Lecture Overheads:

Several overheads are shown in class in connection with the lectures for the History of the Vikings course. Because of the large number of students in the class and the occasional difficulty in seeing the screen, the information from the overheads is given below to supplement student's class notes only.

A Viking by Any Other Name...(Names by which the Vikings were called)

• Normanni (France, Continent)

• Northmen, Danes, Host, Heathens (England)

• Lochlannach - "Northmen" (Ireland)
  Lochlann - Irish name for Norway and Norwegian area of Scotland

• Gall - "Foreigner" (Celtic/Ireland) as in "Galloway"
  • Finn-Gall - White Foreigner - (Norwegians?) (Ireland)
  • Dubh-Gall - Black Foreigner - (Danes?)as in "Dubh-linn" (Ireland)

• Ruotsi - "Swedes" ("Rowers") (Finland)

• Rus or Ros - probably related to Ruotsi - (Russia, Byzantium)

• Varangian - probably related to Varyag, ie. trader/merchant (Byzantium, Constantinople)

• Al-Madjus - "Heathen" (Spain)

• Ascomanni - "Ashmen" (Germany)
  • Adam of Bremen in Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclasiae Pontificum(1070-76) notes that "Ascomanni" is a name used by the Germans, but that the pirates "call themselves, Viking."

Origin of the term "Viking:"

• Viken - region around the Oslofjord - east and west shores. However, people here used the term "Vestfaldingi," rather than "Viking."

• Wic - meaning "settlement, or camp." Possibly related to latin term "vicus."

• Vik - bay, inlet. Perhaps because many Scadinavians/Vikings lived in areas in/near bays, inlets.

• Vikja - verb meaning "to leave, to turn away from, to depart." Used in modern Scandinavian languages as "vike av" (to turn away). Fritz Askeberg in Norden och Kontinenten i Gammal Tid(1944) argued that "Viking" probably originated as a verb to describe the action to describe those who leave, turn away from home to pursue a particular type of activity - ie. raiding, as opposed to trading.

Some Major Written Sources:

Non-Scandinavian Sources

• Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclasiae Pontificum (History of the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen) 1070-75. Adam was a German cleric working for the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen in northern Germany that had responsibility for the conversion of the Nordic pagans, ie. Vikings. Danish king, Sven Estridsson, a Christian, is one of Adam's informants. Adam is the first documentary source to mention "Vinland" in the historical record and tells us that grapes were found there. His source may have been the Icelandic cleric, Isleif Gizursson.

• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Record of the struggle of the Anglo-Saxons (English) against the Viking raiders. Begun by Alfred the Great in the 880s; ended in 1140.

• Universal History of Orosius This is a 9th century English translation of a manuscript by a Spanish monk's history of the world. Important because of two additions made by the English - Othere's (Ottar) journey along the coast of Norway and Wulfstan's journey into the Baltic. First time name of "Norway" appears in the documentary record. Ottar tells of sailing to a port in the south, Scearingsheal (probably, Kaupang).

• War of the Irish with the Foreigner 12th century mss. Colorful, quotable, anti-pagan ramblings of Irish monks. Internally contratidictive and largely inaccurate. It has been characterized as "wonderful nonsense."

• Annals of St. Bertin (Bertinianni Annals) 9th century France. Royal court and church records of Viking activity in France, Seine River valley. Louis the Pious meets "vikings" with delegation of diplomats from Constantinople in 839. Two principal authors: (a) Prudentius, Bishop of Troyes, 843-861 and (b) Hincmar, Bishop of Rheims, 845-882.

• Gesta Normannorum, by Dudo of San Quentin. Account of the Norman Dukes, including founding of the Duchy of Normandy. Early 11th century.

• Asser's Life of King Alfred. 10th century. Life of King Alfred of Wessex, 871-899.

• Vita Anskari, by Rimbert. 9th century. Life of St. Ansgar, Christian missionary to Scandinavia in first half of 9th c.

• Constantine Porphyrogenitus, On the Administrtion of the Empire. AD 954. Byzantine handbook by the 10th century emperor. Gives detailed account of the RUS trade and the trade route down the Dneiper River.

• The Russian Primary Chronicle. early 13th century mss. but based on compilations no earlier than 11th century. Accepted as guide to mid-10th century and later. Written in Kiev, tels of the coming of the RUS under Rurik.

