The Conversion of Scandinavia James E
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Adam of Bremen on Slavic Religion
Chapter 3 Adam of Bremen on Slavic Religion 1 Introduction: Adam of Bremen and His Work “A. minimus sanctae Bremensis ecclesiae canonicus”1 – in this humble manner, Adam of Bremen introduced himself on the pages of Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, yet his name did not sink into oblivion. We know it thanks to a chronicler, Helmold of Bosau,2 who had a very high opinion of the Master of Bremen’s work, and after nearly a century decided to follow it as a model. Scholarship has awarded Adam of Bremen not only with a significant place among 11th-c. writers, but also in the whole period of the Latin Middle Ages.3 The historiographic genre of his work, a history of a bishopric, was devel- oped on a larger scale only after the end of the famous conflict on investiture between the papacy and the empire. The very appearance of this trend in histo- riography was a result of an increase in institutional subjectivity of the particu- lar Church.4 In the case of the environment of the cathedral in Bremen, one can even say that this phenomenon could be observed at least half a century 1 Adam, [Praefatio]. This manner of humble servant refers to St. Paul’s writing e.g. Eph 3:8; 1 Cor 15:9, and to some extent it seems to be an allusion to Christ’s verdict that his disciples quarrelled about which one of them would be the greatest (see Lk 9:48). 2 Helmold I, 14: “Testis est magister Adam, qui gesta Hammemburgensis ecclesiae pontificum disertissimo sermone conscripsit …” (“The witness is master Adam, who with great skill and fluency described the deeds of the bishops of the Church in Hamburg …”). -
From Runic Stone to Charter Transformation of Property Confirmation in 11Th and 12Th Century Denmark
From Runic Stone to Charter Transformation of property confirmation in 11th and 12th century Denmark Minoru OZAWA It has been long thought that one hundred years from the middle of the 11th century when Cnut’s empire collapsed to the year 1157 when Valdemar the Great became Danish king was a transitory age in Danish history. Some historians considered these years as an age of shift from the pagan Viking Age to the Christian Middle Ages.1 However we have to pay more attention to the century to deeply understand that various innovative shifts were progressing politically, economically, socially and culturally. My paper aims to make clear one aspect of these shifts, that is the background of the transformation of property confirmation in Denmark at the gate of the early Middle Ages. The central concern exists in how and why Denmark, non-successor state of the Roman empire, adopted the way of property confirmation through written documents into its own system of land management. 1. Runic Stone as Testimony of Property Inheritance Around 1000, building movement of impressive monuments was marking Scandinavian landscape: runic stones. A runic stone is a kind of memorial stone which the living built in memory of the deceased, with carved runes on its surface, sometimes drawn with beautiful decorative animal pictures. The earlier date of runic stones like Björketorp stone in Blekinge in present Sweden goes back to pre-Viking Age, but almost all of them were concentrated on the year 1000, the era that Scandinavian medievalists call the late Viking Age. According to a recent catalogue, approximately 500 stones in all have been discovered in Denmark, Norway and Sweden until the present times. -
The Li(Le Told Story of Scandanavia in the Dark Ages
The Vikings The Lile Told Story of Scandanavia in the Dark Ages The Viking (modern day Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes) seafaring excursions occurred from about 780 to 1070 AD. They started raiding and pillaging in the north BalCc region of Europe. By the mid 900s (10th century) they had established such a permanent presence across France and England that they were simply paid off (“Danegeld”) to cohabitate in peace. They conquered most of England, as the Romans had, but they did it in only 15 years! They formed legal systems in England that formed the basis of Brish Common Law, which at one Cme would later govern the majority of the world. They eventually adapted the western monarchy form of government, converted to ChrisCanity, and integrated into France, England, Germany, Italy, Russia, Syria, and out into the AtlanCc. They also brought ChrisCanity back to their home countries, set up monarchies, and forged the countries of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia. It was the direct descendant of the Vikings (from Normandy) who led the capture of Jerusalem during the First Crusade. The Romans dominated Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and England. They never could conquer the Germanic people to the north. The Germanic people sacked Rome three Cmes between 435 and 489 CE. Aer the Fall of Rome, a mass migraon of Germanic people occurred to the west (to France and England). The Frisians were at the center of a great trade route between the northern Germans (“Nordsman”) and bulk of Germanic peoples now in western Europe. High Tech in the 400s-700s The ships of the day were the hulk and the cog. -
