North Germanic Peoples

North Germanic peoples, commonly called Scandinavians, Nordic peoples and in a medieval context Norsemen, were a Germanic linguistic group originating from the Scandinavian Peninsula. They are identified by their cultural similarities, common ancestry and common use of the Proto-Norse language from around 200 AD, a language that around 800 AD became the Old Norse language, which in turn later became the North Germanic languages of today.

The North Germanic peoples are thought to have emerged as a distinct people in what is now southern Sweden in the early centuries AD. Several North Germanic tribes are mentioned by classical writers in antiquity, in particular the Swedes, Danes, Geats, Gutes and Rugii. During the subsequent Viking Age, seafaring North Germanic adventurers, commonly referred to as Vikings, raided and settled territories throughout Europe and beyond, founding several important political entities and exploring the North Atlantic as far as North America. Groups that arose from this expansion include the Normans, the Norse–Gaels and the Rus' people. The North Germanic peoples of the Viking Age went by various names among the cultures they encountered, but are generally referred to as ''Norsemen''.

With the end of the Viking Age in the 11th century, the North Germanic peoples were converted from their native Norse paganism to Christianity, while their previously tribal societies were centralized into the modern kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Modern linguistic groups that descended from the North Germanic peoples are the Danes, Icelanders, Norwegians, Swedes, and Faroese. " e pages of history have been filled with accounts of various Germanic peoples that made excursions in search of better homes; the Goths went into the Danube valley and thence into Italy and southern France ; and thence into Italy and southern France; the Franks seized what was later called France; the Vandals went down into Spain, and via Africa they "vandalized" Rome; the Angles, part of the Saxons, and the Jutes moved over into England; and the Burgundians and the Lombards worked south into France and Italy. Probably very early during these centuries of migration the three outstanding groups of the Germanic peoples — the North Germanic people of Scandinavia, the East Germanic branch, comprising the Goths chiefly, and the West Germanic group, comprising the remaining Germanic tribes — developed their notable group traits. Then, while the East Germanic tribes (that is, the Goths) passed gradually out of the pages of history and disappeared completely, the North Germanic, or Scandinavian, or Norse, peoples, as they are variously called, became a distinctive people, more and more unlike the West Germanic folk who inhabited Germany itself and, ultimately, Holland and Belgium and England. While that great migration of nations which the Germans have named the Volkerwanderung was going on, the Scandinavian division of the Germanic peoples had kept their habitation well to the north of the others and had been splitting up into the four subdivisions now known as the Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, and Icelanders. Long after the West Germanic and East Germanic peoples had made history farther south in Europe, the North Germanic tribes of Scandinavia began a series of expeditions which, during the eighth and ninth centuries, in the so-called Viking Age especially, led them to settle Iceland, to overrun England and even annex it to Denmark temporarily, and, most important of all, to settle in northern France and merge with the French to such an extent that Northmen became Normans, and later these Normans became the conquerors of England." These groups are often collectively referred to as ''Scandinavians'', although Icelanders and the Faroese are sometimes excluded from that definition.

Names

Ethnonyms

Although the early North Germanic peoples definitely had a common identity, it is uncertain if they had a common ethnonym. "The same can be said of Viking Age Scandinavians who did not have a common ethnonym but expressed their common identity through the geographical and linguistic terms... There is absolutely no doubt about a common Northern identity during the Viking Age and afterwards... it even survives today. Their common identity was rather expressed through the geographical and linguistic terms The North Lands (Old Norse: Norðrlönd) and The Danish Tongue (Old Norse: Dönsk Tunga). Most early Scandinavians would however primarily identify themselves with their region of origin. However, the Old Norse term ''Nordmenn'', usually applied for Norwegians, was sometimes applied to all Old Norse speakers. "Nor were the Viking raiders as a whole referred to by that name by their contemporaries. The Anglo-Saxons called them all ‘Danes’, whichever land they came from; the Franks called them Normanni, ‘Northmen’; the Germans called them ‘Ashmen’, perhaps in allusion to their ships, though these were in fact made of oak; the Irish called them either Gaill, ‘Foreigners’, or Loch- lannaighy ‘Northerners’, though they also sometimes distinguished between Danes and Norwegians as ‘Black Northerners’ and ‘White Northerners’; Spanish Arabs called them Majus, ‘Heathens’; in the east, the Slavs, Arabs and Byzantine Greeks called them Rus or Ros9 which probably was originally a Finnish name for the Swedes. As for the Scandinavians themselves, they usually thought of themselves as inhabitants of a particular region—‘Men of Vestfold’, ‘Men of Hordaland’, ‘Men of the Uplands’, and so forth—but as the sense of national identity grew so too did the use of national names. They also used the term Nordmenn, sometimes in the limited sense ‘Norwegians’ but more often in the general sense ‘Scandinavians’; the latter usage has given rise to the general terms ‘Northmen’, ‘Norsemen’ and ‘Norse’ in modem English."

