River Kings

by Cat Jarman

  Anglo-Saxon England: Alfred’s building of burhs, 237; coinage, 56, 58, 60, 117, 289; conflict with Vikings in 920s, 58; and Danegeld blackmail, 89; and DNA analysis, 26–7; female warriors in, 144; finds at Repton, 2, 3, 17, 24; herepaths (‘army roads’), 88; kingdom of Wessex, 15*, 94, 95; monastery at Repton, 2, 17, 18, 30–1, 33, 91, 116; St Wystan’s church at Repton, 16–17, 18, 29–30; Staffordshire hoard, 174; Sutton Hoo burial ship, 173–4, 183; and taxation, 61; term ‘Anglo-Saxon,’ 23*; and Varangian Guard, 274 see also Mercia, kingdom of

  Annals of St Bertin, 92, 196–7, 238

  Annals of Ulster, 28–9, 47, 49

  Ansgar (archbishop in Hamburg-Bremen), 122, 198

  Arabian Peninsula, 56, 284, 294

  Arabic language, 283; Kufic script, 56, 117

  archaeology, 6; analysis of teeth, 21–2, 23, 136, 159; bias towards male burials in record, 137, 154–6; bioarchaeological evidence, 26, 125–9, 169–71, 226–7, 252; dearth of evidence on Vikings, 17, 54, 83–4; forensic evidence, 29, 38; ground-penetrating radar (GPR), 107–8; and issue of identity, 22–3, 26, 73; nineteenth century, 74; relationship with metal detectorists, 53–4; search for ‘fortresses’ or ‘fortifications,’ 84, 86; sites in Russia and Ukraine, 219, 221, 227–30, 234, 235; and slave trade, 48, 288; Soviet, 242–3 see also DNA analysis; isotope analysis; radiocarbon dating

  Armagh, Northern Ireland, 47

  Armenia, 176

  Asbjørn, story of, 111

  Asbjørn Selsbane, 76

  Aud the Deep-Minded, 153

  Azerbaijan, 176, 277–8

  Azov, Sea of, 203, 275

  Baghdad, 174–5, 203, 232, 268, 282–4, 292, 294, 296

  Baldur (son of Odin), 245

  Baltic Sea, 4*, 96, 166–72, 195, 207, 252; classical writers on, 165; emporia around, 113–14, 166, 177–8, 185, 242, 288, 294; Gotland, 165, 166–72, 175, 182, 204, 206, 211, 240, 244, 260; islands in, 59, 165, 166, 178–82, 184, 225; Salme ship burials, 178–82, 184, 204, 216, 248–9; and the Silk Roads, 172, 173, 186; and smallpox virus, 287, 288; trading sites as gateways to east, 172, 184, 185

  Bardha’a, town of, 278–81

  Basil II, Byzantine Emperor, 273–4

  Bayeux Tapestry, 78–9

  Beaduheard (reeve at Portland), 95, 114

  Beloye, Lake, 224

  Berezan, island of, 259–60, 275

  Bharuch (Gujarat), 297

  Birka (Sweden), 109, 114–15, 116–17, 181–2, 186–7, 242, 261; Ansgar’s missionary visits to, 122, 198; ‘Birka warrior woman’ (Bj.581), 141–4, 150, 152, 156, 158–9, 181, 216, 233, 236, 243, 247; chamber graves at, 115, 127, 141, 216, 228, 243; decline of, 127; female traders in, 157, 158; grave goods at, 115, 116–18, 127, 157, 158, 159, 236, 269; and Islam, 120–1; Islamic dirhams in, 176; military garrison/fortifications at, 84, 114, 235–6, 237

  Black Sea region, 138, 185–6, 187, 195, 203, 207, 237, 259, 275; Berezan stone, 259–60

  Book of Roads and Kingdoms (Ibn Khurradadhbih), 202–3, 276–7, 284

  Borg (Lofoten Islands), 112

  Borkovsky, Ivan, 226

  Bosphorus, 260

  Brittany, Duchy of, 232

  Brunanburh, Battle of (937), 157

  ‘Buddha bucket,’ 129–30

  Buddha figure from Helgö, 101, 103, 105, 123

  Bukhara, 177, 283

  Bulgaria, 207

  Bulghars, 201, 209–10, 268

  Burghred, King of Mercia, 16, 18

  Byzantine Empire, 197, 202, 203–5, 206, 238, 249, 260–5, 275; Climata province in Crimea, 237, 238; silverware at Sutton Hoo, 174, 183; trade treaties with the Rus’ (tenth century), 239, 247, 264–5, 267–8, 274; Varangian Guard, 269, 273, 274; victory over Rus’ at Dorostopol (971), 147–8, 247 see also Constantinople (Istanbul)

