medieval era Vikings refers to the period of the VIII-XI centuries, when the European seas were plied by bold robbers from Scandinavia. Their raids struck terror into the civilized inhabitants of the Old World. The Vikings were not only robbers, but also merchants, as well as pioneers. By religion they were pagans.

The advent of the Vikings

In the VIII century, the inhabitants of the territory of modern Norway, Sweden and Denmark began to build the fastest ships at that time and go on long journeys on them. The harsh nature of their native lands pushed them to these adventures. Agriculture in Scandinavia was underdeveloped due to the cold climate. A modest harvest did not allow local residents to feed their families enough. Thanks to the robberies, the Vikings became noticeably richer, which gave them the opportunity not only to buy food, but also to trade with their neighbors.

The first attack by sailors on neighboring countries occurred in 789. Then the robbers attacked Dorset in the south-west of England, killed thethen and robbed the city. Thus began the Viking Age. Another important reason for the emergence of mass piracy was the decomposition of the former system based on community and clan. The nobility, having strengthened its influence, began to create the first prototypes of states on For such jarls, robberies became a source of wealth and influence among compatriots.

Skilful sailors

The key reason for the conquests and geographical discoveries the Vikings became their ships, which were much better than any other European ones. The warships of the Scandinavians were called drakkars. Sailors often used them as their own home. Such vessels were mobile. They could be relatively easily dragged ashore. At first, the ships were oared, later they acquired sails.

Drakkars were distinguished by their elegant shape, speed, reliability and lightness. They were designed specifically for shallow rivers. Entering them, the Vikings could go deep into the devastated country. Such voyages came as a complete surprise to Europeans. As a rule, drakkars were built from ash wood. They are an important symbol left behind by early medieval history. The Viking Age is not only a period of conquest, but also a period of development of trade. For this purpose, the Scandinavians used special merchant ships - knorrs. They were wider and deeper than the Drakkars. Much more goods could be loaded on such ships.

Viking Age in Northern Europe was marked by the development of navigation. The Scandinavians did not have any special devices (for example, a compass), but they perfectly managed the prompts of nature. These sailors knew the habits of birds thoroughly and took them with them on a voyage to determine if there was land nearby (if there was none, the birds returned to the ship). The researchers also focused on the sun, stars and moon.

Raids on Britain

The first Scandinavian raids into England were fleeting. They plundered defenseless monasteries and promptly returned to the sea. However, gradually the Vikings began to claim the lands of the Anglo-Saxons. There was no single kingdom in Britain at that time. The island was divided among several rulers. In 865, the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok went to Northumbria, but his ships ran aground and crashed. Uninvited guests were surrounded and captured. King Ella II of Northumbria executed Ragnar by ordering him to be thrown into a pit full of poisonous snakes.

The death of Lodbrok did not go unpunished. Two years later, the Great Pagan Army landed on the coast of England. This army was led by numerous sons of Ragnar. The Vikings conquered East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia. The rulers of these kingdoms were executed. The last stronghold of the Anglo-Saxons was South Wessex. His king Alfred the Great, realizing that his forces were not enough to fight the interventionists, concluded a peace treaty with them, and then, in 886, completely recognized their possessions in Britain.

Conquest of England

It took Alfred and his son Edward the Elder four decades to clear their homeland of foreigners. Mercia and East Anglia were freed by 924. In remote northern Northumbria, Viking rule continued for another thirty years.

After some lull, the Scandinavians again began to appear frequently off the British coast. The next wave of raids began in 980, and in 1013 Sven Forkbeard completely captured the country and became its king. His son Canute the Great ruled three monarchies at once for three decades: England, Denmark and Norway. After his death, the former dynasty from Wessex regained power, and foreigners left Britain.

In the 11th century, the Scandinavians made several more attempts to conquer the island, but they all failed. The Viking Age, in short, left a noticeable imprint on the culture and government of Anglo-Saxon Britain. On the territory that the Danes owned for some time, the Danelag was established - a system of law adopted from the Scandinavians. This region was isolated from other English provinces throughout the Middle Ages.

Normans and Franks

The Viking Age is the period of the Norman attacks. Under this name, the Scandinavians were remembered by their Catholic contemporaries. If the Vikings sailed to the west mainly in order to rob England, then in the south the Frankish Empire was the goal of their campaigns. It was created in 800 by Charlemagne. As long as under him and under his son Louis the Pious a single strong state was preserved, the country was reliably protected from the pagans.

However, when the empire broke up into three kingdoms, and those, in turn, began to suffer from the costs feudal system, dizzying opportunities opened up before the Vikings. Some Scandinavians plundered the coast every year, while others were hired into the service of Catholic rulers in order to protect Christians for a generous salary. During one of their raids, the Vikings even captured Paris.

In 911, the Frankish king Charles the Simple gave the Vikings this region became known as Normandy. Its rulers were baptized. This tactic proved to be effective. More and more Vikings gradually switched to a settled way of life. But some daredevils continued their campaigns. So, in 1130, the Normans conquered southern Italy and created the Kingdom of Sicily.

Scandinavian discovery of America

Moving further west, the Vikings discovered Ireland. They often raided this island and left a significant imprint on the local Celtic culture. For more than two centuries, the Scandinavians owned Dublin. Around 860, the Vikings discovered Iceland ("Ice Country"). It was they who became the first inhabitants of this deserted island. Iceland proved to be a popular place for colonization. The inhabitants of Norway, who fled the country due to frequent civil wars, sought to go there.

In the year 900, a Viking ship, accidentally lost its way, stumbled upon Greenland. The first colonies appeared there at the end of the 10th century. This discovery inspired other Vikings to continue their search for a way to the west. They rightly hoped that there were new lands far beyond the sea. The navigator around the year 1000 reached the shores of North America and landed on the Labrador Peninsula. He called this region Vinland. Thus, the Viking Age was marked by the discovery of America five centuries before the expedition of Christopher Columbus.

Rumors about this country were fragmentary and did not leave Scandinavia. In Europe, they did not know about western mainland. Viking settlements in Vinland lasted for several decades. Three attempts were made to colonize this land, but they all failed. Indians attacked strangers. Keeping in touch with the colonies was extremely difficult because of the vast distances. Eventually the Scandinavians left America. Much later, archaeologists found traces of their settlement in Canadian Newfoundland.

Vikings and Russia

In the second half of the 8th century, Viking troops began to attack the lands inhabited by numerous Finno-Ugric peoples. This is evidenced by the finds of archaeologists discovered in the Russian Staraya Ladoga. If in Europe the Vikings were called Normans, then the Slavs called them Varangians. The Scandinavians controlled several trading ports along the Baltic Sea in Prussia. Here began a profitable amber route, along which amber was transported to the Mediterranean.

How did the Viking Age affect Russia? In short, thanks to the newcomers from Scandinavia, East Slavic statehood was born. According to official version, the inhabitants of Novgorod, who often came into contact with the Vikings, turned to them for help during an internal civil strife. So the Varangian Rurik was invited to reign. A dynasty came from him, which in the near future united Russia and began to rule in Kyiv.

Life of Scandinavian people

At home, the Vikings lived in large peasant dwellings. Under the roof of one such building fit a family that included three generations at once. Children, parents, grandparents lived together. This custom was an echo. Houses were built from wood and clay. The roofs were turf. In the central large room there was a common hearth, behind which they not only ate, but also slept.

Even when the Viking Age came, their cities in Scandinavia remained very small, inferior in size even to the settlements of the Slavs. People concentrated mainly around craft and trade centers. Cities were built in the depths of the fjords. This was done in order to get a convenient harbor and, in the event of an attack by an enemy fleet, to know in advance about its approach.

Scandinavian peasants dressed in woolen shirts and short baggy trousers. The costume of the Viking Age was quite ascetic due to the scarcity of raw materials in Scandinavia. Wealthy members of the upper classes could wear colored clothes that distinguished them from the crowd, showing wealth and position. The women's costume of the Viking Age necessarily included accessories - metal jewelry, a brooch, pendants and belt buckles. If the girl was married, she put her hair in a bun, unmarried people picked up her hair with a ribbon.

Armor and weapons of the Vikings

In modern popular culture, the image of a Viking with a horned helmet on his head is common. In fact, such headdresses were rare and were no longer used for combat, but for rituals. The clothing of the Viking Age included the obligatory light armor for all men.

Weapons were much more diverse. The northerners often used a spear about one and a half meters long, with which they could chop and stab the enemy. But the most common was the sword. These weapons were very light compared to other types that appeared in the subsequent Middle Ages. The Viking Age sword was not necessarily made in Scandinavia itself. Warriors often acquired Frankish weapons, as they were of the best quality. The Vikings also had long knives - the Saxons.

The inhabitants of Scandinavia made bows from ash or yew. Braided hair was often used as a bowstring. Axes were a common melee weapon. The Vikings preferred a wide, symmetrically diverging blade.

The last Normans

In the first half of the 11th century, the Viking Age came to an end. It was due to several factors. Firstly, in Scandinavia the former tribal system. It was replaced by classical medieval feudalism with overlords and vassals. Remained in the past and half Scandinavians settled in their homeland.

The end of the Viking Age also came because of the spread of Christianity among the northerners. The new faith, unlike the pagan one, opposed bloody campaigns in a foreign land. Many sacrificial rituals were gradually forgotten, etc. The first to be baptized were the nobility, which, with the help of the new faith, legitimized in the eyes of the rest of the civilized European community. Following the rulers and the aristocracy, ordinary residents did the same.

In the changed conditions, the Vikings, who wanted to connect their lives with military affairs, went into mercenaries and served with foreign sovereigns. For example, the Byzantine emperors had their own Varangian guards. The inhabitants of the north were valued for their physical strength, unpretentiousness in everyday life and many combat skills. The last Viking in power in the classical sense of the word was King Harald III of Norway the Severe. He went to England and tried to conquer it, but died at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. Then came the end of the Viking Age. William the Conqueror from Normandy (himself also a descendant of the Scandinavian sailors) conquered England in the same year.

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

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

The Viking Age is also characterized by the fact that many inhabitants of Scandinavia forever left their native places and settled in foreign countries, mainly as farmers. Many Scandinavians, primarily those from Denmark, settled in the eastern part of England, no doubt with the support of the Scandinavian kings and hevdings who ruled there. Large-scale Norse colonization took place in the Scottish Isles; Norwegians also sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to previously unknown, uninhabited places: the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland (Even attempts were made to settle in North America). During the 12th and 13th centuries, vivid stories about the Viking Age were recorded in Iceland, not entirely reliable, but still indispensable as historical sources that give an idea of ​​the pagan faith and way of thinking of the people of that time.

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

Viking Age in the East.

The Scandinavians not only traveled west, but also made long journeys to the east during the same centuries. By natural causes In this direction, first of all, the inhabitants of the places that now belong to Sweden rushed. Campaigns to the east and influence Eastern countries left a special imprint on the Viking Age in Sweden. Travel to the east was also undertaken whenever possible by ship - through the Baltic Sea, along the rivers of Eastern Europe to the Black and Caspian Seas, and, along them, to the great powers south of these seas: Christian Byzantium in the territory of modern Greece and Turkey and the Islamic Caliphate in eastern lands. Here, as well as to the west, the ships sailed and oared, but these ships were smaller than those used for campaigns in the westerly direction. Their usual length was about 10 meters, and the team consisted of approximately 10 people. Larger ships were not needed to navigate the Baltic Sea, and besides, they could not move along the rivers.

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

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

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

In 839, an ambassador from Emperor Theophilus from Constantinople (modern Istanbul) arrived to the Frankish king Louis the Pious, who was at that moment in Ingelheim on the Rhine. With the envoy also came several people from the people of the “Ros”, who traveled to Constantinople by such dangerous routes that they now wanted to return home through the kingdom of Louis. When the king asked in more detail about these people, it turned out that they were Svei. Louis knew the pagan Svei well, as he himself had previously sent Ansgar as a missionary to their trading city of Birka. The king began to suspect that the people who called themselves "ros" were in fact spies, and decided to detain them until he found out their intentions. Such a story is contained in one Frankish chronicle. Unfortunately, it is not known what happened to these people afterwards.

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

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

The legend about the calling of the Varangians, contained in the Tale of Bygone Years, is a story about the origin of the ancient Russian princely family, and how historical source highly debatable. The name "Rus" has been tried to be explained in many ways, but now the most common opinion is that this name should be compared with the names from the Finnish and Estonian languages ​​​​- Ruotsi / Rootsi, which today mean "Sweden", and previously indicated peoples from Sweden or Scandinavia. This name, in turn, comes from the Old Norse word meaning "rowing", "rowing expedition", "members of the rowing expedition". Obviously, the people who lived on the western coast of the Baltic Sea were known for their sea voyages on oars. There are no reliable sources about Rurik, and it is not known how he and his "Rus" came to Eastern Europe - however, this hardly happened as simply and peacefully as the legend says. When the clan established itself as one of the ruling in Eastern Europe, soon the state itself and its inhabitants began to be called "Rus". The fact that the family was of Scandinavian origin is indicated by the names of the ancient princes: Rurik is the Scandinavian Rörek, a common name in Sweden even in the late Middle Ages, Oleg - Helge, Igor - Ingvar, Olga (Igor's wife) - Helga.

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

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

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

Caliphate - Serkland.

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

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

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

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

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

“Tola ordered this stone to be installed after her son Harald, brother of Ingvar.

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

So on many other rune stones, these proud lines about the campaign are written in verse. "To feed the eagles" is a poetic simile meaning "to kill enemies in battle". used here poetic size is an old epic meter and is characterized by two stressed syllables in each poetic line, and also by the fact that poetic lines are connected in pairs by alliteration, that is, repeating initial consonants and changing vowels.

Khazars and Volga Bulgars.

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

The Khazar Khaganate early adopted Judaism as the state religion, and the Volga Bulgar state officially adopted Islam in 922. In this regard, the country was visited by Ibn Fadlan, who wrote a story about his visit and meeting with merchants from Russia. The most famous is his description of the burial of the heading of the Rus in the ship - a burial custom characteristic of Scandinavia and also found in the Old Russian state. The funeral ceremony included the sacrifice of a slave girl, who was raped by the warriors from the squad before they killed her and burned her along with their hevding. This is a story full of brutal details that can hardly be guessed from the archaeological excavations of the graves of the Viking Age.

Varangians at the Greeks in Miklagard.

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

The emphasis on the role of Byzantium is a simplification of reality. The Scandinavians came primarily to the Old Russian state and settled there. And trade with the Caliphate through the states of the Volga Bulgars and the Khazars should have been of the most important economic importance for Eastern Europe and Scandinavia during the 9th-10th centuries.

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

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

The word vringar originally meant a people bound by an oath, but in the late Viking Age it became a common name for the Scandinavians in the east. Waring in the Slavic language became known as Varangian, in Greek - Varangos (varangos), in Arabic - Varank (warank).

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

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

"These runes commanded
carve Ragnvald.
He was in Greece
was the leader of a detachment of warriors.

Soldiers from the Varangian Guard guarded the palace in Constantinople and took part in military campaigns in Asia Minor, the Balkan Peninsula and Italy. The country of the Lombards, mentioned on several runestones, implies Italy, southern regions which were part of Byzantine Empire. In the port suburb of Athens, Piraeus, there used to be a huge luxurious marble lion, which was transported to Venice in the 17th century. On this lion, one of the Varangians, during a holiday in Piraeus, carved a runic inscription in a serpentine shape, which was typical of Swedish runestones of the 11th century. Unfortunately, when it was discovered, the inscription was so badly damaged that only a few words can be read.

Scandinavians in Gardarik in the late period of the Viking Age.

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

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

Novgorod - Holmgard and trade with the Saami and Gotlanders.

