Viking
Miscellaneous about the life of St. Edmundo12th century.
Viking (from Old Norse víkingr) is the main name given to warriors who carried out raiding raids, originating from the Nordic peoples from Scandinavia, famous for being great navigators and for carrying out looting and attacks in Europe. Depending on the context and the interpretation of the author, the name can be used to refer to the raiders from this provenance or to their countries of origin. Metonymy has led to the name still being used colloquially today to refer to the Scandinavian countries. Their language was Old Norse.
While there are vague references to Germanic peoples of the Baltic Sea and Scandinavia in Roman sources, their attacks and appearance on the European political scene gain relevance with the looting of Lindisfarne Monastery (793) in northern Britain, which was soon followed by attacks on the rest of the islands and on the mainland. The annals and chronicles of the next two centuries are full of terrifying tales. In Iberia, they looted Lisbon, Cádiz, Algeciras and Seville, and in general, Galicia, Andalusia, Murcia and the Balearic Islands. Their violent actions terrified the old communities, which, although accustomed to war, had no way of foreseeing when there would be a raid and suffered from a lack of strong powers in the early Middle Ages. These attacks, added to those of the Hungarians and Avars, to the pressure of the Slavic peoples in Eastern Europe and that of the Arabs in the South, were both the cause and the consequence of a period of instability that favored the political decentralization of feudalism.
Over the centuries that followed, the Vikings and their descendants had a major influence on European history. In the British Isles they ruled for many years until they were finally defeated by the Normans, descendants of Vikings who had received land in Normandy (France). In Italy they founded the Norman kingdom of Sicily and even came to influence the Caliphate of Córdoba and the Byzantine Empire with their raids. Through the rivers of the north, they repeatedly intervened in the Baltic Sea and in Russia, whose first states (Kievan Rus) appear to be linked to Viking adventurers.
The end of the Viking period is usually dated to the fall of King Harald the Merciless, who was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 while attempting to take possession of England, although Danish historians extend to 1085 with the end of the reign of Canute IV of Denmark. Although the Nordic influence continued to be relevant, the acculturation of Normans in France, England and Italy, the military victories of several states such as France that managed to secure the coasts and the decrease in raids Scandinavian with the Christianization of Scandinavia gradually meant the end of its activity as it was known.
Names and etymology
The origin of the word is disputed. In runic texts the form fara í víking is used as 'going on an expedition', although in later texts such as the Icelandic sagas it implies looting or piracy and already excludes commercial expeditions. The name víkingr alludes among the skalds to sailors and warriors who participate in overseas expeditions. It is also used as a person's name in some Swedish runes. There is little sign that the term had negative connotations before the Viking Age ended.
There are more theories about its origin, some quite improbable. Some scholars have suggested that the word comes from the Saxon wic, a military camp. Others maintain that it comes from the phrase vik in, which means 'bay inside', thus referring to their landings; or it may derive from the Old Norse word vík, which means 'small bay, cove or inlet', so it can be interpreted as 'he who frequents a bay, cove or fjord'. Others think that it comes from vig (a battle, although it is improbable for phonological reasons), or from vijka, which means &# 39;move or deviate', making a Viking 'one who detours or deviates'. Among the theories that have been gaining followers among the scholars of this century, is the one that makes it derive from the Old Norse term vika, 'naval mile', that is to say the distance that runs a boat before the rowers tire and are relieved.
One theory that has been losing steam has linked the word Viking as a variant of the geographic region of Viken, meaning 'a person from Viken'. According to the argument, the term Viking simply describes a person originating from Viken, and it was only during the last few centuries that the word identified medieval Scandinavians in general. On the other hand, in documents of the time the men coming from Viken are called víkverir, and instead, men from other regions of Scandinavia are called Vikings, as for example in the runestones of Tóki víking (Sm 10), Gårdstånga (DR 330) and Västra Strö 1.
In Old English, the word wicing appears in the 9th-century poem Widsith, as well as in the story of Adam of Bremen about 1070. It was used in practice Synonymous with pirate. The word was lost and is not used in later texts, being viking reintroduced in the Viking Revival of Romanticism, which idealized them and led to the extension of the adjective to "Viking religion", "Viking culture". among others. In Spanish it was introduced from English.
The name referred to activity, not ethnic origin, the term being extended to the Scandinavian people, a modern metonymy. In Scandinavian texts, even today, the term is commonly used to specify the explorers. The question of whether or not they were a culture has been the subject of various debates. Olaf Ragnusson, an expert on the subject, defends it this way in his book Vikings: The Greatest Civilization, based on the agrarian society and with a government they had. For example, the term is used for Germanic cultures, excluding the Sami, also originating from Scandinavia.
This name was, however, little used outside of Scandinavia. The forms varangos (from the Varangian Sea or Baltic Sea) and nordmanni (Normans, literally 'northmen'), of Frankish origin, are frequent. Meanwhile, German chroniclers describe them as ascomanni, 'men of the ash tree', a description that may be due to one of these two theories: The fact that the sacred tree of the Vikings, Yggdrasil, is an ash tree. Or also that the first man, Ask, was created according to Nordic mythology by Odin and his brothers, Vili and Ve, from an ash tree trunk they found. The first woman, Embla, was created from an elm trunk.
Hispanic Muslim sources refer to them as mayus (literally, 'magos', a name given to Mazdean priests and used by extension to refer to pagans); Slavic sources, such as Rus (possibly from the Finnish name for Sweden Ruotsi), and Byzantine sources, such as Rhos (from the Greek adjective for &# 39;red', because of his ruddy complexion) or Varangoi (probably from Old Norse Var, 'vow' or 'oath' 39;, describing a band of men who had sworn allegiance to each other).
