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Baltija and the Vikings
By Joshua Leggett
Map: Black,J., Atlas of World History, London, 2000
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The Viking Age can be said to have started with
the attack of Lindisfarne, June 8th, 793
AD and ending September 25, 1066 at the battle of Stamford Bridge
where the King of England defeated the King of Norway. Between these dates
(happening to both be in England)
Vikings explored, conquered, traded, pillaged, plundered and journey all over
the known world and beyond. Viking activity towards the East, Russia, the Arab Caliphates, Byzantium and the Baltic Region is an area
far less written about and understood about than continental and insular Viking
activity. Even less is known about the Vikings in today's Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania.
The Baltic Sea separating Sweden and Finland from the Baltics states was a highway of trade and still is for the
many nations and peoples who live on its shores. Primarily when Vikings, namely
Swedish Vikings, went to the Baltic region they simply wanted to pass through
this area as quickly as possible. Their goal was to the prosperous regions of Russia
and east and southwards. Primary sources and Sagas of Viking activity are few,
such as 'Egil's Saga' which has episodes of he and
his brother being caught by Kuronians, as well as
'The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia', written after the Viking Period, which too
mentions Vikings a scant number of times in the East Baltic lands.
The Viking 'nations', Denmark,
Sweden, Norway and Iceland journeyed around the world
on their expeditions primarily as their local geography allowed them. Norway in the West sent forth Vikings to England, the North Atlantic
Islands and in turn
Continental Europe. Denmark
being physically attached to mainland Europe
had connections primarily to its south but also to some extent east and west of
its peninsula. Sweden
facing eastward is the main contender with the eastern Baltic coast. Sweden was the primary source of Viking activity
from present day St. Petersburg to the Arab
Caliphates and Byzantium.
It was by way of the extensive river systems through Baltija
(the region containing present day Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania) and Russia that these Swedish Vikings
would travel back and forth.
- Brief
Pre-history of the Vikings and Baltic Peoples
From the end of the Ice Age 10000 years ago
people have populated the northern lands of Scandinavia (consisting of Norway, Denmark,
Sweden and Finland) and Baltija
(Plakans, p 1). Arrow heads and bone fishhooks are
among the scant evidence we have for this (Raun, p
7). By 4000 BC farming was practiced in the southern regions of Scandinavia,
followed by the Bronze Age around 2000 BC improved by iron-working abilities by
500 BC (Haywood, p 24). As far as Baltija was
concerned there were two main people groups that moved into the region
following the receding of the Ice Age glaciers. Around 3500 BC came Finno-Ugric
tribes. They are identified by their 'trademark' "Comb Ceramics".
Nearly 1500 years later, came proto-Baltic tribes, an Indo-European group. The
evidence for this is a new kind of pottery appearing called "Rope
Ceramics". It is with these tribes that agriculture was introduced to the
region. A reason that this is thought to be true is the number of loan words in
the Finno-Ugric languages today in reference to agriculture and animals
associated with farming from the Baltic languages. Stone "Boat Axes"
also were introduced to the area at this time, about 2000 BC (Spekke, plate I, II).
Little else can be said as to the customs and
cultures of these peoples both in Scandinavia
and Baltija in the pre-Roman and even Roman times.
How these tribes lived, whom they traded with and whom they warred with is hard
to say, if not impossible to say. It is possible that these three groups of
peoples (proto-Scandinavians, proto-Balts and
Finno-Ugric tribes) had contact with one another. This is most easily shown in
the case of the Balts and Finno-Ugrics,
but as for cross Baltic Sea contact little if
anything is known.
Not until the first century AD do we hear of the
Baltic peoples, by way of a Roman the Aesti are
described. The Roman historian Tacitus is the first possible mention of these
Baltic tribes in Baltija. He describes from second
hand accounts the northern German tribes with whom the Romans were beginning to
encounter on a more regular basis. He then describes the "Aesti" as follows: " whose
rites and fashions… are those of the Suevi… They
worship the mother of gods…they are more patient in cultivating corn… than… the
Germans…they gather amber…" (Tacitus, p 731).
B. Archeological Evidence, The
Sagas and Primary Sources
- Archeological
evidence
Runic inscriptions that are
found are one of the best pieces of evidence one can have for Viking presence
in an area. One such piece of an ornamented limestone disk with runic
inscription has been found in Latvia,
dating to the 11th century (Spekke, plate
X). However the most conclusive evidence of Swedish activity in Baltija, especially the Latvian territories are the
numerous Runic Stones erected in Sweden in memory of Swedish Vikings
who died abroad. A number of Viking boat graves have been located in Baltija along with some silver hoards. These unfortunately
on reveal to us that Viking were there, but what they were doing is still
unknown.