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

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

End of the Viking Age.

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

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

In the Elder Edition of the Westgötalag, written in the first half of the thirteenth century, in the Chapter on Inheritance, there is, among other things, the following statement regarding one who is acquired abroad: He does not inherit anyone while he is sitting in Greece. Did the Westgets really still serve in the Varangian guard, or did this paragraph remain from bygone times?

In Gutasag, an account of the history of Gotland recorded in the 13th or early 14th century, it is said that the first churches on the island were consecrated by bishops on their way to or from the Holy Land. At that time there was a way to the east through Russia and Greece to Jerusalem. When the saga was being written, the pilgrims made their way around Central or even Western Europe.

Translation: Anna Fomenkova.

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The Scandinavians who served in the Varangian Guard were probably Christians - or they converted to Christianity during their stay in Constantinople. Some of them made pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Jerusalem, which was called Yorsalir in the Scandinavian language. The runestone from Brubyu to Täby in Uppland is placed in memory of Eystein, who went to Jerusalem and died in Greece.

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

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

The material used drawings from the article.
games for girls

Most bright events in history, one can rightfully consider the campaigns of the Vikings, just as they themselves would rightly be called very interesting figures during the period from the 9th to the 11th century. The very word "Viking" roughly means "sailing in the sea." In the native language of the Normans, "vik" means "fjord", which in our opinion will be "bay". Therefore, many sources interpret the word "Viking" as "man from the bay." A common question is "Where did the Vikings live?" would be as inappropriate as the assertion that "Viking" and "Scandinavian" are one and the same. In the first case, we are talking about a person, in the second - about belonging to a certain people.

As for belonging to a certain ethnic group, it can be difficult to identify it, since the Vikings settled in the occupied territories, soaking in all the local “benefits”, as well as saturating the culture of these lands. The same can be said about the titles that were awarded to the "people of the fort" by various peoples. It all depended on the place where the Vikings lived. Normans, Varangians, Danes, Russes - such names were received by the "sea army" on more and more new shores, where it landed.

A lot of myths and misconceptions hover around the bright historical characters, which were the Vikings. Where the Norman invaders lived, what they did, besides their campaigns and raids, and whether they did anything other than them at all, are very delicate questions that torment the heads of historians to this day. However, at least seven misconceptions about the "Scandinavian barbarians" can be deduced today.

Cruelty and thirst for conquest

In most films, books and other entertainment resources, the Vikings appear before us as bloodthirsty barbarians who cannot imagine their life without daily sticking their ax into someone's skull.

The initial reason for military campaigns among the Normans was the overpopulation of the Scandinavian lands where the Vikings lived. Plus constant strife of clans. Both forced a large part of the population to go in search of a better life. And the river robbery was nothing more than a bonus to their difficult journey. Naturally, poorly fortified European cities became easy prey for sailors. However, as for other peoples - the French, the British, the Arabs and others, who also did not disdain bloodshed for the benefit of their pockets. Suffice it to recall that all this happened in the Middle Ages, and this way of making money was equally attractive to representatives of various powers. And the national propensity for bloodshed had nothing to do with it.

Hostility

Another claim that the Vikings were hostile to everyone but themselves is also a delusion. In fact, foreigners could both take advantage of the hospitality of the Normans and join their ranks. Many historical records confirm that French, Italians and Russians could meet among the Vikings. An example of staying in the Scandinavian possessions of Ansgar - the envoy of Louis the Pious - is another proof of the hospitality of the Vikings. You can also recall the Arab ambassador ibn Fadlan - the film "The 13th Warrior" was filmed based on this story.

Natives of Scandinavia

Although, contrary to the above remark, the Vikings are equated with the Scandinavians, this is a deep delusion, which is explained by the fact that the Vikings lived on the territory of Greenland, Iceland, as well as France and even Ancient Russia. In itself, the assertion that all "people of the fiord" are from Scandinavia is a mistake.

Where the Vikings lived at the beginning of the Middle Ages is an inappropriate question, since the “marine community” itself could include various nationalities, from various lands. Among other things, it is worth noting the fact that the French king freely gave part of the lands to the Vikings, and in gratitude they became the guards of France when it was attacked by an enemy “from outside”. It is not uncommon that this enemy was the Vikings from other lands. By the way, this is how the name "Normandy" appeared.

Dirty heathen savages

Another oversight of many narrators of bygone years is the depiction of the Vikings as dirty, unscrupulous and wild people. And again, this is not true. And the proof of this is the finds that were extracted during excavations in various places where the Vikings lived.

Mirrors, combs, baths - all these remnants of an ancient culture found during excavations confirmed that the Normans were a clean people. And these finds were extracted not only in Sweden, Denmark, but also in Greenland, Iceland and other lands, including the Sarskoye settlement, where the Vikings lived on the banks of the Volga, which was located on the territory of Ancient Russia. In addition to everything else, it is not uncommon for the remains of soap made by the hands of the Normans themselves to be found. Once again, their cleanliness is proved by the joke of the British, which approximately sounded like this: “Vikings are so clean that they even go to the bathhouse once a week.” It does not hurt to recall that the Europeans themselves visited the bathhouse much less often.

Two-meter blondes

Another false statement, as the remains of the bodies of the Vikings say otherwise. Those who are presented as tall warriors with blond hair, in fact, reached no more than 170 centimeters in height. The vegetation on the head of these people was of different colors. The only thing that is indisputable is the preference for this type of hair among the Normans themselves. This was facilitated by the use of a special coloring soap.

Vikings and Ancient Russia

On the one hand, it is believed that the Vikings were directly related to the formation of Russia as great power. On the other hand, there are sources that deny their participation in any event in history. Historians perceive Rurik's affiliation with the Scandinavians, and vice versa, are especially controversial. However, the name Rurik is close to the Norman Rerek - this is how many boys were called in Scandinavia. The same can be said about Oleg, Igor - his relative and son. And wife Olga. Just look at their Norman counterparts - Helge, Ingvar, Helga.

Many sources (almost all) unanimously state that the possessions of the Vikings extended to the Caspian and Black Seas. In addition, in order to reach the Caliphate, the Normans used crossings across the Dnieper, Volga and many other rivers flowing on the territory of Ancient Russia. The presence of trade transactions in the area of ​​the Sarsky settlement, where the Vikings lived on the Volga, was repeatedly noted. In addition, raids were often mentioned, accompanied by robberies in the region of Staraya Ladoga, the Gnezdovsky mounds, which also confirms the presence of Norman settlements on the territory of Ancient Russia. By the way, the word "Rus" also belongs to the Vikings. Even in the "Tale of Bygone Years" it was said that "Rurik came with all his Rus."

The exact location where the Vikings lived - on the banks of the Volga or not - is debatable. Some sources mention that they were based right next to their forts. Others argue that the Normans preferred a neutral space between water and large settlements.

Horns on helmets

And another misconception is the presence of horns on the top of the military vestments of the Normans. For all the time of excavations and research in the places where the Vikings lived, no helmets with horns were found, with the exception of the only one that was found in one of the Norman burial grounds.

But a single case does not give grounds for such a generalization. Although this image can be interpreted differently. It was in this way that it was beneficial to represent the Vikings to the Christian world, which classifies them as the offspring of the devil. And everything that has to do with Satan, Christians for some reason necessarily have horns.

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

In general, this story at that time was not something out of the ordinary - it was a matter of everyday life. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Britain diligently fought among themselves, and when closely related swarms got bored, they began to shove the Celts in Wales or Scotland, got back and returned to the usual civil strife. The war was the most common thing, and if you pay attention to every minor skirmish in the annals, you won’t get enough parchment. So why did such an insignificant incident on Vindelis attract the attention of the chronicler, and in our times it is considered almost key event VIII century in Europe, which gave rise to a new era?

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

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

The story of Tan Beochtrik is the first documentary evidence of the appearance of the Vikings. The sacking of Lindisfarne and Yarrow, the raids on Ireland, the landings on Orkney and Shetland - all this will happen later. In 789, none of the British or Franks could even imagine that Christian Europe was faced with a force that over the next three centuries would change not only the borders, but also the demographic situation, culture, and even cause a new prayer: “A furore Normannorum libera nos Domine!” - "From the fury of the Normans, save us, Lord!"

So let's try to figure out where the Vikings came from, who they are and why their invasion took place at all.

Scandinavia in the Dark Ages

People on the Scandinavian Peninsula appeared long before the birth of Christ. The earliest cultures (Kongemose, Nöstvet-Lihult culture, Ertebölle culture, etc.) date back to the Mesolithic and around the sixth millennium BC. For two or three thousand years BC. in southern Scandinavia, carriers of the “Battle Ax and Corded Ware Culture” appear, which, presumably, become the core of the emergence Germanic peoples- they migrate north from the Jutland Peninsula and begin to populate the territories of present-day Sweden and Norway.

However, these are very old cases, and we are interested in the period after the fall of the Roman Empire, when a group of North Germanic tribes began to separate from the rest of Europe. The great migration of peoples, the collapse of Rome, the adoption of Christianity by the Goths, Franks and other Germans - in a word, all the grandiose changes in the middle of the first millennium of our era practically did not affect Scandinavia: too far. In the Dark Ages, no one showed interest in Scandinavia: the Franks had something to do on the continent, the introduction of Christianity went on, albeit confidently, but slowly: the church first had to establish itself in the new barbarian states. The inhabitants of the peninsula, located behind the North and Baltic Seas, have been “boiling in their own pot” for many centuries, knowing practically nothing about the turbulent events in Europe. Christian missionaries, if they appeared there, were isolated and incapable of achieving serious success: the old Germanic gods were revered, as they were centuries ago, and nothing threatened their cult.

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

Here it is necessary to make a lengthy digression and talk about the climatic features of those times - otherwise it will not be clear why all of a sudden, starting from the 8th century, the Scandinavians rushed to look for new lands for settlement. Over the centuries, the climate changed more than once, optima (warming) and pessimum (cooling) alternated - the so-called Roman climatic optimum, which lasted from the time of Julius Caesar until about 400 AD, contributed a lot to the prosperity of the Roman Empire. The average temperature then was higher by an average of 1-2 degrees, Roman authors tell us that in Britain and Germany they even began to grow grapes - approximately from 280 AD.

In turn, the climatic pessimum of the early Middle Ages, which occurred during the Great Migration, exacerbated the already not the most prosperous military-political and demographic situation in Europe - the cooling that began around the 5th century reduces the sown area, especially goes to the northern regions in general and, of course, Scandinavia in particular. St. Gregory of Tours in the extensive work of the VI century "History of the Franks" notes: " At that time, there were heavy rains, there was a lot of water, it was unbearably cold, the roads were limp with mud and the rivers overflowed their banks.". In 535–536, an unprecedented climatic anomaly occurs. Let's give the floor to the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea ("War", IV, 14. 5-6):

“... And this year the greatest miracle happened: the whole year the sun emitted light like the moon, without rays, as if it was losing its strength, ceasing, as before, to shine purely and brightly. From the time this began, neither war nor pestilence nor any other calamity that brings death. Then was the tenth year of the reign of Justinian.

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

Nevertheless, by the 8th century, the climate begins to stabilize - warming sets in, crop areas expand again, grain crops can be harvested at latitudes adjacent to the Arctic Circle, and the quality of life rises sharply. The result is quite natural - explosive population growth.

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

The way out was found quite quickly - since there is no fertile land, it means that one must be sought overseas. Given the fact that the ancient Scandinavians knew how to build excellent ships a long time ago, the solution to the issue lay in the palm of their hand. The first "prototype" of the drakkar, the "Hjortspring Boat", found by archaeologists in Denmark, on the island of Als, dates back to the 4th century BC. - the boat could accommodate up to 20 rowers. Moreover, the Scandinavian boats, having a minimum draft, could walk in any shallow water and penetrate into narrow rivers.

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

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

“Three hundred and fifty years we and our fathers have lived in this beautiful land, and never before has Britain known such horror as it has known now, after the appearance of the Gentiles. No one suspected that robbers could come from across the sea.”

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

They came!

In the light of the foregoing, the question remains open - how did the European kings and bishops, who played an increasingly important political role, miss such an incredible danger? Where did the great historical figures of that era look? In the end, the emperor Charlemagne cannot be called an incompetent loafer, and the former barbarians quite successfully adopted such an important tool for the state as intelligence from Rome that had gone into oblivion! It is clear that at least some connection between the Frankish Empire and Scandinavia existed - northern borders Saxony and Frisia adjoined the territory of present-day Denmark, the inhabitants of which will also take a lively part in the coming atrocities of the Vikings.

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

Vikings. Old English miniatures

Now we need to explain what we generally mean by the term "Viking". The word itself is formed from two parts: “vik”, that is, “bay, bay”, and the ending “ing”, denoting a community of people, most often generic - compare: Caroling, Capet, etc. We get the "man from the bay"! Initially, the Viking squads were made up of those very surplus population - younger sons, who do not inherit the allotment, people who left the clan themselves or were expelled from it, or even just seekers of adventure, wealth and fame. I.e, not settled Scandinavian landowners. However, why only the Scandinavians? Anyone could be in the crew of the ship - a Norwegian, a Wend, a Ruyanin, a Ladoga Krivich. After the Scandinavians began to master the “Road from the Varangians to the Greeks” through the Neva, Ladoga, Volkhov and further to the Volga basin, many Slavs began to appear in the squads, especially since the polytheistic pantheons of Scandinavia and Ancient Russia were very close, and on this basis it was possible to find a common language very quickly.

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

Thor with the hammer Mjollnir. Statuette dating from about 1000 AD.

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

Finally, it is the Vikings who "invent" the marines in the form in which we know it - there was nothing to oppose them to unprecedented tactics before the European Christians. The scheme worked out by the ancient Scandinavians was simple, but incredibly effective: a sudden raid at almost any point of the sea or river coast (again, remember the ability of drakkars to walk in shallow water), and after a successful attack, an equally lightning-fast retreat, until the enemy managed to pull up any significant strength - then look for fistulas of these robbers on the high seas. It is only later that the Vikings will engage in respectable trade, for the sake of curiosity they will open Iceland, Greenland and America and go to serve in the "Varangian squad" to Byzantine emperors, and at the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th centuries they were engaged exclusively in the most egregious robberies, land seizures in England, Ireland and on the mainland, the slave trade and other equally interesting things ...

Old Norse ships, modern reconstruction. Drakkar in the foregroundislandingur("Icelander"), who in 2000 sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. Currently in the Njardvik Museum, Iceland

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

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

In France they were called Normans, in Russia - Vikings. Vikings - this is how the people who lived on the territory of present-day Norway, Denmark and Sweden called themselves from about 800 to 1100 AD. Wars and feasts are two favorite pastimes of the Vikings. Swift sea robbers on ships bearing sonorous names, for example, the "Ocean Bull", "Wind Raven", raided the coast of England, Germany, Northern France, Belgium - and took tribute from the conquered.

Their desperate berserk warriors fought like mad, even without armor. Before the battle, the berserkers gnashed their teeth, biting the edges of their shields. The cruel gods of the Vikings - aces were pleased with the warriors who died in battle.

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

And their songs about heroes and travelers have survived to our time - sagas and the Icelandic parliament Althing - the first popular assembly in Europe.

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

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

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

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

Map of Viking raids on England

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

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

In 986, a certain Bjarni Bardsson sailed from Iceland, intending to get to Greenland. He stumbled across unknown land three times until he reached the southern coast of Greenland. Upon learning of this, Leif Eiriksson, the son of Eirik Raud, repeated Bjarni's journey, reaching the Labrador Peninsula. Then he turned south and, walking along the coast, found a place he called "Vinland" ("Grape Country"). Presumably this happened in the year 1000. According to the results of the work carried out by scientists, Leif Eiriksson's Vinland was located in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Boston.

