The A to Z of the Vikings 27 doc

The Outer Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland, and most of the mainland north of the Clyde-Forth line were inhabited by a Pictish population. The Scottish kingdom of Dalriada included western Argyll and the Inner Hebrides as far north as Skye. The British kingdom of Strath- clyde, centered on Dumbarton Rock, lay to the southwest of the Clyde-Forth boundary. An Anglian population had also settled in southern Scotland, and Irish settlers inhabited the Rhins of Galloway. This political geography was radically altered as a consequence of Scandinavian raids and settlements. By the mid-ninth century the Scots, under pressure from Scandinavians in the west, had taken ad- vantage of Pictish weakness in the east and under their king, Kenneth mac Alpin, had taken political control of Pictland. In the 10th century, Strathclyde was added, and the Scots fought the Northumbrians for control of what is now northwest England well into the medieval pe- riod. The first recorded Viking raids on mainland Scotland followed almost 40 years of raids on its islands and Ireland. By this time, Scandinavians seem to have been actively involved in the political conflicts of Scotland (and Ireland). In 836, a chieftain of apparently mixed Norse and Gaelic ancestry from northern Ireland, Gu ðifreyr mac Fergus, went to fight on the side of Kenneth mac Alpin in Dal- riada, and the Annals of Ulster record that “heathens” fought a battle against the men of Fortriu in central Pictland in 839. The Gall- Gaedhil mentioned in Irish annals may have been based in the He- brides and southwest Scotland, and it is also argued that Olaf the White of Dublin may have been linked to this area. The establish- ment of a powerful Norse kingdom in Dublin in 853 was followed by extensive campaigning in mainland Scotland by Olaf and his kins- men, and again after the expulsion of the Dublin Norse in 902, there seems to have been a concerted, if ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to win land and power in Scotland. Following the re-establishment of the Norse in Dublin in 917 and their subsequent conquest of York, there was renewed interest in the routes east from Ireland. However, the 10th century also saw the emergence of another Norse threat to mainland Scotland, the grow- ing power of the earls of Orkney. Orkneyinga Saga suggests that Vikings from the islands had raided Caithness in northeast Scotland from the early Viking Age. However, Earl Sigurd the Powerful is 238 • SCOTLAND, VIKINGS IN recorded as conquering the whole of Caithness, as well as much of Argyll, Moray, and Ross, in the mid-10th century. Orkneyinga Saga also mentions Sigurd’s building of a stronghold in the south of Moray, tentatively identified as Burghead. There seems to have been recurrent fighting with the rulers (known as mormaers) of Moray over control of Caithness in the first century or so of the earldom, and later there was conflict with the burgeoning power of the Scottish kings. The role of the Scottish kings in the fortunes of the Norse earls of Orkney remained important throughout the Viking and Norse peri- ods, as rival claimants to the earldom could be made earl by the Scottish king, as well as the Norwegian king. The importance of the Scottish connection is clearly visible in the marriage alliances made by the earls, with the Scottish royal house and with the rulers of Caithness. Sigurd the Stout strengthened his hand in Scottish politics by marrying the daughter of Malcolm, king of the Scots. Earl Thorfinn the Mighty is said to have been given Caithness and Sutherland (northeast Scotland) and the title of earl by his grandfa- ther, the Scottish king, Malcolm II. Although conflict over Caithness with the mysterious Karl Hundison, ruler of Moray, dominated the early years of Thorfinn’s rule, Orkneyinga Saga records that Thorfinn “won for himself nine Scottish earldoms,” as well as terri- tory in the Scottish islands. Although the precise significance of the nine Scottish earldoms is uncertain, Thorfinn’s substantial gains in Scotland, and elsewhere, seem to be clear, and he is credited with