Saami and Scandinavians in the Viking
Jurij K. Kusmenko Sámi and Scandinavians in the Viking Age Introduction Though we do not know exactly when Scandinavians and Sámi contact started, it is clear that in the time of the formation of the Scandinavian heathen culture and of the Scandinavian languages the Scandinavians and the Sámi were neighbors. Archeologists and historians continue to argue about the place of the original southern boarder of the Sámi on the Scandinavian peninsula and about the place of the most narrow cultural contact, but nobody doubts that the cultural contact between the Sámi and the Scandinavians before and during the Viking Age was very close. Such close contact could not but have left traces in the Sámi culture and in the Sámi languages. This influence concerned not only material culture but even folklore and religion, especially in the area of the Southern Sámi. We find here even names of gods borrowed from the Scandinavian tradition. Swedish and Norwegian missionaries mentioned such Southern Sámi gods such as Radien (cf. norw., sw. rå, rådare) , Veralden Olmai (<Veraldar goð, Frey), Ruona (Rana) (< Rán), Horagalles (< Þórkarl), Ruotta (Rota). In Lule Sámi we find no Scandinavian gods but Scandinavian names of gods such as Storjunkare (big ruler) and Lilljunkare (small ruler). In the Sámi languages we find about three thousand loan words from the Scandinavian languages and many of them were borrowed in the common Scandinavian period (550-1050), that is before and during the Viking Age (Qvigstad 1893; Sammallahti 1998, 128-129). The known Swedish Lapponist Wiklund said in 1898 »[...] Lapska innehåller nämligen en mycket stor mängd låneord från de nordiska språken, av vilka låneord de äldsta ovillkorligen måste vara lånade redan i urnordisk tid, dvs under tiden före ca 700 år efter Kristus. -
The Viking Age
Laval University From the SelectedWorks of Fathi Habashi March, 2020 The iV king Age Fathi Habashi Available at: https://works.bepress.com/fathi_habashi/615/ The Viking Age INTRODUCTION The Viking Age (793-1066) is a period in history during which the Scandinavians expanded and built settlements throughout Europe. They are sometimes referred to as Norsemen and known to the Greek as Varangians. They took two routes: the East - - the present-day Ukraine and Russia, and the West mainly in the present-day Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, Normandy, Italy, and the British Isles. The Viking were competent sailors, adept in land warfare as well as at sea. Their ships were light enough to be carried over land from one river system to another. Viking ships The motivation of the Viking to invade East and West is a problem to historians. Many theories were given none was the answer. For example, retaliation against forced conversion to Christianity by Charlemagne by killing any who refused to become baptized, seeking centers of wealth, kidnapping slaves, and a decline in the profitability of old trade routes. Viking ship in Oslo Museum The Vikings raids in the East and the West of Europe VIKINGS IN THE EAST The Dnieber The Vikings of Scandinavia came by way of the Gulf of Finland and sailed up the Dvina River as far as they could go, and then carried their ships across land to the Dnieper River, which flows south to the Black Sea. They raided villages then they became interested in trading with the Slavs. Using the Dnieper, they carried shiploads of furs, honey, and wax south to markets on the Black Sea, or sailed across that sea trade in Constantinople. -
Number Symbolism in Old Norse Literature
Háskóli Íslands Hugvísindasvið Medieval Icelandic Studies Number Symbolism in Old Norse Literature A Brief Study Ritgerð til MA-prófs í íslenskum miðaldafræðum Li Tang Kt.: 270988-5049 Leiðbeinandi: Torfi H. Tulinius September 2015 Acknowledgements I would like to thank firstly my supervisor, Torfi H. Tulinius for his confidence and counsels which have greatly encouraged my writing of this paper. Because of this confidence, I have been able to explore a domain almost unstudied which attracts me the most. Thanks to his counsels (such as his advice on the “Blóð-Egill” Episode in Knýtlinga saga and the reading of important references), my work has been able to find its way through the different numbers. My thanks also go to Haraldur Bernharðsson whose courses on Old Icelandic have been helpful to the translations in this paper and have become an unforgettable memory for me. I‟m indebted to Moritz as well for our interesting discussion about the translation of some paragraphs, and to Capucine and Luis for their meticulous reading. Any fault, however, is my own. Abstract It is generally agreed that some numbers such as three and nine which appear frequently in the two Eddas hold special significances in Norse mythology. Furthermore, numbers appearing in sagas not only denote factual quantity, but also stand for specific symbolic meanings. This tradition of number symbolism could be traced to Pythagorean thought and to St. Augustine‟s writings. But the result in Old Norse literature is its own system influenced both by Nordic beliefs and Christianity. This double influence complicates the intertextuality in the light of which the symbolic meanings of numbers should be interpreted. -