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

Leif's second brother, Thorstein Eiriksson, also tried to reach Vinland, but he failed to find this land.
There were only about 300 homesteads in Greenland. The lack of forest created great difficulties for life. The forest grew on Labrador, which was closer than in Iceland, but everything needed had to be brought from Europe, due to the very difficult sailing conditions to Labrador. Settlements in Greenland existed until the 14th century.

Travel map of Eirik the Red and Leif Eiriksson

History of the Vikings

VIKINGS - (Normans), sea robbers, immigrants from Scandinavia, who committed in the 9-11 centuries. hikes up to 8000 km long, maybe even long distances. These bold and fearless people reached the borders of Persia in the east, and the New World in the west.
The word "Viking" comes from the Old Norse "Vikingr". Regarding its origin, there are a number of hypotheses, the most convincing of which raises it to "vik" - a fiord, a bay. The word "Viking" (lit. "man from the fiord") was used to refer to robbers who operated in coastal waters, hiding in secluded bays and bays. They were known in Scandinavia long before they became notorious in Europe. The French called the Vikings Normans or various variants of this word (Norsmans, Nortmanns - lit. “people from the north”); the British called all Scandinavians indiscriminately Danes, and the Slavs, Greeks, Khazars, Arabs called the Swedish Vikings Rus or Vikings.

Wherever the Vikings went - to the British Isles, to France, Spain, Italy or North Africa - they ruthlessly plundered and seized foreign lands. In some cases, they settled in conquered countries and became their rulers. The Danish Vikings conquered England for some time, settled in Scotland and Ireland. Together they conquered a part of France known as Normandy. The Norwegian Vikings and their descendants established colonies on the islands of the North Atlantic - Iceland and Greenland and founded a settlement on the coast of Newfoundland in North America, however, which did not last long. The Swedish Vikings began to rule in the east of the Baltic. They spread widely throughout Russia and, descending along the rivers to the Black and Caspian Seas, even threatened Constantinople and some regions of Persia. The Vikings were the last Germanic barbarian conquerors and the first European pioneer navigators.

There are different interpretations of the reasons for the violent outburst of Viking activity in the 9th century. There is evidence that Scandinavia was overpopulated and many Scandinavians went abroad in search of their fortune. The rich but undefended cities and monasteries of the southern and western neighbors were easy prey. It was hardly possible to get a rebuff from the scattered kingdoms in the British Isles or the weakened empire of Charlemagne, absorbed by dynastic strife. During the Viking Age, national monarchies gradually consolidated in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Ambitious leaders and powerful clans fought for power. The defeated leaders and their supporters, as well as the younger sons of the victorious leaders, shamelessly accepted unhindered robbery as a way of life. Energetic young men from influential families usually gained authority through participation in one or more campaigns. Many Scandinavians engaged in robbery in the summer, and then turned into ordinary landowners. However, the Vikings were attracted not only by the lure of prey. The prospect of establishing trade opened the way to wealth and power. In particular, immigrants from Sweden controlled trade routes in Russia.

The English term "Viking" comes from the Old Norse word vkingr, which could have several meanings. The most acceptable, apparently, is the origin from the word vk - bay, or bay. Therefore, the word vkingr is translated as "man from the bay." The term was used to refer to robbers hiding in coastal waters long before the Vikings gained notoriety in the outside world. However, not all Scandinavians were sea robbers, and the terms “Viking” and “Scandinavian” cannot be considered as synonyms. The French usually called the Vikings Normans, and the British indiscriminately referred to all Scandinavians as Danes. Slavs, Khazars, Arabs and Greeks, who communicated with the Swedish Vikings, called them Russ or Varangians.

Definitions

VIKINGS (ancient Scandinavian), Scandinavians - participants in maritime trade, predatory and conquest campaigns in the late 8th - mid-11th centuries. to European countries. In Russia they were called Varangians, and in Western Europe - Normans (Scand. Northman - " northern man"). In the 9th century they captured Northeast England, in the 10th century - Northern France (Normandy). They reached North America.
Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius

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

"The influence of the Vikings on the formation of the Anglo-Saxon state."

Early medieval Europe lived in fear of the invasion of the warlike northern barbarians. Everywhere they were called differently: in France - Normans, in England - Danes, in Ireland - Finngall and Dubgall, in Germany - Askemann, in Byzantium - Varangians, in Russia - Varangians, in Scandinavia they were called Vikings, so that period, which researchers prefer to neutrally call the early Middle Ages, is also called the Viking Age

Despite the fact that the British called the Vikings Danes, among the attackers on English lands were not only them, but also Vikings from other parts of Scandinavia. An example is the famous Olaf Tryggvasson (or, in English transcription, Trygvasson - Trigvasson), the great-grandson of the Norwegian king Harald the Fair-Haired. For the sake of simplicity, I think it is possible to group both under the general and generally accepted term Normans.

The raids of the Normans, originally predatory, from the 60s of the 9th century take on a completely different character. Their main goal is to seize territories. It is difficult to unequivocally identify the reason for such a powerful conquest and colonization movement of the northerners. Some (J. Brönsted, for example), following the idea put forward by J. Steenstrup a hundred years ago, believe that this was the result of overpopulation due to polygamy, others - that this most likely happened due to the beginning of the desire of individual Scandinavian kings to unite under its power scattered dominionsindependent leaders. Some obeyed them and became their jarls, some fought hard, and some rushed across the sea in search of a new homeland. And restless sea wanderers reared all of Europe. From the 830s, and especially from 840, the coastal regions of France began to periodically be subjected to invasions of the Normans.
Since the mid-1950s, their aggression has been growing, and they are moving more and more resolutely into the interior of the country.

Horror filled the hearts of Christians when northern barbarians broke into churches and killed bishops, blood poured directly onto the altar - this was the greatest defilement, shocking those around. Such sudden and unseen misfortunes were incomprehensible to the mind, but the wisdom of church hierarchs knew no bounds - the answer was found: the Lord was angry and decided to punish his people, you just have to wait until heaven changes anger to mercy and that's it! But the Normans did not leave ...

During my work, I came across only one very detailed periodization of the Viking invasions. Soviet researcher of the Viking Age, G.S. Lebedev gives his chronology of the spread of northern aggression:

Stage 1 - 793-833. G.S. Lebedev begins the Viking Age with the sack of Lindisfarne. Most large enterprise of this period, he considers the raiding king Gottfried to Friesland in 810.

Stage 2 - 834-863. During this period, G.S. Lebedev notes changes in the tactics of the Vikings: strandhugg appeared - the seizure of livestock and other food in the war zone, as well as the construction of intermediate bases on the coastal islands. The number of armies during this period is especially high and reaches 77 thousand people, as if the entire combat-ready population rushed to rob their neighbors. Fleet formations fluctuate between 100-150 ships, which is somewhere between 6-10 thousand soldiers. The most famous figure of this period is the famous Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons.

Stage 3 - 864-891. During this period, the Vikings made a large-scale attempt to conquer England, forming the Danish Law Region.

Stage 4 - 891-920. For this time, according to G.S. Lebedev, a high wave of emigration is characteristic: in 877 Iceland was discovered. In addition, the 890s are the time of the activity of Hrolf the Pedestrian, whom historians associate with Rollo, who received the Duchy of Normandy in 911.

Stage 5 - 920-950. During these years, a fierce struggle flared up in England for Northumbria between the Danes settled there and the heirs of the Wessex king Alfred.

Stage 6 - 950-980. From this thirtieth birthday, G.S. Lebedev begins the era of the Viking kings.

Stage 7 - 980-1014. The kings Sven Forkbeard and Olaf Tryggvason again lead a large-scale campaign to conquer England. In 1000, in the "battle of three kings" in the waters of the Sound, Olaf heroically fell in battle, and Sven won the English throne at the end of 1013, although he died on February 2, 1014. In the same period, in 982, Eric the Red discovered Greenland, from 985 to In 995 Bjarni Herjulfson, Leif Erikson and Frigdis the daughter of Erik the Red made expeditions to the shores of North America.

Stage 8 - 1014-1043. These are the years of the Danish dynasty in England: Knut the Great and his sons Harold Harefoot and Hartaknut.

Stage 9 - 1043-1066. The final stage in the chronology of G. S. Lebedev. In 1041, Magnus Olafson united Denmark and Norway under his rule, and on September 25, 1066, the last Viking king Harald Hardrada died in England at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

The Viking Age began and ended, according to Lebedev, on English soil. Not a single researcher writing about these tragic times denies himself the pleasure of quoting or at least mentioning the entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which depicts the appearance of the Normans off the English coast in the minds of the Anglo-Saxons as a terrible event, accompanied by mysterious and frightening signs: "793. This year terrible phenomena were in Northumbria and greatly frightened the inhabitants: there were unimaginable flashes of lightning and terrible dragons soared in the sky, and soon a severe famine began, and after that in the same year the pagans devastated and destroyed God's church in Lindisfarne ".

And another text paints a slightly different picture, but also accompanied by a terrible event: "787. In this year, King Beothric took Idburg, daughter of Offa, as his wife. And in these days three ships first appeared: and the rive galloped there and tried to force royal manor, because he did not know who they were, and they killed him. These were the first ships of the Danes that came to England. " Both passages are imbued with horror of the new enemy, who was to have a great influence on the development of the Anglo-Saxon state.

housecarls

We can more or less confidently assume that during the reign of Cnut in England, warriors, whose organization is still a mystery to historians, but who are of great interest and fanned by legends, acted as the king's guard throughout the kingdom - to the housecarls.

"1018. This year all England paid that tribute. In total there were 72,000 pounds, in addition to which the inhabitants of London paid 10,500 pounds. And then part of the army went to Denmark, and forty ships remained soon after Knut, and the Danes and the British came to an agreement in Oxford according to the laws of Edgar" (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).

It is believed that the teams of these remaining ships formed the basis of the royal guard, which was the object of very close attention and study.

Huscarls were royal servants and played a key role in battles, being the core of the army. The general opinion reached by researchers regarding the Huscarls, and which has only recently been questioned again, is that they were professional warriors whose organization was created within the royal circle of the Danes.

They were regularly paid salaries. Thus, the housecarls formed a kind of military elite.
English historians viewed the Huscarl Guards as some type of military vigilantes, and considered them to be a purely English formation.

Norwegian historians lead the origins of this institution to the famous Viking brotherhood in Jomburg (X century).
Others, on the contrary, argue that this organization was borrowed from Norway and housecarls existed there 100 years before the pirate brotherhood in Jomburg:
huscarl is a Norwegian word and one of the oldest in the language. In the Eddas, it sometimes denotes a servant, and sometimes a follower, a companion.
But when we open the court poetry of the first half of the 11th century, the latter meaning prevails.
So housecarl is a general designation for a member of the royal entourage.

Despite the fact that the sagas give different dates for the founding of the guard: the Jomsviking Saga and the Saga of St. Olaf - until the death of Sven Forkbeard; Knutlingasaga - immediately after his death, first in Denmark, and then in England; and finally, the medieval Danish historians Sven Aggeson and Saxo Grammatik attribute the organization to Knut, which is accepted by all historians.

According to Sven Aggeson, anyone who had a double-edged sword with a handle set in gold could become a guardsman, "and rich warriors were in such a hurry to get the appropriate swords that the ringing from the forges forging swords was heard throughout the land." The selection was most likely made in 1018, when Cnut, after the conquest of England, sent most of the troops back to Denmark.

In any case, in 1023 the guard already existed. Sven Aggeson describes the laws by which Knut's military squad was governed. Huscarls were placed at the tables of the king in accordance with the celebrity of feats of arms, superiority of service or nobility of birth. Moving to a lower place meant disgrace.

In addition to daily maintenance and entertainment, housecarls received a monthly salary. For payment, tribute was collected from all over the country for the maintenance of the army, the so-called. "army money"

It is possible that the Huscarls collected this tax themselves. An example would be when they sacked the city of Worcester during the reign of Cnut's son Harthacnut. The bonds of service were not permanent, but could only be broken on the day of the new year. All quarrels were to be resolved by an oath of two housecarls in a kind of council of the guard, where the king was also supposed to be present. Those who were found guilty of minor offenses (for example, did not take good care of a friend's horse) were moved to lower places at the royal table. If someone was accused of such offenses three times, then he should have been given the last and lowest place at the table, where no one, under any pretext, was to associate with him, and the feasters could throw bones at him with impunity. If disagreements arose over land and booty, the oaths of six housecarls selected from the detachment to which the disputants belonged were necessary, but the power to resolve the dispute belonged to the council. Whoever kills his comrade, he may lose his head or be in exile: "he must be expelled from the royal possessions and outlawed; and must be expelled from all the lands ruled by Knut" - Sven Aggeson tells us. Betrayal was punishable by death and confiscation of all property of the traitor. If the king marked someone, a magnificent blade with a golden handle became a gift. In general, it seems that it was a tradition of the Scandinavian kings to give a sword to anyone who entered their service.

It is believed that there were about 3 thousand people in the guard. Apparently, if for each Huscarl Knut had stocked up with a golden handle, then no treasury would have been enough. Therefore, it is most likely that the housecarls were mainly recruited from noble and wealthy families.
In the new year, namely on the seventh day of the Christmas holidays, the guardsmen had the right to leave the service and receive their salary. On the same day, the most worthy were presented with gifts; changes were made in the guards.

This custom also comes from Norway and goes back to the time of St. Olaf. Norwegian kings used to have a feast only on New Year's Eve, where they ate and drank with their guards.

There is an assumption that the housecarls in some cases could act as the king's council.
In addition, it is likely that in the time of Knut, the housecarls became a new layer of the English nobility. In addition to regular pay, they seem to have been allotted land. By receiving land, the housecarls "actually ceased to be mercenaries, becoming landowners holding the land on terms of military service."

How about military organization Little is known about the guild. Saxo the Grammaticus writes that in the summer the housecarls were abroad, guarding the kingdom; in winter - they were billeted all over England. He also says that the housecarl could have had his own house.
From the history of Sven Aggeson it follows that the guard was divided into four formations, and they, in turn, into smaller units. But on this issue modern sources remain silent.

And, finally, historians who adhere to this (so-called traditional) point of view on the Huscarl guards express different points of view about its death. Some believe that the last housecarls were dissolved in 1051. Others agree in principle, but believe that the Huscarl units were re-established by Harold, the last king of Anglo-Saxon England. And everyone else who turned to this story is convinced that the guard existed until 1066, when William the Illegitimate led the last victorious invasion of England in history.

The housecarls were the only ones in Harold's army who did not retreat after the king himself was killed. The entire guard was killed in this battle and has never been restored.
The age of the Vikings is over.

"Round Viking forts in Denmark."
Trelleborg.

The round concentric forts of Denmark are probably the most impressive and unusual phenomenon of the Viking Age.
The first fort found was Trelleborg - it was excavated by archaeologists about 60 years ago. It is located on a cape between two rivers and in order to create the foundation for such a strictly geometric fort, it was necessary to move a huge amount of land to this place.

Trelleborg consists of a round main fort and outer fortifications. The main fort is 134 meters in diameter, surrounded by a rampart around the circumference, has four entrances connected by paths and dividing the interior into four equal parts.
Each quarter contains a block of four longhouses arranged around a courtyard.

In the outer fortifications, also surrounded by a rampart, there were 15 more buildings lined up in parallel, and a cemetery.
Trelleborg's longhouses (there were about 30 of them) were almost 30 meters long and were all made of wood. A lot of wood was also used to strengthen the fortifications of the main inner fort, which was surrounded by a wooden palisade both outside and inside.
Trelleborg was built around 980, during the reign of Harald the Bluetooth, who is also considered the builder of other major Epohiviking structures.

