East Baltic Vikings - with Particular Consideration to the Ctrronians
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ESUKA – JEFUL 2014, 5–1: 27–36 LIVONIAN LANDSCAPES IN THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF LIVONIA AND THE DIVISION OF THE LIVONIAN TRIBES Urmas Sutrop Institute of the Estonian Language, Tallinn, and the University of Tartu Abstract. There is no exact consensus on the division and sub-division of the former Livonian territories at the end of the ancient independence period in the 12th century. Even the question of the Coastal Livonians in Courland – were they an indigenous Livonian tribe or a replaced eastern Livonian tribe – remains unsolved. In this paper the anonymously published treatise on the historical geography of Livonia by Johann Christoph Schwartz (1792) will be analysed and compared with the historical modern views. There is an agreement on the division of the Eastern Livonian territories into four counties: Daugava, Gauja, Metsepole, and Idumea. Idumea had a mixed Livo- nian-Baltic population. There is no consensus on the parochial sub-division of these counties. Keywords: Johann Christoph Schwartz, historical geography, Livonian tribes, Livonians DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/jeful.2014.5.1.02 1. Introduction It is commonly believed that Livonians (like Estonians) did not form either territorial or political unity at the end of the ancient independence period in the 12th century (see e.g. Koski 1997: 45). The first longer document where Livonians are described is the Livonian Chronicle (Heinrici Cronicon Lyvoniae) for the period 1180 to 1227 written by Henry of Livonia, an eyewitness of these events. Modern ideas on the division of Eastern Livonian peoples and territories go back to the cartographic work of Heinrich Laakmann, who divided Livonians into three territories – Daugava, Thoreida, and Metsepole; and added that there was a mixed Livonian-Baltic population at the end of the 12th century in Idumea (see the map Baltic Lands: population about 1200 AD and explanation to this map in Laakmann 1954). -
Personal Names and Denomination of Livonians in Early Written Sources
ESUKA – JEFUL 2014, 5–1: 13–26 PERSONAL NAMES AND DENOMINATION OF LIVONIANS IN EARLY WRITTEN SOURCES Enn Ernits Estonian University of Life Sciences Abstract. This paper presents the timeline of ethnonyms denoting Livonians; specifies their chronology; and analyses the names used for this ethnos and possible personal names. If we consider the dating of the event, the earliest sources mentioning Livonians are Gesta Danorum and the Tale of Bygone Years (both 10th century), but both sources present rather dubious information: in the first the battle of Bråvalla itself or the date are dubious (6th, 8th or 10th century); in the latter we cannot be sure that the member of the Rus delegation was really a Livonian. If we consider the time of recording, the earliest sources are two rune inscriptions from Sweden (11th century), and the next is the list of neighbouring peoples of the Russians from the Tale of Bygone Years (12th century). The personal names Bicco and Ger referred in Gesta Danorum, and Либи Аръфастовъ in Tale of Bygone Years are very problematic. The first certain personal name of a Livonian is *Mustakka, *Mustukka or *Mustoikka (from Finnic *musta ‘black’) written in 1040–1050s on a strip of birch bark in Novgorod. Keywords: Livs, Finnic peoples, ethnonyms, anthroponyms, onomastics DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/jeful.2014.5.1.01 1. Introduction This paper (1) seeks to present the timeline of ethnonyms denoting Livonians; (2) to specify their chronology; (3) and to analyse the names used for this ethnos and possible personal names. It is supple- mental to the paper by Mauno Koski on words denoting Livonians (Koski 2011). -
Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar ) in Subdivisions 22–31 (Baltic
ICES Advice on fishing opportunities, catch, and effort Baltic Sea ecoregion Published 29 May 2020 Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in subdivisions 22–31 (Baltic Sea, excluding the Gulf of Finland) ICES advice on fishing opportunities ICES advises that when the precautionary approach is applied, total commercial sea catch in 2021 should be no more than 116 000 salmon, assuming no change in recreational effort. Applying the same catch proportions estimated from observations in the 2019 fishery, the catch in 2021 would be split as follows: 106 000 salmon projected landings (91%; i.e. 83% reported, 7% unreported, and 1% misreported) and projected discards of 10 000 salmon (9%; previously referred to as discards). This would correspond to commercial landings (the reported projected landings) of 96 600 salmon. ICES advises that management of salmon fisheries should be based on the status of individual river stocks. Fisheries on mixed stocks that encompass weak wild stocks present particular threats, and should be kept as close to zero as possible. Fisheries in open-sea areas or in coastal waters target mixed stocks; they are thus more likely to pose a threat to depleted stocks than fisheries in estuaries and in healthy (at or above MSY) wild or reared salmon rivers. The salmon stocks of rivers Rickleån, Sävarån, Öreälven, and Lögdeälven in the Gulf of Bothnia, Emån in southern Sweden, and all rivers in the southeastern Main Basin (AU 5) are particularly weak, and several have shown limited recovery to previous reductions in exploitation rates at sea. The offshore and coastal fisheries in the Main Basin includes catches from all of these weak salmon stocks on their feeding migration. -
Herjans Dísir: Valkyrjur, Supernatural Femininities, and Elite Warrior Culture in the Late Pre-Christian Iron Age
Herjans dísir: Valkyrjur, Supernatural Femininities, and Elite Warrior Culture in the Late Pre-Christian Iron Age Luke John Murphy Lokaverkefni til MA–gráðu í Norrænni trú Félagsvísindasvið Herjans dísir: Valkyrjur, Supernatural Femininities, and Elite Warrior Culture in the Late Pre-Christian Iron Age Luke John Murphy Lokaverkefni til MA–gráðu í Norrænni trú Leiðbeinandi: Terry Gunnell Félags- og mannvísindadeild Félagsvísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2013 Ritgerð þessi er lokaverkefni til MA–gráðu í Norrænni Trú og er óheimilt að afrita ritgerðina á nokkurn hátt nema með leyfi rétthafa. © Luke John Murphy, 2013 Reykjavík, Ísland 2013 Luke John Murphy MA in Old Nordic Religions: Thesis Kennitala: 090187-2019 Spring 2013 ABSTRACT Herjans dísir: Valkyrjur, Supernatural Feminities, and Elite Warrior Culture in the Late Pre-Christian Iron Age This thesis is a study of the valkyrjur (‘valkyries’) during the late Iron Age, specifically of the various uses to which the myths of these beings were put by the hall-based warrior elite of the society which created and propagated these religious phenomena. It seeks to establish the relationship of the various valkyrja reflexes of the culture under study with other supernatural females (particularly the dísir) through the close and careful examination of primary source material, thereby proposing a new model of base supernatural femininity for the late Iron Age. The study then goes on to examine how the valkyrjur themselves deviate from this ground state, interrogating various aspects and features associated with them in skaldic, Eddic, prose and iconographic source material as seen through the lens of the hall-based warrior elite, before presenting a new understanding of valkyrja phenomena in this social context: that valkyrjur were used as instruments to propagate the pre-existing social structures of the culture that created and maintained them throughout the late Iron Age. -
How Uniform Was the Old Norse Religion?