subjecting the mainland as far south as Fife. It is possible that the Scottish gains may have been given in return for support of the Scot- tish kings against the mormaers of Moray. Hinting at such an alliance is Thorfinn’s half-Scottish ancestry and the marriage of In- gebjorg, either Thorfinn’s daughter or widow, to Malcolm III Can- more of Scotland. Certainly after his rule, Caithness seems to have been an integral part of the Norse earldom of Orkney, with the earls residing at Duncansby, the former seat of the local rulers. The place-names of Caithness are dominated by Scandinavian names, with virtually all of the settlement names in the region of Scandinavian origin. Sutherland, to the east, displays a mixture of Norse and Gaelic names, similar to that found in the Hebrides. A range of archaeological evidence relating to the Viking Age and Late SCOTLAND, VIKINGS IN • 239 Norse period has been found in the modern county of Caithness, in- cluding two runic inscriptions (see rune) from Thurso. Settlement sites have been identified at Freswick Links (south of Duncansby Head on the east coast), Robertshaven (close to Duncansby Head on the north coast) and Huna (near to Robertshaven), and another possi- ble but as yet unexcavated habitative site may exist at Reay (on the north coast, west of Thurso). Graves of a Scandinavian type have been found at Castletown (female skeleton, a pair of oval brooches, a jet arm ring, and a bone bodkin); Westerseat near Wick (two dis- similar oval brooches); Mill of Watten (skeleton in cist, iron spear- head); Haimar (Scandinavian weapons); Huna (possible boat bur- ial); Reay (pagan cemetery); and Harrow (penannular brooch). There is some evidence for Scandinavian settlement in mainland Scotland south of Caithness. There are a number of Scandinavian place-names on the western mainland, but these are topographical (describing natural features) rather than habitative (describing settle- ments) place-names. Scandinavian place-names are generally few and far between in southeast Scotland, with perhaps just 10 purely Scandinavian names found in the region. Although there are a num- ber of place-names containing Scandinavian personal names, these are compounded with English words and were almost certainly not given by Scandinavian speakers. Archaeological evidence for a Scan- dinavian presence in mainland Scotland outside the northeast is sim- ilarly sparse. There are two runic inscriptions: a brooch from Hunter- ston, Strathclyde in the southwest, and a now-lost bronze crescent-shaped plaque from Laws in the southeast. There is a pagan female grave from near Perth and a lost coin hoard, deposited c. 1025–1032, from Lindores, near Newburgh. A number of hogback monuments are known from the southeast, although their distribution suggests a layer of Anglo-Scandinavian influence from northern Eng- land, corresponding to the place-names of southeast Scotland. In 1098, the Norwegian king Magnus Bare-Foot attempted to as- sert Norwegian control over the Northern and Western Isles, which brought him into some conflict with the Scottish kings. A treaty was made with Edgar, the king of Scotland, which conceded Bute, Arran, the Cumbraes, and Gigha to Norway (Heimskringla describes the treaty terms: all the islands off the west coast separated by water nav- igable by a ship with its rudder set), while Kintyre on the mainland 240 • SCOTLAND, VIKINGS IN remained in Scottish hands. After Magnus’s death in Ireland in 1103, the kings of Norway appear to have had little authority in the Scot- tish islands, leaving them vulnerable to takeover by Scotland. The late 12th and 13th centuries saw intensified conflict in the Isles be- tween the sons of Sumarli ði, King of the Isles, the Scottish king, and the Norwegian king. This culminated in Hákon Hákonarson of Nor- way’s ill-fated expedition to the Isles, his defeat by the Scots at Largs in 1263, and his death in Orkney. SERKLAND. Old Norse word for the Muslim lands in the Middle East, with their capital at Baghdad in present-day Iraq. Serkland is men- tioned on a number of Viking-Age rune-stones from Sweden, such as those that describe