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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia

Author(s): Thomas S. Noonan


Source: Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas, Neue Folge, Bd. 34, H. 3 (1986), pp. 321-348
Published by: Franz Steiner Verlag
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41047750
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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 321

DISKUSSION

Thomas S. Noonan, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Why the Vikings First Came to Russia51"


Over the course of two centuries, a voluminous literature has grown up regardin
Normanist controversy, i.e., what role did the Vikings or Normans play in the form
of the first Russian or Rus state. Given the numerous works on the Normanist qu
one might imagine that almost every aspect of Viking activity in Russia had been dis
in great detail. There is, however, one area which has been neglected, namely, the re
why the Vikings first penetrated into the interior of Russia. While much attention h
devoted to such problems as when the Vikings initially appeared in Russia, the reason
this Viking interest in Russia have not been fully explored.
The question of why the Vikings first came to Russia can be best understood if
contrast the relative wealth of England and France with the relative poverty of nort
Russia at the beginning of the Viking Age, i.e., ca. 800. From the Viking persp
England and France were ideal lands to loot. They were comparatively rich areas
wealth was often concentrated in monastic treasuries and prosperous towns. Furtherm
large numbers of these monasteries and cities were located along the North Sea and c
coasts or along the major rivers which emptied into these seas. Viking raiders with
sailing boats could thus make surprise landings at or near these centers of riches
relative ease, relieve the natives of their "excess" wealth fairly quickly, and then
back to the safety of the sea or river in their boats before effective local resis
developed.1
While there is no way to measure accurately the wealth of western Europe on the eve of
the Viking Age, some idea of its riches can be obtained from the debate over the volume of
coinage in England at this time. D. Michael Metcalf, for example, estimated the
production of silver pennies or "sceattas" under King Wihtred of Kent (ca. 691-725) at 2,5
to 3 million coins. He also estimated that 10 to 30 million silver pence were struck in the
reign of Offa in the late eighth century. Finally, he estimated that between 24 and 72
million coins were struck from Offa's death in 796 until 840. 2 These estimates were sharply
criticized by Philip Grierson who felt Metcalf's numbers were far too high and his
methods of analysis suspect.3 In response Metcalf tried to refine his methodology and
produced an estimate of Offa's coinage which ranged between 6,7 and 27 million pence

1 See, for example, P. H. Sawyer The Age of the Vikings. London 1962, pp. 66-82, 117-144, and,
more recently, P. H. SAWYER Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe, AD 700-1100. London,
New York 1982, pp. 75-97, for Vikine boats and Vikine raids in western Europe.
2 D. M. METCALF How Large was the Anglo-Saxon Currency?, in: Economic History Review.
2nd. Ser. 18 (1965) pp. 477-482, here pp. 478-479.
3 PHILIP GRIERSON The Volume of Anglo-Saxon Coinage, in: Economic History Review. 2nd. Ser.
20 (1967) pp. 153-160.

* Earlier versions of this paper were presented at a joint seminar of the Departments of
Scandinavian Studies and Medieval Archaeology, University of London, April 1983, and at the
Archaeological Seminar of Stockhom University, April 1984. This revised version was presented at the
annual conference of the Medieval Academy of America, April 1985.

Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 34 (1986) H. 3 © Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden GmbH, Stuttgart/Germany

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322 Thomas S. Noonan

while his new estimate for coin prod


million coins.4
It is not our intention here to become
For our purposes, it is sufficient to co
how many millions of coins were prob
century England. Metcalf is inclined
some parameters while Grierson arg
estimates can be made. In any event,
every generation or two in early medi
precise estimate. The connection of su
the west was noted by Metcalf. Englan
lands, the wealth was easily accessible
thus presented a tremendous temptati
By way of contrast, the situation in
Viking routes into Russia led throu
Novgorod lands. Of the various routes
important went from the Gulf of Fi
south up the Volchov River to Lake Il
confluence of the Volchov with Lake Il'men. From Lake Il'men a series of rivers and
portages provided access to the upper Volga, West Dvina, and Dnepr Rivers. We must thus
ask what the Vikings would have found if they had ventured into Lake Ladoga around the
year 800. Were there treasures readily awaiting them which were comparable to those
available in England and France?
The first thing to note is that the environment was not very hospitable. Northern Russia
at this time was covered by dense forests in which there were numerous bogs and marshes.
These forests and swamps were home to a large assortment of insects, beasts, and reptiles.
These regions could be traversed by rivers but even then there were a variety of obstacles.
Rapids existed on the Volchov to threaten ships while portages required that boats be
hauled through virgin forests full of predators. The lands of northwestern Russia did not
exactly play the role of Circe luring the Vikings into Russia.
Perhaps even more important was the sparcity of human population and the absence of
great wealth in northwestern Russia. While the archaeological evidence from the various
habitation sites in this area is not definitive, at the present time we can only speak with
confidence of one town from all northwestern Russia around the year 800. This town was
Staraja or Old Ladoga located on the left bank of the Volchov River 12 kilometers before it
enters Lake Ladoga. The earliest strata from Izborsk, Pskov and other sites may date to the

4 D. M. METCALF The Prosperity of North-Western Europe in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries,
ibidem dd. 344-357, here o. 354.
5 Ibidem p. 357.
6 For the routes into Russia utilized by the Vikings in general as well as the Lake Ladoga- Volchov-
Il'merì route in particular, see V. A. Brim Put' iz Varjag v Greki, in : Izvestija Akademii Nauk SSSR.
7th Ser. Otdelenie obscestvennych nauk (1931) No. 2, pp. 201-247; S. V. BernStejn-Kogan Put' iz
Varjag v Greki, in: Voprosy geografii 20 (1950) pp. 239-270; V. B. Vilinbachov Baltijskij-volzskij
put', in: Sovetskaja archeologia (1963) No. 3, pp. 126-135; D. A. AVDUSIN Gnezdovo i dneprovskij
put', in: Novoe v archeologii: Sbornik statej v cest' A. V. Arcichovskogo. Moskva 1972, pp. 159-169;
G. S. Lebedev Put' iz Varjag v Greki, in: Vestnik Leningradskogo universiteta (1975) No. 20, pp.
37-43; E. N. NOSOV Volchovskij vodnyj put' i poselenija konca I tysjaceletija n.è., in: Kratkie
soobscenija Instituta archeologii (hereafter cited as KSIA) 164 (1981) pp. 18-24.

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 323

early ninth or even eighth century, but the few crude remains in these layers do
very precise dating.7 Consequently, the only town of any consequence in nor
Russia which unquestionably existed in the early Viking Age was Old Ladoga.
Old Ladoga, however, was not located in the interior of this region where it co
a magnate to draw the Vikings into Russia. Rather, it was situated very clo
Ladoga on the northern fringe of this area. Vikings could very easily visit Old La
even raid it without finding any inducement to leave the relatively well known w
Lake Ladoga and venture south through the thick forests and numerous sw
northwestern Russia with their many perils. If Old Ladoga had been the sole
interest to the early Vikings, they would never have penetrated into the interior
Given the almost complete absence of towns in northwestern Russia during
Viking Age, burial remains constitute an important source of potential eviden
level of the economy. Do graves from this period exist in the Novgorod lands
they a possible source of wealth, like the ancient Scythian kurgans ? Fortunately
purposes, large numbers of both the so-called long burial mounds [dlinnye kur
the so-called high burial mounds [sopki] are found in northwestern Russia. Many
about the cremation graves in these mounds remain unresolved.8 For example, th
dates of the long mounds and the sopki are still a matter of some debate as is the l
ethnic affiliation of the peoples who left these burials. Similarly, the chronol
territorial relationship between the long mounds and the sopki remains a t
discussion. Despite these and other uncertainties regarding the long mounds and
almost all scholars are agreed that they date from the pre-Viking and early Vikin
other words, they had appeared before the Viking era began and they contin
erected during the period when the Vikings first penetrated into Russia. The c
the sopki and the long mounds thus provide our best indicator of the wealth a
available in northwestern Russia during the early Viking age.
What then do we find in the sopki and long mounds? V. V. Sedov has com
comprehensive inventory of the artefacts unearthed in various excavations of th
7 There is a very large literature on the earliest medieval settlements of northwester
which a series of important studies are added regularly. For recent surveys of this liter
discussion of the major issues involved, see V. A. BULKIN, I. V. DuBOV, G. S
Archeologiceskie pamjatniki Drevnej Rusi IX-XI vekov. Leningrad 1978, pp. 75-100;
Poselenija Priil'meñja i Povolchovja v konce I tysiaceletija n.è. (unpublished kandidat's di
Moskva 1977; V. A. KuZA Archeologiceskoe izucenie drevnerusskich gorodov v 1962-19
KSIA 155 (1978) pp. 10-19. Some specialized studies of specific sites include V. L. Jan
AleSkovskij Proischozdenie Novgoroda, in: Istorija SSSR (1971) No. 2, pp. 32-61; S.
KuPturnaja stratigrafija Pskova (archeologiceskie dannye k problème proischozdenija g
KSIA 160 (1980) pp. 3-18; V. V. SEDOV Nekotorye itogi raskopok v Izborske, in: Severn
sosedi v èpochu rannego srednevekovja. Leningrad 1982, pp. 153-157. The absence of tow
except for Old Ladoga, does not mean that there were no settlements, i.e., hamlets, in nor
Russia in the immediate pre-Viking era. Such hamlets, as recent archaeological excavat
shown, definitely did exist. For these hamlets, see E. N. Nosov's studies: Poselenija
Poselenie u volcnovskich porogov, in: KSIA 146 (1976) pp. 76-81; and: Volchovskij vod
8 There is a voluminous and ever growing literature on both the dlinnye kurgany and
Good recent works, which also provide a survey of this vast literature, include V
Novgorodskie sopki. Moskva 1970 = Archeologia SSSR. Svod archeologiceskich istocn
V. V. SEDOV Dlinnye kurgany Krivicej. Moskva 1974 = Archeologia SSSR. Svod archeolo
istocnikov. E 1-8; G. S. LEBEDEV Archeologiceskoe izucenie Novgorodskoj zemli, in: No
istoriceskij sbornik 1 (11) (1982) pp. 15-42; E. N. NOSOV Problemy izucenija pog
pamjatnikov Novgorodskoj zemli (k voprosu o slavjanskom rasselenii), ibidem pp. 43-78
9 Sedov Novgorodskie sopki pp. 24-27.

