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On the Chronology of Óláfr Tryggvason and Volodimer the Great: The Saga's Relative Chronology as a Historical Source Author(s): OMELJAN PRITSAK Reviewed work(s): Source: Harvard Ukrainian Studies, Vol. 16, No. 1/2 (June 1992), pp. 7-36 Published by: Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41036449 . Accessed: 02/07/2012 11:50
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http://www.jstor.org On theChronology of ÓláfrTryggvason and Volodimerthe Great: The Saga's RelativeChronology as a HistoricalSource
OMELJAN PRITSAK
In memoryof mydear Scandinavianfriends AgneteLoth and JónHelgason
I.I.
Óláfr Tryggvason played an exceptional role in Norwegian historyas the rulerwho introducedChristianity in his land, yet he has never been the sub- ject of a monographby modernhistorians, Norwegian or foreign.1Even the date of his birthhas remained a controversialquestion2 for which, it seems, scholars have lost hope of findinga definiteanswer. The situation,fortunately, is not thatbleak. Óláfr Tryggvasonwas highly respected by Icelanders- for centuriesthe guardians of the Old Norwegian past- because they regarded him as theirbaptizer. At least four complete sagas devoted to him have come down to us. Althoughtheir information is oftenrepetitious, they do at times complementeach other.And some of the
1 Thereare onlythree biographical articles on ÓláfrTryggvason (hereafter OT), twoof them brief:Alexander Bugge, "Sandhed og Digt om Olav Tryggvason,"Aarb0ger, 1910, pp. 1-34; HalvdanKoht, "Olav Trygvason,968-1000," inNorsk Biografisk Leksikon, ed. A. W. Br0gger and EinarJansen, vol. 10 (Oslo, 1947), pp. 413-14; and GerardLabuda, "Olaf Trygwason," SSS 3, pt. 2 (1968): 471 -72. See also SiegfriedBeyschlag, Konungasögur (Copenhagen, 1950),pp. 180-202, and Per Sveaas Andersen,Sämlingen av Norgeog kristningenav landet 800-1130 (Handboki NorgesHistorie, 2) (Bergen,1977), pp. 102-9. For füllcitations of abbreviationsused in thefootnotes, see theList of Abbreviationsat theend of the article. 2 The datesgiven in thescholarly literature for OT's birthvary from 950 to 968 (969). Some examples: 950-952 = ArkadijLja§cenko, "Sana" (1926), pp. 14- 15; 963 = AlexanderBugge (1910; see fh.1), p. 5; ca. 965 = ErmaGordon, Olafssaga ( 1938), pp. 86-87; 968 = KonradMaurer, Die Bekehrungdes NorwegischenStammes zum Christenthume,vol. 2 (Munich,1856), pp. 523-24; = HalvdanKoht, "Olav Trygvason"(1947; see fn.1), p. 43; 968 (969) = BjarniAöalbjarnarson, introduction to his editionof SnorriSturlu- son,Heimskringla I (IF 26) (Reykjavik,1941), p. CXXXVI; between963 and 968 = GerardLabuda, "Olaf Trygwason" (1968; see fh.1), p. 471. In 1938 ErmaGordon stated, with some desperation,"Wie mansieht, ist es fastunmöglich festzustellen,in welchemJahre Olaf zur Welt kam"; Olafssaga, p. 37. 8 OMELJANPRITSAK
Icelandicdata on ÓláfrTryggvason can be synchronizedwith other sources, such as skaldicpoetry, Adam of Bremen,and, above all, theEnglish and Old Rus' annals. The foursagas aboutÓláfr Tryggvason are thefollowing: 1) Óláfssaga Tryggvasonar,by OddrSnorrason (hereafter OsT), a work of the BenedictineÊingeyrar monastery in northernIceland. One can assume,with good reason,that Oddr compiled his saga in Latin,circa 1190. It survivesin an earlythirteenth-century Old Icelandic translation, but its bestmanuscript (AM 310, 4to = A) was copiedin Norwaytoward the end of thethirteenth century.3 2) Óláfssaga Tryggvasonaris thelongest (28,019 words)single saga in the firstvolume of the Heimskringla(hereafter Hkr) of SnorriSturluson (1179-1241). The Heimskringlawas writtendown in Iceland between 1220 and 1230; the basic manuscriptis the so-calledKringla, which has been preservedin two copies fromthe earlyeighteenth century (AM 35, fol.,and Sth 18,fol. = K).4 3-4) The encyclopediccollection which scholars call Óláfs saga Tryggvasonaren mesta(hereafter OsTm) was probablycompiled around 1300 by thePingeyrar monk Bergr Sokkason,5 who was later(from 1322) the abbotof the otherIcelandic Munka-fverá Monastery. It existsin two redactions:AM 61, fol.(Icelandic, from the fourteenth century; basic text);6 and Flateyjarbók(hereafter Flat; IcelandicMS., ca. 1380- 1394).7But this encyclopedicwork incorporated to a greatdegree an olderIcelandic transla- tionof thesecond I>ingeyrar Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar,originally written in
3 For a generalpresentation, see ÓlafürHalldórsson, "Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar,"KHL, 12 (1967), cols. 551-53. On Oddr's OsT, see Gordon,Olafssaga; Bjarni Aöalbjarnarson, Om de norskekongers sagaer (Oslo, 1937),pp. 55-85; Jande Vries,ALG, vol. 2 (Berlin,1967), pp. 242-45; KurtSchier, Sagaliteratur (Stuttgart, 1970), p. 24. In quotingOddr's OsT I use the editionby FinnurJónsson, Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonaraf Oddr Snorrasonmunk (Copenhagen, 1932). H On Snoms Usi , see Aôalbjamarsons introductionto nis editionoi ine nieri ^see in. ¿.y.i quotethis edition of Hkr. See also theEnglish translation by Lee M. Hollander,Heimskringla: Historyof the Kings of Norway(Austin, Texas, 1964). See also Schier,Sagaliteratur, pp. 26-27. 5 See Schier,Sagaliteratur, p. 25. 6 On OsTm,see Lars Lönnroth,"Studier i Olaf Tryggvasonssaga," Samlaren(Uppsala), 84 (1963): 54-94. Whenquoting the saga below,I use theedition by ÓlafurHalldórsson, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonaren mesta,2 vols. (Copenhagen,1958, 1961). The Englishtranslation, with myemendations, is based on theedition by John Sephton, The Saga ofKing Olaf Tryggavason (London,1895). 7 Flateyjarbók.En samlingaf NorskeKonge-sagaer, vol. 1, ed. Carl RichardUnger and GuöbrandurVigfusson (Christiania, 1860). On the differentÓláfr Tryggvasonsagas, see RudolfSimck and HermannPálsson, Lexikon der altnordischen Literatur (Stuttgart, 1987), pp. 128,262-63, and 270-71. ÓLÁFR TRYGGVASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 9
Latin circa 1200 by the monk Gunnlaugr Leifsson (d. 1218/1219). For- tunately,the chapter on Óláfr's chronology in OsTm has been correctly recognized by Bjarni Aöalbjarnarson as going back to Gunnlaugr's original work.8
1.2.
Oddr Snorrason,the firstIcelandic biographerof Óláfr Tryggvason, stated that he found in the material existing during his time (ca. 1190) two ver- sions of the chronology of Óláfr Tryggvason (hereafterOT): one esta- blished by Ari inn fróôi (1067-1148), the fatherof Icelandic historiogra-. phy in the vernacular; and the other writtenby some anonymous "learned men." In checking the veracityof both versions,Oddr Snorrasonsided withthat by the anonymousauthors. He provided only Ari's summation,without giv- ing the components of his presentation.Here are both Oddr' s text and its translation:9
25. Pat finnzi frasognAra hins It was found in the record of events (frásçgn) froöa oc era I>eirfleire er pat of Ariinn froöi - and most[scholars] sanna at Olafr T. s hafi ij uetr affirmit- thatÓláfr Tryggvason was haftoc XX pa er XX and II [= 22] yearsold when harmcom i land. he came to thecountry [Norway] and oc tok riki tookthe state. en hann reo firirv. uetr Andhe ruledfor V [= 5] years. En lx) era J>eirsumir menn fróoir Butthere are somelearned men er sua vilia segia (mennfró air) whowould stipulate oc t>uitrua at sua se at and believethat he [OT] was hann hafihaft ij uetroc XXX vetra XXX and II [= 32] yearsold whenhe er hann tok rikit. tookthe state [of Norway]. oc |>at seal nu sanna huersu J>eir It willnow be shownhow they count. telia. Pat segia J>eirJ)a er Trygguikonungr Theysay thatwhen King Tryggvi, faj>irhans var uegiN at Olafr var his father,was killed,Óláfr was t>ai moöur quiöi oc stillin [his]mother's womb and was var fòddrJ)at. bornin that[year]. oc var einn uetrmeo moöur fe{>r Thenhe was forone yearin hiding
8 Aöalbjarnarson,Sagaer, pp. 85 - 135. See thecritical remarks by AnneHoltsmark, "Om de norskekongers sagaer: Opposisjonsinnlegg ved BjarniAöalbjarnarsons doktordisputas 23 Sep- tember1936," Edda (Oslo), 38 (1938): 145-64. 9 Oddr, OsT, ed. Jónsson,pp. 88-90. On Oddr's reckoning,see Svend Elleh0j, Studier (Copenhagen,1965), pp. 71 -73. 10 OMELJANPRITSAK sinum oc moöur meo leynd. withhis motherat his maternal grandfather's. Oc sij)an forhann austri From therehe faredeast in SuiJ)ioö. a fundHakonar Sweden to stay withHákon gamlu firirmotgangi gamli because of enmityon Hakonar j. oc the partof Hákon jarl and Gunnhilldar. Gunnhildr. oc forJ)aumeyói He faredthere over deserted merkroc scoga. oc var far marshlandand forestand stayed ij uetrmeo Hakoni gamia. therewith Hákon gamli forII [= 2] years. oc er hann forbrot {>aöan J>a When he departedfrom there he var hann Jwevetr. was threeyears old. Oc er hann forskiferöum oc Then he was on a sea voyage and was hann var hertakiN taken in captivity[by the Ests]- er hann aetlaöi i Garoa he intended[to travel] to Garör J)atocu heiönir menn [= Novgorodian Rus']; the heathens [Ests] t>auoc haföu i sinu capturedhim and held him validi oc var hann i Jœssi in theirpower; he was in such anauö vi uetr. bondage forVI [= 6] years. En i Gorö um austr Then he stayed in Garoar east oc austrholfunniveri hann xi ar. [Novgorod] and in the East forXI [= 1 1 < *IX = 9; see pp. 13, 23] years. En i Vino landi Then [he stayed] in Wendland iij uetr. form [=3] years. oc t>afor hann til Danmerkr Then he faredto Denmark oc til Irlandz. Oc tok J)ar and Ireland; also he was helga skirnaf abota baptized [at the Isle of Scilly] by an abbot l>eim er fullrvar af helgum anda. and filledwith the Holy Spirit. oc i Uestrlondum Then he [was] in the Westlands var hann ix ár. forIX[=9]years. Oc eptirJ)at for hann af And afterwardshe departedfrom Englandi England [to assume rule in Norway]; oc haföi J)aij uetr he was thenthirty hins tiorbatigar. and n [= 32] years old. Before proceeding on to the next text, we need to correct one mistake made by the copyist of OsT - an emendation importantto our problem. Oddr supposedly states thatAri allotted twenty-twoyears to OT before his returnto Norway. In 1853, Peter Andreas Munch, in his firstedition of Oddr's saga (fromthe codex Sth 18, mbr. 4to = 5), had already suggested ÓLÁFR TRYGGVASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 11 thatAri's "XX and ij" should be corrected(following Ágrip10)to "XX and vij," or twenty-seven.11This correction has also been accepted- quite rightly- by recent scholarship.12I might add that one quotation in OsTm from Ari's work clearly states that Ari reckoned the year 968 as that of OTs birth,13and therefore the suggested emendation is correct (i.e., 995-968 = 27).