The modern North Germanic languages have a common word: the word ''nordbo'', (Sw.: ''nordborna'', Da.: ''nordboerne'', No.: ''nordboerne'' or ''nordbuane'' in the definite plural) which is used for both ancient and modern North Germanic peoples.

Exonyms

In the early Medieval period, as today, ''Vikings'' was a common term for North Germanic raiders, especially in connection with raids and monastic plundering in continental Europe and the British Isles. In modern times the term is often applied to all North Germanic peoples of the Middle Ages, including raiders and non-raiders, although such use is controversial. From the Old Norse language, the term ''norrœnir menn'' (''northern men''), has given rise to the English name ''Norsemen'', which is sometimes used for the pre-Christian North Germanic peoples. In scholarship however, the term Norsemen generally refers only to early Norwegians.

The North Germanic peoples were known by many names by those they encountered. They were known as ''Ascomanni'' (Ashmen) by the Germans, and ''Dene'' (Danes) or heathens by the Anglo-Saxons. "The peoples these Scandinavians encountered gave them a variety of names: the Franks normally called them Northmen or Danes, while for the English they were generally Danes or heathens. The Irish described the early raiders as pagans or gentiles, but by the middle of the ninth century they began to call them foreigners, the Norwegians and Danes being distinguished as 'white' and 'black' foreigners, Finngalland DubgalL In eastern Europe the Slavs called the Scandinavian invaders Rus, a word derived trom the Finnish name for the Svear, which itself came from a word meaning 'rowers' or 'crew of oarsmen'. It was 'Rus', variants of which were used in Arabic and Byzantine Greek texts, which eventually gave Russia its name. In the ninth century it was only the English who, occasionally, called the invaders Vikings, a Scandinavian word that now has a wider meaning, and is used to describe many aspects of Scandinavian society in what is commonly called the Age of the Vikings." "The people these Scandinavians encountered described them in various ways. In western Europe they were often identified as Danes or Northmen, and were sometimes called heathens or gentiles." The Old Frankish word ''Nortmann'' (Northman) was Latinised as ''Normanni'' and then entered Old French as ''Normands'', whence the name of the Normans and of Normandy, which was conquered from the Franks by Vikings in the 10th century. The Gaelic terms ''Finn-Gall'' (White Foreigner) and ''Dubh-Gall'' (Black Foreigner) were used by the Irish for Norwegian and Danish Vikings, respectively. Dubliners called them ''Ostmen'' (East-people), and the name ''Oxmanstown'' (an area in central Dublin; the name is still current) comes from one of their settlements; they were also known as ''Lochlannaigh'' (Lake-people).

The Slavs, Finns, Muslims, Byzantines and other peoples of the east knew them as the '' Rus''' or ''Rhōs'', probably derived from various uses of ''rōþs-'', i.e. "related to rowing", or from the area of Roslagen in east-central Sweden, where most of the Vikings who visited the Slavic lands originated. The Arabs of Spain also knew them as ''al-Majus'' (fire-worshippers), although they used this term rather for the Basques. After the Rus' established Kievan Rus' and gradually merged with the Slavic population, the North Germanic people in the east become known as '' Varangians'' ( ON: ''Væringjar'', meaning "sworn men"), after the bodyguards of the Byzantine known as the Varangian Guard.

