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

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

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

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

The Viking Age in the East.

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

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

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

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

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

The legend about the calling of the Varangians, contained in the Tale of Bygone Years, is a story about the origin of the Old Russian princely family, and as a historical source is very controversial. The name “Rus” has been tried to be explained in many ways, but now the most common opinion is that this name should be compared with the names from the Finnish and Estonian languages ​​- Ruotsi / Rootsi, which today mean “Sweden”, and previously indicated peoples from Sweden or Scandinavia. This name, in turn, comes from an Old Norse word meaning "rowing", "rowing expedition", "members of a rowing expedition". It is obvious that the people who lived on the western coast of the Baltic Sea were famous for their sea trips with oars. There are no reliable sources about Rurik, and it is unknown how he and his “Rus” came to Eastern Europe - however, it is unlikely that this happened as simply and peacefully as the legend says. When the clan established itself as one of the ruling ones in Eastern Europe, soon the state itself and its inhabitants began to be called “Rus”. That there was a race Scandinavian origin, indicate the names of 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 early history Eastern Europe, it is not enough just to study the few written sources; archaeological finds must also be taken into account. They show a significant number of objects of Scandinavian origin, dating from the 9th–10th centuries, in the ancient part of Novgorod (Rurik settlement outside modern Novgorod), in Kyiv and in many other places. We are talking about weapons, horse harness, as well as household items, and magical and religious amulets, for example, Thor's hammers, found at settlement sites, in burials and treasures.

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

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

Caliphate - Serkland.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Khazars and Volga Bulgars.

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

Varangians among the Greeks in Miklagard.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scandinavians in Gardarik during the late Viking Age.

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, previously reigned in Novgorod from 1010 to 1019) married Ingegerd, daughter of Olav Shetkonung, and Mstislav (1125-1132, previously reigned in Novgorod from 1095 to 1125) - on Christina, daughter of King Inge the Old.

Novgorod - Holmgard and trade with the Sami and Gotlanders.

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

End of the Viking Age.

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

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

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

Translation: Anna Fomenkova.

Do you know that...

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

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

The material uses pictures from the article.
games for girls

On the pages of Western European annals, the name of Rurik was first mentioned in 850 in connection with his capture of the richest trading port of Dorestad in Frisia.

The temporary return of ancestral lands in Frisia was only an episode in the eventful life of Rurik from the Skjoldung family. Historians are building diagrams of his possible genealogy, but one legend only gives way to another, and scientists do not have enough information to establish the truth.

Rurik's brave grandfather. We believe that Rurik belonged to a dynasty that was closely related to the Danish and Norwegian kings. Probably, Rurik’s grandfather was the “rich and decisive” king Eystein, who married the daughter of Sigurd the Deer Asa. At the end of the 8th century, Asa died. After this, Eystein pirated in the Baltic and one day approached Aldeiguborg (Ladoga).

The local king Hergeir was unable to defend the city and was killed by the indomitable Eystein in a battle. Eystein began to rule Ladoga, and made Isgerd, the widow of the late king, his wife.

Halfdan is Rurik's father. From his first marriage, Eystein left a son, Halfdan. From an early age he participated in his father’s robberies. After his death, Halfdan became king of Aldeiguborg, marrying the beautiful Ingigerd, Isgerd’s daughter from her first marriage. “She is the only legitimate heir of this land,” Dowager Isgerd declared to the people. “And therefore I declare here that I give myself and my daughter, and this state to Halfdan as full ownership.” King Halfdan had at least seven sons from different wives. It is believed that Rurik was one of his youngest sons. He was probably born around 817.

What faith did Rurik of Jutland howl? In 826, as many Western chroniclers noted, Rurik arrived in the Frankish capital Ingelheim on the Rhine in the retinue of his brother Harald Klak, ready to receive holy baptism from Emperor Louis the Pious in exchange for fief in Rustringia and the patronage of the monarch. Perhaps the young Rurik also converted to Catholicism along with Harald’s family. However, having matured, he received the nickname for his pirate raids on the rich monasteries of Britain - "plague of Christianity". Subsequently, the Varangian king returned to paganism.

Birth of a Viking. Rurik was born into the family of a Jutland king, of which there were several hundred in the vast expanses of the collapsed empire of Charlemagne. Being one of his father's youngest sons, he could not count on family lands. According to custom, the newborn was immediately taken from the mother and placed on the floor. No one could touch the baby until the father decided whether to recognize him as a member of the clan or abandon him. The head of the family took his son in his arms, sprinkled him with water and gave him the name Rurik, which meant “owner of glory” in Old Norse. The name indicated the origin of a person and determined his purpose. Scandinavians often named boys in honor of their glorious ancestors. In the Skjoldung family, the victorious king Rorik the Ring Thrower, so nicknamed for his generosity, was covered with legendary glory.

"Sitting on your knees." The kings entrusted the upbringing of children to experienced and sensible jarls from other clans. This custom was introduced in order to unite different clans. The person who accepted paternal responsibilities publicly sat the child on his lap, which is why adopted children were called “lap sitters.” From the young age the boy was raised as a warrior. He was constantly surrounded by men, dealt with weapons, and took part in hunting with adults. In the event of a military campaign, they took him with them.

Mastering the art of war. The son of a Viking should have mastered the skills of sea and land combat to perfection. To gain strength and agility, boys from an early age learned to fearlessly jump from cliffs, jump over streams and narrow rivers, of which there were a great many in Jutland. From a young age, they knew how to jump over a horse and climb steep cliffs without fear. A good Viking threw two spears at the same time with both hands, could catch an enemy's spear flying towards him and throw it back, fight with a sword and spear at the same time, use an ax and a battle ax. As a result of long training, the Scandinavians managed to keep their balance when they had to run along the rising and falling oars of the drakkar as it moved.

The Vertin annals for the year 850 report that Rurik, together with his brother Harald, held the city of Dorestad as a beneficiary during the time of Emperor Louis. After the death of the emperor, Rurik, falsely accused of treason, was thrown into prison in the domain of Lothair. Having escaped, he gathered a significant detachment of Danes and engaged in sea robbery, devastating those areas of Lothair's state that were adjacent to the coast of the Northern Ocean. He sailed across the mouth of the Rhine to Dorestad and captured it.

Looking to the East. Having begun his activity in the political arena as a sea robber, Rurik of Jutland became widely known not only due to his ruinous invasions of the countries of North-Western Europe. He managed to force the Frankish kings to reckon with himself. It seems that Rurik was enterprising and persistent in achieving his goal. An excellent strategist and brave warrior, he was not without diplomatic abilities and knew how to get what he wanted through negotiations. Several hundred Vikings, who were confident in their glorious and generous leader, followed him on dangerous campaigns. A man of such stature, experienced and sophisticated in politics and military affairs, and also having Slavic roots on the mother's side, the Slavic-Finnish nobility could well have been invited to protect their lands from Varangian raids.

On the way to empire. Rurik's decision to accept the proposal of the Gostomysl ambassadors could be due to the economic interests of Friesland. Dorestad, captured by Rurik, specialized in Eastern European trade, but since the 830s its importance as an international port almost disappeared due to the Old Rhine changing its course. Dominance in the Baltic, for which Rurik had previously fought, now lost its meaning. That is why the call to the country of the Slavs was perceived by him as a chance to create his own empire.

“Kievan Rus was founded by the Vikings” - I think this phrase will evoke a variety of emotions among historians: indignation, anger, surprise, laughter, joy, understanding. The Norman theory of the founding of Kievan Rus raises doubts among many. You can find a lot of information about it on the Internet. Let's just speculate about how it could be. Is not scientific work, but rather a simple philosophical reasoning-assumption.

