All three countries developed social welfare states in the early to mid-20th century. The proposed union was being discussed by a joint Scandinavian committee during the winter of 19481949, but the Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, and preparations for a western alliance that would result in the North Atlantic Treaty overshadowed the effort. After the Roman Empire had disappeared, gold became scarce and Scandinavians began to make objects of gilded bronze, with decorations of interlacing animals in Scandinavian style. Langfegatal presents the following line of kings: The Langfegatal reconstruction of the Muns dynasty and the later lineage of Swedish kings it presents does not conform with medieval Swedish primary sources. By that time, all of the Scandinavian kingdoms were Christian, and what remained of Viking culture was being absorbed into the culture of Christian Europe. [13] The Ynglinga saga might also be an example of anti-royal social commentary rather than an attempt to tell history. The centralization of power under one monarch is believed to have resulted from, or at the very least have been connected to, Viking expansion, with petty kings increasing their power through aggressive military ventures directed both to foreign lands (i. e. Viking raids) and against their neighbors. The Danish king and his court were interested in linking the figure of Beowulf to Cnut's ancestors. The Danish Jews avoided German persecution until 1943, and Denmark was thus better prepared when the Germans struck. The Ynglinga saga was composed by Sturluson c. 1230 and details the reigns and lives of the kings of the Yngling dynasty (Swedish: Ynglingar), a legendary line of kings said to descend from the Norse god Odin. Some objects appeared for the first time, such as shears and pawns. The Christianization of Scandinavia occurred nearly simultaneously with the end of the Viking era. Anna Edwards and Matt Miller take you through what to watch . It started by a coordinated attack on Sweden by the coalition in 1700 and ended 1721 with the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystad and the Stockholm treaties. Viking religious beliefs were heavily connected to Norse mythology. It is not known what language these early Scandinavians spoke, but towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, they were overrun by new tribes who many scholars think spoke Proto-Indo-European, the Battle-Axe culture. [35] Denmark surrendered two hours after invasion, having lost just sixteen men. However, his sudden death in 1810 forced the Swedes to look for another candidate, and once more they chose an enemy officer. Christian IV invaded at the head of a mercenary army of 20,000 men, but the Danish forces were severely beaten, and Christian IV had to sign an ignominious defeat, the first in a series of military setbacks to weaken his kingdom. Together with Finland and Iceland, almost a third of the population left in the eighty years after 1850. Olaf and Olaf II had been baptized voluntarily outside of Norway. Denmark's strategy proved the more beneficial in the short run. Rollo (Norman: Rou, Rolloun; Old Norse: Hrlfr; French: Rollon; died between 928 and 933) was a Viking who, as Count of Rouen, became the first ruler of Normandy, today a region in northern France.He emerged as the outstanding warrior among the Norsemen who had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine.After the Siege of Chartres in 911, Charles the Simple . The other son was Fenris, a wolf so powerful that he terrified the gods until they tricked him. None of the Scandinavian countries (except Finland) have joined the Euro, membership being rejected by referendum in both Denmark and Sweden. [4] Modern scholarship does not see sagas such as the Ynglinga saga as good sources for genuine historical information. Most of the Danish fleet was captured following the Second Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. Bernadotte was originally one of Napoleon's eighteen Marshals. They hunted seals and fished in the rich waters. In most sources Yngvi is presented as the same figure as Freyr, the son of Njrr. The name Viking came from the Scandinavians themselves, from the Old Norse word "vik" (bay or creek) which formed the root of "vikingr" (pirate). The countries had given up their sovereignty but not their independence, and diverging interests (especially Swedish dissatisfaction over the Danish and Holsteinish dominance) gave rise to a conflict that would hamper it from the 1430s until its final dissolution in 1523.