- Sagas:
Heimskringla (Olaf's Saga), Egil's
Saga
Two Icelandic Sagas', both
attributed to the 12th Century author, Snorri
Sturluson has tales of Norwegian Heroes in Kurland
and Estonia.
The Heimskringla is a collection of the saga's
of the Kings of Norway from the foundations of the World and the beginning of
the Nordic race ending with Sverre's Saga, whose
reign in Norway ended in 1177 AD (Heimskringla, p
xxiii). It is from the Saga of King Olaf Trygvesson
out the Heimskringla that this passage comes
from:
"Hakon
the Old gave her [Astrid] good attendants, and what was needful for the
journey, and she set out with some merchants. …Olaf was three years of age. As
they sailed out into the Baltic [Sea] they were captured by Vikings of Esthonia, who made booty both of the people and goods,
killing some, and dividing others as slaves… Reas [an
Esthonian] bought Olaf for a good cloak… Olaf was
long with them, was treated well, and was much beloved by the people. Olaf was
six years in Esthonia in this banishment (p 8,9)."
This is from Chapter V of Olaf
Trygvesson's Saga, the next two conclude this story
of Olaf's time in Estonia
and Russia
with his release from slavery and his murdering of Klerkon,
the man who first enslaved Olaf.
In Egil's
Saga chapter XLVI is entitled "Thorolf and Egil Harry in Kurland".
This story is basically as follows:
Thorolf,
Egil and their company of men are plundering a
seemingly abandoned farmstead and while leaving they are unwittingly led into a
trap set by the Kurlanders. Egil
and his company are tied up and locked into a building on the farmstead and put
there overnight. Egil "set to work and made
trial of the post till he gat it loosened up out of
the floor…and now he loosed his fellows (p 88)." The Norwegians then
re-ransack the farmstead and head towards their ships. Egil
on his way back to the boats stops and says, "This journey is altogether
ill, and nought man-of-war-like. We have stole the bonder's fee, so as he knoweth
nought… Never shall we take on us that shame. Fare we
back now and let them know what is come about (p
89)." And back Egil goes to tell the unfortunate
Kurlanders that he had escaped and looted them and is
his letting them know who did this to him he throws fire onto the roof and
kills any men at the door and without. Satisfied with his now
honorable deeds of plundering he and his men sail to Denmark.
Snorri
Sturluson and his writings epitomized the art of Saga
writing. However, since the most prominent writers of this time (12th
and 13th centuries) were from Iceland
and Norway
most attention was focused on these Kings and Heroes. With Western Nordic
writers chronicling these adventures, Viking activity in the East was mentioned
only briefly, but nonetheless colorfully.
- Primary
Sources
The Emperor Porphyrogenitus
in his chronicle On the Administration of the Empire (c. 954 AD)
describes the route which the Viking took from the Baltic to Constantinople
(Roesdahl, p 290). Other Chroniclers wrote of
Scandinavian encounters in Baltija; Saxo Grammaticus, a Danish historian wrote of raids and
wars between Balts (esp. Kurlanders)
and Scandinavia. As we as Rimbert's
Vita Anskarii also mentions contact between
the two cultures (Spekke, p 80). There are few
contemporary sources describing actual events between Vikings and Baltic
people. The chronicles of Saxo and the Chronicle
of Henry of Livonia were written just after the "Viking Age".
Most of the references to contacts in these chronicles are not recorded
anywhere else and therefore have to be carefully considered in their value as
to what actually occurred.
- Raiding,
Pillaging, Settlement and…
Unfortunately, few Northern
European people groups had developed systems of writing to record their
histories and contacts with other cultures around them. From the previously
mentioned Tacitus we get our first encounter with the Balts.
Scandinavian pirates soon began to repeatedly invade the shores of Baltija where sometimes large battles were fought and at
times resulted in the imposition of tributes being paid to the pirates (Spekke, p 73). With their relatively light and strong
Viking boats soon Swedes and some others were passing through the Baltic region
regularly by the 9th century. These new incursions in the area
around the 9th century marked the beginning of the Viking age in the
East. Viking activity in the east was primarily concentrated in Russia
and her river systems that lead to the Arab Caliphates who were rich with
silver and gold. No permanent settlements by Vikings were attempted to be made
until a few centuries later in the Baltics. However,
the Swedes and Danes both sent major armies to Kurzeme
(Western Latvia) in particular to battle the Kurs and keep them under control. Why were the Kurs and other Baltic people being attacked? They were not
only being attacked but also they themselves were attacking Swedish towns with
apparent success. A reason for attacking the region of Baltija
was not to conquer the entire region but to control the river mouths and usable
ports. It was by river that traders could relatively easily penetrate the
continent.