  Caesar, Gaius Julius (historian), 110

  camel caravans, 203, 283, 298

  carnelian beads: bead found at Repton, 1–6, 31, 33, 36, 40–1, 83, 97–8, 172, 282, 291, 294–8, 299; discovered at trading sites, 107–8, 109, 158, 186; dung beetle-shaped pendants, 186–7; as evidence of contact with east, 3–4, 6, 116–17, 158; found exclusively in women’s graves, 106; found in Vypovzyv, Ukraine, 219, 221, 230; Harappan style of, 294–7, 299; as markers of the exotic, 118; in Scandinavia, 106, 107–8; sources of carnelian, 276*, 293, 294–7

  Carolingian Empire, 29, 58, 59–60, 92

  Caspian Sea region, 67, 185, 186–7, 201, 203, 233, 275–82, 292

  Caucasus region, 176, 200, 276, 278

  Ceolwulf, King of Mercia, 18, 95

  Charlemagne, emperor, 91–2, 175, 183, 197

  Charles the Bald, Emperor, 29

  Chernihiv, city of, 229, 241; Chernay Mogila or ‘Black Grave,’ 251

  China, 172–3, 200, 202, 268, 269, 283, 292, 294; Great Wall of, 284

  Christianity: in England, 58, 94, 121, 123; fragment of crozier on Helgö, 106; and hybrid Viking identities, 58, 123; missionaries in Scandinavia, 122, 198; and Olga of Kyiv, 249, 250; pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 273; and the Rus’, 249, 250, 262–3, 273–4; Russian Primary Chronicle, 224; in Scandinavia, 36, 121, 123, 171; and slave trade, 48; in southern India, 293; view of women, 146, 147; Viking conversions to, 122, 262, 273–4; Viking targeting of, 122

  Clyde, River, 47

  Cnut, King, 181

  coinage: Anglo-Saxon, 56, 58, 60, 117, 289; Arabic, 60, 84, 121; Carolingian currencies, 58, 59–60; circulation and travel time, 65–6, 67; debasing of silver content, 177; dirhams transformed into necklaces, 119; found at Foremark, 45, 67; found at Torksey, 84; hoards, 53, 55, 57–9, 65, 167–8, 175, 177; Islamic dirham coins, 43, 55–62, 64, 65–6, 67, 84, 98, 108, 121, 165, 175–6, 186, 243; Islamic gold coinage (the dinar), 56, 60, 64; Islamic silver coins, 158, 166, 177, 285; Persian, 167, 175, 177; and political stability, 176–7; Roman, 60; Samanid coins, 175, 177, 243; Silver dirham from Cottam, Yorkshire, 43; silver pennies found at Repton, 30; St Peter’s penny, 58; Vale of York hoard, 57–9, 167

  Constantin, King of the Picts, 28

  Constantine the Great, 265

  Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, 203–5, 206, 249, 265

  Constantinople (Istanbul), 195, 197, 203, 206, 207, 238, 253, 292; Bardas Phokas rebellion (987), 273–4; Book of Ceremonies, 265; city walls, 266; and descriptions in Norse mythology, 272, 273; founding of, 265; and Greek fire, 266; Hagia Sophia, 255, 257, 265, 267, 270–2, 274; hippodrome, 265, 267; as Miklagard (‘Great City’), 260; Palatium Magnum, 265–6, 267, 274; runic inscriptions in Hagia Sophia, 270–1; Rus’ raids on, 260, 261–3, 266; silk industry in, 268–9; strategic location of, 260

  Copeland, John, 295, 296

  Covid 19 pandemic, 285, 287

  craft activities, 86, 89, 90, 105, 108, 109, 113, 230; in Staraya Ladoga, 186, 187

  currency and payment systems: barter, 59, 60; bullion-type economies, 59, 60, 61, 212–13; Carolingian coinage-based, 58, 59–60; combined Islamic/Swedish system, 64; Islamic, 56–7; Permian rings as wearable currency, 59, 64, 212; polyhedral or cubo-octahedral weights, 63, 64–5; Scandinavian impact on Britain, 16; silk as currency, 173; test marks on silver objects, 59, 61, 177; weight-based, 57, 59, 108, 115, 116, 212–13 see also coinage

