in the upper classes of society - imported wine.
Cloth. Peasant clothing consisted of a long woolen shirt, short baggy pants, stockings and a rectangular cape. Vikings from the upper classes wore long pants, socks and capes in bright colors. Woolen mittens and hats, as well as fur hats and even felt hats, were in use. Women from high society usually wore long clothes consisting of a bodice and a skirt. Thin chains hung from the buckles on the clothes, to which scissors and a case for needles, a knife, keys and other small items were attached. Married women wore their hair in a bun and wore conical white linen caps. Unmarried girls had their hair tied up with a ribbon.
Housing. Peasant dwellings were usually simple one-room houses, built either from tightly fitted vertical beams, or more often from wickerwork coated with clay. Wealthy people usually lived in a large rectangular house, which housed numerous relatives. In heavily forested Scandinavia, such houses were built from wood, often in combination with clay, and in Iceland and Greenland, where wood was scarce, local stone was widely used. There they built walls 90 cm thick or more. Roofs were usually covered with peat. The central living room of the house was low and dark, with a long fireplace in the middle of it. There they cooked, ate and slept. Sometimes inside the house, pillars were installed in a row along the walls to support the roof, and the side rooms fenced off in this way were used as bedrooms.

Literature and art. The Vikings valued skill in battle, but they also revered literature, history and art. Viking literature existed in oral form, and only some time after the end of the Viking Age did the first written works appear. The runic alphabet was then used only for inscriptions on tombstones, for magic spells and short messages. But Iceland has preserved rich folklore. It was written down at the end of the Viking Age using the Latin alphabet by scribes who wanted to perpetuate the exploits of their ancestors. Among the treasures of Icelandic literature are the long prose narratives known as sagas. They are divided into three main types. In the most important, so-called family sagas describe real characters from the Viking Age. Several dozen family sagas have survived, five of them are comparable in volume to large novels. The other two types are historical sagas, telling of the Norse kings and the settlement of Iceland, and late Viking Age fictional adventure sagas, reflecting the influence of the Byzantine Empire and India. Viking art was primarily decorative in nature. The predominant motifs - whimsical animals and energetic abstract compositions of interlacing ribbons - were used in wood carvings, fine gold and silver work, and decorations on rune stones and monuments that were set up to commemorate important events.
Religion. In the beginning, the Vikings worshiped pagan gods and goddesses. The most important of them were Thor, Odin, Frey and the goddess Freya; Njord, Ull, Balder and several other household gods were of lesser importance. The gods were worshiped in temples or in sacred forests, groves and springs. The Vikings also believed in many supernatural creatures: trolls, elves, giants, mermen and magical inhabitants of forests, hills and rivers. Blood sacrifices were often performed. Sacrificial animals were usually eaten by the priest and his entourage at feasts held in temples. There were also human sacrifices, even ritual killings of kings to ensure the well-being of the country. In addition to priests and priestesses, there were sorcerers who practiced black magic. People of the Viking Age placed great importance on luck as a type of spiritual power inherent in any person, but especially in leaders and kings. Nevertheless, that era was characterized by a pessimistic and fatalistic attitude. Fate was presented as an independent factor above gods and people. According to some poets and philosophers, people and gods were doomed to go through a powerful struggle and cataclysm known as Ragnarök (Il. - “end of the world”). Christianity slowly spread northward and provided an attractive alternative to paganism. In Denmark and Norway, Christianity was established in the 10th century, Icelandic leaders adopted the new religion in 1000, and Sweden in the 11th century, but in the north of this country pagan beliefs persisted until the beginning of the 12th century.
Military art
Viking campaigns. Detailed information about the Viking campaigns is known mainly from written reports of the victims, who did not spare colors to describe the devastation that the Scandinavians brought with them. The first Viking campaigns were carried out using the “hit and run” principle. Without warning, they appeared from the sea on light, fast ships and attacked poorly guarded objects known for their wealth. The Vikings cut down the few defenders with swords, and enslaved the rest of the inhabitants, seized valuables, and set everything else on fire. Gradually they began to use horses in their campaigns.
Weapon. The weapons of the Vikings were bows and arrows, as well as a variety of swords, spears and battle axes. Swords and spear and arrowheads were usually made of iron or steel. Yew or elm wood was preferred for bows, and braided hair was usually used as a bowstring. Viking shields had a round or oval shape. Usually the shields were made from light pieces of linden wood, trimmed along the edges and across with iron strips. There was a pointed plaque in the center of the shield. For protection, warriors also wore metal or leather helmets, often with horns, and warriors from the nobility often wore chain mail.

Viking ships. The highest technical achievement of the Vikings were their warships. These boats, kept in exemplary order, were often described with great love in Viking poetry and were a source of pride for them. The narrow frame of such a vessel was very convenient for approaching the shore and quickly passing along rivers and lakes. Lighter ships were especially suitable for surprise attacks; they could be dragged from one river to another to bypass rapids, waterfalls, dams and fortifications. The disadvantage of these ships was that they were not sufficiently adapted for long voyages on the open sea, which was compensated for by the navigational art of the Vikings. Viking boats differed in the number of pairs of rowing oars, large ships - in the number of rowing benches. 13 pairs of oars determined the minimum size of a combat vessel. The very first ships were designed for 40-80 people each, and a large keel ship of the 11th century. could accommodate several hundred people. Such large combat units exceeded 46 m in length. Ships were often built from planks laid in rows with overlap and fastened with curved frames. Above the waterline, most of the warships were brightly painted. Carved dragon heads, sometimes gilded, adorned the bows of ships. The same decoration could be on the stern, and in some cases there was a writhing tail of a dragon. When sailing in the waters of Scandinavia, these decorations were usually removed so as not to frighten the good spirits. Often, when approaching a port, shields were hung in a row on the sides of ships, but this was not allowed on the open sea.
Viking ships moved with the help of sails and oars. The simple, square-shaped sail, made from rough canvas, was often painted with stripes and checkered patterns. The mast could be shortened and even removed altogether. With the help of skillful devices, the captain could steer the ship against the wind. The ships were controlled by a blade-shaped rudder mounted on the stern on the starboard side.

