"He Drowned in Holmr's Sea - His Cargo-ship Drifted to the Sea-bottom, Only Three Came out Alive": Records and Representations of Baltic Traffic in the Viking Age and the Early Middle Ages in Early Nordic Sources

Description

This doctoral dissertation undertakes an integral study of references to Baltic traffic in the Viking Age and the Early Middle Ages on the basis of runic inscriptions, skaldic poetry and Icelandic sagas (sagas of Icelanders and kings' sagas). Baltic traffic is in the thesis defined according to a comprehensive approach, using the concept of the Baltic Sea drainage basin as the premise, justified both from the geographical as well as historical point of view. The thesis offers a systematic discussion of the nature of travel contacts in the Baltic region as depicted by the source material, and clarifies how the features of narrativity and historicity intermingle in the sources' representation of travel and communication. Methodologically the study follows the adapted hermeneutical approach, and aims at providing an understanding of different levels of contextuafity that are active around a given source as well as acknowledging the importance of applying multi-disciplinary research perspectives. Exploring both the informative as well as the depictive content of the sources, the study brings to the fore the various communicative purposes that guide over the nature of the material; the advancing degree of interpretative abstraction leads from mostly brief and concrete commemorative statements of runic inscriptions to the poetical level of eulogy in skaldic poetry, and to the multi-dimensional prose narrative concerning the significant past as presented from the point of view of sagas. Through their numerous expressions of personified travels the sources at the same time demonstrate certain inter-relatedness - they find their broader culturai-historical meaning within the evolving narrative tradition of travelogue. With runic inscriptions making up the core of the current study, special attention is given to the interplay between the textual content of a rune stone inscription and the visual layout of the text. The thesis follows the approach according to which any monumental runic text should not be reduced to a mere linear linguistic phenomenon; the study further establishes a complex way of interpreting runic monuments and their communicative significance with regard to their visual and physical dimension as well as the surrounding landscape environment. ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS 10 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES 11 ABBREVIATIONS 12 I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 13 1.1. Introduction 13 1.2. Structure of thesis 15 1.3. Research objectives and motivation 16 1.4. Scope of research and theoretical considerations 19 1.4.1. The concept of Baltic traffic 19 1.4.2. Temporal frames 23 1.4.3. Narrativity and historicity 24 1.5. General methodology – adapted hermeneutical approach 28 1.6. Sources – introduction and critical assessment 32 1.6.1. Introduction 32 1.6.2. Critical assessment 35 II. RUNIC EVIDENCE 38 2.1. Rune stone tradition – central questions and concepts 38 2.1.1. Introduction 38 2.1.2. Motives for raising rune stones 40 2.1.3. Chronologies and regional variation 46 2.2. Analytical and methodological principles 51 2.2.1. Runic mini-narratives 51 2.2.2. Cultural-historical connections 54 2.2.3. Methodological guidelines 56 2.2.3.1. Runic methodology 56 2.2.3.2. Runic inscriptions and the adapted hermeneutical approach 58 2.3. Materials 62 2.3.1. Sources and conventions 62 2.3.2. Data set, principles of selection and presentation 64 2.4. Review of previous studies 66 III. ANALYSIS OF BALTIC TRAFFIC INSCRIPTIONS 74 3.1. Individual inscriptions 74 3.1.1. Danmǫrk 76 3.1.2. Jótland 87 3.1.3. Heiðabýr 89 3.1.4. Ulfshala 94 3.1.5. Eyrarsund 96 3.1.6. Skáney and Garðstangir; Skáney – Kalmarnir sund 97 3.1.7. Útlengia 101 3.1.8. Finnheiðr 103 3.1.9. Þjústr 105 3.1.10. Sundrsvía 107 3.1.11. Svíþjóð 112 3.1.12. Sila 114 3.1.13. Uppsalir 116 3.1.14. Svía 121 3.1.15. Place name ambiguities: Foeri, Holmr, Holms haf, Oddr 122 3.1.16. Gotland 129 3.1.17. Bógi 136 3.1.18. Finnland 139 3.1.19. Tafeistaland 139 3.1.20. Another ambiguity: Véborg 142 3.1.21. Garðar 144 3.1.22. Holmgarðr 158 3.1.23. Virland 163 3.1.24. Eistland 165 3.1.25. Lífland 172 3.1.26. Seimgalir and Dómisnes; Semskr 175 3.1.27. Vindau 179 3.1.28. Mistivir – a Wendish ruler 181 3.1.29. Saxland 182 3.1.30. Leybikar 188 3.1.31. Additional examples 189 3.2. Baltic traffic inscriptions as collective evidence 192 3.2.1. Structure and elements of content 192 3.2.2. Design and layout 201 3.2.3. Regional and chronological perspectives 206 3.2.4. Narrative, communicative and cultural-historical significance 209 3.3. Contemporary runic evidence 219 3.3.1. Personal names 219 3.3.2. Eastern direction 223 3.3.3. Other destinations and travel-related references 226 3.3.4. Local place names and communications 232 IV. BALTIC TRAFFIC FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SKALDIC AND SAGA EVIDENCE 236 4.1. Skaldic poetry 236 4.1.1. Description and source treatment 236 4.1.2. Skaldic references to Baltic traffic 245 4.1.2.1. Examples from individual poems 246 4.1.2.2. Conclusions 262 4.2. Saga literature 268 4.2.1. Description, theory and methodology 268 4.2.2. Source treatment 277 4.2.3. References to Baltic traffic in the kings’ sagas 281 4.2.3.1. Viken – part of the scene of Baltic traffic 282 4.2.3.2. Border traffic – eastern districts and focal points 284 4.2.3.3. Götaland, Svíþjóð/Svíaveldi/Svíaríki and Gotland 287 4.2.3.4. Austrvegr – the eastern route 291 4.2.3.5. The Baltic countries and Finland 293 4.2.3.6. Garðaríki 296 4.2.3.7. Denmark – a focal area in the south 298 4.2.3.8. Wendland and Saxony 302 4.2.4. Depictions of Baltic traffic in the sagas of Icelanders 305 4.2.4.1. Traffic around Denmark and Sweden 307 4.2.4.2. Further southern and eastern travels 313 4.2.5. Concluding remarks 317 V. CONCLUDING DISCUSSION 321 5.1. Records and representations of Baltic traffic 321 5.2. Narrativity and historicity and the tradition of travelogue 329 SUMMARY IN ESTONIAN 338 REFERENCES 347 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 364 APPENDICES 366 CURRICULUM VITAE 382 PUBLICATIONS 386 INDEX OF RUNIC INSCRIPTIONS 388 PLACE NAMES AND INHABITANT NAMES 394