the ill-fated expedition of Ingvar the Far- Traveled. The name is either derived from the word “Saracen,” used to describe Muslims, or from Latin sericum, meaning “silk.” SEVEN BOOKS OF HISTORY AGAINST THE PAGANS (Histori- arum adversum Paganos Libri Septem). History written by the Span- ish churchman, Paulus Orosius, with the encouragement of Bishop Augustine of Hippo. Orosius’s history originally covered the period from the Creation until AD 417, and was essentially a catalog of all the disasters that had afflicted the world and which the ancient pagan gods had been powerless to prevent, designed to refute claims that Rome’s collapse under barbarian attacks was the revenge of the an- cient gods for the recent adoption of Christianity as the religion of the Empire (AD 380). The history began with a geographical survey of “the world,” which, however, excluded much of Europe north of the Alps. A geography of northern Europe, including parts of Scandi- navia, was added in the ninth-century Old English translation of Oro- sius commissioned by Alfred I the Great. See also OHTHERE; WULFSTAN. SHETLAND, VIKINGS IN. Northern group of islands in the so- called Northern Isles (ON Nor ð reyjar) of Orkney and Shetland. The Shetland archipelago lies some 80 kilometers north of Orkney’s most northerly island and some 320 kilometers west of Bergen on the Norwegian coast. There are even fewer written sources for the Viking-Age history of Shetland than there are for its SHETLAND, VIKINGS IN • 241 southern neighbor, Orkney. For example, Orkneyinga Saga men- tions Shetland and Shetlanders only infrequently, mostly referring to Shetland’s role as a port of call on the way to Orkney; as a base for attacks on Orkney; as a source of manpower for these attacks; and as a place of temporary refuge for people from their enemies in Orkney. Despite the lack of written evidence, raids on the islands are be- lieved to have begun at the end of the eighth century and archaeo- logical evidence suggests that settlement began in the ninth century. Place-names indicate that the islands were completely scandinavian- ized in the course of the Viking Age. However, relatively little Viking-Age archaeological material has been found on Shetland. In particular, only two pagan graves, both apparently female as they contain bronze oval or “tortoise” brooches, have been found on the islands, both on Unst. Indeed, despite the thorough Scandinavianiza- tion of Shetland suggested by its place-names, there are indications of continuity from the pre–Norse period. In particular, carved stones in the Christian Pictish tradition continued to be produced in Shet- land after Norse raids and settlement had commenced, while such sculpture ceases at the end of the eighth century in Orkney. It has been suggested that the continuing production of sculpture on Shet- land and the lack of such sculpture on Orkney reflects differences in the scale of early Norse settlement, with more colonists being ini- tially attracted by fertile Orkney. Such a difference in the density of Scandinavian settlement would have presumably also facilitated Pic- tish survival. Jarlshof, at the southern tip of Mainland, is the classic, but excep- tional, example of a Viking-Age farmstead in the Northern Isles. How- ever, Norse longhouses have also been excavated at da Biggins, Papa Stour; Underhoull, Unst; and Sandwick, Unst. Both da Biggins and Sandwick appear to post date the Viking-Age, while the simple farm- stead at Underhoull seems to have been occupied from the late 9th to the early 11th century. An Iron-Age complex of hut circles, workshop and souterrain preceded the Norse settlement at Underhoull, but the site was certainly deserted when the first Norse settlers arrived. Only two Viking-Age hoards of Scandinavian character have been recovered from the islands, both from southern Mainland, at Quendale and Dun- rossness. The Quendale hoard was discovered in 1830 and consists of 242 • SHETLAND, VIKINGS IN some ring-money and Anglo-Saxon coins of Æthelred II, Athelstan, and Edgar (d. 975), suggesting a deposition date of c. 1000. Only one coin, a penny of Harald