• Ibn Fadlan. 10th century Arab diplomat. Encountered RUS at the mouth of the Volga River and writes of his experiences in AD 922. Mss. serves as the basis of Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead and the film The 13th Warrior.

• Ducuil, De mensura orbis terrae 825 CE. Irish monastic scholar and grammarian. Tells of visit of Irish hermits to Iceland. Notes the "perpetual day" of the northen latitudes and volcanic activity.

• Ahmad Ibn Rustah, Book of Precious Records 10th century. Rustah was an explorer and geographer in the 10th century. Traveled extensively including Novgorod where he met some of the Rus. "They harry the Slavs, using ships to reach them, they carry them off as slaves and sell them," he writes.

• Orosius, Universal History Late 9th century Anglo-Saxon of 5th Century history by Spanish monk, Orosius. Includes account by Norwegian merchant, Ottar (Othere), including description of sailing to Hedeby from North Norway.

• War of the Irish Against the Foreigner mid-12th century Irish of affairs of Munster and events leading up to Battle of Contarf (1014). Fiercely partisan and anti-Norse, polemical, intenal contraditions. Unreliable as history, great as literature.

Scandinavian Sources

• Islendingabok (Book of the Icelanders), written by Ari (The Learned) Thorgilsson in early 12th century. Short account of the discovery, settlement and Christianization of Iceland. Includes founding of the Althing.

• Landnamabok (Book of Settlements). Early 13th century. Account of main families of Iceland and its settlement.

• Heimskringla (Sagas of the Norse Kings), Account of the Viking kings of Norway in the Viking age written by Snorre Sturlason.

• Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum late 12th/early 13th century. Danish cleric in service of Archishop Absalon, founder of Copenhagen. A history of the Danish people and rulers, includes legendary stories and Christian view (generally negative) of pagan relgion. Legend of Danish prince, Amleth, borrowed by Shakespeare to fashion Hamlet.

• The Poetic Edda (Elder Edda). Various poems from the Viking age, including Havamal.

• Prose Edda. Stories and accounts from the Viking age, compiled primarily by Snorre Sturlasson. Includes information and lore needed by the Skaldic poets.

• Sagas from Iceland, most written down in 13th century, include Laxdaela Saga, Njal's Saga, Grettir Saga and Egil's Saga among many others. Includes legendary sagas such as The Saga of the Volsungs (Saga of Sigurd the Dragonslayer).

• Rock carvings and inscriptions. Varied. Short messages. Jelling Stone among the most important.

Cultural Changes in Scandinavia - approx. 200 CE - approx. 700 CE

• Language: The Old Norse form of the Germanic languages is implanted with the written form (futhark) in place. The original "older futhark," consisting of a 24-character script is used until approx. 700 CE when it is replaced by a 16-character script which was used during the Viking Age. The symbols, runic letters, are carved on stone, on wood and on metal. The stones are largely memorial, monumental. Runic letters were simply letters, not magic symbols.

• Settlement Patterns: Scandinavia in the "Iron Age," is an agricultural society. Tribal structure changes to a system of family farms. Farm house construction remains fairloy consistent through the iron age and Viking age with "long houses" of various sizes. Farm names appear to in use laready and follow a similar tradition to modern times.

• Religion: Pagan religion is in place with Germanic/Norse dieties. The Aesir and Vanir families of gods dominate over the Vanir or agricultural diesties. Main gods described by Roman writer Tacitus, in 98 CE, in Germania as: Odin=Mercury; Tyr=Mars; Thos=Hercules

• Ship technology advances toward the development of the Viking ship through the 7th and 8th centuries. Ships found have included Tune, Oseberg, Gokstad, and Skudelev.

• Development of regional power center and assemblies with chieftans, and petty kings. Cultural landscape develops with intensified agriculture, crop rotation system, and the emergence of trading centers: Birka, Hedeby, Kaupand, Hedeby and Ribe.

Causes of Vikings Expansion

• External Threats. Reaction to real and perceived threats from the the Carolingian Empire and the aggressive religious wars and forced conversions carried out by Charles the Great (Charlemagne) in the late 8th cenhtury, especially against the Saxons. Scholars in recent years have assessed this possible cause as among the most compelling explanations of early Viking activity, especially in the western Baltic and along the North Sea and Atlantic coasts.