- Trade
and Settlement with Baltic and Viking peoples in the Baltic and Beyond
Baltija
and its geography also was a significant reason believed to be why Vikings did
not colonized there as much as was seen in Normandy and England. Estonia's
countryside has many swamps and marshes and offers no natural resources (Raun, p 5) (iron, gold, silver etc.) except oil shale which
would not be able to be mined for a number of centuries. The Latvian
territories had more arable land and the Lithuania territories were covered
in forests. These areas as well had no significant metal resources but were
able to supply timber to those who were there or just passing through. Baltija was not without bronze and iron, by ways of trade
and possibly raiding the Balts had many bronze
brooches, bracelets, weapons and other jewelry (Spekke, Ch. 2). However amber was is large
supply on the Baltic coasts. Viking traders to Russia and further east traded
amber, arrows, wax, honey, walrus tusks (from the Finns) and falcons to name a
few (Sawyer, p 114). Baltija was also a good source
for obtaining slaves for trade as well.
There is not much evidence for
Viking settlements in Baltija, it was not until the first half of the 11th
century that Swedes began to establish trading settlements along the coasts of Baltija (Kendrick, p 187-8). The Vikings chose to settle at
Staraya Ladoga (known to the Vikings as Aldeigjuborg) as early as the 9th century
(Sawyer, p 114). Settlements were made at Novgorod
and Kiev which were stop off points for the
journeys into Byzantium
and the Arab Caliphates. Hoards of Arabian silver coins were brought to Scandinavia and the Baltic by way of these trade routes
through the Baltic and Russian river systems. Just because thousands of silver
coins and various eastern artifacts have been found in Baltija
and Scandinavia is not conclusive of trade
relations between the Vikings and Easterners. However since the evidence we do
have of Viking activity from the Baltic to Byzantium suggests that only relatively small
numbers of Vikings went to and through these regions. Compared to Viking
activity in the West where Normandy, England and the North Atlantic was overrun
by Viking emigration and colonization suggests that the East looking Swedish
Vikings preferred to trade with the peoples of Russia rather than colonize and
push them out.
- The
end of the Age
The end of "Vikings" as we know
them, who was left in the Baltic and who was the ruling power
around 1000-1100 AD.
By the end of the Viking Age elsewhere in Europe
Viking activity continued to a lesser degree in the 11th and 12th
centuries in Baltija. Swedish Vikings had tried
numerous times to control the Kurs and Semigallians (both Latvian tribes) but could not maintain a
permanent foothold over these peoples. Certainly expansion into Russia
and the Baltic by Swedes was desired but clearly unrealistic. Trades routes and
contacts were maintained but this over land route to Byzantium and the East became less and less
important as other routes and sources were exploited and Arabian silver
supplies dried up. The local tribes of Latvians, Lithuanians, Livonians and Estonians managed to maintain their
independence for a while longer, but no without challenges and eventual
conquest by German Teutonic Knights and the continuous Swedish presence. The Livonians would soon create the Livonian Confederation and
more distinct boundaries and cultural divisions can be seen and identified.
This region of the Baltic is diverse in identity and in history. Much has
happened but little is known. The Vikings had a profound impact on the Baltic
forcing change and sometimes unification of tribes.
Bibliography
Haywood, John. The Penguin
Historical Atlas of the Vikings. New York: Penguin Books, 1995.
A good book for a brief but
well written overview of Viking history with many pictures and maps.
This source is great if you want to look something up quickly, as it is well
written and easy to use. Pages 100 through 107 deal
with Viking activity east of Scandinavia and
their interests in these areas. The rest of the book is topically broken up
dealing with numerous topics from "Women in Scandinavia" to "The
Struggle for England".
Kendrick, T. D., M.A.. A History of the Vikings. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1930. 179-192.
Chapter six is entitled "The South and East Baltic
Coasts". Kendrick
first writes of Scandinavian involvement with the Wends and Jomsvikings
then to the East Baltic states speaking of Swedish
ambitions in this region being primarily to pass through the region as quickly
as possible to get to Russia
and further East to the Arab Caliphates. He too mentions Swedish attempts to
conquer and settle parts of Estonia
and Kurland and the fact that they were unable
to maintain permanent settlements there during the Viking Age.
Plakans, Andrejs. The Latvians: A Short History. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press,
1995.
Raun, Toivo U.. Estonia and the Estonians. Stanford: Hoover International Press, 1991.
Estonian History from pre-history times to end of
Soviet period.