These names were used interchangeably for all Scandinavian nations, be they Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish. For example, Adam of Bremen, writing around 1075, refers to "the Danes and the Swedes and other people beyond Denmark (Norwegians) called Norsemen." Therefore, when the chronicles repeatedly refer to Dene or Dani, it should not be assumed that the Vikings in question necessarily came from Denmark. Only the Irish, who called them Lochlannach ('northern people') or Gaill ('outsiders' or ' foreigners'), Dubgaill and Finngaill were the terms to distinguish between Danes (Finn-gaill, 'white foreigners') and Norwegians (Dubh-gaill, 'black foreigners').
Constituents
The main primary sources on Vikings are Scandinavian remnants and the regions where they settled. Writing using the Latin alphabet dates Scandinavia to the adoption of Christianity, so there are no native sources from before the XI and early XII The Vikings used rune inscriptions, often short and difficult to understand. Modern history bases its knowledge of the Vikings more on the texts of Christian and Muslim communities, often with a negative bias due to having suffered from Viking activity. The documents vary in their bias and reliability from each other, but no more than common early medieval texts, so they remain relevant. Since the mid-20th century 20th, archaeological sources have helped build a more complete and neutral picture. The archaeological record is particularly rich and varied, and provides knowledge of both rural and urban settlements, industry and economic activity as well as navigation and warfare without excluding religious activity, both Christian and pagan. This source is even more important for the time before the Viking Age.
Records from after this Viking Age are also useful for understanding the Vikings, though they need to be treated with caution. Following the consolidation of the Church in Northern Europe, native sources began to flourish, both in Latin and Old Norse. Particularly key was the Viking colony of Iceland, which developed a rich vernacular literature between the 12th and XIV, with strong Viking roots with traditions going back to the Icelandic sagas. The reliability of these narratives is not great, but it is of great value, among other reasons, for including remains of the primitive skaldic poetry of the poets of the centuries X and XI. The linguistic evidence in the place names also serves to trace the expansion of this town.
Background
They ethnically belonged to the family of Germanic peoples and their language and culture were Germanic derived from animistic religions, like those of all Scandinavian peoples. Early Germanic Christian monks associated this people with Noah's grandson and Japheth's eldest son named Gomer (and his people, the Cimmerians). This linguistic and cultural community of the entire Scandinavian area must be taken into account when deepening the knowledge of the spirit carried by these peoples.
These peoples, like the Greeks, inhabited a highly segmented geography that —together with the climate and carnivorous animals— made communication by land very difficult, forcing them to navigate. The sea would become their main means of communication.
Contacts between the Nordic countries and the rest of Europe went back a long time. The Héruli, for example, were clear predecessors of the future Vikings, since they also came from Scandinavia and made some raiding expeditions along the Atlantic coast of Europe aboard ships. Archaeological finds show that trade and influence date back several millennia BC. However, the Scandinavian countries were a remote corner of little political and economic importance to the rest of Europe.
Nordic peoples
Three main groups can be distinguished:
- Danes:
In the beginning, the Danes had a very strong military organization, they carried out quick raids, whose sole purpose was looting and obtaining booty. It was also the largest town of the three. They lived mainly in Jutland, Scania and Zealand, apart from the islands that separate the Baltic Sea from the North Sea between the two peninsulas. This gave them a great strategic advantage that allowed them to dominate the trade routes, just like Constantinople. In Denmark, remains of fortifications have been found, from the end of the Viking heyday, where large numbers of troops could be concentrated. The fortifications, known as trelleborgs, are circular in shape and divided into four quadrants, with square buildings in each of them. The fortified enclosures are designed with a precision that testifies to the great sense of system and order on the part of the warlords, and also that, in the Danish king's retinue, there were people with deep knowledge of geometry. An example of this type of settlement is the old Hedeby.
- Norwegians:
They began by sailing the seas and rivers for peaceful purposes, which they would later exchange for incursions on a larger scale than those of the Danes, for the purpose of conquest. They were known to be very good sailors and it was also in Norway that the naval tradition was best preserved. It should be noted that the Norwegians controlled the North Sea, toured the Atlantic Ocean, and colonized Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland.
- Suecos:
They made great voyages across the seas between the 8th and 11th centuries. They toured all of northern and southern Europe, intervening in Russia, the Byzantine Empire, and other parts of Eastern Europe.
Expansion
These Nordic peoples began to expand in search of lands to conquer or colonize starting in the 8th century.
A common theory suggests that Scandinavia may have experienced a period of overpopulation. The widespread use of much more efficient agriculture in earlier times would have allowed the population to skyrocket, with consequent demographic pressure for new land. This, in a coastal town with advanced navigation, would mark an era of expansion across the seas. Although almost all explanations are based on this theory, it is difficult to imagine such an extension without pressure for new land, it is generally considered as part of a larger explanation. The main objection to this theory is the lack of evidence of such a population increase and the lack of arguments for raids and looting. In addition, the Nordic lands, although harsh, had and still have large uninhabited areas that do not seem to have been occupied.
It is also considered that the decline of the old trade routes may have been a decisive factor. Since the fall of the Roman Empire in 476, commercial exchanges in Europe decreased considerably, and the political and market unity broke down. Thus, the Vikings had a great opportunity as traders: they exchanged the furs and slaves of their land for Arab silver and spices, which they used to trade and buy weapons from the Franks, occupying an empty position of intermediaries.
Another frequent argument is that the Vikings took advantage of the weakness of the regions they attacked and occupied. Thus, the time of great attacks coincides with the fracture of the Carolingian Empire and the British division. Another important factor was the destruction of Frisian naval power by the Franks, which left the Vikings without rivals in the Western Atlantic, giving them the opportunity to occupy their former zone of influence.