Let's speculate based on the judgment that Kievan Rus was founded by the Vikings, or rather, it would be true to say, they conquered and led. By the way, at that time the state was called simply Rus; it became Kyiv quite recently, I believe, due to the fact that this name could mean not only a state with a center in Kyiv.

Perhaps the Vikings or Varangians did not found Rus', but merely strengthened it with their governance and made a special contribution to its development on the world stage.

Possible evidence for the theory of the founding of Rus' by the Vikings

Let's start with names. The first name comes from memory - Rurik, of course, Rurik. By the way, his Norwegian name sounds like Hraerik Hemmingson. Born into a family of Scandinavian rulers. He was a Scandinavian, they were also called Varangians. Remember the well-known ancient trade route “From the Varangians to the Greeks”? So: the path passed from Scandinavia (the modern countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden) to Byzantium (modern Turkey) with the capital at that time in Constantinople (modern Istanbul) through the Dnieper and the Black Sea. Rurik is the chronicled founder of the Novgorod principality in Rus'. But let's not get distracted. Prophetic Oleg ruled after the death of Rurik and was his relative. Oleg's name at birth is Odd. The famous Prince Igor (son of Rurik) was named by the Scandinavian name Ingvar. His wife Olga also had Scandinavian name and Scandinavian roots. All princes are Vikings.

Skalds and chroniclers

Another proof of the strong influence of the Varangians or Vikings on life in Rus' is that skalds first appeared in Scandinavia, who talked about the heroes and anti-heroes of that time. So this is where the chronicle comes from! (for example, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”). One can compare the old chroniclers in Rus' with the skalds in Scandinavia during the Viking Age.

The heyday of the Viking Age and Kievan Rus comes at the same time in history - the 9th-10th centuries.

Runic inscriptions were also found not only in the Scandinavian countries, but also in Ukraine. For example, Wikipedia talks about a runic inscription by an elder Futhark on the tip of a spear, which was found in Volyn (dated to the 4th century). Runic inscriptions from the Viking Age were also found on the island of Berezan at the mouth of the Dnieper.

Similarities of cultures

The mosaic of one of the houses in Kyiv depicts the founders of Kyiv on boats with dragon heads and shields attached to the side of the ship. We know that to intimidate the enemy before a battle, a dragon’s head carved from wood was hung on the bow of the ship (and the bow was then high above the water) (drakkar in translation means dragon). The sides of the drakkar posted on the outside told the enemy about an imminent attack. Most likely, this fashion was brought by the Vikings, who founded a great state at that time. Although, perhaps this is just a cultural exchange between peoples.

Historians of that time call the Varangians Russians. They were relatively tall, with blond hair and eyes. Both the Varangians and the Slavs fit this description. Perhaps we were just one people? Maybe both the Slavs and the Scandinavians had the same ancestors - the Aryans, ancient cattle breeders and plowmen?

And women stood on the social ladder together with men, their rights were not oppressed, women were respected both in Rus' and in Scandinavia.

According to archaeological excavations in 2016, it became known that pre-Christian Kyiv was built according to the northern model (like excavated cities in Sweden in particular): the city was divided into sections of equal area [link No. 6 at the bottom of the page].

Freyr figurine in Chernigov

In Chernigov there is a historical monument - the mound of Prince Cherny (the founder of Chernigov), who, according to legend, was a Varangian. A figurine of God Freyr (the god of fertility in German) was found in the mound. Scandinavian mythology). The burial is very similar to the type of burials of the Scandinavians in the Viking Age (two warriors were buried with swords and other weapons, war horses, a woman was buried with keys, which symbolized her high position). Below short story about the mound of Prince Cherny in Chernigov, you can read more about it in the same Wikipedia.

Pendant with a dragon in Korosten

Excavations in Korosten (ancient Iskorosten) in the Zhitomir region showed a little about the life of the time when Prince Igor and then Princess Olga ruled. Several mounds (ancient burials) were excavated, and among the finds was a pendant made in the Scandinavian bore style, characteristic of the 10th century. On this pendant you can recognize the mythical animal dragon, which was so popular among the Scandinavians during the Viking Age. Archaeologists and historians claim that the pendant is made in the Scandinavian bore style, which is characteristic of the Scandinavians who lived during the Viking Age (10th century).

At excavations in Korosten (Zhitomir region, in 946, according to legend, he was burned by Princess Olga in retaliation for the execution of her husband, Prince Igor, by the Drevlyans), among other finds, a fragment of a Scandinavian temple ring was also found.

Runes in Volyn and on the island of Berezan

In our Ukraine, runic inscriptions with older Viking runes were also found on the tip of a spear (IV century), the find was in Volyn. Also, runic inscriptions from the Viking Age were found at the mouth of the Dnieper and on Berezan Island.

The Odal (Otal) rune from the older runic alphabet of the Viking Age can very often be found on our ancient embroideries.

Funeral treasures of the ancient Germans in Vinniki

Another proof that the Vikings were in Rus' - an ancient burial ground of a Germanic tribe from the late 1st to mid-2nd centuries was found in Vinniki in the Lviv region. Parts of a red-glazed clay vessel, glass and metal objects, and two large bronze cauldrons were found in the cremation burials [more details in link No. 8].

Similarities between mythologies and beliefs

German-Scandinavian and Slavic mythology very similar to each other.

Calling of the Varangians by the Slavs

The calling of the Varangians led by Rurik in 862 is indicated by a quote from the Ipatiev list of the “Tale of Bygone Years”:

In lѣⷮ҇. ҂ѕ҃. t҃. o҃ ⁘ and expelled Varѧgy overseas. and did not give them tribute. and more often you will feel better about yourself. and there would be no truth in them. and the family rose up to roⷣ. and there was a conflict in nothing. and fight for yourself as often as possible. and we will look for the good fortune in ourselves. whoever would rule over us and destroy us. by right. going overseas to Vargoⷨ҇. to Rus'. This is a good name. you are Varⷽ҇gy Rus'. All these friends are called Sveje. Friends of Jermani. English. ini and Gothe. tacos and si rkosh. Rus. Chud. Slovenia. Krivichi. and our whole land is great. and ѡbilna. but there are no people in it. let you go princes and lead us. and elected. three brothers. with your birth. and walked around all of Rus'. and came to Sloven first. and cut down the mountain of Ladoga. and the gray elders in Ladoza Rurik. and others Sineis on Belѣezer. and the third Truvor in Izborsk. and ѿ those Varѧg. nicknamed Ruska of the earth.

The first chronicles date back to the 13th century, in which the events of the 9th century were first mentioned. So it seems to me that you can’t be 100% sure in history, because history is written by people, and they are often biased. And there have also been such facts in history when the new government destroyed all documentation, all traces of the previous government, the history of the people...

To be continued... Article under writing...

Literature + interesting articles were used in preparing the material

Indeed, there is a paradox - the military companies of the Normans in the west are described and attested in detail, but there is no such evidence about Rus'.

On the question of “robbed or not,” the Normanists do not have a clear opinion.

Some of them believe that, of course, the Swedes robbed and even “subjugated the tribes of the Slavs and Finns.” The evidence most often comes from quotes from sagas about military operations in the east (in which Rus' is not mentioned) and the statement “the Danes plundered Western Europe, therefore the Swedes plundered eastern Europe,” which is not correct from a logical point of view. These are two different tribes with different levels of development, different political situation and numbers; The locations are also different. A lot is known about the military campaigns of the Normans; these were serious events that brought glory to the participating kings, and their names are preserved in the sagas, and the campaigns are described in synchronous sources from other countries.

What about Rus'? The Icelandic sagas describe four kings traveling to Rus' - Olav Tryggvason, Olav Haraldson with his son Magnus, and Harald the Severe. They all hide in Rus', and when they return, sometimes they are not recognized. There are also Skaldic vises (special eight-verses).