The size of the fort and its strict geometric plan, in which nothing seems to have been left unattended, testify to the fact that Denmark already had a strong royal power at that time, which could mobilize significant resources for such a construction.
The military functions of Trelleborg, like other similar forts, most likely combined with administrative and commercial ones to form a stronghold of royal power throughout the country.

This is confirmed by finds in Trelleborg burials. Mostly these are the graves of young men, but sometimes there are burials of women and children, which suggests that families lived in the fort.

Situated on a small promontory jutting out into a wide river valley, Fort Fyrkat is virtually identical to Fort Trelleborg. Both are built according to the same strict geometric plan - a round shaft with four gates, interconnected by paved paths so that they divide the inner area into four equal parts. On the territory of each quarter there was a block of four buildings that formed a square with a courtyard.

Reconstruction internal device fort.

Furkat differs from Trelleborg only in size - Furkat is somewhat smaller and has no external fortifications.
Both forts were built at about the same time - around 980. Burials related to Furkat indicate that it was inhabited by men, women, and children.
Only one of the four buildings in each quarter was later used as residential.

Archaeological finds indicate that other buildings were used as forges, storerooms, stables, workshops of gold and silver craftsmen.

Not far from Fyrkat in Vorbasse, the remains of a flourishing farm from the Viking Age have been found.

"Restoration" of ships

Naturally, the "alive" ancient ships, which were sailed a thousand years ago, were not preserved in Scandinavia. The legends mention many ships, each with its own name and special properties, there is some information about the masters - shipbuilders and how the Vikings treated their ships. Alas, the stories are laconic, as always when it comes to something unremarkable, such that people have before their eyes every day. Those who told and then wrote down the tales of ancient and recent events did not at all think about how they would be read in a thousand years by people belonging to a completely different type of culture, people who would be a curiosity about everything that for the ancient Viking it goes without saying.

Scientists, of course, were not going to give up. In addition to legends, they had other sources of information, in particular, rock paintings, the great masters of which the Scandinavians were from primitive times. Drawings relating not only to the Viking Age, but also to the Bronze and even the Stone Age, contain many images of boats and ships. Scientists accumulated various information, gradually composing from them, as if from pieces of a broken mosaic, something like a whole picture. It so happened, however, that the most comprehensive answer to many questions came from ... GRAVE MILLS.

But why, one wonders, did the ancient Scandinavians bury a ship in the ground? The Vikings believed that, once in the Abode of the Gods, the soul of a heroic warrior would indulge in military pleasures, but myths do not mention the afterlife trips on ships. The heavenly squad of the Father of the Gods was imagined rather as a detachment of horsemen hastening to the battlefield. Moreover, burial in a boat was recorded among peoples for whom navigation did not have the same all-encompassing significance as for the Scandinavians, for example, among the Slavs. And the ancient Celts, they did carry the deceased to the burial place on dry land in a boat. Although they were not such born sailors as the Scandinavians. What's the matter? Comparing among themselves the grave goods - the property that was put in the grave along with the deceased - among the most diverse tribes, scientists came to the conclusion: this inventory is inherent not so much to a merchant, a warrior, an artisan, a hunter, or whoever else was there who died during his lifetime, but to a TRAVELER. According to the ancient people, it was possible to get to the next world without any magical tricks, it was only necessary to make a rather long journey. The Scandinavians, burying the deceased, with certain rituals put on him special burial shoes and tried to tie them tighter so that they would not fall off on a long journey. And what is characteristic: in almost every religion, a WATER OBSTACLEMENT is mentioned, which a person traveling to another world will have to overcome. For Scandinavian mythology, this is a mad mountain stream carrying stones and pieces of ice, or a bottomlessly deep sea strait - that is, something inherent in Scandinavian nature. That is why it was highly desirable for the deceased to have a reliable "watercraft" with him on the afterlife journey. Initially, a small boat was used for this purpose, when they began to build and actively use large ships, it is quite natural that they were considered suitable for the afterlife journey of a noble person.

This is how the warships of the Viking leaders sometimes ended up inside the mounds, under a layer of dense blue clay that did not allow atmospheric oxygen to pass to the wooden structures. That helped save them for science.

Anyone who wants to learn more about these courts, as well as others not described here, is advised to refer to Jochen von Firx's book "The Viking Courts", published in Rostock in 1979 and translated in St. Petersburg in 1982.

ship tree

Having studied in all details the vessel from Gokstad and Oseberg, experts at one time believed that oak was the favorite material of shipbuilders. The statement wandered from book to book that ash, beech, birch, pine, spruce, linden, willow and even alder were also used, but insofar as ... This opinion was held until they began to build copies of ancient ships. It was then that it turned out that the Gokstadt and Useberg ships were not "serious" sea ​​vessels- rather, both of them served as something like royal yachts, on which the king or, in the case of the Useberg boat, the widowed ruler took walks. It is also possible that both ships were lined up for a solemn burial. One way or another, in a real sea voyage, both ships would have had a bad time. Although the dimensions and contours of both are sustained in best traditions of his time.

Experienced sailors, who were given a try "in action" of the recreated Viking ships, were shocked by the flexibility and elasticity of the hull on the wave, especially in a storm. The ship literally "flowed" from ridge to ridge, while its sides "breathed" under the pressure of the waves so that at first the crew's hair stood on end: now they will crackle! Only later the sailors realized that this was not a disadvantage, but an advantage ... And the scientists again turned to the ancient chronicles that told about ship affairs, and found there a mention of the elasticity of the hull. It turns out that the Vikings knew very well that this was the way to build ships of this type. There was also an explanation that they gave to the phenomenon that frightened modern sailors: the ship, they say, bends along the waves, like a fish or a seal, and therefore moves faster. This explanation is not as naive as it seems at first glance. People understood. that it is better to resist the pressure of forces not with blunt mechanical strength, but with elasticity and flexibility, redistribution of emerging loads ... In the course of further tests, it turned out that the requirements that the sea imposes on ship sides are better met not by oak, but by ash. The oak is too cruel; during sea trials, in the conditions of a fierce storm, it also happened that the oak parts broke, while the ash ones withstood. Then they again turned to the ancient annals and found out that the inhabitants of the European coasts, frightened by the attacks of the Vikings, often called the formidable newcomers "askemanns" - "ash people", because "ask" in translation from the ancient northern - "ash". "Askami", according to the same annals, was sometimes called the Viking ships themselves. Here you can return to the section on the Creation of the World and remember that the World Tree, which connected the Nine Worlds, was an ash tree, the Gods-Ases also carved the first person from an ash tree, and that was his name - Ask. And the courageous warrior in songs and sagas was called the "ash tree of battle" ... And it is no longer possible to know what came from what: a tree from mythology or vice versa ...

The shipbuilders of the Viking Age were not only well versed in what kind of wood to make this or that part of the ship, but also how to best use this particular wood or part of it. For example, they knew that for the most important details it is better to take wood from that part of the trunk that was facing north during the life of the tree: it received less sun and heat, which means that the wood here turned out to be thinner and denser. In addition, a tree that has grown in dense, and, therefore, stretched upwards all its life, towards the light, does not have lower branches, the wood fibers in it are even, therefore, such a trunk can make an excellent log for a keel or several long even boards. The tree that grew on open space, which has a dense crown and powerful lower branches, could be cut into boards for the bow or stern (the boards in these places should have had natural curvature), or into bars, again with a natural bend, for frames, stems and other parts that It is supposed to combine elastic flexibility with considerable strength. Their requirements existed for oars, for deck boards, for masts, for blocks, rollers and many more ship parts and accessories. Choice wood was used everywhere, and what was not suitable for one went to another ...
How much wood went into total to build one ship? Experts calculated: to build a warship twenty-twenty-five meters long, it was necessary to cut down at least eleven meter-thick trees with a trunk length of about five meters and another fifteen - eighteen-meter - on the keel. This gave fifty to fifty-eight cubic meters of wood of the required quality.

It would be, however, the greatest mistake to assume that the choice of wood was determined solely by its "consumer" characteristics. Cutting down a tree, especially a "noble", covered with legends breed, the ancient man perfectly understood that he was killing creature having the same rights to life as he does. Before using the ax, he blamed the tree for a long time, explaining to him what urgent need had brought him to the forest. When it came to cutting, treats were placed aside, for example, a piece of bread and butter, so that the tree soul, tempted by the delicacy, would leave the trunk for a while and not experience unnecessary torment. Subsequently, having committed WOOD-KILLING, a person subjected himself to cleansing rites like those that accompanied the killing of an enemy.

In addition, the tree should not have fallen with its top to the north, in which case it was not taken. The fact is that the north was considered the focus of evil forces, the sun “died” there, there was a dwelling of cold, death and darkness. Even the Scandinavians were suspicious of the east. Seen from Norway, there were inhospitable mountains with glaciers, landslides and rockfalls. It is no coincidence that the Norwegian equivalent of "go to hell" sounded like "north and into the mountains!". In a word, before taking on the construction of a ship a tree that fell with its tip to the north or east, the ancient Scandinavian would have thought three times. After all, he was going to trust the ship with his life, which means that he had to invest in it only the best and brightest, kind to the Gods and obedient to man!

Cutting into boards

Having finally cut down a tree, it was butchered immediately, not leaving it to age. Modern shipbuilders prefer seasoned wood, but the ancient craftsmen knew what they were doing. According to experts, they were guided by two considerations: firstly, raw wood is easier to process, and secondly, when kept, it dries out and may crack. Rot, as the researchers write, did not threaten shipboards at all: the Vikings built open-type ships with a well-ventilated hold.
In modern industry, logs are sawn into boards with special saws. The Vikings acted differently: the prepared log was split lengthwise with the help of wedges into two halves. Then - again and again in half. As experiments showed, about twenty identical boards up to thirty centimeters wide came out of a trunk with a diameter of about a meter. Primitive technique? Vikings didn't know saws? They knew very well. And a saw and a hacksaw.

Simply, as scientists write, modern woodworking technology is focused on quantity, and in ancient times, quality was at the forefront. Especially in such a vital matter as building a ship. Boards obtained from a log split by wedges had a number of advantages over sawn ones. They are stronger, less prone to drying out, do not warp and crack so much. Still, after all, the wedge acts along the fibers, as it is "more convenient" for a split log, and the saw cuts and tears at random. In addition, the chipped boards on one side turned out to be somewhat thicker. It is easy to see that when joining sideboards with a lap (a favorite technique of the Vikings), this, at first glance, a disadvantage turned into a virtue. The thicker part made it possible to make a cutout in it for the tightest fit of the adjacent board.

Instruments

The woodworking tools that the Vikings used to build ships also became known to scientists, mostly after the excavation of ancient graves. Experts are unanimous that the choice of these tools is very wide and in capable hands is sufficient for all necessary operations. The study of the found sets, a careful examination of the surviving images, as well as the traces left by various tools on wooden parts, made it possible to conclude that the AX was undoubtedly the most important tool. The ancient masters owned it truly masterfully. "Incredible!" - the researchers exclaim, noting that even the final finishing of side and deck boards was sometimes carried out with an ax, although there were more, it would seem, suitable devices: TESL and SKOBEL.

Axes were used in several types, depending on the type of work. On one ancient image four types of axes were found at once. One felled trees, another chopped off branches, the third smoothed the boards and the fourth produced the final processing after fitting the board to the hull. Such an addiction to the ax is by no means accidental and is not hallmark it was the Vikings, based, they say, on the fact that acting with their "favorite weapon" - an ax - in battles, they preferred it in peaceful construction ... The fact is that the saw shaggy and loosens wood fibers, while their ax, on the contrary , smoothes and flattens. A wooden piece hewn with an ax absorbs moisture much less than sawn one, which means it rots less and lasts longer than an example ... Something like a ROTOR was used to drill holes: a sharpened iron "spoon" on a wooden handle with a cross so that it can be rotated. There were also KNIVES of various shapes and sizes, CHISELS and CHISLS, including semicircular and figured ones, a variety of CUTTERS, as well as HAMMERS and wooden MALLETS.

Shipbuilding skill

Did the Vikings use blueprints? No diagrams or drawings have yet been found, but it would be a mistake to assert in advance that they were not made at all. What if, literally at this time, something similar is being dug up on the Scandinavian peninsula or in Iceland? Let's accept for now that science has not yet found the answer. Shipbuilding connoisseurs only speculate that the Vikings may have used some kind of level to measure the angle of the hull boards, as well as templates to draw the best contours.

But what is known for sure is that there were craftsmen of the highest qualification who were able even "by eye" to build an excellently stable and fast ship. Such a master was accompanied by a whole team of various specialists: woodworkers, board masters, carvers in figured details and blacksmiths, as well as a number of auxiliary workers. Every self-respecting Scandinavian could build a boat or a small vessel for coastal fishing alone, at worst - with an assistant. But when a wealthy person needed a large and high-quality combat or merchant ship, a good craftsman was invited.

The Vikings spent their whole lives on ships and, of course, they were well versed in them. Everyone considered himself a great connoisseur of shipbuilding, so the conflicts between the master and the customer, between different masters arose inevitably. Decidedly everyone "knew what was best" and insisted on their own. Sometimes remarkable courage was required from the master, especially if the ship was built for a high-ranking person and, moreover, tough and fast for reprisals. However, history shows that such masters had enough courage. Here, for example, is an ancient legend about how, at the very end of the 10th century, they built his famous ship for King Olaf, the son of Tryggvi, later called the "Great Serpent":
"... The builder of the ship was called Torberg Strohala. But many others helped him - who rallied the boards, who hewed, who hammered nails, who brought timber. Everything in the ship was very carefully done. The ship was long and wide, with a high side and from large forest. When the side of the ship was already being made, Thorberg needed to go home for some reason, and he stayed there for a long time. And when he returned, the side of the ship was already ready. That same evening, the king and Torberg with him went to see how ship. Everyone said that they had never seen such a big and beautiful ship. Then the king returned to the city. Early the next morning, the king again went to the ship, and Thorberg with him. And the masters had all already arrived earlier, but did not start working. The king asked why they did not start. They answered that the ship was spoiled: someone walked from bow to stern, chopping the side with oblique blows. The king came up and saw that this was true. Then he swore, who, out of envy, so spoiled the ship, would pay with death , if he will find it. And whoever names this person to me will receive a great reward from me. Then Thorberg says:
- I can tell you, king, who did it.
- From no other person - says the king - I could not expect that he knows this and can tell me.
- I'll tell you, king, - says Thorberg, - who did it. I did it.

The king answers:
“Then you must make sure that everything is as it was before. Your life depends on it.

And then Thorberg came up and cut off the board so that all the oblique scars disappeared. The king and all the others began to say that the ship was much more beautiful from the board that Thorberg had cut off. And the king told him to do the same with the other side and said that he was very grateful to him ... "
Let us pay attention to one phrase of the passage just quoted. The board, which was given the best, from the point of view of navigation, form, became, according to experts, MUCH BEAUTIFUL. What an eye, what experience and intuition one must have in order to determine the quality of a ship by the nobility of its contours!

The ancient masters considered it a special "chic" to build a ship in such a way that, when sailing on oars, it could carry shields on the sides. The ship with shields along the side has become downright a "calling card" of the Viking Age, and for good reason. But not everyone knows that the shields were not "nailed to the sides according to custom", but were held by a special rail from the outer (or inner) side of the side. The oars were not inserted into the oarlocks, but passed through special holes - "rowing hatches". For battle, ships usually converged on oars; if at the same time it was possible to keep shields on board (that is, if the ship was built in such a way that the shields did not block the holes for the oars and did not interfere with rowing), they served as additional protection for the rowers until the very moment of hand-to-hand combat.

