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Do You Use the Word Viking Correctly?

Language matters, and how a person uses language significantly affects their worldview and how they perceive people, objects, and concepts. It is no surprise, therefore, that there are a growing number of people who are dismayed by today’s liberal use of the word Viking to describe a great number of things that the word initially did not. Historians have fought pitched battles over the origins of the word, and many an unsuspecting Viking history fan has been on the receiving end of the ire of the word’s purists. Do you use the word Viking correctly? Yes, and no. Here I will attempt to clarify the origins of the word, its various uses across the ages, and the evolution of its modern incarnation, specifically in non-Scandinavian languages.

The Origins of the Word Viking

This much we know for sure: the word Viking is derived from Old Norse. While its origins are not well understood, and historians are divided over where precisely the word originated, we do know the word began not as a noun but as a verb. The Saga of Egill Skallagrimsson, one of the most famous of the Icelandic Sagas, offers us one of the most compelling examples of the word’s original use (keeping in mind that the Icelandic Sagas were written centuries after the Viking Age). In his opening passage, he describes a man named Ulfr as a man who, “lá hann í víkingu og herjaði,” which translates (roughly) to, “he was roving and fought.” In the context of the passage, the word víkingu, or viking, describes an activity – roving – rather than the man.

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Egill Skallagrímsson in a 17th-century manuscript of Egil’s Saga

Later in the saga, the word is used in a completely different way:

“With bloody brand on-striding

Me bird of bane hath followed:

My hurtling spear hath sounded

In the swift Vikings’ charge.

Raged wrathfully our battle,

Ran fire o’er foemen’s rooftrees;

Sound sleepeth many a warrior

Slain in the city gate.”

Here the saga’s author uses the word as a noun to describe a group of people carrying out a specific action, which tells us the word may have also been used to describe the men whose profession it was to rove and fight. Jugglers juggle. Traders trade. Vikings viking.

Egill’s Saga may well be the last time the word was used in the medieval period. As the Viking Age came to a close, the profession of roving and fighting declined, and with it the use of the word Viking. Although modern Icelandic is the closest relative to Old Norse, Old Norse is considered a dead language. It evolved over the medieval period into the separate languages of Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and Icelandic, and the word Viking did not make it into any of their lexicons.  It disappeared almost entirely for many centuries until it experienced a revival led by 19th Century historians from Western Europe.

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Detail of a miniature from a 13th-century Icelandic manuscript.

The Revival of the Word Viking

The Romantic movement of the early 19th Century (1800–1850) developed an intrinsic fascination with the medieval period. Part of that movement saw a rapidly growing interest in a little-known, poorly understood element of early medieval history: the Viking Age. Historians flocked to the field with keen interest, seeking to shed light on this “dark” age. It is 19th Century historians who first demarcated the Viking Age between 793 A.D., the attack on Lindisfarne, and 1066 A.D, the Norman invasion of England. They were the first to study the sagas, search for writings about the Viking invasions of Europe, and begin to form a coherent narrative of the Viking Age. Through their efforts, Western Civilization rediscovered the long lost history of an enigmatic people who had plagued the early kingdoms of Britain and France, and whose origins they traced to Scandinavia.

During the romantic period, there had not yet been any ship burial discoveries and no archeological digs of any significance, so the primary sources they used had to be tracked down across Europe, many of them hidden away in age-old university archives, cathedral libraries, and private collections owned by Europe’s ruling class. Misconceptions about the Vikings abound in this early period of research, many of which persist to today. At the same time, a new political force took hold in Western Europe, one that would be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions of people in the following century: the concept of nationalism.

Beginning in the mid 19th century, the governments of Europe, both nascent democracies and established autocracies, sought to bend the narrative of history to suit their political aims and confirm their legitimacy. In France, for example, the official national story was that modern France was the product of the Carolingian empire, a holy Christian institution that helped to stabilize Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. In England, the official historical narrative began with the Anglo-Saxon kings, such as Alfred the Great, to emphasize that the English monarchy had a long and rich history, one who had fought back innumerable invasions with the help of God. It is within the context of nascent national fervor that the study of the Vikings took shape. Not surprisingly, historians painted the Vikings as an enemy who threatened civilization and had to be defeated. The triumph of Christendom over “the ravages of heathen men”, as written in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, was regarded as a pivotal, divinely ordained achievement, exploited by the governments of Europe as a means to further prove the providence of their nations and to encourage national pride.

The fearsome enemy of Christendom, however, did not yet have a name. What then to call these invaders who attempted to thwart the Christian kingdoms of Europe? No one really knows where 19th-century historians, and later, society, picked up the word for use in non-Scandinavian languages. It may have been borrowed directly from the Scandinavians of the day, or perhaps taken directly from the Sagas of the Icelanders. Historian Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough explains in her book, Beyond the Northlands, that the first modern use in English of the word Viking was recorded in 1807. The word wasn’t reserved for the “men who roved”, but instead referred to the entire Norse world. It is, woefully, a product of the “us against them” mentality, and an unfortunate oversimplification and mischaracterization of a time and people we now know to have been far more complicated than previously acknowledged. From 1807 forward, the generalized use of the word dominated the histories and the arts of the 19th and 20th centuries and is by-and-large how most people use the word today.

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A 19th Century depiction of a Viking raid.

So, Do You Use the Word Viking Correctly?

It all boils down to effective communication. Who is the audience? What is their level of knowledge in regards to the Viking Age? Making clear your intent for the word is critical, and nowhere is this done better than in a recent book titled The Age of the Vikings, by historian Anders Winroth, in which he takes the time to make clear how he intends to use the word to his audience:

“The word ‘Viking’ is rare in the Viking Age sources, but in modern times it has become a ubiquitous but ill-defined label. The original sense of the term is unclear, and there are many suggestions for etymological derivations. In this book, I reserve the term ‘Vikings’ for those northerners who in the early middle ages raided, plundered, and battled in Europe, in accordance with how the word is used in Medieval texts. Otherwise, I refer to the inhabitants of Scandinavia as Scandinavians. The language they spoke is called Old Norse, so I have sometimes used the term ‘Norsemen.’”

Anyone who uses the word should be careful to define how they intend to use it, and to make clear the differences between its various usages. I, for example, use the word Viking more interchangeably because my intended audience is those people who are beginning to explore their interest in the Viking Age and who may not yet understand how its modern use differs from the past. However, in writing more in-depth histories, I focus my use of the word on the “men who roved.”

As always, for further reading, check out my selected bibliography.

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What Caused the Viking Age?

On June 8, 793 A.D., the world of Christendom changed forever. A fleet of mysterious ships appeared off the coast of Northumbria and took aim at the island monastery of Lindisfarne. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records:  “In this year terrible portents appeared over Northumbria, and miserably frightened the inhabitants: these were exceptional flashes of lightning, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air. A great famine soon followed these signs; a little after that in the same year on 8 [June] the harrying of the heathen miserably destroyed God’s church in Lindisfarne by rapine and slaughter.”

In The Two Lives of Charlemagne, by Notker the Stammerer, the emperor of the Carolingian Empire allegedly bore witness to an early raid attempt off the coast of France. So the chronicler tells us when the Northman ships learned Charlemagne and his army had made camp near their target, they turned back and fled. They may not have inflicted any harm to the coast of France on that day, but their sudden appearance and disappearance deeply unnerved the most powerful man in Western Europe of the day. Notker further wrote:

“Charlemagne, who was a God-fearing, just and devout ruler, rose from the table and stood at the window facing East. For a long time, the precious tears poured down his face. No one dared to ask him why. In the end, he explained his lachrymose behavior to his war-like leaders. ’My faithful servants,’ said he, ‘Do you know why I wept so bitterly? I am not afraid that these ruffians will be able to do me harm, but I am sick at heart to think that even in my lifetime they have dared to attack this coast, and I am horror-stricken when I foresee what evil they will do to my descendants and their subjects.’”

Most historians question whether Charlemagne did in fact witness such an event, but the message conveyed to us by Notker is clear: the Vikings posed a real danger to the coastlines of Western Europe even before the accession of Louis the Pious. The terror they struck in the hearts of their victims paints a picture of a threat that no one in Christendom had predicted.

The first recorded attacks at Lindisfarne in 793 A.D., in Ireland in 795 A.D., and in France in 799 A.D. are widely considered the beginning events of what historians call the Viking Age. Though the Viking Age lasted for nearly three centuries, the initial raids between the years A.D. 793 and 835 occurred peripherally, meaning they remained contained to coastlines (in contrast, the second half of the 9th century was marked by invasion attempts and conquests). This is the period that is most romanticized in popular culture: longships filled with rugged bands of marauders suddenly appearing on the horizon to sack and loot monasteries for their silver. That they appeared suddenly in the historical record has launched historians, archeologists, and various fields of science on a quest to answer the question: What caused the Viking Age?