  Dagestan, 186–7

  Dalkey Island (off Dublin), 50

  Danegeld, 89

  Danelaw, 58, 85–6

  ‘Dark Ages,’ 173, 174

  Daugava, River, 178

  Daylamite fighters, 212

  Degg, Simon, 30

  dendrochronology, 74

  Denmark: Christianisation of, 36, 123, 171; emergence of kingdom of, 111; emporia in, 113; geography of, 112; Islamic dirhams in, 176; narrative of westward expansion, 4, 15–16, 252; Skuldelev ships from, 284; Slavic axe in woman’s grave, 159; and smallpox virus, 287; Trelleborg fortress, 36–7, 39, 84; and Viking ethnicity, 126, 128; Viking genetic legacy in England, 26–7

  Desna, River, 229, 236, 241–2

  diplomacy and negotiation systems, 182–3, 196–8, 237, 238–9, 248–9, 260–1, 269; marriage all
iances, 183–4

  DNA analysis: absence of in east, 252; of bones from Viking homelands, 125, 126–9, 130, 137–9, 141, 142, 150, 170, 171, 182; evidence of slave trade, 51–2; of Gotland burials, 170, 171; mtDNA haplotypes, 130, 137, 138; limits to efficacy over culture/identity, 21, 26–7, 126, 128; mitochondrial DNA, 25, 51, 130, 137, 138; of the Repton samples, 24–5, 140; Salme ship burials, 182; and Scandinavian national boundaries, 126; and sex of infant skeletons, 154; in Shestovitsa, 243; and smallpox virus, 285–6, 287; of St John’s College skeletons, 287; of Viking Age Gnezdovo, 228; of Viking Age skeletons from Norway, 130, 137–9; Viking genetic legacy in England, 26–7, 126; of Viking settlement in Iceland, 51–2, 126; of women in Oseberg grave, 130

  Dnieper, River, 201, 202, 238, 259; as trade route, 185–6, 187, 227–30, 253, 259, 260–1, 275; treacherous routes down, 203–6

  Dniprov’ska Gulf, 259

  Don, River (the Tanais), 203, 238, 275

  Dorostopol, battle at (971), 147–8, 247

  Dublin, 28, 48, 50, 269

  Dudo of Saint-Quentin, 155

  Dumbarton Rock fortress, 47

  East Africa, 283, 294

  East Anglia, 16, 122

  Edmund, King of East Anglia, 122

  England, 5, 15, 47, 48; Christianity in, 58, 94, 121, 123; Danelaw division, 85–6; early emporia, 113; early medieval architecture, 16; evidence of contact/trade with east, 55–6, 62–7, 119, 152–3, 165, 173–4, 212, 244, 252–3, 269; intensification of Viking attacks in 990s, 289; little physical evidence of Vikings, 17, 54, 75, 83–4, 135; Norman invasion (1066), 78–9, 274; rivers of, 66, 67, 79, 80–1, 82, 83, 86–8, 97; Roman roads, 88; unification of as a country, 17; ‘Viking’ and ‘Anglo-Saxon’ terms, 23*; Viking genetic legacy in, 26–7, 126 see also Anglo-Saxon England; Viking Age in England

  Erik the Red, 146

  ermine fur, 232

  Estonia, 166, 178; Salme ship burials, 161, 163, 178–82, 184, 204, 216, 248–9

  Ethelred, king of Northumbria, 15, 94

  Euphrates, River, 282–3

  Eurasian Steppe: geography of, 200; inhabitants of, 173, 196, 200–2; movement of animals on, 200–1, 202; Pontic steppe, 202

  Experiences of the Nations (Ibn Miskawayh), 278–81

  Eysteinn (son of Olaf), 28–9

  falcon scabbard chapes, 252–3

  farming: and Baghdad, 282; at Birka, 115; on Eurasian Steppe, 201, 202; and geography of Scandinavia, 112; on Gotland, 168, 171–2; Viking in England (from late 870s), 27

  Faroe Islands, 96

  Finno-Ugrian people, 186

  food and drink, 21–2, 286–7; beer, 111–12; feorm (’food rent’), 91; Frankish strategies for provisioning of armies, 91–2; importance of feasts, 112; and strategy of seasonal raiding, 91; and Viking armies, 91, 92; Viking consumption of fish, 5, 34–6, 92, 285

  Foremark (Derbyshire), 66–7, 81, 83, 85

  France, 6, 58, 89–90, 98, 113, 144, 175*, 225; Paris, 18, 29, 79–80

  Frankia, kingdom of, 58, 90, 91–2, 175, 202, 232, 240, 292; collection of tribute by, 237; and garnet trade, 174; Rus’ expedition to (839), 196–8, 237, 238–9, 260–1, 269; strategies for provisioning of armies, 91–2