Vikings in England
June 8, 793 AD e. The Vikings landed on the island of Lindisfarne in Northumbria, destroying and devastating the monastery of St. Cuthberta. This is the first Viking attack clearly recorded in written sources, although it is clear that Scandinavians visited British shores before. Since the Vikings initially used pin strike tactics, chroniclers did not attach much importance to their raids. However, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions a raid by sea robbers of unknown origin on Portland in Dorset in 787. The conquest of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the occupation of the western and northern parts of England was a major success of the Danish Vikings. In 865, the sons of the Danish king Ragnar Lodbrok brought a large army to the shores of England, dubbed by the chroniclers the “great army of the pagans.” In 870-871 the sons of Ragnar subjected the kings of East Anglia and Northumbria to cruel execution, and their possessions were divided among themselves. Following this, the Danes began to conquer Mercia.
King Alfred the Great of Wessex was forced to conclude first a truce with the Danes, and then a full-fledged peace treaty, thereby legitimizing their possessions in Britain. The city of Jorvik became the English capital of the Vikings. Despite the influx of fresh forces from Scandinavia in 892 and 899, Alfred and his son Edward the Elder successfully resisted the Danish conquerors, clearing the territory of East Anglia and Mercia of them by 924. Scandinavian dominance in remote Northumbria continued until 954.
A new wave of Viking raids on British shores began in 980. Its culmination was the conquest of England in 1013 by the Danish Vikings Sven Forkbeard. In 1016-35 Canute the Great was at the head of the united Anglo-Danish monarchy. After his death, the Wessex dynasty in the person of Edward the Confessor regained the English throne. In 1066, the British repelled another Scandinavian invasion, this time led by the Norwegian king Harald the Severe.
The Scandinavian influence on the political culture, social structure and language of Ireland and other Celtic lands was much greater than in England, but the chronology of their invasions cannot be reconstructed with the same accuracy due to the paucity of sources. The first raid on Ireland is mentioned in 795. The arrival of the Vikings is associated with the founding of Dublin, which the Scandinavians ruled for two centuries. Limerick and Waterford had their own Scandinavian kings, while the Dublin kings extended their power even to Northumbria at the beginning of the 10th century.
The Vikings' relationship with the Frankish Empire was complex. During the times of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious, the empire was relatively protected from attacks from the north. Galicia, Portugal and some Mediterranean lands suffered from occasional Norman raids in the 9th and 10th centuries. Viking leaders such as Rörik of Jutland entered the service of the Frankish rulers in order to defend the borders of the empire from their own tribesmen, at the same time controlling the rich markets in the Rhine delta, such as Walcheren and Dorestad. The King of Jutland, Harald Klak, swore an oath of allegiance to Louis the Pious back in 823.
The penetration of the Vikings into the Finnish lands began in the 2nd half of the 8th century, as evidenced by the oldest layers of Staraya Ladoga. At approximately the same time, these lands were inhabited and developed by the Slavs. Unlike the raids on the shores of Western Europe, Viking settlements in Eastern Europe were more stable. The Scandinavians themselves noted the abundance of fortified settlements in eastern Europe, dubbing Ancient Rus' “the country of cities” - Gard. Evidence of violent Viking penetration in eastern Europe is not as abundant as in the west. An example is the Swedish invasion of the Curonian lands, which is described in the life of Ansgar. The main object of interest of the Vikings was the river routes along which, through a system of portages, it was possible to reach the Arab Caliphate. Their settlements are known on the Volkhov, Volga and Dnieper. The concentration of Scandinavian burial grounds, as a rule, are several kilometers from the urban centers where the local population, mainly Slavic, settled, and in many cases from the river arteries themselves.
In the 9th century, the Vikings ensured trade with the Khazars along the Volga with the help of a proto-state structure, called by some historians the Russian Kaganate. Judging by the finds of treasures of coins, in the 10th century the Dnieper became the main trade artery, and the main trading partner instead of Khazaria was Byzantium. According to the Norman theory, from the symbiosis of the newcomer Varangians with the Slavic population, the state of Kievan Rus was born, led by the Rurikovichs - the descendants of Prince Rurik.

In the lands of the Prussians, the Vikings controlled the trading centers of Kaup and Truso, where the “Amber Road” to the Mediterranean began. In Finland, traces of their long-term presence were found on the shores of Lake Vanajavesi. In Staraya Ladoga, under Yaroslav the Wise, Regnvald Ulvson sat as jarl. The Vikings traveled to the mouth of the Northern Dvina for fur and explored the Zavolotsky route. Ibn Fadlan met them in Volga Bulgaria in 922. Through the Volga-Don portage near Sarkel, the Rus descended into the Caspian Sea. For two centuries they fought and traded with Byzantium, concluding several treaties with it.
Termination of sea voyages. The Vikings curtailed their campaigns of conquest in the first half of the 11th century. This is due to the decline in the population of the Scandinavian lands and the spread of Christianity in northern Europe, which did not approve of robberies and the slave trade. In parallel, the clan system was replaced by feudal relations, and the traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle of the Vikings gave way to a sedentary one. Another factor was the reorientation of trade routes: the Volga and Dnieper river routes were steadily losing importance to Mediterranean trade, which was revived by the Venetian and other trading republics. In the 11th century, individual adventurers from Scandinavia were still hired into the service of Byzantine emperors and ancient Russian princes. Historians include Olaf Haraldson and Harald the Harsh, who died trying to conquer England, as the last Vikings on the Norwegian throne. One of the last to undertake a long overseas expedition in the spirit of his ancestors was Ingvar the Traveler, who died during an expedition on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Having adopted Christianity, yesterday's Vikings organized in 1107-1110. own crusade to the Holy Land.
Weapons and armor
Horned helmet- in the mass consciousness it is considered almost an obligatory attribute of a Viking, which was worn by everyone. However, in the entire history of excavations, not a single horned helmet was found. They found thousands of different ones - pointed and blunt, decorated and not, they even dug up a couple of helmets with wings, like Hermes, but not a single one with horns. Different peoples had such helmets, but it is assumed that they were primarily for ritual and decorative purposes. The fact is that the sword can slip along the pointed helmet, and if it catches on the horn, it either rips the helmet off the head, or turns it 90 degrees, or cuts it off along with the head. In fact, the most common helmet among the Vikings was a helmet similar to the “St. Wenceslas” helmet, that is, conical, with a nasal cap and aventail. At that time - a pretty big innovation.

Shield- the main protection of the Viking was precisely it, round, with a umbo, about a meter in diameter, in the simplest case, stupidly knocked together from boards, sometimes covered with leather and bound with metal for reinforcement, but still - a consumable material. It is he who withstands most of the blows; there are a number of cunning and not so clever tactics to divert him to the side, and the one left in the hole without a shield is almost guaranteed to die if he does not have time to jump behind the backs of his comrades. During hiking, the shield was hung on the back, and at sea it was attached to the sides of the longship. Shields were also used as a signal flag: a white shield raised on a mast meant peaceful intentions, a red one meant “now they are going to kill someone.”
Armor- depending on wealth: from a leather jacket or sleeveless vest made of bearskin for ordinary warriors to chain mail with additional scales put on top or a vest made of lamellar for a jarl or an experienced fighter.
Sword- the most popular weapon. The classic Viking sword - straight, double-edged, with a rounded end and a spherical pommel - is intended only for slashing. In the 10th-11th centuries, fencing as a discipline did not yet exist, and sword fighting included such elements as “swing harder”, “fuck as hard as you can” and “take the blow on the shield”. They did not practice stabbing blows, they did not parry a sword with a sword - rough forged iron from such disrespect was easily jagged and could easily break. Actually, the main purpose of the sword is to cut down a weakly protected enemy or cut off extra limbs of armored ones.
Ax/axe- the second most popular and first most important weapon. When one hears the word “Viking”, one most often imagines a huge big man in a horned helmet, chain mail and a double-sided axe. In fact, the latter was used by the ancient Greeks and all sorts of Asians, and the Vikings preferred one-sided axes, the reason for which is quite simple: they fought in tight formation, forming a wall of shields, and in such conditions, when swinging, you can easily hit your neighbor. In general, an ax is not only a weapon, but also a universal tool of that time - you can repair a longship, chop wood, break down a gate, break a skull, and cook porridge. And when robbing civilians, the ax is more convenient due to its versatility. Chopping down doors with a sword would strangle a toad, but an ax would not be a waste of time for such a task, because high-quality steel was used only for making the blade, and the butt and other parts were made of ordinary iron. In battle, with an ax it is much more practical to break shields and cut through armor, plus the ax continues to chop tolerably, even after losing its sharpening, while the sword turns into a useless crowbar. Well, you shouldn’t write off the economic aspect: an ax is easier to make ⇒ cheaper, and therefore more accessible to the poor, and it’s easier to straighten a chipped blade.
Brodex- an ax with a 45 cm blade, sitting on a meter-long ax handle with a two-handed grip. Invaluable for crumbling into a fine vinaigrette. It is no coincidence that fighters with Brodex were placed at the tip of the wedge of the attacking Scandinavian stealth infantry.
Hammer- a less common, but most respected type of weapon. It could be both combat and throwing. The hammer of the Scandinavian god Thor, Mjolnir, is known, which was homing, caused lightning when struck, and after hitting the target returned back to the hand. Accordingly, the Vikings, who respected their god, wore hammer-shaped pendants. From a practical point of view, it is good because it penetrates such flexible armor as chain mail.
Spears- were used by the Vikings along with all their neighbors, they distinguished between throwing and combat. The combat ones usually had a long leaf-shaped tip, which could not only stab, but also chop, and the shaft was bound with metal.
Viking ships
Drakkar- terrifying Viking ships. A dragon head was always placed on the bow of the ship, at the sight of which the civilian population stained their pants and ran away in horror. The ship operated manually, by rowing the oars against the water. With a tailwind, a square sail added speed. Thanks to their clever design, these ships were universal, all-terrain and invisible.
For a Viking, a longship meant more than a family castle for a knight, and it was a great disgrace to screw up a longship - such a leader could easily have his entire squad run away. Contrary to popular belief, only free Vikings could row a longship, and if for some reason a slave was placed at the oars, then after that he received freedom. Drakkar oarsmen had different statuses depending on their location on the ship. The most honorable places were at the bow of the ship. This was due to the fact that the speed and efficiency of the ship’s movement depended on the rowers; at the same time, they were also warriors, and when moving into hand-to-hand combat, the units sitting at the bow were the first to enter the battle.

