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Old Norse Online

Lesson 5

Todd B. Krause and Jonathan Slocum

Scandinavian Merchant Culture

Given the exciting narratives in which the tales of Vikings are told by the Scandinavians themselves, and given the overwhelming preoccupation of other parts of Europe with the marauding forces of the Vikings, it is easy to pass over the fact that much of Scandinavian culture relied on merchant trade as a powerful source of goods and wealth. The skin-trade was an important merchant mainstay in the far north, so much so that Harald Fairhair's tribute regulations were cause for dissention in the ranks of local rulers. It seems that furs were traded in England for agricultural commodoties such as honey, wheat, wine, and cloth.

Excavations at Kaupang, near the Oslo Fjord, show evidence of a trade-route market. The market is placed back from the shore of the bay, accessible only by narrow channels which would make ship-borne raids difficult. The back of the market butts up against high mountains, making land-raids also impractical. Between the two is an open plain, suitable for pitching tents for trade. Traders typically did not erect permanent structures at such sites, but rather mounded up turf walls which were covered by a tent when the merchant returned, but were otherwise left open to the elements when unoccupied. Items found in the area surrounding Kaupang include bits of Frankish glass, pottery from the Rhineland, and other objects from the British Isles. Such items might certainly have arrived as the result of raids, but other delicate objects of Celtic origin have been found in Norway in such immaculate condition that their interpretation as war booty is relatively unlikely. From markets such as Kaupang, merchants could also head to Continental Europe with their own goods: iron, feathers and down, and soapstone (used for spindle-whorls, cookery, and molds for casting metal).

Other markets seem to have had a more permanent population, such as at Hedeby, at the base of the Jutland peninsula. This was a town which by the tenth century had a walled rampart enclosing some 60 acres. Inside this were originally long timbered houses, but these gave way to smaller houses roughly 10 feet square, built along wooden roads, each with a fenced-in courtyard and a well. People lived there year-round, and not only Scandinavians, since Frisian and Saxon graves are found there as well. A rather large population of craftsmen allowed the town to be inhabited all year long, when seasonal crops or hunting were impracticable. Artefacts pertaining to the crafts of glass-making and metal-working outweigh those of agricultural pursuits, so that basic nutritional commodities appear to have been imported from elsewhere.

The Vikings, however, had their marauding reputation for a reason, and this infected their merchant activities in the form of a lively slave trade. There was a large demand for slaves in the Arab cultures populating the Mediterranean from Spain to the Holy Land, which Scandinavians happily supplied. The Christianizing of Central Europe made this more difficult as the church tried to prevent Christian slaves from being owned by Muslims. The Scandinavians were forced to look farther east to supply their market, and the heathen Slavs were a ready source which Christians would allow to pass through their territories uninterrupted. Some of the trade passed directly to the Black Sea through the rivers of the Russian territory, but some made its way west through Hedeby, down through France, and into Spain. The Danes and Norwegians, for their part, continued to cull slaves from the British Isles, but being Christian they were difficult to sell and usually the Danes and Norwegians themselves kept them as servants.

A 30 acre Swedish settlement at Birka along the Gulf of Finland is referenced as early as 870 as a hub for trade routes leading down the Dnieper and Volga rivers into Russian territory. These trade routes led to rich hunting grounds supplying the fur trade. Arab accounts refer to the Rus (who were thought by the Arabs to be Slavs, but by Franks to be Swedes) as traders dealing in the skins of beavers and foxes, and in swords. The primary towns which arose along the Dnieper were Smolensk, Chernigov, and Kyiv (Kiev). The rulers of these settlements were Scandinavian in origin, though it is not clear what the relative populations were between Scandinavian and Slav. These eastern trade routes were the arteries for a flow of silver coins back to Sweden, Arab coins found so far numbering in the tens of thousands, Byzantine coins in the hundreds. As the Middle Eastern silver mines were depleted, the Scandinavian silver trade shifted to Germany.

Introduction to the Reading

The author of Egils saga is not known for certain. Some have suspected Snorri Sturluson wrote the tale, arguing mainly on elements of compositional style, and noting that Snorri in fact lived for a brief time at Egil's old home in the western reaches of Iceland. The saga as we have it is preserved in several different documents, the most extensive being one copy in a collection of other Icelandic sagas dating to the fourteenth century, as well as two other defective manuscripts of roughly similar date. There is a paper fragment containing part of the story which dates to the middle of the thirteenth century.

The saga tells of Egil Skallagrímson, a historical figure with a knack for adventure and raucous behaviour. His drinking exploits led to a long-lasting blood-feud when a steward of Eirík Blóðøx tried to poison Egil because he was drinking up the store of ale. Egil killed the steward, and on a later journey sued one of Eirík's friends. Egil was driven away by Eirík's men, and in retaliation Egil killed the man he sued, as well as one of Eirík's sons.

Lesson 5 Text

The following passage is an excerpt from Egil's travels to York. Egil does not initially know that Eirík has become king of the region. When Egil's boat is wrecked, he loses hope of escaping the region unnoticed, and instead decides to confront Eirík. Egil first approaches Arinbjörn, one of Eirík's retainers, and someone who is kindly disposed toward Egil. Arinbjörn acts as Egil's advocate, leading Egil into the king's presence and speaking on his behalf. Upon convincing the king to hold off till morning the decision of any action to be taken against Egil, Arinbjörn counsels Egil to compose a poem to please the king, in hopes that artistic savvy will ultimately win him good favor. That night, Egil goes off by himself to compose the poem, but when Arinbjörn later checks Egil's progress, Egil complains that he has accomplished nothing because a noisy bird perched on his window and broke his concentration. Arinbjörn thus sits the night through keeping watch on Egil's window, and Egil brings his finished result to Eirík's court the following morning. In court several of Eirík's retainers argue for killing Egil, and Eirík's queen Gunnhild argues against them in favor of Egil. The following passage picks up at the end of this discussion.