• Desire for adventure and/or riches. The would be manifested by small-group pirate raids and hit-and-run attacks in the early Viking period. Increased in intensity as decades passed.

• Commerce and Trade. This activity occurs throughout the Viking age and often parallels raiding and settlement activity. Swedish vikings emphasized trade and individuals, such as Ottar (Othere) [cited in 9th century English translation of Orosius Universal History] was a "trader," not a "raider."

• Colonization and Settlement. This becomes a major factor of Viking expansion after mid-9th century, especially in England, Normandy, North Atlantic islands. The settlement of the Danelaw in northern England, the discovery and settlement of Iceland and Greenland occur duing this period. This cause is related to, but not caused by, the growing population.

• Military/Political Expansion. With the emergence of the nation states of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Viking raiding assumes the character of invading national armies. This most apparent with the Danish invasions of the early 11th century let by Svein Forkbeard and Knut the Great and the 1066 attack on England spearheaded by Harald Hardrade and the Norman invasion led by Duke William, a descendent of Vikings in France.

• Overpopulation and Enticements of New Land. The growing population of Scandinavia, especially in the coastal areas of Norway and the Danish islands, have surpassed the limits of available resources and available farm land. There is an internal migration, especially in Sweden and eastern Norway, but many choose to migrate across the North Sea as earlier Germanic peoples (Jutes, Angles and Saxons) had done in centuries past.

• God's Punishment. This explanation was prominent among Christian clerics in the early Viking period. Alcuin explained the surprising attack on Lindisfarne monastary in 793 CE by claiming that God was unhappy with the English for "turning away from God" and therefore, sending the Vikings as evidence of his wrath.

Farm Names - Norway

• Approx 200 CE to 400 CE - farm names have monosyllabic names and are genereally located near in the central area.
  • Mo -- sandy soild, rich, fertile soil. MOEN
  • Boe/Bo -- place, live
  • LI -- hill/hillside - LIEN
  • Aas -- small hill, AASEN

• Approx. 400 CE to 600 CE. Names commonly with a -vin (meadow) or -heim (home) suffix.
  • Ullervin - meadow dedicated to god ULL
  • Bergvin - meadow in / by / of the mountain
  • Skodvin - foggy meadow
  • Trondheim - home of the Tronder.

• Approx 600 ED to 1100 CE. Viking age settlements. Large increase in number of farms (100%) in this period. Names end in suffix: -stad, -set, thorp / torp, tvedt / tveit / thwaite, eng, commonly. Found extensively throughout Scandinavia, incl. Iceland, Faroe Islands, and Britain.
  • -stad - place. Geirstad, Tingstad,
  • -set - place. Solset
  • torp - small, enclosed farm, Hustorp, Fjelltorp
  • -tveit / -tvedt / -thwaite - small farm. Hustveit, Whistlethwaite

• Approx 1100 CE to 1350 CE. Christian Middle Ages, post Viking age Farms are at higher elevations, generally over 400 meters. The common suffix is -rud, which comes the word "rydde" or cleared as in "cleared land." The land had to be cleard of stones of trees and stumps before it could be ploughed. Population still expanding as marginal some of this lang is marginal. Many of these farms were abandoned after the Bubonic plague (1349-1351) when, those who survived the great mortality. Survivors would take over abandoned farms at lower elevations, often with better soil and easier farming condition. Many of those abandoned farms at higher or lower elevations were later taken up for use again in the 16th and 17th centuries. Some of these farms got the name: "Odegaard." (which means "abandoned farm.)
  • - rud. "cleared" - Stenerud. "cleared of stones;" Stensrud or Olerud - such a farm that may have been owned origiinally by Sten or Ole.

Viking Warfare

The personal weapons of a Viking were importan and large sums of money could be spent on them. In addition, craftsmen clearly expended enormous energy and ingenuity on the decoration of weapons. Principal weapons included:

1. sword
2. axe
3. spear
4. iron hat (helmet)
5. bow and arrow
6. shield
7. chaim mail - used occasionally, but very expensive;
   most soldiers probably substituted reindeer hides or sheepskin.