Most historians draw upon a combination of several hypotheses to explain the cause of the Viking Age. These hypotheses range in scope from territorial disputes to diplomatic tensions with neighbors, and nearly all of these factors seem to have played a part. Not unlike Europe on the eve of World War I, Scandinavia in the late 8th century appears to have been ready to boil over, and all the situation needed was a catalyst. Unfortunately, attempts to define a single catalyst or trigger event have all proved unfruitful. A 2010 paper by the archeologist James Barrett called such attempts “unrealistic” and proposed the start of the Viking Age could only be defined by combining numerous factors into a broader, more general theory. 

What caused the Viking Age? The best we can say is that it was a combination of numerous factors, including climate change, trade, political strife, social stratification, among other causes. Here I will explore a few that served as likely significant contributors to what started the Viking Age.

Climate Causes

For as long as the study of the Vikings has existed, historians have proposed a short period of climatic warming as a primary longue-durée cause of the Viking Age. Indeed, most books about Viking history will include some variation of the hypothesis. While not a catalyst for the events of the late eighth century, the warming period may have contributed to societal developments in Scandinavia that caused societal duress during the ensuing cooling period. 

The long-term effects of climate, however, have come under scrutiny from several camps. A 2013 study by the historians Morgan Kelly and Cormac Ó Gráda argues too little evidence exists to correlate climate with social and political changes in the early medieval period. They acknowledge the impact climate change would have had on medieval society if it were a provable phenomenon, but stress that more research must be conducted to keep the climate hypothesis alive.

Social and Cultural Causes

Several leading theories on what caused the Viking Age focus on the social causes born from early Scandinavia’s stratified society and warrior culture. In a 2015 paper, historian Steven Ashby proposed social capital acquired through fame and glory drove sea captains to raid abroad. In the article, he writes, “In the flexible hierarchies of the Viking Age, those who took advantage of opportunities to enhance their social capital stood to gain significantly. The lure of the raid was thus more than booty; it was about winning and preserving power through the enchantment of travel and the doing of deeds. This provides an important correction to models that focus on the need for portable wealth; the act of acquiring silver was as important as the silver itself.”

Other social traditions may have also played a significant role in encouraging young men to raid abroad. The bride price — the price paid by a man to a woman’s family for her hand in marriage — may have precipitated the desire by young men to join sea captains on raids. The treasures they brought home would have paid the bride price for the woman they wanted to marry. In a 2017 paper, historians Ben Raffield, Neil Price, and Mark Collard proposed operational sex ratios driven by polygyny and concubinage led to the need for young men to seek treasures abroad to afford the bride price and increase their chances at marrying. 

In a 2016 essay, Søren M. Sindbæk suggested silver was used to establish and maintain social networks over time in Viking Age Scandinavia, bride prices being an example of such networks. If true, then the influx of Islamic silver from the East and controlled by the elites likely contributed to the need for young men to seek their own treasures in the West to compete.

Political Causes

In 782 A.D. Emperor Charlemagne was just wrapping up his conquest of modern-day Poland when the Saxons, under the leadership of a man named Widukind, rebelled against him. According to the Royal Frankish Annals, Charlemagne’s response was swift and bloody. During their battle near the Elbe River, the Franks took 4,500 prisoners. To teach the rebels a lesson, Charlemagne ordered the prisoners be baptized in the Elbe. The priests recited their benedictions, and the Frankish soldiers held their victims underwater until they drowned.

The event, after that dubbed “The Massacre of Verden” was no more gruesome than many of the other acts committed by the Carolingians. Forced baptisms and conversions were commonplace under Charlemagne’s rule. But Verden was different. The leader of the Saxons, Widukind, was brother-in-law to the king of the Danes, Sigfred. News of the massacre undoubtedly reached the Danish court, and as such would have (and this is conjecture) deeply angered them. It was yet another brutal, violent display of power by Charlemagne, the latest in a long series spanning decades.

Danish raids along the coast of Frisia (modern-day Netherlands) appear to have intensified almost immediately, leading to an infamous assault on the important trade port of Dorestad. The very next decade, an attack on Lindisfarne occurred, and what happened there has led some to believe that there may have been a connection between the two. A source on the attack by the twelfth century English chronicler, Simeon of Durham, who drew from a lost Northumbrian chronicle, described the events at Lindisfarne this way:

“And they came to the church at Lindisfarne, laid everything to waste with grievous plundering, trampled the holy places with polluted steps, dug up the altars and seized all the treasure of the holy church. They killed some of the brothers, took some away with them in fetters, many they drove out, naked and loaded with insults, some they drowned in the sea… “

Some have proposed the drownings symbolized the forced baptisms at Verden. The evidence, however, is inconclusive. What is undeniable is that interactions between the Danes and the Franks, and the kingdoms of the British Isles, predated the official start of the Viking Age. Political strife may have served as an important trigger.

Trade

More recent scholarship on the subject of trade has revealed less apparent causes for the start of the Viking Age. A 2018 study by Irene Baug, Dagfinn Skre, Tom Heldal, and Øystein J. Jansen examined the location and provenance of whetstones to establish probable trade ties between geographic regions across the Baltic region. Most of the whetstones analyzed originated from the settlements of Lade and Borg in what is today Northern Norway. Dating of the quarry sites and the stones reveals the whetstone trade had likely established ties between these remote regions of Scandinavia and the more urbanized southern Baltic regions, such as Ribe, as early as the beginning of the 8th century. The study authors offer further evidence of these ties by citing the discovery of a reindeer antler comb from Norway found in Ribe, Denmark that predates the presupposed timeline for the establishment of trade.

If trade between Lade and the English Channel, even if not direct, had been established in the 8th century, the resulting contact from that trade could have inspired sea captains to shift their focus from trading to raiding, as was often done when the latter proved more worthwhile. As the study authors note: “This evidence, set in the context of the contemporary surge in production and trade around the southern North Sea and English Channel, the early urbanisation in southern Scandinavia and the Baltic, and the political integration in southern and western Scandinavia, allows us to suggest immediate reasons for why Viking ship commanders turned their activities overseas in the late 700s. The evidence also sheds light on why, after the initial ‘scouting phase,’ raiding in three decades since c. 806 took place predominantly in Ireland and Scotland, and why Vikings in the mid-830s began overwintering overseas and took up raiding in England and the Frankish Empire.”

Bringing it all together: What caused the Viking Age?

No single event or trend caused the Viking Age. Why sea captains and their crews launched from Scandinavia to raid abroad has its roots in a wide breadth of social, political, environmental, and cultural trends. Much more research is needed to peel back the shroud of mystery surrounding why longships appeared so suddenly off the coasts of England, Ireland, and France in the late 8th century.

For further reading, be sure to check out my selected bibliography on Viking History.
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New Theory Suggests Harald Bluetooth’s Forts Were A Propaganda Tool.

Harald I, also known as Harald Bluetooth, of Denmark spent a great deal of time flexing his autocratic muscles. Nowhere is his desire to demonstrate his power more evident than in the archaeological remains of massive circular forts, according to a new study. The study author, Jens Ulriksen, has proposed the fortifications were less functional than symbolic, to warn would-be usurpers that the king could crush them at will.

During his 30 year reign, Harald Bluetooth commissioned construction projects across his kingdom, including a giant palisade in Jelling, a 760 meter-long bridge (the longest in Scandinavia at the time), and a considerable extension to the Danevirke, a defensive wall on the southern border of the Jutland Peninsula.

His most remarkable building achievement may have been the iconic circular forts scattered across Denmark. At least five have been uncovered in modern times, and they are comparable in size to modern sports stadiums. The five forts currently under archeological study are: 

Borgring, near Køge 
Trelleborg, near Slagelse
Aggersborg, the largest, near Aggersund
Fyrkat, near Hobro
Nonnebakken, in Odense

A Propaganda Machine?

Jens Ulriksen, a researcher at the Museum of South-East Denmark (Museum Sydøstdanmark), has been leading excavations of the fort at Borgring for the past four years. The fort was discovered near Køge in 2014 and is today the most famous of the five. It is thought to have been built in the middle of his reign. In a recent lecture, Ulriksen proposed Harald had constructed the fort with a specific goal in mind: to promote himself and the legitimacy of his reign to the surrounding area. More simply, Ulriksen’s theory suggests Harald spent lavishly on his forts for propaganda, not actual defense.

“What is striking is that they are all connected to important road corridors, that is, roads that have been in common use for centuries, and I think there was a clear plan behind that,” Jens Ulriksen explained in a recent interview for Videnskab DK, about his work.

