In the seventh and eighth centuries, the Vikings began to explore new lands and spread to northern and western Europe, plowing seas and rivers with their flexible ships.
By Theo Mak Drummer, Singer, Songwriter and History geek
They raided because fighting wars and pillaging was essential to their survival.
As Danes and Norwegians occupied England and raged in France, the Swedish began to descend the rivers of Eastern Europe. In time, the Swedes dominated the Slavic population of modern day Russia, adopted their language and culture and established their own hegemony by founding cities such as Novgorod and Kiev. These people went down in history as "Rus", from the Finnish word Ruotsi which meant rowers and in them are the roots of today's Russia.
The Dnieper river took them to the Black Sea, and from there they reached Constantinople. The Vikings' attempts to seize Constantinople proved futile.
They called Constantinople Miklagard, which means "Huge City" because they were so fascinated by it. The Vikings were attracted by the fame of wealth and prosperity that characterized the then, largest city in the world. With the Byzantines, the Vikings established special trade relations, at least during the periods when they did not raid against them.
The emperors, in turn, were impressed by the fighting skills of the Norsemen, whom they called Varangians, which in the old Norse language meant "sworn warrior".
Before Constantinople was captured by the Crusaders in 1204, the Varangian Guard fought alongside the imperial army in every major campaign, from Sicily to the Holy Land. A strong connection between the two cultures had been created.
Visitors to the church of Holy Wisdom, (Agia Sofia) will see that the Vikings literally left their mark on Constantinople.
Around 1100 years ago, possibly during a Sunday mass, a bored Viking named Halvdan (Halfdan) carved his name on a marble slab in Hagia Sophia's upper gallery. For years, no one had noticed it, and until 1964, people thought these were all spontaneous cracks but it was writing in the old Norse language –“Halvdan was here”–. - The Bored Viking General Who “Vandalized” Hagia Sophia
The story of the Viking army of Constantinople known as the Varangian Guard (in ancient Norwegian Vaeringjar, cοmes from the Norwegian word ‘var’, which means oath of honour) starts when the Byzantine Emperor Basil II faced an internal revolt in 987. Vladimir the Great provided him with 6,000 Viking mercenaries but various groups of Viking warriors had been in imperial service since 874. Gradually, Vikings predominantly from Sweden but also from Norway and Finland started joining the ranks in great numbers:
In these years, Swedish men left to enlist in the Byzantine Varangian Guard in such numbers that Västgötalagen declared no one could inherit while staying in "Greece"—the then Scandinavian term for the Byzantine Empire—to stop the emigration - Västgötalagen (Westrogothic law)
A page of the late 13th century law Äldre Västgötalagen. - photo by Natanael Beckman
The formidable fighting skills of these Northerners, blindly loyal to the emperor (as long as he rewarded them with enough gold), established them as a special forces battalion, which soon became the emperor's personal bodyguard with considerable power until the 13th century. The service in the guard ensured rich rewards and a great reputation. Today there are 30 runic tablets in Sweden that tell the story of the life and deeds of Varangian warriors in Grikkland, the land of the Greeks.
On these runestones the word Grikkland ("Greece") appears in three inscriptions, the word Grikk(j)ar ("Greeks") appears in 25 inscriptions, two stones refer to men as grikkfari ("traveller to Greece") and one stone refers to Grikkhafnir ("Greek harbours").
Among other runestones which refer to expeditions abroad, the only groups which are comparable in number are the so-called "England runestones" that mention expeditions to England and the 26 Ingvar runestones that refer to a Viking expedition to the Middle East. Greece Runestones
Runestone U 73 - photo by Berig
Following the Norman invasion of England, by the time of Emperor Alexios Komnenos in the late 11th century the Varangian Guard started to see a rise in the number of Anglo-Saxons.
The Varangians fought together with the imperial army in Southern Italy, Sicily Africa and the Middle East. Their duties included serving as palace guards, accompanying the emperor and the Imperial family to festivals and festivities, and church services at Hagia Sophia, in addition to serving as the emperor's personal bodyguard. Scandinavians could occupy a variety of positions in the Guard, but the highest ranks were most likely reserved for members of noble Greek families.
Membership in the Varangian Guard was a great honor, and men with significant power and status in their home countries were proud to be a part of it. The most prominent Varangian Guard member was probably Harald Hardrada, later Harald III of Norway, who became Akolouthos (Greek: ἀκόλουθος), the commander of the Guard before returning home in 1043.
The tradition of reliance on barbarian troops from outside the Empire was as old as the city itself, for Constantine showed great honour to the Cornuti for the part which they played in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312. Not only are these Germanic warriors depicted clearly on the Arch of Constantine standing close to the Emperor, but the emblem of curving horns ending in animal heads worn on their helmets was incorporated into the Roman army, together with the Germanic battle-cry, the barditus. - The Viking Road to Byzantium
While the majority of them brought their weapons when they joined the Guard they often supplemented parts from the imperial arsenal and eventually adopted Byzantine military attire and gear.