Of the 601 skaldic stanzas given in Snorri Sturluson’s “Earthly Circle,” only 23 are devoted to travel to the east. Of these, only one speaks of an attack on Rus' - the destruction of Aldeigya (Ladoga) by Earl Eirik, which usually dates back to 997. And so the main object of the predatory raids of the Scandinavians (skalds usually did not write on other topics; in the “Earthly Circle” about 75 percent of the story is about war) appears to be the Baltic states.” There is also a story about Eymund, who sailed to Rus' to hire himself to Yaroslav. There is Ingvar the traveler, there are Scandinavians sailing to hire varangers in Tsar-grad, but there are no conquerors.

Thus, from Scandinavian sources it is known one attack on Ladoga, which occurred 100 years after Rurik. Scandinavian attacks are unknown in the chronicles, and archaeological evidence of military expansion is also absent.

Therefore, the other (most) part of the Normanists speaks of the “peaceful expansion of the Scandinavians.” That, they say, they came and peacefully subjugated the backward tribes, traded, and generally organized. True, it is again unclear why in one part of the world they robbed, and in the other there was sheer modesty, and at the same time the local tribes, not very different from the Scandinavians in terms of development and weapons, but significantly superior to them in numbers, calmly gave up land and power into the wrong hands.

Many don’t bother at all and mention both “conquest and subjugation” and “peaceful expansion” at the same time.

Let's figure out why the Vikings did not attack Rus', and Novgorod in particular. Why did they not leave traces of military expansion in Eastern Europe in history?

The Vikings are pirates, and the plunder of cities by the Normans is no longer the level of just a “pirate gang”, but of several strong kings, who are ready to be followed by large forces. Therefore, when we talk about the plunder of European cities, it is not entirely correct to call the robbers Vikings. If you called a respected king a Viking, that is, a pirate, you would immediately become shorter by a head - famous Viking kings defeat Vikings as young men at the very beginning of their biography. But even for the kings, the only correct tactics were speed and a surprise attack. Engaging in a protracted battle with local troops is impractical, simply because you are far from your bases and reinforcements. There were sieges of cities and mass battles, of course, too, for example the very long but unsuccessful siege of Paris. But the basis of Viking military tactics is the triad: raiding, robbing, running away.

Here is an illustration for the above theses from the earthly circle, “The Saga of Saint Olaf”, Chapter VI.

“That same autumn, in the Swedish skerries near Skerries Soti, Olav was in battle for the first time. There he fought with the Vikings. Their leader was called Soti. Olaf had fewer people, but he had larger ships. Olav placed his ships between the underwater rocks, so that it was not easy for the Vikings to approach them, and on those ships that came closer, Olav’s people threw hooks, pulled them up and cleared them of people. The Vikings missed many and retreated.”

Olav is not just a sea robber, he is a major king, the future king of Norway. The King's battle with the pirates is one of the typical features of the sagas, something like a literary device. After some time, Olav organized a campaign to the eastern lands. Sagas usually do not talk about defeats, but sometimes they make exceptions. Quote from Chapter IX:

“Then King Olav sailed back to the Land of the Finns, landed on the shore and began to destroy the villages. All the Finns fled into the forests and took all the livestock with them. The king then moved inland through the forests. There were several settlements in the valleys called Herdalar. They captured what cattle there were, but found none of the people. The day was approaching evening, and the king turned back to the ships. When they entered the forest, people appeared from all sides, they shot at them with bows and pushed them back. The king ordered to cover it with shields and defend, but it was not easy, since the Finns were hiding in the forest. Before the king left the forest, he had lost many people, and many were wounded. The king returned to the ships in the evening. At night, the Finns caused bad weather with witchcraft, and a storm arose at sea. The king ordered to raise the anchor and set the sails and at night sailed against the wind along the shore, and, as often happened later, the king’s luck was stronger than witchcraft. At night they managed to pass along Balagardssida and go out into the open sea. And while Olav’s ships were sailing along the coast, the Finnish army pursued them overland.”

Moreover, the approach “ inland through the forests"lasted less than daylight hours, including landing, looting, fighting and retreat. But even such a deepening allowed the locals, who knew the area, to set a trap and cause significant damage. The Vikings, as they for some reason like to imagine, were not “killing machines” and “invincible warriors.” They were not very different from any other warriors of that time, although their military traditions and corresponding religion were very helpful in military affairs, but in terms of the level of weapons and protection, the Scandinavians were even inferior, for example, to the Franks or Slavs, simply due to the underdevelopment of their own metallurgy and blacksmithing.

It was the “blitzkrieg” tactics, a swift and bold attack, that allowed them to achieve excellent results. As a result, this forced the locals to hire Scandinavians to protect them from themselves. While the locals were rubbing their eyes and gathering an army, the hired Normans were able to catch up and attack. In protracted battles on foreign territory with a strong enemy, the Normans often ended up losing. This was the case, for example, during the siege of Paris, when the besieged finally waited for help. Or during the attack on Seville, when half of the attackers’ ships were burned.

“However, the military activity of the Scandinavians was the initial impetus for their “development” of Western Europe. It is no coincidence that the Scandinavian raids on the Frankish state ended with the allocation of the territory of modern Normandy to them in exchange for protection from other “seekers of easy prey.” A similar situation arose in England, where a “region of Danish law” was formed, the inhabitants of which were Scandinavians (mainly Danes), and, in exchange for permission to live in the occupied territory, were obliged to protect the coast of the Anglo-Saxon states from Viking raids. In a similar way - by hiring separate Scandinavian military squads - the Irish kingdoms defended their shores."

I’ll add the Sicilian Kingdom of the Normans to this list, although the question of the number of Scandinavians there occupies me, as well as why they sailed to the other end of Europe. Let's take a little closer look at the military activities of the Scandinavians in the 8th-12th centuries.

We see an established pattern of behavior - raids on the coast at shallow depths (marked in light yellow), and entry into navigable rivers to attack large cities. Moreover, the Normans did not seize control over these cities, the goal was military trophies, and the sea people preferred the sea coast for settlements. Constant raids forced the locals to either retreat from the coast and submit, or hire Scandinavians, or build their own fleet. The number 1 marks the lands captured by the Normans, primarily the Danes. It is quite logical to sail not far and across the open sea. Why didn't they settle the south, which is much closer to Britain? Because the Slavs were sitting there, who also had ships and Frankish swords. Of course, the Slavs were also attacked, in certain periods they were forced to pay tribute, and cities were destroyed. Moreover, the relationships were complex, for example, one part of the Slavs could attack another part along with the Danes. But the Ruyans in general were such serious guys that they were not particularly touched, and during the crusade of 1147 against the Obodrites, the Ruyans helped their brothers in faith and defeated the Danish fleet. Some provinces of Denmark paid tribute to the Ruyans, for which King Valdemar I did capture Arkona a few years later in 1168.

Okay, we’ve more or less dealt with the Danes and other Norwegians. Where did the Swedes direct their Viking fervor? And they took an example from their foster brothers and moved across the sea to the coast in the same way, only to the east, and not to the west.

Map from the work “History of Sweden”, where the responsible editor and author of the vast majority of articles is the famous Swedish medievalist Dick Harrison (Lund University). Under the map there is a signature: Sverige i slutet av 1200 - talet. Imprint: Sveriges historia. 600-1350. Stockholm - Nordstedts. 2009. S. 433.