To this fact is added the progress in the naval technical improvements of the Vikings. For example, their boats had a shallow draft, which allowed them to navigate shallow rivers, moving inland via waterways. They built boats about 20-25 meters long by 3-6 meters wide, with a capacity of between 40 and 100 crew members, but always maintaining maneuverability and lightness that gave them an advantage in any situation. They also developed astronomical orientation.
Another cause seems to respond to a political factor. It is believed that a series of unification movements took place in Scandinavia in the years preceding the expansion. The tribes or groups that were left out of these movements had to look for new areas of settlement.
The Viking Age
His attacks and his emergence on the European political scene began with the sacking of Lindisfarne Monastery in 793. Monasteries, which amassed extensive possessions, food and shelter, are the targets of his subsequent attacks, which come with great ease and speed (after all, the monks could not defend themselves). In 794, the monastery on the Scottish island of Iona, the monasteries of Jarrow and Monkwearmouth on the English coast, and the monastery of Inishboffin in Ireland are looted. These attacks would be repeated in the following years, lashing the area. However, it must be taken into account that most of the sources from that time were written by the attacked towns, so it is possible that many of the data are exaggerated. In fact, the attacks were seen in many cases as heresy by the monks of the monasteries, since they were a direct attack on God.
In 799, the Vikings began to venture far from that area, arriving for the first time on the French coast in Brittany. The Loire estuary and the islands of the region were victims of Viking raids. In 820, a fleet of 13 ships already attacked by the Seine. In 834 there is news of his first attacks on the Netherlands.
In the British Isles and the English Channel, the passage of time only increased the number of attacks, their force, and their range. In 840, there is evidence of their first winter camp in Ireland, where, to protect themselves from the Danes, the local chiefs allied with the Norwegians, who from 853 came to control Ireland. In 850, they also wintered in England, where they founded a permanent settlement in York in 866 and conquered a large portion of the country. To the south, things also get worse: in 845 the first attack on Paris takes place and in 847 on Bordeaux.
The first Viking expedition to the Mediterranean dates back to 844, when 4,000 Vikings in 54 ships sailed up the Guadalquivir River, spreading terror in the area and burning Isbiliya before being defeated by Abd al-Rahmán II in the battle of Tablada, where More than 1,000 Vikings (called majus) died and 400 prisoners were executed. The rest of the expedition fled, losing 30 ships. In 858, an expedition of more than 62 ships plundered the coasts of the Iberian Levant and Italian Tuscany. From that time on, they began to go up rivers, being rejected in 863 against Cologne, although they were successful in other raids by Germany and France. To the east, they go up the Volga through Russia, seizing Novgorod in 861 and kyiv in 863. In 865, a first unsuccessful expedition tries to reach Constantinople.
In 878, the King of Wessex Alfred I the Great avenged the multiple looting of England and managed to defeat a Danish army, guaranteeing the independence of his land, although he had to recognize their dominance over the other half of England. The war would not take long to resume, but since then the Vikings have been the worst part. In 885 his most famous attack on Paris was prevented only by the payment of a ransom and permission to plunder the land on his way back. But in 888, Alano I of Brittany manages to defeat them too. The beginning of the X century in Western Europe marks the end of their greatest successes. In 911, the last attack on the mouth of the Seine is repulsed, and in 931 they are expelled from their bases on the Loire. The following decade sees his last attacks on Brittany.
In the East their presence would be more lasting, and throughout the century X various expeditions succeed in their attacks on the Black Sea and the Caspian. The beginning of the XI century would see a final reappearance when in 1014 Viking rule of England was restored under the command of King Canute II from denmark. This renaissance is considered definitively over when King Harald III the Merciless dies in the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, during dynastic conflicts in England.
The Viking Age was coming to an end. In 1100 Sweden converted to Christianity, thus showing how Scandinavia was integrating into the Christian European culture. Outside of their home countries, most of their settlements had ended up mixing with the local population and acculturation. The descendants of the Vikings managed to consolidate themselves in the European arena. The Normans, Vikings settled in France, left Normandy and ascended the thrones of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, England, Sicily, Naples and the Latin Empire.
History by country
British Isles
England
According to Anglo-Saxon chronicles, after the attack on Lindisfarne in 793, the Vikings continued their sporadic raids on the English coast. That same year the Vikings looted a monastery that guarded the relics of Saint Cuthbert. It marked the beginning of a violent period of looting, attacks and devastation that, over time, became more violent and organized. Thus, the Norwegians attacked during the winter between 840 and 841, instead of during the summer as usual, landing on an island off Ireland. In 850, they came to winter on English soil.
During this time the following prayer was typical in any Northumbrian church:
A furore normannorum libera nos, Domine (From the fury of the men of the north deliver us, Lord)
In 865, a large Danish army, supposedly led by Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Ubbe Ragnarsson and later King Guthrum, arrived in East Anglia. They crossed England into Northumbria and captured York where they settled creating the Viking kingdom of Jorvik. Although most of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were conquered without much trouble, Alfred the Great managed to contain them on the Wessex border. The Vikings dominated England for many years, subjecting it to the payment of a tribute, the Danegeld (or the 'gold of the Danes') in the occupied territory, which was called Danelaw (or 'under Danish law'). Alfredo signed around 880 the so-called Peace of Guthrum with the Danish king, according to which they agreed on a border that would divide the territories. Guthrum would rule over the territories to the north and west, while Alfredo would receive those to the south and east (from this moment on, we can start talking about Angloland, the name Alfredo gave to his territories). However, Alfred and his successors continued the war, eventually driving out the Vikings and taking York.
A new wave of Vikings arrived in 947 when Eric Bloodaxe recaptured York. The Viking presence lasted until the reign of Cnut the Great (1016-1035), after whose death a series of succession wars weakened the ruling family. The end of these fights would be the defeat of Harald III in the battle of Stamford Bridge. Ironically, the new dynasty would be founded by William I the Conqueror, a Norman or Viking descendant based in France.