In modern scholarship, the terms ''Scandinavians'' "One of the reasons for this is doubtless to be found in the close racial affinity of the Scandinavians, as North Germanics, with the Anglo-Saxons, and in the consciousness of this affinity existing in all modern nationality groups of North Germanic ethnic stock" "Northern Germanic peoples, i.e. the Scandinavians..." "North Germanic (Scandinavian) peoples" and ''Norsemen'' are common synonyms for North Germanic peoples. As such, ''Scandinavians'' is generally applied for modern North Germanic peoples, while ''Norsemen'' is sometimes applied for pagan pre-modern North Germanic peoples.

History

Prehistory

The Battle Axe culture, a local variant of the Corded Ware culture, which was itself an offshoot of the Yamnaya culture, emerged in southern Scandinavia in the early 3rd millennium BC. Modern-day Scandinavians have been found to carry more ancestry from the Yamnaya culture than any other population in Europe. While previous inhabitants of Scandinavia have been found to be mostly carriers of haplogroup I, the emergence of the Battle Axe culture in Scandinavia is characterized by the appearance of new lineages such as haplogroup R1a and haplogroup R1b. The Proto-Germanic language is ultimately thought to have emerged from the Battle Axe culture, possibly through its superimposition upon the earlier megalithic cultures of the area. The Germanic tribal societies of Scandinavia were thereafter surprisingly stable for thousands of years.

Scandinavia is considered the only area in Europe where the Bronze Age was significantly delayed for a whole region. The period was nevertheless characterized by the independent development of new technologies, with the peoples of southern Scandinavia developing a culture with its own characteristics, indicating the emergence of a common cultural heritage. When bronze was finally introduced, its importance was rapidly established, leading to the emergence of the Nordic Bronze Age. The Nordic Bronze Age is closely genetically related to the Beaker and Unetice cultures of Continental Europe, and even the Sintashta and Andronovo cultures of the Eurasian Steppe, with whom it also shares numerous cultural characteristics.

Ancient history

During the Iron Age the peoples of Scandinavia were engaged in the export of slaves and amber to the Roman Empire, receiving prestige goods in return. This is attested by artifacts of gold and silver that have been found at rich burials from the period. North Germanic tribes, chiefly Swedes, were probably engaged as middlemen in the slave trade along the Baltic coast between Balts and Slavs and the Roman Empire. The North Germanic tribes at the time were skilled metal and leather workers, which supplemented their trade in iron and amber. In his book Germania, the Roman historian Tacitus mentions the Swedes (Suiones) as being governed by powerful rulers and excelling at seafaring. From a very early time, Germanic tribes are thought to have interacted with and possibly settled in the Baltic states, in which they would leave a profound influence, particularly on the ancient Estonians. "Contacts with the Germanic tribes occurred repeatedly in different periods up to historical times. It is thought that the Estonians, or more properly the inhabitants of the Proto-Balto-Finnic settlements in the Estonian area, had contacts with Germanic peoples as early as the Bronze Age. It is not impossible that at that time there were even temporary Germanic settlements on the Estonian shore, although we do not have any definite proof. On the basis of linguistic chronology, the older contacts with the Germanic tribes occur about the beginning of the Christian era or the first centuries A.D. The linguistic data also indicate that these first contacts must have occurred with some Eastern Germanic people, perhaps the Goths who, according to the older school of archeologists, were the original inhabitants of Estonia prior to the Balto-Finns. Contacts are not impossible also with the Northern Germanic peoples, i.e., with the Scandinavians directly across the sea... The Germanic influence is noticeable also in Estonian culture, although it has fused with local traditions. Among the Estonian folklorists, O. Loorits especially has emphasized the influence exercised by the Germanic peoples on the formation of the Estonians' ancient religious concept of the world and their spiritual world, and he feels that there must have been Germanic settlements on Estonian shores to cause such deep influences. Some other phenomena which can be linked with the Eastern Germanic peoples also suggest that Germanic settlements existed on Estonian shores at that time. First of all, a great number of Germanic words came into the Estonian language at that time. This word stock of foreign origin reflects in a characteristic way not only commercial relationships, seafaring, etc., but also closer connections between the Estonians and the Germanic peoples.... is in its turn makes the existence of the Germanic agricultural settlements in Estonia evident."