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324 Thomas S. Noonan

Two points immediately stand out. F


excavated contained no artefacts wha
the first place, may have perished in
sopki have no grave goods at all. Sec
some 30% of the excavated sopki ha
poor."10 As usual, pottery constituted
made by hand, without the use of a
exterior decoration.11 The pottery the
glass, paste and cornelian beads, seve
trappings, a few ornaments (one pend
several buckles, one iron arrow-head
there are no signs of any great riche
sopki.
The same picture of relative poverty emerges from an analysis of the dlinnye kurgany.
Here again Sedov has compiled a recent comprehensive inventory of the artefacts
uncovered in various excavations of the long mounds.13 Pottery predominates but as with
the sopki it consists almost entirely of crude hand-made vessels often without any exterior
decoration.14 Other artefacts included some jewelry (glass beads, pendants, plaques,
bracelets, etc.), a few items from clothing (buckles), several tools (knives, awls, fish hooks,
chisels, sickles), and a few weapons (spear-heads).15 One finds no evidence of any real
riches in the long mounds. As G. S. Lebedev noted, finds from these long mounds are
rare.16
The so-called round burial mounds with cremation burials are often grouped with the
dlinnye kurgany due to their geographical, chronological, and typological similarities.
These burials, like the others, also fail to reflect any substantial wealth. In fact, Lebedev has
specifically commented upon the "exceptional poverty of these burials . . ,"17
The above conclusion regarding the paucity and poverty of the finds from the sopki and
the long mounds can, of course, be questioned. It could be argued, for example, that so
many artefacts in both types of graves were destroyed by the cremation ritual that the
graves are unrepresentative of the wealth of the population in northwestern Russia.18 While
this argument has some possible merit, it should be noted that sopki and long mounds have
been excavated for over 150 years and in all of this time no sign of riches or real wealth has
been unearthed in either. If great riches were buried in these graves, it is hard to believe that
all of this wealth was destroyed without a trace. In sum, the sopki and long mounds are
not a perfect indicator of the riches to be found in the Novgorod lands on the eve of the
Viking Age. But, they are our best extant indicator. And, they clearly suggest that
northwestern Russia was a rather poor area whose people did not possess any great riches.
Consequently, there is no evidence that the hinterland lying south of the Neva River and
Lake Ladoga offered to the Vikings wealth comparable with that of contemporary England

10 Ibidem p. 24.
11 Ibidem.
12 Ibidem pp. 26-27.
13 Sedov Dlinnve kureany Krivicei pp. 26-34.
14 Ibidem pp. 26-27.
15 Ibidem pp. 27-34.
16 LEBEDEV Archeologiceskoe izucenie p. 32.
17 Ibidem p. 36.
18 Sedov Ñovgorodskie sopki p. 24.

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 325

and France. Yet, as we know, the Vikings did venture into the interior of Russia d
this apparent poverty.
The sharp contrast between the readily available riches of England and France an
relative poverty of northwestern Russia suggests very strongly that the circumst
which attracted the Vikings to a country like England were quite different from
which brought the Vikings to Russia. In England, large amounts of readily available w
were to be found in the coastal areas and the regions adjoining major rivers. In Russia
such wealth existed. Aside from Old Ladoga, there were no real towns with
concentrations of riches and certainly there were no monasteries with major accumu
of treasure. If a Viking looked south from Old Ladoga he would see no towns, no w
and only a very inhospitable landscape.
In fact, there were far greater riches to be found at home in Scandinavia than any
in northwestern Russia. Excavations at the pre-Viking and early Viking site at He
located at the approach to Lake Mähren in middle Sweden, uncovered a small statu
Buddha dating to the sixth-seventh centuries and probably from Kashmir, a Coptic b
cup of the same period from Egypt, an eighth century bronze crozier from the staff
Irish bishop, and other imports from various parts of Europe.19 And Helgö, accordin
recent study, probably had a population of no more than one or two large farm fami
anyone time during the pre-Viking and early Viking Ages.20 Furthermore, there is no
in northwestern Russia which compares with the finds of the pre-Viking Vendei
Sweden. As Björn Ambrosiani recently noted, the "Swedish Vendei period h
become synonymous with boat-grave cemeteries, animal art-styles and wealth . . ."21
Vikings sought wealth, which they clearly did, then there were unquestionably far g
opportunities at home looting native graves than venturing into the wilds of northw
Russia with its very poor cremation burials in an assortment of mounds.
In order to understand the strange attraction which the interior of Russia came to
for the Vikings, it is necessary to focus upon Old Ladoga. When and why
Scandinavians come to Old Ladoga and what prompted them to leave the safety of
northern seacoast for the wilds of the Russian interior?
To answer these questions, we should first note that Scandinavians had already been
fairly active in the southeastern Baltic prior to the start of the Viking Age. Scandinavian
sagas, for example, tell us that Yngvar, "King of Sweden" (late sixth or early seventh
century?) raided the Eastlands. On one such raid in Estonia (Estland), Yngvar was killed
and his band routed.22 Another Scandinavian source puts Yngvar's burial spot on the island

19 JUTTA Waller Swedish Contacts with the Eastern Baltic in the Pre-Viking and Early Viking
Ages: The Evidence from Helgö, in: Thomas S. NOONAN (ed.) Relations Between Scandinavia and
the Southeastern Baltic/Northwestern Russia in the Viking Age = Journal of Baltic Studies 13 (1982)
No. 3 (the entire issue), pp. 259-261.
20 OLA Kyhlberg Chronological and topographical analysis or the cemeteries and settlements, in :
KRISTINA Lamm [et al.] Excavations at Helgö VIII: The Ancient Monument. Stockholm 1982, pp.
24-28.
21 BjÖRN AMBROSIANI Background to the boat-graves of the Mähren valley, in: Vendei Period
Studies: Transactions of the Boat-grave symposium in Stockholm, February 2-3, 1981. Ed. by J. P.
Lamm and H.-Â. Nordstrom. Stockholm 1983, p. 17 (= The Museum of National Antiquities,
Stockholm. Studies vol. 2).
22 Ynghnga Saga, chapter 32, in: Snorre Sturluson Heimsknngla. History of the Kings of
Norway. Trans. Lee M. Hollander. Austin, Texas 1964.

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326 Thomas S. Noonan

of Osel/Saaremaa off the northwest


Onund ravaged large parts of Estonia
700?) extended his rule to all Austrrik
realm included Kurland (in modern L
(Russia).26 It was also reported that
Gardariki.27 Finally, we are told by
Livonians took part in the famous b
many very questionable encounters of
Russians, and Finns.29 Consequently,
testimony. In any case, we can summa
and even the lands beyond were often
heroes.
Some scholars of an earlier generati
in the eastern Baltic during the seven
for example, claimed that Sweden po
the seventh century while also stating
eastern Baltic in the second half of
kings of southern Sweden had possess
Livonia and Estonia were part of Ivar's
Nerman concluded that the "Swedish
he saw Ivar Vidfadmi and Harold Hi
eastern Baltic during the last half of t
For these scholars, the sagas provid
eastern Baltic during the pre-Viking
Recent scholars of the Viking Age
some dismiss their historical value com
of the stories about Ivar Vidfadmi as
category as that ascribed to King Art
the information, summarized above, o
as "at best . . .very little, and at wors
Sawyer sharply challenged the value

23 Historia Norvegiae, quoted in BlRGER


dem Ostbaltikum in der jüngeren Eisenz
24 Ynglinga Saga, chapter 33.
25 Ibidem, chapter 41.
26 The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise
Tolkien. London 1960, p. 59.
27 Sogubrot, quoted in BlRGER NERMA
1958, p. 196.
28 SAXO Grammaticus Gesta Danorum, book 8. English translation by OLIVER ELTON The First
Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus. London 1893; Saxo Grammaticus The
History of the Danes. Vol. 1. English Text. Trans. P. Fisher, ed. H. Ellis Davidson. Cambridge 1979,
book VIII, p. 261.
29 See books 2. V 5. 6. 7. 9.
30 T. D. Kendrick A Historv of the Vikines. London 1930, d. 190.
31 GEORGE VERNADSKY Ancient Russia. New Haven 1943, p. 266, and IDEM The Origins of Russia.
Oxford 1959, p. 176.
32 NERMAN Verbindungen p. 15.
33 Gwyn Tones A Historv of the Vikines. Oxford 1968. d. 52.
34 Ibidem pp. 241-242.

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 327

Viking Age. According to Sawyer, these twelfth and thirteenth century sources refle
circumstances of the post-Viking Age and tend to rewrite earlier history in orde
legitimize and justify contemporary views and policies.35 Thus, there is a very st
tendency to dismiss all or most of the saga evidence about Scandinavian activity i
eastern Baltic during the pre-Viking Age.
From my perspective, there is a viable middle ground between the uncritical accept
of the saga information about Scandinavian activities in the eastern Baltic during
seventh and eighth centuries and the tendency to label everything in these sagas as fa
This middle ground is not an expedient compromise; rather, it arises from the fac
neither "extreme" is satisfactory. On the one hand, it would be naive and credulous t
the stories about Yngvar and Ivar as literal truth. On the other hand, the accoun
Scandinavian activities in the eastern Baltic during the immediate pre-Viking era can
dismissed entirely as fiction. While Ivar's vast eastern empire seems clearly legen
archaeological evidence leaves no doubt that Scandinavians were active along the coa
the eastern Baltic during the time when Ivar was supposed to have lived. To understa
historical reality which may have inspired the legendary accounts of Yngvar and Ivar
must turn to this archaeological evidence.
In 1929-1930, the Swedish archaeologist Birger Nerman directed an excavation
the town of Grobin in western Latvia. Grobin is located about seven miles east of L
(Libau) on the Alande River. The ancient site consisted of an earthen wall encirc
settlement and three nearby burial grounds.36 One of the cemeteries had some
around one thousand graves which were located under ground level. Nerman exca
one hundred and two of these burials. The graves in this cemetery had both male
female burials while the finds were predominantly of Gotlandic origin and dated
shortly after 650 to about 850. Nerman thus concluded that a Gotlandic colony con
of men and women existed at Grobin for approximately two hundred years, ca. 650 t
850.
The other two cemeteries contained burial mounds. In the first, located east of Gro
four hundred and fifty mounds remained and Nerman estimated that there were pro
about one thousand graves originally. In the second cemetery, to the north, there wer
fifty mounds extant although the original number could not be estimated. Ner
excavated twenty-seven graves from the first cemetery and six from the second. The
in these mounds were almost all male and contained typical Scandinavian artefact
closest analogies, according to Nerman, are found in the Svealand and north Go
regions of Sweden. The graves dated from about 650 to approximately 800. Ner
interpreted the materials from these two cemeteries as evidence of a middle Swedish (
colony at Grobin during the period 650-800.
Combining the information from all three cemeteries, Nerman postulated that sho
after the mid-seventh century the Svear, who were primarily warriors, conquered th
of Grobin and established a fortified town there. Shortly thereafter, Gotlanders, who
basically traders, came to settle at Grobin. Unlike the Svear, the Gotlanders brought