Ireland
The Vikings made numerous expeditions over Ireland. They settled in some points, founding cities like Dublin. Although at times they seemed to be on the verge of controlling the island, they ended up mixing with the Irish. Literature, art and architecture reflect this deep Scandinavian influence. Through trade and Viking routes, they also came into contact with the East.
From 795, the monasteries on the east coast of Ireland suffered numerous attacks, soon spreading to the rest of the coast, especially in the north and east. In the first 40 years, they were generally small, unorganized groups. From 830 considerable and coordinated fleets began to operate, establishing the first settlements on the coasts, among which Dublin stands out. These Viking settlements were accepted by the natives, producing in many cases a miscegenation.
The Vikings who came to the islands from Norway were called those of "Lochlann of the dark ships" and the Irish manuscript of Saint Gall quotes:
Colérica tonight roars the storm. The white scalp of the waters revolves. In the waters of Ireland they are no longer to fear tonight the candles of the fierce warriors of Lochlann.
In 832, a Viking fleet of 120 ships invaded the kingdoms on the north and east coasts, attributed to a desire to control profitable raids on Ireland. During the 830s it began to move inland, as opposed to the more superficial and disorganized attacks that had been taking place on the coasts. As early as 840, the Vikings had several bases inland. To protect themselves from the Danes, the local chiefs allied at that time with the Norwegians, who from 853 came to control Ireland.
In 838, a small fleet sailed up the River Liffey in the east, where they founded a camp (longphort to the natives), which would form the foundations of the future city of Dublin. Other longphorts were Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford.
One of the last major Viking battles was the often mythologized Battle of Clontarf in 1014, in which the Vikings fought on both the side of King Brian Boru and his enemies.
Scotland
Despite the lack of early sources, there is evidence of a Viking presence around the 830s. In 839, a group—presumably Norwegians—invaded the center of the Pictish kingdom, through the Earn Valley and the river Tay. As a consequence of this, King Eóganan mac Óengusa of the Picts and his brother and vassal, the King of Scots, died, decapitating the kingdom. The founding of the Kingdom of Scotland by Kenneth MacAlpin is among the consequences of this fact.
The islands of Shetland and Orkney in the north, Hebrides and Mann in the south, as well as the Scottish enclaves of Caithness and Sutherland were colonized by the Norwegians, sometimes as part of the Kingdom of Norway and sometimes as independent states. They were not fully integrated into Scotland until the annexation of Shetland and Orkney in 1468. Galloway also received heavy Norse immigration.
Wales
Wales (or Bretland in Old Norse) was not colonized like the rest of Great Britain and the British Isles. However, there was a reduced population in places like Saint David, Haverfordwest and Gower, among others. Some place names such as Skokholm, Skomer and Swansea are remnants of this Viking population. Even so, the Vikings were unable to establish any political control over the area, unlike what happened in England or Ireland. According to Lee M. Hollander, Bjorn the Welshman and Jarl Stefnir are testimony in the Norse sagas that the Vikings had enclaves in Wales.
France
The western half of the Carolingian Empire suffered throughout the IX century, and after its breakup, numerous attacks Vikings, who ravaged the coasts. The first attacks were concentrated in the area of the English Channel, together with the British Isles, one of the areas hardest hit by the Vikings. Charlemagne himself had to assemble a fleet to try, unsuccessfully, to protect his coasts. The banks of the Loire, which they used to go up, also suffered numerous attacks. The Vikings established a settlement on an island near its mouth, which became a base for their attacks.
Since 820, the Seine served as a route to attack France. Rouen was sacked several times, and in 845 Paris suffered the first sacking, King Charles the Bald being forced to pay them to withdraw.
The Vikings took advantage of the civil wars in Aquitaine, in the early years of the reign of Charles II the Bald. In the 840s, Pepin II of Aquitaine asked them for help, establishing a Viking settlement at the mouth of the Garonne. Two dukes of Gascony would die defending Bordeaux from their attacks: Seguin II and William I, as well as a bishop from the city. A later duke, Sancho Mitarra, would also allow them to settle at the mouth of the Adour. In 862 they reached Toulouse (Toulouse).
In 864, faced with complete military defeat, King Charles the Bald issued the Edict of Pistres, creating a cavalry force under royal control that was to be ready to be summoned against any Viking attack. In addition, the fortification of ports and bridges was ordered, in order to prevent the Vikings from going too far inland. However, an alliance between Vikings and Bretons defeated Robert the Strong, margrave of the border march of Neustria, and Ranulf I of Poitiers at the battle of Brissarthe (865). Both died in battle.
Starting in the 880s, the dukes of Brittany managed to defeat the Vikings and drive them away from their lands, which did not prevent a new attack on Paris, which had to pay a ransom to save itself, and a sack of Burgundy in 886.
The last major Viking attacks on France are repelled in 911. This is when the Viking leader Rollon obtained the Duchy of Normandy from King Charles the Simple of France by the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. He and his family converted to Catholicism and began to be called Normans or Northmen, founding a ducal dynasty that would come, from William the Conqueror, to dominate England..
Their last bases on the Loire would be destroyed during the 930s.
Russia
The Varangians migrated south and east through what are now Russia and Ukraine, mainly in the 9th centuries and X. Whether as traders, pirates or mercenaries, they traveled the rivers of Gardariki, reaching the Caspian Sea and Constantinople.
Settling in Staraya Ladoga, Scandinavian settlers were likely an element in the genesis of the Rus' people, and probably played an important role in the formation of the Rus' Khaganate. The Varangians are first mentioned in the Nestor Chronicle as receiving tribute from the Slavic and Finn tribes in 859. It was the time of the Vikings' expansion into northern Europe; England began paying the Danegeld in 859, and the Curonians of Grobiņa faced the Swedish invasion in the same year.