On one of the summer days of 789, an event occurred on the coast of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, which was noticed exclusively by local chroniclers. Three long boats, capable of both oars and sails, landed on the shore of the island of Portland, called Vindelis in Latin during the Roman Empire. Bearded, fair-haired strangers disembarked from the ships, speaking a language vaguely similar to Old English - at least the roots of most of the words were understandable to the inhabitants of Wessex. Thane Beohtrik and his men came out to meet the shipbuilders. We don’t know what the conversation was about, but it ended in a quarrel: the foreigners killed Beochtrik, slaughtered his small detachment, took captured weapons, boarded the boats and disappeared into the ocean.

In general, this story was not something out of the ordinary at that time - it was a thoroughly everyday matter. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain diligently feuded with each other, and when closely related squabbles got boring, they began to push the Celts in Wales or Scotland, got back and again returned to the usual feuds. War was the most commonplace thing, and if you pay attention to every minor skirmish in the chronicles, you won’t have enough parchment. So why did such an insignificant incident on Vindelis attract the attention of the chronicler, and in our times is considered perhaps the key event of the 8th century in Europe, which gave rise to a new era?

Scheme of Scandinavian expansion in VIII –XI centuries. Green indicates areas that were attacked by the Vikings, but not colonized by them.

It should be noted here that the Anglo-Saxons have been Christians for more than two hundred years - as well as all their neighbors without exception: the Franks and Bretons across the English Channel, the Irish, the Scots and the Welsh. Relics of polytheism, if they were preserved, were at the everyday level or in very remote and inaccessible mountainous areas. The ill-mannered bearded men who landed in Wessex turned out to be real pagans - which in itself was extremely unusual.

The story of Thane Beochtrik is the first documentary evidence of the appearance of the Vikings. The sack of Lindisfarne and Jarrow, raids on Ireland, landings on Orkney and Shetland - all this will happen later. In 789, none of the British or Franks could have even imagined that Christian Europe was faced with a force that, over the next three centuries, would change not only borders, but also demographics, culture and even give rise to a new prayer: “A furore Normannorum libera nos "Domine!" - “Save us, Lord, from the fury of the Normans!”

So let's try to figure out where the Vikings came from, who they were and why their invasion took place in the first place.

Scandinavia in the Dark Ages

People appeared on the Scandinavian Peninsula long before the birth of Christ. The earliest cultures (Kongemose, Nøstvet-Lyhult culture, Ertebølle culture, etc.) date back to the Mesolithic period around the sixth millennium BC. Two to three thousand years BC. in southern Scandinavia, carriers of the “Culture of Battle Axes and Corded Ware” appear, which presumably become the core of the emergence of the Germanic peoples - they migrate north from the Jutland Peninsula and begin to populate the territories of what is now Sweden and Norway.

However, these are very old things, and we are interested in the period after the fall of the Roman Empire, when a group of North German tribes began to separate from the rest of Europe. The Great Migration of Peoples, the collapse of Rome, the adoption of Christianity by the Goths, Franks and other Germans - in a word, all the grandiose changes of the middle of the first millennium AD practically did not affect Scandinavia: it was too far away. In the Dark Ages, no one showed interest in Scandinavia: the Franks had something to do on the continent, the introduction of Christianity proceeded, albeit confidently, but slowly: the church first had to establish itself in the new barbarian states. The inhabitants of the peninsula located beyond the North and Baltic seas “cooked in their own cauldron” for many centuries, knowing practically nothing about the turbulent events in Europe. Christian missionaries, even if they appeared there, were sporadic and unable to achieve serious success: the old Germanic gods were revered as they had been centuries ago, and nothing threatened their cult.

Vendel style helmet, 8th century (from the collection of the Stockholm Museum of Antiquities)

Here it is necessary to make a lengthy digression and talk about the climatic features of those times - otherwise it will be unclear why suddenly, starting from the 8th century, the Scandinavians rushed to look for new lands for settlement. Over the centuries, the climate changed more than once, with optimums (warming) and pessimums (cooling) alternating - the so-called Roman climate optimum, which lasted from the time of Julius Caesar until about 400 AD, greatly contributed to the prosperity of the Roman Empire. The average temperature then was higher by an average of 1-2 degrees, Roman authors tell us that in Britain and Germany they even began to grow grapes - approximately from 280 AD.

In turn, the climatic pessimum of the early Middle Ages, which occurred during the Great Migration, aggravated the already not very favorable military-political and demographic situation in Europe - the cooling that began around the 5th century reduces the area under cultivation, especially affecting the northern regions in general and, of course, Scandinavia in in particular. Saint Gregory of Tours in his extensive work of the 6th century “History of the Franks” notes: “ At that time it was raining heavily, there was a lot of water, it was unbearably cold, the roads were soggy with mud and the rivers overflowed their banks." In 535–536, a completely unprecedented climatic anomaly occurs. Let us give the floor to the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea (“War”, IV, 14. 5–6):

“...And this year the greatest miracle happened: all year the sun emitted light like the moon, without rays, as if it was losing its power, ceasing to shine purely and brightly as before. Since the time this began, neither war, nor pestilence, nor any other disaster that brings death has ceased among people. Then it was the tenth year of the reign of Justinian.”

Other authors claim that even at midday the sun appeared “bluish” and objects did not cast shadows - this means that for almost a year and a half, a dust suspension was present in the atmosphere, caused by a supervolcano eruption or the fall of a large meteorite, and, most likely, both factors. The German scientist Wolfgang Behringer in his book “Kulturgeschichte des Klimas” provides archaeological data - in Norway in the 6th century, about forty percent of farms were abandoned, that is, their owners either died out or migrated south. In general, in Old Norse mythology, cold, frost and ice have eschatological properties, being a symbol of death and chaos - remember the ice giants...