35 SAWYER Kines and Vikines dd. 8-23.


36 BiRGER Nerman Swedish Viking Colonies on the Baltic, in : Eurasia Septentrionalis Antiqua 9
(1934) pp. 357-380; Nerman Grobin-Seeburg; Waller Swedish Contacts pp. 256-257. Materials
from two of the Grobin cemeteries which were uncovered after Nerman's excavations are described in
E. STURMS Schwedische Kolonien in Lettland, in: Fornvännen 44 (1949) pp. 205-217, and NERMAN
Grobin-Seeburg pp. 171-172.

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328 Thomas S. Noonan

wives and women with them. Aroun


Svear. The Gotlandic settlement at Gro
the mid-ninth century.
Swedish and Gotlandic finds of abou
other sites in the vicinity of Grobin:
Salas, about four miles to the southea
Kapsehden, about five miles to the n
eight cemeteries from Latvia with Sc
While the numerous finds from many
settlement at Grobin, the few scattere
support the suggestion that Swedish
these other sites
Scandin as well.39 The
of a Gotlandic fibula and buckle and
Gotlandic finds from these other sit
Grobin or Scandinavian raiders-traders
from the region north of Kurland an
Swedish colonies may have existed h
excavations from Estonia have uncovered four cemeteries with Scandinavian finds of the
seventh-ninth centuries including clasp buttons, a brooch, and a sword pommel found at
Proosa near Tallinn (Reval) which are linked with moulds found at Helgö.41
Swedish and Gotlandic grave goods from the same general period as the Grobin
cemeteries have been uncovered at several other sites in the eastern Baltic. About twenty
five miles southeast of Grobin in modern northwestern Lithuania lies the fortified
settlement of Apuolè on the river Barta. Excavations of this site and the adjacent cemetery
in 1930-1931 by Nerman and others produced finds which suggest a Swedish-Gotlandic
settlement during the period ca. 650 to ca. 800. Numerous non-Baltic arrowheads,
probably Swedish of the ninth-tenth centuries, were found in the fortified area.42
In 1936-1937, a large cemetery with Scandinavian materials was excavated near the
railroad station of Elbing (Elblag) in the Frisches Haff approximately one hundred eighty
miles southwest of Apuolè. The Scandinavian finds were predominantly from Gotland and
have been dated to about ca. 700-ca. 900. This site is often identified with Truso which was
mentioned by the ninth century traveller Wulfstan.43
Mention should also be made of Wiskiauten (Samland, now Visnevo, Primofe rajon,
Kaliningradskaja oblast'), some one hundred miles south of Apuolè and eighty miles
northeast of Elbing, at the southwest end of the Kurisches Haff. Swedish and Gotlandic
burials and grave goods found here in excavations from before World War II raised the
possibility that a Swedish settlement of some type existed in the area during the ninth-tenth

37 Nerman Grobin-Seeburg pp. 183-186.


38 STURMS Schwedische Kolonien.
39 NERMAN Grobin-Seebure pp. 183-186, 192.
40 Ibidem p. 192.
41 WALLER Swedish Contacts pp. 262-264.
42 NERMAN Grobin-Seeburg pp. 186-188; JONES A History p. 243.
43 NERMAN Grobin-Seeburg pp. 188-192; JONES A History p. 244; MARIJA GlMBUTAS The Baits.
New York 1963, p. 143.

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 329

centuries.44 Excavations of some 20 burials in 1956, 1958, and 1959, confirmed


existence of a ninth-tenth century Scandinavian colony here.45
Finally, in our review of the archaeological evidence, we should not neglect to note
objects of this time coming from the eastern Baltic which have been found in Scandi
Nerman, for example, indicated that eight of these finds have been uncove
Gotland, five in Uppland, and three at Helgö.46 These artefacts probably found their
back to Gotland and middle Sweden from the Swedish settlements along the eas
Baltic as well as through those Scandinavians who visited these shores at this time.
The archaeological excavations undertaken at various sites along the eastern Balt
the inter-war period and since then seem to demonstrate that in the eighth and
centuries Swedish settlements or colonies existed at Grobin, Apuolè, and Elbing-T
Another Swedish settlement, dating to the ninth and tenth centuries, was appare
located at Wiskiauten/Visnevo. Besides these colonies, we have many more sites in
southeastern Baltic where Scandinavian artefacts of the pre-Viking and early Vikin
have been uncovered. These pre-Viking and early Viking gravefields and their ad
sites along with the many "isolated" finds leave no doubt that the stories of Iv
Yngvar rest upon some real historical foundation and are not the invention of
writers. While Ivar and Yngvar may be only semi-historical figures, at best, the S
were definitely present in the eastern Baltic at about the time of their semi-lege
reigns. For this reason, we cannot dismiss the accounts of Ivar's and Yngvar's activiti
this region.
Before leaving this fairly conclusive archaeological evidence of Scandinavian activity
and even settlement in the southeastern Baltic during the pre-Viking and early Viking era,
one final point should be made. We very desparately need a new, comprehensive analysis
of all this archaeological evidence. Since Nerman's fundamental publications on this
topic, numerous sites have been excavated, many new Scandinavian finds and local
imitations of Scandinavian artefacts have been unearthed, and several major advances have
taken place in the interpretation of all these materials. The time has come for a group of
archaeologists from all the concerned countries to get together and produce an up-to-date
study of these Scandinavian colonies and Scandinavian artefacts.
From their homeland as well as from the southeastern Baltic, it was relatively easy for
Scandinavians to begin exploring the Gulf of Finland and the Neva River route into Lake
Ladoga. While the pertinent archaeological evidence is not abundant, it does seem to
confirm that such explorations had indeed started before the onset of the Viking Age. In
this connection, we should note two sites of the early migration period (400-550). In the
sand dunes on the island of Tytärsaari/Tytterskär, located in the Gulf of Finland halfway
between the southern coast of Finland and the mouth of the Narva, there have been
found an equal-armed brooch, buckles, belt mounts, burnt bones, and pottery sherds.

44 NERMAN Swedish Viking Colonies pp. 372-373; JONES A History p. 244; GlMBUTAS The Baits
p. 143. The Scandinavian materials from Wiskiauten uncovered before World War II are discussed in
B. VON ZUR MÜHLEN Die Kultur der Wikinger in Ostpreußen. Bonn 1975 = Bonner Hefte zur
Vorgeschichte No. 9. Also see the review of this book by F. D. GuREVlC in : Skandinavskij sbornik
22 (1977) pp. 241-247.
45 r. D. GUREVIC Normanskij mogli nik u der. Visnevo, in: Skandinavskij sbornik 6 (1963) pp.
197-210; F. D. GuREVlC Skandinavskaja kolonija na territorii drevnich Prussov, in: Skandinavskij
sbornik 23 (1978) pp. 167-174.
46 NERMAN Grobin-Seeburg p. 192. For an updated list of these finds see WALLER Swedish
contacts pp. 259-261.

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330 Thomas S. Noonan

According to Ella Kivikoski, these fin


island of Swedish seafarers.47
The second site consits of a small cre
Sortavala in Lake Ladoga (Karelia). Th
two ornamental clasp buttons, and a s
Swedish ventures to the east.48
Although one should not exaggerate
that already in the early migration
Gulf of Finland and into Lake Ladog
Sporadic Scandinavian activity in the
more or less regular Scandinavian rela
be dated to the late eighth and early n
was Old Ladoga, the Norse Aldeigju
Ladoga and the evidence for its contac
Old Ladoga is, without question, the k
the Vikings first came to Russia. On
that Scandinavian-Russian relations o
early Viking Age and that Vikings h
northern Russia at this time.
Old or Staraja Ladoga is located on th
south of where the Volchov ente
convenient water connection betwe
reasonably expect that Old Ladoga w
penetrate northwestern Russia. An
twentieth century have given rise t
existed at Old Ladoga before the lege
860. However, some archaeologists a
presence at Old Ladoga prior to the t
was a Slavic and/or Finnic settlement
only appeared here during the tenth
Ladoga digs were re-examined by s
prevailing Soviet conceptions about th
when the Vikings first appeared there
at Old Ladoga during the 1970's and
Ladoga is so crucial in any evaluation
review of the scholarship on Ladoga'
Old Ladoga consists basically of thr
(kamennaja krepost'); the area surrou
the area outside of the fortress and
three parts is still not completely cle
concentrated in the Zemljanoe gorod
revise theories about Ladoga's earliest
fortress was the location of the earl
excavation within the fortress indicate

47 Ella Kivikoski Finland. London 196


48 KIVIKOSKI Finland pp. 89-90; WALLE

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 331

i.e., clearly after the earliest settlement in the Zemljanoe gorodisce.49 But, the
excavation here produced material which suggested that the first stone fortress was er
at Old Ladoga during the era of Oleg the Wise (late ninth-early tenth century).50 Thu
stone fortress appeared at an earlier date than had been thought although it still arose
than the original settlement of the Zemljanoe gorodisce. Starting in 1972, excavations
also begun on the left bank of the Ladozka River near Varangian Street. While the resu
these digs have not yet been fully published, to the best of my knowledge, short rep
indicate that the settlement here dated from at least the second half of the ninth to the
half of the tenth century and possibly from the early ninth century.51 However, unt
digs from the Varangian Street site are published in some detail, we cannot say much
the earliest strata here. Consequently, any discussion of the earliest history of Old La
must focus upon the excavations from the Zemljanoe gorodisce.
Despite the long-standing interest in Old Ladoga, it was not till 1911-1913
archaeologists reached the earliest strata of the Zemljanoe gorodisce. Unfortunately
part examined was not the most revealing and many of the finds soon became mix
with materials from later strata.52 Thus, our information about the earliest levels
Ladoga derives primarily from the excavations conducted, with several interruptions,
1938.