II. Old Norse Myth and Society HOW UNIFORM WAS THE OLD NORSE RELIGION? Stefan Brink ne often gets the impression from handbooks on Old Norse culture and religion that the pagan religion that was supposed to have been in Oexistence all over pre-Christian Scandinavia and Iceland was rather homogeneous. Due to the lack of written sources, it becomes difficult to say whether the ‘religion’ — or rather mythology, eschatology, and cult practice, which medieval sources refer to as forn siðr (‘ancient custom’) — changed over time. For obvious reasons, it is very difficult to identify a ‘pure’ Old Norse religion, uncorroded by Christianity since Scandinavia did not exist in a cultural vacuum.1 What we read in the handbooks is based almost entirely on Snorri Sturluson’s representation and interpretation in his Edda of the pre-Christian religion of Iceland, together with the ambiguous mythical and eschatological world we find represented in the Poetic Edda and in the filtered form Saxo Grammaticus presents in his Gesta Danorum. This stance is more or less presented without reflection in early scholarship, but the bias of the foundation is more readily acknowledged in more recent works.2 In the textual sources we find a considerable pantheon of gods and goddesses — Þórr, Óðinn, Freyr, Baldr, Loki, Njo3rðr, Týr, Heimdallr, Ullr, Bragi, Freyja, Frigg, Gefjon, Iðunn, et cetera — and euhemerized stories of how the gods acted and were characterized as individuals and as a collective. Since the sources are Old Icelandic (Saxo’s work appears to have been built on the same sources) one might assume that this religious world was purely Old 1 See the discussion in Gro Steinsland, Norrøn religion: Myter, riter, samfunn (Oslo: Pax, 2005). -
Latvia Toponymic Factfile
TOPONYMIC FACT FILE Latvia Country name Latvia State title Republic of Latvia Name of citizen Latvian Official language Latvian (lv) Country name in official language Latvija State title in official language Latvijas Republika Script Roman n/a. Latvian uses the Roman alphabet with three Romanization System diacritics (see page 3). ISO-3166 country code (alpha-2/alpha-3) LV / LVA Capital (English conventional) Riga1 Capital in official language Rīga Population 1.88 million2 Introduction Latvia is the central of the three Baltic States3 in north-eastern Europe on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It has existed as an independent state c.1918 to 1940 and again since 1990. In size it is similar to Sri Lanka or Sierra Leone. Latvia is approximately 1% smaller than neighbouring Lithuania, but has only two-thirds the population, estimated at 1.88 million in 20202. The population has been falling steadily since a high of 2,660,000 in 1989 source: Eurostat). Geographical names policy Latvian is written in Roman script. PCGN recommends using place names as found on official Latvian-language sources, retaining all diacritical marks. Latvian generic terms frequently appear with lower-case initial letters, and PCGN recommends reflecting this style. Allocation and recording of geographical names in Latvia are the responsibility of the Latvia Geospatial Information Agency (Latvian: Latvijas Ģeotelpiskās informācijas aģentūra – LGIA) which is part of the Ministry of Defence (Aizsardzības ministrija). The geographical names database on the LGIA website: http://map.lgia.gov.lv/index.php?lang=2&cPath=3&txt_id=24 is a useful official source for names. -
From Tribe to Nation a Brief History of Latvia
From Tribe to Nation A Brief History of Latvia 1 Cover photo: Popular People of Latvia are very proud of their history. It demonstration on is a history of the birth and development of the Dome Square, 1989 idea of an independent nation, and a consequent struggle to attain it, maintain it, and renew it. Above: A Zeppelin above Rīga in 1930 Albeit important, Latvian history is not entirely unique. The changes which swept through the ter- Below: Participants ritory of Latvia over the last two dozen centuries of the XXV Nationwide were tied to the ever changing map of Europe, Song and Dance and the shifting balance of power. From the Viking Celebration in 2013 conquests and German Crusades, to the recent World Wars, the territory of Latvia, strategically lo- cated on the Baltic Sea between the Scandinavian region and Russia, was very much part of these events, and shared their impact especially closely with its Baltic neighbours. What is unique and also attests to the importance of history in Latvia today, is how the growth and development of a nation, initially as a mere idea, permeated all these events through the centuries up to Latvian independence in 1918. In this brief history of Latvia you can read how Latvia grew from tribe to nation, how its history intertwined with changes throughout Europe, and how through them, or perhaps despite them, Lat- via came to be a country with such a proud and distinct national identity 2 1 3 Incredible Historical Landmarks Left: People of The Baltic Way – this was one of the most crea- Latvia united in the tive non-violent protest activities in history. -