Roesdahl, Else. The Vikings. Trans. Susan M. Margeson and Kristen
Williams. New York:
Penguin Books, 1991. 277-292.
Overall the book is a well written history of the
Vikings also topically divided up rather than chronologically. The chapter
entitled "The Baltic Region, Russia,
Byzantium and
the Caliphate" primarily focuses on Viking interests in trade with these
regions. Mentions of skirmishes and voyages of exploration in
the Baltic area as noted by a few primary sources such as Vita Anskarri and Orosius' History
of the World.
Sawyer, Peter H.. Kings
and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD
700-1100. New York:
Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1982. 113-130.
His chapter "The Baltic and Beyond"
focuses primarily on the fact that the Scandinavians venturing across the
Baltic wanted to simply get through the area into Russia and beyond. This book is
very dense in information and towards the end of this chapter coin hoards are
systematically analyzed as evidence for Scandinavian activity in the Caliphates
and Russia
and the journeys back and forth from the Viking homeland.
Saks, Edgar V.. The Estonian Vikings. London: Boreas Publishing House, 1981.
This book is one of kind being one of few if not
the only book focusing on local peoples of the Baltic and their own Viking
activities and encounters with Scandinavians and Slavs. The book seems to be
somewhat biased towards the Baltic peoples, mainly the Estonians but contains
much discourse on primary sources and accounts.
Schwabe, Arveds, Dr.. The
Story of Latvia
and Her Neighbours. Edinburgh: The Scottish League for European
Freedom, (?). 6,9. .
This very short book (almost a pamphlet) is a
brief overview of Latvian History and her relations to the nations surrounding Latvia.
Written during the Soviet Period sometime for audiences
outside the Soviet Union. The two pages
noted above are brief but interesting accounts of Latvia's encounters with Vikings.
In particular how Viking influences and encounters taught them how (or rather
forced them to learn how) to defend them selves from the Russians in the East.
–not used in the paper but still an interesting
document to read-
Spekke, Arnolds. History
of Latvia:
An Outline. Stockholm:
M. Goppers-Zelta Abele-The Golden Appletree,
1951. 76-99.
In Spekke's general
history of Latvia
he writes a chapter called "The Vikings and The Latvians". He writes
of military and economic encounters between the two peoples and mentions that
the majority of the information in primary sources is indeed quite vague as to
what the Viking exactly were doing the Baltic region. Most information is from
archeological finds which can be connected to primary source references to the
region. He writes that in the 9th century this was the initial
onslaught of Viking incursions which were more or less ineffectual and at times
resulted in counter attacks by Kurs on Sweden.
He too uses a number of different Viking Sagas which have episodes in the Baltics. As for the rest of the book it is a useful
reference tool for Latvian history until the beginnings of the Soviet Period.
Tacitus. "Germany and Its
Tribes." The Complete Works of Tacitus.
Trans. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodibb, ed. Moses Hadas. New York: The Modern
Library, 1942.
* * * * *
[Sturluson, Snorri.] Egil's Saga. Trans. E.R. Eddison. New York: Greenwood Press
Publishers, 1968.
Sturluson, Snorri. Heimskringla,
"Olaf Trygevasson's Saga". Trans. Lee M. Hollander. Austin:
U Texas P,
1964.
Both Sagas' have a few episodes in which the main
characters are in Kurland or Estonia.
Websites
http://haldjas.folklore.ee/BIF/
Baltic Institute of Folklore
web page. Basic links to historical and folkloric
information on Baltic countries.
http://rvik.ismennt.is/~harpa/forn/english/e_egils/e_egils.htm
Web page(s) with summary of Egil's Saga and basic summaries about the characters,
places and events of the Saga.
http://www.luth.se/luth/present/sweden/history/viking_age/viking_age4/html
Web page from Swedish
university in Lulea.
This page briefly describes the Swedish Vikings in the East mentioning contacts
with peoples in the Baltic region but primarily focusing on Viking interests to
Constantinople and even beyond.
http://www.balticnet.de/FrameE.html
A German web page still in
development but still very usable. This page offers quick links
referring to history/Hansa/Vikings in the Baltic
region. The links are few but have relatively good information
http://viking.no/e/ehome.htm
English home page for good
information regarding general Viking history. Multiple
links to other pages and sites. A site that is easy to read and
understand.
http://viking.no/info-sheets/estonia/estonia.htm
A page contained in the previous website. This page talk specifically about Viking activity in Estonia.
It has three other links to pages about Vikings in Estonia
and east into Russia.
These pages are relatively new and a brief but unique on the web as they are
the only pages that deal specifically with the Vikings in the Baltic Region.
Originally published at
http://depts.washington.edu/baltic/papers/
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