However, by the 8th century, the climate began to stabilize - warming set in, sown areas expanded again, grain harvests could be harvested at latitudes adjacent to the Arctic Circle, and the quality of life increased sharply. The result is quite natural - explosive population growth.

However, here it is necessary to take into account not only climatic features, but also the geographical specifics of the Scandinavian Peninsula. While in eastern Sweden there are vast plains suitable for agriculture, in mountainous Norway it is possible to grow bread and herd herds exclusively on narrow strips of land along the coast and in river valleys. It is impossible to endlessly split up plots between sons - the land will not feed them anyway. The bottom line: excess (and passionate) population, lack of food. Scandinavia is not rubber. What to do?

A solution was found quite quickly - since there is no fertile land, it means that one must be looked for overseas. Considering that the ancient Scandinavians knew how to build excellent ships a long time ago, the solution to the problem lay in the palm of their hands. The first “prototype” of the drakkar, the “Hjortspring Boat,” found by archaeologists in Denmark, on the island of Als, dates back to the 4th century BC. – the boat could accommodate up to 20 rowers. Moreover, Scandinavian boats, which had minimal draft, could navigate any shallow water and penetrate narrow rivers.

Hjortspring boat - a ship of the ancient Germans, ca.4th century BC National Museum of Denmark

It was then that the first forays of the ancient Scandinavians began towards the continent and the British Isles - for starters, for purposes of more reconnaissance than conquest. It was necessary to become familiar with the situation, and it clearly showed: there is a lot of land there, the density of the local population is extremely low, such a population is unusual for lightning raids from the sea, and is generally not aware that they are possible. There is also documentary evidence - let's quote the scientist, theologian and poet of the 8th century Flaccus Albinus (Alcuin):

“Three hundred and fifty years we and our fathers lived in this beautiful land, and never before did Britain know such horror as it now knew, after the appearance of the pagans. No one suspected that robbers could come from overseas.”

Nobody suspected. And Europe paid a huge price for its ignorance.

They came!

In light of the above, the question remains open: how did European kings and bishops, who played an increasingly important political role, miss such an incredible danger? Where did the great historical figures of that era look? In the end, Emperor Charlemagne cannot be called an incompetent slacker, and such an important tool for the state as intelligence was quite successfully adopted by the former barbarians from the vanished Rome! It is quite obvious that at least some connections existed between the Frankish Empire and Scandinavia - the northern borders of Saxony and Frisia adjoined the territory of present-day Denmark, the inhabitants of which would also take an active part in the future outrages of the Vikings.

No answer. Perhaps growing cultural and civilizational differences played a role - let us remember the words of Alcuin, in which the key concept is “pagan”, which is contrasted with “Christians”. Europeans were then united not by ethnicity, but by religion: any non-Christian was an outsider, be it a Spanish Muslim Moor or a Scandinavian who worshiped the gods of Asgard. For the time being, the Franks and the kingdoms of Britain treated the unwashed pagans from the distant northern fjords with disdain, sincerely believing that God was on the side of the Christians (then - who is against them?!).

Vikings. Old English miniatures

Now we need to explain what we generally mean by the term “Viking”. The word itself is formed from two parts: “vik”, that is, “bay, bay”, and the ending “ing”, denoting a community of people, most often tribal - compare: Carolingian, Capetian, etc. We get "man from the bay"! Initially, the Viking squads were made up of those same surplus population - younger sons who did not inherit the allotment, people who left the clan themselves or were expelled from it, or even simply seekers of adventure, wealth and glory. That is, not sedentary Scandinavian landowners. However, why only Scandinavians? The crew of the ship could have been anyone - a Norwegian, a Vened, a Ruyan, a Ladoga Krivich. After the Scandinavians began to master the “Road from the Varangians to the Greeks” through the Neva, Ladoga, Volkhov and further into the Volga basin, many Slavs began to appear in the squads, especially since the polytheistic pantheons of Scandinavia and Ancient Rus' were very close, and on this basis It was possible to find a common language very quickly.

So, Viking is not a profession, not a nationality or an occupation. This is a social status, a marginal social group, something between a soldier of fortune, a person without a fixed place of residence and a bandit as part of an organized group of people of Scandinavian (and not only) nationality. Such good fellows, without any unnecessary reflection, could easily rob a neighboring fjord, or their own fellow Norwegians or Svei - the precedents are known. For the most part, they were not limited by the system of moral taboos obligatory for settled Scandinavians and gradually began to believe that they were superior to boring farmers, if only because the sacralization of war began in the religious sphere - just remember the cult of warrior gods, Odin, Thor and others.

Thor with the hammer Mjollnir. A figurine dating from around 1000 AD.

If a social group has appeared, then it will certainly develop its own subculture, its own ethics and its own religious views - especially in the conditions of the prevailing tribal system around it. You don’t need to look far for examples - the functions of the priesthood, godi, are gradually transferred to military leaders: if you are a successful king, it means you are close to the gods, they favor you - therefore, you perform the necessary rituals and make sacrifices. There is only one way to be guaranteed to get to Valhalla after death - to die heroically in battle. One of the first places is given to personal valor and glory, of course, gained in a fair battle.

Finally, it was the Vikings who “invented” the marines in the form in which we know it - Christian Europeans had nothing to oppose them with unprecedented tactics. The scheme developed by the ancient Scandinavians was simple, but incredibly effective: a sudden raid at almost any point on the sea or river coast (let us again remember the ability of longships to walk in shallow water), and after a successful attack, an equally lightning retreat, until the enemy had time to pull up any significant strength - then look for these robbers on the open sea. It was only later that the Vikings would engage in respectable trade, for the sake of curiosity they would discover Iceland, Greenland and America and go to serve in the “Varangian squad” for the Byzantine emperors, and at the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th centuries they were exclusively engaged in the most blatant robberies, seizure of lands in England, Ireland and on the mainland, the slave trade and other equally interesting things...

Old Scandinavian ships, modern reconstruction. Drakkar in the foregroundIslendingur(“Icelander”), who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 2000. Currently located in the museum in Njardvik, Iceland

It makes no sense to talk here about the first major Viking raid - the attack on the monastery of St. Cuthbert on the island of Lindisfarne on June 8, 793; this story is well known. Suffice it to say that this unpleasant event occurred only four years after the first appearance of the Vikings off the coast of Wessex; The Scandinavians very quickly realized that Christian monasteries and cities stored a lot of wealth, which should have been put to more reasonable use. The Vikings even stole the coffin of the founder of the monastery, St. Cuthbert, from Lindisfarne, and it was found only three hundred years later, in 1104, fortunately, little damaged. From then on, Europe no longer knew peace - they appeared almost every year, here and there. It was absolutely impossible to predict the direction of the next blow, as well as to seriously resist the Scandinavians with military force - they slipped out of their hands like drops of mercury; the armies of the heirs of Charlemagne or the British kings simply did not have time to approach the site of the next attack.

However, we will talk about the further history of the Viking campaigns some other time - this text was intended to explain how the climatic and geographical features of the early Middle Ages predetermined the beginning of the era of the Norman conquests, which lasted more than three hundred years.

