viator

VIATOR

MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE SruDIES

Volume 20 (1989)

PUBllSHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF

THE CENTER FOR MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

OFFPRINT

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS BERKELEY, LOS ANGELES, LONDON

1989

ALLIES OF GOD OR MAN? THE VIKING EXPANSION

IN A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

•

by Niels Lund

A few years ago Timothy Reuter drew attention to the importance of plunder and trib­ ute in the Carolingian empire. 1 He demonstrated to what extent the extortion of riches from neighboring peoples and tribes, in varying degrees of sophistication, was part of daily life in early Europe and reminded us that' 'for most of Europe in the eighth and ninth century it was the Franks who were the Vikings.' '2 Plundering and tribute-taking were, of course, the hallmark of the Vikings-in fact, if one wants to cover their ac­ tivity in a single word, no better word than "exploitation" could be found. But their plundering and tribute-taking is not often studied in its historical perspective. Their appearance in European history is generally, echoing Alwin's famous cry: "Numquam talis terror prius apparuit in Brittania, veluti modo a pagana gente perpessi sumus, nec eiusmodi navigium fieri posse putabatur,"3 described as a great surprise, an absolute novelty in Europe. This is true only in one sense: it was new that these barbarians and pagans from the North claimed a share in the game; but the game itself was familiar. The Vikings may in fact in many respects be regarded as newcomers to an ancient game, that of tribute-taking and plundering among close or remote neighbors; they were only adapting to a common European practice. And what upset Europe proba­ bly was most of all that these newcomers to the game had such success and managed to reverse the flow of money, embarrassing traditional tribute-takers by making them tribute-payers. The contemporary sources also tend to describe the Vikings as an alien element in Christian Europe, invoking a quasi-Augustinian contrast of good and evil and implicitly suggesting that no good men could have any dealings with them. Contemporary rulers took a different view of this and often, for example, entered into alliances with them against other Christian rulers or employed them as mercenaries. In the following, an attempt will be made to view the Vikings in a European per­ spective, to study them as participants in European history rather than as an alien element. In many respects the Viking period marks Scandinavia's becoming part of Europe, and it is suggestive that the first clash between a Scandinavian king and the emperor occurred when both wanted to impose tributes on the Frisians and the Abodrites. 'Timothy Reuter, .. Plunder and Tribute in the Carolingian Empire." Tramactions ofthe Royal Historical Society sec. 5, 35 (1985) 75-94. >Ibid. 9L lMGH EpisL Karol. Aevi 2, ed. E. Diimmler (189'), no. 16.

46

NIELS LUND "TIMEO PAGANOS PROPTER PECCATA NOSTRA"

About 800 Charlemagne is known to have reorganized the coastal defenses of Frisia and northern France; and as the Vikings normally traveled along the coast and took the shortest possible passing to England at Sandwich, it can come as no surprise that northern Francia should have had some experience of them at the same time as the English. Charlemagne's reaction was practical and sensible, much like the reaction of the En­ glish who apparently introduced the military burdens of fortress-building, bridge work, and JYrd service in response to the first Viking attacks in Kent. 4 The reaction that looms largest in our sources, however, and which therefore we know best, is that of the church-and contemporary churchmen unanimously regarded the Vikings as God's instrument: they were a scourge, predicted in the Bible, and the only remedy against them was to strengthen piety and improve observance of the rules of Christian life. This was the reaction of Alcuin, an English ecclesiastic who lived in Aix-la-Chapelle holding high office at Charlemagne's court. When news reached him of the attack on Lindisfarne in 793, he wrote a series of letters to kings, bishops, and abbots in North­ umbria exhorting them to improve their ways and trying to persuade them that the intercession of the saints and the morum emendatio was a more powerful defense against the Vikings than arrows and armor. 5 This lesson presumably had not been taken by the community at Donemuthan who, the year after, killed all those Vikings who reached the shore after their ships had been wrecked in a storm. 6 Aimoinus, in the Miracula sancti Germani, calls the Vikings "God's helpers," and the same attitude was found in early eleventh-century England. Ethelred's edict of Au­ gust 1009 when the great army came to England ordains a three-day fast, processions with holy relics, the payment of alms, and the singing of masses and psalters, all in order "that we may obtain God's mercy and his compassion and that we may through his help withstand our enemies. "7 A few years later, in 1014, Archbishop Wulfstan of York preached his famous Sermon 0/ the Wolfto the English' 'when the Danes per­ secuted them most," in which he expounded the misery and wickedness of the En­ glish: "We pay them continually and they humiliate us daily; they ravage and they burn, plunder and rob and carry on board; and 10, what else is there in all these events except God's anger clear and visible over this people? "8 From a Christian, ecclesiastical point of view, then, the main issue of the period was the battle between Christianity and paganism. In fact, churches and monasteries were quite frequently attacked and plundered by Christian enemies; the Irish scholar A. T. Lucas has calculated the number of attacks on Irish monasteries during a certain period, and found more attacks by fellow Irishmen than by Vikings9-and Timothy Reuter has 1Nicholas Brooks, "The Developmem of Military Obligations in Eighth- and Nimh-Century England," in England Before the Conquest, ed. P. Clemoes and K. Hughes (Cambridge 1971) 69-84, 'Diimmler (n. 3 above) no. 21. 6The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (ASC), ed, and trans, Dorothy Whitelock et aI., ed, 2 (London 1965) 36-37, 7English Historical Documents 1, ed, Dorothy Whitelock, ed, 2 (London 1979). no. 45, ·Sermo lupi ad anglos, ed, Dorothy Whitelock, rev. ed, (Exeter 1976) 60 lines 128-132; Whitelock (n. 7 above) no, 240, 9A, T. Lucas, "The Plundering and Burning of Churches in Ireland, 7th to 16th Century," in North