[24]. The Viking predecessorspirates who preyed on merchant ships in the Baltic Seawould use this knowledge to expand their fortune-seeking activities into the North Sea and beyond. In 911, the West Frankish king granted Rouen and the surrounding territory by treaty to a Viking chief called Rollo in exchange for the latters denying passage to the Seine to other raiders. The Scandinavians adopted many central European and Mediterranean symbols at the same time that they created new styles and objects. The same is true for the Hervarar saga, whose sequence of kings is identical to the sequence presented in Langfegatal. [21] The process of Christianization began in Norway during the reigns of Olaf Tryggvason (reigned 995 ADc.1000 AD) and Olaf II Haraldsson (reigned 1015 AD1030 AD). Industrialization began in the mid 19th century in Scandinavia. Some within Ferdinand II's court believed that Wallenstein wanted to take control of the German princes and thus gain influence over the emperor. Norway however, refused to give in and fought valiantly and with the full strength of her limited and badly prepared forces. In Denmark industrialization began in, and was confined to, Copenhagen until the 1890s, after which smaller towns began to grow rapidly. Great ships made for rowing have been found from the 4th century in Nydam mosse in Schleswig. [8], The Ynglinga saga contains no references to chronology (such as specific dates of the reigns of the various kings) with the exception of presenting the rulers in chronological order. The Nstvet and Lihult tribes learnt new technology from the advancing farmers (but not agriculture) and became the Pitted Ware cultures towards the end of the 4th millennium BC. For example, Hygelac (500 A.D.) is believed to have historical basis due to his name being attested in Frankish, English, Danish and Icelandic sources. Adolf Frederick or Adolph Frederick was the son of Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin, and Albertina Frederica of Baden-Durlach. Denmark was the most easily transformed, as the Viking raids slowly introduced the religion through the Christian wives and slaves brought back as war prizes. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. A few years later (c. 831) the archbishopric of Hamburg was established and became at once the center for missionary work in the north. These pagan Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish warriors were probably prompted to undertake their raids by a combination of factors ranging from overpopulation at . The history of Scandinavia is the history of the geographical region of Scandinavia and its peoples. Olaf II managed to bring English clergy to his country. Petroglyphs and archeological findings such as settlements dating from about 10,000B.C. St. Olaf III "Skotkonung", King of Sweden (995-1022) ( Old Norse : lfr skautkonungr) sometimes stylized as . The exact reasons for Vikings venturing out from their homeland are uncertain; some have suggested it was due to overpopulation of their homeland, but the earliest Vikings were looking for riches, not land. The Danish East India Company operated out of Tranquebar. In the wave of Viking attacks in England after 851, only one kingdomWessexwas able to successfully resist. The first Christian missionary was the Anglo-Saxon Willibord (c. 700), who accomplished little. Catholicism almost completely vanished in Scandinavia, except for a small population in Denmark.[25]. They subsisted by hunting, fishing and gathering. The arrowhead made of iron was revealed with its cracked wooden shaft and a feather, is 17cm long and weighs just 28 grams. They founded Irelands first trading towns: Dublin, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow and Limerick, and used their base on the Irish coast to launch attacks within Ireland and across the Irish Sea to England. A brief Swedish civil war ensued in 1066 primarily reflecting the divisions between practitioners of indigenous religions and advocates of Christianity; by the mid-twelfth century, the Christian faction appeared to have triumphed; the once resistant center of Uppsala became the seat of the Swedish Archbishop in 1164. A plebiscite on 13 August confirmed the parliamentary decision. Sweden abandoned the tie to gold on 2 August 1914, and without a fixed exchange rate the free circulation came to an end. From this time archaeologists have found swords, shieldbosses, spearheads, scissors, sickles, pincers, knives, needles, buckles, kettles, etc. LONDON The first crown King Charles III will wear at his May 6 coronation is a daunting five pounds of solid gold, velvet, ermine and gems. Opposition parties were eliminated and Nasjonal Samling ("National Unity"), the Norwegian fascist political party, appointed all government officials. They sought to avoid civilian casualties and receive favourable treatment from Germany. In Denmark Harald Bluetooth Christianized the country around 965. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. [14] The presence of Slavs in Scandinavia is "more significant than previously thought"[14] although "the Slavs and their interaction with Scandinavia have not been adequately investigated". Negotiations in Karlstad led to agreement with Sweden on 23 September and mutual demobilization. The Thirty Years' War was a conflict fought between the years 1618 and 1648, principally in the Central European territory of the Holy Roman Empire but also involving most of the major continental powers. These repressive measures ensured that the cooperation was small. Maria Noyen. However, they would occasionally aid the Allies. The first "king of Norway" in that sense was Hkon Aalsteinsfostri ("Hakon the Foster-son of Athalstein"), who ruled from about 935 to 960. Understanding Danish Vikings. Meta. This was the land of the Ahrensburg culture, tribes who hunted over vast territories and lived in lavvus on the tundra. However, brave Norwegians managed to save over half of the Jewish population from Nazi death camps and help them to escape to safety in Sweden, even though they ran the risk of being severely punished for aiding Jews. The events of 1066 in England effectively marked the end of the Viking Age. After the war, Denmark was forced to cede Heligoland to Britain. King Gylfi was the first king of Scandinavia and was known to have used the name Gangleri when trying to hide his identity on many occasions. Vidkun Quisling was installed as Minister-President, a puppet to Berlin's High Command. [29] Norway had the largest percentage of emigrants and Denmark the least. Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, and Princess . [9], The sequence of kings presented below is given by the Hervarar saga, a saga written in the 12th or 13th century. The Kalmar Union (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish: Kalmarunionen) was a series of personal unions (13971520) that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden under a single monarch. Near the beginning of World War II in late 1939, both the Allies and the Axis Powers feared their enemies gaining power in Scandinavia. Sweden decided to join the alliance against France in 1813 and was promised Norway as a reward. The Swedish army was superior in numbers, was better equipped and trained, and was led by one of Napoleon's foremost generals, the newly elected Swedish crown prince, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte. Sven died the following year, leaving his son Knut (or Canute) to rule a Scandinavian empire (comprising England, Denmark, and Norway) on the North Sea. Following growing dissatisfaction with the union in Norway, the parliament unanimously declared its dissolution on 7 June 1905. They then took advantage of internal conflicts in Europe to extend their activity further inland: after the death of Louis the Pious, emperor of Frankia (modern-day France and Germany), in 840, his son Lothar actually invited the support of a Viking fleet in a power struggle with brothers. There was little forest in this region except for arctic white birch and rowan, but the taiga slowly appeared. Kalmar Union - Wikipedia The first monarch of this union was not a king, but a queen cal. Did you know? [4] The earliest legendary dynasty, the Ynglings, may be an entirely invented sequence of kings, serving to justify and legitimize the later dynasties and rulers in Scandinavia who claimed descent from them. Norway declared its independence, adopted a liberal constitution, and elected Prince Christian Frederik as king. Denmark: Queen Margrethe II is the first female monarch to reign in Denmark since her name sake, Margrethe I, who was credited for uniting the three Scandinavian countries within the Kalmar Union in the 1400s. Little evidence remains in Scandinavia of the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, or the Iron Age except limited numbers of tools created from stone, bronze, and iron, some jewelry and ornaments, and stone burial cairns. Harald Fairhair (c. 870-c. 930) is generally recognized as Norway's first true king. Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region including the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Several petroglyphs depict ships which could possibly be Mediterranean. Russia invaded Finland in 1808 and forced Sweden to cede that province at the peace of Fredrikshamn in 1809. Mycenaean Greece, the Villanovan Culture, Phoenicia and Ancient Egypt have all been identified as possible sources of influence in Scandinavian artwork from this period. Together with the bodies, there are weapons, household wares and clothes of wool. April 28, 2023. Leaving Wessex, the Danes settled to the north, in an area known as Danelaw. Many of them became farmers and traders and established York as a leading mercantile city. They too started to cultivate the land, and by 3000 BC they became part of the megalithic Funnelbeaker culture. Several petroglyphs depict ships, and the large stone formations known as stone ships indicate that shipping played an important role in the culture. 