Ulriksen’s theory rests on an important historical theme: Harald was the first Christian king of Denmark, and his subjects were not all on his side. To prove himself, and to dissuade unrest, he had to make ostentatious displays of power, particularly for local lords to see. The placement of the fortresses is not random, either. Each appears to have been built at strategic choke points for trade routes between the country’s largest settlements of the time. If they weren’t there to control trade, they indeed were a strong message to the rest of the aristocracy.

“As a reminder of the king to all those who traveled, to say that it was a new era with a new faith and a new king,” Ulriksen explains. He firmly believes that the forts were built to be as visible as possible to remind passersby who was king, even if the king himself was not there. His theory stands in contrast to other archaeologists who have suggested the fortresses were instead built to fend off attacks and to provide the king with greater mobility to squash rebellions.

Asserting Christianity as the Ruling Authority in Denmark

“Of course, it was impossible at the time to see the fortresses from above. But do you know who could?” Ulriksen muses. “God could.”

The problem Harald had initially was that there were many important men across the country interested in the role of decision-maker and ready to challenge anyone with the audacity to proclaim himself king. Most kings before Harald fought incessantly with the ruling class, which impacted their reigns. In addition, Harald Bluetooth was the first ruler to launch a conversion of his people to Christianity. Denmark was not yet entirely Christian when he ascended to the throne. 

The size of the circular forts varies, but their design is nearly identical. Their strict geometric layout — 4 openings distributed to four opposing points, or exactly 90 degrees from each other— form a cross inside a wheel when viewed from above. “Of course, it was impossible at the time to see the fortresses from above. But do you know who could?” Ulriksen muses. “God could.”

The Changing Face of the Forts

Jens Ulriksen has turned quite a few heads for his new theory. At a recent conference, his talk, based on work that had not at the time been published, received positive acclaim. Included among those who find the theory plausible, the archaeologist Mads Runge, chief inspector of the Odense City Museum, said: “Jens’ ideas are fascinating because he deploys a bundle of perspectives and places the fortresses in a broader context. This is a new way to look at these sites.” Runge’s own research investigates the concentration of power that took place in Denmark from the Iron Age to the beginning of the Middle Ages. He acknowledges that Jens’ research could prove useful for his.

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The Longest Longship’s Long Journey Will End in 2020, but Not Without Challenges

As Norway struggles to find funding to preserve their longships, Denmark is celebrating a milestone with one of theirs. The longest Viking ship ever found, the Roskilde 6, has been on the road since 2013, and has traveled on tour across Europe and North America. The entire journey is a feat of modern preservation techniques. Roskilde 6’s trip has exposed it to a wide variety of climates, but efforts by the exhibition’s staff, including the use of hermetically sealed coffers, has defied the odds and offered to museums across Europe and North America a glimpse at one of Denmark’s most prized historical treasures.

The Roskilde 6 longship was found entirely by chance in 1996 when the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum began work to expand its campus. Workers found the ship’s remains almost as soon as they started to dig, and archeologists intervened. No sooner than the excavation had begun, those involved realized they had not found just any longship. Measuring in at 37 meters (121 feet) long, the Roskilde 6 is the longest of its kind ever discovered. Its unusual length made it impossible to exhume from the ground in a single segment, so archeologists had to dig it out piece by piece.

Conditions above ground were cause for concern. The humid, oxygen-rich air risked destroying the ship’s wood. Cleaning, analysis, and documentation of each piece had to be done quickly. Preserving it, however, is no small task. For 15 years after pulling it from the ground, conservators have worked continuously to keep the ship’s wood intact. While ships pulled from ground appear well-preserved, the reality archeologists find is that the pieces are profoundly degraded. Kristiane Strætkvern, the head conservator for Roskilde 6 at the National Museum of Denmark, has led the efforts to preserve the ship since it was found.

Beginning in 2008, the National Museum of Denmark started a collaboration with the British Museum London and the Museum für Vörnd Frühgeschichte (Museum of pre-history) in Berlin to create a Viking-themed exhibit. Curators wanted to showcase an artifact that would draw large audiences. What would attract more viewers than the longest longship in history? As ambitious as it was to add the Roskilde 6 ship to the traveling exhibit, curators and conservators worked together to make it happen. 

To prepare the Roskilde 6 for its long journey on the road with the Viking exhibit, conservators prepared the wood through a process called lyophilization, or freeze-drying. Once prepped, the pieces were placed in hermetically sealed cases. Alongside the original wood, the exhibit also features a metal skeleton of the ship (see video below) that assembles and disassembles somewhat like legos (because Denmark!) to represent the shape the ship had before it was buried.

Vikings: Interview with Roskilde 6 Conservator from The Franklin Institute on Vimeo.

Despite their diligent attempts to preserve the ship, the six years it has spent on the road have taken their toll. Now on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, the humid conditions in the museum are worrying curators of the exhibit and the original conservators. More concerning for them is that the display has one more stop on its way home, and it isn’t scheduled to return to Roskilde until 2020. Kristiane Strætkvern, who continues to work with the exhibit, would prefer to take the ship back to Denmark early. The Franklin Institute has taken steps to improve conditions (which Kristiane Strætkvern said were adequate in a recent interview) while they still have the ship on display, which has helped slow the wood’s decay. What the ship needs, ultimately, is to be placed in a stable environment for the long-term.

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Norway’s Crumbling Viking Longships: Can They Be Saved in Time?

As Jan Bill contoured the sides of a Viking longship in late October for an interview, he pointed to cracks that have appeared in the hull. “This damage is only the beginning of something that is going to get worse,” he said. His expression was cheerless and bleak. Jan is the co-curator of Oslo’s museum of cultural history, and he’s been worried about the condition of the ships for some time. The vessels survived for 1,200 years underground, preserved by low oxygen conditions in the soil. Now, displayed in the museum in an oxygen-rich environment, the wood’s age is beginning to catch up with it. As the ships continue to crumble, efforts to fund their preservation have come up short. 

In October 2018, Jan had the opportunity to speak with researchers involved with the discovery of a new longship found in Østfold. It had been hoped the new artifact would find a home among the museum’s other ships. Their rapid rate of decay, however, has caused many to rethink the move. Jan explained the situation at the museum and the efforts being taken to save Norway’s most extensive collection of longships. “We are taking necessary action when we deem it necessary, such as the building of support underneath the Gokstad ship, but these are short term solutions. The challenge for us is to find a long-term solution…but we have not implemented long-term preservation efforts because we simply lack the resources,” he explained in the interview.

Since 2014, museum curators, researchers, and preservationists have warned of the decaying condition of the ships. They proposed the construction of a new museum that could better preserve the vessels, and they received public support for their plan. When the government unveiled a new budget plan for this year, however, everyone was left in shock. Not a single penny was allocated to funding the new museum.

“It is clearly the talk of the day,” said Ellen Marie Næss, an archaeologist and a university lecturer who works at the Viking Ship House. Given the funding shortfall, she has grown weary of transporting the new discovery from Østfold to the museum. “The conservation conditions are probably better in the soil than here,” she said.

To make matters worse, the funding shortfall has slowed progress on restoration efforts that could protect the ships until the building of a new museum. At the current rate, even if a new museum were built, the damage to the boats could make them unsalvageable for display. “We risk ending up in a situation where – when a museum is ready – we will not have come far enough to understand what the ships will need to survive,” Jan said. 

Read Jan Bill’s original interview here: forskerforum.no

Much to the relief of all involved, on January 17, 2019, the Norwegian government passed a unanimous resolution to fund the construction of the new longship museum, to be built at Bygdøy. Svein Stølen, Rector of the University of Oslo, expressed relief at the decision: “We had many sleepless nights at the University. This work is important for our national culture and our understanding of Norway.”

The government’s change of heart will fund research and preservation for future finds, but Norway’s crumbling Viking longships are far from out of the woods. As Jan Bill pointed out, the rate of decay could spell disaster for several of the ships on display today before the new museum ever opens. Whatsmore, funding for the new museum has become a pawn in the politics of government, and it could be taken away as quickly as it was given.

You can read the original news story here: uniform.uio.no

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What Caused the Viking Age?

The first recorded attacks at Lindisfarne in 793 A.D., in Ireland in 795 A.D., and in France in 799 A.D. are widely considered the beginning events of what historians call the Viking Age. Though the Viking Age lasted for nearly three centuries, the initial raids between the years A.D. 793 and 835 occurred peripherally, meaning they remained contained to coastlines (in contrast, the second half of the 9th century was marked by invasion attempts and conquests). This is the period that is most romanticized in popular culture: longships filled with rugged bands of marauders suddenly appearing on the horizon to sack and loot monasteries for their silver. That they appeared suddenly in the historical record has launched historians, archeologists, and various fields of science on a quest to answer the question: What caused the Viking Age?