In 862, the Slavic and Finn tribes revolted against the Varangians, driving them out to sea towards Scandinavia, but conflicts soon broke out between them. The disorder caused them to ask the Varangians to return to rule them, thus bringing peace to the region. Led by Riúrik and his brothers Truvor and Sineo, they settled in Novgorod.
In the 9th century century, the Rus launched the Volga trade route, connecting northern Russia with Middle East. As the Volga route declined towards the end of the century, the route from the Varangians to the Greeks quickly gained popularity.
Scandinavians based in kyiv even attempted to attack Constantinople itself, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. To the south, a vast territory received the name of Danelagen.
Iberian Peninsula
In 840, an indeterminate number of ships skirted the Asturian and Galician coast until they reached the current Tower of Hercules (its large size must have seemed important to them) and sacked the small village located at its feet. Ramiro I heard about the expedition and summoned his army to face the raid, defeating the Vikings and recovering a good part of the booty. He also sank between sixty and seventy of his ships, which could not have been much of a victory, as the fact that they continued their looting campaign proves it. In Lisbon the chroniclers speak of a squadron made up of 53 vessels.
In the year 844 another Norman expedition razed the city of Gijón and followed the Atlantic coast until it reached Lisbon and attacked it. Then they took Cádiz and went up the Guadalquivir, painstakingly looting Seville for seven days, where they destroyed the mosque and took many Sevillians prisoner, launching outposts on foot from the city. The Arabic chronicler Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub writes:
In the year 844 some heathen, whom we call russ, attacked Seville, looted it and burned, burning and killing.
However, when Abd Rahman II left with his men and after some battles the Vikings saw that they could not beat the Andalusian force, they fled, leaving Seville and many stragglers, who surrendered to the emir's forces and finished, or either raising horses and making cheese, or with the old punishment for piracy: hanging, in this case from the palm trees of Tablada.
This first attack on al-Andalus was an incentive for the development of a defensive fleet that patrolled and watched over not only the waters of the emirate, but also the Bay of Biscay. In addition, the defenses on the mainland began to be reinforced.
Abderrahman II, a ruler more given to diplomacy than to war, tried to prevent future Viking attacks by trying to win them over as allies. And so towards December of the year 844 or the beginning of 845 he sent an ambassador, the Jaen al-Gazal to talk with the Viking chiefs in their own bases. Although the short surviving account of the expedition does not allow us to know exactly where in northern Europe al-Gazal arrived, it can be conjectured that it is Normandy.
During the reign of Alfonso III of Asturias, the Vikings managed to cut off naval communications with the rest of Europe. The historian and Hispanist Richard Fletcher mentions at least two noteworthy incursions into Galicia in 844 and 858, and says: "Alfonso III was sufficiently concerned about the threat of the Vikings to establish fortified posts on the coast, as other kings did".
In 858 the Normans ascend the Ebro from Tortosa,[citation required] they trace it back to the kingdom of Navarre, leaving behind the impregnable cities of Zaragoza and Tudela, they then go up its tributary, the Aragón river until they meet the Arga river, which they also go up, they reach Pamplona and sack it, kidnapping the Navarrese king. A similar expedition attacks Orihuela from Segura. In 859, the Vikings arrived in Pamplona again and kidnapped the new king García I Iñíguez.
As a consequence of these attacks, in 859 an attempt was made to stop them again. The port of Seville was expanded and the maritime surveillance fleet increased under Abderramán III and Alhakén II. Abderramán II, before the Norman incursions, built the Ribat, fortresses at the river mouths, including those called today San Carlos de la Rápita in Tarragona, La Rábida on the Tinto de Huelva river; La Rábita in Granada, between the mouths of the Rio Grande and the Guadalfeo, etc.
In 968 Bishop Sisnando of Santiago de Compostela was murdered and the Curtis monastery sacked, having to take measures to defend the inner city of Lugo. The sack of Tuy in the 11th century would leave the city's episcopal office vacant for half a century. The capture and kidnapping of hostages for ransom was also common practice: Fletcher mentions the payment of Amarelo Mestáliz to guarantee the safety of his land and to rescue his daughters, captured in 1015. Bishop Cresconio de Compostela (1036-66) repelled one more Viking attack and built the Western Towers (Catoira) as a naval fortress to protect Compostela. Póvoa de Varzim, in the north of Portugal, was colonized by the Vikings. Lisbon also suffered important attacks.
More forceful was Count Gonzalo Sánchez, who finished off all of Gunrod's fleet from Norway; the count captured and put to the sword the entire crew and their king.
The cause or causes that ended the Viking raids are not known for certain. Some authors believe that the acceptance of the Christian faith around the year 1000 by most of them, attenuated their desire to attack their co-religionists. In any event, the Nordic kingdoms increasingly wanted to open up to the rest of Europe and trade with them rather than invade. An example is the case of the Castilian king Alfonso X El Sabio who married his brother Fernando with Princess Cristina of Norway (buried in Covarrubias, Burgos) on March 31, 1252, because said marriage was convenient for both Alfonso X and Haakon. IV.
The Mediterranean
Varangian raids across Russian rivers led them to attack the Black Sea ports and attempt to attack Constantinople itself, to no avail. However, the Byzantine emperors would hire them as mercenaries in what was called the Varangian Guard.
Attacks across the Straits of Gibraltar reached as far as Palestine.