'saga kings / fairy tale kings') according to legends were rulers of Sweden and the Swedes who preceded Eric the Victorious and Olof Sktkonung, the earliest reliably attested Swedish kings. Built in 1960 and recently restored to its full . Bronze continued to be used for torques and kettles, the style of which were a continuity from the Bronze Age. During this period Scandinavia gave rise to the first known advanced civilization in this area following the Nordic Stone Age. Wait a moment and try again. After the war, all of the Scandinavian countries agreed that some form of mutual defense policy was necessary. These Pitted Ware tribes halted the advance of the farmers and pushed them south into southwestern Sweden, but some say that the farmers were not killed or chased away, but that they voluntarily joined the Pitted Ware culture and became part of them. In 113101 BC two Germanic tribes originating from Jutland,[4] in modern-day Denmark, attacked the Roman Republic in what is today known as the Cimbrian War. For several decades, the Vikings confined themselves to hit-and-run raids against coastal targets in the British Isles (particularly Ireland) and Europe (the trading center of Dorestad, 80 kilometers from the North Sea, became a frequent target after 830). [14] The first king of the Swedes, Eric, was married to Gunhild, of the Polish House of Piast. The northern hunter/gatherers followed the herds and the salmon runs, moving south during the winters, moving north again during the summers. Contemporary primary sources from 9th11th century Germany, such as the accounts of Adam of Bremen and Rimbert, contradict the line of Muns kings purported to have existed by the sagas. At least one settlement appears to be mixed, the Alvastra pile-dwelling. This region of northern France is now known as Normandy, or land of the Northmen.. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. He invaded England and Ethelred fled to France. Norway's conversion from the Norse religion to Christianity was mostly the result of English missionaries. According to the Old Norse language history of the Viking Age known as the Heimskringla, Harald Bluetooth (ruled c. 958-986) was the first Christian King of Denmark. Meanwhile, Viking armies remained active on the European continent throughout the ninth century, brutally sacking Nantes (on the French coast) in 842 and attacking towns as far inland as Paris, Limoges, Orleans, Tours and Nimes. All Rights Reserved. After a short war with Sweden, Norway had to concede to a personal union with Sweden at the Convention of Moss. Heather, the chair of medieval history at King's College London, is the author of Christendom: The Triumph of Religion, AD 300-1300 Norway remains outside the European Union to this day after referendums on membership in 1972 and 1994, although it is a signatory of the Schengen treaty and a member of the European Economic Area. On the Union of Kalmar, especially its dissolution. However, they were able to work around that with trade agreement with Britain. MS King of Scandinavia, a Danish cruiseferry The monarch of one of the Scandinavian countries: King of Denmark King of Iceland King of Norway King of Sweden A fictional character referred to in A Scandal in Bohemia and The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor, two Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle [12] Most of the sagas known today, the Ynglinga saga included, were composed during a relatively brief period, from the 12th to 13th century, a time when royal power was being consolidated in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. Former FDIC Chair on First Republic Meltdown. The Kalmar War in 16111613 was the last serious (although possibly unrealistic) attempt by a Danish King (Christian IV) to re-create the Kalmar Union by force. However, new analyses revealed that the woman was a Slav from present-day Poland. Though only a few examples survive, medieval Swedish lists of kings overwhelmingly begin with Olof Sktkonung, the first Christian king of Sweden, suggesting that he, and not any of the previous legendary figures, was seen as Sweden's first king. As an administrator, Christian IV had done remarkably well, obtaining for his kingdom a level of stability and wealth that was virtually unmatched elsewhere in Europe, paid for by the resund toll and extensive war reparations from Sweden. These seafaring warriorsknown collectively as Vikings or Norsemen (Northmen)began by raiding coastal sites, especially undefended monasteries, in the British Isles. During Vasa's reign the right to inherit the Swedish crown was ratified through so called succession agreements. During the last centuries, influences from the Central European La Tne culture spread to Scandinavia from northwestern Germany, and there are finds from this period from all the provinces of southern Scandinavia. [19], The Muns dynasty of kings is the earliest royal lineage that is mentioned not only in Icelandic sagas, but also in medieval Swedish