1.3.
GunnlaugrLeifsson decided thathis saga would be more effectiveif he did not follow Oddr, who merelyquoted the elements computed by two schools of scholars; rather,he presentedthis material in the guise of an oratory,14 namely, as the speech about his Odyssey that OT delivered before the assembly known as "Thing." Here is thisdisguised list:15 105 ... En er Eirikss(ynir) hoföo Butwhen the sons of Eirikr succeeded rikitekit. J)a suiku I>eir TryGva to thekingdom, they dealt treacherously konungfoöur minn ok drapu withmy father King Tryggvi, and slew
10 On Ágripsee below,p. 14. 1* Saga Olafskonungs Tryggvasunar. . . afOdd Snorres0n(Christiania, 1853), p. 91. 12 See Aöalbjarnarson,Sagaer, p. 43, and Elleh0j,Studier, p. 72. 13 OsTm,ed. Halldórsson,1 : 95-96: "I>avoro liönir fra falli Hakonar Af>alsteins f(ostra), .xv. uetrat sògn Ara prestzi>orgils sonar, en frafalli Sigur|>ar Hlaöa j(arls) .xiij. uetr.I>a varOlafr TryGvas(on) .vij. uetraok haföihann J>a .iiij. uetruerit í utlegöaa Eist landi,en tua i Sui|)ioö meo Hakoni gamia" [The Battle(at Linfjordbetween Haraldr gráfeldr Eiríksson and Gull- HaraldrKnútsson) was foughtfifteen (.xv.) yearsafter the deathof Hákon Aôalsteinsfóstri Haraldsson(i.e., in 975 [960 + 15]; see AnnR, ed. Storm,p. 104),according to thereckoning of priestAri Porgilsson, and thirteen(.xiij.) yearsafter the fall of Sigurörjarl of Hlaöir (i.e., 975 [962+ 13]; see AnnR, ed. Storm,p. 104). ÓláfrTryggvason was thenseven (.vij.) (incorrect- O.P.) yearsold; he had beenin exile forfour (.iiij.) (incorrect- O.P.) yearsin Estland,after his two(= tua) yearsin Swedenwith Hákon gamli]. The editor,Ólafur Halldórsson, adopted two incorrectnumbers here: "seven" and "four." For thefirst figure, both AM 54, fol.,and Flat have thecorrect forms: the first has "viij" and the second has the fullyspelled-out atta, "eight"(see also Flat, ed. Ungerand Vigfusson, 1: 85). The incorrectnumber "four" = .iiij. came aboutas a substitutionfor *.iv., which was a copyist'serror: iv < vi: 4 + 2 cannotresult in "7," but6 + 2 does equal "8." In orderto obtain theyear 968 forOT's birth,Ari, whose starting point was theyear 975, countedback "8" on his fingersfrom that year: 975, 974, 973, 972, 971, 970, 969, 968 = 8. The laterwriter introduced his own "correction,"realizing that 975 - 968 was not8 but7. Elleh0j,Studier, p. 72, quotes thispassage fromOsTm but does not commenton it. I dwell hereon the passage, since a correctanalysis of it allowsus insightinto Ari's methodsof computation.On Ari,see thegen- eralpresentation in GabrielTurville-Petre, Origins of Icelandic Literature (Oxford, 1967), pp. 88-108. On Ari's workand his chronologicalmethod, see ÓlafiaEinarsdóttir, Studier (Stock- holm,1964), pp. 13-314, and E''th0', Studier,pp. 15-84. 14 See JamesE. Knirk,Oratory in theKings' Sagas (Oslo, 1981). 15 OsTm,ed. Halldórsson,1: 241-42; theEnglish translation is based on Sephton,Saga, pp. 149-50, with my own emendations.Cf. fh. 6. See also Flat, ed. Unger and Vigfusson, 1:240-41. 12 OMELJANPRITSAK harmf try gö at raö i him in time of truce,on the advice Gvnnhilldarmojnir siNar of theirmother Gunnhildr; J)aer ek var imoöur kuiöi. I was still in [my] mother's womb. Sv hin sama Gvnnhilldr The same Gunnhildr settimargar gilldrvr meo sinni in her cunninglaid many snares slaegö at veiö a mik ok af to take me and deprive me lifitaka {>egarek var faeddr. of life as soon as I was born. Var Astriörmoöir min ok ek My motherAstri or and I enn fyrstauetr leyniliga were in hiding,the firstyear of my life aa Ofro stoö um meö Eiriki in Oprostaöir withher father foövr hennar. Eirikr. En fyrirvm sat ok velraeöi But because of the lying in wait and GuNhilldartreystiz hann eigi the devices of Gunnhildr,he did not dare at hallda okkr lengrher to keep us any longer ilandi. in the country. formo{)ir min I>a meö mik My mother,disguised and dressed hvlöuhofdiokhelldr poorly faa taekligaavstr i SviJ)ioö. took me eastwards into Sweden. J)arduòldumz vit .ij. aar There we dwelt two years jvtlegö meö Hakoni gamia. in exile withHákon gamli. Heföi Gvnnhilldr{>a fangitmik Gunnhildrwould have seized me meö svik raeÕ um fyrirsina treacherouslyby her emissaries, sendi menn ef sa goöi maör if thatgood man Hakon gamli heföi eigi Hákon gamli had not hallditmik meö validi saved me fromher pursuit ok hoföing skap fyrirhennar by his power and authority, eptirsokn fyrirsakir because vinskapar viö Eirik mo{)urfofur of his friendshipwith Eirikr, minn. my mother's father. l>vi naerst{)a er ek var Then when I was J)reuetr. threeyears old forvmvit moöir min or Svijnoö my motherand I sailed from skipferöiok aetlaöum austri Sweden, intendingto go east Garoa Riki aa fvndSiguröar to Garôaríki [= Novgorod] and broöur hennar. visit her brotherSigurör. J>amaettv ver vikingumok There [on the voyage] we met with Vikings vórumhertekin ok selld man sali. and were taken captive and sold into bondage, en svmtforoneyti ockart drepit. some of our company being slain. skilöi f)armeö okkrmo])ur My motherand I were separated, minnisva at ek sa nana so thatI have never since alldri sifean.Ek var J)aselldr beheld her. I was thensold viö veröi sem aörir mans menn. formoney, like otherbondsmen. var ek .vi. vetri }>eiriaa Six years I remained in bondage navö aa Eist landi. in Estland, ÓLÁFRTR YGGV ASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 13
J>artil er Sigurör mojnir untilSigurör, my mother's brother, broöir minn leystimik J)aöan. ransomed me thence, ok fluttimik t>aöan meö ser austr and took me with him eastwards to i Garöa Riki. t>avar ek .ix. vetra Garöariki [Novgorod], I being thennine years old. Aöra. ix. uetrvar ek i Gorö um. Nine otheryears I lived in Garoar, enn i vtlegö. Jx>at fyrirmann still an exile, thoughI was maintained doms sakir go ora hofjúngia in comfortby the humanity vaeraek }>arvel halldinn. of kind rulers. I>arnaest var ek aa Vínd landi .iij. vetr. Three years I thenpassed in Wendland. en .iiij. fyrirvestan haf and [the next] fouryears in the Western i hernaöi. Sea [in the BritishIslands] as a freebooter.
1.4.
SnorriSturlson does notgive a chronologicallist in his OsTynot even, like Gunnlaugr,one in disguise;however, in the appropriatechapters, he sup- plies data aboutthe duration of OT's staysin relativechronological order. Theseare - interestinglyenough - in agreementwith those of Gunnlaugr: (chap. 6) . . . {>á haföi hon verittvá By then she [Astrior] had been two vetrmeö Hákoni gamia years with Hákon gamli. ÓláfrvarJ)á{>revetr.16 Óláfr was thenthree years old. (chap. 6) ... Óláfr var sex vetrá Óláfr stayed six years in Eistlandi í J>essiútlego.17 Estland as an exile. (chap. 8) ... Óláfr var níu vetra, Óláfr was nine years old er harmkom í Garöariki, en dvaldisk when he came to Garöariki [Novgorod] and t>armeö Valdamar konungi aöra lived thenwith King Volodimer níu vetr.18 anothernine years. (chap. 29) Óláfr Tryggvason var Óláfr Tryggvason had been J)rjávetr á Vino landi.19 threeyears in Wendland. (chap. 30) . . . Óláfr Tryggvason Óláfr Tryggvason passed var fjóra vetr í hernaöi fouryears harrying, siöan er harmfor af after[leaving] Wendland, Vino landi, til J)esser harm and before he arrivedat kom í Syllingar.20 the Isles of Scilly.
16 Hkr, ed. Aöalbjarnarson,1:230; cf. Englishtrans, (with my emendations):Hollander, Heimskrinfila,p. 147. 17 Hier,ed. Aöalbjarnarson,1: 230; cf.English trans.: Hollander, Heimskringla, p. 147. 18 Hkr, ed. Aöalbjarnarson,1:232; cf. Englishtrans, (with my emendations):Hollander, Heimskringla,p. 149. 19 Hkr,ed. Aöalbjarnarson,1: 263; cf.English trans.: Hollander, Heimskringla, p. 169. 20 Hkr, ed. Aöalbjarnarson,1:265; cf. Englishtrans, (with my emendations):Hollander, Heimskringla,p. 170. 14 OMELJANPRITSAK
1.5.