Hard-Ruler, remains of the 1844 find at Dun- rossness, but it is said to have been found with several similar coins and some cut up silver arm rings. The most famous of Shetland’s archaeo- logical treasures, the St. Ninian’s Isle hoard, was buried c. 800 and con- sists of 28 pieces of Pictish ornamental silver. The hoard was buried be- neath the floor of an early church on the site of a later, now ruined, church. SHIPS. The classic symbol of the Vikings is their ships. These ships made raiding, trading, colonization, and, therefore, the Viking Age possible. Viking ships were clinker-built (with overlapping planks), steered by a rudder on the right-hand side of the ship, and were propelled by oars or a square sail affixed to a single mast. Planks were split from logs and were not sawed, which resulted in a strong and flexible hull. The classic Viking warship or longship is represented by Skuldelev 2 from Denmark, with some 30 pairs of oars, which is the largest longship yet excavated. Ships of this size were sometimes also known as drakkar “dragons.” Famous drakkar include Olaf Tryggvason’s Long Serpent and Olaf Har- aldsson’s Visunden (“The Ox,” so-called because its prow was decorated with the head of an ox). Longships tended to have a shal- low draught, which allowed them to beach easily and to travel through relatively shallow inland waters, as well as at sea. Although the Vikings are popularly associated with warships, ar- chaeological excavations have revealed a range of different Viking ships, adapted to the conditions and environment in which they were used. Trading vessels were generally broader than longships, with deeper drafts, more storage space, and fewer oars, and were known as knarr. One of the largest known knarrs (from Hedeby) measured 25 meters in length, compared to the 28 meters of Skuldelev 2, and had a capacity of 38 tons. This type of ship is likely to have been used for the Viking colonization of the North Atlantic. There were also leisure ships, known as karfi, such as those from Oseberg and Gok- stad. These had more oars than a knarr, but were wider and deeper than the longships, with space to carry all the luxuries required by a chieftain or king on a voyage. SHIPS • 243 SIGHVATR þþþþ ÓRD – ARSON (d. c. 1043). Poet (see skaldic poetry) at the court of Olaf Haraldsson, who fought alongside Olaf at the Bat- tle of Nesjar and composed Nesjavísur in honor of Olaf’s victory. One of his most famous, and earliest, pieces of work was Víkingaví- sur, which catalogs Olaf’s earlier expeditions in England, France, Spain, and the Baltic. Sighvatr was sent by Olaf to Earl Rögnvald of Västergötland, Sweden, in 1017–1018 (his embassy is described in Austrfaravísur “Verses on an Eastern Journey”) and then, in 1020, to England to see what plans Cnut I the Great had for Norway (result- ing in Vestrfararvísur “Verses on a Western Journey”). Following Olaf’s exile in 1028, Sighvatr went on pilgrimage to Rome and was there at the time of Olaf’s final battle at Stiklestad. He remained with Astrid, Olaf’s widow, in exile in Sweden and only returned to Nor- way when the Norwegian royal line was restored with the crowning of Olaf’s son, Magnus, in 1035. He then served Magnus I the Good, and composed one of his most famous poems, Bersöglisvísur “The Plain-Speaking Verses,” as a warning to Magnus against taking re- venge against opponents of his father. In this poem, he also defined the qualities of a good king. No complete example of his poems has survived (Bersöglisvísur is the best preserved), but Sighvatr was quoted extensively in Snorri Sturluson’s saga about St. Olaf (see Sagas of St. Olaf) and over 160 stanzas of his poetry still survive. See also KNÚTSDRÁPA. SIGRID THE PROUD (ON Sigri ðð r in stórrá ðð a). In Heimskringla, Snorri writes that Sigrid was the daughter of the prominent Swedish chieftain and warrior, Sköglar-Tosti, the widow of Erik the Victori- ous, the second wife of Svein Forkbeard, and the mother of Olof Skötkonung. However, in Adam of Bremen, Svein is said to have only one (unnamed) wife, who combined characteristics of Sigrid with those of Svein’s first wife, Gunnhild—she was the widow of Erik, the mother of Olof, and the sister of Boleslav of Poland. Ac- cording to both Snorri Sturluson and Saxo Grammaticus, Sigrid was also proposed to by Olaf Tryggvason of Norway before her mar- riage to Svein, and both also recount (different) stories of how Olaf subsequently shamed and offended her. The result of this enmity be- tween Sigrid and Olaf was that Svein Forkbeard and Olof of Sweden formed an alliance against Norway that ultimately led to Olaf’s death 244 • SIGHVATR þ ÓRD – ARSON (d. c . 