sources. As a result of the war, Finland which formed the eastern third of Sweden proper became the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within Imperial Russia. Even later Yngling rulers are typically not designated as "Kings of Sweden" or "Kings of the Swedes" in the Ynglinga saga, most of them being described as "Kings in Uppsala", an early political center in Sweden. Although it was from its outset a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics, the self-preservation of the Habsburg dynasty was also a central motive. For instance, the figure of Aun, described as being driven from Uppsala and taking up court in Vstergtland instead, is similar to the historical Swedish king Inge the Elder (r.c. 10791084, 10871105), who was driven from Uppsala into Vstergtland in the 11th century. 986: Viking ships sight Newfoundland.L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site is the only authenticated Norse site in North America. In the 7th millennium BC, when the reindeer and their hunters had moved for northern Scandinavia, forests had been established in the land. Raised by Vikings, and a participant in raids on England early in his adulthood, Tryggvason converted to Christianity and was baptized on the Scilly Islands off the coast of England. Treat yourself to a night in the original design hotel, the Royal Hotel Copenhagen, whose architect Arne Jacobsen is the father of Danish Modernism. The Sami have been recognized as an indigenous people in Norway since 1990 according to ILO convention 169, and hence, according to international law, the Sami people in Norway are entitled special protection and rights. The Kirk Douglas . Gold was used to make scabbard mountings and bracteates; notable examples are the Golden horns of Gallehus. [20] In some respects, the royal sequence is more correct in the Langfegatal; Swedish medieval sources tend to omit the kings Anund Jacob and Emund the Old, who can be verified through foreign documents and through the coins they minted, and where the Swedish sources present kings as successive, some (such as Inge the Elder) are known to have co-ruled with others, which is accurately presented in the Icelandic versions.[22]. He won the Frisvellir battle at Old Uppsala after sacrificing to Odin that if he won, he would give himself for ten years. Norway, which was in union with Sweden entered the union two years later, in 1875 by pegging its currency to gold at the same level as Denmark and Sweden (.403grams [2]). However, the treaty of Kiel never came into force. According to later Icelandic histories, some of the early Viking settlers in Greenland (supposedly led by the Viking hero Leif Eriksson, son of Erik the Red) may have become the first Europeans to discover and explore North America. [12] These hunters and gatherers of the late Paleolithic and early Mesolithic were named Komsa by the researchers as what they identified themselves as is unknown. Royal Hotel, Denmark. The Norwegian parliament offered the vacant throne to Prince Carl of Denmark, who accepted after another plebiscite had confirmed the monarchy. Their creation might thus stem from political and social needs (i. e. justifying the rule of a dynasty), rather than a desire to tell genuine history. [11] As a historical source, the Ynglinga saga is much better used as a source on historiography and society during Sturluson's own time than as a source on Sweden's early history. They began to discuss a Scandinavian defence union. During the Viking Age, the Vikings (Scandinavian warriors and traders) raided, colonized and explored large parts of Europe, the Middle East, northern Africa, as far west as Newfoundland. Coastal areas were ice-free several times between 75 000 and 30 000 years B.P. However, The Kalmar War ended with a minor Danish victory and not the total defeat of the Swedes. Scandinavia was never really one country, but in one periode there was a Scandinavian union of Norway, Denmark and Sweden called the Kalmar union, 1397 -1523. Armistice negotiations concluded on 14 August 1814. This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 00:01. Sweden, allied with Britain at the time, seized the opportunity to invade Norway in 1807 but was beaten back. Something went wrong. The fierce sons of these northern lands dominated the sea routes of northern Europe for centuries and singlehandedly changed the course of many a nation's history. One important collection that exists, however, is a widespread and rich collection of stone drawings known as petroglyphs. On 4 November 1814, the Norwegian Parliament adopted the constitutional amendments required to enter a union with Sweden, and elected king Charles XIII as king of Norway. Iceland first became colonized in the late 9th century[citation needed] . He arrived in Norway on 25 November 1905, taking the name Haakon VII. [5] Many of the legendary kings would have ruled