Tourism Map 2021
Abuls UMURGA VALMIERA CULTURE AND HISTORY 39. EXHIBITION OF RETRO CARS AND HANDICRAFT WORKS. SPULGU VILLAGE OF CEMPMUIŽA THE CONSECRATION OF NEWLYWEDS “Spulgas”, Zosēnu Parish, Jaunpiebalgas County, KAUGURI Pubuļupe Vija 1. ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK ĀRAIŠI Āraiši, Drabešu Parish, Amatas County, +371 25669935, 26114226, 57.1611, 25.7936 Exhibition of handicraft works from antiquity to the present day. Miegupīte www.araisi.com, 57.2517, 25.2824 Reconstruction of fortified residence of Latgalians in 9th- Masterclasses in embroidery, sewing, and crochet. Possibility to purchase linen products. MŪRMUIŽA Cēsis 10th centuries- lake castle, medieval castle ruins, reconstructions of dwellings from Stone Retro cars, moto ride, a fairy tale forest on the way to the river, view of antshows and a swim RUBENE Kamalda and Bronze Ages. Guide telling stories about the lifestyle of anciens Latgalians and building in the Gauja. Bride and groom’s place of initiation. BRUTUĻI traditions. From 2020, a permanent exhibition can be seen here, in which the original evidence PODZĒNI obtained and the story of archaeologist Jānis Apals can be seen. DAIBE MĀRSNĒNMUIŽA MĒRI surroundingsGROTŪZIS KALNAMUIŽA 2. ĀRAIŠI WINDMILL Āraiši, Drabešu Parish, Amatas County, +371 29238208, 57.2477, Daibes dīķis Sietiņiezis PEŅĢI 25.2712 Built in 1852. In four floors of the mill you can see old mechanisms that grind grain KAIJCIEMS BLOME SMILTENE into flour. By prior appointment groups can have “Miller’s lunch”. Every year in the end of July VAIDAVA Vecpalsa a Day of bread takes place here. Cērtenes pilskalns Sāruma ez. 153 m RAUZA 3. ĀRAIŠI CHURCH Āraiši, Drabešu Par., Amatas Cou., +371 26435206, www.araisudraudze. -
An Encapsulation of Óðinn: Religious Belief and Ritual Practice Among The
An Encapsulation of Óðinn: Religious belief and ritual practice among the Viking Age elite with particular focus upon the practice of ritual hanging 500 -1050 AD A thesis presented in 2015 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Aberdeen by Douglas Robert Dutton M.A in History, University of Aberdeen MLitt in Scandinavian Studies, University of Aberdeen Centre for Scandinavian Studies The University of Aberdeen Summary The cult surrounding the complex and core Old Norse deity Óðinn encompasses a barely known group who are further disappearing into the folds of time. This thesis seeks to shed light upon and attempt to understand a motif that appears to be well recognised as central to the worship of this deity but one rarely examined in any depth: the motivations for, the act of and the resulting image surrounding the act of human sacrifice or more specifically, hanging and the hanged body. The cult of Óðinn and its more violent aspects has, with sufficient cause, been a topic carefully set aside for many years after the Second World War. Yet with the ever present march of time, we appear to have reached a point where it has become possible to discuss such topics in the light of modernity. To do so, I adhere largely to a literary studies model, focussing primarily upon eddic and skaldic poetry and the consistent underlying motifs expressed in conjunction with descriptions of this seemingly ritualistic act. To these, I add the study of legal and historical texts, linguistics and contemporary chronicles. -
Sniðmát Meistaraverkefnis HÍ
MA ritgerð Norræn trú Að hitta skrímslið í skóginum Animal Shape-shifting, Identity, and Exile in Old Norse Religion and World-view Caroline Elizabeth Oxley Leiðbeinandi: Terry Adrian Gunnell Október 2019 Að hitta skrímslið í skóginum Animal Shape-shifting, Identity, and Exile in Old Norse Religion and World-view Caroline Elizabeth Oxley Lokaverkefni til MA–gráðu í Norrænni trú Leiðbeinandi: Terry Adrian Gunnell 60 einingar Félags– og mannvísindadeild Félagsvísindasvið Háskóla Íslands Október, 2019 Að hitta skrímslið í skóginum Ritgerð þessi er lokaverkefni til MA-gráðu í Norrænni trú og er óheimilt að afrita ritgerðina á nokkurn hátt nema með leyfi rétthafa. © Caroline Elizabeth