Separate mention deserves the conquest of Sicily and southern Italy. Battlefield between Lombards, Byzantines and Muslims, the Normans began to arrive as mercenaries and ended up taking over the region and founding the Kingdom of Sicily. The unusual phenotypic traits of present-day Calabrians, such as non-brown eyes (green, blue, light blue), blond hair or a non-ovoid face, are a sign of the genetic load of the northern peoples: they are in presence of the «Viking phenotype».
Scans
Iceland
During their expeditions, the Vikings colonized Iceland and turned it into the last bastion where all decisions were made by consensus by the Althing (assembly of free men) while the rest of Europe plunged into feudalism. Precisely one of the main motivations of the settlers was to continue with the autarky of the family clans and they remained that way until 1262 or 1264 when it was integrated as a territory of the kingdom of Norway. Previously, Iceland had been populated by Irish hermit monks called papar.
Greenland
According to the Icelandic sagas, Vikings from Iceland first arrived in Greenland in 982. At that time, the colony consisted of two settlements, with a total population of between 3,000 and 5,000, and at least 400 farms that may date from that time have been identified at the site by archaeologists.
In 981, Erik the Red, who had been banished from Iceland, set out on a voyage of exploration to a land mentioned by sailors and poets. In his 32-meter long longship he traveled west for about 320 kilometers until he found the east coast of Greenland, which he could not approach due to pack ice. The currents dragged it towards Cape Farewell, to the south of the island. Four years later, Erik the Red with 400 people founded two colonies on the west coast that eventually had 5,000 and 1,400 settlers respectively.
At its height, the Viking colony in Greenland had a diocese at Gardar and exported ivory, rope and agricultural products. In 1261, the population accepted the rule of the King of Norway, although they continued to apply their local laws.
Vinland
According to the Icelandic sagas (the "Saga of Erik the Red" and the "Saga of the Greenlanders", chapters of the Hauksbók of the Book of Flatey), the Vikings began exploring west of Greenland within a few years of establishing settlements on the island. Bjarni Herjólfsson, a merchant sailing between Iceland and Greenland, lost his way, reaching territory much further west. Herjólfsson described the territory to Leif Eriksson, who explored the area in greater detail and founded a small settlement, called Leifbundir.
The sagas describe three separate areas discovered during this exploration: Helluland, meaning 'land of flat stones'; Markland, a territory covered by forests (something that clearly interested the settlers from Greenland, a region with few trees); and Vinland or 'land of the vines', which was a little further south of Markland. It was in Vinland that the settlement described in the sagas was established.
Society and culture
The Vikings were a highly mythologized seafaring people in medieval annals and Nordic sagas. Like many medieval peoples, the Vikings had a rigid stratified caste system. For historian Gwyn Jones, the Viking concept was a form of "temporary summer work".
The sea
The various Viking towns were interrelated through the sea, which communicated the numerous inhabited nuclei without political unity. The differences in their customs and in the maritime routes chosen are due above all to their geographical position and their peculiar physical characteristics.
To navigate these seas they used various types of ships, among them the drakkars and knarr. Knarres were short-hulled, broad-hulled sailing ships that were slow but capable. The development of longships, long and narrow ships that are easy to navigate and very useful for disembarking and transporting troops, without equal in Medieval Europe, was one of the reasons that prompted its rapid expansion.
The snekkar, modernly called drakkar (Norse word designating the dragon that was carved on the prow of the ship) were long, narrow, light boats with little draft, with oars running almost the entire length of the hull. Later versions included a single mast with a rectangular sail that made the oarsmen's work easier, especially during long voyages. In combat, the variability of the wind and the rudimentary sail made the oarsmen the main means of propulsion for the ship.
Almost all longships were built without using frames. They used the lashed hull method, superimposing wooden planks one on the other and to cover the joints between the planks, they used pitch-impregnated moss. The low weight of the longship and its shallow draft made it possible to navigate through waters of only one meter deep, which made it possible to quickly disembark and even transport the vessel on land.
Wars
During the Viking Age, Scandinavia was the scene of numerous wars. However, these had more of a character of quarrels between local leaders to dominate their rivals than of true fights between nations. Until the second half of the Viking Age, one cannot speak of true local kings, nor of defined states.
They were not the best in terms of techniques and tactics, however they were some of the deadliest and most relentless warriors of their day, famous for their ferocity in hand-to-hand combat. The highest honor for the Vikings was to die in combat since In this way, he accessed Valhalla, the great hall where the fallen in battle gathered. We can find this concept in other ancient cultures, such as the first Greek warriors from more than three thousand years ago, whose only way of life, to achieve areté (perfection), was through feats in battle, or by dying. in combat before any other life form.[citation needed]
Social classes
The Viking Age lasted three hundred years, so it changed many of its features around this time. But there are differences to different civilizations that were close to them, such as the English. Scandinavian society was tripartite, meaning that it was divided into three social classes.
- Jarl: Those who would be nobles or kings, among whom the king was chosen, konungrIn case there was. Kings were chosen by different relevant people of their clan and the throne was not inherited as the archetypal image of a king. Usually these jarls led some of the trade and looting expeditions.
- Karl.: bóndi, or free men where this freedom depended on his word. The bulk of the population, mainly peasants, farmers and traders, but this was perfectly capable of fighting and war. The bóndi does not exist individually, if not within his family.
- Thrall: or the slaves. A main source of income in the Nordic peoples. They became slaves in three ways, to be caught in battle and sold as thrall, to have been born in a family of slaves or a slave mother or not being able to pay a debt or sentence of the althing. Families had between two and three slaves, sometimes more. Although it could be released as the system was flexible (paid or thanks to masters).
The definition of social classes can be found in the mythological poem Rígsthula.
The Viking Woman
Also called husfreyja, the Viking woman was the lady of the house. They had many responsibilities linked to the private economy; responsibilities that increased when other family members (such as the father and children) left their tasks in their hands. This derivation caused them to be respected within social ties. Likewise, Viking women were in charge of defending the honor of the clan, as well as ensuring that traditions within the family were respected and continued.