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47

VIKING EXPANSION

shown that' 'the Vikings were not the only church robbers in Francia any more than they were in Ireland, "10 But these attacks were not God's punishment and therefore not really interesting, The attacks by heathen men were a menace to the faith, a sign that the end was approaching; they must be taken very seriously, and appropriate ways found to avert the Lord's wrath. The attitude of ecclesiastical writers has created the impression that the Vikings were united in one cause and that they formed a united front against a common and united enemy. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Vikings were not united against anything or anybody, and were as pleased to fight other Vikings as they were to fight Christians or Muslims if the prospects of booty were good. They were also quite pleased to take service with Christian kings and emperors against other Vikings, and Christian kings employed them not only against other heathen but also against their Christian enemIes. HARALD KLAK

die on :th­ the nse ken ~ho

and Auions II in ,ugh stan perEnthey rents

One particularly striking example of the way in which the Vikings participated in Eu­ ropean politics rather than just being a disruptive and destructive force attacking the system from outside is afforded by the career of Harald Klak, a member of the Dan­ ish ruling clan who got driven away by his rivals, the sons of King Godfred who was murdered in 810. Under the year 841 the Annales Bertt'niani record various steps taken by Lothar I, who was at this time fighting over the succession to Louis the Pious with his brothers Charles and Louis: Hlotharius , .. Herioldo, qui cum ceteris Danorum pyratis per aliquot annos Frisiae aliisque christianorum maritimis incommoda tanta sui causa ad parris iniuriam invexerat, Gualaeras aliaque vieina loea huius meriti gratia in beneficium contulit. 11 (To Harald, who for some years, to his benefit, had been causing so much trouble in Frisia and other coastal districts to the disadvantage of his farher, Lothar gave Walcheren and some nearby settlements as a fief for these merits,)

and,"

There has been much uncertainty about the proper interpretation of this passage, Although the grammar of the Latin text clearly indicates that Harald was acting to Lothar's advantage it has most often from a common sense point of view been trans­ lated to the effect that Harald was plundering to his own advantage. It is clear, however, that Lothar's advantage was meant, and this makes perfect sense. The trou­ ble which Harald is said to have caused Louis to the benefit of his son Lothar consisted, first of all, in the well-known series of attacks on Dorestad in the 8305, Harald was the son of one Halfdan, possibly the Halfdan who in 807, according to Poeta Saxo, commended himself to Charlemagne, and descended from a former king of Denmark, There were apparently two royal lines both claiming the throne at this

36-37.

Munster Studies: Essays in Commemoration o/Monsignor Michael Moloney, ed. E. Rynne (Limerick 1967)

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172-229. IOReuter (n. 1 above) 78.

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lIAnnaies Bertiniani: Quellen zur karolingischen Reichsgeschichte 2 (hereafter AB), ed. R. Rau (Darmstadt North

1969) 54.