For several centuries, before and after the year 1000, Western Europe was constantly attacked by "Vikings" - warriors who sailed on ships from Scandinavia. Therefore, the period is approximately from 800 to 1100. AD in the history of Northern Europe is called the “Viking Age”. Those who were attacked by the Vikings perceived their campaigns as purely predatory, but they also pursued other goals.

The Viking detachments were usually led by representatives of the ruling elite of Scandinavian society - kings and heads. Through robbery they acquired wealth, which they then divided among themselves and with their people. Victories in foreign countries brought them fame and position. Already in the early stages, the leaders also began to pursue political goals and take control of territories in the conquered countries. The chronicles say little about the significant increase in trade during the Viking Age, but archaeological finds indicate this. Cities flourished in Western Europe, and the first urban formations appeared in Scandinavia. The first city in Sweden was Birka, located on an island in Lake Mälaren, about 30 kilometers west of Stockholm. This city existed from the end of the 8th to the end of the 10th century; his successor in the Mälaren area was the city of Sigtuna, which today is an idyllic small town about 40 kilometers northwest of Stockholm.

The Viking Age is also characterized by the fact that many inhabitants of Scandinavia left their native places forever and settled in foreign countries, mainly as farmers. Many Scandinavians, primarily immigrants from Denmark, settled in the eastern part of England, undoubtedly with the support of the Scandinavian kings and rulers who ruled there. Large-scale Norse colonization took place in the Scottish islands; Norwegians also sailed the Atlantic Ocean to previously unknown, uninhabited places: the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland (there were even attempts to settle in North America). During the 12th and 13th centuries, vivid accounts of the Viking Age were recorded in Iceland, not entirely reliable, but still irreplaceable as historical sources giving an idea of ​​the pagan faith and way of thinking of the people of that time.

Contacts made during the Viking Age with the outside world radically changed Scandinavian society. Missionaries from Western Europe arrived in Scandinavia as early as the first century of the Viking Age. The most famous among them is Ansgarius, the "Scandinavian Apostle", who was sent by the Frankish king Louis the Pious to Birka around 830 and returned there again around 850. During the late Viking Age, an intensive process of Christianization began. The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish kings realized what power a Christian civilization and organization could give to their states, and carried out a change of religions. The process of Christianization was most difficult in Sweden, where at the end of the 11th century there was a fierce struggle between Christians and pagans.

The Viking Age in the East.

The Scandinavians not only traveled to the west, but also made long journeys to the east during the same centuries. For natural reasons, first of all, residents of places now belonging to Sweden rushed in this direction. Expeditions to the east and the influence of eastern countries left a special mark on the Viking Age in Sweden. Travel to the east was also undertaken when possible by ship - across the Baltic Sea, along the rivers of Eastern Europe to the Black and Caspian Seas, and along them to the great powers south of these seas: Christian Byzantium in the territory of modern Greece and Turkey and the Islamic Caliphate in eastern lands. Here, as well as to the west, ships sailed with oars and sails, but these ships were smaller than those used for voyages in a western direction. Their usual length was about 10 meters, and the team consisted of approximately 10 people. Larger ships were not needed for navigation in the Baltic Sea, and besides, they could not be used to travel along rivers.

Artist V. Vasnetsov "The Calling of the Varangians." 862 - invitation of the Varangians Rurik and his brothers Sineus and Truvor.

The fact that the campaigns to the east are less well known than the campaigns to the west is partly due to the fact that there are not many written sources about them. The script only came into use in Eastern Europe during the late Viking Age. However, from Byzantium and the Caliphate, which were the real great powers of the Viking Age from an economic and cultural point of view, contemporary travel accounts are known, as well as historical and geographical works telling about the peoples of Eastern Europe and describing trade travel and military campaigns from Eastern Europe to countries south of the Black and Caspian Seas. Sometimes among the characters in these images we can notice Scandinavians. As historical sources, these images are often more reliable and more complete than Western European chronicles written by monks and bearing the strong imprint of their Christian zeal and hatred of the pagans. A large number of Swedish rune stones are also known from the 11th century, almost all from the vicinity of Lake Mälaren; they were installed in memory of relatives who often traveled to the east. As for Eastern Europe, there is a wonderful Tale of Bygone Years dating back to the beginning of the 12th century. and telling about the ancient history of the Russian state - not always reliably, but always vividly and with an abundance of details, which greatly distinguishes it from Western European chronicles and gives it a charm comparable to the charm of the Icelandic sagas.

Ros - Rus - Ruotsi (Rhos - Rus - Ruotsi).

In 839, an ambassador from Emperor Theophilus from Constantinople (modern Istanbul) arrived to the Frankish king Louis the Pious, who was at that moment in Ingelheim on the Rhine. With the ambassador also came several people from the “Rus” people, who had traveled to Constantinople along such dangerous routes that they now wanted to return home through the kingdom of Louis. When the king asked more about these people, it turned out that they were their own. Louis knew the pagan Sueans well, since he himself had previously sent Ansgarius as a missionary to their trading city of Birka. The king began to suspect that the people who called themselves “ros” were actually spies, and decided to detain them until he found out their intentions. Such a story is contained in one Frankish chronicle. Unfortunately, it is unknown what happened to these people afterwards.

This story is important for the study of the Viking Age in Scandinavia. It and some other manuscripts from Byzantium and the Caliphate show more or less clearly that in the east in the 8th–9th centuries the Scandinavians were called “ros”/“rus” (rhos/rus). At the same time, this name was used to designate the Old Russian state, or, as it is often called, Kievan Rus (see map). The state grew during these centuries, and from it modern Russia, Belarus and Ukraine trace their origins.

The earliest history of this state is told in the Tale of Bygone Years, which was written down in its capital, Kyiv, shortly after the end of the Viking Age. In the entry for 862, one can read that the country was in turmoil, and it was decided to look for a ruler on the other side of the Baltic Sea. Ambassadors were sent to the Varangians (that is, Scandinavians), namely to those who were called “Rus”; Rurik and his two brothers were invited to rule the country. They came “with all Russia,” and Rurik settled in Novgorod. “And from these Varangians the Russian land got its name.” After Rurik’s death, rule passed to his relative Oleg, who conquered Kyiv and made this city the capital of his state, and after Oleg’s death, Rurik’s son Igor became prince.

The legend about the calling of the Varangians, contained in the Tale of Bygone Years, is a story about the origin of the Old Russian princely family, and as a historical source is very controversial. The name “Rus” has been tried to be explained in many ways, but now the most common opinion is that this name should be compared with the names from the Finnish and Estonian languages ​​- Ruotsi / Rootsi, which today mean “Sweden”, and previously indicated peoples from Sweden or Scandinavia. This name, in turn, comes from an Old Norse word meaning "rowing", "rowing expedition", "members of a rowing expedition". It is obvious that the people who lived on the western coast of the Baltic Sea were famous for their sea trips with oars. There are no reliable sources about Rurik, and it is unknown how he and his “Rus” came to Eastern Europe - however, it is unlikely that this happened as simply and peacefully as the legend says. When the clan established itself as one of the ruling ones in Eastern Europe, soon the state itself and its inhabitants began to be called “Rus”. The fact that the family was of Scandinavian origin is indicated by the names of the ancient princes: Rurik is the Scandinavian Rörek, a common name in Sweden even in the late Middle Ages, Oleg - Helge, Igor - Ingvar, Olga (Igor's wife) - Helga.