The Soviet Old Ladoga expedition first reached the lowest stratum in 1947 and in
subsequent years it has uncovered a fairly large part of this stratum in different areas.53 V. I.
Ravdonikas dated the earliest stratum, called level or horizon E, to the seventh-ninth
centuries.54 Level E, in turn, contained three distinguishable substrata: E3, E2, and Ej.
Based on the 1948 excavation, Grozdilov proposed the following chronology: E3 =
seventh-eighth centuries, and E2 = eighth-ninth centuries. Although G. P. Grozdilov did
not date substratum Eb the fact that he attributed level D to the ninth-tenth centuries
suggests that he considered E^ a substratum of the ninth century.55 As the result of the studies

49 G. F. KORZUCHINA O vremeni pojavlenija ukreplennogo poselenija v Ladoge, in: Sovetskaja


archeologia (1961) No. 3, pp. 76-84.
50 A. N. KirpiCnikov Kamennye kreposti Novgorodskoj zemli. Leningrad 1984, pp. 23-42.
51 V. P. Petrenko, V. N. Smirnov Raskopki bliz Varjazskoj ulicy v Staroj Ladoge, in:
Archeologiceskie otkrytija 1975 goda. Moskva 1976, pp. 35-37, here p. 36; V. P. Petrenko Raskopki
v Staroi Ladoee, in: Archeoloeiceskie otkrvtiia 1976 eoda. Moskva 1977. dd. 28-29.
52 G. F. KORZUCHINA O nekotorych osibocnych polozenijach v interpretacii materialov Staroj
Ladogi, in: Skandinavskij sbornik 16 (1971) pp. 123-133; for the 1909-1913 excavations of N. I.
Repnikov in Old Ladoga see: Staraja Ladoga. Leningrad 1948.
53 The basic account of the Old Ladoga excavation remains V. I. Ravdonikas Staraja Ladoga (Iz
itogov archeologiceskich issledovanij 1938-1947 gg.), in: Sovetskaja archeologija (hereafter cited as
SA) 11 (1949) pp. 5-54, and 12 (1950) pp. 7-40. Also see G. P. GROZDILOV Raskopki v Staroj Ladoge v
1948 g., in: SA 14 (1950) pp. 139-169; K. D. LauSkin Staroladozskaja èkspedicija, in: Kratkie
soobscenija Instituía istorii material'noj kul'tury 79 (1960) pp. 101-102, and IDEM Raskopki v Staroj
Ladoge, ibidem 81 (1960) pp. 72-76; and, the short reports published in "Archeologiceskie otkrytija"
since 1965. There have also been a number of specialized studies on particular types of finds (beads,
pottery, agricultural implements, combs, textiles, etc.) from Staraja Ladoga; see, for example, the
articles in: SA 14 (1950) pp. 170-186, 187-216; 15 (1951) pp. 219-246; 21 (1954) pp. 343-354, and in
"Archeologiceskij sbornik" since 1962. Also see S. N. Orlov Staraja Ladoga. Leningrad 1960.
54 Ravdonikas Staraja Ladoga, in: SA 12 (1950) pp. 35-38.
55 GROZDILOV Raskopki pp. 150-166. This chronology was subsequently adopted by many Soviet
scholars (B. E>. Grekov Kiev Rus'. Moskva 1959 [English edition], pp. 137-139; A. L. MONGAIT
Archaeology in the U.S.S.R. Baltimore 1961, p. 294) and has found its way into various western works
(Vernadsky Origins p. 106; KlVlKOSKl Finland p. Ill; M. W. THOMPSON [comp.] Novgorod the
Great: Excavations at the Medieval City. New York, Washington 1967, pp. X, XII).

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332 Thomas S. Noonan

of Ravdonikas and Grozdilov, it becam


at Old Ladoga (level E) dated to the s
Recently, however, the lower dating
pointed out that the finds in level E c
Unfortunately, there were very few
accuracy when the settlement at Ol
particular attention to a two-sided s
analogy to these ornaments were the p
the sixth-eighth centuries. After ta
Ravdonikas concluded that the stone fo
seventh century.57
In her critique, G. F. Korzuchina n
enamel suggests that the stone form
first half of the sixth century. But, si
the lowest substratum, Korzuchina arg
used to determine the lower limit for
higher layer cannot be utilized in dati
Korzuchina also examined the other
seventh or sixth centuries, i.e., the Sa
the nearby village of Knjascino. Howev
of one hoard.59 While this hoard does
hoard as a whole is dated to 808 A.D.
Sasanian coins in a hoard buried sometime after 808 cannot serve as evidence to date the
earliest substratum at Old Ladoga to the seventh century.61
The excavations at Old Ladoga, according to Korzuchina, have not produced any new
finds of the sixth and seventh century while there are some materials which seem to show
that Old Ladoga first appeared in the eighth century. As an example, Korzuchina cited the
Umayyad dirham of 699/700 found in substratum E3 during 1950. She also noted that a
study of early combs from Old Ladoga failed to identify a single one which was dated to
earlier than the eighth century.62 Thus, Korzuchina concluded that layer E at Old Ladoga
dated to the eighth-ninth centuries and that the lower chronology for this site worked out
by Ravdonikas and Grozdilov must be abandoned.63
Korzuchina's revision of the dating for the earliest stratum at Old Ladoga was soon
accepted by some scholars. In 1968, for example, Z. A. L'vova proposed the following
dates : level E^ = second half of the ninth century ; level E2 = first half of the ninth century ;

56 Ravdonikas Staraia Ladoga, in: SA 12 (1950) p. 37, figure 33.


57 Ibidem pp. 36-38.
58 KORZUCHINA O nekotorych osibocnych polozenijach p. 124.
59 V. L. Janin Denezno-vesovye sistemy Russkogo srednevekovja: Domongol'skij period. Moskva
1956, p. 90, n. 2. Also see Thomas S. Noonan Ninth-Century Dirham Hoards from European
Russia: A Preliminary Analysis, in: M.A.S. Blackburn, D. M. Metcalf (eds.) Viking- Age Coinage
in the Northern Lands : The Sixth Oxford Symposium on Coinage and Monetary History. Oxford
1981, No. 9, pp. 84-86 (= British Archaeological Reports. International Series No. 122).
60 Janin Denezno-vesovye sistemy, Table I.
61 Korzuchina O nekotorych osibocnych polozeniiach pp. 124-125.
62 Ibidem p. 125 ; for the combs, see O. I. Davidan K voprösu o proischozdenii i datirovke rannich
erebenok Staroj Ladogi, in: Archeologiceskij sbornik 10 (1968) pp. 54-63.
63 In an earlier work (O vremeni pp. 83-84) KORZUCHINA suggested the following chronology: E3
= eighth century; E2 = first half of the ninth century; and Ej = second half of the ninth century.

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 333

and, level E3 = eighth century.64 At the same time, Korzuchina's revision stimulated
excavations and additional research aimed at dating the earliest settlement at the Zeml
gorodisce. In 1976, for instance, O. I. Davidan published a very important study w
demonstrated that the dwellings in horizon E3 were not, in fact, all from one period, a
been thought, but were built on top of each other over the course of time. Furthermor
cultural layer connected with horizon E3 varied significantly in its thickness. Davidan
went on to identify three consecutive layers within horizon E3 which, as a whole, was
dated from the mid-eighth to the first quarter of the ninth century.65 At the same
dendrochronological analysis of wood samples collected in the excavations of the e
1970's resulted in the following dates for the earliest strata of the Zemljanoe gorodisc
= 750-830's; E2 = 840's-850)s; Ej = 860's-890's; and, D = 890's-980's.66 Davidan's
dating based on the chronology of artefacts was thus in substantial agreement with the
result of tree-ring dating. Based on the materials now available to us, the earliest settlement
at Old Ladoga appeared sometime around the middle of the eighth century.
In terms of early Scandinavian relations with Russia, it is not necessary to determine
whether the original population of Old Ladoga was Slavic, Finnic, or Viking. This
controversial question can be left for others. Our task is to examine the western and/or
Scandinavian finds from the earliest strata and to try to determine when the Vikings first
appeared at Old Ladoga. However, at the onset of this discussion, we should note that
current Soviet scholarship, based on the recent finds and studies, dates the appearance of
the Vikings in Old Ladoga to the 840's-850's, e.g., the time of horizon E2.67 Thus, we can
frame our analysis of the western/Scandinavian finds from the earliest strata of Old Ladoga
in the following way : Do these finds suggest that Vikings might have been in Old Ladoga
before the 840's? And, if so, about when did they first appear here? By structuring the
question in this way, we do not have to analyze all the western and Scandinavian finds from
all the early strata. We only need to concentrate on those finds from horizon E3. In short,
we shall not discuss such well known Viking finds as the runic inscription on an elongated
piece of wood found in level E2. Our focus is the western and/or Scandinavian finds from
the oldest level, i.e., E3.
Fortunately, the Scandinavien finds from the excavations conducted up to the late 1960's
were specially studied by Davidan.68 In her studies, the following Scandinavian finds from
level E3 were identified:
1. An oval, bronze Scandinavian brooch was found in 1959 in dwelling No. 19 from the
lowest layer of horizon E3. This type is considered one of the early forms of oval brooches.