48

NIELS 1

time, and it seems probable that they had recently broken off from the same royal ily. Harald's line seems to have favored friendly relations with the Franks, prot less for love of the empire than because they were hoping to have imperial backir the internal Danish politics, while the other line, represented by Godfred and his ~ championed independence. This pattern repeated itself in a number of petty kingd and principalities along the Carolingian frontier. The Abodrites, the southerly ne bors of the Danes, provide one example-and their neighbors the Wilzi anothe After the murder of Godfred in 810 his nephew Hemming was made king; but lowing Hemming's death in 812 there was a great battle between another nepl named Sigifrid 12 and Anulo, the nephew of a former king Harald. They were b killed in the battle, but Anulo's party was considered to have won the day and, able to instate the brothers Harald and Reginfred as joint kings. The following ye however, they were expelled by the sons of Godfred and, having failed to regain po, and Reginfred having lost his life in the attempt, Harald sought a powerful champi to his cause. He commended himself to the emperor Louis the Pious, who promis to help him but failed to restore him in 815, when the army Louis had sent into Jt land was unable to achieve anything. Harald was now left in Saxony and continued to harass Godfred's sons in Denmar until in 819 the emperor had his allies the Abodrites escort his Danish protege bal to Denmark where the sons of Godfred, fout of whom were sharing the kingship, we. now forced to accept him as joint ruler. In the following years the emperor repeated, had to sort things out between them. In 823, thus, Harald appeared before Louis corr plaining about Godfred's sons, and Louis sent a couple of counts to Denmark to in quire into the matter. In 825 and 826 Godfred's sons sent envoys to Louis, and in th latter year Harald with a huge following appeared in Mainz and was baptized. Thi was probably intended to give him an advantage over his pagan rivals but the empero also gave him Riistringen in north Frisia as a fief and a place of refuge, and in 827 he was finally expelled from Denmark by Godfred's line. He may never have reentered Denmark after his baptism, with the future Saint Ansgar in his trail. Ansgar does not seem to have made any progress in Denmark before the middle of the century. After 827 one of Godfred's sons, Horik I, emerges as sole king of Denmark for many years. Harald apparently gave up hope that Louis's assistance would help him achieve his goals and after 829, when Lothar and Louis's other sons Charles (II, the Bald) and Louis (the German) began their series of revolts against their father, Harald is seen to have joined Lothar. Lothar was based in Italy and, in spite of repeated agreements with his father, he often behaved in such a way that Louis assembled an army and set out for Italy to chastise him. Repeatedly, however, Louis was forced to give up these campaigns be­ cause he was kept busy at home with Viking attacks in his rear, mostly on Dorestad. In 836, thus, Lothar declared his disinclination to comply with some of his father's "Whether he was a brother of Hemming or not is uncertain. He is not in the list of Danish magnates who in 811 negotiated on Hemming's behalf with the emperor's envoys; this list names two brothers of the king, Hancwin and Angandeo. Neither does it list any of Godfred's sons among Hemming's counts. They probably fled to Sweden immediately after Godfred's death, as suggested by the annal recording their return from Sweden in 813 which says that they had already, together with other Danish magnates, been living in Sweden a long time; Annales regnifrancorum: Quellen zur karoiingischen Reichsgeschichte 1, ed. R, Rau (Darmstadt 19»; rept. 1974) 102.

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VIKING EXPANSION

49

wishes regarding the restoration of lands in Italy to Frankish churches, and "eodem tempore Nordmanni Dorestadum et Frisiam rursum depopulati sunt. "13 The following year Louis was planning to go to Italy with an army, but while Lothar was fortifying the Alpine passes the Northmen once again attacked Dorestad. The an­ nalist clearly regards this attack as a factor in the conflict between father and son, stop­ ping Louis from going to Italy: Ea tempestate Nordmanni inruptione solita Frisiam inruentes, in insula quae Walacra dicitur nostros imparatos aggressi, multos trucidaverunt, plures depraedati sunt. Et ali­ quamdiu inibi commorantes, censu prout libuit exacto, ad Dorestadum eadem furia per­ venerunt, tributa similiter exegerunt. Quibus imperator auditis, praetermisso memorato itinere, ad Noviomagum castrum vicinurn Dorestado properare non distulit. 14 (At this time the Northmen on their usual incursions broke into Frisia, attacked unex­ pectedly the population of Walcheren, killed a great number and plundered an even greater. Having spent some time there and having taken tribute as they pleased they con­ tinued their raid to Dorestad and extorted tribute there in a similar way. When the em­ peror learnt this he gave up his journey to Rome and did not hesitate to hasten to the castle Nymwegen near Dorestad.)