In The Two Lives of Charlemagne, by Notker the Stammerer, the emperor of the Carolingian Empire allegedly witnessed an early attempted raid off the coast of France: “Charlemagne, who was a God-fearing, just and devout ruler, rose from the table and stood at the window facing East. For a long time, the precious tears poured down his face. No one dared to ask him why. In the end, he explained his lachrymose behavior to his war-like leaders. ’My faithful servants,’ said he, ‘Do you know why I wept so bitterly? I am not afraid that these ruffians will be able to do me harm, but I am sick at heart to think that even in my lifetime they have dared to attack this coast, and I am horror-stricken when I foresee what evil they will do to my descendants and their subjects.’”

Most historians question whether Charlemagne indeed witnessed such an event, but the message conveyed to us by Notker is clear: the Vikings posed a real threat to the coastlines of Western Europe even before the accession of Louis the Pious. The terror they struck in the hearts of their victims paints a picture of a threat that no one in Christendom had predicted.

The authors of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle described the attack on Lindisfarne, in 793 A.D., this way: “In this year terrible portents appeared over Northumbria, and miserably frightened the inhabitants: these were exceptional flashes of lightning, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air. A great famine soon followed these signs; a little after that in the same year on 8 [June] the harrying of the heathen miserably destroyed God’s church in Lindisfarne by rapine and slaughter.“

Most historians draw upon a combination of several hypotheses to explain the cause of the Viking Age. Hypotheses range in scope from territorial disputes to diplomatic tensions with neighbors, and nearly all of these factors seem to have played a part. Not unlike Europe on the eve of World War I, Scandinavia in the late 8th century appears to have been ready to boil over, and all the situation needed was a catalyst. Unfortunately, attempts to define a single catalyst or trigger event have all proved unfruitful. A 2010 paper by the archeologist James Barrett called such attempts “unrealistic” and proposed the start of the Viking Age could only be defined by combining numerous factors into a broader, more general theory. 

What caused the Viking Age? The best we can say is that it was a combination of numerous factors, including climate change, trade, political strife, social stratification, among other causes. Here I will explore a few that served as likely significant contributors to what started the Viking Age.

Climate Causes

For as long as the study of the Vikings has existed, historians have proposed a short period of climatic warming as a primary longue-durée cause of the Viking Age. Indeed, most books about Viking history will include some variation of the hypothesis. While not a catalyst for the events of the late eighth century, the warming period may have contributed to societal developments in Scandinavia that came under duress during the ensuing cooling period. 

The long-term effects of climate, however, have come under scrutiny from several camps. A 2013 study by the historians Morgan Kelly and Cormac Ó Gráda argues too little evidence exists to correlate climate with social and political changes in the early medieval period. They acknowledge the impact climate change would have had on medieval society if it were a provable phenomenon. More research must be conducted to keep the climate hypothesis alive.

Social and Cultural Causes

Several leading theories on what caused the Viking Age focus on the social causes born from early Scandinavia’s stratified society and warrior culture. In a 2015 paper, historian Steven Ashby proposed social capital acquired through fame and glory drove sea captains to raid abroad. In the article, he writes, “In the flexible hierarchies of the Viking Age, those who took advantage of opportunities to enhance their social capital stood to gain significantly. The lure of the raid was thus more than booty; it was about winning and preserving power through the enchantment of travel and the doing of deeds. This provides an important correction to models that focus on the need for portable wealth; the act of acquiring silver was as important as the silver itself.”

Other social traditions may have also played a significant role in encouraging young men to raid abroad. The bride price — the price paid by a man to a woman’s family for her hand in marriage — may have precipitated the desire by young men to join sea captains on raids. The treasures they brought home would have paid the bride price for the woman they wanted to marry. In a 2017 paper, historians Ben Raffield, Neil Price, and Mark Collard proposed operational sex ratios driven by polygyny and concubinage led to the need for young men to seek treasures abroad to afford the bride price and increase their chances at marrying. 

In a 2016 essay, Søren M. Sindbæk proposes silver was used to establish and maintain social networks over time in Viking Age Scandinavia, bride prices being an example of such networks. If true, then the influx of Islamic silver from the East and controlled by the elites likely contributed to the need for young men to seek their own treasures in the West to compete.

Political Causes

In 782 A.D. Emperor Charlemagne was just wrapping up his conquest of modern-day Poland when the Saxons, under the leadership of a man named Widukind, rebelled against him. Charlemagne’s response was swift and bloody. During their battle near the Elbe River, the Franks took 4,500 prisoners. To teach the rebels a lesson, Charlemagne ordered the prisoners be baptized in the Elbe, where the priests recited their benedictions, and the Frankish soldiers held their victims underwater until they drowned.

The event, after that dubbed “The Massacre of Verdun” was no more gruesome than many of the other acts committed by the Carolingians. Forced baptisms and conversions were commonplace under Charlemagne’s rule. But this event was different. Widukind, the leader of the Saxons, was brother in law to the king of the Danes, Sigfred. News of the massacre undoubtedly reached his court, and as such would have (and this is conjecture) deeply angered them. It was yet another brutal, violent display of power by Charlemagne, the latest in a long series spanning decades.

Danish raids along the coast of Frisia (modern-day Netherlands) appear to have intensified almost immediately, leading to an infamous assault on Dorestad. The very next decade, an attack on Lindisfarne occurred, and what happened there has led some to believe that there may have been a connection between the two. A source on the attack by the twelfth century English chronicler, Simeon of Durham, who drew from a lost Northumbrian chronicle, described the events at Lindisfarne this way:

“And they came to the church at Lindisfarne, laid everything to waste with grievous plundering, trampled the holy places with polluted steps, dug up the altars and seized all the treasure of the holy church. They killed some of the brothers, took some away with them in fetters, many they drove out, naked and loaded with insults, some they drowned in the sea… “

Some have proposed the drownings symbolized the forced baptisms at Verden. The evidence, however, is light. What is undeniable is that interactions between the Danes and the Franks, and the kingdoms of the British Isles, predated the official start of the Viking Age. Political strife may have served as an important trigger.

Trade

More recent scholarship on the subject has revealed less apparent causes for the start of the Viking Age. A 2018 study by Irene Baug, Dagfinn Skre, Tom Heldal, and Øystein J. Jansen examines the location and provenance of whetstones to establish probable trade ties between geographic regions across the Baltic region. Most of the whetstones analyzed came from the settlements of Lade and Borg in what is today Northern Norway. Dating of the quarry sites and the stones reveals the whetstone trade had likely established ties between these remote regions of Scandinavia and the more urbanized southern Baltic regions, such as Ribe, beginning in the early 8th century. The study authors offer further evidence of these ties by citing the discovery of reindeer antler combs from Norway found in Ribe, Denmark that predates the presupposed timeline for the establishment of trade.

If trade between Lade and the English Channel, even if not direct, had been established in the 8th century, the resulting contact from that trade could have inspired sea captains to shift their focus from trading to raiding, as was often done when the latter proved more worthwhile. As the study authors note: “This evidence, set in the context of the contemporary surge in production and trade around the southern North Sea and English Channel, the early urbanisation in southern Scandinavia and the Baltic, and the political integration in southern and western Scandinavia, allows us to suggest immediate reasons for why Viking ship commanders turned their activities overseas in the late 700s. The evidence also sheds light on why, after the initial ‘scouting phase,’ raiding in three decades since c. 806 took place predominantly in Ireland and Scotland, and why Vikings in the mid-830s began overwintering overseas and took up raiding in England and the Frankish Empire.”

Bringing it all together: What caused the Viking Age?

No single event or trend caused the Viking Age. Why sea captains and their crews launched from Scandinavia to raid abroad has its roots in a wide breadth of social, political, environmental, and cultural trends. Much more research is needed to peal back the shroud of mystery surrounding why longships appeared so suddenly off the coasts of England, Ireland, and France in the late 8th century.

 

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New Study on Whetstones Proposes Trade as Probable Cause of the Viking Age.

What caused the Viking Age? Historians, archeologists, and other academics have long sought to clearly define its root causes. What inspired the Vikings to raid? What triggered their sudden expansion across the world? Theories to explain it abound, from climatic changes in the early medieval period to political causes, such as the Massacre of Verden. Sociological reasons have been proposed as well, including the idea that a bride price had to be paid to a woman’s family for marriage, and so young men left home to raid to afford it. While all of these may have played a part, a new study suggests the root cause of the Viking Age may have had less to do with all of these problems and more to do with trade.

The study, published in the Journal of Maritime Archaeology, examines the location and provenance of whetstones to establish probable trade ties between geographic regions across the Baltic region. Most of the whetstones analyzed came from the settlements of Lade and Borg in what is today Northern Norway. Dating of the quarry sites and the stones reveals the whetstone trade had likely established ties between these remote regions of Scandinavia and the more urbanized southern Baltic regions, such as Ribe, beginning in the early 8th century. The study authors offer further evidence of these ties by citing the discovery of reindeer antler combs from Norway found in Ribe, Denmark that predates the presupposed timeline for the establishment of trade.