Oxley, 2019 Prentun: Háskólaprent Reykjavík, Ísland, 2019 Caroline Oxley MA in Old Nordic Religion: Thesis Kennitala: 181291-3899 Október 2019 Abstract Að hitta skrímslið í skóginum: Animal Shape-shifting, Identity, and Exile in Old Norse Religion and World-view This thesis is a study of animal shape-shifting in Old Norse culture, considering, among other things, the related concepts of hamr, hugr, and the fylgjur (and variations on these concepts) as well as how shape-shifters appear to be associated with the wild, exile, immorality, and violence. Whether human, deities, or some other type of species, the shape-shifter can be categorized as an ambiguous and fluid figure who breaks down many typical societal borderlines including those relating to gender, biology, animal/ human, and sexual orientation. As a whole, this research project seeks to better understand the background, nature, and identity of these figures, in part by approaching the subject psychoanalytically, more specifically within the framework established by the Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, as part of his theory of archetypes. -
THE DISCOVERY of the BALTIC the NORTHERN WORLD North Europe and the Baltic C
THE DISCOVERY OF THE BALTIC THE NORTHERN WORLD North Europe and the Baltic c. 400-1700 AD Peoples, Economies and Cultures EDITORS Barbara Crawford (St. Andrews) David Kirby (London) Jon-Vidar Sigurdsson (Oslo) Ingvild Øye (Bergen) Richard W. Unger (Vancouver) Przemyslaw Urbanczyk (Warsaw) VOLUME 15 THE DISCOVERY OF THE BALTIC The Reception of a Catholic World-System in the European North (AD 1075-1225) BY NILS BLOMKVIST BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2005 On the cover: Knight sitting on a horse, chess piece from mid-13th century, found in Kalmar. SHM inv. nr 1304:1838:139. Neg. nr 345:29. Antikvarisk-topografiska arkivet, the National Heritage Board, Stockholm. Brill Academic Publishers has done its best to establish rights to use of the materials printed herein. Should any other party feel that its rights have been infringed we would be glad to take up contact with them. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Blomkvist, Nils. The discovery of the Baltic : the reception of a Catholic world-system in the European north (AD 1075-1225) / by Nils Blomkvist. p. cm. — (The northern world, ISSN 1569-1462 ; v. 15) Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. ISBN 90-04-14122-7 1. Catholic Church—Baltic Sea Region—History. 2. Church history—Middle Ages, 600-1500. 3. Baltic Sea Region—Church history. I. Title. II. Series. BX1612.B34B56 2004 282’485—dc22 2004054598 ISSN 1569–1462 ISBN 90 04 14122 7 © Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Academic Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. -
The Hostages of the Northmen and the Place Names Can Indicate Traditions That Are Not Related to Hostages
Part V: Place Names Place names can provide information about hostages that can- not be obtained from other sources. In his study of sacred place names in the provinces around Lake Mälaren in present Sweden, Vikstrand points out that these names reflect ‘a social representa- tiveness’ that have grown out of everyday language.1 As a source, they can therefore represent social groups other than those found in the skaldic poetry which were directed to rulers in the milieu of the hird, and thus primarily give knowledge of performances of the elite. There are difficulties with analysis of place names, because sev- eral aspects of them must be considered. Place names are names of places, but Vikstrand points out that in the term ‘place’ you can distinguish three components: a geographical locality, a name, and a content that gives meaning to it.2 The relationship between these components is complicated and it is not always the given geographical location is the right one. For example, local people can ascribe place names an importance that they did not had dur- ing the time the researcher investigates. In this part, the point of departure will be a few place names from mainly eastern Scandinavia and neighboring areas. These are examples of historical provinces in present Sweden, Finland, and Estonia that can provide information about hostages; a com- parison is made with an example from Ireland. In western Scandinavia, corresponding place names with ‘hos- tage’ as component do not appear. There are some problems with these place names: they may be mentioned in just one source, the place names are not contemporary, the etymology can be ambiguous, How to cite this book chapter: Olsson, S.