Ingvar the Far-Travelled (
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...
: ''Yngvarr víðförli'', Swedish: ''Ingvar Vittfarne'') was a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
who led an expedition that fought in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
The Rus' undertook
several Caspian expeditions in the course of the 10th century. The ''
Yngvars saga víðförla'' describes the last
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
campaign in the Caspian in 1041, embellishing the historical facts with a great deal of legend. The expedition probably aimed to reopen
old trade-routes after the
Volga Bulgars
Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state wi ...
and the
Khazars
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
no longer proved obstacles. Ingvar the Far-Travelled launched this expedition from
Sweden, travelling down the
Volga River
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchme ...
into the land of the
Saracens (
Serkland). While there, the Vikings apparently took part in the 1042
Battle of Sasireti between the Georgians and Byzantines in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
No less than twenty-six
Ingvar runestones – twenty-four of them in the Lake
Mälaren region of
Uppland
Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...
in Sweden – refer to Swedish warriors who went out with Ingvar on his expedition to the Saracen lands. A stone to Ingvar's brother indicates that he went east for gold but died in Saracen land.
[
Logan, Donald F. (1992). ''The Vikings in History'' 2nd ed., p. 202. Routledge.
]
Sources
Aside from the
Ingvar runestones, there are no surviving Swedish sources that mention Ingvar, but there is the ''Yngvars saga víðförla'' and three Icelandic annals which mention his death under the year 1041: ''Annales regii'', the ''Lögmanns annáll'' and the ''Flateyarbók annals''.
[Pritsak 1981:424] These three annals are probably based on
Sturla Þórðarson
Sturla Þórðarson ( ; ; 29 July 1214–30 July 1284) was an Icelandic chieftain and writer of sagas and contemporary history during the 13th century.
Biography
The life of Sturla Þórðarson was chronicled in the Sturlunga saga.
Sturla was th ...
's compilation.
Swedish archeologist and historian Mats G. Larsson notes that ''
The Georgian Chronicles
''The Georgian Chronicles'' is a conventional English name for the principal compendium of medieval Georgian historical texts, natively known as ''Kartlis Tskhovreba'' ( ka, ქართლის ცხოვრება), literally "Life of Ka ...
'' mentions a visit from a Viking expedition in the year 1040, which correlates with the description of such a meeting in ''Yngvars saga víðförla''.
[Mats G. Larsson: Ett ödesdigert vikingatåg. Ingvar den vittfarnes resa 1036-1041. Stockholm 1990.]
Life
Origin
There are three theories on Ingvar's origin. According to one theory, prominently held by
Otto von Friesen and Elena Mel'nikova, Ingvar's saga has transmitted his origin correctly, and so he was the son of the
Varangian
The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';[Varangian]
" Online Etymo ...
Eymundr, who in turn was the son of a Swedish chieftain named Áki and the daughter of the Swedish king
Eric the Victorious
Eric the Victorious (Old Norse: ''Eiríkr inn sigrsæli'', Modern Swedish: ''Erik Segersäll''; c. 945 – c. 995) was a Swedish monarch as of around 970. Although there were earlier Swedish kings, he is the first Swedish king in a consecutive reg ...
.
[Pritsak 1981:425]
A second theory suggests that Ingvar was the son of a Swedish prince named Eymundr, who would have been the son of Eric the Victorious and the brother of
Olof Skötkonung.
The existence of this prince Eymundr has been suggested by
Lauritz Weibull
Lauritz Ulrik Absalon Weibull (2 April 1873 – 2 December 1960) was a Swedish professor and historian.
Biography
He was born in Lund, Sweden, as the son of history professor Martin Weibull and the brother of historian Curt Weibull. He enr ...
(1911) and J. Svennung (1966).
The theory is based on a re-evaluation of the age of the Ingvar runestones, proposed by
Elias Wessén and Sune Lindquist, which suggests that the Ingvar runestones were carved earlier in the 11th century than previously believed.
According to a third theory, proposed by F. Braun, and which is based on the runestones
U 513,
U 540,
Sö 179, and
Sö 279, Ingvar was the son of the Swedish king
Emund the Old
Emund the Old or Edmund ( Swedish: ''Emund den gamle'', Old Swedish: ''Æmunðær gamlæ'', ''Æmunðær gammal'', ''Æmunðær slemæ'') was King of Sweden from c. 1050 to c. 1060. His short reign was characterised by disputes with the Archbishop ...
and the grandson of Olof Skötkonung.
Emund the Old would have had two wives, Tola and Ragnhildr.
[Pritsak 1981:430ff] Tola would have been the mother of Haraldr of
Sö 179, and Ragnhildr would have been the mother of Önundr, Eiríkr, Ragnarr, and Hákon of runestones U 513 and U 540.
Önundr would be
Anund Gårdske, who was raised in Russia, Eirík would be one of the two
pretenders named Eric, Hákon would be
Håkan the Red
Håkan the Red ( Swedish: ''Håkan Röde'') was a king of Sweden, reigning for about half a decade in the second half of the 11th century.''Håkan Röde'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'':
There is little information on him, and it is mostly contradic ...
, and Ingvar would be Ingvar the Far-Travelled.