Side handlebar

To date, a lot of remodels of Viking ships have been built. The very first trip on a recreated copy of the Gokstad ship took place in 1893. Since then, similar ships have sailed along all the known historical routes of the ancient Scandinavians: around Europe, along the Russian rivers, and to America across the Atlantic Ocean. And even further: enthusiasts have sailed around the world. And in Denmark every summer a "Viking festival" is held, the program of which certainly includes the "Viking regatta" - races on replicas of ancient ships that gather for the holiday from all over Scandinavia. In a word, considerable experience has been accumulated. And what is characteristic, modern "Vikings" invariably speak of the sea qualities of their ships in superlatives. Moreover, the ship behaves the better, the closer the replica is built to the ancient model, the more accurately they try to observe every little thing.

One of these "little things" turned out to be the SIDE RUDDER. Looking at the drawings and drawings, it is easy to make sure that the rudder of the Viking ships was not located along the center line of the stern, as we are used to, but on the side, on a special mount. And trial modern voyages prove that even with a cruel wind and strong seas, ONLY ONE PERSON easily controlled the vessel with the help of this side rudder! However, with all the physical ease of controlling the ship, this occupation is very responsible, requires great attention and concentration, and therefore very tiring. And, considering that, unlike the rowers, the helmsman could not even warm himself by rowing on a cold and damp night, they tried to make his life easier if only by setting up a special seat at the stern. It was located above the usual benches, so that the heads of the comrades did not obscure the helmsman's view.

Mast

The Viking ship didn't look particularly "slim". So, at the Gokstad ship, with a hull length of more than twenty-three meters, the height of the mast was, according to scientists, no more than twelve meters; as will be shown below, a fair amount of sail area was achieved mainly due to the width. But how many people now know that the masts on the Viking ships were made .. REMOVABLE

The Normans often used ships for burials. According to their beliefs, it was possible to get from the World of the Living to the World of the Dead after a long journey, as well as overcoming a water barrier (it was enough for you to walk along a straight road for a long time and you would undoubtedly get into THAT world). It is for this reason that the Scandinavians buried the dead, and especially noble people, in ships prepared for a long journey. And so many of the Viking ships known today were found in barrows.

In January 1880, in order to occupy themselves and get rid of boredom (as well as having heard about the treasures found in the burials of the Vikings), the sons of the tenant of a small estate in Gokstad (Norway) began to dig up a hill that bore the proud name "Royal". In May, the excavations continued, but already under the guidance of the archivist of the museum in Oslo, Nikolaysen. So the Gokstad ship appeared to human eyes.

The ship from Gokstad served as the grave (according to the assumptions of scientists and the Yngling Saga) to King Olaf. He was fully equipped for sailing with oars, a sail, an anchor and provisions. On each side there were 16 round shields about 1 m in diameter, painted black and yellow colors. The tomb was looted, but, nevertheless, many interesting things were found. For example, quite unexpectedly, the remains of a peacock were found in the stern area.

After restoration, the ship was exhibited at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo.

The main dimensions of the vessel:

Maximum length - 23.3 m
Maximum width - 5.2 m
Maximum height - 2.1 m

The ship from Gokstad is often called the most beautiful of all Viking ships found. It has been reproduced many times in replica ships, from "Vikingr" 1892 to "Mother Earth" ("Gaia" 1998). You can find some of them in Replicas.

This ship was found in 1903 in Norway by Professor G. Gustavson. On November 5, 1904, the excavations were completed, but the ship's adventures were just beginning. According to Norwegian law, the ship belonged to the owner of the land where it was found. The owner of the Useberg estate set a price, but it turned out to be too high for the museum. In the meantime, rumors spread about the possible sale of the vessel abroad. To prevent this, the Norwegian parliament hastily passed a law prohibiting the sale of historical property outside of Norway. In the end, the ship was bought by the owner of a neighboring estate, and "as it lies there" was donated to the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, where it is now located.

Firstly, traces of robbers were found in the tomb. who, leaving 14 wooden spades and three stretchers, apparently completely cleaned the bow of the ship and carried away all objects of precious metals. However, they did not reach the stern, and archaeologists managed to find an equipped galley with two boilers for cooking, frying pans, spoons, knives, axes and an intact hand mill for grinding grain. In addition, items intended for women were found in the tomb, namely: a large spinning loom and two small ribbons suitable for making ribbons, fragments of hollowed boxes and wooden buckets, the remains of woolen cloth and silk ribbons, as well as the remains of a carpet.

It is not surprising that with such a set of objects, scientists found two female skeletons, whose age was determined to be 50 and 30 years old. Senior. was probably Queen Asa. This corresponds to the Yngling saga, in which Snorri Sturlasson in the 13th century. described the history of the Oslo Fjord with the districts of Ostfoll and Vestfoll.

Of the fate of Queen Asa, the saga says:
"Gudrod was the name of the son of Halfdan, who after him became king. His wife's name was Alfhild. They had a son Olaf. When Alfhild died, Gudröd sent his messengers to Agde (southwestern Norway) to the king who ruled there. His name was Harald Rotlip The messengers were supposed to ask to give his daughter Asa to the king as his wife, but Harald refused them.The messengers returned back and informed the king of the refusal.

Shortly thereafter, Gudröd went to sea with a large army and arrived at Agde. The army came quite unexpectedly and landed on the shore. At night it reached the estate of King Harald. When the latter discovered that an enemy was standing against him, he went out to the enemy with the people whom he had with him. There was a battle, but the forces were too unequal, and Harald and his son Gird died.

King Gudröd seized a large booty. He took the daughter of King Harald Asa with him and married her. She had a son by him named Halfdan. In the autumn, when Halfdan was one year old, King Gudröd went to "feed" the country. He arrived on his ship in Stiftlesund. There was a big feast, and the king drank heavily. In the evening, when it got dark, he left the ship. When the king was at the end of the gangway, a man ran up to him, pierced him with his spear, and he died. The man was killed immediately. The next morning, when dawn broke, he was recognized as a servant of Queen Asa. She did not deny that the servant acted on her advice ... After the death of her father, Olaf became king. He suffered from a leg disease and died from it. He was buried in a hill in Gjörstad."

Further reported. that shortly after the birth of her grandson, Harald the Fair-Haired, who in 872 established dominion over all of Norway, Queen Asa died at the age of 50. Therefore, it is likely that Queen Asa is buried in Usenberg, and King Olaf is buried in Gokstad (Gjörstad in the saga), since the skeleton of a lame man who suffered from gout was found there during excavations.

Ship model from Oseberg

Oak was used to make the ship. A special pine bar was made along both sides, on which shields could be fixed. 15 pairs of oar holes were made in the sides. The ship also had a mast and a sail.

The main dimensions of the ship:

The maximum length is 21.44 m.
Maximum width - 5.10 m.
Maximum height - 1.58 m.

The ship from Oseberg testifies to the high level of shipbuilding and navigation of the Normans. But this ship was still not adapted for sailing on the high seas, like, for example, the ship from Gokstad.

In 1921, in the north of the Danish island of Als, an ancient altar was found in a small peat bog. As it turned out later, it was the oldest altar on the territory of Scandinavia (dated to the 4th-3rd centuries BC). For two years, in 1921-1922, excavations were carried out by the employees of the National Museum of Denmark. The results exceeded all expectations: 8 single-edged swords were found (the oldest steel weapon found in Scandinavia), 50 long shields, 140 spearheads various shapes, 30 bone spearheads, wooden plates, boxes, vessels, a bronze needle, etc. Among the most interesting finds was a boat, which, unfortunately, was badly damaged during excavations. Those parts of the boat that managed to be preserved are exhibited at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.

The boat was made of linden. It was set in motion by strokes and could carry a team of 25 people (armed and equipped) - about 2200 kg (at the rate of 90 kg per person).

Rook model from Hjertspring

The main dimensions of the rook:

Maximum length - 15.3 m
Maximum internal length - 13.28 m
Maximum width - 2.07 m
Maximum height - 0.78 m

The boat from Hjertspring ("Deer Leap") is one of the progenitors of the classic "Viking ships". Mentions of such ships can be found in the book of Tacitus "Germany", written in 98 AD. It speaks of a tribe of Svions, whose ships had a bow on each side, thanks to which they could moor on either side. In addition, images of similar ships have been found in Bohuslän, Sweden.

In 1863, the remains of three ships were found during excavations in the Nydam swamp near the village of Öströsottrup near Alsenzund. One of them is quite well preserved, it is this ship that will be discussed. The ship is on display at the Museum of Prehistoric and Early Culture of Schleswig at Gottorp Castle. It belongs to the second half of the 4th century. When dating, eight bronze pins for clothes - brooches, found on the ship near the stem, played a significant role. The swamp near Nidam was found to have been a place of sacrifice for nearly three centuries. Especially numerous finds were made in 1863 and later, 30 years later, 106 swords, 552 spearheads, 70 steel and bronze umbons for shields, arrow and spear shafts, as well as numerous decorations were found.

The ship, which had lain for so long in the swamp, broke up. Oak cladding boards lay separately from each other, and only separate parts remained from the frames. Therefore, reconstructions of this vessel are of interest. There are 30 places for rowers on the open vessel. There was no device for carrying the sail, and, judging by the stability, the ship could not carry the sail. The ship is built on a keel board of almost 15 meters and a width of 0.56 meters in the middle. The keel itself, cut from this board, has a width of 180 mm, and a height of only 20 mm. In the middle of the keel board between the 10th and 11th frames there was a small through hole, closed from the ingress of sea water with a wooden plug, through which the accumulated water was drained when the ship was pulled ashore. Oarlocks made of knots-forks were tied to the upper board of the sheathing, made with a nap. The oarlocks had holes through which a leather strap passed to hold the oar. To steer the ship, a large rudder hung on the starboard side, about 3.3 meters long with a special-shaped head. Perhaps it was held only by a cable attached to one of the frames and passing through the gunwale from above, otherwise the steering wheel would be completely free. The oars found had a length of 3.05 to 3.52 meters.

The own weight of the vessel is approximately equal to 3300 (according to other assumptions a little more than 3900) kg. Payload, i.e. the mass of a crew of 50 people with weapons and food should have been almost 5000 kg. With a total weight of 8800 kg, the ship's draft was 0.5 m, and the freeboard height was almost 0.6 m.

Aft end and rudder.

The ship from Nidam belongs to the second half of the 4th century. When dating, eight bronze pins for clothes - brooches, found on the ship near the stem, played a significant role.

The swamp near Nidam was found to have been a place of sacrifice for nearly three centuries. Especially numerous finds were made in 1863 and later, 30 years later, 106 swords, 552 spearheads, 70 steel and bronze umbons for shields, arrow and spear shafts, as well as numerous decorations were found.

The ship, having lain for so long in the swamp, broke up. Oak cladding boards lay separately from each other, and only separate parts remained from the frames. Therefore, the reconstructions of this ship made by S. Engelgard in 1865, H. Shetelig and F. Johanessen in 1930 and H. Akerlund in 1961, who published their drawings, are of interest. Of these, Johannessen's drawing is the most important. The main dimensions of the vessel from Nidam are: maximum length 22.85 m, maximum beam 3.26 m and depth 1.09 m.

There are 30 places for rowers on the open vessel. The device for carrying the sail was absent, judging by the stability of the vessel, it could not carry the sail.

The ship was built on a keel board almost 15 m long and 0.56 m wide in the middle. The keel itself, cut from this board, has a width of 180 mm and a height of only 20 mm. In the middle of the keel board between the 10th and 11th frames there was a small through hole, closed from the ingress of sea water with a wooden plug, through which the accumulated water was drained when the ship was pulled ashore. The ends of the keel board had a width of only 280 mm. With the help of two wooden dowels and a horizontal lining attached from below, stems were attached to them.

Both stems, made of oak, are almost the same; a well-preserved stem, made of a single piece of wood, has a length of about 5.4 m. In the lower part, the stem is processed so that sheathing boards can be riveted to it).

The sheathing is made in clinker: there are five boards on each side. Sheathing boards are made of oak, do not have knots and are solid with a length of 20 m and a width of more than 0.5 m. Only the top belt is composite. On the well-preserved left side, the joint falls between the 13th and 14th frames. The boards are butted against each other at a right angle, and only a reinforced gunwale holds them together.

Boards overlap each other by 70 mm. Steel rivets with clink washers (quadrangular washers) are installed on the keel board at a distance of 150 mm, on the upper chords - after 160-180 mm, and near the stems - after 110 mm. To seal the cracks between the boards, wool impregnated with a sticky mass was used.

The keel board, and other boards, had clamps made as one piece with the board. 19 frames are tied to the clamps, which were installed only after the completion of the skin assembly. Restoration work showed that the frames, up to the 3rd, were made from one piece of pine kokora (krivuli) and had different transverse section. On the top board there is only one clamp to which the frame is attached; at the same time, this clamp served as a support for the can, which was probably fastened with wooden dowels. Rowing banks additionally had vertical supports mounted on frames.

Oarlocks made of fork knots were tied to the top board of the skin. The oarlocks had holes through which a leather strap passed to hold the oar.

To steer the ship, a large rudder about 3.3 m long with a special-shaped head hung on the starboard side. How the rudder was connected to the ship is unclear. Perhaps it was held only by a cable attached to one of the frames and passing through the gunwale from above, otherwise the steering wheel would have been completely free.

The oars found had a length of 3.05 to 3.52 m.

Stones were found on the ship, which caused bewilderment. Initially, they were mistaken for ballast, but a ship from Nidam would need it when sailing on water. The ballast of stones with a total mass of almost 1000 kg on a ship located on the shore was clearly superfluous. Therefore, it was assumed that the stones found were somehow connected with the sacrifice. Such a vessel at one time was of great value, so the ceremony of its burial was not quite ordinary. Probably, stones were loaded onto a ship that reached the swamp, weapons and other sacrificial gifts were added to them. Then ropes were tied to the posts, with the help of which the ship was pulled into the swamp, where, with an open hole on the keel board, it slowly sank under a load of stones.

The own mass of the vessel from Nidam Johannessen estimates at 3300 kg, and Timmerman according to the model at 1/10 natural size- a little over 3900 kg. The payload, i.e., the mass of a crew of 50 people with weapons and food, was supposed to be almost 5000 kg. With a total mass of 8800 kg, the ship's draft was 0.5 m, and the freeboard was almost 0.6 m.

Why is the weapon in the chest, and not hanging on the wall? You see, I often have guests, and where there are guests, there is a feast. And at a feast where there is a lot of beer, anything can happen! When the weapon is out of sight, the worst thing you can do is knock out a couple of teeth.
The Scandinavians have used the spear since ancient times. This is evidenced by numerous finds dating from the beginning of our era and earlier.

In the Viking Age, the most common type of weapon was a heavy spear, which was different from its counterparts from other countries. The northern spear had a shaft about five feet long with a long, up to 18 inches, wide leaf-shaped tip. Such a spear could both stab and chop (which the Vikings, in fact, did with success). Of course, such a spear weighed a lot, and therefore it was not easy to throw it, although this also happened (if we turn to the myths, Odin fought with the Gungnir spear, which always returned to the owner after the THROW). One can imagine the physical form of a person capable of throwing such a spear. However, there were special throwing spears similar to European darts. Such spears were shorter, with a narrower tip.

The shape of the spear tip could vary depending on the purpose. So, for example, there are descriptions of spears resembling a European halberd.