64 Z. A. L'vova Stekljannye busy Staroj Ladogi. Cast' 1 : Sposoby izgotovlenija, areal i vremja
rasprostranenija, in: Archeologiceskii sbornik 10 (1968) pp. 64-94, here p. 65, n. 7.
65 O. I. DAVIDAN Stratigrahja niznego sloja Staroladozskogo gorodisca i voprosy datirovki, in:
Archeologiceskii sbornik 17 C1976Ì do. 101-118.
66 KirpiCnikov Kamennye kreposti pp. 23 and 25, n. 5.
67 A. N. KirpiCnikov [et al.] Russko-skandinavskie svjazi èpochi obrazovanija Kievskogo
gosudarstva na sovremennom étape archeologiceskogo izucenija, in: KSIA 160 (1980) pp. 24-38, here
p. 27; A. N. KirpiCnikov [et al.] Russko-skandinavskie svjazi v èpochu obrazovanija Drevnerusskogo
gosudarstva (IX-XI w.), in: Scando-Slavica 24 (1978) pp. 63-89, here p. 69.
68 O. I. Davidan K voprosu o kontaktach Drevnej Ladogi so Skandinaviej (Po materialam niznego
sloja Staroladozskogo gorodisca), in: Skandinavskij sbornik 16 (1971) pp. 134-144; O. I. DAVIDAN
Contacts between Staraja Ladoga and Scandinavia, in: Varangian Problems. Copenhagen 1970, pp.
79-91 (= Scando-Slavica. Supplementum I).

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334 Thomas S. Noonan

Similar brooches have been uncovered


first half of the eighth centuries.69
2. The fragment of an iron strip wor
level E3. The earliest such find date
became more widespread later.70
3. Four bone, one-sided combs were
come from the lowest level of E3 and
These combs, as well as four others fr
origin and have been found in Denm
several other sites in Russia. Most o
imports although some may well be
from the early strata at Old Ladoga as
sub-categories among which the fo
were dated by Davidan to the second
centuries.71
4. Thirty-four of the thirty-five le
eleven of these originated in horizon
of the eleventh-twelfth centuries but
the earlier strata of such northern
Comparable shoes have been found in
eleventh century materials from L
Norway.72
5. In her study of the glass beads from the Old Ladoga excavations, L'vova concluded
that certain types of beads found in level E at Ladoga were apparently of Mediterranean
origin. These particular beads, labeled eye beads (glazcatye) and mosaic beads (mozaicnye),
have been found in eighth and ninth century sites along such major rivers as the Danube
and Elbe as well as in sites of the same period from Denmark, Gotland, and Sweden. In
eastern Europe, mosaic and eye beads are found either in the north (Ladoga, Beloozero) or
the south (the Crimea, northern Caucasus, lower Don). The absence of these beads in the
sites of the central regions of eastern Europe, according to L'vova, indicates that they
reached northern Europe from the Mediterranean via such water routes as the Danube and
the Elbe and from northern Europe they probably came to Ladoga through the
intermediacy of the Vikings. In her study, L'vova noted that eleven of ninety-eight mosaic
beads and nineteen of one hundred six eye beads from Old Ladoga were found in horizon
E3.73
6. Finally, Davidan has pointed to the twenty wooden toy swords found in level E at

69 DAVIDAN K voprosu o kontaktach pp. 137-138 and figure 1.1. (p. 138); DAVIDAN Contacts p. 85
and figure 5.1 (p. 86); Davidan Stratigrafija niznego sloja p. 112 and figure 7.3 (p. 113).
70 DAVIDAN K voprosu o kontaktach p. 13» and figure 1.2 (p. 138); JDAVIDAN btratigratija niznego
sloja p. 112 and figure 7.13 (p. 113).
71 DAVIDAN K voprosu o proischozdenn pp. 54-63 and figure 1 (p. 56); DAVIDAN Contacts pp.
85-87 and figure 6 (p. 87); DAVIDAN Stratigrafija niznego sloja p. 112 and figures 7.2, 9.4, 9.6 (pp. 113,
116).
72 Davidan K voprosu o kontaktach pp. 139-140; Davidan Contacts p. 87 and figure 5.7 (p. 86);
E. I. OjATEVA Obuv i drugie kozanye izdelija Zemljanogo gorodisca Staroj Ladogi, in: Archeologice-
skii sbornik 7 (1965) pp. 42-59.
73 L'VOVA Stekljannye busy pp. 65-72, 93-94 ; DAVIDAN K voprosu o kontaktach p. 140; Davidan
Contacts pp. 88-89.

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 335

Old Ladoga. While no real iron swords have yet been found there, seven of th
wooden toy swords from level E come from E3 and three of these come from th
stratum of horizon E3. These toy swords are interesting because fourteen of th
from level E are modelled after the so-called Frankish swords (types B and D)
large parts of Europe during the eighth and ninth centuries. While the chief area
production of such swords was along the Rhine, it is possible that they were
elsewhere in Europe. The prototype for one of the three wooden swords from th
stratum of horizon E3. was the type B (according to Jan Petersen) sword which w
Europe during the eighth and ninth centuries. Davidan argues that the inhabitant
Ladoga must have been familiar with real Frankish swords to have made these toy
and that the real Frankish swords apparently reached Ladoga along with their Sca
(or Baltic?) owners at an early period.74
While Davidan has pointed to six types of Scandinavian and/or western finds
the earliest stratum of Old Ladoga as evidence for Viking contacts with Ladoga
earliest period of the city's history, certain reservations should be noted about
these finds. Davidan has not shown, for example, that the leather shoes from laye
definitely of Scandinavian origin. She has cited similar shoes of the eleventh-
centuries from Poland, one ninth-century find from Norway, and similar fi
eleventh-century Swedish materials. E. I. Ojateva's study, upon which D
conclusions were based, also noted another technical detail of the early Old Lad
which can be seen in leather shoes of the ninth-eleventh centuries from three Pol
Furthermore, Ojateva dates the one analogous find from Oseberg in Norway to
century rather than the ninth.75 Thus, if we follow Ojateva, shoes with features
those from level E at Old Ladoga have been found at three Polish sites of th
eleventh centuries and at one tenth-century Norwegian site.
I have no desire in this study to re-examine the question of the origins and dif
particular types of shoes found in northern Europe during the ninth-eleventh
Such an undertaking I shall gladly leave to others. But, for our purposes, it is suf
state that Davidan has not provided conclusive evidence to substantiate her
linkage between these shoes and a Scandinavian presence at Old Ladoga. At p
appears that these shoes were used at various sites throughout the Baltic including
Russia and Poland as well as Sweden and Norway. Therefore, it seems prema
connect the shoes from Old Ladoga to Scandinavian contacts or to a Scandinavia
in Ladoga itself.
We should also remember that no leather objects of the eleventh-fifteenth centu
been preserved at Old Ladoga.76 Therefore, it is impossible to study the evolution
styles at Old Ladoga from the ninth to sixteenth centuries. Under these circumst
cannot say whether the distinctive features of the Old Ladoga shoes noticed in
century shoes from Beloozero, Novgorod, and Pskov were archaic elements in
or Finnic footwear which were slowly passing out of fashion or whether these fe

74 Davidan K voprosu o kontaktach pp. 140-142; Davidan Contacts p. 89 and figure


DAVIDAN Stratigrafija niznego sloja pp. 115-116 and figure 7.7 (p. 114). For a detailed st
swords from the ninth to the first half of the eleventh century found in Russia, see A. N.
Drevnerusskoe oruzie. I: Meci i sabli IX-XIII vv. Moskva, Leningrad 1966, p. 18-
archeologiceskich istocnikov E 1-36).
75 Ojateva Obuv p. 50.
76 Ibidem p. 42.

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336 Thomas S. Noonan

fact, represent some Scandinavian or


for several centuries. One would also
and the climatic conditions dictated so
Europe during the eighth-tenth cen
Russian-Scandinavian relations that ca
Old Ladoga.
In considereing the beads from Old Ladoga, one must also take into account the fact that
some mosaic beads have been found in the area between the Volga and Oka rivers and along
the Kama.77 While the number of such beads from the northeastern parts of Russia may be
small, as L'vova insists, their presence in this region does at least raise the possibility that
the Don and Volga rivers served as potential routes by which some beads came into
northwestern Russia.
Davidan could also have strengthened her argument by noting several other categories of
glass beads. There are, for example, one hundred beads shaped like little casks or barrels
(boconkoobraznye). Fourteen of these beads come from level E3. Similar beads are known
almost exclusively from northern European sites of the eighth-tenth centuries. Thus, it
appears that these barrel-like beads were made somewhere in northern Europe and brought
to Ladoga.78
In addition, L'vova noted that three of the four sub-categories of the twisted (krucenye)
beads found at Old Ladoga come almost entirely from Scandinavia and the northern and
north-central regions of eastern Europe. These beads, which are found primarily in sites of
the ninth-eleventh centuries, were probably made somewhere in northern Europe from
whence they reached Ladoga. Eight twisted beads were found in level E3 at Ladoga
although L'vova does not indicate the figures for each sub-category.79
Finally, the vast majority of beads found at Ladoga (5717) belong to the group which
L'vova calls beads made from drawn glass tubes. One hundred seventy-one of these
particular beads were found in Level E3. An examination of each of the five sub-categories
of these beads suggests some similiarities with the mosaic and eye beads. The technique as
well as the earliest finds point to a Mediterranean origin. In the eighth and ninth centuries,
these beads appear in the southern regions of eastern Europe and in central and northern
Europe. Only in the tenth century do such beads begin to find their way into the sites of
central Russia. Thus, it would seem that these beads probably came to Ladoga initially
from Scandinavia and/or northern Europe. However, we must not exclude the possibility
that some beads may have reached Ladoga via the Volga and Don.80
Based on L'vova's study, the glass beads found in the eighth and ninth century levels at
Ladoga were apparently almost entirely imports. One part, the eye, mosaic, and tubular
beads, are found in Mediterranean and southeastern European sites before the eighth
century. These beads then appear along the major water routes of central and western
Europe as well as in Scandinavia during the eighth - ninth centuries. Since very few of these
beads are found in sites of this time from the vast central regions of Russia and eastern
Europe, it can be assumed that most of these particular beads reached Ladoga via central
European waterways and Scandinavia. The second part of the beads from eighth - ninth
century Ladoga, the little barrels and twisted beads, are found almost entirely in northern