Now we can just paint it green on the territory of Finland, but it took the Swedes 490 years, since the time of Rurik. It takes a long time, because the Finns are not rich guys, but they are also difficult. They were the first to start fishing in the Baltic. The Finno-Ugric canoe, or haabjas, is one of the most ancient types of boats. These canoes were used as fishing and transport vessels during the Stone Age, this is not even bronze, this is a very long time ago. So they could sail and pirate no worse than the Swedes, although more often they just fished.

Note that the southern part of the Gulf of Finland is not painted over. And why? Because the Estonians lived there, who also knew how to sail ships and stick spears into people. Of course, they were attacked, but there was nothing special to take compared to Europe, so the risk was not justified. The Estonians then lived poorly and traded in amber, which allowed them to buy swords, albeit in small quantities. They also engaged in fishing and piracy. In the saga of Olav Trygvasson, where it is said that during the flight of Olav and his mother to the east, “they were attacked by Vikings. They were Estonians." For example, the Estonians from the island of Ezel (Ezelians) and the Curonian tribe, related to the Livonians, repeatedly attacked the coasts of Denmark and Sweden.

There is also a very important, but rarely covered point, do you see the Karelian tribe, in the very east? They became dependent quite late, and for a long time they were independent and very restless guys. Does the phrase “Sigtuna Campaign of 1187” tell you anything? This campaign did not deserve any attention from Swedish researchers, and even from our Normanists, but in vain. Sigtuna is the capital of the Swedish state at that time, The largest city Sweden, a political and commercial center located in the heart of Uppland on the shores of Lake Mälaren.

Tonnage and other parameters of found warships (according to D. Ellmers with additions)

Now let's look at the route.

First we go through the Gulf of Finland, then 60 km along the Neva. The river is wide and comfortable, you can go on any ship. Then we go to the mouth of the Volkhov River and here the fun begins. Staraya Ladoga is only 16 kilometers from the mouth. An ideal target for an attack, Earl Eirik was no fool. But to get to Novgorod we will need to row 200 kilometers against the current along a difficult fairway, which cannot be passed without a local pilot. The river practically does not allow you to tack against the wind. Along the way you need to overcome rapids in two places.

Large and medium-sized combat or cargo ships (such as Skuldelev 5 or Useberg/Gokstad) could pass through the Ivanovo rapids. The Ivanovo rapids were destroyed in the 30s of the twentieth century - the fairway was straightened and expanded by blasting. The second difficulty was the Volkhov rapids. Unlike the Neva, they were impassable for ships with deep draft. The Volkhov rapids were hidden by water as a result of the construction of the Volkhov hydroelectric station, so it is now impossible to carry out an exact experiment, but bottom studies give the maximum length of the ship no higher than 13-15 m.

That is, the combat “Skuldelev 5” may no longer pass; from the table with warships, only Ralsvik-2 will pass. Here are small merchant ships with an average length of 13 meters, they can crawl through very well.

Tonnage and other parameters of the found cargo ships (according to D. Ellmers with additions)

Another table from the same source indicates the duration of the journey from Birka to Novgorod, 550 nautical miles, 1018 km, 9 days if sailing around the clock and 19 if with night breaks. I don’t know the Elmers calculation method, but in a modern experiment, the route from Stockholm to Novgorod was passed, for example, on the ship “Aifur”

• Length - 9 meters
• Width - 2.2 meters
• Body weight - about 600 kg
• Sail - 20 m2
• Team - 9 people

This is slightly less than the penultimate one from the bottom, “Skuldelev 6”. The ship completed the route in 47 days, including several 2-3 day stops and 10 days from Staraya Ladoga to Novgorod. This does not take into account the time it takes to pass the rapids. And then back with the loot, through the same rapids. And you can’t use large warships, that is, you can’t bring a lot of people, and there are evil Finnish sorcerers in the forest around. But most importantly, in Novgorod the Slavs who have their own boats are called “lodya”. And their swords and chain mail. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t swim. And the Swedes also thought so, because the risk is big, and the exhaust is incomprehensible, what is there in this Novgorod? Not even a suitable Catholic priest so that his nose, ears and hands could be cut off, as was the case with the priest accompanying the cousins ​​of Thietmar of Merseburg. And why then row and strain 260 kilometers along rivers? It’s better to plunder along the Neva coast, or along Lake Ladoga.

Let me summarize. The Vikings did not attack Rus' because:

• The Swedes were occupied by the Finns and Estonians for 500 years. The Estonians did not lag behind and were also occupied by the Swedes. The Karelians got tired of this and destroyed the Swedish capital. The Swedes did not have a few thousand extra people for the war with Novgorod, and the possible trophies were not commensurate with the risk.
• Novgorod was too deep inland to suffer from sea robbers. To reach Novgorod, it was necessary to swim 260 km along rivers. 200 km are passed along a difficult fairway, mostly by oars; the river has rapids, one of which is impassable for large military vessels. For comparison, in Europe cities were plundered on wide rivers, and to a depth of an average of 100-150 km. The coast was preferred.
• The Danes still have 700 km to Novgorod. They had closer and more interesting goals.

De furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine.

Medieval prayer

Origin of the Vikings

The Viking Age is often called the heroic age of the Scandinavian peoples. But many Scandinavians never left their peninsula, and among the Vikings there were Slavs, British, and even Pechenegs.

The Vikings were known in Europe as different names. The most common name was the word "northerner", which sounded different in different languages. The most famous word "Norman", but, for example, in Ireland they used the word Lochlannach . Often the newcomers from the north were simply called "strangers" or "pagans". Since half of all Scandinavians at that time lived in Denmark, in a word "are given" often referred to all newcomers from the north, including Norwegians and Swedes. On the lands Eastern Slavs Vikings were called "Varangians" , or "Rus" .

In a word "Viking" in the Middle Ages only the Scandinavians themselves used it. Originally this word sounded like vikingr and literally meant “man from the fjords.” A “Viking,” unlike a “Norman,” is not any resident of Scandinavia, but only a person who went overseas “to see people and show himself.” At first, Vikings were called not only sea robbers, but also peaceful traders.

What made thousands of Scandinavians leave their beautiful, although not too warm, homeland and embark on sea voyages? Maybe it's the so-called "agrarian overpopulation", that is, in the inability of the harsh northern lands to feed the ever-growing number of mouths? If there is not enough food for everyone in the country, extreme measures have to be taken. So the most energetic Scandinavians had to go to the monkfish's horns for an extra crust of bread. At the same time, the number of brawlers on the peninsula has decreased.

On this map, burgundy, red, orange and yellow flowers designated territories in which in the VIII-XI centuries. there were Norman settlements. Areas shaded green were attacked by Vikings but were never colonized.

This theory is good, but far from ideal. Firstly, it is not entirely clear why the Scandinavians rushed overseas without having yet had time to properly develop the interior of the peninsula. Secondly, no historian has yet been able to convincingly prove with numbers in hand that medieval Scandinavia really suffered from overpopulation.

There are other assumptions. The simplest thing: the Vikings went on predatory campaigns because no one bothered them. After the collapse of the empire Charlemagne in all of Western Europe there is not a single state left capable of effectively defending its borders from the encroachments of northern robbers. The military leaders of the Scandinavians, who were late to the division of the wealth of the Roman Empire, felt somewhat deprived and did not consider it shameful to pocket what was in bad shape.

Some historians see the Viking campaigns as a kind of “pagan jihad.” According to this version, the predatory campaigns of the Vikings were just a “symmetrical response” to the actions of the Christian kings, who diligently baptized the Germanic tribes with “fire and sword.”

The first Viking raids occurred at the very end of the 8th century. It all started with robberies, but soon new opportunities appeared. Having previously suppressed the armed resistance of local residents, the Vikings began intensive colonization new lands. Soon, new states arose on the fertile lands of France and the British Isles, headed by yesterday's Viking leaders. Now Scandinavian warriors could fill their purses without drawing their sword, but simply by collecting taxes. Another means of peaceful enrichment was trade. Vikings created in Northern Europe single distribution network, opening new trade routes and creating new trading centers.