During the Iron Age various Germanic tribes migrated from Scandinavia to East-Central Europe. This included the Rugii, Goths, Gepids, Vandals, Burgundians and others. "From the beginning of history energetic warlike tribes issued from Sweden and passed to a career of conquest in the south; in the phrase of the Gothic historian Jordanes, Sweden was a 'factory of nations' (officina gentium). The migrations of the Burgundians, Goths, and Gepids (preceded perhaps by the Vandals) are the earliest that are known; archaeology dates the coming of the Burgundians to the south shore of the Baltic about 200 B.C.," and the Goths may have begun their southward movement about the same time..." The Rugii might have originated in Western Norway (Rogaland). The migrations of most of these tribes is thought to have occurred around 200 BC, though the Vandals might have migrated earlier. According to the historian Procopius, these tribes were distinguished by their height, fair complexion, physical attractiveness and common cultural characteristics, suggesting a common origin. "For they all have white bodies and fair hair, and are tall and handsome to look upon, and they use the same laws and practise a common religion. For they are all of the Arian faith, and have one language called Gothic; and, as it seems to me, they all came originally from one tribe, and were distinguished later by the names of those who led each group." Because of the large number of Germanic tribes that traced their origin to Scandinavia, the region became known by Early Medieval historians as the ''Factory of Nations'' ( la, Officina Gentium) or ''Womb of Nations'' ( la, Vagina Nationum). The early Germanic tribes that migrated from Scandinavia became speakers of East Germanic dialects. Though these tribes were probably indistinguishable from later North Germanic tribes at the time of their migration, the culture and language of North and East Germanic tribes would thereafter take divergent lines of development. "The later expansion of the Scandinavian nations in the viking age may be regarded as the final wave of North Germanic migration; but the process was probably not the same, and the results were essentially different. When the Goths and Burgundians migrated from Scandinavia, the North Germanic peoples spoke a language nearly identical with that of other Germanic nations. After their departure came a period of great linguistic change, when Germanic broke up into distinct groups of dialects; the language of the Goths then became rapidly differentiated from Norse, and their national traditions and culture also took divergent lines of development." Another Germanic tribe which claimed Scandinavian origins were the Lombards.

It is likely that Proto-Norse emerged as a separate Germanic dialect around the 1st century. The ethnogenesis of the North Germanic peoples is thought to have occurred in Sweden. "Sweden was the mother of the Scandinavian peoples: from Sweden came both the Danes and the Norwegians. In the early days of Scandinavian expansion Norway was called the noróvegr, just as in later viking times the norðrvegr, just as in later viking times the Baltic lands were the austrvegr. The home of the oldest Norse culture and the oldest Norse traditions was Sweden, though these traditions had to be carried to distant Iceland before they were given an enduring form. Snorri made no mistake when he began his history of the northern nations, Heimskringla, with the legends of ancient Sweden." Sweden was the home of the earliest attestations of North Germanic culture, and the later North Germanic tribes of Norway and Denmark originated in Sweden. Archaeological evidence suggests that the North Germanic tribes at the time constituted one of five main tribal groups among the Germanic peoples, the others being North Sea Germanic tribes (Frisians, Saxons and Angles), Weser-Rhine Germanic tribes ( Hessians, Franks), Elbe Germanic tribes (Lombards, Alemanni, Bavarians) and Oder-Vistula Germanic tribes (Goths, Vandals, Burgundians). "For the period when the existence of the Germanic tribes is first clearly recorded by Roman writers, archaeological evidence suggests five tribal groups, with perhaps five incipient distinct Germanic languages, as follows: (1) North Germanic tribes (Scandinavians)..."