The next step is the axe. a relatively small hatchet on a long (about 90 cm) handle. A second successful blow with an ax was usually not required, and therefore the ax also had a moral impact on the enemy. It didn't take much imagination to figure out what to expect from the axe. On the other hand, the ax is good in attack, it has many disadvantages in defense. Even a spearman is able to disarm a warrior with an ax by catching it at the junction of the blade and handle and pulling it out of the hands of the owner.
I want to note: I almost never saw any mention of double-edged axes, so I doubt their distribution (if they existed at all). there is no doubt about the popularity of ordinary axes, and not only among ordinary hirdmanns, but also leaders (it is unlikely that the nickname of Eirik Haraldsson, the son of the famous Harald Harfagr (Fair-haired) - Eirik Blodeks (Bloody Ax) arose from scratch.

One of the factors behind the Norman victory at Hastings is thought to have been more advanced weapons. William's army was armed with iron axes, while the Anglo-Saxons entered the battlefield with stone axes. But, it should be noted, stone axes were also valued by the Vikings. The reason for this was the age of the weapon, which gave reason to consider it endowed magical properties. such weapons, carefully preserved, were passed down from generation to generation.

Perhaps the most common weapon in Europe was the sword. He did not bypass Scandinavia.
The first northern swords were similar to the scramasaxes - single-edged blades, rather long knives than short swords. However, they soon "grew" noticeably, and then completely turned into the weapon that is now known as the "Viking sword".

The Scandinavian sword of the IX-XII century period was a long, heavy double-edged blade with a small (almost symbolic guard).

The fighting technique of the Scandinavians did not differ much from the fighting techniques of other peoples of Europe at that time. It should be remembered that in the early Middle Ages, and especially in the Viking Age, there was no special art of swordsmanship. A wide swing, a blow in which all the strength of a warrior was invested - that's the whole technique. The Vikings did not have stabbing blows, which, accordingly, left their mark on the weapon. Specifically, this was expressed in the rounding, which often ended with a Scandinavian sword.

The Vikings have always been famous for the art of decorating their weapons. Which, however, was not surprising. The Scandinavians endowed the weapon with a personality, and therefore it is quite logical to try to distinguish it from the rest of the weapon. Often, a weapon that faithfully served its owner was given a name known to people no less than the name of its owner. So sonorous names arose, like "RaunijaR" - testing, "Gunnlogs" - the flame of battle ... Axes were laid out with gold and silver patterns, sheaths and hilts of swords were also decorated with gold and silver, the blades were covered with runes.

One of the most beautiful ways of decorating swords was the following: in the manufacture of the blade, copper and silver wire were forged alternately into the handle, which made the sword "striped".

Authentic Viking armor was truly Spartan in its simplicity - just look at the 10th century helmet and the remains of chain mail found in Gjermundby, Norway. This round helmet is the only well-preserved Viking Age helmet found so far; it is known, however, that the Vikings went into battle in conical helmets.

From time immemorial, landowners of all kinds, from freed slaves who owned tiny plots of land, to jarls who had vast tracts of land, and even kings who disposed of their own allotments, gathered in local assemblies, known as "cause". There they elected local leaders, adopted laws and regulations regarding property, theft of sheep or blood feuds. However, a new force was present in the life of the Vikings, incomparably more influential than any governing body, and filling this life with special content.

The "drergeskapur" occupied a central place in the moral code of the Vikings. This concept includes a number of qualities that were considered mandatory both for society as a whole and for those who could be considered a hero in the eyes of their compatriots. Self-respect, honor, an impeccable reputation were put above all else, and they could only be built on a solid foundation of selfless loyalty to family and comrades. All aspects of life were determined by customs; hospitality and offerings, oaths and vengeance, good deeds for the benefit of society, such as the construction of bridges or temples.

Leaders were required to show courage. fortitude, loyalty to friends, truthfulness, eloquence, and a zest for life, along with a readiness to face death fearlessly and without hesitation. All these qualities, and countless others, are reflected in the ancient Scandinavian poem "Havamal", which literally means "The Word of the Highest". The poem contains the entire code of conduct of the Viking Age, from simple moralizing to reasoning about the true meaning of eternal glory.

The least essential, though necessary, seemed to be the rules for the guests. "Who stays at a party, abuses the hospitality of good hosts," Havamal teaches, "begins to stink." If the mentioned guest, in addition, has enough extra, being tempted by ale, the poem reminds that drinking and riding are incompatible: "There is no heavier knife for a rider than immoderate libations." The final stanzas of the poem are devoted to the highest concept of the code of honor, linking together an impeccable reputation during life with the honorable fate of dying the death of the brave, proving himself a hero:

The shield was almost an obligatory attribute of a warrior at all times. From century to century, from people to people, shields changed their shape, structure, appearance, but their purpose did not change - to provide the warrior with a convenient and reliable means of personal protection. Naturally, the Scandinavians, in whose life the war was far from the last place, did not leave the shields unattended.

From the first to the tenth centuries, round shields were firmly established in Scandinavia. There were two types of such shields - flat and convex. All the shields that have survived to this day were typesetting (however, there is evidence of bent shields - in this case it is easier to make them convex), that is, assembled from separate boards. For reinforcement, such a set could be two-layered, and the layers were superimposed across, which again gave strength. In the center of the shield there was always an umbon - a metal hemisphere designed to protect against direct blows - the enemy's weapon slipped along it, losing strength.

In addition to this, the umbon protected the hand, since the most common fastening of the shield on the hand of the Scandinavians was the fist fastening. A hilt passed under the umbon, for which the warrior held the shield. This mount is convenient because the shield is easy to reset, which is important. On the other hand, you need to have a well-trained hand in order to successfully defend. However, there were shields with a "traditional" mount on the arm.

Often, the edge of the shield was upholstered with a strip of thick rawhide, and sometimes it could even be covered with leather on the front side. Although such shields have never been found, the mention of shields covered with leather is very common in the literary sources of that period. As for all the shields found, they were painted directly on the wooden surface.

Traditionally, shields were made of linden wood, although other woods such as alder or poplar could also be used. These types of wood were chosen due to their lightness and low density. In addition, this wood does not peel as easily as, for example, oak.

In size, round shields ranged from 45 to 120 centimeters in diameter, but the most common were shields with a diameter of 75-90 centimeters.

At the beginning of the eleventh century, the lower edge of the shield began to stretch down to protect the legs. This change gave rise to the development of the "drop" shield. Moreover, like their predecessors, round shields, "drops" existed both flat and convex, the latter clearly predominating. Until now, there are disputes about mounting such a shield on the hand, whether it was fisted or not. The fact is that if the shield is held under the umbon, then the lower, elongated part of the shield acts like a pendulum, making it difficult to work with the shield.
These shields were about 1 - 1.5 meters in size.

Both round shields and "drops" could be worn in the marching version, behind the back. For this, there was a special belt, or just a wide strip of leather. It was much more convenient even for a foot soldier to carry a shield this way, not to mention a rider.

The shields were painted in different ways, depending on the taste of the owner. The shield could be painted completely in one color, or in segments. The common designs were the cross and the solstice - the sun wheel. In addition, umbon and reinforcing stripes were often decorated with silver and gold.

This game was known in the north of Europe long before chess appeared there. In Scandinavia, this game was already known in the 3rd century AD. Subsequently, the Vikings brought it to Greenland, Iceland, Wales, Britain, and the Far East, up to Ukraine.

Playboard options.
The "king" is marked with a straight cross, the corner squares are marked with an oblique cross.

This game was played on a board with an odd number of cells, from 7x7 to 19x19, depending on the variant of the game. The central cell was called the "throne", and no pieces could stand on it, as well as on the corner cells of the board, except for the king. At the beginning of the game, the king piece was placed on the throne. The rest of the whites were placed around him. The first move is always for black. Players take turns taking turns. All pieces move in any direction, just like rooks in modern chess. The player can move any one piece of his color to any distance. Pieces cannot "jump" over others. On small boards, pieces can pass through the throne, on large boards only the king can do this. White is trying to get the king to one of the corner squares. If they manage to place the king on an open straight line to one of these squares, they announce "Raichi" (Check), if on two straight lines at once - "Tuichi" (checkmate). If on the next move they stand on the corner square, White wins. If the black player accidentally opens a passage for the white king, white can take advantage of this immediately.

If a piece, on its own, pinches an opponent's piece between itself and another piece, or between itself and a corner square, the opponent's piece is considered eaten. More than one chip can be eaten at a time.

Black loses both chips
However, you can put your chip between two enemy ones. In this case, she remains in the game.

Nothing threatens the white chip. At least. Bye.

The king is considered captured when he is surrounded on four sides. In this case, the corner cells, the throne and the sides of the board can be considered as sides. When the king is in danger of being captured on the next move, Black warns White (check the king). Black wins if the king is captured. The king can be captured along with one white piece, being surrounded by black on all sides.

In all these cases black wins.

White wins by pushing his king into one of the corner squares. Black - if they managed to capture the king. Since the forces are unequal, it is considered good practice to play two games in a row, exchanging sides. In this case, the number of chips eaten is counted. The winner, with a score of 1:1, is the one who ate more opponent's chips.

viking cuisine
"Porridge"

Recipe base: a glass of grains and two glasses of liquid (water and/or milk) per person. You can add more liquid in order to compensate for the evaporation that occurs when cooking porridge on an "open" fire. You can use chopped and crushed grains, the largest kernels must be soaked overnight, otherwise they will take too long to cook.
Recipe: porridge for the Viking family.
For 4-6 servings take:
- 10-15 glasses of water
- Two glasses of "chopped" wheat grains. Soak them overnight to make them less difficult to chew.
- Two glasses of barley
- A handful of wheat flour
- A handful of crushed nut kernels
- 3-4 tablespoons of honey
- A good portion of slices of apples, pears or ...

1. Put the wheat, flour and barley into the cauldron. Pour 10 glasses of water there and put the cauldron on fire.
2. Stir the porridge evenly and remove the pot to dispel the heat. If the porridge starts to thicken too much, add more water to it.
3. After about half an hour, add honey, nuts and fruits. Now the porridge should be cooked until the fruit is still juicy, and the porridge has already reached the desired consistency. This will take 15-30 minutes.
4. Serve porridge warm, adding cold cream if desired.

"Meat and fish soup"

Of course, you should not cram all the known vegetables, herbs and seasonings into one pot. Inspired by the many widely available books that deal with edible plants, don't use everything you find while wandering around. Always make sure you put edible plants in your basket!
Recipe: Meat stew.
For 4-6 servings take:
- 8-12 glasses of water
- Half a kilo of meat (pork, beef, lamb, chicken, game)
- Salt
- 3-5 cups of plants: nettle top leaves, young dandelion leaves, wild chervil, watercress, wild marjoram, dill, plantain, angelica, wild onion, cumin, thyme, or whatever nature has to offer at this time of the year

1. Put the meat in the pot. Pour water into it to such a level as to cover the meat, and put the cauldron on fire. To dispel the heat, it is necessary to remove it from the heat for short periods of time every 5-10 minutes.
2. After the water boils, it is necessary to cook the meat for another hour. It is necessary to ensure that the meat is always covered with a layer of water.
3. While the meat is cooking, wash and chop the plants (greens). They will need to be added to the stew when it is ready.
4. When the meat is cooked (becomes soft), remove it from the boiler and cut into pieces the size of a spoon, which you plan to eat the stew. Then return the meat to the pot.
5. Add salt as desired and serve.
6. Chowder can be served with bread. If you want to make a more satisfying stew, you can add pre-soaked wheat grains, wholemeal flour, or the stew can be flavored with pea flour

"Wholemeal Bread"

This bread is called "pottery" because it was baked on pieces of pottery or, if the estate was richer, on 10-15 cm frying pans over coals. Recipe: Bread.
All measurements are given in glasses. glass in this case equates to about 90 grams of flour:
- 7 cups whole wheat flour or premium
- 3 cups of liquid - this can be whey or milk
- 1 egg
- a pinch of salt (optional)

1. Flour, liquid, egg and salt must be mixed for a long time and thoroughly. If necessary, add flour or liquid. The result should be a homogeneous thick dough.
2. Divide the dough into small balls, and then turn them into cakes. 3. The bread is baked over high heat on pieces of pottery or a frying pan for 2-3 minutes on each side.
The resulting loaves should be slightly brown and, if lightly tapped with a fingernail, should give the impression of being hollow.
To obtain "fragments" you can use well-fired red clay pots (apparently, of the type used for kilns) or, for example, a ceramic vase from the Japanese school of Sogetsu...
- Sweetened bread can be obtained by adding honey to the dough.
- Adding roasted stinging nettles will add a spicy flavor.
- You can also add chopped walnut kernels and boiled acorns to the dough.

Hot nutritious drinks.

"Delightful Apple Drink"

For cooking we need:
- Water
- Apple slices
- Apple tree leaves
- Honey

1. Fill the container with water, throw in slices of unpeeled apples, add apple leaves.
2. The drink should be boiled over a fire. When it starts to boil, add honey to taste.
3. Serve hot. Apples can be replaced with pears. The berries add flavor. If you want, try different mixtures of berries and fruits.

"Plant drink"

Plant based drinks can be obtained from many plants. The drink is prepared by adding leaves or flowers of plants to boiling water and boiling for several minutes.
The best drinks can be obtained from the leaves:
- stinging nettle;
- mint;
- hawthorn;
- wild raspberries;
- strawberries; and colors:
- elderberry;
- lindens;
- yarrow;
- chamomile.

Housekeeping in the Viking Age

"The daily life of the Viking family, day after day, year after year, was a continuous struggle to maintain life: that everyone had a roof over their heads; everyone was warm and there was something to eat. For a long time it was easy to get food, but a lot of time was spent on preparing it, and still it was necessary to take care of the long winter in advance: to collect, dry and store food.

We don't know exactly what dishes were prepared during the Vikings, but we can say a lot about what ingredients and utensils they used for cooking. A lot of dishes, boilers, knives and other kitchen utensils have come down to our times. By carefully examining clay pots, ceramic lids, ashes from hearths and layers of earth in houses, it becomes possible to find food remains and determine the source of their origin. In addition, it should be said that some human remains found in the swamps are so well preserved that one can examine their stomachs and intestines for what their last meal consisted of. We can also say with certainty what plants and wild animals existed in Scandinavia during the Viking times, and at the same time we can imagine that most of these flora and fauna were part of the Viking diet, provided that the latter could get the former.

food components

The most important of the cultivated crops was grain. Barley, wheat, rye and buckwheat were also among the plants grown. The grains of the Viking era looked a little different than they do now - they had more of a stalk and less of the grains themselves. Grain in those days grew as well as now, and, accordingly, became the kind of food that is easy to stock up for the winter. It's not hard to see - it's easy to show that the Vikings crammed grain/flour into most of their meals: porridge, soup and meat and, strangest to you, bread.
Vegetables were also grown locally. Individual comrades grew green peas, horse beans (horse beans), garlic, angelica, hops, parsnips and carrots. Eggs, milk, meat and fat for everyday cooking were obtained from birds and cattle, the same ones that are bred now. Only they were smaller - well, the movement of young Michurinians did not flourish among the Vikings, they had no time for that !!! The meat of domestic animals was not included in the daily diet, so fish, eggs of poultry and game were welcomed as an addition to porridge.

During the Viking Age, most of the country was covered with oak, spruce and beech thickets. Therefore, Viking women collected seeds, berries from bushes, hazelnuts, mushrooms and even acorns for their "boar" husbands. After a long winter, the attribute of which was the eating of grain crops, the soldiers wanted vitamins, fresh vegetables, but where were they to get in the spring? Do not be surprised, the Vikings leaned on the grass! No, not hemp - in the fields and meadows you could get fresh roots and various ferns. True, it is not known for certain how widespread this practice of filling the body with vitamins was.

Using clay pots for cooking open fire

And now the fire is kindled, and the pot is placed on it so that the flame does not touch the handle. Clay does not conduct heat well, and therefore you need to constantly move it so that the pot warms up evenly. I note that the heating does not go from the bottom to the edges, as in iron dishes: only those parts that are directly affected by the fire are heated, so the food being cooked can burn in these places!