Their most distinctive weapon was an axe, which earned them the moniker ᾽πελεκυφορος φρουρα’, or "ax-wielding guard."
Preparing for a battle, a standard formation type was that the infantry units lined up usually behind the cavalry, as a second line, in compliance with the norms of the rich Byzantine military tactics manuals. The body of the Varangians was divided into battalions of 500 men and was in the vanguard of several battles and performed admirably. It was a fast and flexible part of the army that was capable of quickly outflanking and scaring an enemy.
The Varangians carried a heavy iron single-edged ax, the Δανεζικο (Daneziko/Danish). This characteristic weapon had a barrel length of 1-1.20m. and a head about 30cm long. Also, their equipment was accompanied by a Scandinavian sword with a deep single-edged or amphistomic blade, as well as spears.
Their defense equipment consisted of chained armor, gloves, steel helmets and a shield. Their shields were decorated with geometric patterns on the perimeter and animal figures on the main surface, with dragons or the raven, the sacred bird of the god Odin and a symbol of the Vikings.
During the Fourth Crusade in 1204 the body of the Varangians put up strong resistance to the attacks of the Crusaders, but without being able to prevent the Fall of Constantinople.
After 1204, the Varangians abandoned the city together with the aristocracy and continued to serve in the court of the Empire of Nicaea with the families of Laskaris and the Palaeologans who later in 1261 managed to recapture the city of Constantinople.
The last Varangians were eventually ethnically assimilated by the Greeks, but the Guard remained active until at least 1400 AD, when some people in Constantinople were still identified as "Varangians."
The Rus state of Vladimir the Great left a great legacy. It united administratively and culturally a rising region and turned it into a dynamic kingdom. The Orthodox Church became the dominant church in Eastern Europe thanks to the cultural influence of the Eastern Roman Empire that created a Byzantine-Slavic fusion, with impressive results in culture and the arts. Many rulers adopted imperial ceremonies at their courts and assumed the title of Czar, which was a Slavic translation of the Byzantine title 'Caesar.'
This culture was the basis on which the great Russian Empire was later on built.
Finds from graves in Scandinavia indicate that the clothes worn by the upper class were influenced by the imperial court of Constantinople and flaunted their riches by adorning themselves with silk and gold threads from Byzantium. A strong connection between the Viking culture and the Greco-Roman culture which was importing goods and ideas back to Scandinavia.
Bolli Bollason – goes to Miklagård willing to discover and to be acquainted with more than his native Icelandic territories. He entered the Varangian guard and, after a few years, he returned to his origin place full of riches: “He had on the clothes of fur which the Garth-king had given him, he had over all a scarlet cape; and he had Footbiter girt on him, the hilt of which was dight with gold, and the grip woven with gold; he had a gilded helmet on his head and a red shield on his flank, with a knight painted on it in gold. He had a dagger in his hand, as is the custom in foreign lands [...]. Laxdæla Saga
Τhe Eastern Roman Empire, the continuation and evolution of the Graeco-Roman heritage, a brilliant empire, perhaps the most brilliant and long-lived state, with its crises but also its magnificence, exerted a wide influence on all the peoples of Eastern Europe, Western Europe, South Europe and North Europe.
It has shaped the continent in all aspects in what we now call European civilization as a whole. Byzantium has left us a glorious legacy in art and literature, the refinement of morals, philosophy and civil law, diplomacy and medicine. The preservation of all the ancient knowledge. It’s power and influence shaped our side of the planet for many centuries. For eleven centuries Constantinople was the center of the world and acted as a formidable shield for Europe.
As living conditions in Byzantium gradually became more difficult and dangerous due to the Ottoman conquests, numerous Greeks emigrated to the West, taking with them works of their literature. The treasures of the classical world: the eternal Hellenic civilization. By transporting the classic works to the West and rescuing them from the hands of the Ottomans, Byzantium, even on its deathbed, offered a great service to humanity and the future development of mankind. It opened the path towards true freedom; the eternal exploration of knowledge and values. The Ancient moral excellence of Αρετή (Areti), the eternal and universal notion of virtue.
Maybe the international collapse we are now experiencing, is not a coincidence but the symptom of a total collapse of principles and ideas and other social phenomena that sparked the Enlightenment era, but are we experiencing a cultural collapse of our European civilization with its main goals now being profiteering, showing off on Instagram and buying the latest technological gadget even if we do not actually need it without realising that large corporations and banking are taking over control? Are we living again in a new Dark Age without realising it? Has ‘’believe and not doubt’’ being replaced by a new pretty similar but disguised motto?
Solidarity has been replaced by individualism, subjectivity, individuality and egocentrism. In this way society loses its cohesion and self-dissolves into a set of conflicting individuals. The ego replaces the whole. ‘’I am’’ is now replaced by ‘’I have’’. In this way our Western civilization is transformed from a coherent social structure to an individualized one, and maybe over time it will wear out, corrupt, and collapse the more we are detaching ourselves from reality? What is reality? What about Heracletus? What about Pythagoras? What about Plato? What about Aristotle?