  Freya (Norse goddess), 79, 149

  Freydís Eiríksdóttir, 146–7

  Freyr (Norse god), 79

  funerary and burial customs: cemetery at Heath Wood, 27; chamber graves, 115, 127, 141, 216, 228, 243, 246; cremation and inhumations, 216, 242; disembowelment of corpse, 29; double graves, 23–6, 29, 127, 244–5; elements of performance, 180, 213, 214–17, 245; Ibn Fadlan’s account of Rus’ chieftan’s funeral, 213–17, 236–7, 245, 246–7; in Norway, 156; observed at Bardha’a, 281; and patriarchal connections, 26, 29; possible human sacrifice, 38–9, 41, 196, 215–17, 245–7, 281; at Repton, 17, 19–21, 23–5, 26, 29; Repton mound as secondary burial site, 37; Scandinavian identity in Chernihiv, 251 see also grave goods; ship burials

  fur trade, 115, 199, 231–3, 278, 288

  galena, 62

  Galgedil site (Denmark), 287

  gaming pieces, 85–6, 127, 161, 163, 180–1, 182, 186, 243

  Gamla Uppsala, Sweden, 39

  garnet trade, 174

  Georgia, 176, 275, 276

  Gerberga of Saxony, 144

  Germany, 15, 39, 59, 123, 144, 175*, 292; Hedeby, 84, 109, 113, 120, 125, 166, 261; Nazi era, 124–5, 225, 226; silver resources in, 289

  Al-Gharnati, Abu Hamid, 231

  Gibraltar, straits of, 98

  globalisation, 284–9

  Gnezdovo (near Smolensk), 227–8, 230, 235, 244; and smallpox virus, 288; Viking hoard, 58

  Gokstad burial mound, 108, 116

  Gorgan, city of, 203

  Gotland, 165, 166–72, 175, 182, 204, 206, 211, 240, 244, 260

  Gough Map, 82

  grave goods: animal remains, 19, 38, 141, 179, 180, 182, 216, 243; beads in men’s graves, 13, 19, 106–7; Berezan stone, 259–60; at Birka, 115, 116–18, 127, 157, 158, 159, 236, 269; of ‘Birka warrior woman,’ 141–4, 150, 152, 156, 158–9, 181, 236, 243, 247; boats, 75; ‘Buddha bucket,’ 129–30; in Chernay Mogila, 251; and clues over religious belief, 122–3; and determining of sex, 141–2, 152–3, 156; exotic objects in women’s graves, 106, 116–18, 119, 123, 151–2, 159, 183, 244; and female migration, 137, 150–2; gaming pieces, 85, 127, 180–1, 182, 243; Île de Groix ship burial, 252; in Oseberg ship, 129–30, 208, 216, 269; of Prague Castle bones, 226; question of whether object or owner travelled, 20–1, 117, 150–1; at Repton, 18, 19–21, 24, 106, 150; sacrificed dogs, 180, 182; Salme ship burials, 179, 180–1, 182, 216; in Shestovitsa, 242–5, 252; silk, 269; and social status, 20, 118, 119–20, 129–30, 141–5, 158–9, 269; Thor’s hammers, 13, 19, 55, 115, 123, 135; tortoiseshell brooches, 152–3, 244; Viking loot in western Norway, 93, 150, 151; weighing equipment, 157–8