Looking ahead, let's say why the Viking campaigns eventually stopped. Firstly, the Scandinavian countries became united kingdoms, and the Viking freemen were put an end to their homeland. Secondly, in the 11th century. the vast majority of Scandinavians accepted Christianity. Further raids on monasteries, which represented the most tempting targets, became impossible for religious reasons. Finally, the armies of European sovereigns became much stronger than in the 8th-9th centuries, and now even large Viking detachments were not immune from defeat.

Attention - myth: The Vikings' enemies often described them as dirty, unkempt savages. In fact, the Scandinavians at that time were the cleanest among Europeans. If possible, the Vikings washed their face every morning and bathed once a week. In addition, in Scandinavia it was considered indecent to walk around with uncut nails - after all, the nails of the dead served as building material for a giant ship on which an army of giants would sail to their final battle with the gods.

Across the seas, across the waves...

At all times, sea power surpassed land power. The one who has supremacy at sea always has strategic initiative and high mobility, which means he can easily nullify the numerical superiority of the enemy’s ground army. This is what it's all about main secret Norman victories. Having created a powerful fleet, they easily brought all of Europe to its knees.

There were two main types of Viking ships: long ships And knarrs. Long ships are often called "drakkars", which is not entirely true. In fact, a longship is just one type of long ship.

Sneckar (modern reconstruction).

Of all types "long ship" the shortest was snackar (only about seventeen meters). Having a shallow draft, it felt great in shallow water and did not need harbors (if desired, the sneckar was easy to pull onto land). The snekkar's crew consisted of twelve pairs of oarsmen and a helmsman. Because of their cheapness, snekkars formed the backbone of the Norman fleets: the Danish king Canute the Great had 1,400 such ships at his disposal, and William the Conqueror had about 600.

Drakkars were much larger (their length exceeded thirty meters). They were not distinguished by good maneuverability, but they could carry a landing party of eighty heavily armed soldiers. The special design of the drakkar's deck allowed its crew to fire at enemy sailors from top to bottom with bows. To protect against enemy arrows, the sides of the drakkars were hung with shields. As a rule, longships entered battle in a tight formation and formed a single platform. If two such platforms collided, a battle broke out, practically no different from a land battle.

Drakkars owe their name to the custom of decorating the bows of ships with figures of snakes or dragons. These figures served as amulets that protected ship crews from sea monsters, the reality of which the Vikings had no doubt. Dragon heads were also a kind of psychological weapon designed to strike fear into the hearts of enemies.

Not a single real longship has survived to this day. We know about the existence of ships of this type only from written sources.

Attention - myth: very often “Gokstad” and “Oseberg” ships found in Scandinavian burials are called longships. However, despite their impressive size (more than twenty meters in length), they are still much shorter than those longships, the descriptions of which have survived to this day.

In 1962 and 1996 Danish archaeologists found two ships of a similar type, thirty and thirty-six meters in length, respectively. From the place where it was first found, this previously unknown type of long ship was named "ship from Roskilde". Both ships were built at the very end of the Viking Age and were most likely intended not for war, but for trade.

Knarr was shorter, wider and heavier than a long ship. She was never used in raids, but served as a primary merchant ship. The only surviving knarr was also discovered in Roskilde in 1962.

Viking ship bow decoration.

A ship found in the Gokstad burial site.

For their time, Viking ships were very fast. It is believed that the “Gokstad ship”, sailing, could reach a speed of twelve knots. One of the ships built in the 20th century. according to ancient descriptions, he was able to cover a distance of 413 kilometers in one day.

The sail was used only during long sea crossings. In headwinds, in rivers, and also during battle, the Vikings used oars. The rowers sat not on special benches, but on boxes with their own belongings, which made it possible to greatly save space. Since on some expeditions the Vikings did not see the shore for a long time, they learned to preserve food in good condition with the help of ice and salt.

There are many interesting hypotheses regarding the seafaring art of the Vikings. For example, some historians claim that the Vikings knew the astrolabe, with which they found their way by the stars. Remained a mystery for a long time "sun stone", mentioned in some sagas and changing its color depending on the position of the sun in the sky, even in cloudy weather or during fog. As it turned out, the mineral has similar properties cordierite, called the "Viking compass" in some parts of Scandinavia. The sagas also mention real compasses, consisting of small magnets attached to a piece of wood and lowered into a bowl of water.

The Vikings entered into naval battles only near the coast. Having approached the enemy ship, the Vikings fired at it with bows or simply threw stones at it. It all ended in boarding. In most cases, the outcome of the battle depended not on seamanship, but on the ability to wield melee weapons.

Shield and ax

The shallow draft of the ships allowed the Vikings to move freely up the rivers. Having reached the place where the river ceased to be navigable, the Vikings landed on the shore and, having fortified the parking of their ships, began to plunder the surrounding area. At first, they avoided major battles and, as soon as they saw an enemy army on the horizon, they quickly loaded onto ships and set off to plunder some other area. Such tactics made the Vikings almost elusive and, as a result, invincible. Later, the Vikings began to build small but very well fortified fortresses on enemy lands, which served as strongholds for new raids.

A very lonely berserker in the middle of a mountain of corpses.

Norwegian berserkers land on peaceful British shores.

There was no room for horses on the ships, so the Vikings always fought on foot. Horses captured from local residents were sometimes still used, but not for combat, but for rapid movement overland (a similar tactic was later used by dragoons). The Vikings were fluent in hand-to-hand combat and always dealt with local militias without any problems. The knight's cavalry was much more dangerous. To fight it on equal terms, the Vikings used dense formations, somewhat reminiscent of a phalanx, and formed a solid wall of shields. At first, this tactic was invariably successful. But later the French learned to break through the “shield wall” with large masses of heavy cavalry, and the British created heavy infantry that was not inferior to the Vikings in military training.

Many Scandinavian armies had shock troops "berserkers" . Little is known about them. The Berserker was distinguished from other warriors by his ability to enter a special state of uncontrollable rage, making him an extremely formidable opponent. In some places, berserkers were considered so dangerous that they were even outlawed.

It has not yet been established exactly how the berserker entered a state of combat madness. There are several opinions on this matter.

The most popular version says that the berserkers drank a decoction of fly agarics before the battle. Siberian shamans put themselves into a trance state in a similar way. According to another hypothesis, the cause of the uncontrollable rage of berserkers was not fly agarics at all, but an unusually severe hangover caused by drinking alcoholic beverages with special additives. Recently, an experiment was conducted that debunked both of these hypotheses. It has been proven that a decoction of fly agaric mushrooms and hangover-enhancing additives not only do not increase, but on the contrary sharply lower human ability for hand-to-hand combat.

Some doctors believe that people with epilepsy or with some kind of pathology were specially selected for the berserker squads. It is also possible that the berserker “twisted” himself using special psychological techniques. Finally, the simplest version says that the berserkers went into battle because they were drunk.

As for the Viking weapons, at the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th centuries. Scandinavian gunsmiths were still much inferior to their Western European colleagues. One of the main goals of the first raids was to capture high-quality weapons. But soon the Vikings abandoned such “imports” and began to actively support domestic producers. By the quality of the weapon one could unmistakably determine social status its owner.

Medieval: Total War - Viking Invasion. To the axes!

Viking swords.

The Viking's main weapon was a spear . It was usually held in one hand so that it could also be used as a shield. Some spears could deliver not only piercing, but also chopping blows.

