Sweden 1: Sweden before the Viking Age

Question 1

When was the Vendel period?

Answer 1

c.550- 790 AD

This means that it overlaps substantially with the Merovingian period (5th-8th centuries) on the continent

Question 2

The names of the two Byzantine writers from the sixth century?

Answer 2

Jordanes and Procopius– they both agreed that there were many people living in Scandinavia

Question 3

What does Procopius say?

Answer 3

Procopius mentions that he had met people from ‘Thoule’ who had told him about the daylight periods in the polar circle

Question 4

What does Jordanes say about Scandinavia?

Answer 4

Jordanes wrote his entire ‘History of the Goths’
He described Scandinavia as he believed that it was where the Goths came from- the legendary land which he names ‘Scandza’
. He also named 28 groups of people living in Scandinavia but many of these may be the result of misunderstandings by Jordanes or his informers

Question 5

Insofar as the different groups, what do the written sources imply?

Answer 5

The written sources imply that the Svear are the oldest group in Iron Age Sweden (or are the oldest known group)
– BUT despite the fact that the Gotar aren’t mentioned until inhabiting Sweden until the 6th century, they probably were inhabiting Sweden about the same time as the Svear.

Question 6

Where do we get our early descriptions of Scandinavia from?

Answer 6

From Romans and Greeks– they tended to combine fanciful ethnographic treatises with knowledge they had learned through traders.

Question 7

When is the first time that Sweden is mentioned?

Answer 7

First mentioned in Tacitus’ Germania– he mentions the ‘Suiones’ who were a powerful tribe of warriors who also had powerful fleets of long ships.

Question 8

Sweden and the wider world in the pre-Viking Period…

Answer 8

Chronologically and geographically, eastern Sweden was connected by trade networks to the Germanic groups on the continent, such as the Franks.
— thus, the old fashioned view of the Scandinavians remaining an untouched centre of Germanic culture is untrue, as there was never really a period when they were isolated

Question 9

What separated the Svear and the Gotar and what helps to suggest this?

Answer 9

They were separated by a wide belt of forrest, and indeed this forest remained a significant boundary even in the late middle ages)
The paucity of iron age forts in that boundary zone illustrates how effectively these two main regions of settlement were isolated from each other.
Its not that the forest was impenetrable, there just weren’t any roads and also sea contact rarely occurred— so no regular communication.

Question 10

What was the effect of the separation of the Svear and the Gotar?

Answer 10

Eastern and western Sweden developed into two different cultures– Östergötland was naturally orientated towards the east, and Vastergötland to the west.

Question 11

What were the ‘five regions’ of pre-Viking Sweden?

Answer 11

Östergötland
Västergötland
Gotland 
Coastal area of Norrland
Heartland of the Svear in eastern Sweden

Question 12

Where does our knowledge of Vendel period Svear culture mostly come from?

Answer 12

Their burials

Question 13

Describe the 3 prominent burial mounds at Gamla Uppsala

Answer 13

. They date from between 500-650AD

. Contain the burnt remains of people and their animals

Question 14

What was the beginning of Vendel marked by?

Answer 14

By early iron Age settlements being replaced by new settlements nearby- which show that one group was expanding

Question 15

Where did the wealth and power of the Svear come from?

Answer 15

Probably resulted from their control of the trade that flowed up and down the river Fyris

Question 16

Discuss boat burials in the Vendel period…

Answer 16

Important boat burials have been found in several groups

• At Vendel (which is north of Uppsala) 14 boat burials have been found and which contain many grave goods including things such as horse harnesses in the eponymous Vendel style, as well as helmets.
• Then other similar burials in this region have been found at Valsgärde and Tuna.

Question 17

What has been seen to be significant about both the boat burials and the burial mounds at Gamla Uppsala?

Answer 17

That they were both innovations, both in their size and the fact that they didn’t place the cremated ruins in urns.
– This has been taken as evidence of a new dynasty establishing itself. BUT we don’t know whether it as more of a centralised kingship or petty kingdoms (Sawyer).

Question 18

What does Peter Sawyer think about the political organisation of the Vendel period?

Answer 18

He thinks that it was more organised like petty kingdoms (much like Anglo-Saxon England)

Question 19

What do all of the powerful sites of this period seem to have in common?

Answer 19

1) The main farm seems to have been the residence of a family of elite status
2) There were probably monumental buildings and specialised handicrafts were made nearby
3) The types of grave goods are quite similar- with an upper and lower elite being distinguished.

Question 20

How do you separate the upper from the lower elite in terms of grave goods?

Answer 20

The upper elite have more imported items.

Question 21

What are the three main methods thought to be how the elite acquired their wealth?

Answer 21

1) Profit from long distance trade
2) Sponsoring manufacturing
3) Controlling land (this one has been inferred by the number of livestocks found in elite burials– it is often more than one farm could’ve provided)

Question 22

What does the construction of large burial mounds suggest?

Answer 22

It represents a concentration of power necessary to command are forces of labor controlled over a large area
. Additionally, the consistency of the cremation graves throughout the Vendel period suggests continuity and stability (bar the striking exceptions of Valsgarde and Gamla Uppsala)

Question 23

What was the basic societal unit of early Scandinavia? Discuss.

Answer 23

The bygd
- this can be translated as ‘settlement district’ and the place names reveal that the the bygd was probably a social, judicial and cultic unit, often naturally demarcated.

Question 24

Example of place name evidence for early medieval organisation of Sweden….

Answer 24

Helgö
- this means ‘Holy Island’, and the presence of gold-foil figures (goldgubbar) supports the idea that it was a trading site.

Question 25

Who describes the temple at Uppsala? And what do they say about it/ what are the potential issues with their account?

Answer 25

Adam of Bremen
He writes a description of the Uppsala temple but there is not much remaining physically with which to corroborate/ base a reconstruction on.
– However, there are some indications of a large hall being built around 800 AD
– But some argue that his description is based off of norse mythological and also biblical reference points.

Question 26

What was it about the Svear’s location that actually promoted unity?

Answer 26

Their heartlands had geographical conditions favourable to unity of people

1) there was a long coast
2) centrally located lake Malar provided navigable inland waterways and a way to the Baltic.
- in addition to natural factors– Should add the site of Gamla Uppsala.

Question 27

Why do scholars think that Gamla Uppsala was established?

Answer 27

In the 6th century new rulers took over the site, establishment resulted from competing local elites seeking a common place to serve as a focus for social institutions to preserve peace.

Question 28

What are the two ways the display of ostentatious grave goods has been interpreted for the Vendel period (and beyond?)?

Answer 28

Some interpret it as a need to impress those watching the burial- and therefore that political conditions were unstable.
Whereas others interpret it as a lack of fear that the graves would be looted - and thus that conditions were very stable

Question 29

Vendel connections to the wider world…

Answer 29

Important to note that notions of what bestowed status went the other way too- for example, Vendel craftwork has been found in the rich 7th century Sutton Hoo burial
- It has been suggested that the Svear of the Vendel period offered the Anglo-Saxns a pagan counterpart to Rome- a wealthy entity whose products could lend legitimacy to local claims of authority.