The anonymouswork Ágrip af Nóregs konungasçgum (Summaryof the sagas [stories]of thekings of Norway)is the onlyNorwegian vernacular synoptichistory from the twelfthcentury. It was written- like Oddr's work- circa 1190, but in Norway.21The onlypreserved manuscript is in an Icelandichand and was copiedin thefirst half of thethirteenth century (AM 325 II, 4to).22 AlthoughÁgrip, being a summary,does not containa special saga on OT, its Norwegiandata (in additionto those takenfrom the Icelandic sources), and especially some chronologicalinformation, nevertheless deservespecial attention. Firstof all,Ágrip (like theHistoria Norwegiae)23 relates two versions of Tryggvi'sdeath: one (theNorwegian version) ascribes it to hisown yeomen and the othermaintains that it was due to the wickednessof Queen Gunnhilldrand hersons.24
16. En til rikis eftir AfterHákon jarl['s death in 995] Hókon iarl steig Óláfr Tryggvason Óláfr Tryggvason ascended to the throneand ok tignaci sik konungs nafni assumed the name of king in í Nóregi, er aettarrétt atti af Norway, forwhich he had lawful Haraldi hárfagra,Jjvíat Óláfr claim throughHaraldr hárfagri,because hét sunrHaralds, er fajnrvar Haraldr's son was Óláfr, who was fatherof Tryggva,er of daga Gunhildar Tryggvi,who [Tryggvi]assumed suna tók konungs nafnok the name of king duringthe days of Gunhildr's vald á Raumaríki ok var far sons and ruled in Raumaríki. And an end was
21 On Ágrip, see Gustav Indreb0, "Aagrip," Edda (Christiania),17 (1922): 18-65; Aöalbjamarson,Sagaer, pp. 1-54; Elleh0j,Studier, pp. 197-276. Cf. also TorfinnTobiassen, "Ágripaf Nóregs konunga sogum," KHL, 1 (1956), cols. 60-61. 22 I quotehere from the edition by FinnurJónsson, Agrip af nóregskonunga sçgum (Altnor- discheSaga-Bibliothek, 18) (Halle a.d. Saale, 1929). A new "standardized"edition was pub- lishedby BjarniEinarsson in 1984 (see the List of Abbreviations).See also the Norwegian translationby GustavIndreb0, revised by AmtL0ftingsmo and prefacedby BjarneFidjest0l, AgriporNoregs kongesoger (Norr0ne Bokverk) (Oslo, 1973). 23 The anonymousHistoria Norwegiae was writtenin Latinby a Norwegianeither between 1152-1163 or between1195-1198; see Anne Holtsmark,"Historia Norvegiae," KHL, 6 (1961), cols. 585-87. See also: Aöalbjarnarson,Sagaer, pp. 1-55; Elleh0j, Studier,pp. 142-74; and Jens Th. Hansen, OmkringHistoria Norwegiae (Det Norske Videnskaps- Akademii Oslo, Avhandlinger,II. Hist-Filos.,Klasse 1949,no. 2) (Oslo, 1949). The textwas publishedby GustavStorm in MonumentaHistórica Norvegiae, vol. 1 (Chris- tiania,1880), pp. 69- 124; thepassage in questionis on pp. 110-11. 24 Ágrip,ed. Jónsson,pp. 18- 19 = ed. Einarsson,p. 19. ÓLÁFRTR YGG V ASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 15
tekinnaf lífi á Sótanesi put to his life in Sótanes. ok er par heygjjrok kalla And he was buried therein a how. People menn par Tryggvareyr. call it the Cairn of Tryggvi.25 En aftakhans segia eigi Not all presenthis [Tryggvi's] slaying allir einom haetti,sumir kenna in the same manner; some attributeit búpndom,at J>eim]>ótti yfirboj) to the yeoman (bœndr) who were angry hans hartok dnjpo harmá fingi. because of his [Tryggvi's] harshrule and killed him at a Thing. sumirsegja, at harm The otherssay thathe intendedto make an skyldi gera saettvij) fpjx>rbró- agreementwith the sons of his father- t>orsunosina, ok tóko f>eirharm brother,but theykilled him af me|) svikom ok illraej>omGun- due to treason and wickedness on the hildar konungamó|x)r,ok trúaf)ví part of the queen motherGunhildr, and flestir. that[second version] most people believe. Some details concerningthe second version are given in § 9:26
Haraldr gráfeldrgerjñ fpr Haraldr gráfeldrfared to at Tryggva broeprungsinom Tryggvi,his cousin, and ok drap harm,en Pórólfrlúsa[r]skegg killed him. But Pórólfrlúsa[r]skegg hlióp undan síj>an met»Óláf, fled fromthere with Óláfr, son Tryggva konungs. son of King Tryggvi. Agrip adhered to the Norwegian tradition,which maintainedthat OT was three years old at the time of his father's death and thathe was sent away because of the civil war:27
17. En aftirfráfall hans Afterthe death [of Tryggvi],fled l>a flyl>iiEstriJ), er Tryggvi ^Estríor, whom Tryggvihad married haf])ifengit á Upplpndom, in [Norwegian] Uppland, away with the brauttil Orkneyia me{) Óláfi three-year-oldÓláfr, her and Tryggvi's trévetrom, son, syni sinom ok Tryggva. at forj>askbaejn fláraejn in order to escape danger fromboth the deceit Gunnhildarok suna hennarok of Gunnhildrand her sons, and Hókonar iarls, er pli kipposk '>á Hákon jarl, all of whom enn um Nóreg, pvíat eigi v$ro struggledwith one anotherfor I>a enn synirGunhildar af lífi Norway, since [at thattime] the sons of Gunnhildr teknir. had still not been killed. Ok kom hon til Orkneyia She [Astrior] arrivedin the Orkneys
25 On theCairn of Tryggvi, see Hkr,ed. Aöalbjarnarson,1:214, fh.2. 26 Agrip,ed. Jónsson,p. 13 = ed. Einarsson,p. 13. 27 Agrip,ed. Jónsson,p. 19 = ed. Einarsson,pp. 19-20. 16 OMELJANPRITSAK mej)J)rimr skipspgnom.28 withthree ships' crews. En mej)J)vi at eigi mattileynask Since itwas impossibleto hide hervoyage ferj)hennar ok martkunni til svika and manybetrayals could happen, gerask,f>a sendi hon barnit á she senther child with her [trusted] brautmej) manni |>eim, er sumir manwhom some call kallaPórólf lúsarskegg sumir Pórólfrlúsarskegg and others loj)skeggi,ok hafj)i hannbarnit á launungoá braut Lopskeggi,and he broughtthe child tilNóregs ok fluttimej) miklom [withhim] with great danger to òttatil SvíJ)ióJ)ar. Sweden. The Norwegianauthor of Agrip(and of theHistoria Norwegiae, as will be notedlater) uses the propername Hólmgarôr(= Novgorod)and also relatesthat the centerof the Estonianpirates was the island of Eysysla (Ösel/Saaremaa).29Ástríôr, of course,did not travelto Novgorod,and thereare no tracesof a piraticnovella of thehellenistic type containing only fantasticpersonal names:30 17 (cont.)Ok ór SvíJñóJ) Andfrom Sweden he [l>órólfr]intended vildihann fará til HólmgarJ)s, to fareto Hólmgarôr[Novgorod], since J)víatt>ar var nokkvot aetterni hans. there[there] was somekindred of his [OT's]. En J)ákv$mo Eistr at skipiJ)vi, Andthen the Ests raided the ship, er hannvar á, ok varsumt he [OT] was on her;some [passengers] drepitaf, en sumthertekit, werekilled and sometaken captive. fóstrihans drepinn, en hann His foster-fatherwas killed,and he [OT] hertekinnfyr ey J)eiri,er was takento theisland called heitirEysysla, en sifeanseldr Eysysla[Ösel] and therehe [OT] was í nauj). sold in bondage. From § 18 we learn that Oláfr was twelve years old when he was released from bondage and taken to Novgorod, where he was able to revenge the death of his foster-fatherÊórólfr:31 18. EnguJ),erjœtta ButGod, whohad chosenthat child bam hafj)ikosit til stórra hluta, forgreat deeds, stiltihonom til lausnar met) i>eim arrangedliberation in thismanner
28 See also HistoriaNorwegiae, ed. Storm,p. 111. 29 HistoriaNorwegiae , ed. Storm,p. 113. 30 Agrip,ed. Jónsson,p. 19 = ed. Einarsson,p. 20. On thetraces of a piraticnovella, see Lars Lönnroth,European Sources of Icelandic Saga Writing(Stockholm, 1965), pp. 17-18; see also L. Lönnroth,"Studier i Olaf TryggvasonsSaga," Samlaren84:54-94. Unfortunately,I cannotdeal withthose interesting problems here. 31 Agrip,ed. Jónsson,p. 20 = ed. Einarsson,p. 20. ÓLÁFRTR YGG V ASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 17 haetti,at maferkom til Estlandz in thata man came to Estland, sendimaj)rkonungs af Hólmgarjn, a legatus32(sendimaòr) from the king of er var sendr at taka skattaf Hólmgarôr[Novgorod] to gathertribute (skatt) landino ok var fraendibarnsins, fromthe land. He was a relativeof thechild; ok leystifraenda sinn ok haf^i he releasedhis relative[OT] and tookhim to til HólmgarJ)s,ok var hann [>ar Hólmgarôr[Novgorod]. He [OT] stayedthere umb hríj),svá at ekki var fora while,but not many people margramanna vitorj)á hans knewabout his [royal] aetterni. descent. En J)áer hann var XII. vetra Andwhen he was twelveyears gamall,33J)á gerj)isk svá til, at old ithappened that one day um dag nekkverná torgi,J)á at themarketplace (torg) he recognized kendi hann í hendi manni in thehand of a manthe ax whichhad 0xi J)á,er Êórólfrhafl>i haft, belongedto Pórólfr, ok leitaj)i eftiratburj)om, hvé and he inquiredabout the circumstances, honom hefj>isu 0x komit, in whichmanner he had obtainedthat ax. ok vari) af hins ansvorom sannfró{)r, Fromhis answers,he [OT] deduced at J>atvar baejn 0x fóstrahans boththat the ax was his foster-father'sand ok svá bani, ok tók 0xina ór thathe was his killer.And he [OT] hendi honom ok drap farm,er tookthe ax fromhis handsand slew J)angathafj)i, ok hefndi himwho brought it thither, svá fóstrasins. and [in thisway] he [OT] revenged his foster-father.