Ingvar's origin was, however, debated as early as the saga writers, or to put it in the words of
Oddr Snorrason:
:We do know that there are some saga tellers who say that Yngvarr was the son of
ing Önundr Óláfsson . 1060 because they think that it would be more honorable for him to be a king's son. And
hey say thatÖnundr would gladly give up all his realm if he had been allowed to bargain for Yngvarr's life, because all the chiefs in Sweden would gladly have had him
ngvarras king over them.
[Pritsak 1981:426ff]
Expedition
It is possible that it was King
Anund Jakob
Anund Jacob or James, Swedish: ''Anund Jakob'' was King of Sweden from 1022 until around 1050. He is believed to have been born on July 25, in either 1008 or 1010 as ''Jakob'', the son of King Olof Skötkonung and Queen Estrid. Being the second Ch ...
or his brother and successor
Emund the Old
Emund the Old or Edmund ( Swedish: ''Emund den gamle'', Old Swedish: ''Æmunðær gamlæ'', ''Æmunðær gammal'', ''Æmunðær slemæ'') was King of Sweden from c. 1050 to c. 1060. His short reign was characterised by disputes with the Archbishop ...
who mustered the Swedish
leidang The institution known as ''leiðangr'' (Old Norse), ''leidang'' ( Norwegian), ''leding'' ( Danish), ''ledung'' ( Swedish), ''expeditio'' (Latin) or sometimes lething (English), was a form of conscription ( mass levy) to organize coastal fleets for s ...
.
The participants were evenly distributed along the
husbys, and 24 of the 26
Ingvar runestones were from Sweden (in the contemporary sense, i.e.
Svealand
Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, T ...
) and the remaining two from the
Geat
The Geats ( ; ang, gēatas ; non, gautar ; sv, götar ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the late Middle Ages. They are one of th ...
ish district of
Östergötland. The
folkland of
Attundaland did not take part and this was probably done on purpose in order to keep a defensive army in Sweden while the main force was away.
Anund Jacob was the brother of
Ingegerd Olofsdotter, who was married to
Yaroslav I of
Novgorod and who conquered
Kiev in 1019 from his brother
Sviatopolk. This was done with the help of the
Varangians
The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';[Varangian]
" Online Etymo ...
, and according to Ingvar's saga, they were led by Ingvar's father
Eymund.
In 1030, he had visited
Ani
Ani ( hy, Անի; grc-gre, Ἄνιον, ''Ánion''; la, Abnicum; tr, Ani) is a ruined medieval Armenian city now situated in Turkey's province of Kars, next to the closed border with Armenia.
Between 961 and 1045, it was the capital of the ...
, the capital of the
Armenian Kingdom
The Kingdom of Armenia, also the Kingdom of Greater Armenia, or simply Greater Armenia ( hy, Մեծ Հայք '; la, Armenia Maior), sometimes referred to as the Armenian Empire, was a monarchy in the Ancient Near East which existed from 331 BC ...
.
Later Yaroslav had trouble with the
Pechenegs
The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...
, a nomad tribe. The expedition stayed for a few years in Kiev fighting against the Pechenegs, then in 1042 continued to the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
and the Christian country
Särkland ("Land of the
Saracens", which here meant
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
), where they took part in the
Battle of Sasireti along with the
Georgian Royal Army against Georgian rebels and Byzantine auxiliaries.
Aftermath
According to the
legendary saga
A legendary saga or ''fornaldarsaga'' (literally, "story/history of the ancient era") is a Norse saga that, unlike the Icelanders' sagas, takes place before the settlement of Iceland.The article ''Fornaldarsagor'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1991 ...
about Ingvar, only one ship returned. The 26 remaining runestones testify to this, as not one mentions a surviving combatant. The most common phrases are similar to the one on the
Gripsholm Runestone:
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen ( la, Adamus Bremensis; german: Adam von Bremen) (before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle ''Gesta ...
considered the disaster to be a punishment for the king's rejection of bishop
Alvard of Bremen and his electing his own bishop,
Osmundus, instead. Larsson suggests that the expedition was partly decimated by combat and that the saga's description of them being ravished by disease is a realistic scenario.
See also
*
Vikings
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...
*
Varangians
The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';[Varangian]
" Online Etymo ...
*
Caspian expeditions of the Rus' Caspian can refer to:
*The Caspian Sea
*The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea
*The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea
*Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...
Notes and references
Sources
* Fischer, Svante (1999). ''Ingvarsstenarna i tid och rum''.
* Larsson, Mats G. (1990). ''Ett ödesdigert vikingatåg. Ingvar den vittfarnes resa 1036–1041''.
*
Pritsak, Omeljan. (1981). ''The Origin of Rus
'''. Cambridge, Mass.: Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.
*
Thunberg, Carl L. (2010). ''Ingvarståget och dess monument. En studie av en runstensgrupp med förslag till ny gruppering''.
* Tunstall, Peter (2005).
The Saga of Yngvar the Traveller'.
External links
Svante Fischer (1999). ''Ingvarsstenarna i tid och rum''Carl L. Thunberg (2010). ''Ingvarståget och dess monument''The Ingvar Runestones on Google Maps (after Carl L. Thunberg 2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingvar The Far-Travelled
Viking warriors
Varangians
11th-century Vikings
11th-century Swedish people
History of the Caspian Sea