77 L'VOVA Stekljannye busy pp. 67-70.


78 Ibidem dd. 66. 72-73.
79 Ibidem pp. 66, 73-79.
80 Ibidem pp. 82-90.

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 337

Europe. These beads were presumably made at some site or sites in this region and
brought to Ladoga. When we take into account all the different types of glass beads fro
earliest strata of Ladoga, it would appear that we have a reasonably significant quanti
beads which reached Ladoga as the result of contacts with Scandinavia and the Balt
At the same time, we must remember that many important questions about the
medieval glass beads from central and eastern Europe remain unanswered. For exampl
not clear whether the so-called Mediterranean types of beads found in central and nor
Europe were imports from the south or local imitations. If they were imports, we must a
such beads can be considered objects, of commerce like amber or if they appeared in c
and northern Europe for other reasons. On the other hand, if these beads were
imitations, we should like to know where they were made and at what period. It wou
be very helpful to discover where in northern Europe the little barrels and the twisted
were made. We should also be aided if we knew where in southern and southeastern E
the so-called Mediterranean type beads were produced in the seventh - ninth cen
Thus, there is much information lacking concerning the origins and diffusion of the
from level E3 at Old Ladoga.
The toy swords from the earliest strata at Ladoga also present certain problems. The
of the Norwegian finds of the type B and H swords are not conclusive evidence
determining when these swords, and their apparent Scandinavian and/or western own
appeared in Russia. Thus, it is true that type B swords in Norway date to the late seven
eighth centuries while type H swords in Norway are dated to the period 800-950. But,
are only three known finds of type B swords in Russia and only one, from Novoselki
Smolensk, can be satisfactorily dated. On the basis of this one sword, A. N. Kirpic
attributed the type B swords from Russia to the second half of the ninth century, i.e
time much later than their circulation in Norway. Similarly, Kirpicnikov dated the eig
type H swords from Russia to the late ninth-early eleventh centuries. Furthermore, th
majority of the type H swords from Russia (about thirteen) date to the tenth century
two of the type H swords from Russia date to the late ninth - early tenth centuries.
The above data indicates that the type B and H swords only appeared in Russia after
had been in circulation in Norway for some time. The earliest examples of both types
Russia date to the late ninth century and are quantitatively very few. If we are to acce
implications of Davidan's argument, we must assume that Frankish swords were know
the people of Ladoga already in the second half of the eighth and first half of the
century since toy models of type B and H swords were found in horizons E3 and E2. In
words, we must assume that real swords of type B and H, which have not yet been fo
Ladoga, appeared here about a century before they are known to have appeared elsewh
Russia.
It is interesting to note that wooden imitations of type H swords have even been found in a
twelfth century stratum from Grodno,82 If we employ Davidan's logic, we would then have
to conclude that type H swords circulated in Russia, or at least Grodno, for over a century
after the latest dated sword of this type from any Russian site. Such a conclusion, I feel
certain, would not meet with widespread acceptance. The levels in which toy swords appear
are not necessarily an accurate guide to the time when their real prototypes circulated.
The discordance between the dates of real swords from Russian sites and the dates of the

81 KlRPlÓNlKOV Drevnerusskoe oruzie dd. 26-27, 42, 74-77.


82 Ibidem p. 27, n. 56.

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338 Thomas S. Noonan

strata in which wooden copies have be


found their way into layers that prec
circulated in Russia. In other words,
primary. This consideration has part
swords have yet been found which
Consequently, the toy imitations of
considered the best evidence for a Sca
century.
To the list of Scandinavian and/or w
compiled by Davidan in the late 1960's
1. A grooved, leaf-like spearhead wa
widespread in medieval Europe and n
centuries.83
2. A leaf-like spearhead with haft was
eastern Baltic, Finland, and Gotland
widespread in the eighth - ninth ce
centuries.84
3. Two axes of a northern type wer
appeared in Norway, Sweden, and Finl
eastern Europe until the second half o
origin with northern and central Europ
centuries. These are both the earliest s
4. Finally, and perhaps most conclusiv
objects was found in a craft shop from
this shop came from a layer dated to
hammers, chisels, plate shears, augers,
Vendel-style bronze ornamant. E. A. R
or Baltic origin.86
There can be no doubt that Davidan's
Ladoga constitute a major advance in o
scholars have, for many years, con
established, at the latest, in the earl
Scandinavian penetration into Russia a
took its original impetus. Soviet sch
minimized any Scandinavian elements
to the tenth century or later. This debat
produce any conclusive results because
examined and studied. A Scandinavian p
either greatly exaggerated or denied e
studies with their enumeration of spe

83 Davidan Stratierafija nizneeo sloja p.


84 Ibidem p. 115 and figure 7.14 (p. 113
85 Ibidem p. 115 and figures 7.11, 7.12
86 E. A. Rjabinin Skandinavskij proizv
Skandinavskij sbornik 25 (1980) pp. 1
Northwestern Russia during the Viking A
Between Scandinavia pp. 272, 289.

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 339

We should also recognize that Davidan's conclusions are, by and large, reasonable
consistent with the evidence as she presented and interpreted it. There is no attem
picture Old Ladoga as either a Scandinavian trade center or colony. At the same tim
existence of Scandinavian merchants and settlers is acknowledged. Davidan has judic
taken the middle road between both extremes.
As we have noted above, certain reservations can be advanced about whether part
finds demonstrate Scandinavian and/or Baltic contacts with Old Ladoga. However,
we examine the totality of Scandinavian and/or western finds from horizon E3, there
no doubt that Scandinavian and Baltic contacts with Old Ladoga date from the ear
period of Ladoga's history. There are simply too many different types of Scandinavia
western finds to be dismissed as stray or accidental artefacts. And, if any lingering d
remain on this score, we have the definitive evidence of a blacksmith-jeweler, perh
Scandinavian origin, living in Ladoga during the 760's who was using Scandinavian a
northern European tools. As RjABiNiN has noted with respect to these tools and t
context: "For the first time in concrete archaeological material there is so clearly
visible the ties of Ladoga with the Scandinavian North already in the pre-Viking era,
beginning stage of the founding of the very settlement."87
These ties of Ladoga with Scandinavia and the Baltic already in the 760's d
necessarily mean that Old Ladoga was founded by Scandinavians or soon became a V
colony. The Scandinavian and western finds from horizon E3 are too few to support s
generalization. Rather, what we appear to have is a Scandinavian and/or Baltic prese
Ladoga from the earliest days of the town's history. This presence might have taken s
forms. There could have been an emporium or temporary trading station at Ladoga w
was used by Scandinavian and/or Baltic merchants who visited Ladoga regularly bu
not permanent residents. Or, we might have had a small group of Scandinavian a
Baltic settlers who resided in Ladoga all year round. Most likely, this Scandinavian-
presence began as a seasonal emporium which, after some time, led some of the forei
to become permanent residents.
In any event, we have fairly good evidence that some Scandinavians had becom
permanent residents of Old Ladoga by the first half of the ninth century. The cemete
Plakun located opposite Old Ladoga on the other side of the Volchov is the only p
Scandinavian cemetery in Russia.88 Unfortunately, the earliest graves and finds f
Plakun cannot yet be more precisely dated than sometime in the first half of the
century. Thus, those who believe the Vikings only came to Ladoga in the 840's-850
to date the earliest burial at Plakun to 850. 89 On the other hand, those who belie
Vikings appeared in Ladoga at an earlier time tend to date the first burial at Plakun t
early ninth century.90 In this connection, burial mound No. 7 from Plakun, which ha
tentatively dated to the first half of the ninth century by KORZUCHINA, assumes par
importance.91 Both the burial rite (cremation in a boat grave) and the accompan

87 RJABININ Skandinavskij proizvodstvennyj kompleks p. 175.


88 Stalsberg Scandinavian Relations pp. 290-291.
89 KlRPlÓNIKOV [et al.] Russko-skandinavskie svjazi p. 28 state that, according to the cor
dates, the Scandinavian cemetery at Plakun functioned from 850 to 925.
90 RjABININ Skandinavskij proizvodstvennyj kompleks p. 176.
91 G. F. KORZUCHINA Kurgan v urocisce Plakun bliz Ladogi, in: KSIA 125 (1971) pp. 59-64
p. 63.

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340 Thomas S. Noonan

artefacts (a Frisian jug and four bead


Furthermore, as Korzuchina emphasiz
by chance merchant visitors or war
Scandinavia who permanently lived in
have definite evidence for the trans
settlement at Ladoga by the mid-ninth
the evidence, it is clear that the Scan
760's, i.e., soon after the town first ap
At this point, we must ask what it w
peoples of the Baltic to Old Ladoga a
southward from Ladoga into the un
Scandinavian-Baltic presence in Old L
old Scandinavian exploration of the
ventured into Lake Ladoga before 750
notice of any settlement along or ne
prompted some of the Vikings who v
Russia. This something special which
interior of Russia was the search for I
there were no indigenous sources of
medieval period. At the same time, sil
desireable. Thus, it is not at all surpr
Ladoga became aware that silver coins
would begin to venture into the Russ
silver.
The questions of when, why, and how Islamic dirhams first began to appear in European
Russia lie beyond the scope of this study. Suffice it to say that dirhams first appeared in
Russia around the year 800. These coins were the fruit of a growing trade which at first
involved the Arabs and Khazars. And, this trade began during the late eighth century when
the Arabs and Khazars slowly made peace and abandoned the devastating raids against each
other's lands in the Caucasus, raids which had characterized the period of the Umayyad
caliphate. This peace made regular trade possible and soon thereafter the dirhams which
entered Khazaria from the Islamic world began to appear in northern Russia.94
At this point, it is important to examine the hoards of Islamic dirhams deposited in
Russia and the eastern Baltic before 840, i.e., before the time when some Soviet scholars
believe the Vikings first appeared in Russia. In particular, we must ask what these hoards
suggest about the beginnings of Scandinavian and Baltic relations with Old Ladoga and
Russia. Almost all recent scholars who have discussed the early history of Ladoga and the
emergence of a Scandinavian presence there have stressed Ladoga's role in international

92 Ibidem.
93 KlRPlÒNlKOV [et al.] Russko-skandinavskie svjazi p. 36, remark that the "Normans penetrated
into Eastern Europe in search for the sources of Arabic silver."
94 These developments are discussed at length in THOMAS S. NOONAN When and How Dirhams
First Reached Russia: A Numismatic Critique of the Pirenne Theory, in: Cahiers du Monde russe et
soviétique 21 (1980) pp. 401-469, and IDEM Why Dirhams First Reached Russia: The Role of Arab-
Khazar Relations in the Development of the Earliest Islamic Trade with Eastern Europe, in : Archivum
Eurasiae Medii Aevi 4 (1984) pp. 151-282.