Wulfstan's Voyage the Baltic Sea Region in the Early Viking Age As Seen from Shipboard
MARITIME CULTURE OF THE NORTH ° 2 Wulfstan's Voyage The Baltic Sea region in the early Viking Age as seen from shipboard Edited by Anton Englert & Athena Trakadas Roskilde 2009 Contents Foreword • 7 by Ole Crumlin-Pedersen & Friedrich Liith I. WULFSTAN'S ACCOUNT Wulfstan's voyage and his description oiEstland: the text and the language of the text • 14 by Janet Bately Who was Wulfstan? • 29 by Judith Jesch Wulfstan's account in the context of early medieval travel literature • 57 by Rudolf Simek On the reliability of Wulfstan's report • 43 by Przemysiaw Urbanczyk II. THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL BALTIC SEA REGION IN THE 9™ AND 10™ CENTURIES Ests, Slavs and Saxons: ethnic groups and political structures • 50 by Christian Lu'bke, with a note by Przemysiaw Urbanczyk Danes and Swedes in written and archaeological sources at the end of the 9th century • §8 by Wladyslaw Duczko Routes and long-distance traffic — the nodal points of Wulfstan's voyage • 72 by Soren M. Sindbak Hedeby in Wulfstan's days: a Danish emporium of the Viking Age between East and West • 79 by Volker Hilberg Wulfstan and the coast of southern Scandinavia: sailing routes from Langeland to More - • 114 by Jo ban Callmer —r— -•- - Viking-Age sailing routes of the western Baltic Sea — a matter of safety • ZJJ by Jens Ulriksen Harbours and trading centres on Bornholm, Oland and Gotland in the late 9* century • 145 by Anne Norgard Jorgensen Ports and emporia of the southern coast: from Hedeby to Usedom and Wolin • 160 by Hauke Jons The settlement of Truso • 182 by Marek F. -
Beowulf Timeline
Beowulf Timeline Retell the key events in Beowulf in chronological order. Background The epic poem, Beowulf, is over 3000 lines long! The main events include the building of Heorot, Beowulf’s battle with the monster, Grendel, and his time as King of Geatland. Instructions 1. Cut out the events. 2. Put them in the correct order to retell the story. 3. Draw a picture to illustrate each event on your story timeline. Beowulf returned Hrothgar built Beowulf fought Grendel attacked home to Heorot. Grendel’s mother. Heorot. Geatland. Beowulf was Beowulf’s Beowulf fought Beowulf travelled crowned King of funeral. Grendel. to Denmark the Geats. Beowulf fought Heorot lay silent. the dragon. 1. Stick Text Here 3. Stick Text Here 5. Stick Text Here 7. Stick Text Here 9. Stick Text Here 2. Stick Text Here 4. Stick Text Here 6. Stick Text Here 8. Stick Text Here 10. Stick Text Here Beowulf Timeline Retell the key events in Beowulf in chronological order. Background The epic poem, Beowulf, is over 3000 lines long! The main events include the building of Heorot, Beowulf’s battle with the monster, Grendel, and his time as King of Geatland. Instructions 1. Cut out the events. 2. Put them in the correct order to retell the story. 3. Write an extra sentence or two about each event. 4. Draw a picture to illustrate each event on your story timeline. Beowulf returned Hrothgar built Beowulf fought Grendel attacked home to Geatland. Heorot. Grendel’s mother. Heorot. Beowulf was Beowulf’s funeral. Beowulf fought Beowulf travelled crowned King of Grendel. -
Situne Dei Årsskrift För Sigtunaforskning Och Historisk Arkeologi
Situne Dei Årsskrift för Sigtunaforskning och historisk arkeologi 2018 Redaktion: Anders Söderberg Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson Anna Kjellström Magnus Källström Cecilia Ljung Johan Runer Utgiven av Sigtuna Museum SITUNE DEI 2018 Viking traces – artistic tradition of the Viking Age in applied art of pre-Mongolian Novgorod Nadezhda N. Tochilova The Novgorod archaeological collection of wooden items includes a significant amount of pieces of decorative art. Many of these were featured in the fundamental work of B.A. Kolchin Novgorod Antiquities. The Carved Wood (Kolchin 1971). This work is, perhaps, the one generalizing study capable of providing a full picture of the art of carved wood of Ancient Novgorod. Studying the archaeological collec- tions of Ancient Novgorod, one’s attention is drawn to a number of wooden (and bone) objects, the art design of which distinctly differs from the general conceptions of ancient Russian art. The most striking examples of such works of applied art will be discussed in this article. The processes of interaction between the two cultures are well researched and presented in the works of a group of Swedish archaeologists, whose work showed the complex bonds of interaction between Sweden and Russia, reflected in a number of aspects of material culture (Arbman 1960; Jansson 1996; Fransson et al (eds.) 2007; Hedenstierna- Jonson 2009). Moreover, in art history literature, a few individ- ual works of applied art refer to the context of the spread of Viking art (Roesdahl & Wilson eds 1992; Graham-Campbell 2013), but not to the interrelation, as a definite branch of Scandinavian art, in Eastern Europe. If we apply this focus to Russian historiography, then the problem of studying archaeological objects of applied art is comparatively small, and what is important to note is that all of these studies also have an archaeological direction (Kolchin 1971; Bocharov 1983). -