To speak more definitely about the role of the Scandinavians in the early history of Eastern Europe, it is not enough just to study the few written sources; one must also take into account archaeological finds. They show a significant number of objects of Scandinavian origin, dating from the 9th–10th centuries, in the ancient part of Novgorod (Rurik settlement outside modern Novgorod), in Kyiv and in many other places. We are talking about weapons, horse harness, as well as household items, and magical and religious amulets, for example, Thor's hammers, found at settlement sites, in burials and treasures.

It is obvious that in the region in question there were many Scandinavians who were involved not only in war and politics, but also in trade, crafts and agriculture - after all, the Scandinavians themselves came from agricultural societies, where urban culture, just like in Eastern Europe, began to develop only during these centuries. In many places the northerners left clear imprints of Scandinavian elements in culture - in clothing and the art of making jewelry, in weapons and religion. But it is also clear that the Scandinavians lived in societies whose structure was based on Eastern European culture. The central part of early cities usually consisted of a densely populated fortress - a detinets or a kremlin. Such fortified urban cores are not found in Scandinavia, but have long been characteristic of Eastern Europe. The construction method in the areas where the Scandinavians settled was mainly Eastern European, and most household items, such as household ceramics, also bore a local imprint. Foreign influence on culture came not only from Scandinavia, but also from countries in the east, south and southwest.

When Christianity was officially adopted in the Old Russian state in 988, Scandinavian features soon practically disappeared from its culture. Slavic and Christian Byzantine cultures became the main components in the culture of the state, and the language of the state and church became Slavic.

Caliphate - Serkland.

How and why did the Scandinavians participate in the developments that ultimately led to the formation of the Russian state? It was probably not only war and a thirst for adventure, but also to a large extent trade. The world's leading civilization during this period was the Caliphate, an Islamic state that extended east to Afghanistan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia; there, far to the east, were the largest silver mines of that time. Vast quantities of Islamic silver in the form of coins with Arabic inscriptions spread throughout Eastern Europe as far as the Baltic Sea and Scandinavia. The largest number of finds of silver objects was made in Gotland. From the territory of the Russian state and mainland Sweden, primarily from the area around Lake Mälaren, a number of luxury items are also known that indicate connections with the East that were of a more social nature - for example, details of clothing or feast items.

When Islamic written sources mention "Rus" - by which, generally speaking, one can mean both the Scandinavians and other peoples from the Old Russian state, interest is shown primarily in their trading activity, although there are also stories about military campaigns, for example, against the city Berd in Azerbaijan in 943 or 944. In the world geography of Ibn Khordadbeh it is said that Russian merchants sold the skins of beavers and silver foxes, as well as swords. They came by ship to the lands of the Khazars, and, having paid tithes to their prince, set off further along the Caspian Sea. Often they carried their goods on camels all the way to Baghdad, the capital of the Caliphate. “They pretend to be Christians and pay the tax established for Christians.” Ibn Khordadbeh was the minister of security in one of the provinces along the caravan route to Baghdad, and he was well aware that these people were not Christians. The reason they called themselves Christians was purely economic - Christians paid lower taxes than pagans who worshiped many gods.

Besides fur, perhaps the most important commodity to come from the north were slaves. In the Caliphate, slaves were used as labor in most public sectors, and the Scandinavians, like other peoples, were able to obtain slaves during their military and predatory campaigns. Ibn Khordadbeh relates that slaves from the country of "Saklaba" (roughly meaning "Eastern Europe") served as translators for the Rus in Baghdad.

The flow of silver from the Caliphate dried up at the end of the 10th century. Perhaps the reason was the fact that silver production in the mines in the east decreased, perhaps it was influenced by the war and unrest that reigned in the steppes between Eastern Europe and the Caliphate. But another thing is also likely - that in the Caliphate they began to conduct experiments to reduce the silver content in the coin, and in connection with this, interest in coins in Eastern and Northern Europe was lost. The economy in these territories was not monetary; the value of a coin was calculated by its purity and weight. Silver coins and bars were cut into pieces and weighed on scales to obtain the price that a person was willing to pay for the goods. Silver of varying purity made this type of payment transaction difficult or virtually impossible. Therefore, the views of Northern and Eastern Europe turned towards Germany and England, where in the late period of the Viking Age a large number of full-weight silver coins were minted, which were distributed in Scandinavia, as well as in some areas of the Russian state.

However, back in the 11th century it happened that the Scandinavians reached the Caliphate, or Serkland, as they called this state. The most famous Swedish Viking expedition of this century was led by Ingvar, whom the Icelanders called Ingvar the Traveler. An Icelandic saga was written about him, however, it is very unreliable, but about 25 East Swedish rune stones tell about the people who accompanied Ingvar. All these stones indicate that the campaign ended in disaster. On one of the stones near Gripsholm in Södermanland you can read (according to I. Melnikova):

“Tola ordered this stone to be installed for her son Harald, Ingvar’s brother.

They left bravely
far beyond gold
and in the east
fed the eagles.
Died in the south
in Serkland."

So on many other runic stones, these proud lines about the campaign are written in verse. "To feed the eagles" is a poetic simile meaning "to kill one's enemies in battle." The meter used here is the old epic meter and is characterized by two stressed syllables in each line of poetry and the fact that the lines of poetry are linked in pairs by alliteration, that is, repeated initial consonants and alternating vowels.

Khazars and Volga Bulgars.

During the Viking Age, there were two important states in Eastern Europe dominated by Turkic peoples: the Khazar state in the steppes north of the Caspian and Black Seas, and the Volga Bulgar state in the Middle Volga. The Khazar Khaganate ceased to exist at the end of the 10th century, but the descendants of the Volga Bulgars live today in Tatarstan, a republic within the Russian Federation. Both of these states played an important role in the transmission of eastern influences to the Old Russian state and the countries of the Baltic region. A detailed analysis of Islamic coins showed that approximately 1/10 of them are imitation and were minted by the Khazars or, more often, by the Volga Bulgars.

The Khazar Khaganate early adopted Judaism as the state religion, and the Volga Bulgar state officially adopted Islam in 922. In this regard, Ibn Fadlan visited the country, who wrote a story about his visit and meeting with merchants from Rus'. The most famous is his description of the burial of the Rus' head in a ship - a funeral custom characteristic of Scandinavia and also found in the Old Russian state. The funeral ceremony included the sacrifice of a slave girl, who was raped by the warriors of the troop before killing her and burning her along with her keeping. This is a story full of brutal details that would be hard to guess from archaeological excavations of Viking Age burials.

Varangians among the Greeks in Miklagard.

The Byzantine Empire, which in Eastern and Northern Europe was called Greece or the Greeks, according to the Scandinavian tradition was perceived as the main goal of campaigns to the east. In the Russian tradition, connections between Scandinavia and the Byzantine Empire also occupy a prominent place. The Tale of Bygone Years contains a detailed description of the path: “There was a path from the Varangians to the Greeks, and from the Greeks along the Dnieper, and in the upper reaches of the Dnieper - a portage to Lovot, and along Lovot you can enter Ilmen, a great lake; Volkhov flows from the same lake and flows into the Great Lake Nevo (Ladoga), and the mouth of that lake flows into the Varangian Sea (Baltic Sea)."

The emphasis on the role of Byzantium is a simplification of reality. The Scandinavians came first of all to the Old Russian state and settled there. And trade with the Caliphate through the states of the Volga Bulgars and Khazars was to be of the greatest importance from an economic point of view for Eastern Europe and Scandinavia during the 9th-10th centuries.