1043) at Svöld. There is considerable doubt over whether Sigrid ever actu- ally existed, although a rune-stone from Yttergärde, Uppland, Swe- den, may refer to her father. It commemorates a Swedish Viking who was paid Danegeld by a leader called Tosti, as well as by Thorkell the Tall, and Cnut I the Great. This Tosti has been identified with Snorri’s Sköglar-Tosti (“Battle-Tosti”). SIGTRYGG CÁECH (ON Sigtryggr Irish cáech “squinty”) (d. 927). Sometimes Sihtric Caoch. Norse king of Dublin 917–921 and of York 921–927. Sigtrygg was the grandson of Ivar (Ímar) of Dublin and, with his brother Ragnald, re-established Norse power in Ireland and Dublin 914–917. In 919, the Annals of Ulster recorded a Norse victory (under Sigtrygg) at Dublin, which led to the death of the high king, Níall Glúndub, five other Irish kings, and many nobles. This event is also recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 921, although it mistakenly describes Níall as Sigtrygg’s brother; The Annals of Ulster record that Sigfrith, Sigtrygg’s brother, was killed by a “kinsman” in 888, and the Eng- lish version of events seems to represent a confusion of the events of 888 and 919. In 920, Sigtrygg is said to have abandoned Dublin, but the following year saw the arrival of his brother, Guthfrith, another grandson of Ivar (Ímar) in that town, and the death of another of Sigtrygg’s brothers, Ragnald (although the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle confusingly records that Ragnald won York in 923). Sigtrygg appears to have succeeded Ragnald as king of York some- time around 921, and in the Chronicle for 925 (correctly 926) is de- scribed as king of Northumbria. In the same year, he came to terms with the English king, Athelstan, at Tamworth, was baptized, and married Athelstan’s sister, Eadgyth. However, the Anglo-Norman historian, Roger of Wendover, writes that shortly afterward he re- nounced both his new faith and his bride. Sigtrygg died the follow- ing year (correctly 927, “at an immature age,” according to the Irish annals), and was succeeded in York by Guthfrith, his brother. A num- ber of coins, minted at York and inscribed with the legend SITRIC REX, survive. SIGTRYGG SILK-BEARD (ON Sigtryggr silkiskegg) (d. 1042). Also appears as Sihtric Silkenbeard in some English-language scholarship. SIGTRYGG SILK-BEARD (d. 1042) • 245 King of Dublin 989–1036, Sigtrygg was the son of Olaf Cúarán of Dublin and York by his Irish-born wife, Gormlaith. Sigtrygg’s au- tonomy as king of Dublin was limited by two successive Irish high- kings, firstly Máel Sechnaill II of Meath and then, after 997, Brian Boru of Munster. Sigtrygg allied himself with the king of Leinster and rebelled against Brian’s overlordship of Dublin in 999 but was soon forced to submit to the Irish king (who was also his stepfather) and he married Brian’s daughter, Sláine, in the settlement that followed. However, some years later, in 1012, Sigtrygg once again used Lein- ster support to challenge Brian’s overlordship, and he helped to forge the anti-Brian coalition that faced the Irish high king at Clontarf in 1014. Njal’s Saga includes a praise poem, Darra ð arljó ð , which de- scribes the victory in battle of a young king over the Irish. The saga writer identifies this young king, rather dubiously, with Sigtrygg. Sigtrygg himself did not fight at Clontarf, and Orkneyinga Saga claims that he actually ran away from the battle. The Dublin Vikings were instead led by his brother, Dubhgall. Although Brian was killed, his old rival, Máel Sechnaill, simply reclaimed his control of Dublin, so that Sigtrygg’s position remained