Anotheranonymous synoptichistory of the Norwegian kings- this one writtenin Latin- the Historia Norwegiae (or its Latin predecessor?), whose date of compositionis still the subject of scholarlydebate,34 draws upon the same type of Norwegian sources as does Ágrip. It contains the same infor- mationabout the age of OT in Novgorod:35 Hie cumesset circiter XII [= 12] annorum,in medioforo Holmgardiae paedagogum suumviriliter vindicavit, et inauditaultio vix deodennispueri illico auribusregiis intonuit;unde regi praesentatur, a quo demumfilius adoptatur. This time interval (twelve years), the traditional age of maturation, deserves to be taken seriously. Thus, Óláfr Tryggvason's favorite skald, Hallfr00rÓttarsson vandraeôaskáld (b. ca. 917; d. 1007), bears witness that his hero began his harryingexpeditions out from Novgorod when he was twelve years old. The testimonyin question is expressed in the poet's Óláfs
32 This is theLatin translation of theterm in theHistoria Norwegiae, ed. Storm,p. 113. 33 The designation"twelve" refers to OT's age whenhe arrivedin Novgorod. 34 See fn.23 above. ■" Historia Norwegiae, ed. Storm,p. 113. 18 OMELJANPRITSAK drapa, which was recitedin 996:36
1. Tolf vas elds at aldri Twelve years was ysetrshati vetra the arm who shuns hraustr{)ásherskip glaesti when he- the friendof the Hpröar- Hpröa vinrór Gpröum. launched his warship out of Garoar [Novgorod]. Whereas the Icelandic authorsare unsure whetherthe queen in Novgo- rod was Volodimer's mother or wife and give the queen the imaginary proper name of Allógíá, Ágrip gives her only the general designation of queen (dróttning):31
18 (cont.) EnJ)arvar There was there[in Novgorod] a great mannhelgrmikil ok miklar inviolabilityof person and a great finefor viflpgorvij) manz aftak, slaying a man. ok fekkharm f>at til ráf)s, And he [OT] foundan escape in running at harmhlióp á hald forthe queen's protection. drótningarinnar,ok me{) been And because of her request, hennarokaf J)vi,at and because of the boldness of the action hvatligtJx5tti vera verkitmanni of a man of 12 years of age, Xu. vetragpmlom at vinna, and because of thejustness ok af J)viat sannligJx5tti of the revenge,he [OT] then hefndinvera, J)á {)á harm received mercyfrom miskunnaf konunginom,ok the king. And fromthat time tók síj)an at vaxa vitorj) his renown startedgrowing, and of harmok svá metorl) also his esteem ok alt yfirlaeti. and all honor. En sigarier á lei]) á And aftersome time passed, he stundina,'>á var honom was given a retinue{lip) and fengitli)) ok skipastóll, a fleet, ok forharm baej)i á eitt and he [OT] farednow to one land ok pnnorlpnd ok land, now to anotherland, and heriafn,ok auko|x) flokkhans harried[there]. And soon his [OT's] bráttNor})menn ok Gautar host was increased withthe ok Danir, ok vann nú Norsemen,Gautar, and Danes. And now stórvirkiok afla{)i ser he was performinggreat deeds me|) J)vifragrar ok and in this way he [OT] procuredfor gó{)s orj)lags. himselfglory and good reports.
36 See O. Pritsak,The OriginofRus' vol. 1, Old ScandinavianSources other than the Sagas (Cambridge,Mass., 1981),p. 272. 37 Ágrip,ed. Jónsson,p. 20 = ed. Einarsson,pp. 20-21 . See also fh.66 below. ÓLÁFRTR YGG V ASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 19
Finally,the author of Ágripgives Óláfr'sage whenhe returnedto Nor- way as twenty-seven;it is possiblethat the figure was notthe result of his own reckoningbut was takendirectly from Ari 's authoritativework (see above,pp. 10- II):38 19 ... Harmhaffci vii. vetr He [OT] was 20 and 7 [27] yearsold ok XX., er hannkom í Nóreg, whenhe came to Norway, ok áj>eimv. vetrom, and for5 years er hannbar konungs nafn he borea king'stitle í Nóregi. in Norway.
1.6.
Althoughthe "IcelandicAnnals" were composedlate - accordingto their editor,Gustav Storm, in about 1280, in theSkalaholt bishopric - and their informationup to 1160 was based extensivelyon thesagas, their dates con- cerningÓláfr Tryggvason are of interestto us in ourstudy, especially since thelearned monks, following Ari's example,transformed the dates given in the relativechronology of theirsources into those of the ChristianEra. I limitmyself here to a few quotationsfrom the AnnalesRe gii (ca. 1300; hereafterAnn /?), the most important collection for the period in question:39 968. Drap Godrodarkonvngs Killingof KingGuöroör Bjamarson Biamarsonar ok Trygg[v]a and KingTryggvi Óláfsson. konvngsÓláfs sonar. Fòddr Birthof ÓláfrTryggvason. ÓláfrTrygg[v]a sonr. 971. ÓláfrTrygg[v]a sonr hertekinn ÓláfrTryggvason taken captive tilEstlanndz. in Estland. 977. ÓláfrTrygg[v]a sonr kom í ÓláfrTryggvason came to Garöariki. Garöariki[Novgorod]. 986. ÓláfrTrygg[v]a sonr ÓláfrTryggvason departed fórór Garöariki. fromGaröariki [Novgorod]. 993. ÓláfrTrygg[v]a sonr skirör ÓláfrTryggvason baptized in í Syllingvm. theIsles of Scilly. 995. Vpphafríkis Óláfs Trygg[v]a The beginningof thekingship of Óláfr sonarí Nóregi. Tryggvasonin Norway. 1000.Fall Óláfskonvngs Trygg[v]a The fallof KingÓláfr Tryggvason. sonar.
38 Agrip,ed. Jónsson,p. 22 = ed. Einarsson,p. 22. JV IslandskeAnnaler indtil 1578, ed. GustavStorm (Christiania, 1888), pp. 104-5. Concern- ingthe dependence of theIcelandic annals on thesagas, see Einarsdóttir,Studier, pp. 293 - 326. I do notdeal withthe chronology of OT's rulein Norwayhere since a specialstudy on that subjectexists: Bj0rn MagnussonOlsen, "Kronologiskebemaerkninger om Olaf Tryggvasons regeringshistorie,"Aarb0ger, 1878, pp. 1-58. 20 OMELJANPRITSAK
ILI.
Before analyzing the textsset forthin the previous section,it is necessary to elaborate on the methodologyapplied in a chronological study. Time is man's basic concept for marking the duration of conscious experience. It comprises the occurrences of events and the intervals between them.The events and the intervalstogether relate to both personal happeningsand to "public"- i.e., "historical"- ones.40 There are two systemsfor reckoning events. The firstis relativechronol- ogy, or what Olaria Einarsdóttircalls "popular chronology";41this has been universally used, since it is rooted in the cyclical thinkingof the non- abstracting mind. The second is absolute chronology, or what Olafia Einarsdóttircalls "learned chronology";42it is artificiallycreated afterthe human mind discovers the abstractlinear concept of time. Whereas in relative chronologydating is reckoned by time intervals("x years after/before/ since the event y"), in absolute chronology an abstract time scale is developed: i.e., individual years froma definitestarting point are numberedconsecutively and called an era. I preferthe term"relative chronology"to its synonym"popular chronol- ogy," since the notionof "popular" in thiscontext is usually associated with "the way in which the primitivepeoples calculated time."43 The use of "relative chronology" has never been restrictedto "primitive"peoples; on the contrary,it has been (and still is) the universallynatural way forall men to reckon the passage of time. Even today, we (including specialists in absolute chronology) usually say "x years elapsed after/before/ since the death/birth/ ascendence of y (kings, parents,children, pets, etc.)," "during the war of x," "x years afterwe moved to place y," etc. Only when it is necessary to present a "public," i.e., "official," version of private occurrencesdo those of us who live in societies using the linear concept of time in public life synchronizeour personal relative chronologywith abso- lute chronologyand use a time scale of our society, such as the Christian Common Era.
40 On chronology,see N. H. Nicolas, The Chronologyof History(London, 1838); F. K. Ginzel, Handbuch der mathematischenund technischenchronologie, 3 vols. (Leipzig, 1906-1914); M. P. Nilsson,Primitive Time-Reckoning. A Studyin the Originsand First Developmentof theArt of CountingTime among the Primitiveand Early CulturePeoples (Skrifterutgivna av HumanistiskaVetenskapssamfundet i Lund, 1) (Lund, 1920); J. F. Schroeter,Haandbog i ¡cronologi,2 vols. (Oslo, 1926). 41 Einarsdóttir,Studier, p. 143;folkelig kronologi, p. 349. 42 Einarsdóttir,Studier, p. 143; lœrdkronologi, p. 349. 43 Einarsdóttir,Studier, pp. 144,349. ÓLÁFRTR YGG V ASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 2 1
The featuretypical of relative chronology is its durability,based on the fact that each single segment (time interval) is perceived as a finished, independentunit. Its simple structure(e.g., "we lived x years in the city of y") makes it easy forhuman beings to retainand recall data at will. Every mentallyhealthy human being remembersto the end of his or her days the time intervalsbetween importantpersonal events as theyare dated in relative chronology. By contrast,even educated members of the most progressivesocieties who constantlyuse absolute dating in theirpublic life often make mistakes when they present events from theirpersonal life in termsof absolute chronology.
II.2.
