Based on the material of the Old Norse Icelandic sources written down in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries, this book demonstrates how medieval Scandinavians imagined Eastern Europe. It reconstructs the system of medieval Scandinavian perception of space in general, and the eastern part of the 'oecumene' in particular. It also examines the unique information of these sources, of which the Russian chronicles were unaware: namely, the saga and skaldic poetry data concerning the visits of the four Norwegian kings to Old Rus in the late-tenth and mid-eleventh centuries.
Author(s): Tatjana N. Jackson
Series: Beyond Medieval Europe
Publisher: Arc Humanities Press
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 224
City: Leeds
Preface vii
Introduction: Sources, Aims, Conventions 1
PART 1: EASTERN EUROPE IN THE OLD NORSE 'WELTBILD' 19
Chapter 1. 'Austrhálfa' on the Mental Map of Medieval Scandinavians 21
Chapter 2. 'Austrvegr' and Other 'aust-' Place- names 25
Chapter 3. 'Austmarr', “the Eastern Sea,” the Baltic Sea 33
Chapter 4. Traversing Eastern Europe 43
Chapter 5. East European Rivers 53
Chapter 6. 'Garðar'/'Garðaríki' as a Designation of Old Rus’ 65
Chapter 7. 'Hólmgarðr' (Novgorod) and 'Kænugarðr' (Kiev) 71
Chapter 8. 'Aldeigja'/'Aldeigjuborg' (Old Ladoga) 85
Chapter 9. 'Hǫfuð garðar' in 'Hauksbók', and Some Other Old Russian Towns 93
Chapter 10. 'Bjarmaland' 107
PART 2: FOUR NORWEGIAN KINGS IN OLD RUS’ 115
Chapter 11. Óláfr Tryggvason 117
Chapter 12. Óláfr Haraldsson 131
Chapter 13. Magnús Óláfsson 145
Chapter 14. Haraldr Sigurðarson 155
Conclusion 171
Bibliography 173
Index 207
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1. Trade routes of the eighth through the tenth centuries 44
Figure 2. Old Norse- Icelandic sources on matrimonial ties of the Russian princely family with the ruling houses of Scandinavia (eleventh to mid- twelfth centuries) 120