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 341

trade, a trade in which the export of Islamic dirhams to the Baltic played a major role.95 B
the best of my knowledge, no effort has yet been made to show precisely how the inf
Islamic dirhams into Russia led some Scandinavians at Ladoga to venture southward in
interior in search of the source of this silver. And, it is at this point that the numismatic
becomes crucial.
Table A (see p. 347) contains basic data about thirty-nine dirham hoards from Russia whose
most recent coin was struck before 840. However, before we examine the conclusions which
can be legitimately drawn from this data, we need to consider the limitations of the numismatic
evidence. Regrettably, relatively few of the dirham hoards from eastern Europe were
preserved in their entirety for scholarly study. Many hoards were dispersed soon after their
discovery and, at best, only a few coins have been saved for examination by specialists. For
example, only 9 of 150 dirhams from Kaliningrad (Königsberg) were identified ; only 7 of 800
coins from Paristovka were studied ; only one coin from a pot full of coins found at Leleki was
recorded; and so forth. No one can say the extent to which the few identified coins are
representative of these hoards as a whole. I have placed the Kaliningrad hoard at the beginning
of the Russian rather than the Baltic list in order to highlight this point. This is the only hoard
whose most recent coin dates from the first half of the eighth century and it is about a half
century earlier than any other hoard from all of European Russia. But, only six percent of the
coins from this hoard have been dated. While some scholars are inclined to take the 745/746
date seriously96, the weight of all the evidence suggests very strongly that the nine identified
coins from the Kaliningrad hoard are not representative of the hoard as a whole. If we had all
the coins from this hoard, then the most recent dirham would very probably date from at least a
half century later. Even among hoards deposited at the same time and preserved in their
entirety, there exist peculiar variations. Two hoards of the early ninth century from the same
town in Azerbaidzhán have most recent dirhams that are only one year apart. Yet, these hoards
differ in some very significant ways !97 In short, no single hoard necessarily reflects the coin
stock of a given era accurately and we must take care not to place too much weight on those
hoards from which only a few coins remain. We must look at all the hoards from a given time
and place in order to determine what conclusions are appropriate.
Based on the above approach, it becomes clear that dirhams first reached Russia in the late
eighth and early ninth centuries. The Kaliningrad hoard is unquestionably an aberration, no
doubt because the six percent of its dirhams which have been identified are unrepresentative of
the original hoard. The 786/787 hoard from Old Ladoga is the earliest trustworthy hoard from
Russia and it was followed, in the early ninth century, by a series of hoards from very different
parts of what is now European Russia. Excluding hoards from which only a small percentage
of the coins were studied, the following chronological sequence emerges: 786/787 (Old
Ladoga) ; 802 (Cimljansk) ; 804/805 (Peterhof) ; 805/806 (Krivjanskaja) ; 809/810 (Zavalisino) ;
811/812 (Niznie Novoselki); 812/813 (Niznjaja Syrovatka); 812/813 (Kremlevskoe) ; 812/
813 (Ugodici), and so on. In other words, the 786/787 Old Ladoga hoard was the first in a series
of hoards of Islamic dirhams buried throughout European Russia.
Although dirhams were first brought to eastern and northern Europe ca. 800 through the

95 See, for example, Davidan K voprosu o kontaktach p. 142. Nosov Volchovskij vodnyj put' p. 18,
argues that the Volchov route arose in the late eighth century when Islamic silver began to flow into the
Baltic as the result of trade with the Arab East.
96 Davidan Stratigrafija niznego sloia p. 112.
97 See NOONAN When and How, Table X, p. 42 1 , where North African dirhams constitute 47% of the
803/804 hoard from Agdam and only 5% of the 804/805 Agdam hoard.

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342 Thomas S. Noonan

intermediacy of the Khazars, only t


Khazaria or along its borders. Almost
homeland in the North Caucasian-Az
thirty-three percent) were deposited
Dnepr and adjacent areas (five). If we
the Volga route, this concentration of
puzzling. However, the "Russian Pr
various East Slavic tribes of the up
Under the year 885, the "Chronicle"
bank Dnepr now paid one coin apiece t
had previously paid to the Khazars.98
This information from the "Chroni
Slavic tribes of the Dnepr basin paid all
dirhams. But, how did these tribes acq
must have been able to exchange furs
dirhams brought to Russia by Islami
deposited along the left bank and upp
be interpreted as the product of suc
Dnepr reflect the influx of dirhams int
export of furs from these regions to
Another concentration of early Islam
mid-Volga basin. In fact, this area m
since it stretches from the origins o
Oka rivers. However we wish to labe
hoards can be interpreted in two basic
areas to help pay for the export of va
this sense, there is a parallel between
when Grand Prince Svjatoslav conqu
informed that they had been paying a
Thus, the Slavic tribes of the upper -
their furs, dirhams which they also u
However, the early dirham hoards f
byproduct of the flow of dirhams tow
from the mid-Volga basin are clearly
with the Volchov route to Ladoga, e.
from the upper Dnepr may also have
hoard, for example, was deposited al
with the West Dvina and Lovat'-Vo
contained a Hedeby half-bracteate stru
the Novgorod lands and the eastern

98 Povest' vremennych let. Cast' pervaj


Moskva, Leningrad 1950, p. 20.
99 See Thomas S. Noonan What Does H
Khazaria in the Ninth Century?, in: Arc
276-278.
loo Povest vremennych let p. 47, s.a. 946.
101 Noonan Ninth-Century Dirham Hoards, No. 34, p. 97.

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 343

being carried through Russia toward Ladoga by 800 A.D. or so. And, the concentrat
hoards along the middle - upper Volga basin and the adjoining regions of the Volc
Il'men - Lovat' system strongly suggests that the primary flow of dirhams went nor
the Volga. A route of lesser importance apparently led north from the upper Dnep
Finally, the Novgorod lands form the third area with a significant concentration of
dirham hoards. The six hoards from this region include the earliest Russian dirham h
i.e., the 786/787 hoard from Old Ladoga. At the same time, it is probably not accid
that there are fewer hoards from northwest Russia (six) than either the Dnepr (thirte
Volga (eleven) regions. A large part, of the dirhams which reached central and nor
Russia were kept by the indigenous peoples of these areas for a variety of purposes. T
only a fraction of the dirhams originally exported into Russia were available for re-e
to northwestern Russia and the Baltic.
It is also clear that from the very start a portion of the dirhams which entered circulation
in Russia in return for furs found their way to northwestern Russia from whence part were,
in turn, exported to the eastern Baltic. And, this gravitation of dirhams toward
northwestern Russia and particularly Ladoga is very understandable. Ladoga was, after all,
the only north Russian town of any consequence in the late eighth and early ninth centuries
where goods brought from the interior of Russia, such as dirhams, could be readily
exchanged for products coming from the Baltic. The Scandinavian and/or Baltic visitors
who frequented Ladoga wanted these dirhams and they could obtain goods from the west
which could be used to barter for the scarce coins. Furthermore, as Scandinavians began to
penetrate into Russia and visit or create intermediary markets where dirhams were
available, they would bring many of these dirhams back to the Baltic with them using the
route or routes that led through Old Ladoga. Consequently, we should be very surprised if
there were no numismatic evidence showing the key role of northwestern Russia in general
and Ladoga in particular in the movement of Islamic dirhams from Russia to the Baltic.
Now let us turn to Table B and examine the earliest hoards of Islamic dirhams from the
eastern Baltic. Table B (see p. 348), first of all, very clearly demonstrates that Islamic
dirhams began to reach the eastern Baltic at the very same time that these coins first reached
Russia. In other words, there was no time lag of any kind between the initial appearance of
dirhams in Russia and in the eastern Baltic. Some of the earliest dirhams to reach Russia
were almost immediately re-exported to the eastern Baltic. Second, once the influx of
dirhams into the eastern Baltic had begun in the very late eighth century, it continued at a
steady rate throughout the early ninth century. The Kaliningrad hoard, as it presently
exists, was an isolated phenomenon. By way of contrast, the hoards of the late eighth and
early ninth century from the Baltic clearly reflect a regular relationship with Russia and, via
Russia, with the Islamic world.
While our data is far from ideal, we can even make some admittedly rough quantitative
comparisons between the earliest Russian and Baltic dirham hoards. These comparisons are
found in Table C (see p. 348). Our calculations only include those hoards from which a
significant percentage of coins have been studied.
There is remarkable consistency in four of the five decades. Some twenty-thirty percent
of the dirhams which reached Russia from the Islamic world were re-exported to the
eastern Baltic. The decade of the 820's, however, presents a different picture; fifty-eight
percent of the dirhams from this decade were re-exported to the Baltic. This much larger
percentage for the Baltic arises primarily because we have included all 426 coins from
Wäsby in our calculations. The overall figure for the entire period of the 780's-830's shows

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344 Thomas S. Noonan

that 36% of all dirhams to reach Russia


figures are very tentative because we l
we had adequate information on all th
Baltic would be much lower. Neverthe
on average, up to 36% of the dirham
Baltic prior to 840.
Table C also suggests that a growing n
and the eastern Baltic each decade du
import of dirhams in the late eighth c
markets for these coins both in Russia
were developed for supplying the di
demand for silver in both Russia and
markets using the newly-formed distr
data on all the Russian hoards, the patt
For example, it would be of great assis
800 dirhams actually dated to ca. 795, a
fact, dates from a later period. Nevert
possess, there seems to have been a
imported into Russia and the Baltic u
An examination of the dirham hoar
hoards started to become larger as ti
hoard contained 72 dirhams. After 815
dirhams. In other words, after 815, an
dirham hoards deposited in the easter
Given the incomplete data on so many
same tendency toward larger hoards
Baskac were all sizeable hoards origin
identified from each place them, at
centuries. But, we cannot be certa
representative of these hoards as a w
deposited several decades or more lat
have relatively complete data, then t
Prior to 810, none of these hoards exc
of 100-300 dirhams while in the 830
dirhams. This chronological pattern c
Baltic which suggests that it might b
appear in Russia after 810 and in the e
date in Russia from the early 830's and
say, as a general rule, that the numb
steadily increased and that larger hoa
For those raised with the view that Russia's relations with the Baltic at this time were
confined to Scandinavia or were completely dominated by the Vikings, Table B presents
serious problems. There is no doubt from Table B that Russian relations with Scandinavia,
as reflected in dirham hoards from mainland Sweden and Gotland, date from the late eighth
- early ninth century. However, it is also clear from Table B that Russian relations with the
southern Baltic and especially the West Slavic lands along the present north German/north
Polish coast date from the early ninth century. In fact, based on the number of separate