The transitionfrom pre-Christian oral literatureto Christianwritten litera- - ture throughoutEurope - including Norway and Iceland made it neces- sary to synchronizethe simple time intervalsgiven in relative chronology with the Christian Era. In this effortthe great Icelandic scholars of the twelfthcentury, especially the foundingfathers of Old Icelandic historical science, SaemundrSigfússon inn froöi (1056-1133) and Ari I>orgilssoninn froöi (1067-1148), found supportin the absolutely dated events in the his- toryof the old Christiancenters (Rome, Constantinople),as well as in the historyof neighboringChristian countries, in particular,England. A quotationfrom Ari's íslendingabók illustratesthis:44 ... en Gizurrbyskup andaöisk J)remr Thus Bishop Gizurr died thirty days tegum later náttasíôarr í Skálaholtiá enum [afterPorlakr Rúnólfsson was made triôja his successor] in Skalaholt degi í viku
44 íslendingabók.Landnámabók, ed. (with notes) by Jakob Benediktsson{IF, 1, pt. 1) (Reykjavik,1968), pp. 25-26. 22 OMELJANPRITS AK sumar Alexius Grikkjakonungr; same summer,Alexius [Comnenus; August 15], J)áhafôihann emperorof the Greeks; at thattime he atta vetrens fjórôa tegar setitat stóli had occupied the throneat Constantinople - í Miklagaröi. forthirty-eight years [1081 1 1 18]. En tveimvetrum síôarr But two years thereafter,there was a varo aldamót. turnin the lunar cycle. l>a hoföu J>eirEysteinn Then Eysteinnand Sigurör had been ok Sigurör veritsjautján seventeenyears kings of Norway vetrkonungar í Norvegi [since 1103] eptirMagnus foöur sinn Óláfsson aftertheir father Magnus Óláfsson, Haraldssonar.Pat vas tuttugu son of Haraldr. It was 120 years vetrum ens annars hundraös eptirfali afterthe fall of Óláfs Tryggvasonar,en fimm Óláfr Tryggvason,250 years tegumens J)riöjahundraös afterthe slaying of eptirdráp Eadmundar Edmund, king of England, Englakonungs,en sextán vetrum and 516 years afterthe death ens sèttahundraös eptir of Pope Gregory[I; 590-604] andlát Gregóríus páfa, J)ess who, as is said, introducedChristendom es Kristnikom á England, in England. atj)ví es talites. En hann andaôisk á pöru But he [GregoryI] died in the second year ári konungadómsFóku of the reignof the [Byzantine] emperor keisara, fjórumvetrum ens Phocas [602-610], 604 years sjaunda hundraös eptirburö afterthe birthof Christaccording Krist at almannatali. to the common era. l>atverôr allt saman tuttugu That makes altogether ár ens tolftahundraös. 1120 years.45
II.3.
In analyzing the placement and structureof the time intervalsin the relative chronologyoccurring in the above-quoted passages, it becomes clear that some are repeated in several texts,whereas othersare omitted.From this we
45 "The threeyears 870, 1000,and 1120 in the'Book of theIcelanders' [úlendingabók] thus appearto havebeen chosen for arithmetical reasons as thenearest round years after the dates of thethree principal events of theBook [of the Icelanders]:the firstsettlement of Iceland,the introductionof Christianity,and BishopGissur [=Gizurr] Isleifsson's death. None of thethree eventswhich Ari has attacheddirectly to theseyears - the murderof King Edmundin 870, OlafTryggvason 's fallin 1000,and theend of a lunarcycle in 1120 - belongto thehistory of Iceland; but Ari has endeavoredto attachto the threeyears events known to his readers." Einarsdóttir,Studier, p. 345. ÓLÁFR TRYGGVASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 23 can deduce that time intervalscan be extractedfrom the texts and studied separately. In additionto the time intervals,there are also summations,which can be either partial (e.g., OT was nine years old [=3 + 6] when he arrived in Novgorod), or general (e.g., OT was twenty-sevenyears old when he became king of Norway). The partial summationmay or may not be a pro- duct of the original source, whereas the general summationis made by the compilers. Keeping thisin mind,one arrivesat two startingpoints and at the follow- - ing inventoryof nine time intervalsand six summations threepartial and threegeneral: StartingPoints A. OT was threeyears old when his fatherwas killed (Ágrip); B. OT was born posthumously(*Ari46 > Oddr, Hkr, OsTm).
Inventoryof Time Intervals 1. OT *born after his father's death,47spent one year with his maternal grandfather(*Ari > Oddr, Hkr, OsTm); 2. OT stayed two years with Hákon gamli in Sweden (*Ari > OsTm, Oddr, Hkr, OsTm); 3. OT spent six years in Estnish captivity (*Ari [> OsTm], Oddr, Hkr, OsTm); 4. OT resided in Garör/Garöarikifor nine years (Hkr, OsTm); 5. OT spentthree years in Wendland (Oddr, Hkr, OsTm); 6. OT harriedin the NorthSea fornine years (Oddr); 7. OT was active in the BritishIsles for four years, untilhis baptism on the Isles of Scilly (Hkr, OsTm; cf. Orkn4*); 8. *OT was active in the BritishIsles for two years afterhis baptism (Ann R);49
46 The asteriskbefore Ari' s nameindicates that this is quotedfrom Oddr' s OsT ratherthan fromthe original work by Ari, which has notcome down to us. 4/ The notionthat OT was bornafter his father'sdeath was subsequentlyadded by clericsto thesimple time interval. 4* Orkneyingasaga, ed. FinnbogiGuömundsson (IF 34) (Reykjavik,1965), p. 25: "Oluff Trygges0nvaar fire Aar udi Kriigi Vesterlandene,effterat hand kam fra Vindland. . . ." [Óláfr Tryggvasonspent four years looting in theBritish Isles, after his returnfrom Wendland. . . .]. 4V The AnnR (and otherannals) had alreadysynchronized the data of the intervals,so that thereone findsa.D. 993 as thedate of OT's baptismand 995 as thatof his returnto Norway.Cf. p. 19. 24 OMELJANPRITSAK
9. OT was king of Norway for five years (Theodoricus,50Ágrip, Oddr, Ann R; cf. Kristnisaga51).
Inventoryof Summations a) Partial I. OT was threeyears old (1 + 2) when he left Hákon gamli and was cap- turedby the Ests (Hkr, OsTm, Ann R); II. OT was twelve years old (10 + 2) when he arrived in Garör/Novgorod (Ágrip; cf. Historia Norwegiae and the skald Hallfr00rÓttarsson);52 Ila. OT was eight years old in 975 when he leftEstland; he stayed for two years withHákon gamli and forsix years in Estland (*Ari > OsTm); lib. OT was seven years old in 975 (OsTm); He. OT was nine years old when he arrived in Garör/Novgorod (Hkr, OsTm, Ann R); III. OT was eighteen(9 + 9) years old when he leftGarör (Ann R). b) General IV. OT was twenty-fiveyears old when he was baptized (Hkr, OsTm, Ann *); V. OT was twenty-sevenyears old when he became king of Norway (*Ari > Oddr; Ágrip,Ann R); Va. OT was thirty-twoyears old when he became king of Norway (Oddr); VI. OT was killed in the year 1000, afterfive years of rule in Norway (Ari, Islendingabók;Ann R; cf. Theodoricus and Adam of Bremen).53
III. 1.
The firstquestion to be solved is: was OT born afterhis father's death or was he threeyears old when his fatherwas slain?
50 Theodoricuswas a Norwegianmonk who, ca. 1180, wrotein Latinthe synopticHistoria de antiquitateregwn Norwagiensium. On thiswork, see AnneHoltsmark, "Historia de antiqui- tateregum Norvagensium," KHL, 6 (1961), cols. 583-85. Theodoricus's workwas publishedby G. Stormin his Monumentahistórica Norvegiae, vol. 1 (Christiania,1880), pp. 3-68; thepassage in questionis on p. 23: "De morteOlavi filii Tryggva.Quinto ergo anno regni Olavi filiiTryggva, qui et ultimusfuit. . . ." 51 On Kristnisagaby StarlaPoröarson (1214-1284), see Magnus Mar Lárusson,KHL, 9 (1964), col. 356. I am quotingfrom the editionby Guöni Jónsson,Islendinga sögur, vol. 1 (Reykjavik,1953), p. 273: "I>á haföihann [OT] veritkonungr at Nóregifimm vetr" [then he was kingover Norway for five years]. 52 See above,p. 17. 53 Adam of Bremen,Gesta Hammaburgeneis ecclesiae Pontificum(ca. 1073-1076), ed. WernerTrillmich and RudolfBuchner, in Quellendes 9. und11. Jahrhundertszur Geschichte derHamburgischen Kirche und des Reiches(Berlin [1961]), p. 276. ÓLÁFR TRYGGVASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 25
All Icelandic works relate the firstvariant; only the Norwegian Ágrip relates the second. This is not the only instance when the summation, despite its brevity,either has more informationthan the Icelandic sagas or presentstwo versions- one Icelandic and one Norwegian- of one event. A featuretypical of the Icelandic presentationis its hagiographiecharac- ter.One can but agree withJames E. Knirkthat thehistorical distortion was strengthenedby literaryefforts in Icelandwhere clerical circlesmay have wantedthis "Apostle of theNorth" [OT] to be theirpatron saint. AlthoughOddr [thefirst Icelandic biographer of OT- O.P.] concedesin his prolo- gue thathis protagonistwas nevercanonized, the work has hagiographietrappings, blendingbiblical and legendarymaterial with fairy-tale motifs, romance, and heroic legend.The tale of Astriör'sflight with the infant Óláfr parallels the flight of Mary and Josephwith the baby Jesus,while the queen motherGunnhilldr's pursuit is a realizationof the "evil stepmothers"of folklore.54 One can also accept Arkadij LjaSoenko's suggestion that Oddr's saga was inspired by the sagas of St. Óláfr, that is, like Óláfr Haraldsson (St. Óláfr),55the hero was made to be a posthumous child. There is no legiti- mate reason to doubt thatthe Old Norwegian traditionof OT persevered in the twelfthcentury. The Old Norwegian historicalwork Ágrip is superiorto the later (12th- 13th cen.) Icelandic traditionand its hagiographie recast- ings. OT was apparentlyborn at the home of his maternalgrandfather Eirikr at Oprostaöir in Jaöarr.56The surname bjóôaskalli would indicate that Eirikr was originally from *Bjóôar in Southern Hçrô aland. This hypothesis,expressed by Erik Henrik Lind,57 is corroboratedin a skaldic strophe (quoted above) in which the special relationship of OT to Hçrôaland is expressed: there he is called Hçrôavinr 'friend of the Hcröar'.58 Three years later, Tryggvi Óláfsson, OT's father, was killed near Sótanes in Ranriki; he had ruled over both Ranriki and Vingulmprk.59Here, again, thereis no reason to doubt thatthe slayers of Tryggviwere his own yeomen,as Ágrip noted.