The southward expansion of the East Germanic tribes pushed many other Germanic and Iranian peoples towards the Roman Empire, spawning the Marcomannic Wars in the 2nd century AD. Another East Germanic tribe were the Herules, who according to 6th century historian Jordanes were driven from modern-day Denmark by the Danes, who were an offshoot of the Swedes. "Somewhat later was the migration of the Heruli, who were driven out by the southward advance of the Danes in Sweden. After centuries of wandering, The Heruli were overwhelmed by the Lombards, and the remnant of them returned to their old home in south Sweden, about a.d. 510. " The migration of the Herules is thought to have occurred around 250 AD. The Danes would eventually settle all of Denmark, with many its former inhabitants, including the Jutes and Angles, settling Britain, becoming known as the Anglo-Saxons. "North Germanic speakers, originally at home in southern Sweden and Norway, moved into Denmark very late in the prehistoric period and repopulated an area that was largely depopulated by the movement of the original West Germanic speakers to the British Isles." The Old English story Beowulf is a testimony to this connection. "THE NORTH GERMANIC TRIBES" Meanwhile, Norway was inhabited by a large number of North Germanic tribes and divided into a score of petty kingdoms.

Among the early North Germanic peoples, kinship ties played an important role in social organization. Society was divided into three classes, chieftains, free men and slaves (thralls). Free men were those who owned and farmed the land. Religious leaders, merchants, craftsmen and armed retainers of chieftains ( housecarls) were not confined to any specific class. Women had considerable independence compared to other parts of Europe. Legislative and judicial power lay in the hands of the free men at a popular assembly known as the Thing. Their legal system was closely related to those of other Germanic peoples. Dwellings were built according to methods that had changed little since the neolithic. A chieftain typically had his seat of power in a mead hall, where lavish feasts for his followers were held. Merchants frequently operated through joint financial ventures, and some legal disputes were solved through single combat. Men of prominence were generally buried along with their most prized possessions, including horses, chariots, ships, slaves and weapons, which were supposed to follow them into the afterlife.

Though the economy was primarily based on farming and trade, the North Germanic tribes practiced a warrior culture similar to related Germanic peoples and the ancient Celts. Warfare was generally carried out in small war bands, whose cohesiveness generally relied upon the loyalty between warriors and their chiefs. Loyalty was considered a virtue of utmost importance in early North Germanic society. A fabled elite group of ferocious North Germanic warriors were the berserkers. The North Germanic tribes of these period also excelled at shipbuilding and maritime warfare.

The North Germanic tribes practiced Norse paganism, a branch of Germanic paganism, which ultimately stems from Proto-Indo-European religion. Religion was typically practiced at hallowed outdoor sites, but there is also reference to temples, where sacrifices were held. The best known of these was the Temple at Uppsala. Their art was intimately intertwined with their religion. Their stories and myths were typically inscribed on runestones or transmitted orally by skalds. According to North Germanic belief, those who died in battle gained admittance to Folkvang, Freya's Hall, and above all to Valhalla, a majestic hall presided over by Odin, ruler of Asgard according to their cosmology and the chief god in the North Germanic pantheon. Runes, the Germanic form of writing, was associated with Odin and magic. "Runes, the early form of writing among the North Germanic tribes, were often involved in magic and were associated with the great god Woden." The thunder god Thor was popular with the North Germanic common people.

By the 3rd century there seems to have been a disruption of trade, possibly due to attacks from tribes in periphery. In the 4th and 5th centuries, larger settlements were established in southern Scandinavia, indicating a centralization of power. Numerous strongholds were also being built, indicating a need to defend against attacks. Deposits of weapons in bogs from this period suggest the presence of a warrior aristocracy. The Gutes of Gotland are in later Old Norse literature considered indistinguishable from the Goths, who in the 3rd and 4th centuries wrested control of the Pontic Steppe from the Iranian nomads. The Goths were the only non-nomadic people to ever acquire a dominant position on the Eurasian steppe, and their influence on the early Slavs must have been considerable. "During the second or third century A.D. the Sarmatian hordes were driven out by the German Goths and Heruli. The Gothic dominion lasted over two centuries, and is the only non- nomadic episode in the history of the steppe. The Goths were the most magnificent German people, and their influence on the Slavs must have been enormous. When the Huns invaded these territories, the North Germanic legends recall that the Gizur of the Geats came to the aid of the Goths in an epic conflict. Rich Eastern Roman finds made in Gotland and southern Sweden from this period are a testimony to this connection.