Viking Society - The Rigsthula (Lay of Rig)

• Slave class - Workers: Thrall
• Middle Class - Farmers: Karl
• Upper Class - Leaders/Chieftans: Jarl (Earl)

Viking Relgion/Mythology

Before there were men and gods there was the great void, Ginnungagap. North of this void was Niflheim, dark and misty. South of the void was Muspell, fiery and hot. From their cataclysmic union was born the giant Ymir, nourished by the "great cosmic cow," Audumbla emerging from the melting frost, licking the salty ice blocks and fashioning a human form, Buri. Buri had a son Bor who had three sons, Vili, Ve, Odin. Killing Ymir, they formed the world and from driftwood along the shor, created the first man and woman.

The earth was a round disk(?) surrounded by the ocean. The world of men was Midtgård, the world of the giants was Jotunheimen, the world of the gods was Åsgård. Here was the Hall of the Slain, Valhalla. Central to the world was the great ash tree, Yggdrasil, the branches of which reached to the shy and covered the earth.

Among the principal gods, Adam of Bremen tells us that a trinity of sorts were worshipped at the great temple of Uppsala. Odin, Thor and Frey.

Two families of gods, the Aesir and the Vanir.

The Aesir, militaristic dieties headed by Odin, had overcome the Vanir in some prehistoric confrontation that may well have been a mere cultural reminder of the displacement of an earlier culture by the Germanic tribes during the migration period of the late Iron Age. In the Prose Edda, Snorre gives us numerous stories explaining the roles of the gods, giants and numerous other spirits and beings.

Catalysts for evil and destruction emerges gradually in the person of Loki and his three offspring, the Fenris Wolf, the World Snake and Hel, the guardian of the underworld. Odin's search for wisdom and knowledge preoccupies his time and efforts as he tries vainly, it turns out, to save his perfect som, Baldur, whose death is prophysied as the beginning episode of the final days leading to the great battle between the forces of good and evil, Ragnarok.

Questions to consider: Has Ragnarok happened? If not, why? How is the heroic portrayed in the conflicts represented in the mythology? How does it differ from the portrayal of the heroic in the Sagas? Does it? What is a hero in Norse culture?

Odin: Gungnir - Spear; Draupnir - Ring; Sleipnir - Horse; Hugin & Munin - Odin's Ravens
Thor/Tor: Mjolnir - Hammer; Girdle of Might/Strength=Giving Belt; Iron Gauntlet; Two Goats
Baldur: Odin's perfect son whose death brings about Ragnarok
Tyr: early warrior god, Tacitus said he was equivalent of Mars, sword god
Heimdal: Guardian of the Rainbow Bridge(Bifrost)
Frey: also known as Yngvi-Frey: gog of fertility; Skidbladnir (ship); Gullinborsti (boar)
Freya: female fertility diety; Brisingarmen (shining neclace thought to represent the rising sun).
Njord: god of fertility. Father of Frey and Freya. Associated with earlier fertility dieties such as Nerthus. Njord rules over wind and sea and is god of seafarers and fishermen. Njord name appears in coastal area place names in Norway and Iceland, inland in Sweden(near lakes). Loki: the catalyst of chaos and trouble. Originally a practical joker, trickster and troublemaker who gradually becomes more evil. Closest god to a "devil" in Norse religioh. He is nemisis of gods but also their friend and helper. Plays many roles. Responsible for the death of Baldur and coming of Ragnarok.
Loki has three offspring: The World Snake (Jormungand); The Fenris Wolf; and Hel (Female guardian of the Underworld).

Vikings in England

• Period of pirate raiding featuring hit and run attacks. No permanent presence. AD 793 to approx AD 850.

• Period of Settlement. Large raiding armies enter England and spend longer periods. Over-wintering in the early years, then around AD 876, the Vikings begin the process of settlement/land-taking. Treat of Wedmore in AD 878 sets up a divided England with Anglo-Saxons in the south, in Wessex, and Danes/Norwegian in the north, in the Danelaw.

• Period of national armies. Beginning in the 990s, the character of the Viking onslaught changes to be conflicts of national armies as Denmark under Svein Forkbeard and Knud the Great conquer England by 1013, forcing the exile of the Anglo-Saxon Ethered the Unready. Knud reigns as a Christian king until his death in 1035 when he is succeeded by Edward the Confessor. Edward's death in January, 1066, leads to the final showdown of forces at Stamford Bridge and Hastings in September and October, 1066.