54 Knirk,Oratory in theKings' Sagas, p. 172. 55 LjaSèenko,"Sana," p. 15. 56 The compilersof theOsT had theinformation that OT was sentto theNorwegian Uppland to live withhis grandfather,who was namedEirikr a Oprostoöum.From this they- being Icelanders- deduced(incorrectly!) that Oprostaöir was locatedin Uppland. 57 See Aöalbjarnarson'scommentary, Hkr 1 (IF 26): 225. 38 See Hallfr00rOttarsson's Oláfs drapa, on p. 17 above. 59 See Hkr,ed. Aöalbjarnarson,1 (IF 26), p. 151: "Tryggvagaf harmRanriki ok Vingul- mork"[He (HákonAöalsteinfostri) gave to TryggviRanriki and Vingulmork]. 26 OMELJANPRITSAK
That slaying occurred during an uneasy time. Hákon Aöalsteinsfostri, king of Norway, died;60 his place was taken by the sons of his brother Eirikrand theirmother Gunnhilldr, the daughterof the Danish king Gormr. She was able to enlist the militarysupport of her brother,the Danish king Haraldr blátçnn Gormsson. There can be no doubt that some groups opposed the new rulers. This kind of dislike is manifest in the tradition preservedby the Icelandic hagiographieschool in Pingeyrar,which spiced it up a bit. As a result, Gunnhilldrreceived "special treatment"in the Ice- landic sagas. As statedby Halvdan Koht: The Icelandicfamily sagas give us fromthis period of her[Gunnhilldr' s] lifea pic- tureof an amorousold woman,preferring, of course,Icelanders as herlovers, and usingher witchcraft to preventthem from deceiving her. The Kings' Sagas continue to representher as a mostwicked-minded woman who incitesher sons to killoff all local chieftains,their rivals.61
It seems, then, that Eirikr bjóôaskalli had good reason to leave the westerncoast and to finda quieter atmospherein the Norwegian Uppland at Skaun (modern Stange),62east of the lake Mjç>rs.There, the child OT spent his firstyear. Next, Eirikr sent his grandson to his friend Hákon gamli in Sweden, where OT stayed for two years;63the lattertime period was already known to Ari inn fróôi.64 By then, OT was already six years old, and it was decided to take him to his relativein Hólmgarôr (Novgorod). This analysis shows thatone must follow time intervals1 and 2, as well as summationI, thoughwith the dating of OT's birthto follow the death of his fatherexcluded as a possibility. The next time interval(no. 3), the six years of OT's captivity,confirms the above computation, since several sources (among them a skaldic strophe)independently confirm that OT was twelve years old when he came to Novgorod. And, since he stayed therefor nine years (time interval4), he musthave leftNovgorod at the age of twenty-oneyears.
60 To accommodatethe dating of OT's birthto followthe death of his father,the Icelandic clericsseparated two eventswhich happened in the same year:the fall of King Hákon (for whichAnn R has thedate 960; see IslandskeAnnaler indtil 1578, ed. Storm,p. 104) and thefall of TryggviÓláfsson (for which Ann R has thedate 968; ibid.).But Ágrip puts the fall of King Hákonand that of Tryggvi in thesame chapter (chap. 9; ed. Jónsson,pp. 12- 13). 01 HalvdanKoht, The Old NorseSagas (New York,1931), p. 125. 62 See Aöalbjarnarsson'sexplanations in his indexto IF 26 (Hkr 1), p. 398a, s.v. "Skaun, austanfjalls í Noregi." 63 It was an Old Norsecustom to sendyoung boys to staywith grandparents and withfriends of grandparents;see PeterGodfrey Foote and David M. Wilson,The VikingAchievement (Lon- don,1970), p. 116. 64 Seem. 13. ÓLÁFR TRYGGVASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 27
III.2.
We nowreach the point at whichit is possibleto synchronizethe data of the Old Norse relativechronology with those of the Old Rus' sourcesand, throughthem, with the common era. OT musthave come to Novgorodbefore A.M. 6485 (A.D. 977). In that yearVolodimer (Valdimarr) of Novgorodwas forcedto flee"beyond the sea," since his older brother,Jaropolk, had assumedall sovereigntyand becomethe sole rulerof Rus'.65 But theterminus ante quern for OT's arrivalin Rus' musthave been the year969, sinceVolodimer's "mother" (actually, grandmother) Ol'ga,66 who tookOT underher protection, died on 11 July969.67 The arithmeticalequa- tionis 977 - 9 = 968. Althoughthe Povësf vremennyxlet notesthat Svja- toslavdivided his realm among his sonsofficially only in 6478/970,68the de facto division must have taken place in 6475/967, when Svjatoslav
65 See the Old Rus' PrimaryChronicle, Povësf vremennyxlet (hereafterPVL), ed. D. S. Lixaöev,vol. 1,pp. 53-54. 66 As statedabove (p. 18),Agrip mentions only one olderfemale ruler in Novgorod.He does not give her name,since it remainedunknown in the Old Norwegiantradition. Thus, Agrip simplycalls herdróttning 'queen' {Ágrip,ed. Jónsson,p. 20 = Einarsson,p. 20). Oddr,on the otherhand, needed a clairvoyantperson who wouldforetell the birth of thefuture "Baptizer" of Norwayand Iceland.Hence, from the dróttning of thetradition, he createdtwo personages: one becamethe nameless clairvoyant mother of Valdamarr{OsT, ed. Jónsson,p. 20); theother was styledas Allógíá, Valdamarr'sdróttning {OsT, ed. Jónsson,p. 23). The "rationalistically minded"Snorri rejected the story of the clairvoyant mother; he refersto onlyone dróttning,but he calls herAllógíá, thename created by Oddr{Hier, ed. Aöalbjarnarson,1:231). Gunnlaugr Leifssonor theeditor of the OsTm or both,while retaining Oddr' s dichotomization,represented Allógíá as Valdamarr'swife {kona; OsTm, ed. Halldórsson,1: 80). The Old Norsetradition regarded the dróttning of Novgorodas "thewisest of all women" {allra kuinnavitrost; see Oddr,OsT, ed. Jónsson,p. 27). Thischaracterization is very similar to thedescription of Ol'ga in thePVL: bë mudrëjSivsëx èelovëk [she was thewisest of all human beings]{PVL, ed. Lixaöev,1: 75, s.a. 987). I concurwith scholars who identifythe dróttning of Novgorodof theOld Norsetradition with Ol'ga: e.g., Friedrich(Fëdor A.) Braun,"Das histor- ischeRussland im nordischenSchrifttum des X-XIV. Jahrhunderts,"Festschrift Eugen Mogk (Halle a.d. Saale, 1924), pp. 176-78; LjaSöenko,"Sana," pp. 16-21; Elena A. Rydzevskaja, "Legenda o knjaze Vladimirev sage ob Olafe Trjuggvasone,"Trudy Otdela drevneruskoj literaturyAN SSSR (hereafterTODRL), 2 (1935): 13; Gordon,Olafssaga, p. 70. But any attemptsto compareetymologically the name Ol'ga (< Old Norse,Helga) withAllógíá (see, e.g., Braun, "Das historischeRussland") must be rejected,since Allógíá was artificially created- alongwith other exotic names like Klerkon, Klerkr, Reas, Recon- by Oddrto fitthe tenorof his piraticnovella. 0/ See D. S. Lixaöev's commentaryto his editionof thePVL, 2: 315. I mustdisagree with Gordon'sstatement: "Ich haltediese ganze Geschichtevon dem AufenthaltOlafs in Russland füreine Verwechslungmit der Geschichtevon dem AufenthaltMagnus des Gutenin Russ- " land {Olafssaga,pp. 72-73). 68 PVL, ed. Lixaöev,1:49-50; Eng. trans.:Samuel H. Cross,The RussianPrimary Chroni- cle: LaurentianText (Cambridge, Mass., 1973),p. 87. 28 OMELJANPRITSAK embarked on his complicated and lengthyBulgarian campaign.69There is no serious reason to doubt thatVolodimer was already residing in Novgo- rod in 968. This means thatOT's stay in Rus' must be dated between 968 and 977. That result leads us to the determinationof OT's year of birth.Since - as we have seen- he was twelve years old when he arrived in Novgorod, he musthave been born in 956 (968 - 12 = 956). Three years later, in 959, the sons of Eirflerand Gunnhilldr,led by Haraldr gráfeldr,came to power in Norway. OT's father,Tryggvi Óláfsson, was killed in that crucial year, when- according to Ágrip- OT was three years old (startingpoint A). The next time interval(no. 5) is the three-yearperiod thatOT spent "in Wendland." The durationof threeyears (977-980) is significantbecause it corresponds to the number of years (three) that Volodimer of Novgorod, foster-fatherof OT, was forcedto spend in exile.70One can assume thatOT and Volodimer went abroad togetherto findrefuge.
III.3.