Initially shields Vikings were round. They were made of wood and covered with leather. The diameter of the shield was usually about a meter, the thickness was slightly less than a centimeter. A hole was made in the center of the shield for holding, covered at the front with a metal knob. By the time of the last campaigns, round shields were replaced by long shields.

Battle ax was the second most popular weapon after the spear. The length of the ax could reach one and a half meters. The largest axes had a blade 45 centimeters wide. Sometimes the ax blade was decorated with silver inlays in the shape of runes.

Sword was an extremely expensive and therefore rare weapon. One of the sagas mentions a sword worth half a crown. For the same money you could buy, for example, 16 milk cows. Viking swords were one-handed, their blade length did not exceed 80-90 centimeters.

Helmet was also an extremely rare item. Surprisingly, but true: only one Viking helmet has survived to this day. There are also several depictions of Vikings wearing helmets. All these helmets had the same conical shape.

Attention - myth: contrary to popular belief and many modern depictions Vikings never wore horned helmets. The Vikings did not have helmets decorated with wings like those that can be seen on the helmet of Asterix.

Bows Vikings could effectively hit a target at a distance of 250 meters. The maximum firing range, apparently, was 480 meters. This is the Icelandic measure of length called ordrag (bow shot). The sling was also very popular among the Vikings.

In the mists of Albion

The Vikings first appeared off the English coast in 789. Their first victim was a royal official who mistook the Norwegians who had landed ashore for traders and tried to force them to pay a trade tax. Four years later, the Vikings plundered the monastery on the island Lindisfarne. The monks who did not have time to escape were either drowned in the sea or enslaved. However, it took several more raids to bring the holy monastery to its final desolation.

This map shows the area of ​​Denlo, whose inhabitants lived under Danish rather than English laws, in yellow.

At first the Vikings only raided in the summer, but from 840 onwards winter “visits” became common. In 865, a particularly large detachment of northerners managed to capture York. At the same time, the winners did not retreat back to their Scandinavia, taking the stolen goods, but settled in the vicinity of the city and took up peaceful farming work. The Viking outrages continued until the king of Wessex Alfred the Great failed to unite all of England under his rule and recapture York from the Danes. To prevent new raids, the British acquired a powerful fleet for the first time in their history.

In 947 York was again captured by troops Eric of the Bloodaxe, former king of Norway. He received his terrible nickname for his not too gentle treatment of his subjects and the murder of four siblings. Matching Eric was his wife Gunnhild, who was fond of black magic and allegedly knew how to turn into a bird. Having lost the Norwegian throne, Eric became one of "sea kings", as the Viking leaders were called then. After the capture of York, Eric became ruler of Northumbria and died in battle in 954.

Not all Viking campaigns against England were successful. For example, an attempt by a small detachment of Vikings to capture a rich monastery Yarrow turned out to be a complete disaster for them. After this failure, the Vikings left the English alone for a while, turning their attention to other parts of Britain.

Many Danes and Norwegians moved to the lands conquered by the Vikings. Soon there were more Scandinavians than Anglo-Saxons in north-east England. These lands were named Denlo(Danelaw), since their inhabitants lived according to Danish, and not Anglo-Saxon laws. Gradually, the descendants of the Vikings merged with the local Anglo-Saxons, becoming one of the components of the modern English nation. The Norwegians also settled in the north and east of Scotland.

In 1015, a huge army of the King of Denmark landed in England Canute the Great. According to sources, there were ten thousand warriors, and the Danish fleet consisted of two hundred long ships. In addition to the Danes, the invasion included the Norwegians, conquered by Canute in 999, and a detachment of Polish soldiers sent by Canute's ally Boleslaw the Brave. Some vassals of the English king also went over to the Danish side. Ethelreda.

Sid Meier's Civilization III. In the distant country of Norway, in the glorious city of Trondheim, there lived a not very kind king Harald Hardrada...

Map of the “northern empire” of Canute the Great.

Using his fleet, Canute could deliver powerful blows to the British in the most unexpected places. Ethelred did not shine with military talents, but his son Edmund managed to organize a defense and hold out for fourteen months. Eventually the Danes blocked the English army in London and occupied Wessex, whose inhabitants were the main support of the descendants of Alfred the Great.

It seemed that Canute had already won, but suddenly military luck turned away from him. Edmund was able to get out of the besieged capital and, having gathered a new army in Wessex, lifted the siege from London. After this, many of Canute's English allies went over to the side of Edmund and Ethelred. A turning point was brewing in the war. However, in the decisive Battle of Ashingdon The Danes won a complete victory, and Canute became the English king. Denmark, Norway and part of Sweden were also under his rule. Many English historians consider Canute one of the best kings in the entire history of England. Canute's reign lasted until his death in 1035, after which the Anglo-Saxon dynasty returned to power.

In 1066, simultaneously with the army of the Norman Duke William the Conqueror, the army of the Norwegian king invaded England Harald Fairhair. The Norwegians decided to support Tostig Godwinson, one of the contenders for the English throne. While Tostig's elder brother was elected as the new king of England Harold gathered troops, the Norwegians occupied several cities in the northeast of the country and even almost captured York. The British soon managed to defeat the Norwegians in Battle of Stamford Bridge. Hardrada and Tostig died, but Harold did not have time to transfer his main forces from Yorkshire to the south of the country in time and ultimately suffered a complete defeat in the battle with the Normans at Hastings. The Battle of Stamford Bridge is considered the last battle of the Viking Age.

This is interesting: Harald Hardrada was the same Norwegian king whom one of the daughters of Yaroslav the Wise married. Like many other Scandinavian warriors, Harald wrote poetry. One of his poems, written while courting a Russian princess, proves that the harsh Vikings did not shy away from love lyrics.

Battle of Clontarf

Vikings first appeared in Ireland in 795. As in England, at first they were limited to small raids - mainly on monasteries. Having not encountered strong resistance from the Irish, the Vikings already from the middle of the 9th century. began to colonize the north and east of the island. They founded several cities along the coast, including Dublin, Cork, Wexford and Limerick. Founded in 838 Dublin by the 11th century it had become one of the main shopping centers northern Europe and grew so large that residents had to build new houses outside the city walls.

This late engraving somehow depicts the legendary Irish king Brian Borough along with the English coat of arms.

The relationship between the Scandinavian colonists and the Irish was not limited to war. Mixed marriages were common. The Irish adopted a lot from the Vikings. For example, the Norwegians brought trousers to Ireland, which gradually replaced traditional kilts.

By the beginning of the 9th century. The Irish kings managed to temporarily oust the Vikings from the island, but soon they returned, and everything went as before. The Vikings held a strong hold on the north and east of the country, while several Irish kingdoms existed in the west of the island.

At the beginning of the 10th century. Brian Boru united all of western Ireland under his rule and proclaimed himself "High King". To become the ruler of the entire island, he needed to deal with the Vikings. In 1013, Brian, acting in the best traditions of the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav, sent to the ruler of Dublin Sigtrygg Silkbeard formal notification of his aggressive intentions and graciously allowed the Vikings to prepare for defense for a whole year. Sigtrygg did not waste time and enlisted the support of many kings both from the British Isles and from Scandinavia itself. An alliance with the Vikings was concluded by the kings of Leinster and Ulster, who were at enmity with Brian Boru.

In the spring of 1014, six thousand Irish warriors and about a thousand Viking mercenaries under the leadership of Brian moved east and set up camp near the walls of Dublin. Sigtrygg had about five thousand warriors. All the Vikings were well armed, while the equipment of the Irish left much to be desired. On Holy Thursday a large fleet set sail from Dublin. As Brian's scouts informed him, the ships were carrying with them four thousand Vikings who had decided not to shed their blood for the sake of Sigtrygg. But this turned out to be a stratagem. During the night the fleet returned and landed troops a mile from Dublin, near Clontarf. Here they were joined by several thousand fighters sent by the King of Leinster. They, however, were of little use due to extremely poor weapons. In the morning, the Vikings suddenly attacked Brian's army.