However, during the Viking Age, and especially after the Christianization of the Old Russian state, the importance of connections with the Byzantine Empire increased. This is evidenced primarily by written sources. For unknown reasons, the number of finds of coins and other objects from Byzantium is relatively small in both Eastern and Northern Europe.

Around the end of the 10th century, the Emperor of Constantinople established a special Scandinavian detachment at his court - the Varangian Guard. Many believe that the beginning of this guard was laid by those Varangians whom the Kiev prince Vladimir sent to the emperor in connection with his adoption of Christianity in 988 and his marriage to the emperor’s daughter.

The word vringar originally meant oath-bound people, but in the late Viking Age it became a common name for the Scandinavians in the east. Waring in the Slavic language began to be called Varangian, in Greek - varangos, in Arabic - warank.

Constantinople, or Miklagard, the great city, as the Scandinavians called it, was incredibly attractive to them. The Icelandic sagas tell of many Norwegians and Icelanders who served in the Varangian Guard. One of them, Harald the Severe, became king of Norway upon his return home (1045-1066). Swedish rune stones of the 11th century more often speak of a stay in Greece than in the Old Russian state.

On the old path leading to the church at Ede in Uppland there is a large stone with runic inscriptions on both sides. In them, Ragnvald talks about how these runes were carved in memory of his mother Fastvi, but above all he is interested in talking about himself:

"These runes were ordered
flog Ragnvald.
He was in Greece
was the leader of a detachment of warriors."

Soldiers from the Varangian Guard guarded the palace in Constantinople and took part in military campaigns in Asia Minor, the Balkan Peninsula and Italy. The land of the Lombards, mentioned on several rune stones, refers to Italy, the southern regions of which were part of the Byzantine Empire. In the port suburb of Athens, Piraeus, there used to be a huge luxurious marble lion, which was transported to Venice in the 17th century. On this lion, one of the Varangians, while on holiday in Piraeus, carved a runic inscription of a serpentine shape, which was typical of Swedish rune stones of the 11th century. Unfortunately, even upon discovery, the inscription was so badly damaged that only individual words could be read.

Scandinavians in Gardarik during the late Viking Age.

At the end of the 10th century, as already mentioned, the flow of Islamic silver dried up, and instead of it, a flow of German and English coins poured into the east, into the Russian state. In 988, the Kiev prince and his people adopted quantities on Gotland, where they were also copied, and in mainland Sweden and Denmark. Several belts have even been discovered in Iceland. Perhaps they belonged to people who served the Russian princes.

Relations between the rulers of Scandinavia and the Old Russian state during the 11th-12th centuries were very lively. Two of the great princes of Kiev took wives in Sweden: Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054, previously reigned in Novgorod from 1010 to 1019) married Ingegerd, daughter of Olav Shetkonung, and Mstislav (1125-1132, previously reigned in Novgorod from 1095 to 1125) - on Christina, daughter of King Inge the Old.

Novgorod - Holmgard and trade with the Sami and Gotlanders.

Eastern, Russian influence also reached the Sami in northern Scandinavia in the 11th-12th centuries. In many places in Swedish Lapland and Norrbotten there are places of sacrifice on the banks of lakes and rivers and near strangely shaped rocks; There are deer antlers, animal bones, arrowheads, and also tin. Many of these metal objects come from the Old Russian state, most likely from Novgorod - for example, the forging of Russian belts of the same kind that were found in the southern part of Sweden.

Novgorod, which the Scandinavians called Holmgard, acquired enormous importance over these centuries as a trading metropolis. The Gotlanders, who continued to play an important role in Baltic trade in the 11th-12th centuries, created a trading post in Novgorod. At the end of the 12th century, the Germans appeared in the Baltic, and gradually the main role in Baltic trade passed to the German Hanse.

End of the Viking Age.

On a simple casting mold for cheap ornaments, made of whetstone and found at Tiemans in Rum on Gotland, two Gotlanders at the end of the 11th century carved their names, Urmiga and Ulvat, and, in addition, the names of four distant countries. They make us understand that the world for the Scandinavians in the Viking Age had wide borders: Greece, Jerusalem, Iceland, Serkland.

It is impossible to name the exact date when this world shrank and the Viking Age ended. Gradually, during the 11th and 12th centuries, routes and connections changed their character, and in the 12th century, travel deep into the Old Russian state and to Constantinople and Jerusalem ceased. As the number of written sources in Sweden increased in the 13th century, campaigns to the east became just memories.

In the Elder Version of the Westgotalag, written in the first half of the 13th century, in the Chapter on Inheritance there is, among other things, the following provision regarding the one who is found abroad: He does not inherit from anyone while he sits in Greece. Did Westgoeths really still serve in the Varangian Guard, or did this paragraph remain from times long past?

The Gutasag, an account of the history of Gotland written in the 13th or early 14th century, states that the first churches on the island were consecrated by bishops on their way to or from the Holy Land. At that time, the route went east through Rus' and Greece to Jerusalem. When the saga was recorded, the pilgrims took a detour through Central or even Western Europe.

Translation: Anna Fomenkova.

Do you know that...

The Scandinavians who served in the Varangian Guard were probably Christians - or converted to Christianity while in Constantinople. Some of them made pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Jerusalem, called Yorsalir in the Scandinavian language. The rune stone from Brüby to Täby in Uppland was erected in memory of Øystein, who went to Jerusalem and died in Greece.

Another runic inscription from Uppland, from Stacket in Kungsängen, tells of a determined and fearless woman: Ingerun, daughter of Hord, ordered runes to be carved in memory of herself. She goes east and to Jerusalem.

In 1999, the largest treasure of silver objects dating back to the Viking Age was found on Gotland. Its total weight is about 65 kilograms, of which 17 kilograms are Islamic silver coins (approximately 14,300).

The material uses pictures from the article.
games for girls

In France they were called Normans, in Rus' - Varangians. Vikings were the name given to the people who lived in what is now Norway, Denmark and Sweden from about 800 to 1100 AD.

Wars and feasts were two of the Vikings' favorite pastimes. Swift sea robbers on ships that bore sonorous names, for example, “Bull of the Ocean”, “Raven of the Wind”, raided the coasts of England, Germany, Northern France, Belgium - and took tribute from the conquered. Their desperate berserker warriors fought like mad, even without armor. Before the battle, the berserkers gnashed their teeth and bit the edges of their shields. The cruel gods of the Vikings, the Aesir, were pleased with warriors who died in battle.

Discoverers of Iceland

But it was these ruthless warriors who discovered the islands of Iceland (in the ancient language - “ice land”) and Greenland (“green land”: then the climate there was warmer than now!). And the Viking leader Leif the Happy in the year 1000, sailing from Greenland, landed in North America, on the island of Newfoundland. The Vikings called the open land Vinland - “rich”. Due to clashes with the Indians and among themselves, the Vikings soon left and forgot America, and lost contact with Greenland.

Viking Age

And their songs about heroes and travelers - sagas and the Icelandic parliament, the Althing - the first people's assembly in Europe, have survived to this day.