Where would they go? At thattime, the Old Norse termVin ôland referred to the territoriesruled by the West Slavonic princes. Our knowledge of the political situation in the territorieseast of the river Elbe is limited. Nevertheless,it is possible to presenta general overview. In the last decades of the tenthcentury, there were essentiallyfive Wend- ish political centers. The most westernmaritime territory (later easternHolstein) was ruled by the princes of Wagria, who separated fromthe Obotritiin about the middle of the tenthcentury. Their capital was Stargard/Aldinburg (modern Olden- burg in Holstein), which in 968 became the firstbishop's see in Wend- land.71 The territoryeast of Wagria, between the middle Elbe and the eastern part of the Lübecker Bucht, was ruled by the Obotriti.Their capital was the twincity of Michelenburg-Zuarina(modern Mecklenburg-Schwerin).72
69 PVL, ed. Lixacev,1:47-48 (s.a. 6475 and6476); Eng.trans.: Cross, pp. 84-85. 70 Symptomatically,the years6486/978 and 6487/979 are markedin the PVL as "empty years":V lito 6486. v lito 6487 (ed. Lixacev,1: 54). Onlyunder s.a. 6488/980does thereoccur thestory of Volodimer's returnto Rus'. 71 See JerzyStrzelczyk, "Wagria, Wagrowie,"555 6 (1977): 293-96; idem, "Stargard wagryjski,"SSS 5 (1975): 395-99. 72 See GerardLabuda, "Obodrzyce,"SSS 1 (1968): 440-41; idem,"Zwjazek obodrzycki," SSS 7, pt. 1 (1982): 180-91; JerzyNalepa, "Mechlin (Mecklenburg),"SSS 3, pt. 1 (1967): 188-89; Lech Leciejewica,"Swarzyn (niem. Schwerin)," 555 5 (1975): 495 -96. ÓLÁFR TRYGGVASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 29
Between the territoryof the Obotritiand the Oder River lived the Weletabi/Wilzi,who werethen ruled by princesof thetribe of Stodorani. Theircenter was thetown of Brenna(later Brandenburg).73 Situatedon an islandat themouth of theOder was thecity-republic of Volin/Jumne(Old Norse,Jóm), then the greatestcity in the westernBal- tic,74with approximately10,000 inhabitants.75Volin symbolizedthe "Varangians,"as Constantinopledid the"Greeks," in thedesignation "the routefrom the Varangiansto the Greeks."76Both Novgorodand Kiev becameimportant because theywere located along the route from Volin to Constantinople. Around960, Mesico/Dagone77(= Dag-r) iudex(963-992), theprince of Gniezno(located at thebasin of theriver Warthe, the eastern tributary of the Oder), began organizinghis realm,which would laterbe knownas Poland.78 Two Wendishrulers of thatperiod had close dynasticties with the Scan- dinaviankings: Mistavoj, the ruler of the Obotriti(ca. 967-990), was the fatherof Tófa, who was marriedto the Danish kingHaraldr blátçnn (ca. 945-984; d. 986). We knowthis from her runic stone inscription.79 On theother hand, the famous Sigríôr in stórráõawas thedaughter of Mesico.80During the period under discussion, she was wed to theking of
73 Gerard Labuda, "Wieleci," SSS 6 (1977): 430-36; Jerzy Strzelczyk,"Stodoranie (Hawolanie),"555 5 (1975): 420-23. 74 - See Adamof Bremen(ca. 1073 1076): ". . . nobilissimacivitas Iumne celeberrimam pres- tat stacionemBarbaris et Grecis,qui suntin circuita Est sane maximaomnium, quas Europa claudit,civitatum, quam incoluntSciavi cum aliis gentibus,Grecis et Barbaris Urbs ilia mercibusomnium septentrionalium nationum locuples nihil not habetiocundi aut rari";Gesta, ed. W. Trillmichand R. Büchner(Berlin, 1961), p. 252. 75 See Lech Lecieiewicz."Wolin. eród i wvsDa" SSS 6 H977Ì: 561-64. eso. d. 562b. 76 Therewas communicationby boat betweenVolin (Jumne)and Novgorod;the passage took fourteendays. The informationis providedby Adam of Bremen:". . . Ab ipsa urbe [Jumne]vela tendesXIIII cimo die ascendesad OstrogardRuzziae [= Novgorod],"Gesta, ed. Trillmichand Büchner,p. 254. Cf. Pritsak,The Origin of Rus', vol. 1,p. 220. " Dagome is a scribalerror from *Dago-ne. Scholarly literature on thesubject was givenby BrygidaKürbisówna, "Dagome iudex,"555 1 (1962): 311-12. See, especially,R. Holtzmann, "Böhmenund Polen im 10. Jahrhundert,"Zeitschrift des Vereinsfür Geschichteund Altertum Schlesiens(Breslau), 52 (1918): 18-36. 78 The originof Mesico/Dagr (963-992) is stilla mystery.His "Slavic" (Piast) genealogy, whichoccurs first in the chronicleof the so-calledGallus (ca. 1112-1116), is certainlyan artificialconstruct. 79 S0nderVissing I, Tyrstinghd., Arhusamt. Danmarks Runeindskrifter, éd. Lis Jacobsen andErik Moltke (Copenhagen, 1942), no. 55. 80 The princesswho marriedfirst Eirikr inn sigrssli and later Sveinn tjúguskeggwas undoubtedlythe daughterof Mesico/Dagr; she was also the unnamedsister of the Polish Bolesiaw I (992- 1025), sincethe contemporary writer Thietmar of Merseburgclearly testified (ca. 1013-1014) to that:"Hos [Haraldr,1014-1018, and Canute the Great, 1014-1035] peperitei Miseconisfilia ducis, sororBolizlavi successoriseius et nati" (Chronicon,ed. R. 30 OMELJANPRITSAK
Uppsala, Eiríkr inn sigrsaeli(ca. 957-995); her second husband was the Danish king Sveinn tjuguskegg(984-1014). The sagas on OT name anotherWendish king, Búrizláfr,who had three daughters;one of these (Geira) was taken as a wife by OT himself.81 Who was this Búrizláfr? Some scholars have tried to identifyhim as Mesico's son Boleslaw,82 but thisattempt should be rejected. Boleslaw was born in 967;83 only ten years of age by 977, he could hardly have had a daughterwho was thenof marriageableage. The Landnamabók contains a strange genealogical entry dated to the reign of the king of Uppsala, Eiríkr inn sigrsaeli.It is so odd thatartificial constructionis most unlikely; some veritymust lie behind it. The text runs as follows:84
Gormrrhét hersirágaetr í Sví{)jóo ; There was a famous man in Sweden hann áttiI>óru, dóttur Eiríks called Gormr.He marriedl>ora, daughter konungs at Uppsolum. Porgils hét of Eiríkr,king of Uppsala. They had
Holtzmannand W. Trillmich[Berlin, 1957]), p. 396. The Old Norsetradition, however, calls herSigriör in stórráoaand claimsthat she was the daughterof the famousSwedish VikingSkoglar-Tósti (see, e.g., Hkr, ed. Aöalbjarnarson, 1:215). Since thepublication of J. Steenstrup's Venderne og de Danske (Copenhagen,1900), p. 65, scholarshave rejectedthe Old Norse tradition;see GerardLabuda, "Swietoslawa,Sygryda Storráda,Syritha," 555 5 (1975): 588-89. It seems to me thatit is possibleto finda compromisesolution. Sigriör was Mesico's daughter,born before 966, by a previousmarriage (in 966 he married- forpolitical reasons - theCzech princessDobrava). Mesico's firstwife was Skoglar-Tósti'sdaughter; since after 966 Sigriörlived withher grandfather, the Old Norsetradition, which did notremember Mesico, made thegrandfather the father. The Swedishroots and Danish careerof Skoglar-Tósti,who tookDanegeld in Englandin 991 (see Pritsak,The Originof Rus', vol. 1, pp. 343, 392), would explainSigriör's choice of husbands(a Swede and a Dane), which,for a Polish princess withoutScandinavian connections, cannot be explained. Sigriörwas a contemporaryof OT and was probablyalso bornin 956, i.e., tenyears before herfather's second marriage. Mesico, whose career as a rulerwas firstnoted in 963, musthave beenborn ca. 935. If he marriedSigriör's mother in 955, whenshe was probablyabout fifteen yearsold, she would,therefore, have been born ca. 940. We can thenassume that Skoglar-Tósti was bornbetween 920 and925; sincehe diedabout 991 , thatwould mean he had livedapproxi- matelyseventy years, not an unusualage forthe time. 81 I see no reasonto rejectthis tradition. Oit See, e.g., Aöalbjarnarsonin nis note i to wer, i:z33. ine name Burmajr, nowever, reflectsthe Slavonic *Borislav; note, e.g., thename of theGalician Ukrainian town Boryslav (< personalname). 83 See OswaldBalzer, Genealogia Piastów (Cracow, 1895), pp. 37-43. *» Landnamabók,ed. JakobBenediktsson, pt. 2 {It 1:2) (Reykjavik,lVo»), p. 23o. mis genealogywas also includedin the OsTm; see ed. Halldórsson,vol. 2 (Copenhagen,1961), p. 180. As partoiPattr Suada ok ArnorsKellingarnefs, it is to be foundin Flat, ed. Ungerand Vigfusson,1:436, and in ¡slendingasögur, ed. Guöni Jónsson,vol. 8 (Reykjavik,1953), p. 340. ÓLÁFRTRYGGV ASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 31 son Êeira, a son calledÊorgils, hannátti Elín, dóttur Burisláf s whomarried Elín, daughter of Burisláfr, konungsór Goröum austan ok kingof Garöar in theeast, and Ingigeröar,systur Dagstyggs Ingigerör,sister of Dagstyggr, risakonungs. theking of thegiants. Burisláfr(= Búrizláfr) is styledhere as "konungrór Gçrôum," or "king of Garöar." Usually, Garöar is used in the Old Norse sagas to designate Kievan Rus', but it is a "movable term,"and was originallyused forFrisian Dorestad, the firstgreat city encounteredby the Norse Vikings.85I submit that in the text above Garöar stands for the maritime center Stargard (modern Oldenburg in Holstein), the capital of Wagria. It seems that Garöar = Stargard occurs in the extant Hrómundar saga, which mentions King Óláfr who ruled over Garöar in Denmark (sá konungr ré 6 fyrir Göröum i Danmörk, er Óláfr hét).S6 Stargard, as the center of Christian Holstein, came under Danish sovereigntyduring the last decades of the twelfthcentury.87 Burisláfr of Stargardin Wagria must have been a Chris- tian since in 968, as mentionedabove, the firstWendish bishopricwas esta- blished in his city.88 The name of his daughter Elín is certainlya version of the Christian Helen. Dagstyggras a personal name is rare in Old Norse, yet two persons with that name appear in the Sturlunga saga." The name is composed of two elements, the well-known personal name Dagr and the appellative styggr. An Icelandic-English Dictionary explains the compound as "day-shy,shun- ning light."90 Mesico appears (as mentioned above) as Dagone (= Dagome) iudex in his famous donation charterto St. Peter, circa 990. Although this designa- tion has been interpreteddifferently, it would seem- and our passage from the Landnamabók confirmsthe notion- thatDagone is a Latinized formof the Old Norse Dag-r.91 Mesico/ Dagone, rex of the "Sclavie qui dicuntur
85 See Pritsak,The Origin of Rus', vol. 1, pp. 177,231. 86 See Pritsak,The Origin of Rus', vol. 1, p. 140. 87 See Strzelczyk,"Stargard wagryjski," SSS 5 (1975): 395-99. 88 See Adamof Bremen,Gesta, ed. Trillmichand Büchner,pp. 244, 246; Helmoldof Bosau, ChronicaSlavorum (ca. 1163- 1172), ed. HeinzStoob (Darmstadt, 1963), pp. 66, 68. 07 bee the index in uuoni Jónssons editionoi òturlungasaga: Annularog nafnskrá (Reykjavik,1953), p. 224a: DagstyggrJónsson and DagstyggrI>óro arson. w An Icelandic-EnglishDictionary, by R. Cleasby,G. Vigfusson,and W. A. Craigie,2nd ed. (Oxford,1957; reprinted1969), p. 601a. 91 See Holtzmann,"Böhmen und Polen" (m. 77); AlbertBrachmann, "Die Anfängedes pol- nischenStaates," in GesammelteAufsätze (Weimar, 1941), pp. 159-61; UlrichNoack, Nor- discheFrühgeschichte und Wikingerzeit (Munich, 1941), p. 283. 32 OMELJANPRITSAK
Licicaviki" appears suddenly in 96392 as a very sophisticated politician, uniting large territoriesunder his sway. This extraordinarytalent would meritthe surname"the king of the giants." It is reasonable, therefore,to hypothesize that Ingigerör, the wife of Burisláfrof Wagria, was the sisterof Mesico/Dagr of Poland. The clan of Mesico held marital ties with other Slavic dynasties; Mesico himself was married in 965 to Dobrava, the daughter of the Czech prince Boleslav I (935-971); theirson Bolestaw took for a wife, in 987, the Wendish (Obo- triti?)princess Emenilde.93The two clans also had in common their"Swed- ish connection" (see above, p. 24). It is also hardlya coincidence thatthe rulers of both the Wagri and the Poles firstappear on the historical scene at approximatelythe same time (between 950 and 960). Most likely,they initiated their actions jointly. Two other circumstancescorroborate that OT's Wendland was one of the Baltic Slavic lands. The firstis OT's and Búrizláfr's involvementin the affairsof Jomsborg,94which suggests the nearness of theiroperational base to thatcity. The second is Volodimer/Valdemarr' s genealogy. The Povësf vremennyxlet clearly states that his maternal grandfatherwas a certain MaT'k" Ljubeéanin, i.e., Mal"k" fromLjubeka,95 the Obotritiport town, latercalled Lübeck in German.