The occupations they normally had were based on maintaining the home: food production and sale, education and upbringing of children, making clothes and utensils, farm tasks attributed to their gender such as dairy, although if the members in charge of the other tasks were absent they were also responsible.
Women in ancient Nordic societies enjoyed a certain degree of greater freedom than their other contemporary societies and cultures. Their possibilities of incorporation into the public sphere were more linked to factors such as lineage or social class than to their own sex. This means that it was not impossible for a woman to go to war, for example, or fulfill a certain political-public role. The role of the ancient Nordic woman depended on the different communities, and there was no general fixation on her subordination, as it was later with the Christianization of Viking society.
Religion, mythology and cosmology
The first Vikings were pagans and polytheists. They worshiped a pantheon of gods who personified the forces of nature and other concepts. Later they converted to Christianity.
Note that, contrary to popular perception, the Vikings were not uniformly pagans before their full conversion to Christianity. A large number of them had gradually converted, either during their forays into foreign lands, or through missionary monks. These Christian Vikings grew in number as paganism was replaced definitively by the new faith during the Christianization of Scandinavia, although the old beliefs would endure well into the XI. The conversion of the Viking monarchs and their subsequent imposition of the Christian faith on the entire Norse people was a crucial turning point in Viking history.
During this process of religious transition, the Viking polytheistic faith received certain Christian influences (as it had previously received them from the pagan religion of Rome). To this we must add that many of the sources that provide current knowledge of the ancient Viking religion were written by Christians, and some of their myths and descriptions respond to a Christian vision of Norse mythology.
Duality
Mythology has a concept of Viking idiosyncrasy, this is duality and/or antagonisms, where a concept or condition has its opposite and they represent something. In the Scandinavian ideology several of these "ideas" were represented in a dual way, such as:
- Hrímfaxi " Skinfaxi, Nótt " Darg: The deity of the night (Nótt) and the day (Darg) traveled through the sky in chariots thrown by horses, which their names mean scarlet chrines (Hrímfaxi) and bright christs (Skinfaxi) respectively.
- Arvak " Alsvid: Horses that their names mean, "matter" and "very fast" respectively. They rode with the Soul deity mentioned below.
- Sole " Sköll, Máni " Hati: Soul deity is persecuted and finally hunted by the wolf Sköll and this was replaced by his brother Máni, moon god, who was also persecuted by the wolf Hati, finally replacing his sister Sol again.
The stone of Rök, a medieval rhonic trail.
Ancient Futhark.
Runes and the tongue
The runes were writing symbols used by the ancient Scandinavians, probably constituting an alphabet. Its origin dates back to the Bronze Age and perhaps to an earlier time. These runes, also called the futhark alphabet (after the name of the first letters), were used to write Old Norse, the language of the inhabitants of Scandinavia.
Originally, the runes were carved in small pieces of stone and wood, generally rounded pebbles, although there are also some in clay and nowadays they are reproduced in card games with very varied designs.
Viking houses
The general household of a Viking was shaped by different factors, as they were involved in invasions, which led to being within the focus of constant violence, as well as being naval traders and using ships. The communities had to be self-sufficient, so they used what they had, especially the soil, where agriculture and livestock were produced.
The main materials used in the construction of these houses are; sod, wood and stone, in other regions such as Denmark, the deciduous leaf was used for the framework of the houses that were covered with clay and mixed manure.
As for the length, width and distribution, it depended on the economic level of the family, what would be the barn and warehouse were built inside the house, to heat the house as well as protect everything that belonged to them. It was generally divided into three parts, one where people lived and two others, one to store food and the second for the barn.
Celebrities
Erik the Red
One of the most famous Vikings is the Norwegian Erik the Red, who colonized Greenland. Also called Erik Thorvaldsson, he was born in what is now Norway around the year 950.
Leif Erikson
Son of Erik the Red, Leif Erikson is also on the list of famous Vikings for supposedly having reached America before Christopher Columbus,
Ragnar Lodbrok
Ragnar Lodbrok and all his brood who are the best known historical figures of all the raids and conquests in Europe, leading the great pagan army that dominated much of England.
Padfoot the Great
King of Denmark, who managed to subdue all of eastern England.
Harald Haardrade
Another great was Harald Haardrade (Harald the Merciless), who is considered the last Viking king. Harald fled very young to Constantinople, where he participated in the Varangian Guard for ten years, being one of its best leaders. He then escaped with the empress's daughter to Novgorod, to send her back to Constantinople. He shared the kingdom of Norway with his nephew (Magnus I the Good) in exchange for half of his accumulated wealth in Constantinople, but after a short time his nephew died under mysterious circumstances and he was left ruling alone.
When Harald learned that William the Bastard (who after conquering England would be called The Conqueror) intended to take over England, he drew a family tree according to which he had the right to be King of England, gathered an army and, together with Tostig (brother of King Harold II of England) embarked to conquer the island. He landed in the north and worked his way down until he reached York, meeting little resistance, as King Harold II's army was in the south of the island. And in a fast and long march, Harold II reached where Haardrade was, who already considered that everything was under control, but he found himself with a strong defense and fell in the battle of Stamford Bridge on September 25, 1066).
Archaeology
Weapons
Mammen Zone
It is found in Jutland which is part of Denmark. In this area the Mammen burial chamber was found, where remains and offerings of a deceased man were found. This tomb was opened in 1868, the objects gave the name to a type of Nordic or Scandinavian art, the Mammen style. Axes, a bronze chest, two wooden ones and a wax candle were found. From the clothes and objects he was wearing, it can be concluded that the man was of high status or wealth. The objects are in the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Mammen's Axe
Found in the Mammen Zone, made with iron and decorated with silver, as mentioned above, this and another ax gave its name to the Scandinavian “Mammen” type of art, on the Ax you can see a bird with a circular eye, head erect, with beak and ear and the whole body intertwined. On the other side of the ax we find an interlocking leaf design.