Archaeological evidence suggest that a warrior elite continued to dominate North Germanic society into the Early Middle Ages. The royal dynasty of the Swedes, the Yngling, was founded in the 5th century. Based at Gamla Uppsala, the Ynglings would come to dominate much of Scandinavia. The importance of this dynasty for the North Germanic peoples is attested by the fact that the later Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson begins his history of the Norse peoples, the Heimskringla, with the legends of ancient Sweden.

Early Middle Ages

Around 510, the Herules returned to their home in southern Sweden following centuries of migrations throughout Europe, after their kingdom had been overwhelmed by the Lombards. Their name has been connected to the word ''erilaz'' attested in Elder Futhark inscriptions and the title ''Earl''.

In his book Getica, the 6th century Gothic historian Jordanes presents a detailed description of the various peoples inhabiting Scandinavia (Scandza), a land "not only inhospitable to men but cruel even to wild beasts." Jordanes wrote that the Scandinavians were distinguished from other Germanic peoples by being of larger physical stature and more warlike. The most numerous of these tribes were the Swedes and the Danes, who were an offshoot of the Swedes. Another North Germanic tribe were the Ranii, whose king Rodulf left Scandinavia for Ostrogothic Italy and became a companion of Theoderic the Great.

As early as the 6th century, the North Germanic tribes were actively engaged in naval raids on Continental Europe. Between 512 and 520, as attested in the Royal Frankish Annals and Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, Hygelac, King of the Geats, made a great raid in the Rhineland. Carrying off great booty, Hygelac was defeated and killed before he could return to Scandinavia. Before the 7th century AD, Norwegian seafarers had settled Shetland. "There is evidence of early viking activity among the Scandinavian peoples, as among the other seafaring Germans: it is known from Frankish annals and the AngloSaxon poem Beowulf, for example, that between 512 and 520 Hugleik, King of the Gautar in the south of Sweden, made a raid on the Rhineland, where he took great booty, but was defeated and killed before he could carry it off. And Norwegian vikings had made settlements in the Shetlands before 700." During this time the Frisians were the foremost rivals of the Scandinavians for naval supremacy in the North Sea. "The destruction by Charlemagne of the naval power of the Frisians, once the rivals of the Norsemen on the sea, coincided with the rise of Scandinavian power, and probably played an important part in facilitating the Scandinavian advance." By the 8th century, the Swedes, by far the most advanced of the North Germanic peoples, had established colonial settlements in Estonia, Latvia and the southern shores of Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in Russia. "In the eighth century the difference between Denmark and Norway on the one hand and Sweden on the other was that Sweden was already an organized and ancient kingdom (based on Uppland), strong enough to engage in colonial expansion beyond its frontiers. These extensions of its territory were partly into Latvia and Estonia, and partly farther eastwards towards the southern shores of Lakes Ladoga and Onega." "Around 750, a small settlement was established at Staraia Ladoga... Traders and raiders from Scandinavia had visited the shores of the south-eastern Baltic and Lake Ladoga for some time before this, and some had even established settlements in what are today Estonia and Latvia." The settlement of Grobiņa in Latvia and the Salme ships of Saaremaa, Estonia, are testimony to this expansion. In this period the entire eastern Baltic Sea came to be dominated by a homogenous warrior culture derived from Sweden, in which Old Norse served as the lingua franca. "Coastal Estonia and the western and south-western coasts of Finland (including the Åland archipelago), as well as Livic areas in present-day Latvia, Karelia, and certain areas on the coast of the eastern end of the Finnish Gulf and Lake Ladoga, as well as Gotland and central Sweden, on the other hand, demonstrated an archaeologically very homogenous warrior culture, which can be observed as early as the 7th–8th centuries... Originally Scandinavian artefact types, ornament styles, grave forms, but presumably also attitude, stories, and legends, were taken over in these neighbouring coastal zones, adapted in local culture, and developed further locally... This was a multi-ethnic, mainly Eastern Scandinavian – Baltic-Finnic-based milieu, where however, the means of expression were borrowed from Sweden, and where self-identity probably relied greatly on Scandinavian values. The latter suggests that the lingua franca used in this milieu was presumably the eastern dialect of Old Norse, or perhaps a kind of pidgin Scandinavia based on Old Norse and Baltic Finnic."