What makes the analysis of the whetstones significant is their geographic dispersion. Where the antler combs have only been found in Southern Denmark (to date), the whetstones have been found at sites all along the English Channel (see map below).

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If trade between Lade and the English Channel, even if not direct, had been established in the 8th century, the resulting contact from that trade could have inspired sea captains to shift their focus from trading to raiding, as was often done when the latter proved more worthwhile. As the study authors note: “This evidence, set in the context of the contemporary surge in production and trade around the southern North Sea and English Channel, the early urbanisation in southern Scandinavia and the Baltic, and the political integration in southern and western Scandinavia, allows us to suggest immediate reasons for why Viking ship commanders turned their activities overseas in the late 700s. The evidence also sheds light on why, after the initial ‘scouting phase,’ raiding in three decades since c. 806 took place predominantly in Ireland and Scotland, and why Vikings in the mid-830s began overwintering overseas and took up raiding in England and the Frankish Empire.”

The study authors make clear that trade, while potentially a driving factor for setting off the Viking Age, remains but one of a multiplicity of causes that have already been examined. In their own words, “The paucity of evidence regarding the acute constraints and opportunities of Viking-ship commanders of the 780s–850s is probably the main reason why, compared to general conditions, the search for immediate causes, or ‘trigger factors’, has been less intense and successful—Barrett finds the enterprise ‘unrealistic.’”

To read the full study, CLICK HERE.

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Viking Sword Found in Patara, Turkey.

A recent discovery has created a great deal of buzz at Akdeniz University, in Turkey. Nestled among other artifacts belonging to a 9th and 10th-century naval warfare excavation in the city of Patara, archeologists uncovered a hilt and a pommel of what they believe is a Viking sword. 

“It’s definitely Viking,” said Feyzullah Şahin, a classical archeology professor at Akdeniz University. “The characteristics of the knob, tang and crossguard can be evaluated within the group of swords that was described by Jan Petersen as ‘K type’ or ‘O Type,'” he further explained. “Until today, one Viking sword that was discovered during the excavation works carried around Yumuktepe (district) of Muğla (province) was the only material culture remnant that indicated the existence of Vikings in Anatolia.”

According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, the Varangian Guard served as an elite bodyguard to the Byzantine emperors, but they were initially more broadly used as a mercenary force. Although too early to form any definitive conclusions, the discovery further reinforces the claim by the Russian Primary Chronicle of the use of the Varangians as mercenaries. The new sword find could be evidence of the more widespread use of Varangians across the Byzantine Empire than previously thought.

About the Varangian Guard

Vikings were formidable warriors. They were so fierce, in fact, the Byzantines hired them as mercenaries to carry out their most dangerous missions—or so says the Russian Primary Chronicle. Historically, the Russian Primary Chronicle has posed several problems. Its fantastical claims have called into question its reliability and the veracity of some of the events it claims to recount. Hence, historians have treated the text carefully, and have required abundant archeological evidence to support its narrative.

Initially, the Varangians were hired from among the Vikings known as the Rus, who founded the city-states of Kiev and Novgorod. The Rus frequently raided Byzantine lands and even attempted to sack Constantinople. Impressed by their prowess in battle, the Byzantine emperors hired them as mercenaries after the signing of two treaties in the late 9th and early 10th century. The hiring of the Varangians as mercenaries was likely a ploy to redirect their attention from Constantinople toward other targets, but over time they proved their worth and increased in place and reputation. Eventually, Vikings from all over Scandinavia joined the mercenary force, including, most famously Harald Hardrada of Norway. For three centuries, they fought the wars of the Byzantine Empire until its end in the 13th century. 

The discovery was first reported by The Daily Sabah.

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L’Histoire des Vikings à Noirmoutier

En 793, le moine Alcuin, originaire de la ville de York, réside à la cour de Charlemagne où il reçoit une lettre envoyée par l’un de ses compatriotes. Cette lettre, qui n’existe plus aujourd’hui, l’informait d’une attaque dévastatrice sur le monastère de Lindisfarne à l’extrême nord de l’Angleterre. Les païens, venus de l’autre côté de la mer du Nord, ont pillé la maison de Dieu et tué l’abbé. Cette nouvelle est un choc pour le monde chrétien. Alcuin écrit une lettre à son collègue, Higbald de York, pour lui dire à quel point il est navré «…vos souffrances tragiques m’apportent chaque jour du chagrin, puisque les païens ont profané le sanctuaire de Dieu, versé le sang des saints autour de l’autel, ravagé la maison de notre espérance et piétiné le corps des saints comme des excréments dans la rue. »1

La Chronique Anglo-Saxonne nous dit que le monastère de Lindisfarne a connu de violentes tempêtes à la veille de l’arrivée des Vikings. Elle parle de « terribles présages » et depuis tous les écrits contemporains sur l’attaque, il est clair qu’à l’époque les moines ont cherché des causes surnaturelles et religieuses pour expliquer ce qui leur est arrivé.2 Même Alcuin, qui a sympathisé avec les victimes, écrit dans sa lettre que, « cela n’est pas arrivé par hasard, mais c’est le signe d’une grande culpabilité ». Il insinue à plusieurs reprises que Dieu a dû envoyer les Vikings pour punir les frères de Lindisfarne de leurs péchés.

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Rabanus Maurus (à gauche), soutenu par Alcuin (au milieu), présente son travail à Otgar de Mayence (à droite) Manuscrit du IXe siècle Österreichische Nationalbibliothek de Vienne

Nous savons aujourd’hui que les péchés des moines n’avait guère de relations avec les activités des Vikings à la fin du 8e siècle. Ces derniers se sont attaqués aux monastères en Angleterre, en Irlande et, plus tard, en France parce que ces édifices se trouvaient à proximité des endroits peuplés, et ils contenaient beaucoup de richesses ( surtout de l’argent). Noirmoutier ne faisait pas exception. Depuis le 7e siècle, les moines de Saint Philibert avaient colonisé l’île et prospéré sous la protection de l’empire Carolingien. Six ans après la première attaque sur Lindisfarne, en 799, les Vikings renouvelèrent leur attaque avec le même succès sur le monastère de Saint Philibert. Cette fois, le monde chrétien reconnut qu’il ne s’agissait plus d’une attaque isolée, mais d’une nouvelle menace régulière de maraudeurs païens. 

Lindisfarne est le site que les historiens considèrent comme le début de l’âge viking (circa 793-1066). Noirmoutier est le début de deux siècles d’attaques, de conquêtes et d’occupations Vikings en Bretagne, qui commence avec l’attaque sur Saint Philibert et se termine avec la reconquête de la Bretagne par Alain Barbetorte. 

Qu’est-ce qu’un Viking ?

Le mot Viking est originaire de l’ancien norrois (une langue morte). Bien que ses origines ne soient pas bien définies et que les historiens soient divisés sur l’origine précise du mot, nous savons que le mot n’était pas un nom propre, mais un verbe. La saga d’Egill Skallagrimsson nous offre l’un des exemples les plus convaincants de l’utilisation originale du mot. Selon cette saga, un homme nommé Ulfr avait «í víkingu og herjaði,» c’est-à-dire, approximativement, « avait erré et s’était battu ». Dans ce contexte, le mot Viking décrit une activité. Plus précisément, il décrit l’activité à laquelle nous associons les Vikings aujourd’hui : la piraterie.3

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Sculpture sur pierre à Lindisfarne Photo Christophe Adrien

Personne ne sait avec certitude à quel moment l’usage moderne du mot Viking a commencé. Au Moyen Age, l’ancien norrois a évolué vers les langues nordiques modernes et, à notre connaissance, le mot Viking est tombé en désuétude. L’historienne Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough propose dans son livre, Beyond the Northlands, que la première utilisation moderne du mot Viking, enregistrée en 1807, vient de l’anglais.4 Cette première utilisation était en tant que nom propre et il se référait à l’ensemble du monde nordique au début du Moyen Age, ce que nous appelons aujourd’hui « l’âge viking ». C’est cette forme du mot que nous utilisons aujourd’hui pour décrire non seulement les rôdeurs qui ont terrorisé les côtes de l’Europe pendant trois siècles, mais aussi leurs compatriotes qui sont restés chez eux. Pour éviter des problèmes de nomenclature, et pour les besoins de ce bref article, nous utiliserons le mot uniquement pour décrire les Scandinaves qui ont quitté leurs terres pour aller à l’étranger à la recherche de richesse.