  Great Wall of China, 284

  Greenland, 79, 96, 147

  Gregory the Great, Pope, 48

  Grímnismál (poem), 149

  Gripsholm, 276

  ground-penetrating radar (GPR), 107–8

  Gujarat, India, 6, 295–7, 299

  Guta Law on Gotland, 171

  Guthrum, 28, 122, 262

  Halfdan, 28–9

  Hamwic (Southampton), 114

  Han dynasty, 173

  Harald Bluetooth, 36–7, 123

  Harald Finehair, 125

  Harald Hardrada, 274, 275–6

  Harald Klak, 227

  Harappan (Indus Valley) civilisation, 294–7

  Harun al-Rashid (Abbasid caliph), 175, 176

  Harz Mountains, Germany, 289

  Heath Wood (near Repton), 27, 66

  Hedeby (northern Germany), 84, 109, 113, 120, 125, 166, 261

  Heimdalsjordet (Norway), 107–8, 109, 118

  Heimskringla (Snorri Sturluson saga), 77–8, 240

  Hel (realm in Norse mythology), 79

  Helgö, island of (Sweden), 101, 105–6, 114, 183

  herepaths (Anglo-Saxon ‘army roads’), 88

  Herodotus, 185, 259

  Hetha, 146

  Higbald, bishop of Lindisfarne, 183

  Himmler, Heinrich, 125

  Hinduism, 245–6

  historical records/sources, 15–16, 17, 18, 25–6, 27, 84; accounts by Islamic travellers/scholars, 195–6, 198–9, 201, 202–3, 205, 209–17, 223, 224, 231, 246, 277; description of Viking camp, 89–90; on early Viking raids on England, 94–5; on river usage, 79–81; and slave trade, 47, 48, 49–51, 196; written sources on the Rus’, 196–9, 202–3, 205, 209–17, 223–5, 227, 231, 236–7, 244, 246–50, 262–4, 267–8, 274, 276–81

  Hitler, Adolf, 225

  hnefatafl (board game), 85

  Holmgardr region, 187

  Holy Roman Empire, 175*, 196–8, 269, 292

  Hordaland (Norway), 94

  horses, 16, 74, 88, 91, 242, 283; breeding/trading of on Eurasian Steppe, 201, 202; in burial chambers, 129, 141, 243; harnesses, 116, 138; hippodrome at Constantinople, 267; in Norse mytholog
y, 148, 169; pulling of ships by, 208; transport of on ships, 78, 79

  House of Lords, 232

  human sacrifice, 38–9, 41, 196, 215–17, 245–7, 281

  Humber, River, 83, 97

  Hungary, 143, 158, 200, 236

  Iberian Peninsula, 37, 98, 232

  Ibn Fadlan, 209–11, 212, 213, 231, 236–7, 244; and funeral of a Rus’ chieftain, 213–17, 236–7, 245, 246–7

  Ibn Khurradadhbih, 202–3, 276–7, 283, 284, 294

  Ibn Miskawayh, 212, 278–81

  Ibn Rustah, 199, 205, 210, 211, 246

  Ibn Sam’un, 279–80

  Iceland: Landnám (‘land-taking’), 96; settled by Scandinavians (870s), 50, 51–2, 126, 153; and Viking slave trade, 51–2; women of Celtic origin in, 51–2, 126

  Icelandic saga literature, 25, 33, 49–50, 77–8, 108, 111; female infanticide in, 154–5; female warriors in, 146–7; Norse creation story, 272–3; references to the east, 178, 185–6, 195, 198, 203, 206–7, 239–40, 269, 272–3; travelling women in, 153

  Igor, Prince, 247–8

  Île de Groix (Brittany), 252

  Ilmen, Lake, 187, 199, 200, 228, 261

  India, 3, 6, 174, 245–6, 283, 291, 292–3; carnelian trade from, 283, 293, 294–7; Indus Valley (Harappan) civilisation, 294–7; Ratanpur carnelian mines, 295–7

  Indian Ocean trade networks, 283, 293–4

  Ingelheim am Rhein, 196–7, 260, 269

  Ingvar the Far-Travelled, 275–7, 292

  intelligence and information, 92–3, 95–6, 114, 207–8, 240

  Ipswich, 113

  Ireland, 16, 28, 85, 90, 269, 288; DNA ancestry studies, 51–2; Uí Imair dynasty, 183–4; Viking slave raids in, 47, 49, 50

  iron, 76, 109, 234, 241

  Iron Age, 110

  Iskorosten (Drevlian capital), 248

  Islamic caliphate, 3; Abbasid dynasty, 60, 174, 175, 176–7, 195, 202–3, 209–10; accounts by travellers/scholars from, 195–6, 198–9, 201, 202–3, 205, 209–17, 223, 224, 231, 246, 277; combined weight system with Sweden, 64, 115; demand for slaves in ninth century, 231; dirham coins, 43, 55–62, 64, 65–6, 67, 84, 98, 108, 121, 165, 175–6, 186, 243; finger ring in Birka grave goods, 116–18, 123, 159; founding of, 56; gold coinage (the dinar), 56, 60, 64; Golden Age of Islam, 294; Khazars as crucial connectors, 201–2; missionary journeys, 209–10; ninth century conflict in, 176–7; political stability in later eighth-century, 176; and Rus’ attacks in Caspian region, 278–82; and Scandinavian trading towns, 120–1; silver coins, 158, 166, 177, 285; Umayyad dynasty, 174