A wooden spoon can safely be left in the pot (only so that the fire does not reach it) while the food is slowly boiling, and it must be stirred regularly. But don't leave the spoon hanging over the rim of the pot - it doesn't belong there! The pot must be at least half full of food, otherwise it may crack due to the difference in temperature between the bottom and the edges of the pot. If food needs to be salted, do it just before serving. If salt is added during the cooking process, it will corrode the pot and make it porous and brittle. Hot stones for cooking (for boiling water, some kind of tea or soup) should be carefully put into the water using wet wooden tongs or ceramic shards.

Cooking equipment and kitchen utensils

The fireplace, the hearth, combined with the iron pot or earthenware pot, were the most important fixtures in the Viking Age. It was in them that dinners were prepared from what the family had at their disposal at that time. In addition to the hearth, a pit was sometimes made in front of it, in which meat and fish were cooked over the coals taken from the hearth. Iron skewers were also in use, however, much proves that most of the food of that era was cooked.

Water or soup could be heated using small stones heated over a fire - "cooking stones". If they are placed in a liquid, they quickly give off heat and cool down, after which the stones are removed and placed back into the fire. After several uses, the stones began to crumble and were thrown away. These fire-heated stones have been found in abundance around Viking Age houses, in hearths, and near them in frying pits. By the way, you should not make cooking stones from flint - it will explode right in the fire.

Clay pots were used for many purposes, and were mainly used for storage and cooking. It is worth noting that at that time in the kitchen they used spoons and scoops made of wood and bones and knives made of iron. Forks were used only in the case of cooking in large cauldrons - to fish out pieces of meat. Large ceramic shards were used to shovel ashes, get stones for cooking or for baking bread.

Cumbersome and difficult work was grinding grain in millstones, which in the Iron Age replaced primitive presses. Strength and patience were needed to grind grain into flour.

viking women

Just like everyone else, the men and women of the Viking Age needed the basic things to live: food, clothing and a home. Pets played an important role in their daily lives. Perhaps the most important animal for them was the horse. The Vikings' view of the world ran like a red thread through their daily lives, and the Law told what to do and what not to do. It was a dull life for the sake of the very process of life. Although, the Vikings played games, enjoyed music, poetry, sports and crafts: woodcarving and metalworking.

The Vikings lived in large family groups. Children, fathers and grandfathers lived together. When the eldest son took over the farm, he simultaneously became the head of the family and responsible for its well-being. He needed to get as much food as the family needed. His wife - the mistress of the estate - had to carefully monitor that there was plenty of food stored for the long and dark winters. She made butter and cheese, dried and smoked meat and fish for later storage, and also had to understand herbs to make medicines for the sick and wounded. Livestock was the responsibility of the mistress, and when her husband sailed away to raid or trade, went hunting, the woman remained the head of the estate. In a wealthy family, she had servants and slaves to do housework. A visible sign of the hostess's authority was the keys to the storerooms on her waist. When men went on long hikes, fished or hunted, women remained in charge of the estate. This led to them playing an important role in society.

Marriage

The girl was given in marriage at the age of 12-15 years. At this age, she could already be engaged in farming on the estate. But, nevertheless, she hoped for the help of older women in the family. The wedding was arranged between families and was seen as an alliance between two families with mutual help and protection. The girl herself did not have the opportunity to say anything.

Dowry

The bride brought linen and wool clothes, a spinning wheel, weaving tools and a bed to her husband's family as part of the dowry. A girl from a richer family could have silver and gold jewelry, livestock, a farm, or even an entire estate as part of her dowry. Everything that she brought with her was then her property, and did not become part of her husband's estate. Her children could receive this property in the order of age inheritance.

Divorce

After marriage, a woman did not fully become part of her husband's family. She remained part of her own family, and if her husband mistreated her or the children, if the father of the family was too lazy to feed the family, or if he offended the wife's family in some way, then a divorce followed. To do this, the woman had to invite several "witnesses" and, in their presence, first go to the main entrance and from it to the bed of the married couple and proclaim herself divorced from her husband.

Children

Toddlers and infants after a divorce automatically remained with their mother. The older children were divided between the families of the spouses depending on their well-being. With property, inheritance and divorce rights, Viking women were more free than most of their European comrades of the day.

Women from poor families

On small farms there was no clear division of labor between men and women. Without servants and slaves, everyone had to sacrifice what they could for the family's survival in the harsh Scandinavian climate.

Slaves

Slaves had no rights other than the right to be the property of their master. They could be bought and sold, the owner or mistress could do with the slaves whatever they could think of. The master could kill one of his slaves and it was not considered murder by the public. If any other free man killed someone's slave, it was enough for him to reimburse the owner of the cost of the deceased as compensation. The price was approximately equal to the cost of a head of cattle. When a slave gave birth to a child, he automatically became the property of the owner. If a slave was sold pregnant, then the newborn became the property of the new owner.

Tings and their common features in various Scandinavian countries

In the 11th century, Bishop Rimbert, in his biographical work "The Life of St. Ansgar", speaking of the Scandinavians, notes that "... it is their custom that any public matter depends more on the unanimous will of the people than on royal power." And although this source is devoted mainly to Sweden, the above quote can be applied to all Scandinavian peoples that time.

The development of the Scandinavian countries went in different ways. If in Norway in the X century. through the efforts of King Harald Fair-Haired, a rather vast state with strong centralized power had already appeared, then on the island of Gotland, for example, there was complete internal self-government, although the Gotlanders were subordinate to the Swedish king; as for Iceland, then until the middle of the XIII century - i.e. to the subjugation of Norway - it is the clearest example of self-government based on Things. However, despite such a difference in the state structure, in all these regions the Things continued to play an important role for a long time.

The reason for such a prevalence of the practice of tings seems to be quite simple. Only in the 9th century do the first Scandinavian states appear; before that, Scandinavia was quite homogeneous even in language, not to mention organization, and was ruled mainly by Things - an ancient form of self-government.

The ting organizations of the Scandinavian countries were similar to each other and often served as a reflection of the administrative division. So, on Gotland there were the following types tinga: ting hunderi (ting of a hundred), ting of settunga (ting of one sixth), ting of tridyunga (ting of a third); The supreme body of Gotland self-government was the Althing (thing of the entire island), which concentrated all the power on the island with all its aspects: court, taxes, military affairs, foreign and domestic policy, legislation. It is characteristic that the higher the ting was, the greater the fines he could charge for violations (settung - no more than 3 marks, tridung - 6, althing - 12 marks). In Iceland, there was a division into quarters: each quarter combined three Thing districts with local Things, and all quarters made up the Althing, where laws were passed and a court was held in all cases that could not be resolved by local Things. Sources point to the existence of a similar system in Norway, where the general ting was called Gulating. On Gulating, the court was judged by 36 judges: "twelve from the county (district) of Firdir, twelve from the county of Sogn and twelve from the county of Hardaland".

Both local and general tings had a number of common features in organization and conduct. The Egil Saga gives us a brief description of Gulating: "The place of judgment was a level place surrounded by stakes of hazel. A rope was stretched between the stakes. It was called the border of the court. And in the circle sat the judges ... these judges sorted out litigations." As a rule, the place of the ting was a fairly large space, often with a hill, from which it was convenient to speak in front of a large number of people. The Icelandic sagas mention the Rock of the Law, from which lawsuits were announced and speeches were made by the plaintiff and the defendant at the Althing; in addition, there are references to various other toponyms (for example, Gathering Gorge), which gives reason to believe that the Althing occupied a fairly large space. Each group of participants in the Thing or even a separate family had its own dugout (tents in the Egil Saga), which indicates both the duration of the Thing and the immutability of its venue. Local Things, most likely, were not so long.

The course of the trial at the Thing and its features

As the chapter "On the Thing" of the "Gutalaga" says, practically any tings should begin no later than noon - "... courts are sued and oaths are taken no later than sunset." Apparently, these were the customs not only in Gotland, since the night was usually associated among the Scandinavians with dark, unkind deeds. As for the form of the trial, the sources, including the laws, tell mainly about the murder trials, limiting themselves in other cases to indicating the amount of the fine. However, it is not surprising that such attention is paid to the murders. A very long time in Scandinavian countries there was a custom of revenge when the injured party preferred to take the life of the offender instead of his money, and often without paying attention to the decisions of the Thing. The Nyala Saga, for example, tells of the enmity of two clans that stretched out a bloody string of murders after several years, despite the fact that both clans paid viru for each killed, hoping that the neighbors would be satisfied with this. In an effort to prevent such cases, the laws establish a strict procedure for summoning the defendant to the Thing, appointing witnesses, etc. Non-observance of these rules (and even more so independent reprisal) could lead to the fact that the plaintiff himself risked being in the position of a defendant. "Gutalag" gives us a striking example of such a law: it is the chapter "On killing a person." It speaks of the so-called "circle of peace", which can be carried out by a person who has committed a murder, and which grants him immunity until trial; the church and the vicarage give the same inviolability.

Following the Westgötalag, immediate revenge for the murder was allowed. The heirs of the murdered had the right to immediately, "in his footsteps", hack the killer. Then one person was put against another, and no fines were to be paid by either side. If there was no immediate vengeance, then the murderer should have immediately announced the murder at the next Thing; if he did not do this, then the heir could achieve the immediate deprivation of the world (outlawing). If the murder was announced, the case was initiated only at the third Thing after the murder, because. before that, the killer could negotiate with the injured party by paying the virus. At the third Thing, the heir was to bring charges; if there were several killers, he had the right to accuse up to six people, designating them as accomplices, advisers and those present. After that, the Thing appointed an endag - as they suggest, a fixed day for hearing the case (endag is also mentioned in the same meaning in Norwegian sources). At the endag, the heir, with an oath, had to introduce six witnesses to the Thing to confirm his accusation and accuse the killer already, so to speak, in the face: "You pointed the edge at him, and you are his true killer." At the next Thing, called Segnarting, the heir had to confirm that at the endag he had fulfilled everything that was prescribed by law, and then they had to pass a sentence and sentence the murderer to deprivation of peace. Even at this stage, the killer had a chance to negotiate with the heir to pay the vira. All participants in the crime, except for the one who was designated as the killer, had the right to defend themselves against the prosecution.

The Nyala Saga contains a detailed description of such a lawsuit, so it makes sense to follow the course of the trial from this source in order to notice the characteristic features of the Thing trials - especially since the Things were perhaps most developed in Iceland.

First, the plaintiff had to announce the murder charge to the nine closest neighbors of the murder scene - they became witnesses for the prosecution. At the Thing, the plaintiff (or the person to whom the plaintiff, for one reason or another, in the presence of witnesses, transferred the conduct of the case) took an oath that he would honestly conduct the case, and announced the charge. By the way, charges in all cases were brought on the same day, so at the Althingi it often took the whole first day. Only after the accusation of all cases did the courts begin.

I call you as witnesses that I accuse (defendant's name) of inflicting (name of the killed) a wound of the intestines or bones, which turned out to be fatal and from which (the killed) died at the place where (the accused) illegally attacked ( killed). I say that for this he should be outlawed* and exiled, and no one should give him food or give him any help. I say that he must be deprived of all good and half of it must go to me, and the other half to those people from the quarter who are entitled to the good of the outlawed. I announce this to the court of the quarter, in which, by law, this charge should be considered. I declare it by law. I announce this from the Rock of the Law for all to hear. I announce that (the accused) is to be tried this summer and outlawed.

* in this case, the plaintiff demands the most severe punishment - expulsion and outlawing, after which, in fact, anyone on the territory of the country could kill the accused without the threat of trial. As sources show, such sentences were quite rare, because. The court took into account the arguments of the defendant

Other formulations were no less complicated, from the announcement of witnesses to the verdict. And the abundance of such difficulties could not but affect the course of the process. The party against which the accusations were made tried in every possible way to find fault with the slightest inaccuracy in the plaintiff's speech and, on this basis, declare the lawsuit insolvent - this was considered legal. Therefore, for example, in the same Nyala Saga, the plaintiff additionally specifies:
- I call you to witness that I protect myself from having my case declared illegal if I express myself incorrectly or make a reservation. I reserve the right to correct all my words until I state my case correctly. I call you to witness for yourself or for others who need or benefit from this testimony.

Witnesses for the prosecution and the judges took an oath, after which the witnesses confirmed that the accusation was read out correctly. These same witnesses then had to decide the case. However, unlike Gutalag, in the Icelandic Althing the killer had the right to protection in any case. Thus, he had the right to remove "unqualified" neighbors, that is, people who were related to the plaintiff and were thus interested in the verdict. Neighbors who “did not sit on their own land” were also considered ineligible, i.e. who did not own land. In this case, it was possible to initiate a counter-charge of mishandling the case, since. the law required nine people to make the decision. However, as Nyala's Saga shows, if most of the neighbors remained, they could still decide, and the plaintiff paid a fine for all those absent; the accusation of improper conduct of the case was already considered at the next Thing.

One should not, of course, think that the final verdict was passed by the plaintiff's neighbors. The neighbors only announced their decision to the judges, who had the last word. In this regard, perhaps, attention should be paid to the judges of the Things themselves.

Until the 12th-13th centuries, there were practically no written laws in Scandinavia, and all provisions had to be memorized. This was the duty of the lagmans, "keepers of the laws", in Sweden and Norway, and of the law-speakers in Iceland. Most often they were judges or could give advice in case of a complicated case, even if they did not participate in the trial. As the Westgötalag says, "... the lagman must be the son of a bond," i.e. a free-born man who owns the land. It also says that the landsting, the ting of the entire district, acquired its powers only if the lagman was present at it - this was a guarantee that the laws would be observed. Apparently, sub-war establishments operated on the territory of the entire region under consideration. The Icelandic sagas speak of law-speakers with great respect. Having such a person on your side during litigation often meant the success or failure of the whole case. Therefore, the law-speakers had to be absolutely neutral, it was illegal to persuade them to their side with the help of money or gifts during the Thing.

However, there were not so many lagmans to deal with all matters, especially at the Althingi, so the bulk of the judges were bonds, who also performed a kind of administrative function. In Iceland they were called godis. This name, which also denoted a pagan priest who extended spiritual power to his area - godord - was preserved in Iceland after the adoption of Christianity. The godords formed the courts of the quarters, with three dozen judges in each quarter. These judges not only made a decision, but also ensured that the order of the case was observed. Sometimes during the trial, to make a final decision, each of the parties appointed six judges, who together decided the case. The same order is described in the Norwegian "Nyala's Saga".

In Nyala's Saga, the defense managed to cheat. Immediately after the announcement of the accusation, the accused (who, by the way, committed a serious crime) urgently moved to the goord of another Thing, after which the litigation was declared insolvent, because. it should have begun in the court of the other quarter. This gave rise to a charge of mishandling, which was referred to the Fifth Court.
The Fifth Court is a body that took place, apparently, only in Iceland, and shows that the Thing as a legal instance continued to develop. In the same "Njal's Saga" it is said that Njal, who was one of the best experts in laws, suggested to Skafti, the main law-speaker of Iceland in 1004, to arrange another court, in addition to the four courts of quarters, which would deal with cases "... o all sorts of disorder at the Thing, about perjury and false testimony, ... about those who gave bribes ..", as well as ".. unresolved cases in which the judges in the courts of quarters could not agree." Such cases, judging by the complexity of the court process, were enough. For the new court, new goords were established, and the best experts in the laws in quarters, twelve out of a quarter, were to be included in the composition of the court. In order for the legal number of judges - thirty-six - not to be violated, each side had to remove six judges from the court before discussing the decision. At the same time, the defender could not withdraw his judges, then the plaintiff had to withdraw all twelve. It is characteristic that even this detail could greatly influence the outcome of the case. The Nyala Saga describes a case when the accusing party, having all the evidence and evidence in hand, did not bring out the required number of judges (who even pronounced a sentence) and because of this lost the case.

