The "Terfinnas" and "Beormas" of Ohthere

Description

Reprinted with an Additional Note by the Author and an Afterword by Michael Chesnutt. This work was originally published in 1940 as "Leeds School of English Language Texts and Monographs" 7. The Russian and Finnish Summaries that were issued with that edition are not included in the present reprint, the map has been re-drawn, and an Afterword has been added. At some time in the late 9th century, a Norwegian seafarer by the name of Ohthere [Oht-her-e] told the West Saxon king Alfred of his voyages along the coasts of Norway and Denmark. Ohthere's report made such an impression at the court of King Alfred that it was recorded and subsequently inserted into the Old English version of the late Roman world history by Orosius, accompanied by Wulfstan's account of a voyage across the Baltic Sea. Ohthere's account is the earliest known description of the North by a Scandinavian and gives a fascinating and highly trustworthy glimpse of the early Viking Age. "Ohthere's Voyage" presents many acutely difficult problems of historical geography, of which the present monograph deals with two — the identification of the "Terfinnas" and the "Beormas". Preface to the First Edition 5 Preface to the Second Edition 9 Abbreviations 11 Ohthere’s "Northern" Voyage 15 The Terfinnas 24 The Beormas I. Evidence 29 II. Identification 42 III. Russian "Perm'" 59 IV. The Muslim Sources 59 Additional Note (1940) 62 Additional Note (1978): Bjarmian Names in Literary Tradition 64 Afterword 66 Select bibliography and abbreviated references 83 Map at end