Þá segir Arinbjörn, "Ef þú, konungr, ok þit Gunnhildr hafið þat einráðit, at Egill skal hér enga sætt fá, þá er þat drengskapr, at gefa honum frest ok fararleyfi um viku sakar, at hann forði sér, þó hefir hann at sjálfvilja sínum farit hingat á fund yðvarn, ok vænti sér at því friðar. Fara þá enn skipti yður, sem verða má þaðan frá."

Gunnhildr mælti: "Sjá kann ek á þessu, Arinbjörn, at þú ert hollari Agli en Eiríki konungi.

Ef Egill skal ríða heðan viku í brott í friði, þá mun hann kominn til Aðalsteins konungs á þessi stundu.

En Eiríkr konungr þarf nú ekki at dyljask í því, at honum verða nú allir konungar ofreflismenn, en fyrir skömmu mundi þat ekki glíkligt, at Eiríkr konungr mundi eigi hafa til þess vilja ok atferð, at hefna harma sinna á hverjum manni slíkum sem Egill er."

Arinbjörn segir, "Engi maðr mun Eirík kalla at meira mann, þó at hann drepi einn bóndason útlendan, þann er gengit hefir á vald hans.

En ef hann vill miklask at þessu, þá skal ek þat veita honum, at þessi tíðindi skulu heldr þykkja frásagnarverð, því at vit Egill munum nú veitask at, svá at jafnsnimma skal okkr mõta báðum.

Muntu, konungr, þá dýrt kaupa líf Egils, um þat er vér erum allir at velli lagðir, ek ok sveitungar mínir; mundi mik annars vara at yðr, en þú mundir mik vilja leggja heldr at jörðu en láta mik þiggja líf eins manns er ek bið."

Þá segir konungr, "Allmikit kapp leggr þú á þetta, Arinbjörn, at veita Agli lið.

Trauðr mun ek til vera, at gøra þér skaða, ef því er at skipta, ef þú vill heldr leggja fram líf þitt en hann sé drepinn.

En õrnar eru sakar til við Egil, hvat sem ek læt gøra við hann."

Ok er konungr hafði þetta mælt, þá gekk Egill fyrir hann ok hóf upp kvæðit ok kvað hátt ok fekk þegar hljóð:

Vestr fórk of ver, en ek Viðris ber
        munstrandar mar, svás mitt of far;
        drók eik á flot við ísabrot,
        hlóðk mærðar hlut munknarrar skut.

Buðumk hilmi löð ák hróðrs of kvöð,
        berk Óðins mjöð á Engla bjöð.
        Lofat vísa vann, víst mærik þann,
        hljóðs biðjum hann, þvít hróðr of fann.

Hygg vísi at, vel sómir þat,
        hvé þylja fet, ef þögn of get.
        Flestr maðr of frá hvat fylkir vá,
        en Viðrir sá hvar valr of lá.

Óx hjörva hlöm við hlífar þröm,
        guðr óx of gram, gramr sótti fram:
        þar heyrðisk þá, þaut mækis á,
        malmhríðar spá, sús mest of lá.

Lesson Text

Þá segir Arinbjörn, "Ef þú, konungr, ok þit Gunnhildr hafið þat einráðit, at Egill skal hér enga sætt fá, þá er þat drengskapr, at gefa honum frest ok fararleyfi um viku sakar, at hann forði sér, þó hefir hann at sjálfvilja sínum farit hingat á fund yðvarn, ok vænti sér at því friðar. Fara þá enn skipti yður, sem verða má þaðan frá."

 Gunnhildr mælti: "Sjá kann ek á þessu, Arinbjörn, at þú ert hollari Agli en Eiríki konungi. Ef Egill skal ríða heðan viku í brott í friði, þá mun hann kominn til Aðalsteins konungs á þessi stundu. En Eiríkr konungr þarf nú ekki at dyljask í því, at honum verða nú allir konungar ofreflismenn, en fyrir skömmu mundi þat ekki glíkligt, at Eiríkr konungr mundi eigi hafa til þess vilja ok atferð, at hefna harma sinna á hverjum manni slíkum sem Egill er."

 Arinbjörn segir, "Engi maðr mun Eirík kalla at meira mann, þó at hann drepi einn bóndason útlendan, þann er gengit hefir á vald hans. En ef hann vill miklask at þessu, þá skal ek þat veita honum, at þessi tíðindi skulu heldr þykkja frásagnarverð, því at vit Egill munum nú veitask at, svá at jafnsnimma skal okkr mõta báðum. Muntu, konungr, þá dýrt kaupa líf Egils, um þat er vér erum allir at velli lagðir, ek ok sveitungar mínir; mundi mik annars vara at yðr, en þú mundir mik vilja leggja heldr at jörðu en láta mik þiggja líf eins manns er ek bið."

 Þá segir konungr, "Allmikit kapp leggr þú á þetta, Arinbjörn, at veita Agli lið. Trauðr mun ek til vera, at gøra þér skaða, ef því er at skipta, ef þú vill heldr leggja fram líf þitt en hann sé drepinn. En õrnar eru sakar til við Egil, hvat sem ek læt gøra við hann."

 Ok er konungr hafði þetta mælt, þá gekk Egill fyrir hann ok hóf upp kvæðit ok kvað hátt ok fekk þegar hljóð:

 Vestr fórk of ver, en ek Viðris ber
        munstrandar mar, svás mitt of far;
        drók eik á flot við ísabrot,
        hlóðk mærðar hlut munknarrar