Thus, as can be seen from the above examples, the Thing judiciary was quite developed. However, it is impossible not to notice that the intention to limit the ancient custom of blood feud in every possible way by various legal measures provided the participants in the process with a lot of reasons for "chicanery" (an interesting example is given in the "Saga of Hrafnkel Godi" - the accused could not deflect the accusation from himself only because - for the crowd did not hear the speech of the accuser). It was also not possible to solve the problem of forceful settlement of disputes.

The balance of power and right at the Thing

Despite the desire to resolve disputes by legal means, the old customs, especially in Iceland, were still too strong. However, even in the united Norway of King Harald there were cases when the lawsuit was decided, for example, by a duel. In particular, "Egil's Saga" tells about a property dispute between two bonds, and while the trial was going on as usual - witnesses were brought, oaths were taken - one of them, Egil himself, said:
- I do not need oaths instead of property. I propose another law, namely, to fight here at the Thing, and let whoever wins win the good.
Egil's offer was legal, and common in the old days. Everyone then had the right to challenge the other to a duel, whether the defendant or the plaintiff.

The same custom can be traced from other sources. So, in the "Gutalag" in the chapter "On the world of the Thing" it is said that any violation of the world of the Thing was strictly prosecuted, whether it was a punch and, of course, murder, but "... except for the case when a person was killed out of revenge." The Vestgetalag, in turn, generally equates murder at the Thing with a "crime", that is, with a crime that cannot be expiated by a fine. In such cases, the person was expelled from the country.

Speaking of Norway, it is necessary to touch upon such an important problem as the relationship between the Things and centralized power, which was initiated in the IX century through the efforts of King Harald the Fair-Haired. The "Egil Saga" shows that the king observed customs, tried not to interfere in the course of the court, and did not even have weapons (although, of course, a fully prepared squad was in his parking lot). However, now both sides turned not to the judges, but to the king. It is even more significant that the judges, before hearing evidence in a case, ask the king if he would not forbid listening to them. Finally, when it came to one of the king's relatives (and everything turned out not in favor of the relative), his warriors "... ran to the court, broke the hazel milestones, cut the ropes stretched between them and dispersed the judges. There was a great noise at the Thing, but All the people there were unarmed." Thus, the king felt his strength and, if necessary, made it clear that power did not belong to the Thing. At the same time, he preserved the institution of Things, because, firstly, they took on an important judicial function, and secondly, they were an old and familiar tradition, the breaking of which could restore too many against the king.

A somewhat different situation developed in Sweden, as can be seen from the Vestgötalag, a law written in the 13th century. Although by this time Sweden was already formally a single kingdom, in fact it was two federations: Svealand and Götaland, which, in turn, were divided into many lands - lands. Therefore, the Things here had greater independence from the kings. Thus, in the Westgötalag it is said that if the king wants to carry out the court, he must appoint a commission. At the Thing, the elected lagman always judges.

Speaking of Iceland, one should first outline some of the features characteristic of this island at that time. The active settlement of Iceland is associated primarily with the activities of the same Harald the Fair-Haired, although it began, as they assume, before him. Egil's saga says:
King Harald appropriated hereditary possessions in each county and all the land, inhabited and uninhabited, as well as the sea and waters. All bonds were supposed to become land holders dependent on him ... He forced everyone to choose one of two things - either go to his service, or leave the country ... Lumberjacks and salt workers, fishermen and hunters - they all also had to obey him. From this oppression, many fled the country, and then many vast, still empty lands were settled ... At the same time, Iceland was discovered ...

There was no centralized power in Iceland, because. first of all, people who did not like such a power settled there. Therefore, this country remained the territories of free community-bonds, who were full masters in their estates, and did not know other laws, except for the decisions of the Things. However, even here there were nuances. The richest households, as a rule, had more support in their disputes at the Thing; the same can be said about the people invested with the power of the godi. The already mentioned "Saga of Hrafnkel Godi" tells about a bond who entered into a lawsuit with a very influential person - Hrafnkel Godi himself - and tried to find support from other influential people:

But everyone says the same thing: no one considers himself so indebted to Himself * as to enter into a lawsuit with Hrafnkel Godi and thereby endanger his good name. They also add that almost everyone who competed with Hrafnkel at the Thing met the same fate: Hrafnkel forced them all to abandon the case that they started against him ...

* bond name
And even after Sam was still able to find support and even achieve an outlaw for Hrafnkel, the godi comes to his home and "... lives as if nothing had happened."
Often revenge was nevertheless carried out (there are many similar examples in the Icelandic sagas), despite the decision of the Thing - or, conversely, because of its decisions. A very interesting example is the litigation described in the Nyala Saga. When, due to formal errors, the accusing side lost the case, all its supporters took up arms and, right at the Thing, began to kill opponents who answered them the same. Only the next day, thanks to the appeal of all the judges and the efforts of all the neutral participants in the Thing, the warring parties reconciled.
It was decided to refer the case to twelve judges, and as a sign of this, everyone shook hands with each other ... Murders on both sides were equated to each other, and for those that turned out to be in excess of this, a vira was laid ...

Skalds

Poets were called skalds in Scandinavia. Good skalds, who easily folded visas and nids, were highly valued and respected by the Normans. and not just like that. Another One in the "Speech of the High" said that the runes were given to people by the Gods and filled with magic. A person who simply KNOWED all twenty-five runes already possessed considerable magical power. What then to say about the skalds, for whom the runes served as a tool for work?

Rarely did any of the kings (not to mention simple bonds) allow himself to offend the skald, because he could take revenge. And not with a sword or an ax, but with a nida, a blasphemous verse. After such a revenge, luck could turn away from the offender (and what could be worse?), he could get sick and even die, especially if the skald was really "tasting the Blood of Kvasir", Ases often listened to such people. The sagas describe a case when the king severely insulted the skald. He immediately responded by folding the needle. As a result, the king fell ill, and nothing cured the disease. He had to send for the same skald and numerous gifts to ask his forgiveness.

The second "type of activity" of the skalds was the visas - glorifications, generously rewarded by the listeners. For a good visa, a skald could get anything: from a ring, a rich cloak or an ax lined with silver, to a ship loaded with gold.

But, no matter how tempting it may sound, not everyone could become a skald. This required a special gift, and anyone familiar with Scandinavian poetry will understand me. Skald was obliged to compose kennings, thanks to which Scandinavian poetry has that unique (albeit somewhat peculiar) beauty and "flavor".

The Saga of Harald and the Troll

Harald jarl
Collected on a trip
Your most loyal people.

armed them,
And seated
Fourteen strong boats.

Harald jarl
Druzhine said:
"With you, I'm invincible!

We are with you, as before,
Let's go along the coast
Leaving only fire and smoke!"

The squad was screaming
banged with swords,
Attracting the attention of the gods.

And everyone was tall
Blue-eyed, fair-haired,
And everyone has helmets - WITHOUT horns!

The skalds sang
About the crucible of a blizzard,
Good luck jarl sul,

The oars fluttered
The splashes sparkled
The ship's sides creaked...

And was this year
Have a good trip
They found a lot of prey.

contentedly fighting,
Washed with blood,
They touched their native land.

Parting with weapons
Helmets in a semicircle,
They hugged their loved ones.

All growing up the same
Blue-eyed, fair-haired,
But there was no jarl among them.

"As soon as we left the fjord,
Troll nasty snout
She climbed out of the water on us.

We put axes and bows into action,
And Mjolnir was called from Thor's hands,
And the troll is neither here nor there!

To meet a troll is a bad omen,
Since childhood, we all know perfectly well about this,
But the jarl did not dare to turn back.

He only shouted: “One! Look at this!
Now I will chop the enemy into meatballs!"
Swinging an ax, he fell overboard.

Boiled water, and the foam boiled -
That our Harald fought skillfully with the troll,
The skald took a sip of beer, and everyone fell silent.

"And that battle lasted. Probably an hour,
When the water finally subsided,
Only the shield of the painted wave was rocked ...

No troll, no jarl - that was the finale!"
Skald summing up, shook his head.

People, envying glory to the one who got it,
Remember the troll who killed the jarl!
Trolls, and you, going to the seas,
Remember the Jarl, the killer of the troll!

The Saga of the Unfortunate Viking

I lie staring at the stars
Indulging in longing and sadness.
I'd like to eat sooner or later
If only the waves weren't so strong.

The sail is torn to shreds by the wind,
Mice ate all the provisions,
And the day turns to night
And the waves are getting higher.

My Drakkar named "Raven"
He moans loudly, but does not give up.
But I know for sure that soon
He will drink plenty of sea water.

I'll go down to the bottom with him
Waving at first weak arms,
I will sing sagas to dumb fish,
Yes, I will play tavlei with crabs.

There will be skalds beautiful songs add up
About the brave Helgs and Eiriks,
About the ship that they decided to call "Titan",
Unable to swim to shore.

Well, maybe I'll swim
I will breathe the smell of cheese with my free chest,
And I'll tell you: "What a troll!
(Here I hit the mast painfully!).

I will say: "I managed, I swam!
You weep with joy!"
I hear a splash - breaking out of strength,
A shark is circling overboard.

I'll probably let go of my beard,
I will braid it in two braids,
Get stuck in it, in case of hunger,
There will be bread and pieces of sausage.

I will kill the jarl who
We were told that there would be land.
And then I'll go to the mountains -
I will not survive near the sea.

No, not in the mountains, there may be trolls,
I've been afraid of trolls since childhood.
If there is one will,
I will put up with the proximity of the sea

The Saga of Leif Bardsson and the Trollin

The western fjord was enveloped in darkness,
Between him and the long range of mountains,
Keeping silence and sleepy peace,
Leif Bardsson's court stood in the valley.

The troll descended from the mountains to the valley
And on the grass, washed by the rain,
She rushed to Leif's house,
Sheltered at night, like a cloak.

Silently creeping up to the dwelling of people,
The troll sat down near the door.
"Come out, Leif, my dear, hurry!"
Hiding her eyes from timidity, she sang.

"I've been watching you for a long time,
You struck me to the very heart.
I'm melting without you like an iceberg
And not a single world without you is sweet to me!

Twelve windmills will be yours
I made their wings golden
And millstones of fiery copper!

This magical blade will be yours,
Seeing him, the enemies run as fast as they can,
He will lead you to victory!

Accept twelve horses as a gift from me,
To surpass them, there is no horse in the world,
Raised their elves wondrous country!

I'll also give you a shirt
The king is not ashamed to wear such
It is sewn from the finest silk!

I beg you, Leif, dear, give me an answer,
Or what else do you need from me?
Just answer me "yes" or "no"
Tell me, do you agree to become my husband?

"I would accept your gifts,
If you were human.
But you are the mistress of the mountain,
Your year for people will be a century!

Leif answered, looking to the east,
Where, young and pure,
Warming the Norwegian land with breath,
The sun rose radiant.

"Oh, no, I'm dead! Why did I come!
And the blood runs cold in my veins...
Then the sun touched her; just a rock
Reminds me of the poor troll.

That rock is still standing
In the valley that the Troll proudly named,
Lying behind a long chain of mountains
Close to West Fjord.

The saga of king and beer

There was a great feast
At the king's house
Everyone had fun
except for the king.

Eyebrows furrowed,
Looked from under the braids.
About excess beer
The red nose spoke.

Kuhn Bergthor,
sitting nearby,
Twitched - as if
Burn her with a look

King. Slowly
Rising from the throne
Hall looked around
He laughed hard.

"What, have fun
Woe not knowing?
Think I... that...
I do not understand?

After all, each of you
Whether he is my friend or brother,
My place
I would be glad to take!

On my kyunu
Cast your eyes;
No, they wished
And seas of support!

"The king is drunk!"
A whisper was heard.
"The troll did it
Swamp of thoughts!"

What did you say?
Well, repeat!"
The king roared to the wall,
Where is the lari

trotted,
A little drunk
But suddenly stumbled
About the jarl's leg.

After the flight
It did not last long -
King in the cauldron
Landed in a pub.

All idle people
He froze in amazement.
The king gurgled...
And didn't surface again.

Have less beer
Drunk to them
Maybe the end of the saga
Would be different.

Benefits of beer
Not much at all.
To someone it
Directly to the house to Hel road.

It's Terrible
He spoke many times.
Skald's words
Just repeated.

The Saga of Harald Hardraad

The youth, who lived according to the code of honor, who had known navigation since childhood, turned their eyes to foreign shores, where they were ready to commit bloody, but heroic deeds, not disdaining either robbery or profit, gaining their reputation, but leaving behind a nightmarish memory. Even in their early youth, Viking boys were expected (and encouraged) to display a fighting spirit according to the precepts of "Havamal".
The sagas tell how Olaf, the Norwegian warrior king, once sat three of his half-brothers on his knees and began to frighten them with terrible grimaces. The older ones, Guttorm and Halfdan, trembled with fear, and the three-year-old Harald boldly looked into the eyes of the formidable monarch and pulled his mustache with all his might. Olaf was delighted: "One day you will become an avenger, kinsman."

The next day, Harald proved once again that Viking blood flows in his veins. Olaf asked the brothers what they wanted more than anything in the world. Guttorm, stretching out his little hands, wished to have more land than the ten largest neighboring landowners in order to grow a lot of wheat. "There will be plenty of grain," the king agreed. "And what about you, Halfdan?" Halfdan dreamed of boundless herds of cows: "And when they descend to the lake to drink, there will be so many of them that they will surround the whole lake with a dense ring." "Well, you will live in a big way," said the king. And what did little Harald want? "I want an army!" he declared. "so big that my warriors will eat all the cows of Brother Halfdan in one sitting!" Olaf laughed and said to the baby's mother, "You are raising a king." As it turned out, Olaf was right. When the boy grew up, he became King Harald Hardraade and died during the invasion of England in 1066, shortly before the successful campaign of William the Conqueror.

Song of the "brave" skald

Again the squad goes into battle,
Again screams, the sound of axes.
I put on an embroidered cloak,
I do not climb into battle, I am for peace!

I don't feel like fighting
I don't like to kill...
Oh, the arrow found Gerrod -
We have to crawl further.

So what am I on about? Oh, about the battle
Where the swearing judgment is being held.
If the judge is sharper than a razor,
Judgment is always cool.

Who? I am not worthy of honor
Die with a sword in hand?
Seeing how a true warrior,
Glitter of Valhalla in the distance?

It hurts! I'm not in a hurry!
I am not a warrior, I am a poet.
I want - I ask without laughter! -
Many more years to live.

People fall like pines
Under the blow of an axe.
There is a berserker with an evil look
Rushing here ... And I have to go!

***
He who tasted honey did not leave,
The head flew off his shoulders.
Didn't add a year
This fiery speech!

Song of the Vikings

Again the forehead cools the steel helmet,
Salt spray in the face fly.
They call us Vikings, so it's hardly
We have a way back...

They fear us and hate us
We are never expected anywhere.
And so it will be as long as our eyes see
The trail of alien ships on the water...

Odin and Thor were forgotten on the shore,
If you don't want to believe in Valhalla, don't!
The one who takes life will not be called a thief,
The wind is fair to us, and death!

And not everyone will see old age -
We have been given a different fate:
The sail will be the funeral pyre,
And the wave will be our mound ...

Odin and Thor were forgotten on the shore,
If you don't want to believe in Valhalla, don't!
The one who takes life will not be called a thief,
The wind is fair to us, and death!