Nous avons aujourd’hui une image assez opaque de la culture des Scandinaves de l’âge viking. Les Vikings posent plusieurs problèmes du point de vue historique. D’abord, ils ne disposaient pas d’une langue écrite comme celle dont disposait le monde chrétien. Les runes, symboles écrits des pays scandinaves du Moyen Age, étaient rudimentaires et n’étaient pas utilisées pour écrire des récits. Ainsi, les seules œuvres que nous avons sur les Vikings de l’époque nous sont parvenus par l’intermédiaire des moines chrétiens. Nous pourrions dire que c’est une tragédie de l’histoire que presque tout ce que nous savons à leur sujet ait été écrit par leurs victimes. Leur réputation moderne de malfaiteurs tient principalement au fait que, du point de vue des sources historiques, ils n’ont laissé aucun témoignage et ne peuvent pas apporter d’éléments pour justifier leur comportement.

Les origines de l’âge viking

Les historiens ont plusieurs hypothèses sur les origines de l’âge viking. La plus répandue et reconnue, ou du moins celle qui est le plus souvent considérée comme une cause profonde, est le changement climatique survenu au début du Moyen Age. Le réchauffement du climat en Europe du Nord au milieu du huitième siècle a provoqué une augmentation rapide de la population en Scandinavie. Ceci a provoqué une surpopulation et quand le climat a refroidi à la fin du siècle, la terre ne pourrait plus nourrir tout le monde. A partir de ce moment-là, le besoin de partir et d’effectuer des expéditions est devenu une question de survie. La plupart des historiens s’appuient sur une combinaison de plusieurs hypothèses, chacune faisant partie d’un ensemble complexe de facteurs, notamment des disputes territoriales, des tensions diplomatiques avec leurs voisins et une structure sociale stratifiée. Tous ces facteurs semblent avoir joué un rôle.

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Aubin défendant Guérande et folio 7r “flotte normande”, manuscrit du XIe siècle provenant de l’abbaye d’Angers – BNF

Malgré ce que les chroniqueurs chrétiens suggèrent dans leurs textes, les Vikings n’étaient pas plus violents que les autres peuples de cette époque. L’empire carolingien avait de nombreux ennemis, dont les Huns, les Saxons, les Obrotites, les Bretons et les Maures. Charlemagne lui-même avait poussé à la violence au nom de sa religion, et du point de vue de ses victimes, c’était lui le plus violent. Prenons, par exemple, le fameux massacre de Verden. En 782, Charlemagne achevait sa conquête de la Pologne lorsque les Saxons, sous la direction d’un homme nommé Widukind, se rebellèrent contre lui. La réponse de l’empereur fut rapide et sanglante. Pendant leur bataille près de la rivière Aller, les Francs ont capturé 4 500 prisonniers. Pour punir les rebelles, Charlemagne donna l’ordre de les baptiser dans la rivière. Tandis que les prêtres récitaient leurs bénédictions, les soldats francs ont tenu leurs victimes sous l’eau jusqu’à ce qu’ils se noient.

L’événement, surnommé par la suite Le Massacre de Verden, correspondait au comportement des Carolingiens. Mais cet événement avait cependant un caractère particulier. Widukind, le chef des Saxons, était beau-frère du roi des Danois, Sigfred. Les nouvelles du massacre sont sans doute parvenues à la cour de Sigfred. Les attaques danoises le long de la côte de la Frise (les Pays-Bas modernes) se sont intensifiées presqu’immédiatement jusqu’à une terrible attaque sur Dorestad, dont Charlemagne aurait été témoin. La décennie suivante a eu lieu l’attaque de Lindisfarne.5

Simeon de Durham, un chroniqueur du douzième siècle qui a tiré ses informations des annales de Northumbrie — qui n’ont pas survécu jusqu’à aujourd’hui —décrit ainsi les événements de Lindisfarne : « Et ils vinrent à l’église de Lindisfarne, ils ravagèrent tout et pillèrent avec cruauté, piétinèrent les lieux saints avec des marches polluées, déterrèrent les autels et s’emparèrent de tous les trésors de la sainte église. Ils tuèrent certains des frères, en mirent aux fers, en chassèrent beaucoup, nus et couverts d’insultes, ils en noyèrent certains dans la mer ... » .6 Ce dernier passage est souvent cité comme preuve que les premières attaques sur les monastères auraient été des représailles contre les violences commises par les chrétiens envers les païens. La noyade des moines, selon certains historiens, renvoie à la noyade des Saxons à Verden. 

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Egill Skallagrímsson dans un manuscrit islandais du XVIIe siècle conservé
à l’Institut Arni Magnusson en Islande

Il est possible que ce soit le cas, mais la chronique anglo-saxonne nous donne la preuve évidente que l’âge viking commençait, que Charlemagne en soit la cause ou non. En 789, quatre ans avant Lindisfarne, un navire danois était arrivé au port de Portland, au sud de l’Angleterre. La rencontre, qui devint presqu’immédiatement sanglante, nous montre que les Vikings visaient déjà les îles britanniques bien avant la première attaque

 à Lindisfarne. Il est probable que cette expédition avait pour mission de faire une reconnaissance en Angleterre avant de tenter une attaque directe. Il n’existe donc pas une seule cause du début de l’âge viking, mais il est probable qu’une multitude de causes y ont contribué.

Les Premiers Vikings à Noirmoutier

Selon les Chroniques Carolingiennes, en 799, une flotte de « drakkars » apparut au large de l’île de Noirmoutier.* Ils avaient comme cible le monastère de Saint Philibert. Les moines furent pris par surprise et avec violence, et peu d’entre eux y échappèrent. Un tel voyage et une telle attaque n’aurait pas semblé possible. L’événement a néanmoins suscité une forte riposte de Charlemagne qui commanda la construction d’une nouvelle flotte et la (fortification) protection des rivières dans son empire. Il savait bien que les Vikings constituaient une menace importante pour l’avenir de sa dynastie. Selon Notker le Bègue, biographe principal de Charlemagne, celui-ci était très angoissé : « Je n’ai pas peur que ces bandits puissent me faire du mal ; mais le fait qu’ils aient osé attaquer cette côte me rend malade et je suis frappé d’horreur car je pressens le mal qu’ils vont faire à mes descendants et à leurs sujets.»7

Les Vikings ont, au cours de leur trois siècles d’affrontements avec les Carolingiens, contribué à la déstabilisation de l’empire et exploité les failles sociales et politiques pour s’enrichir. C’était surtout le cas en Bretagne. Dès la mort de Charlemagne en 814, Louis le Pieu eut du mal à préserver l’intégrité de l’empire qu’il avait hérité. En Bretagne, la mort de Charlemagne a suscité de nouvelles rebellions contre les Francs. Cette nouvelle dynamique politique a laissé la porte ouverte pour des incursions plus massives des Vikings. Il semble, ainsi que nous pouvons l’analyser aujourd’hui, que les Vikings ont suivi de près les événements majeurs de l’empire et ont lancé des raids en conjonction avec les crises politiques. Cette première phase, commençant en 799 et se terminant en 836, est caractérisée par des attaques sporadiques, car l’ensemble de l’empire carolingien était toujours plus ou moins bien défendu.

L’exemple le plus flagrant est l’attaque de l’île de Bouin. Les Chroniques Carolingiennes mentionnent qu’en 820 une flotte de drakkars tenta de remonter la Seine, mais elle fut repoussée par les unités de défense Carolingiennes. Cela n’a pas découragé les Vikings qui ont contourné la Bretagne pour trouver une cible moins bien défendue. Ils s’attaquèrent à l’île de Bouin, pas loin de Noirmoutier, et ils retournèrent chez eux avec un « immense butin . »8

Sur l’île de Noirmoutier, les choses ne s’améliorent pas. Les moines de Saint Philibert sont victimes d’attaques régulières. Dès 819, l’abbé Arnulf écrit que l’ordre de Saint Philibert souffre « des incursions des barbares qui ravagent fréquemment le monastère ». Face aux attaques répétées, les moines ont adressé une demande à Louis le Pieux afin de faire construire un nouvel établissement sur le continent. En 830, les attaques sont si régulières que les moines quittent l’île au printemps et y retournent en automne pour éviter les raids saisonniers des Vikings. Enfin, en 836, les moines prennent la décision d’abandonner définitivement le monastère de l’île.9

Selon le moine Ermentaire, par son ouvrage Epitre à Hilduin, l’empereur Louis le Pieux a accepté de fortifier l’île en 830 et a fait construire un Castrum pour défendre le monastère.10 Ermentaire aurait été témoin d’un combat en 834-835 que les Vikings ont gagné, ce qui a conduit à la décision d’abandonner l’île. Plus tard dans sa vie, Ermentaire écrit à propos de l’abandon de l’île : « Mais en vérité, voici ce qu’ils craignaient le plus : que les hommes infidèles fouillent la tombe du béni Philibert et dispersent tout ce qu’ils y trouvent ici et là, ou plutôt le jettent dans la mer. Nous savions que cela s’était passé en Bretagne avec les reliques de certains saints.»11

Mon roman historique sur les Vikings à Noirmoutier. Cliquez l’image pour en savoir plus.