Viking Age

In the late 8th century North Germanic tribes embarked on a massive expansion in all the directions. This was the start of the Viking Age, which lasted until 1066 AD. This expansion is considered the last of the great North Germanic migrations. These seafaring traders, settlers and warriors are commonly referred to as ''Vikings''. "For reasons of convenience, modern scholarship calls both sorts of Scandinavians 'Vikings', thereby blurring the distinction. Furthermore, there is another mistaken tendency to identify the 'Northmen' or 'Norsemen' with modern Norway, and the 'Danes' with modern Denmark. This is not appropriate for the simple reason that in the period in question the separate Scandinavian nations of Norwegians, Danes, and Swedes had not yet come into existence. The Viking appellation, therefore, needs to be glossed. It refers to an activity, not to an ethnic group... Ottar belonged to a group of peoples who were beginning to have a huge impact on European history.They are now called 'Scandinavians', though historically they were called 'Northmen." "“Viking” is a term used to describe a certain class of marauding Scandinavian warrior from the 8th through the 11th century. However, when discussing the entire culture of the northern Germanic peoples of the early Middle Ages, and especially in terms of the languages and literatures of these peoples, it would be more accurate to use the term “Norse.” Therefore during the Middle Ages and beyond, it therefore might be useful to speak of “German” peoples in middle Europe and of “Norse” peoples in Scandinavia and the North Atlantic." "The Northern Germanic pirates known as Vikings mostly spoke varieties of Old Norse; for reasons that are still unclear, in the late eighth century these Norsemen began a series of raids that soon grew into a scourge as they ravaged and terrified any part of Europe that was reachable by boat." "Vikings (who were Northern Germanic tribes, i.e., "Teutons" in the old nomenclature)..." The North Germanic peoples of the Viking Age as a whole are sometimes referred to as Norsemen. "The Northmen, Norsemen, or Norse were North Germanic peoples who settled in the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark" "Here we are concerned exclusively with the Northern Germanic peoples..." "North Germanic peoples, or the Northmen as we can more fitly describe them "Towards the end of the Anglo-Saxon period, large numbers of North Germanic (Norse) peoples settled in northern England. "Who were the Norse people? The term Norse is commonly applied to pre-Christian northern Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the so-called Viking Age. Old Norse gradually developed into the North Germanic languages, including Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish. Bronze Age rock carvings in Scandinavia suggest a Bronze Age origin for the Norse people." "Europeans called the Scandinavians Norsemen, Northmen, or Danes" "Old Norse' defines the culture of Norway and Iceland during the Middle Ages. It is a somewhat illogical concept as it is largely synonymous with 'Norse'... The term 'Norse' is often used as a translation of norroenn. As such it applies to all the Germanic peoples of Scandinavia and their colonies in the British Isles and the North Atlantic." "Contemporaries distinguished four main groups of Scandinavians: Danes, Götar, Svear and Norwegians or Northmen (a name that foreigners sometimes used to describe all Scandinavians" "The term "Norse" will be used as a catchall term for all North Germanic peoples in the sagas who are placed in opposition to the Finnar by the authors" However, the term ''Norsemen'' is often used only for early Norwegians, "Norse is a linguistic term which is sometimes applied to Norwegians and their colonies, but not to Danes or Swedes. Ditto for Norsemen. Northmen was used at the time, and covers the lot, but may seem to exclude women." "In 875 Danes and Norsemen were competing..." or as a synonym for Vikings. Though the early Scandinavians did not have an ethnonym for themselves, they certainly had a common identity, which has survived among their descendants up to the present day.