essentially unaltered. He abdi- cated in 1036, and Sigtrygg’s nephew Echmarcach mac Ragnaill be- came king of a Dublin that was much reduced in its political, if not its economic, power. During his reign, the first Hiberno-Norse coinage was struck at Dublin (c. 995–1020). Sigtrygg’s coins were closely related to the contemporary coinage of King Æthelred II of England, and some of them were more or less straightforward copies. Others, however, bear the legend SIHTRC REX or occasionally SIHTRC CVNVNC (from ON konungr “king”), alongside the Dublin mint-signature. Sigtrygg was a Christian (see Christianity, Conversion to) king and under- took two pilgrimages to Rome in 1028 and 1042 respectively; he also founded Dublin’s Christ Church Cathedral c. 1030. He was murdered on his second journey to Rome. SIGTUNA. Viking-Age town situated at the mouth of the River Fyris on Lake Mälaren in Uppland, Sweden. Sigtuna was probably founded around the year 975 by the Swedish king, Erik the Victorious, and was laid out on a regular grid plan. During the rule of Olof Skötko- 246 • SIGTUNA nung, the first Swedish royal coinage was issued from the town. Un- like its predecessor, Birka, Sigtuna never appears to have been a sig- nificant trading center. Indeed, recent excavations have revealed only small-scale crafting activity, and it is probable that the town was just a local market center. The town’s importance lay in the fact that it was an administrative and religious center for the growing power of the Swedish king. A large number of Viking-Age rune-stones were raised around the town, and it has been suggested that these reflect territorial and political statements by those who were affected by the extension of royal power. SIGURD THE DRAGON-SLAYER (ON Sigur ðð r fáfnisbani). Heroic figure who features prominently in Old Norse literature (for example, the Prose Edda, Poetic Edda, and Völsunga Saga) and art (for ex- ample, 10th-century stone crosses from northern England and the Isle of Man and the 12th-century wooden portals from Hylestad stave- church in Norway). The German Nibelungenlied epic, the basis for Richard Wagner’s Ring, and its hero, Siegfried, parallel the Scandi- navian legends about Sigurd. According to Old Norse literature, Sigurd was the son of a dead hero, Sigmund, and was brought up by the smith, Regin. Regin had a brother, who had been turned into a dragon and who guarded an im- mense but cursed treasure of gold. This gold had originally belonged to a dwarf, Andvari. Sigurd was encouraged by Regin to steal this treas- ure, and the smith gave him a specially forged sword that incorporated part of Sigmund’s sword to help him. Following Regin’s advice, Sig- urd dug a pit, hid in it, and when the dragon passed over the pit on its way to drink at a nearby pool, Sigurd stabbed and killed it, and could thus take the unguarded treasure. Sigurd cut out the dragon’s heart and roasted it as Regin had requested, but he burned his thumb while doing so. As he sucked his thumb to cool it, he tasted the dragon’s blood, which gave him the ability to understand the speech of birds. These promptly informed Sigurd that his foster father, Regin, was going to betray and kill him and take the treasure for himself. Sigurd pre- empted this by beheading Regin, and then proceeded to load up his horse, Grani (son of Sleipnir), with the treasure. This part of the Sig- urd legend is shown very clearly on the rune-inscribed rock, Ram- sundberget, and episodes of it occur on other pieces of stone sculpture. SIGURD THE DRAGON-SLAYER • 247 . but the following year saw the arrival of his brother, Guthfrith, another grandson of Ivar (Ímar) in that town, and the death of another of Sigtrygg’s brothers, Ragnald (although the Anglo-Saxon. virtually all of the settlement names in the region of Scandinavian origin. Sutherland, to the east, displays a mixture of Norse and Gaelic names, similar to that found in the Hebrides. A range of. Scandinavian place-names on the western mainland, but these are topographical (describing natural features) rather than habitative (describing settle- ments) place-names. Scandinavian place-names are