A History of German-Scandinavian Relations
A History of German – Scandinavian Relations A History of German-Scandinavian Relations By Raimund Wolfert A History of German – Scandinavian Relations Raimund Wolfert 2 A History of German – Scandinavian Relations Table of contents 1. The Rise and Fall of the Hanseatic League.............................................................5 2. The Thirty Years’ War............................................................................................11 3. Prussia en route to becoming a Great Power........................................................15 4. After the Napoleonic Wars.....................................................................................18 5. The German Empire..............................................................................................23 6. The Interwar Period...............................................................................................29 7. The Aftermath of War............................................................................................33 First version 12/2006 2 A History of German – Scandinavian Relations This essay contemplates the history of German-Scandinavian relations from the Hanseatic period through to the present day, focussing upon the Berlin- Brandenburg region and the northeastern part of Germany that lies to the south of the Baltic Sea. A geographic area whose topography has been shaped by the great Scandinavian glacier of the Vistula ice age from 20000 BC to 13 000 BC will thus be reflected upon. According to the linguistic usage of the term -
The Legacy of the Danish Resistance in World War II
The Bridge Volume 27 Number 1 Article 8 2004 The Legacy of the Danish Resistance in World War II Joy Ibsen Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thebridge Part of the European History Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, and the Regional Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Ibsen, Joy (2004) "The Legacy of the Danish Resistance in World War II," The Bridge: Vol. 27 : No. 1 , Article 8. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thebridge/vol27/iss1/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Bridge by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The Legacy of the Danish Resistance in World War II by Joy Ibsen Introduction When I first heard about this conference, I immediately thought of this topic, because I believe the Danish Resistance in World War II provides a legacy of critical importance. It is one which can be of help in guiding our way through today's murky social and political problems as we grapple with terrorist threats and moral issues confronting us in this new millennium. It is a story of special significance to all Danes and Danish-Americans. I have relied on several sources in developing this paper, and am especially indebted to an unpublished paper and interview with Immanuel Rodholm, my mother's cousin, who was born in Danevang, Texas, and who moved to Denmark as a young boy. Immanuel, or lb as he is called, has enjoyed a distinguished career. -
Paviken Research Project 2013-2016 Investigation of a Viking Age Trading and Manufacturing Site on Gotland, Sweden
Gotland Archaeological Field-school Paviken research project 2013-2016 Investigation of a Viking Age trading and manufacturing site on Gotland, Sweden Project plan Project Director Associate Professor Dan Carlsson Arendus Färjeleden 5c, 621 58 Visby Sweden. Tel. +46-498219999 www.gotland-fieldschool.com Email: [email protected] Cover picture: The head of a dress pin in the form of a dragons head. Found at Stånga, Gotland. Photo Dan Carlsson Harbours and trading in the Baltic Sea during the Viking Age - an introduction In our interpretation of prehistory we are highly influenced by the material we see in the landscape or by coincidences found during archaeological surveys, and we forget or neglect to take into account the hidden cultural landscape. This is particularly true when it comes to prehistory in Sweden. As we completely lack written sources before the 12th century (with the exception of runic inscriptions) we have to rely on archaeological field material. An example of this problem is the question of Viking Age trade and its associated port activities. Extensive Viking material from Gotland suggests that the island had a lively exchange with the surrounding regions at that time in its history. This is reflected in the existence of numerous silver hoards; no area in northern Europe has such a con- centration of silver from the Viking Age as Gotland. There are clear signs of an extensive and lively Staraya Sigtuna trade and exchange (or piracy, as Ladoga Birka some would argue), which in turn Kaupang required docking points, ports