during the Migration Period (c. 375550) and subsequent Vendel Period (c. 550790), but larger political structures in Scandinavia (i. e. the medieval kingdoms of Sweden, Norway and Denmark) are not believed to have formed and centralized until the Viking Age. After invading, they simply did not want to relinquish it, seeing it as a permanent part of their empire. At the same time, Germany feared that Britain could gain bases in the area and claimed they suspected an outright invasion. Rollo, or Rolf, was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy in Northern France. Harald had become embroiled in a conflict with Otto II, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (reigned 973-983), which was at least partially because Harald was a pagan. After the battle of Leipzig in October 1813, Bernadotte abandoned the pursuit of Napoleon and marched against Denmark, where he forced the king of Denmark-Norway to conclude the Treaty of Kiel on 14 January 1814. They successfully cultivated peace with the Germans, supplying them with needed raw materials. What is genuine history and what is myth and legend is today impossible to determine, and everything contained in the saga must as such be regarded as legendary, if not fictional. Sweden. [19] She bore him a son and a daughter: Emund the Old, King of Sweden, and Astrid, Queen of Norway. The legendary kings of Sweden ( Swedish: sagokonungar, sagokungar, lit. [28] Britain thereafter attacked the Danish fleet at the battle of Copenhagen (1801) and bombarded the city during the second battle of Copenhagen (1807). An accomplished writer, Brahe also composed outstanding poetry in Latin. He was recognized as the best of the Norsemen that secured the French territory and was recognized as the ruler of the area when the French king ceded it to them in 911. [7] It mentions the following four kings: In terms of sources on Viking Age kings, Adam of Bremen, who worked in the 11th century and wrote of Swedish kings, is significantly closer in time and place to the kings he describe than the centuries of separation in the sagas, only being separated from the mentioned rulers by at most about 150100 years. Nevertheless, there was a hostile relationship, with an occupation force of almost one German for every ten Norwegians. His reign saw an extended period of internal peace, although state finances stagnated following failed mercantilist doctrines pursued by the Hat administration. Gunhild of Wenden 4. Upon his death (without heirs) in 1066, Harold Godwinesson, the son of Edwards most powerful noble, laid claim to the throne. His exact nature and role, however, are difficult to determine because of the complex picture of him given by the wealth of archaeological and literary sources. On 17 May 1814 the Constitution of Norway was signed by the assembly, and Christian Frederik was elected as king of independent Norway. The nine greatest Viking kings and leaders are: Ragnar Lodbrok Cnut the Great Erik the Red Rollo of Normandy Herald of Norway Olaf Tryggvason Leif Eriksson Ivar the Boneless Gorm the Old These leaders and kings are known for their incredible reigns, legacies, and famous discoveries. They continued with the Urnfield culture tradition of burning corpses and placing the remains in urns. Many of the elements of the Ynglinga saga appear to be based on later, documented, events and people in Scandinavia. Sweden required a little more time to transition to Christianity, with indigenous religious practices commonly held in localized communities well until the end of the eleventh century. Another Norse tradition was that of blood feuds, which particularly had devastated Iceland. Jacobsen designed every little detail of the hotel, from the signature spiral staircase in the lobby to the iconic egg chairs. Through the 5th century and 6th century, gold and silver became more common. Harolds army was able to defeat an invasion led by the last great Viking kingHarald Hardrada of Norwayat Stamford Bridge, near York, but fell to the forces of William, Duke of Normandy (himself a descendant of Scandinavian settlers in northern France) just weeks later. His church at Birka was highly rejected however, so it was not until Olof . The Maglemosian culture lived in Denmark and southern Sweden. After Knuts death, his two sons succeeded him, but both were dead by 1042 and Edward the Confessor, son of the previous (non-Danish) king, returned from exile and regained the English throne from the Danes. These eastern-traveling Scandinavian migrants were eventually known as Varangians (vringjar, meaning "sworn men"),and according to the oldest Slavic sources[citation needed] , these varangians founded Kievan Rus, the major East European state prior to the Mongol invasions. It is characterized by common ethno-cultural heritage and mutually intelligible North Germanic languages.
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