92 The contemporarywitness was Widukindof Corvey,who wrotehis Rerumgestarum Sax- onicarumin 967/968; see the editionby AlbertBauer and ReinholdRau, Quellen zur Geschichteder sächsischenKaiserzeit (Darmstadt, 1971), pp. 170, 172, 174. The nameLici- cavikihas remaineda puzzle; see GerardLabuda and StanislawUrbañczyk, "Licicaviki," 555 3,pt. 1 (1967): 56. 93 Balzer, Genealogia Piastów, pp. 38-43; Halina Modrzewska,"Dabrówka," 555 1 (1962): 44; idem,"Emnilda," 555 1 (1962): 454. 94 I cannotdwell on theproblem of Jómsvíkingar here. 95 PVL, vol. 1, ed. Lixaöev, p. 49 (s.a. 970): "Volodimer"bo bè ot" Malusi kljucnicé Ol'ziny;sestra 2e bè Dobryn",otee' ze bë ima Mal"k" Ljubeöanin",i bè Dobrynauj Volodi- meru"[For Volodimer was theson of Malusa,the housekeeper of Ol'ga; she also was thesister of Dobrynja:their father was Mal"k" Ljubeèani(=of Ljubeka),and Dobrynjawas thusthe uncleof Volodimer].As provenby AleksejA. Saxmatov,Malusa was thederived form of the Old Norsepersonal name Málmfríôr, according to thePVLy MaT'frëd' (< Malmfnör)died in 1000 (ed. Lixaöev,vol. 1, p. 88). See Saxmatov,Razyskanija o drevneßixrusskix letopisnyx svodax (St. Petersburg,1908), pp. 375-77. Interestinglyenough, Volodimer's great-great- great-grandsonHaraldr-Mstislav, who married Kristin, the daughter of theSwedish king Ingi I, namedone of his daughtersMálmfríôr; she was marriedto the Norwegianking Sigurör JórsalafariMagnússon; see Snorri,Hkr 3 (IF 28), ed. Aöalbjarnarson(Reykjavik, 1951), p. 258. ÓLÁFR TRYGGVASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 33
The conclusion to be drawn fromthis investigationis thatboth OT and Volodimer foundrefuge in the lands of the Wagri-Obotriti.
III.4.
Having hired a sufficientnumber of Varangian mercenaries, Volodimer returnedto Rus' in 980 and wrestedpower fromJaropolk.96 But, for some unknown reason, Óláfr did not accompany his former foster-father.97 Indeed, he quit the Baltic Sea altogetherand began his harryingcareer on the southernshores of the NorthSea.98 His skald Hallfr0ôrÓttarsson names at thisjuncture the lands of Saxony, Frisia, and Flanders.99Time interval6 - gives the figureof nine years for the durationof thatactivity i.e., OT har- ried in the NorthSea between 981 and 989. He then transferredhis activityto the BritishIsles, in particularto Eng- land, where he was active for fouryears priorto his baptism on the Isles of Scilly (time interval7; i.e., 989-993) and two years thereafter(time inter- val 8; 993-995). OTs activityin England, well-documentedin the English sources, has been sufficientlyresearched, so I shall not dwell on it here.100 In 995 OT returnedto Norway to rule as king;101five years later (time interval9; the year 1000) he was killed in a battle against the united fleets of the kings of Denmark and Sweden. Born in the year 956, OT was forty-fourwhen he died. This computation can be corroboratedif one totals summationI and all nine time intervals: 3 + (1+2 + 6 + 9 + 3 + 9 + 4 + 2 + 5) = 44.
IV.
In addition to establishing a chronology for the pre-royalperiod of OT's life, and, in particular,to determiningthe year of his birth,this study has yielded some results which, it is hoped, can be applied generally to saga studies.These resultsare the following:
96 PVL, ed. Lixaöev,vol. 1, pp. 54-56; Eng. trans.:Cross, pp. 178-80. 97 I havemade some suggestions regarding this in TheOrigin ofRus', vol. 2 (in preparation). 98 Accordingto thePingeyrar hagiographers (Oddr et al.), OT did returnto Rus' to play the decisiverole in thatland's conversionto Christianity.But that supposed activity of OT, likehis encountersafter his physicaldeath in theS void battle(a.D. 1000),are notthe subject of histori- cal inquiry.On thissee Lja&tenko,Saha, esp. pp. 9-10, and Elena A. Rydzevskaja,"Legenda o knjazeVladimere v sage ob OlafeTrjuggvasone," TODRL 2 (1935), esp. pp. 13-18. 99 "Óláfsdrapa(996)," strophes6-7, ed. FinnurJónsson, Den Norsk-IslandskeSkjaldedigt- ning,vol. 1, pt. A, Tekstefter Hdndskrifterne (Copenhagen, 1908), pp. 157-58 = ErnstA. Kock, Den norsk-isländskaskaldediktningen, vol. 1 (Lund, 1946), p. 81. 100 See Sir FrankStenton, Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd ed. (Oxford,1971), pp. 375-80. 101 The literatureis givenin fh.1. 34 OMELJANPRITSAK
1) The saga can have more than one startingpoint in presentingthe life of its hero; in the OsT thereare two startingpoints, the one secular (Ágrip) and the otherhagiographie (Oddr, Hkr, OsTm). 2) The time intervalsgiven in the sagas are reliable. If differencesoccur, theycan usually be explained as normal copyist's errors,e.g., XI instead of IX in Oddr' s text; iiij = iv instead of vi in OsTm; and atta = viij confused withvij in OsTm and Flat. 3) The summationsby the compilers are usually unreliable since they depend on two arbitrarychoices made by the compiler: the startingpoint and the time intervalsselected forhis purpose. 4) None of the compilers of the OsT introducedall of the time intervals relevantto the life of OT. Oddr used seven time intervals(nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9), whereas Snorri(Hkr) and OsTm both used the same six time intervals (nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7). Oddr omittedintervals 7 and 8, whereas Snorri and OsTm made use of intervals7 and 4. 5) None of the authors of the sagas devoted to OT made use of time interval8; thiswas utilized solely by the compilerof theAnn R. 6) All the Icelandic authors have the same startingpoint (the "hagio- graphie"), apparentlyinitiated by Ari, who also establishedthe exact date of OT's death (summationVI). In his summation,however, Ari (and, strangelyenough, Oddr) used the secular criterion (summation V) - "OT's age when he became king of Norway"- while the other authors of OsT were guided by the religious standard(summation IV) - "OT's age when he was baptized." 7) OT, as a fullydeveloped "hagiographie" hero, was certainlythe crea- tion of theI>ingeyrar school. Only the Norwegian authorof Ágrip, thougha cleric himself, retained valuable informationfrom the pre-hagiographic period: the circumstancesof OT's birth,his firstthree years of life,and why and by whom Tryggvi,OT's father,was killed. But in the lattercase, he was already quoting, side by side, the second version- that elaborated in thel>ingeyrar monastery. 8) Snorri, apparentlyfor literaryreasons, disregarded the historically reliable data of Ágrip. The "romantic" circumstances of OT's birth and death of his fatherwere too precious to be replaced by the "rationalistic" stories of Ágrip. He, therefore,developed startingpoint B. For the same artisticconsiderations, Snorri replaced time intervals 6 and 8 with time interval 7. So as not to destroy completely his readers' illusion that OT mighthave lived past his fall in the year 1000, Snorriomits summationVI and an exact date forOT's death. ÓLÁFR TRYGGVASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 35
9) To deal with the chronological problems of the sagas, scholars must firstestablish a full catalogue of startingpoints, time intervals,and summa- tions relatingto a given hero. The requisite next step is to establish a rela- tive chronologyfor the time intervals(if this is not fullygiven in the sagas themselves) and to check the data with othersources. Finally, these relative dates must be synchronized with absolute chronology according to the ChristianEra.102
HarvardUniversity
102 I wishto expressmy thanks to Dr. MargaretCormack for her reading of thisarticle and forher useful suggestions regarding my translations from Old Icelandic. 36 OMELJANPRITSAK
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Aarb0ger= Aarb0gerfornor disk Oldkyndighed og Historie.Copenhagen, 1866-. Aöalbjarnarson,Sagaer = BjarniAöalbjarnarson, Om de norskeKongers sagaer (Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademii Oslo, Skrifter,II. Historisk-filosofisk klasse,1936, no. 4). Oslo, 1937. Agrip,ed. Jónsson= Agripaf nóregskonungu sogum, ed. FinnurJónsson (Altnor- discheSaea-BibliotheK 18). Halle a.d. Saale, 1929. Ágrip,ed. Einarsson= Ágripaf nóregskonungasçgum. Fagrskinna-nóregs konunga tal. BjarniEinarsson gaf ut. (/F, 29). Reykjavik,1984. AnnR = AnnalesRegii, ed. GustavStorm in IslandskeAnnaler indtil 1578. Chris- tiania,1888. Einarsdóttir,Studier = Ólafia Einarsdóttir,Studier i kronologiskMetode i tidlig IslandskH istorieskrivning (Bibliotheca Histórica Lundensis, 13). Stockholm, 1964. Elleh0j,Studier = S vendElleh0j, Studier over den œldstenorr0ne H istorieskrivning (BibliothecaAmamagnaeane, 26). Copenhagen,1965. Flat = Flateyjarbók. Gordon,Olafssaga = ErmaGordon, Die Olafssaga Tryggvasonardes Odd Snorra- son. Berlin,1938. Hkr= SnorriSturluson, Heimskringla. IF = Islenzkfornrit.Reykjavik. KHL = KulturhistoriskLeksikonfor nor disk Middelalder fra Vikingetidtil Reforma- tionstid,22 vols. Copenhagen,1956- 1978. LjaSéenko,"Sana" = ArkadijLjaSéenko, "Sana pro Olafa Trihvasonaj litopysne opovidannjapro Ol'hu," Ukrajina18, no. 4 (1926): 3-22. OsT = Óláfssaga Tryggvasonar. OsTm= Óláfssaga Tryggvasonaren mesta. OT = ÓláfrTryggvason. PVL = P ovest'vremennyx let. SSS = Slownikstarozytnosci siowianskich. Breslau, 1961 -; in progress. de Vries,ALG = Jande Vries,Altnordische Literaturgeschichte , 2 vols. Berlin, 1964-1967.