Seeing the approaching enemy, the Irish managed to line up for battle and moved towards the Vikings. The battle began with several duels and ended with a general massacre. At first, the Vikings had the expected advantage. Only on the right flank of the Irish army, where Scandinavian mercenaries fought, were Sigtrygg’s warriors unable to achieve success.

Modern reconstruction of the battle between the Vikings.

In the center he led the Viking troops Sigurd Lodvesson, Earl of Orkney. According to legend, before the battle he stocked up on a miraculous artifact. It was a magic banner that made the enemy forget about everything and attack the standard-bearer. In theory, such a contraption should have provided the Vikings with a tactical advantage, but no one wanted to take the banner in their hands of their own free will. As a result, Sigurd himself had to become the standard bearer. The banner lived up to its reputation. Soon Sigurd was killed, and his people were left without a leader.

On the left flank, at first everything went well for the Vikings. But then a detachment of Brian Boru’s relatives entered the battle. The brother of the Irish king was able to win the duel and put the Viking leader to flight, and they soon retreated to their ships.

The brutal slaughter continued until the evening. Both armies expended so much effort that the battle had to be stopped several times so that the fighters could rest. By evening, some of the Vikings were thrown into the sea, and the rest fled in disarray towards Dublin. In the heat of pursuit, the Irish did not notice several undead Vikings who were able to break through to Brian's tent and kill the king.

The battle ended in complete victory for the Irish. They managed to destroy almost all the enemies, but their losses were also enormous. Of the five thousand fighters of Brian Boru were killed, according to different estimates, from 1600 to 4000. Almost all of his sons died along with Brian.

The next day, the surviving victors scattered in all directions, and Dublin was never taken. Sigtrygg ruled safely in the future capital of Ireland for almost thirty more years, and the union of Irish kingdoms created by Brian Boru fell apart. But the Vikings were soon forced to leave Ireland.

From Paris to Grenada

France suffered from the Vikings no less than England and Ireland, and the western part of the country, open to invasion from the sea, had it especially bad. For a long time, the French kings not only did not fight the Vikings, but also used them for their own purposes. So, Pepin II granted the Vikings lands at the mouth of the Garonne in exchange for help against his rival Charles the Bald. The Vikings stormed Bordeaux several times, killing two Gascon dukes. There were also great losses among Margraves of Neustria, responsible for the defense of the Loire estuary against the Vikings.

Rune stone.

In 865 Karl Baldy, who by that time had finally established himself on the French throne, issued an edict obliging everyone who was able to buy a horse to enlist in the cavalry. This is how the famous French knightly cavalry arose, which had no equal over the next several centuries. In addition, numerous fortified bridges were built on all navigable rivers, blocking the Viking ships' path into the interior of the country. Charles the Bald also forbade his subjects from selling weapons to the Vikings.

All these measures could not have come at a better time. In 885-886, already during the reign Karl Tolstoy, the Vikings laid siege Paris. The Norman army numbered up to 30,000 people on 700 ships. Fortified bridges prevented them from going higher up the Seine, and the Vikings spent the entire winter in fruitless attempts to capture the city, which had only two hundred experienced warriors in its garrison. At critical moments of the siege, all townspeople capable of holding weapons, including priests, went into battle.

Commander of the Paris Garrison Odo, Margrave of Neustria, sent several times to the king for help, but the French army was in Italy at that time and was able to lift the siege only in October 886. However, the king did not finish off the Normans. Instead, he made a deal with their leader Rollo union. In 911, Rollo was baptized and received possession of Neustria, which has since been called Normandy. The new duchy, on whose lands many Scandinavians settled, became a reliable shield covering the interior of France from Viking attacks. Thus, the French kings managed to knock out a wedge with a wedge.

This is interesting: Rollo put a lot of effort into eradicating crime in Normandy. In the end, he intimidated his subjects so much that for a whole year they did not dare to touch the golden hoop left by the duke on one of the trees.

Viking from the fourth "Civilization".

In northern Spain, which was then home to several Christian states, the Vikings became especially famous for kidnapping local rulers for ransom. In 861, they managed to obtain a grandiose ransom of sixty thousand gold bars for the king of Pamplona. Mountainous northern Spain did not attract Scandinavian colonists, but there was one notable exception. In the 9th century, the Vikings founded a colony in northern Portugal. For centuries, the residents of this town avoided marriages with the indigenous population of the country and, as a result, were able to maintain the appearance characteristic of the Scandinavians until the beginning of the 20th century.

Attention - myth: Not all Vikings were naturally blonde. However, in pursuit of beauty, many of them artificially lightened their hair.

In 844, the Vikings first landed in southern Spain and sacked several Muslim cities, including Seville. After this, local emirs were forced to begin building a navy, but this was of little use. In 859, Danish pirates entered the Mediterranean Sea and plundered the coast of Morocco. The raids continued until the end of the 10th century. and were a great success. It even got to the point that the Emir of Cordoba had to buy back his own harem from the Vikings. Only by the 11th century. local pirates managed to oust northern competitors from their fiefdom.

The Vikings made several raids on Provence, and in 860 they plundered the Italian city Pisa. They did not advance further in Italy, although in the 11th century. their descendants from the Duchy of Normandy were able to subjugate the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula and Sicily.

Of the other Western European countries, the Netherlands suffered the most from the Vikings, completely defenseless from attack from the sea. The Normans also moved up the Rhine and Meuse and plundered northwest Germany.

Varangians, aka Rus'

Tradition says that at the beginning of the 9th century. The Swedish Varangians managed to capture Novgorod and the surrounding lands. But soon the local residents rebelled and drove out the overseas invaders. After which they immediately fought among themselves. Apparently, because of power, or maybe simply from an excess of energy. As a result, it was necessary to invite a Varangian who was capable of stopping the fratricidal war to reign in Novgorod.

In 862, the Danish king responded to the invitation Rurik(the Slavs did not want to see a Swede on the princely throne for reasons of principle). His household and loyal warriors arrived with him in Novgorod. The phrase “Rurik with house and squad” sounds in Swedish as “Rurik sine hus tru thief.” Subsequently, two “brothers” of Rurik arose from this phrase, Sineus And Truvor, which never actually existed.

The dynasty that ruled Russia until the end of the 16th century originated from Rurik. The Russian princes were never ashamed of their foreign origin; moreover, they sought to declare Rurik a direct descendant of the Roman Emperor Augustus.

In the 18th century German historians, having discovered in the chronicle a legend about calling of the Varangians, concluded that the Russian state was founded by the Normans. This extremely offended Russian patriots. First against "Norman theory" M.V. rebelled Lomonosov. Further, the struggle for historical truth took place with varying success, until during the years of Soviet power "anti-Normanists" did not achieve final victory. The legend of the “calling” was declared a fake, invented in the 12th century. Rurik and his successor Oleg reluctantly recognized the Varangians, but Rurik’s son Igor declared one hundred percent Slavic and, possibly, a descendant of the legendary founder of Kyiv, Kiy. Modern historians recognize that the Eastern Slavs had a state long before the calling of the Varangians (after all, the Slavs did not call Rurik to an empty place, but to the princely throne). But they do not downplay the importance of the Vikings for early Russian history.

This is interesting: The fact that the word “Rus” comes from the name of the Swedish Vikings, and not from the Ros River in Ukraine, as Lomonosov argued, is evident, among other things, from the following fact: in Finnish “Sweden” will be Ruotsi.