Révolte, guerre Civile et une bonne opportunité pour un Viking entrepreneur.

Depuis les invasions du roi carolingien, Pépin le Bref, les Francs ont eu du mal à contenir les Bretons. En 824, ils répriment une nouvelle rébellion bretonne fomentée par le chef Wihomarc. L’empereur Louis le Pieux lui-même conduit l’invasion. Les Francs dévastent la Bretagne, ce qui oblige Wihomarc à se rendre à Aix-la-Chapelle pour faire la paix. C’était la fin de près de dix ans de tumulte, et la Marche de Bretagne connut enfin la paix.12 Mais cette paix fut brève, car l’empire était à la veille d’un bouleversement politique : la guerre civile. Les disputes entre Louis et ses fils au sujet de l’héritage s’intensifient en 829 avec le nouveau partage de l’empire décidé à l’assemblée de Worms. La première révolte éclate en 830, menée par le fils aîné de l‘empereur, Lothaire.

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Une représentation plus récente des Vikings :Pirates normands au IXe siècle, huile sur toile, par Evariste-Vital Luminais (1821-1896) Musée Anne de Beaujeu à Moulins

En 841, l’empire subit un désastre jamais connu auparavant. A Fontenoy-en-Puisaye, l’aristocratie franque est décimée dans une bataille particulièrement sanglante. Parmi les morts se trouve le Duc de Nantes, Ricuin. Sa disparition provoque une lutte pour le pouvoir qui conduit le chef breton Nominoë à se révolter contre les Carolingiens.13 Nominoë s’allie à Lambert, le fils d’un précédent détenteur, contre Renaud, l’homme nommé par Charles le Chauve pour succéder à Ricuin. En mai 843, les armées des Francs et des Bretons se préparent à la violence. Selon la Chronique de Nantes, Renaud a gagné une victoire immédiate contre les Bretons à Messac. Avec un excès de confiance, il retourne vers Nantes sans savoir que Lambert le suivait. Tandis que l’armée de Renaud se reposait près du village de Blain, Lambert, voyant que les Nantais étaient dispersés, lance sa contre-attaque. Ils massacrent les francs et Renaud est tué au combat. Lambert, victorieux, prend Nantes. Mais il est rejeté par les Nantais qui ne veulent pas de lui. Pour se venger, il rejoint un campement de « Danois et de Norvégiens » pour les convaincre d’attaquer la ville.** La chronique de Nantes décrit Lambert comme « inventeur de maux » et le soupçonne d’avoir promis plus de richesse qu’il n’y en avait.14

C’est ici que l’histoire devient compliquée. Aucune autre source contemporaine des événements ne mentionne l’alliance entre Lambert et les Vikings, ce qui conduit les historiens à penser que c’était peut-être une fiction. Mais cela n’a pas empêché de nombreux historiens d’affirmer que le fameux Hasting, fils supposé du chef danois légendaire Ragnar Lothbrok, était le chef des Vikings alliés à Lambert et Nominoë et qu’ils ont attaqué Nantes. Néanmoins, plusieurs chroniques, dont la Chronique de Nantes, une chronique fragmentée d’Angers, les Annales D’Angoulême (Annales Engolismenses), les récits d’Ermentaire, et les Annales de Saint Bertin (Annales Bertiniani) confirment, dans l’ensemble, que l’attaque s’est produite le 24 juin 843 pendant les fêtes de la Saint Jean. Les Annales D’Angoulême décrivent les attaquants comme Westfaldingi, autrement dit des hommes du Vesfold, une région de Norvège près d’Oslo.15 Que l’histoire de l’alliance avec Lambert soit vraie ou pas, ce qui est clair est que la dissolution de l’empire et le conflit entre les Bretons et les Francs a ouvert les portes aux Vikings opportunistes.

Le rôle de Noirmoutier durant les invasions Viking.

La Chronique de Nantes et les Annales de Saint Bertin mentionnent que les Vikings qui ont mis Nantes à sac ont pris une île proche de l’embouchure de la Loire comme base pour stocker leur butin. L’île en question est très certainement l’île de Noirmoutier, appelée Herio. Depuis cette base, les Vikings ont lancé des attaques régulières en Bretagne et le long de la Loire. Certains signes nous indiquent que cette base aurait peut-être aussi servi de colonie. Une des preuves les plus extraordinaires est le témoignage d’une délégation musulmane se dirigeant vers l’Irlande pour mieux connaître les Vikings.

En 844, les Vikings lancent une attaque sur la ville de Séville, en Espagne. Comme lors de l’attaque de Nantes, ils mettent la ville à sac. En réponse, l’Emir Abd al-Rhaman II envoie des troupes pour les repousser. Elles les encerclent avant qu’ils puissent s’échapper. Cette victoire oblige les Vikings à se rendre et à faire la paix. Au lieu de les massacrer, l’émir envoie l’ambassadeur al-Ghazal pour observer les Vikings et établir des relations diplomatiques avec eux. Al-Ghazal embarque sur un drakkar et les accompagne vers le nord. Au cours de leur voyage, ils s’arrêtent et prennent un repos d’une semaine sur une île au large de la France. Il est probable, selon ce que nous savons des activités des Vikings, que cette île était Noirmoutier. Al-Ghazal rapporte que cette île était habitée par une communauté de Vikings florissante.16

Il est possible aussi que les Vikings aient établi plusieurs bases dans la baie de Biscay. L’aspect le plus important du témoignage d’al-Ghazal est l’idée que, dès cette période (de 843-846), les Vikings ont commencé de coloniser la région, comme ils l’avaient déjà fait en Irlande. En 847, ils lancent une invasion en Bretagne et gagnent trois batailles successives contre les Bretons. Cette année est le début d’une période où les Vikings s’imposent en force dans la région jusqu’à l’occupation de Nantes en 853 où ils établissent une base permanente sur l’île de Betia (aujourd’hui l’île de Nantes). Ils se sont si bien intégrés dans la région qu’en 873 ils se voient accorder une autorisation royale d’établir un marché. A partir de 919, Nantes est devenue le centre administratif d’un territoire sous occupation viking qui comprenait presque toute la péninsule de la Bretagne.17

L’île de Noirmoutier, elle, aurait servi de base militaire pour lancer les premières invasions en Bretagne. Mais elle n’est plus mentionnée à partir du moment où les bases vikings s’implantent sur le continent. Son rôle d’étape intermédiaire pour les premières attaques scandinaves se situe assez tôt dans l’histoire des Vikings en Bretagne et, selon les sources contemporaines, n’a plus eu d’importance stratégique au-delà des années 850.

L’héritage historique des Vikings à Noirmoutier

L’histoire des Vikings repose sur deux sources importantes : les écrits contemporains et les sites archéologiques. Les écrits contemporains sont utiles pour nous aider à construire une chronologie approximative des événements, alors que l’archéologie nous révèle des détails importants sur la culture des Vikings et nous permet aussi de vérifier le contenu de certains textes. A Noirmoutier, il n’existe pas de sites archéologiques viking, donc notre connaissance sur le sujet repose uniquement sur les écrits contemporains. L’exemple de l’alliance de Lambert avec les Vikings nous prouve que les sources ne sont pas toujours fiables et souvent se contredisent. Alors, en ce qui concerne les Vikings à Noirmoutier, nous devons procéder avec prudence.

Cela dit, l’héritage historique de l’île de Noirmoutier est analogue à celui de Lindisfarne. Les deux îles ont annoncé des événements plus dramatiques dans leurs régions respectives, mais n’ont pas joué un rôle crucial dans le déroulement des faits au-delà. Noirmoutier aurait peut-être joué un plus grand rôle, mais il nous manque des preuves pour l’affirmer. Les écrits contemporains mentionnent l’île a plusieurs reprises, mais il reste toujours un doute sur leur véracité. Nous pouvons néanmoins dire avec un certain degré de confiance que l’île a été utilisée comme base pendant plusieurs décennies. Est-ce que les Vikings ont colonisé l’île ? Ont-ils emmené leurs femmes et leurs enfants comme ils l’ont fait en Irlande et en Angleterre ? Impossible de le savoir sans études archéologiques poussées. Certains pensent que les analyses d’ADN pourraient révéler la présence génétique des Vikings en Bretagne, mais ces analyses posent plusieurs problèmes, surtout celui des migrations constantes de populations entre la Bretagne et la Normandie. Nous savons que les Vikings sont venus à Noirmoutier, mais la question demeure, sont-ils restés?