If Louis had abandoned Harald's case and Harald joined his enemies, an improvement in relations between Louis and Horik is only natural. Louis was now grateful to Horik for capturing some of Harald's men, although he was apparently not as grateful as Horik would have liked; in 836 Horik asked money in return for capturing and kill­ ing some of them, and in 838 his emissaries demanded on his behalf the lordship of Frisia and the Abodrites because he had executed the leaders of some Vikings who had attacked the empire; the emperor, however, chose to pay no attention to these "inde­ cent and incongruous" claims. But Horik was given satisfaction for the murder of some of his envoys in Cologne, 15 and in 839 we even find this king complaining to the em­ peror about Frisian attacks on Denmark; Louis duly dispatched some able dukes to ex­ amine the matter and see that justice was done to Horik. 16 When Harald died is not known. He helped Lothar defend the Moselle in 842,17 and probably, as suggested by the Annales Fuldenses and the Annales Xantenses, was dead before 850. He is not identical with the Harald who was killed in 852; this man was in the service of Louis the German, not that of Lothar. Harald Klak's son Godfrid also served Lothar but defected from him in 852 and began a career as a Viking chief­ tain, attacking Frisia, the Schelde and Seine areas, and he even went on to sack Nantes.

"AB 30. 'out was 'Ved , or and rom not .day that lives ious )ury ord­

41AB 96. "Sawyer (n. 36 above) chap. 7.

58

NIELS LUND

owners not involving any massive colonization of fresh land. Therefore, although no negligible number of settlers may have been involved, it is misleading to describe the process as a migration. 43 When the Viking raids began England was divided into four independent king­ doms, those of Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria. For centuries these kingdoms, and others that had already been swallowed up by more powerful neigh­ bors, had been striving to win overlordship over all England; some remarkable successes had been recorded, but no permanent unity achieved. It is debatable whether the Vik­ ings halted or speeded up the process of unification when they conquered all these kingdoms except Wessex. It may be argued that in crushing the kingdoms north of the Thames they weakened the separatist forces in these regions and thereby paved the way for the kings of Wessex when, at the beginning of the tenth century, they had recovered sufficiently to begin the conquest of the Danelaw. And this must be regarded as a conquest, not a reconquest; for Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria were never part of Wessex, and the Wessex kings showed no interest whatsoever in restoring previ­ ous conditions in these areas. The Vikings were not thrown out, nor were their lands given back to former owners.

HERRINGS OR A KINGDOM

In 1925 Erik Arup, one of the leading Danish historians of this century, published the first volume of a very controversial and very influential history of Denmark. 44 He wanted to write the history of the ordinary people, not the history of kings and princes, of wars and glory, but that of the smallholder and his labor in the field. As far as the Vikings were concerned, he wanted to glorify those who kept Denmark going at the expense of those Danes who spent their time and effort harrying abroad. As his point of departure he took a runic inscription, the very difficult S"mder Vinge text. It was put up by someone with an illegible name in memory of his brothers Umke and Kade and ends with a formula which in Wimmer's corpus, the standard edition in Arup's day, was rendered: "Hail those who plowed and sowed while they were young, that will surely be rewarded." This was grist to Arup's mill, and from it he spun lyrics like this: •'From the height of the Viking period it is humane and natutal, good and heart­ felt feelings that find their expression on the runic stones; so negligible was the in­ fluence of the violent and bloody Viking age on life in Denmark itself"45-or, "More important for Denmark than the conquest of England was it that about A.D. 1000 the population of the regions round the Sound began to fish great quantities of herring. "46 It has been demonstrated above that the Vikings touring Europe and the rest of the world had not lost interest in Denmark, certainly their leaders had not; on the other hand, it was pointed out by Sawyer in 1962 that the riches gathered in western Eu­ rope by the Vikings in the ninth century reached Scandinavia to a surprisingly small 43Niels Lund, . 'The Settlers: Where Do We Get Them From-and Do We Need Them?," in Proceed~ ings ofthe Eighth Viking Congress, ed. H. Bekker-Nielsen et al. (Odense 1981) 149-171. 4'Erik Amp, Danmarks historie 1 (Copenhagen 1925). "Ibid. 109. '6Ibid. 136.

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59

VIKING EXPANSION

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extent,41 and this does in fact suggest that the Viking raids were no significant factor in the everyday life of the ordinary Dane. Arup may well have had a sound point, wor­ thy of more consideration. However, a short time after Arup's book was published the basis of his theory was exploded. The runologist Lis Jacobsen initiated a new corpus of the inscriptions, and in her new interpretation the S0nder Vinge stone reads: "May he be a witch and a per­ verse man who violates this stone or pulls it away to erect over someone else". 48 That sources on which so much depends are so open to interpretation and reinterpre­ tation is what makes the study of the Viking period so fascinating. Institute of History University of Copenhagen Njalsgade 102 DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark "P. H. Sawyer. The Age of the Vikings (London 1962) 97-99.

4"Jacobsen and Molrke (n. 26 above) no. 83.