Pre-Viking England consisted of several small/petty kingdoms: Wessex, Essex, Sussex, Kent, East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria. Peoples included Britons, Picts, Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Celts.
By the time the Vikings appeared, most had become Christian and the Church had accepted the dominance of the Roman Church (Synod of Whitby, 664 CE), including the acceptance of the Petrine doctrine and the specific celebration of holy days, such as Easter.
To a great extent, as a result of becoming a part of western Christendom, in the seventh and eighth centuries a cultural and intellectual blossoming, known as the NORTHUMBRIAN RENAISSANCE grew up centered at the Cathedral School in York. Renowed scholars at the time were "The Venerable Bede" (673-735), a theologian and historian, and a York-educated scholar to the Carolingian court of Charlemagne, Alcuin of York.

While Celts, Picts and Britons lived in the perimeter regions and highlands, the Germanic tribes, Anglo-Saxons, Jutes, etc., dominated the central and south-east areas of Britain in the regions of Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Sussex, Wesses, Essex and Kent. Offa, king in Mercia at the time was the first to style himself as "rex anglorum" (king of England).

Alfred the Great

Alfred's reign falls into 3 periods:

• 871-878: Struggle against raiding Vikings throughout Wessex. Nearly forced from the country until he raises enough forces to engage the Viking army let by Guthrum (Guttorm) at the Battle of Edington in 878 CE.
  Establishment of the Danelaw, dividing England between Viking and Anglo-Saxon.

• 878-891: Consolidaton and Settlement. Viking armies consolidate their hold over the Danelaw while Alfred does likewise in the south. Fortifications are built. Dane and Norwegians flow into the Danelaw and establish a Scandinavian dominated society through cultural and political control.
  Anglo-Saxon Chronicle begun by Alfred along with the translation of numerous "edifying" literary works, such as Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy.

• 891-899: Beginning of the Anglo-Saxon reconquest of the Danelaw. Children of Alfred, Edward the Elder and Ethelflaed. Grandson, Athelstan, wins the Battle of Brununurh in 937. The Viking saga hero, Eigil Skaldagrimson, is said to have fought in this battle on the side of the Anglo- Saxons. The city of York falls into Anglo-Saxon hands in 954 CE with the defeat of Eirik Blood-Axe.

Vikings in France / Normandy

In AD 896, Rollo enters the documentary record with a brief mention, but it is in AD 911 that he signs a treaty with King Charles the Simple and becomes the first Duke of Normandy. Giving the Vikings/Northmen/Normans the land at the mounth of the Seine River, this transfer of land to Rollo and his men (who were in possession of it anyway) established the Duchy of Normandy and served to protect Paris from future Viking raids. One hundred and fifty-five years later, Rollo's direct descendent, William of Normandy, will lead an invasion of England in 1066.

The North Atlantic

Condemned to outlawry in the latter part of the 10th century, Erik the Red left Iceland and explored Greenland for three years before returning to market the property and encourage settlement. A new daughter colony from Iceland was established at two sites, the Eastern Settlement and the Western Settlement, along the west coast of Greenland. Erik the Red make his home at Brattahlid. From here, around the year AD 1000, the son of Erik the Red, Leif Eriksson, sailed west and established an new settlement at a place called Vinland. Like Iceland and Greenland before it, Vinland was probably a region. Explorer/writer Helge Ingstad of Norway discovered a Viking settlement site in northern Newfoundland in the late 1950s which was probably a part of Vinland. Anne Stine Ingstad led the excavatioon of the site at L'Anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, finding a spindle whorl of Soapstone, a pin, and evidence of two castings of bog iron. Eight house sites and a smitty were subsequently identified over the years of excavation.

The Vinland site probably lasted no more than a generation. Conflicts with the native people, called "Skraelings," pressured the Vikings and the westenmost site was subsequently abandoned. Greenland lived on until the late 15th century when it too, probably due to the changes in weather, succumbed. Iceland remained the most successful and lasting of the most western Viking settlements, but the memory of the others remained and the archeology has also confirmed the saga records. It might even be that a sailor in the 1470s visiting Iceland on an English ship from Bristol heard stories of land to the west. That sailor, seeking to make a name and fortune for himself, called himself Christoph Colon, but is known to history as Christopher Columbus.

The End of the Viking Age