Wulfstan of Hedeby was a late ninth century traveller and trader. His travel accounts, as well as those of another trader,

Ohthere of Hålogaland Ohthere of Hålogaland ( no, Ottar fra Hålogaland) was a Viking Age Norwegian seafarer known only from an account of his travels that he gave to King Alfred (r. 871–99) of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex in about 890 AD. His account ...

, were included in the ''

Old English Orosius ''Old English Orosius'' is the name usually given by scholars to an adaption into Old English of the Latin '' Historiae adversus paganos'' by Paulus Orosius (fl. c. 400). Malcolm Godden's 2016 edition instead calls the text the ''Old English His ...

''. It is unclear if Wulfstan was

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

or indeed if he was from

Hedeby Hedeby (, Old Norse ''Heiðabýr'', German ''Haithabu'') was an important Danish Viking Age (8th to the 11th centuries) trading settlement near the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula, now in the Schleswig-Flensburg district of Schleswig-Holst ...

, in today's northern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

near the

city of Schleswig Schleswig (, , ; da, Slesvig; South Jutlandic: ''Sljasvig''; nds, Sleswig; archaic English: ''Sleswick'') is a town in the northeastern part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the '' Kreis'' (district) Schleswig-Flensburg. It ...

. According to this account, Wulfstan undertook a journey by sea from

to the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

trading centre of

Truso Truso was a Viking Age port of trade (emporium) set up by the Scandinavians at the banks of the Nogat delta branch of the Vistula River, close to a bay (the modern Drużno lake), where it emptied into the shallow and brackish Vistula Lagoon. This ...

around the year 880. He names the lands the coasts he passes. This may be the earliest recorded use of the word "

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

" (''Danemearcan''). The text of Wulfstan is also one of the earliest attestments of unique traditions and customs of Western

Balts The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. One of the features of Baltic languages is the number ...

- Prussians, called ''Estum'', and their land called

Witland Witland is a seldom-used name for a historical region in the south-east Baltic region inhabited by Prussians ( Aestii), called ''Estum'' in the text of Wulfstan. The name appears in King Alfred's adapted version of Orosius, in which the trave ...

in his text. The purpose of this travel remains unclear; one hypothesis is that King Alfred was interested in having allies against

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 ...

s and therefore looked at Prussians - Aestii as a potential ally.

References

External links

The Project Gutenberg Etext of Discovery of Muscovy
- The complete texts translated to modern English

- The beginning of the original text in Anglo-Saxon can be found in footnote 1

Bibliography

* Orosius, Paulus, King of England, Alfred, translator Bosworth, J. and editor Hampson, R.T. (1859). King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version of the Compendious history of the world by Orosius. Containing,--facsimile specimens of the Lauderdale and Cotton mss., a preface describing these mss., etc., an introduction—on Orosius and his work; the Anglo-Saxon text; notes and various readings; a literal English translation, with notes; Mr. Hampson's Essay on King Alfred's geography, and a map of Europe, Asia, and Africa, according to Orosius and Alfred. nlinearchive.org. Available at: https://archive.org/stream/kingalfredsangl00boswgoog#page/n0/mode/2up ccessed 20 May 2018 * The catalog of Paulus Orosius ''History of the World'' - 1859 edition. nlinecatalog.hathitrust.org. Available at: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000114863 ccessed 20 May 2018 * Jesch, J. (2018). Who was Wulfstan?. nlineprusaspira.org. Available at: http://www.prusaspira.org/pogezana/Jesch.pdf ccessed 20 May 2018 * Englert, A. and Trakadas, A. (2009). Wulfstan's Voyage: The Baltic Sea Region in the early Viking Age as seen from shipboard (Maritime Culture of the North). Roskilde: The Viking Ship Museum. * Kemp Malone, On King Alfred's Geographical Treatise, Speculum, Vol. 8, No. 1. (Jan., 1933), pp. 67–78 * Samuel H. Cross, Notes on King Alfred's North: Osti, Este, Speculum, Vol. 6, No. 2. (Apr., 1931), pp. 296–299 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wulfstan Of Hedeby Old Prussians Baltic peoples 9th-century European people 9th-century writers 9th-century merchants 9th-century explorers