The beginning of the Viking Age is considered to be 793. This year there was a famous attack by the Normans on a monastery located on the island of Lindisfarne (north-east of Great Britain). It was then that England, and soon the whole of Europe, learned about the terrible “northern people” and their dragon-headed ships. In 794 they “visited” the nearby island of Wearmus (there was also a monastery there), and in 802-806 they reached the Isles of Man and Iona (west coast of Scotland)

First sack of London

Twenty years later, the Normans gathered a large army for a campaign against England and France. In 825 the Vikings landed in England, and in 836 London was sacked for the first time. In 845, the Danes captured Hamburg, and the city was so devastated that the episcopate located in Hamburg had to be moved to Bremen. In 851, 350 ships again appeared off the coast of England, this time London and Canterbury were captured (and of course plundered).

Creation of the Norman State of Dunloe

In 866, a storm carried several ships to the shores of Scotland, where the Normans had to spend the winter. The following year, 867, the new state of Danelaw was formed. It included Northumbria, East Anglia, part of Essex and Mercia. Danlo existed until 878. At the same time, a large fleet attacked England again, London was captured again, and then the Normans moved on to France. In 885, Rouen was captured, and Paris was under siege (in 845, 857 and 861, Paris was already sacked). Having received the ransom, the Vikings lifted the siege and retreated to the northwestern part of France, which in 911 was transferred to the Norwegian Rollon. The region was named Normandy.

Conquest of England in the 10th century

At the beginning of the 10th century, the Danes again tried to capture England, which they succeeded only in 1016. The Anglo-Saxons managed to overthrow their power only forty years later, in 1050. But they did not have time to enjoy freedom. In 1066, a huge fleet under the command of William the Conqueror, a native of Normandy, attacked England. After the Battle of Hastings, the Normans reigned in England.

Division between Norwegians and Icelanders

In 861, the Scandinavians learned about Iceland from the Swede Gardar Svafarsson. Soon after, in 872, the unification of Norway by Harald Fairhair began, and many Norwegians fled to Iceland. According to some estimates, between 20,000 and 30,000 Norwegians moved to Iceland before 930. Later they began to call themselves Icelanders, thus distinguishing themselves from the Norwegians and other Scandinavian peoples.

Eirik Raud (Red) founder of the Brattalid settlement

In 983, a man named Eirik Raud (Red) was exiled from Iceland for three years for murder. He went in search of a country rumored to have been seen to the west of Iceland. He managed to find this country, which he named Greenland (“Green Country”), which sounds rather strange in relation to this snowy and cold island. In Greenland, Eirik founded the settlement of Brattalid.

Vinland Leif Eiriksson son of Red discovered Boston

In 986, a certain Bjarni Bardsson sailed from Iceland, intending to get to Greenland. He stumbled upon unknown land three times until he reached the southern coast of Greenland. Having learned about this, Leif Eiriksson, son of Eirik Raud, repeated Bjarni's journey, reaching the Labrador Peninsula. Then he turned south and, walking along the coast, found an area he called “Vinland” (“Grape Country”). Presumably this happened in the year 1000. According to the results of work carried out by scientists, Leif Eiriksson's Vinland was located in the area of ​​​​modern Boston.

Leif's brothers: Torvald and Thorstein

After Leif's return, Thorvald Eiriksson, his brother, went to Vinland. He lived there for two years, but in one of the skirmishes with local Indians he was mortally wounded, and his comrades had to return to their homeland.

Leif's second brother, Thorstein Eiriksson, also tried to reach Vinland, but he was unable to find this land.

There were only about 300 estates in Greenland. The lack of forest created great difficulties for life. The forest grew in Labrador, which was closer than in Iceland, but everything needed had to be brought from Europe, due to the very difficult conditions of navigation to Labrador. Settlements existed in Greenland until the 14th century.

Viking History

VIKINGS - (Normans), sea robbers, immigrants from Scandinavia, who committed in the 9th-11th centuries. hikes up to 8,000 km long, perhaps even longer distances. These daring and fearless people reached the borders of Persia in the east, and the New World in the west.

Origin of the word Viking

The word “Viking” goes back to the Old Norse “vikingr”. There are a number of hypotheses regarding its origin, the most convincing of which traces it to “vik” - fiord, bay. The word “Viking” (literally “man from the fiord”) was used to refer to robbers who operated in coastal waters, hiding in secluded bays and bays.

They were known in Scandinavia long before they became infamous in Europe. The French called the Vikings Normans or various variations of this word (Norsmanns, Northmanns - literally “people from the north”); The British indiscriminately called all Scandinavians Danes, and the Slavs, Greeks, Khazars, and Arabs called the Swedish Vikings Rus or Varangians.

Danish Vikings

Wherever the Vikings went - to the British Isles, France, Spain, Italy or North Africa - they mercilessly plundered and captured foreign lands. In some cases, they settled in conquered countries and became their rulers. Danish Vikings conquered England for some time and settled in Scotland and Ireland.

Norwegian and Swedish Vikings

Together they conquered a part of France known as Normandy. The Norwegian Vikings and their descendants created colonies on the North Atlantic islands of Iceland and Greenland and founded a settlement on the coast of Newfoundland in North America, which, however, did not last long. Swedish Vikings began to rule in the eastern Baltic. They spread widely throughout Rus' and, going down the rivers to the Black and Caspian Seas, even threatened Constantinople and some regions of Persia. The Vikings were the last Germanic barbarian conquerors and the first European pioneer seafarers.

Activity in the 9th century

There are different interpretations of the reasons for the violent outbreak of Viking activity in the 9th century. There is evidence that Scandinavia was overpopulated and many Scandinavians went abroad to seek their fortune. The rich but undefended cities and monasteries of their southern and western neighbors were easy prey. It was unlikely that there would be any resistance from the scattered kingdoms of the British Isles or the weakened empire of Charlemagne, consumed by dynastic strife.

In winter, robbery in summer by landowners

During the Viking Age, national monarchies gradually consolidated in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Ambitious leaders and powerful clans fought for power. Defeated leaders and their supporters, as well as the younger sons of victorious leaders, unabashedly embraced unfettered plunder as a way of life. Energetic young men from influential families usually gained prestige through participation in one or more campaigns.

Many Scandinavians engaged in robbery in the summer and then turned into ordinary landowners. However, the Vikings were not only attracted by the temptation of prey.

The prospect of establishing trade opened the way to wealth and power. In particular, immigrants from Sweden controlled trade routes in Rus'.

Viking translation - man from the bay

The English term “Viking” comes from the Old Norse word vkingr, which could have several meanings. The most acceptable, apparently, origin is from the word vk - bay, or bay. Therefore, the word vkingr translates as “man from the bay.”

The term was used to describe the marauders who took refuge in coastal waters long before the Vikings became notorious in the outside world. However, not all Scandinavians were sea robbers, and the terms “Viking” and “Scandinavian” cannot be considered synonymous. The French usually called the Vikings Normans, and the British indiscriminately classified all Scandinavians as Danes. The Slavs, Khazars, Arabs and Greeks who communicated with the Swedish Vikings called them Rus or Varangians.

Definitions from encyclopedias

VIKINGS (Old Scandinavians), Scandinavians - participants in maritime trade, predatory and conquest campaigns at the end of the 8th - mid-11th centuries. to European countries. In Rus' they were called Varangians, and in Western Europe - Normans (Scand. Northman - “northern man”). In the 9th century captured Northeast England in the 10th century. - Northern France (Normandy). Reached North America.

Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius

About three centuries from 800 to 1050 AD. e. Viking warriors sailed their ships, terrorizing Europe. They sailed from Scandinavia in search of silver, slaves and lands. The Vikings mainly attacked Britain and France while they were invading Russia. The Vikings explored many unknown lands while sailing the vast Atlantic Ocean.