What attracted the Scandinavians to the Eastern European expanses? First of all, two trade routes: Volzhsky leading to rich Persia, and the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks", connecting Scandinavia with Byzantium. At one of the most important points on the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” where merchant ships were dragged from the Western Dvina to the Dnieper, archaeologists discovered many Scandinavian burials.

Having barely managed to settle in Novgorod, Rurik sent an expedition to capture Kyiv, the city to which all goods destined for sale in Constantinople flocked. Leaders of the expedition Askold And Dir They completed the task, but refused to obey the Novgorod prince - for which they were killed by Rurik’s successor Oleg. And Askold and Dir, and Oleg, and Igor made predatory campaigns against Byzantium. The most Varangian tactics were used. The main means of transport were ships. Oleg, according to legend, managed to use them even on land.

The Varangians in Rus' quickly became Slavicized, but did not completely lose ties with their historical homeland. The Kyiv princes resorted to the services of Varangian mercenaries until the end of the 11th century. And in the Scandinavian sagas you can find many references to Gardariki(“land of cities”), as the Varangians called Kievan Rus.

Already at the beginning of the 10th century. Byzantines began to use Varangian mercenaries. Even before Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople (912), several hundred Varangians served in the Byzantine fleet as a kind of “marines.” A number of mercenaries from Scandinavia fought against the Arabs in Syria. Some Varangians - most likely traders, not warriors - during this period reached as far as Baghdad.

By that time, the traditional imperial guard, recruited from the Greeks, had turned into a kind of ancient Roman praetorians. Not trusting them, the Byzantine emperors created a new Varangian Guard. The Varangian Guard served at court and also participated in all wars of the Byzantine Empire. Among the Varangians, service to the emperor was very popular. The Varangian Guard is even mentioned in the Swedish law, which excluded from the number of heirs those serving in Greece. At one time, the commander of the Varangian Guard was the already mentioned Harald Hardrada. The guard disappeared only in 1204, after the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders.

At the ends of the earth

In 874 a Norwegian named Ingolfur Arnarson became the first Scandinavian colonist to settle in the distant Iceland. His estate Reykjavik gradually grew and became the capital of the entire island. Icelanders have long maintained their traditional way of life. Thanks to this, many ancient sagas, legends and poetic works have come down to us, allowing us to learn a lot about the Viking Age.

This portrait of Eric the Red is full of anachronisms.

One of the most famous Icelanders of that time was Eric the Red. His father was outlawed in Norway and forced to flee to Iceland. Eric took after his father. He killed several of his neighbors, one of the murders being caused by a dispute over a shovel. Eventually Eric had to leave the island. In 982, he and a group of loyal people sailed west from Iceland. After a long journey, the expedition discovered new land. It was Greenland, the climate of which was then much milder than now. So it’s not surprising that Eric called this northern island “the green land.” The colony founded by Eric soon grew greatly. IN best years The population of Greenland reached five thousand people.

One of the merchant ships sailing between Iceland and Greenland once sailed very far to the west. The captain of the ship noticed land on the horizon and, arriving in Greenland, told his son Eric the Red, Leif, about his discovery.

Leif Erikson went in search mysterious land and soon truly reached unknown shores. The sagas say that Leif landed at three different places. He named one place Helluland(“land of flat stones”), another - Markland(“land of forests”) and the third - Vinland(“land of meadows”). Vinland had the mildest climate, and Leif founded a small settlement there.

According to the sagas, the settlement in Vinland lasted only a few years: the settlers first fought among themselves over women, and soon quarreled with the local tribes. However, the Scandinavian voyages to the western lands did not stop there. During excavations of an Indian settlement in the northern United States, archaeologists discovered a Norwegian coin minted at the end of the 11th century. And the Icelandic chronicles mention a ship that returned from Markland in 1347.

This is what the site of the Newfoundland Viking settlement once looked like today.

This is interesting: There is a legend that one Irish missionary, after a short stay in Iceland, went with the Vikings to Vinland. There he lived for some time among the aborigines, bringing them the word of God. And many years later, the French discovered an Indian tribe on the Canadian coast that revered the cross as a sacred symbol. But all this could easily be a mere coincidence.

The notorious "map of Vinland".

Although Leif's journey is mentioned in several sagas, for a long time no one believed that the Vikings actually reached America five hundred years before Columbus. In the 19th century the possibility of such a journey was proven theoretically. However, there was still no conclusive evidence. In 1957, a map was discovered allegedly drawn in the 15th century from an even more ancient original. It depicts Europe, Asia, North Africa, Greenland and in the far west... Vinland. Alas, she turned out to be fake. A chemical analysis of the ink with which the map was drawn showed that it contained substances that they learned to synthesize only in 1923. However, chemist Jacqueline Olin suggested that a chain of accidents could well have led to the appearance of ink with a similar composition back in the Middle Ages.

Three years after discovery "maps of Vinland" Archaeologists have found the remains of a Scandinavian settlement on the island of Newfoundland. From that moment on, Leif Erikson's amazing discovery became generally accepted. historical fact. It has not yet been established exactly where Leif visited. Most likely, Vinland is Newfoundland, where the settlement was discovered. Helluland is often associated with Baffin Island, and Markland with Labrador, but this is just speculation.

Vikings in computer games

Medieval Scandinavia has always attracted the minds of game makers. As a result, many games were born that in one way or another exploit the Viking heritage. All of them can be divided into three large groups.

The first includes games in which there are no Vikings or Scandinavians, but full of all kinds of berserkers and other barbarians in horned helmets and with battle axes. This may include fourth "Heroes", And King's Bounty, and much more.

The second group includes games based on Scandinavian mythology. Includes a very old but still great role-playing game Ragnarok, not a bad strategy Age of Mythology, action role-playing Loki and action movie Rune. Here's an online game Ragnarok, despite the name, has nothing to do with the Vikings at all.

The third group includes games that feature Vikings as such, with all their runes and longships. You can feel like a Varangian wandering across the Eastern European expanses in the role-playing game " Prince". And if you want to wander through the wild forests of Scandinavia, you can do it in " Valhalla". Viking cities (for example, Uppsala in Sweden) also look more or less authentic in this game.

Medieval: Total War - Viking Invasion. Vikings fighting on horseback were much less common in reality than in this game.

This is what the Vikings looked like, according to the creators of the role-playing game "Valhalla".

Oddly enough, it is very difficult to immediately name a strategy game dedicated directly to the Vikings. But northern warriors are present in almost every strategy that deals with the history of planet Earth and there is a division into races.

In games of the series Civilization Vikings are endowed with abilities that allow them to fight well, sail far and earn good money. Their special squad, berserkers, are capable of attacking the enemy directly from the ship - long before the appearance of the marines. In one of the scenarios of the third "Civilization", the Vikings received their own technological tree and can build, in addition to berserkers, long ships and forges that increase production in the city. By the way, Rus' in the same scenario starts with berserkers, but develops in the same direction as Byzantium.

In the unforgettable Settlers II Vikings are also represented, but their differences from the Romans or Japanese are purely cosmetic. But in Age of Empires II The Vikings stand out from the crowd. Firstly, they have access to two unique units: the berserker and the longship. Secondly, they cannot create combat-ready cavalry. But their infantry receives a serious increase in health.

Addition to the game Medieval: Total War, named by the developers Viking Invasion, is almost the only strategy dedicated exclusively to Viking campaigns. The game is about the first Scandinavian invasions of the British Isles. The Vikings have a number of tactical advantages over their enemies, and the indigenous population has to make enormous efforts not to lose their belongings, lands, and at the same time their lives. By the way, in playing as the Vikings you often have to use cavalry, which, although not brilliant in combat characteristics, copes well with the pursuit of a defeated enemy.