Sculptures
Hårby's Valkyrie was found by accident with a metal detector in December 2012 in Hårby, Denmark. It is currently in the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.
Odin of Lejre was found during excavations at the Roskilde museum by an amateur archaeologist, Tommy Olesen.
Later influence
Romanticism
The word Viking began to have a romantic connotation around the 18th century. According to the Swedish writer Jan Guillou, the term Viking was popularized, with positive connotations, by Erik Gustaf Geijer in the poem The Viking, written at the beginning of the 18th century. The word was taken as a romantic reference to idealized naval warriors, who had little reality in historical Viking culture. Romanticism's interest in the Old North had political implications: it was intended to serve as a source of national exaltation based on the glorious and brave past, to give the Swedes the courage to retake Finland in the Finnish War, which had been lost in 1809 against Russia.. The Gauta Society, of which Geijer was a member, popularized this myth. Another author with great influence on the perception of the Vikings was Esaias Tegnér, another member of the Geatish Society, who wrote a modern version of the saga Friðþjófs saga hins frœkna, very popular in the Nordic countries, the UK and Germany.
In the Anglo-Saxon world, the Viking world, George Hicke, author of Linguarum vett. septentrionalium thesaurus in 1703-05, was the forerunner of this interest in the Vikings. During the 18th century this enthusiasm increased, resulting in numerous Norse and Icelandic poems and sagas and initiating a search for Viking remains in the country.
Likewise, the German romantic composer Richard Wagner took German mythology, closely related to Nordic mythology, as the theme of many of his works (see romantic nationalism).
Nazism
As previously mentioned, the kinship between Germans and Scandinavians made German nationalism cultivate Nordic myths. During Nazi Germany, the racist attempt to idealize the Germanic Aryans led to the use of the Vikings as well. Thus, European fascist parties, such as the Norwegian Nasjonal Samling, used Viking symbols in their propaganda.
Although Germany was not particularly influenced by the Vikings, they were also appropriated by Hitler's National Socialist Party: although they did not declare themselves descendants of the Vikings, they considered them one of the Germanic peoples (as attested by mythology, runic script, etc.) that his theory made superior. Much of the National Socialist iconography misrepresents for this reason symbols common to both cultures, such as the swastika or the emblem of the SS. Today, neo-Nazis continue to use runes and other Viking signs as distinctive among their Nazi symbology.
Pagan Movement
During the 1970s, various spiritual movements appeared that revived the ancient Norse beliefs. The "Nordic paganism" linked to the Viking world has been very popular in Scandinavia, Europe and North America mainly.
The Viking stereotype
In the popular imagination, the Vikings have created a stereotype usually applied to describe the Scandinavians. These are blonde or red-haired people, of great height, light skin and light eyes. Their Viking Age ancestors are often depicted as barbaric, bloodthirsty, and wearing horned helmets because the Swedish painter Gustaf Malmström wanted to define them as almost demon-possessed, applying horns to their helmets for the first time in 1820 for the poem epic Friðþjófs saga hins frœkna (Frithiof's saga). The film industry and other expressions of popular culture have contributed to spreading this stereotype, which is unrealistic, since horned helmets were impractical in fighting and there is no record of their use by the Vikings. The typical image of the Viking it is, therefore, a romantic idealization.
Dik Browne's comic strip Olafo the Viking (Olafo the Bitter or Agar the Horrible in English) highlights the contradictions present in the stereotypes of the Vikings, although the optics of humor tends a veil of sympathy towards the characters in it.
Height
Regarding their height, it should be noted that Ahmad ibn Fadlan, a Muslim chronicler and traveler, and various sources mention them as people of great stature. Although modern studies on archaeological remains have given that they were smaller compared to current people (1.67 meters). With our standard of living it probably would have been higher.
Deathclaws
The topic of bloodthirsty, barbaric and pagan beings is due to the chronicles and records of the time, by authors such as Adam of Bremen and Alcuin of York, who usually represent them as a divine punishment for the sins of the medieval world. Thus, they excessively redound to the pagan component, apart from the already existing subjectivity (it should be remembered that in most cases they are accounts of the peoples who were victims of Viking attacks). For the time in which they lived, where events such as the massacre Verden, where 4,500 Saxon pagans were beheaded by Charlemagne were not considered atrocities, they were not particularly brutal. Norsemen who practiced Viking raids became no more barbaric or savage than their Saxon and Frankish contemporaries.
Music
In the past the Vikings made music with instruments such as goat horns, skin drums or lyres.
Currently, in the Scandinavian countries, the construction of songs inspired by the Vikings has been carried out, either traces of what was, making different types of pieces or recreating them to achieve realism. Examples of countries are Finland, Norway and Iceland, and there are bands or composers such as Einar Kvitrafn Selvik, Leidungr and Gjallarhorn among others.
Viking Historical Reenactment
Known as historical reconstructionism or historical recreationism. In recent years, some groups interested in remembering Viking ways of life have emerged. These groups make historical and archaeological studies of the Viking sites, in order to copy their clothing, habits and customs. Generally these groups learn the old norse arts, ways of fighting and recreate historical moments.
An example was (in Spain) the re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings in 2007 and 2009, where numerous re-enactment groups from around the world participated, including the Spanish re-enactment group “El Clan del Cuervo”.[citation required] Another example was the Harpia: Balaguer Medieval, a recreation-type event (closer to a recreational fair) that took place in 2013, 2015 and 2016.