Christophe Adrien est auteur de fictions historiques sur les Vikings. La série Kindred of the Sea est un best-seller. Ce sujet est actuellement d’une grande actualité en raison de l’exposition “Nous les appelons Vikings” qui se tient jusqu’au mois de novembre au château des Ducs de Bretagne à Nantes et c’est pour nous l’occasion de donner la parole à ce jeune historien d’outre Atlantique.

Cet article apparu dans la revue trimestrielle Lettre Aux Amis N° 191, publié par L’Association des Amis de Noirmoutier. Pour plus d’articles sur l’histoire de la région de Vendée et de l’île de Noirmoutier, abonnez vous sur leur site web: Les Amis de Noirmoutier. Cet article a été republié sur ce site avec permission.

Bibliographie

Alcuin of York, Letter to Higbald, trans. by S. Allott, Alcuin of York (York, 1974). Reprinted in Paul Edward Dutton, Carolingian Civilization: A Reader (Ontario, 1993). Pg. 124.
Swanton, Michael. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle. New York: Routledge, 1998. Pg. 55.
Þórðarson, Sveinbjörn. Icelandic Saga Database: Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar. Retrieved July 12, 2018: http://sagadb.org/egils_saga.is
Barraclough, Eleanor Rosamund. Beyond The Northlands: Viking Voyages and the Old Norse Sagas. Oxford University Press, 2018. Pg. 16.
Ferguson, Robert. The Vikings: a History. Penguin Books, 2010. P. 83.
Douglas, David Charles., and Dorothy Whitelock. English Historical Documents. Eyre Methuen, 1979. Pg. 273.
Thorpe, Lewis G. M., et al. Two Lives of Charlemagne. Penguin Books, 2003. Pg. 159.
Scholz, Bernhard Walther, et al. Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard’s Histories. University of Michigan Press, 2000. Pg. 108.
Cartron, Isabelle. Les Pérégrinations des Moines de Saint-Philibert. Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2009. Pg. 34.
Cartron, Isabelle. Les Pérégrinations des Moines de Saint-Philibert. Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2009. Pg. 64.
Herlihy, David. ‘Ex Ermentarii Miraculis Sancti Filiberti’ extraits traduits et publiés dans The History of Feudalism. Humanity Books, 1998. Pg. 9.
Smith, Julia M. H. Province and Empire: Brittany and the Carolingians. Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pg. 66.
Cassard, Jean-Christophe. La Bretagne Des Premiers Siècles. J.-P. Gisserot, 1994. Pg. 30.
Merlet, René. La Chronique De Nantes (570 Environ-1049)… / [Éd.] René Merlet. [S.n.] (Paris), 1896. Pg. 12.
Nelson, Janet L. The Annals of St-Bertin. Manchester University Press, 1991. Pg. 55.
Allen, W.E.D. The Poet and the Spae-Wife. Titus Wilson and Son, Ltd. London, 1960. Pg. 27.
Cassard, Jean-Christophe. Le Siècle des Vikings en Bretagne. J.-P. Gisserot, 1996. Pg. 80-83.

Notes

*La première attaque est aussi attesté dans la Chronicon de Regino Prüm et dans une lettre d’Alcuin à Charlemagne.

**L’alliance entre Lambert et les Vikings est considéré une fabrication de l’auteur de la Chronique de Nantes.

À propos de Christophe Adrien

[image error]Christophe Adrien est un auteur de best-sellers en fiction historique sur les Vikings. Sa série Kindred of the Sea a été inspirée par des recherches menées en préparation d’un programme de doctorat sur l’histoire des Vikings en Bretagne, ainsi que son admiration pour les écrivains de fiction historique tels que Bernard Cornwell et Ken Follett. Mr. Adrien possède un Masters dans l’enseignement des humanités, and est prof d’histoire en Oregon, aux USA. Ses romans et son expertise lui ont valu des invitations à plusieurs conférences internationaux, dont le Congrès international médiéval de l’Université de Leeds.

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10 Viking Artifacts You Never Knew Existed

Most of the artifacts we encounter online and in history books focus on war: swords, shields, helmets, other artifacts of war. Less focus is placed on everyday items, such as, interestingly enough, tweezers. Yet, everyday items offer us a far better glimpse into life in Viking Age Scandinavia. The breadth of tools and items the Vikings used that mirror today is astounding. As far as we think we have progressed in 1,000 years, many things, such as telling our children not to run with scissors, have not changed. Here are 10 Viking artifacts you never knew existed.

Bronze Buddha 

Trade was an essential part of Scandinavian civilization during the Viking Age. Objects from all over the world made their way back to Scandinavia, including this bronze statue of Buddha discovered in Sweden. Archeologists have dated the figure to the 6th century and believe it came from northern India.

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Viking Age artifact found in Sweden of a Buddha statue from India. Photo credit: The Swedish History Museum.

Glass Pearl Necklaces

Personal style took a central role among Viking Age Scandinavians. Particularly in regards to jewelry, Viking Age finds have revealed a myriad of valuable objects, including this glass pearl necklace found in Gotland, Sweden. Glass was not readily made in Scandinavia at the time, and so the beads to make the necklace were likely imported. 

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Glass pearl necklace found in Gotland, Sweden. Photo credit: The Swedish History Museum.

Keys

With so many valuable objects, Viking Age Scandinavians devised many ways to protect their wealth. Locks and keys were common, and often resembled this key, found in Sweden. The key is made of bronze, a sturdy metal that does not rust like iron or steel.

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Viking Age Bronze key displayed at the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne exhibit. Photo credit: C.J. Adrien.

Keychains

With so many keys and no locksmiths a phone call away, Viking Age Scandinavians made keychains to organize and store their keys. Pictured here is a keychain attached to a brooch, which would have been worn by the head of the household. Women ran the home, and so they held all the keys.

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Bronze keychain attacked to brooch. Photo credit: The Swedish History Museum.

Jewelry Boxes

Keys must open something. Pictured here is a jewelry box found in Gotland, Sweden. What makes this jewelry box so interesting is that it combines several motifs, including a combination of pre-Christian and Christian iconography. The box dates to the latter part of the Viking Age.

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Viking Age jewelry box with Christian and pre-Christian motifs. Photo credit: The Swedish History Museum.

Iron Neck Collars

Slavery was central to Viking Age Scandinavian society. Proof of the use of slaves abounds, including this iron neck collar thought to have been used to keep a slave. Slaves were captured from all over the world and sold at markets across Scandinavia to allow farmstead owners to boost their labor supply. 

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Viking Age Iron Neck Collar as displayed at the exhibit at the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne, Nantes, France. Photo credit: C.J. Adrien.

Urns

Funeral practices in Viking Age Scandinavia crucially differed from their Christian neighbors: where Christians buried their dead, Scandinavians cremated them. Except for the super-wealthy elite who could afford a ship burial, most of the dead were cremated and their remains stored in urns. Pictured below is an urn found in Sweden in which the ashes have (partially) remained preserved. 

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Viking Age Urn and Ashes. Photo credit: The Swedish History Museum.

Bronze Weathervane

Ships harnessed the wind to sail the seas, and no tool has helped sailors more over the centuries than weathervanes. Weathervanes help sailors determine the direction of the wind to help them set the sail correctly. Pictured is a bronze weathervane that would have been placed atop the mast of a longship. The weathervane shows Viking Age Scandinavian motifs and was likely made somewhere in Sweden.

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Viking Age Bronze Weather Vane found in Sweden. Photo credit: The Swedish History Museum.

Scale

A crucial part of the Viking Age was trading, and part of the trade was currency. Most people are familiar with the more popular artifacts of Viking Age trade, such as Arabic coins, hack silver, and buried hordes. Wealth, however, had to be measured, and like other civilizations of the time, precious metals held their value by their weight. Pictured is a scale (without its plates) used to weight silver and gold.

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A Viking Age scale (without its plates) used to weight silver and gold. Photo credit: The Swedish History Museum.

Scissors

Making clothes meant utilizing the various tools of the textile industry. Scissors were essential to cut fabric and to work over a variety of materials. Pictured are scissors found in Sweden and displayed at the recent exhibit at the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne in Nantes.

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Viking Age Scissors as displayed at the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne in Nantes, France. Photo Credit: C.J. Adrien.

Bonus item: Grooming Kit

Grooming was paramount to Viking Age Scandinavians, and among all the things they used for personal care – combs, brushes, scissors, etc. – they also had tweezers for plucking unwanted hair and ear scoops to clean their ears. Pictured is a personal care display featuring many items from the Viking Age, including a pair of tweezers that are similar to those we use today (lower left), an ear scoop (lower right), and a few other items you might expect, such as a bronze bowl, combs, a brooch, and a makeup container.

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Viking Age Grooming Kit as displayed at the Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne. Photo credit: C.J. Adrien

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