The neighbors of the Scandinavians Borders to the south and north
Pre-modern borders and frontiers Zones or regions rather than lines Crucial aspect in formation and development of early states and kingdoms Often militarized, sparsely populated or hard to transverse But also: Places accumulating profits (trade routes, market places) Permeable zones of intercultural exchange Places where innovations were often born
Questions What influence did the neighboring kingdoms and groups have on the internal development of the Viking age Scandinavia? What was the nature of interactions in the frontier zones?
The neighbors of the Vikings
772-804: Saxon wars. Charlemagne subdues the Saxons and extends Frankish possessions to the north and east. The Franks come into contact with the Danes when the Saxon leader Widukind seeks refuge in Denmark.
Danish-Frankish/German Frontier in the Viking Age 808: first military confrontation between Charlemagne and Danish king Godfried 811: Treaty of Heilingen, border established on Eider river 815: Franks intervene into Danish internal affairs, beginning of Christian mission 933: Henry the Fowler imposes on Danes payment of annual tribute; he conquers Schleswig in 934 974: a new conflict between Danes and Germans; the former were defeated at Danevirke 984: Harald Bluetooth frees himself from tributary status 1 half of the 11th c: normalization of relationship
Danevirke first construction works in 737 (meant as a barrier against Saxons, from 804 against Franks) fortified in the 10th c by Harald Bluetooth Ca. 30 km long and 3,6 6 m high
Frontier military landscape Danevirke Hammaburg/Hamburg
Peaceful frontier Hedeby/Haithabu Ochsenweg
Obodrites and Veleti
Trading routes
Early trading places 1-settlement with finds of Scandinavian origins, 2 early Slavic settlement in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Gross Strömkendorf (Rerik) burials in the Scandinavian tradition (2nd half of the 8th c.)
nordic houses in the trading places
Slavic place names in Denmark an evidence of Slavic immigration to Denmark in the 11 th -12 th c
Warf at Fribrødre å, Falster Evidence of boat repairing /building in Slavic tradition
Dynastic Relations Tove [Tufa], Mistivoj's [Mistiui] daughter, wife of Harald [Hara[l]t] the Good Gorm's [Kurm] son, had this monument made in memory of her mother. Mistivoj was a chief of Obodrites, who allied with Denmark in the 10th c during Harald Bluetooth rule. Alliance lasted until 1066
Starigrad (Oldenburg) elite: traces of Scandinavian aristocratic culture
Guldborg and Borrebjerg, Langeland an example of Slavic-Danish hostile relations in the middle ages
Characteristics of the Danish borders in the Viking age Danish-Frankish (later German) border Military, linear border Frontier conflicts and wars dominate the contacts in the 9 th and 10 th c. Frankish and German intervention into Danish politics Multiethnic settlement in the border zone and towns. Cultural and technological influences (e.g. Christianity, court culture, coinage) Temporary tributary status of Denmark. Partnership in the MA (12thc ) Danish-Slavic (Abodrite) border Lack of fixed, defensive borders making contacts easier Importance of trade. Comparable ability to organize trade and production promoted co-operation Individual and group migrations and multiethnic settlement in the trading places promoted exchange of technology and cultural ideas Political alliances. Formal dependency in the MA
What influence had Frankish/German and Slavic neighborhoods on the internal developments in Denmark? Political consolidation Denmark emerges as politically most advanced kingdom in Scandinavia Christianity and western European court culture - ideological tools to strengthen position of the king Economic development based on trade and production Cultural influences from early coinage to everyday objects
What do we learn about Viking age Denmark from its frontier politics? Ability to organize army and defensive structures authority of the king and his ability to request public service Investments in trade and production to secure a steady inflow of luxury goods and economic profit Strategic political thinking alliances Huge need of resources raids in Western Europe and trade (taxation)
Saami
The Fenni are astonishingly savage and unbelievably poor. They have no proper weapons, no horses, no homes. They eat wild herbs, dress in skins, and sleep on the ground. Their only hope of getting better fare lies in their arrows, which, for lack of iron, they tip with bone. The women support themselves by hunting, exactly like the men; they accompany them everywhere and insist on taking their share in bringing down the game. The only way they have of protecting their infants against wild beasts or bad weather is to hide them under a makeshift covering of interlaced branches. Such is the shelter to which the young folk come back and in which the old must lie. Yet they count their lot happier than that of others who groan over field labor, sweat over house-building, or hazard their own and other men's fortunes in the hope of profit and the fear of loss. Unafraid of anything that man or god can do to them, they have reached a state that few human beings can attain: for these men are so well content that they do not even need to pray for anything. Tacitus Germania, ca 97 AD
Saami Norsemen frontier
IN THE 9TH C. OTTAR EXPLORED ARCTIC COASTS OF SCANDINAVIA, REACHED THE WHITE SEA AND MET MANY GROUPS OF SAAMI.
Saami boat building
Scritifinni skiing Finns Saami on skies. Reprint from Olaus Magnus History of the Northern People 1555 Decorated ski from Järvträsk, Lappland, c 745 AD
Shamanic practices of Saami and Nordic seið Seið (seid) a form of witchcraft or sorcery practiced in pre-christian Scandinavia. It replicated shamanic practices of Saami and became assimilated into pre-existing Norse practices and spirituality Elements possibly borrowed from shamanic practices: Incantation of spells and chanting Offering to clan spirits Concept of fylgia (a spirit attached to oneself) Manipulative, protective and attacking magic Trance Visions hamfara traveling in altered shape
Saami in saga literature 1. Supernatural powers 2. Inhabited by giants and dwarfs Norrland called Risaland, a land of giants 3. Ability of Saami to change into other beings
Questions What influence did the neighboring kingdoms and groups have on the internal development of the Viking age Scandinavia? What was the nature of interactions in the frontier zones?
Situation on peripheries and in border zones influenced the center impulses for consolidation and organisation of early kingdoms (case of Danish-Frankish/German frontier) Economic exploitation of the frontier often in collaboration with the neighbors, opportunites to develop profitable enterprises, specialization in craft and other activities (cases of Danish-Slavic border and Norwegian/Swedish-Saami frontier) Opening for innovations and novelties Ideological ideas: neighbors as friends, foes, and the others (particularly exploited in the middle ages)