slain returned to Odin's hall to feast mightily on boar's flesh and drink deep draughts of mead. As with most heathen religions that of the Northmen was full of terrors. Their lively imagination peopled the world with many strange figures. Fiends Supernatural and monsters inhabbeings ited the marshes, giants lived in the dark forest, evil spirits haunted all solitary places, and ghosts stalked over the land by night. The use of charms and spells to guard against such creatures passed over into Christian times. Their memory also survives in folk tales, which are full of allusions to giants, dwarfs, goblins, and other supernatural beings. NORSE METAL WORK Museum, Copenhagen A door from a church in Iceland; date, tenth or eleventh century. The iron knob is inlaid with silver. The slaying of a dragon is represented above and below is shown the Midgard serpent. Christianiza- Christianity first gained a foothold in Denmark through the work of Roman Catholic missionaries sent out by Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious. Two centuries elapsed before the Danes were completely converted. From Denmark the new faith spread to Sweden. Norway owed its conversion largely to the crusading work of King Olaf (1016-1029 A.D.), whose zeal for Christianity won him the title of Olaf the Saint. The Norwegians carried Christianity to Iceland, where it supplanted the old heathenism in the year 1000 A.D. With the general adoption of the Christian religion in Scandinavian lands, the Viking Age drew to an end. 1 See page 312. 141. The Northmen in the West movement The Northmen were still heathen when they set forth on their expeditions of plunder and conquest. Doubtless the principal cause of this Viking movement is to be sought in Causes of the same hunger for land which prompted the the Viking Germanic invasions and, in fact, has led to colonial expansion in all ages. By the ninth century Scandinavia could no longer support its rapidly growing population, and enforced emigration was the natural consequence. The political condition of Scandinavia at this time also helps to explain the Viking expansion. Denmark and Norway had now become strong kingdoms, whose rulers forced all who would not submit to their sway to leave the country. Thus it resulted that the numbers of the emigrants were swelled by exiles, outlaws, and other adventurers who turned to the sea in hope of gain. The Northmen started out as pirates and fell on the coasts of England, France, and Germany. In their shallow boats they also found it easy to ascend the rivers and Raids of the reach places lying far inland. The Northmen Northmen directed their attacks especially against the churches and monasteries, which were full of treasure and less easily defended than fortified towns. Their raids inspired such great terror that a special prayer was inserted in the church services: "From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord, deliver us." The North men in Ireland, Scotland, At first the incursions of the Northmen took place only in summer, but before long they began to winter in the lands which they visited. Year by year their fleets became larger, and their attacks changed from mere forays of pirates to well-organized expeditions of conquest and colonization. Early in the ninth century we find them making permanent settlements in Ireland, and for a time bringing a considerable part of that country under their control. The first cities on Irish soil, including Dublin and Limerick, were founded by the Northmen. Almost simultaneously with the attacks on Ireland came those islands on the western coast of Scotland. In the course of their westward expeditions the Northmen had already discovered the Faroe Islands, the Orkneys, the Shetlands and the Hebrides. These barren and inhospitable islands received large numbers of Norse immigrants and long remained under Scandinavian control. The Northmen soon discovered Iceland, where Irish monks had previously settled. Colonization began in 874 A.D. The Northmen in Iceland One of the most valuable of the sagas the "Book of the Land-taking" - describes the emigration to the island and enumerates the Viking chiefs who took part in the movement. Iceland soon became almost a second Norway in language, literature, and customs. It remains to-day an outpost of Scandinavian civilization. The first settlement of Greenland was the work of an Ice 1 The Icelanders in 1874 A.D. celebrated the thousandth anniversary of the Scandinavian settlement of their island. men in Greenland lander, Eric the Red, who reached the island toward the end of the tenth century. He called the country The NorthGreenland, not because it was green, but because, as he said, "there is nothing like a good name to attract settlers." Intercourse between Greenland and Iceland was often dangerous, and at times was entirely interrupted by ice. Leif Ericsson, the son of Eric the Red, established a new route of commerce and travel by sailing from Greenland to Norway by way of the Hebrides. This was the first voyage made directly across the Atlantic. Norway and Greenland continued to enjoy a flourishing trade for several centuries. After the connection with Norway had been severed, the Greenlanders joined the Eskimos and mingled with that primitive people. The North America Two of the sagas give accounts of a voyage which Leif Ericsson about 1000 A.D. made to regions lying southward from Greenland. In the sagas they are called Helluland (stone-land), Markland (wood-land), and men in Vinland. Just what part of the coast of North America these countries occupied is an unsolved problem. Leif Ericsson and the Greenlanders who followed him seem to have reached at least the shores of Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. They may have gone even farther southward, for the sagas describe regions where the climate was mild enough for wild vines and wild wheat to grow. The Northmen, however, did not follow up their explorations by lasting settlements. Before long all memory of the far western lands faded from the minds of men. The curtain fell on the New World, not again to rise until the time of Columbus and Cabot. 142. The Northmen in the East In the Viking movement westward across the Atlantic the Norwegians took the leading part. They also sailed far northward, rounding the North Cape and reaching the mouth of the Dwina River in the White Sea. Viking sailors, therefore, have the credit for undertaking the first voyages of exploration into the Arctic. Arctic ex- men The Northmen in Finland The Swedes, on account of their geographical position, were naturally the most active in expeditions to eastern lands. At a very early date they crossed the Gulf of Bothnia and paid frequent visits to Finland. Its rude inhabitants, the Finns, were related in language, and doubtless in blood also, to the Huns, Magyars, and other Asiatic peoples. Sweden ruled Finland throughout the Middle Ages. Russia obtained control of the country during the eighteenth century, but Swedish influence has made it largely Scandinavian in civilization. The Northmen in Russia The activities of the Swedes also led them to establish settlements on the southern shore of the Baltic and far inland along the waterways leading into Russia. An old Russian chronicler declares that in 862 A.D. the Slavs sent an embassy to the Swedes, whom they called "Rus," saying, "Our country is large and rich, but there is no order in it; come and rule over us.' The Swedes were not slow to accept the invitation. Their leader, Ruric, established a dynasty which reigned in Russia for more than seven hundred years.1 Novgorod and Kiev The first Russian state centered in the city of Novgorod, near Lake Ilmen, where Ruric built a strong fortress.2 Novgorod during the Middle Ages was an important station on the trade route between Constantinople and the Baltic. Some of Ruric's followers, passing southward along the Dnieper River, took possession of the small town of Kiev. It subsequently became the capital of the Scandinavian possessions in Russia. The Northmen in Russia maintained close intercourse with their mother country for about two centuries. During this Scandinavian period they did much to open up northeastern influence in Europe to the forces of civilization and progress. Colonies were founded, cities were built, commerce was fostered, and a stable government was established. Russia Russia 1 Russia in 1862 A.D. celebrated the millenary of her foundation by Ruric. The Norse word for "fort" is preserved in the gorod of Novgorod. |