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 345

hoards, Russian relations with the south Baltic were even a little more active or intense
those with Scandinavia. Some readers may have wondered why I continuously use
phrase "Scandinavia and/or eastern Baltic" in discussing the western finds from La
Now, I believe, the reasons become clear. The Vikings were not the only peoples o
Baltic to establish ties with Ladoga in the late eighth and early ninth century.
While the problem of early Polabian/Baltic Slavic ties with Ladoga and Russia
outside the scope of this study, it should be noted that two points of view are possib
Polish scholar, Jan Zak, for example, has argued that Frisians and Gotlanders w
intermediaries in the Polabian Baltic trade of the eighth - ninth centuries
Scandinavia.102 From this perspective, Islamic silver was most likely imported to the
Baltic lands from Russia via Scandinavia. On the other hand, the East German s
Joachim Herrmann maintains that direct relations between the Polabian port of Ra
on the island of Rügen and the Ladoga region already existed in the first half of the
century.103 Herrmann also notes other archaeological finds of the ninth century
point to direct and regular sea ties between the Polabian-Pomoranian south Baltic
and Old Ladoga.104 Consequently, there is no reason to conclude automatically tha
Vikings must have controlled all exports of silver dirhams into the Baltic. There is gro
evidence to suggest that non-Scandinavians may have also played an important role in
diffusion of Islamic silver throughout the Baltic and that these non-Scandinavian
developed major markets in the Slavic Polabian and Pomeranian lands of the south
In fact, these non-Scandinavians may have even been Baltic Slavs.
The above considerations indicate that once it became known that Ladoga was the
outlet for the export of Islamic dirhams to the eastern Baltic, peoples from all ov
Baltic came to Ladoga to obtain these coins. However, while non- Vikings may wel
been very active in bringing these dirhams to parts of the Baltic, there is no evidence
that the non-Vikings went beyond Ladoga and, like the Vikings, began to search f
source of this silver. It would seem that many peoples from the Baltic came to Ladog
only the Vikings ventured into the interior of Russia.
Finally, we should note that there is conclusive written evidence to show
Scandinavians had penetrated deep into the interior of Russia before 840. The "An
Bertiniani" under the year 839 record the arrival of Byzantine ambassadors sent b
Emperor Theophilus at the court of Louis the Pious in Ingelheim. The Byzantine of
were accompanied by men of the Rhos nation whom Theophilus asked Louis to
return to their home. According to the "Annales", Theophilus sent a letter to L
indicating that the Rhos men had been sent by their king, named Chaganus, to Theop
in the interest of friendship. Upon closer investigation, Louis discovered that th
were in fact of Swedish origin or nationality (compera eos gentis esse Sueonum).
Swedes, originally sent by their own ruler or khagan to Constantinople, were una
return home by the route they had taken because savage people endangered their
return.105

102 Jan Zak "Importy" skandynawskie na ziemiach zachodnioslowiañskich od IX do XI wieku.


Poznan 1967.
103 IOACHIM Cherrman [HERRMANN] Polabskie i il'menskie slavjane v rannesrednevekovoj
Baltijskoj torgovle, in: Drevnjaja Rus i slavjane. Moskva 1978, pp. 191-196, here p. 193.
104 Ibidem pp. 191-195.
105 Annales Bertiniani, in: Monumenta Germaniae histórica. Scriptores. Tomus I. Hannover 1826,
and in: Fontes ad historiam regni Francorum aevi Karolini illustrandam. Pars II. Darmstadt 1958.

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346 Thomas S. Noonan

This account contains many obscure and


numerous studies. But, despite all of the
of Swedish origin came to Constantinopl
Sea. We do not know why they were in t
their home north of the Black Sea
Constantinople. Given the absence of co
advanced to explain these unknown fa
concrete written evidence that Swedes w
before 840. These Swedes had no doubt
as part of the Viking search for the sou
In conclusion, let us summarize some o
1. Compared with England and Franc
eighth-early ninth centuries. Thus, while
the west, it is harder to understand why
riches in Scandinavia at this time than in
2. The appearance of the Vikings
Scandinavian activity in the southeast
settling in these
hundred regions several
southeastern Baltic as well as by going
penetrate into Lake Ladoga.
3. Staraja or Old Ladoga was the only
northwestern Russia during the early m
now established that Ladoga arose in th
4. Soviet scholars date the appearance
However, a variety of Scandinavian and
Viking presence in Ladoga dates from c
from the site. The most pertinent fin
Scandinavian and/or north European sm
dated by tree-ring analysis to the 760's
5. It is most probable that a seasonal S
shortly after 750 and that a permanent g
early ninth century, at which time a p
function on the outskirts of Ladoga.
6. The early Scandinavians were partic
Islamic silver coins or dirhams there. T
medieval Russia and Scandinavia gave th
earliest dirham hoards from Russia an
Russia in the late eighth century and so
found their way into both Russia and t
7. Most of the dirhams to reach Russi
purposes. Many of these dirhams came
local peoples for their furs. But, a signif
on average, were re-exported from Rus
8. The regular flow of Islamic dirhams
the early ninth century and is further e
840.

9. Other peoples of the Baltic besides the Vikings were attracted to Ladoga and its

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Why the Vikings First Came to Russia 347

valuable Islamic silver. Among these non-Scandinavians were perhaps some Baltic S
who were most probably responsible for the many dirham hoards of the early
century found along the coasts of what is now East Germany and Poland.
10. But, while many peoples of the Baltic may have been attracted to Ladoga,
available evidence suggets very strongly that only the Vikings ventured into the inter
Russia to seek out the source of silver coins.
1 1 . By 839, these Viking adventurers had become so familiar with the interior of R
that they had reached Constantinople. Their appearance here indicates that it took
Vikings about one generation, ca. 800-ca. 840, to discover how to travel south ac
Russia using the great water routes of eastern Europe.

Table A: Early Dirham Hoards from Russia

Find-spot Number of Coins Most Recent Coin Region


Kaliningrad 150/9 745/46 S. E. Baltic
Old Ladoga 31 786/87 N. W. Russia
Paristovka 800/7 ca. 795 (?) Left Bank Dnepr
Cimljansk 48 802 Khazaria
Leleki pot full/ 1 802/03 (?) Permia
Peterhof 82 (?) 804/05 N.W.Russia
Krivjanskaja 83 805/06 Khazaria
Baskac pot full/4 807/08 (?) Mid-Volga Basin
Vylegi ?/7 807/08 (?) N. W. Russia
Knjascino ca. 400 (?) 808/09 (?) N.W.Russia
Zavalisino 52 809/10 Left Bank Dnepr
Cholopij Gorodok ? 810 ?
Chitrovka ?/12 810/11 (?) Mid-Volga Basin
Semenov Gorodok 1 6( ?)/7 8 1 0/1 1 (?) Mid- Volga Basin
Niznie Novoselki 124 811/12 Left Bank Dnepr
Niznjaja Syrovatka 206 812/13 Left Bank Dnepr
Kremlevskoe ca. 200/77 812/13 (?) Left Bank Dnepr
Ugodici 148/127 812/13 (?) Mid-Volga Basin
Orsa(?) 1500+/? 814/15 (?) Upper Dnepr
Sarskoe 11/10 814/15 Mid-Volga Basin
Minsk Province 350+/21 815/16 (?) Upper Dnepr
Nabatovo ?/2 815/16 (?) N.W.Russia
Lapotkovo 62 816/17 Mid-Volga Basin
Borki 120 817 Mid-Volea Basin
Novotroickoe 10 818/19 Left Bank Dnepr
Skopinskij uezd ?/5 818/19 (?) Mid-Volga Basin
Jarylovici 284 820/21 Left Bank Dnepr
Elmed 150 820/21 Volga Bulgaria
Vitebsk rajon ? 822/23 Upper Dnepr
Litvinovici 100/41 823/24 (?) Left Bank Dnepr
Antoninenberg ca. 500/9 823/24 (?) Upper Dnepr
Demjansk 35 824/25 N. W. Russia
Sarskoe 60 820's Mid-Volga Basin
Bogusevskij ? 820's ?
Uglic 1114/205 829/30 (?) Mid-Volga Basin
Zagorod'e 15 (?) 831/32 (?) Mid- Volga Basin
Kislaja 674 ca. 833 Upper Dnepr
Vjatka 6 835 Permia
Devica 323 837/38 Khazaria

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348 Thomas S. Noonan

Table B: Early Dirham Hoards fro


Find-spot Number of Coins Most Recent Coin Region
Tune 9 784/85 Swedish Mainland
Hammars 8 802/03 Gotland
Prerow-Darß 72 803 Polabia
Stegna 17 (?) 811/12 (?) Pomorze
Zalewo 40/20 811/12 (?) Warmia-Masuria
Kretomino 18/8 809-813 (?) Pomorze
Ockis 11 813 Gotland
Krasnolaka 10 813/14 Warmia-Masuria
Rugard 12 815/16 Polabia
Grzybowo ?/8 815/16 (?) Pomorze
Braniewo many/47 816/17 Warmia-Masuria
Mokajmy-Sójki 124 817/18 Pomorze
Neubrandenburg 7 818/19 Polabia
Gotland island 44 824/25 Gotland
Prästgarden 65/51 824/25 (?) Gotland
Wäsby 426/134 826 (?) Swedish Mainland
Ramsowo 336 828/29 Warmia-Masuria
Kohtla 500-600/481 837/38 Estonia

Table C: The Number of Coins Deposited pe


Russia and the Eastern Baltic

Total Russia % of Total Eastern Baltic % of Total

780's 40 31 78 9 23
790's -
800's 293 213 73 80 27
810's 1171 949 81 222 19
820's 1500 629 42 871 58
830's 1758 1208 69 550 31

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