The cause of this expansion is often thought to have been overpopulation. "Parts of Scandinavia must have been over-populated, to judge from the never-ending stream of men that came forth from those lands; in viking life mortality was high, but there was never any lack of men to replace those killed. The hypothesis of over-population is strengthened by such legends as that told in selection xxi, according to which the island of Gotland became crowded, and one man of every three was selected by lot and sent away from the island ; and Saxo Grammaticus has a similar story of the origin of the Danish settlements on Baltic lands in the tenth century. Over-population, moreover, is the explanation of viking activity given by the early Norman his- torians, Dudo and William of Jumieges." Other explanations include political tensions, disruption of trade with the Abbasid Caliphate, or vengeance against massacres committed against the pagan Saxons by the Carolingian Empire. The prospect of a Carolingian invasion of Denmark itself created much fear and resentment among the Scandinavians. "An immediate cause of many of the early raids was the fear and resentment roused in the Scandinavians by Charlemagne's military operations in the north of Germany, especially as he threatened to invade Denmark." The destruction of the naval powers of the Frisians by Charlemagne in the 8th century also probably played a key role in facilitating the naval dominance of the Scandinvians. The centralization of power that was carried out by Harald Fairhair and other powerful Scandinavian rulers drove many warlike men into exile abroad. "Great political changes, too, in the ninth century drove many Norsemen into exile, who then took up a viking career. Harald Fairhair exiled many great fighting men in the process of consolidating the realm of Norway; and the struggles of rival princes for the throne of Denmark drove bands of followers abroad, as one or other of the claimants got the upper hand." By this time North Germanic military units were typically larger than in previous centuries. "The true Scandinavian expansion, when distinctively Norse traditions and speech were carried to other lands, belongs to the viking period, which may be roughly dated from 750 to 1050. During this period bands of Scandinavian adventurers , sometimes in forces large enough to be called armies, sailed overseas in search of plunder, or to win land for settlement; these piratical adventurers were called vikings." During this time the North Germanic peoples spoke Old Norse. "Norse was the language spoken by the North Germanic peoples (Scandinavians) from the time when Norse first became differentiated from the speech of the other Germanic peoples, that is, roughly, from about 100, until about 1500." ""Old Norse" was spoken by the North Germanic or Scandinavian peoples" "The North Germanic tribes spoke a language we now call Old Norse, the ancestor of the modern Scandinavian languages"

The Vikings raided and settled various parts in the British Isles, in particular the area around the Irish Sea and Scotland, where they became known as the Norse–Gaels. The Uí Ímair dynasty acquired a prominent position among these Scandinavians, establishing the Kingdom of the Isles. These Vikings, mostly Norwegians, came close to completely conquering Ireland until they were defeated by the Irish at the Battle of Clontarf. They would nevertheless remain firmly established in Ireland for generations afterwards, in particular the cities of Dublin, Waterford and Limerick. In the 9th century, Danish Vikings gained control of a part of eastern England, which became known as the Danelaw. England was the part of Europe most heavily subjected to Viking attacks, and it is likely that the Scandinavians would have gained control of all of England if not for the successful resistance of Alfred the Great. In the early 11th century, England temporarily became part of the North Sea Empire of Danish king Cnut the Great from 1016 to 1042.

Vikings were also active in both east and west Francia. There were extensive raids in the Rhineland, and Hamburg was burned in 845. In the early 10th century, a group of Vikings under the leadership of Rollo settled in Rouen, France, and established the Duchy of Normandy. The descendants of these Vikings, known as the ''Normans'', would in the 11th century conquer England, Southern Italy, and North Africa, and play a leading role in launching the Crusades. Sub-groups of the Normans include Anglo-Normans, Scoto-Normans, Cambro-Normans, Hiberno-Normans and Italo-Normans.

Some Vikings raided in Spain, and sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar and pillaged the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.

In the east the Danish Viking were active in raiding the Wends. The most famous colonies created by these Vikings was Jomsborg in modern Pomerania, which became the base of the Jomsvikings.

The Swedes were particularly active in Eastern Europe, where they were known as the '' Rus'''. They were engaged in extensive trade with the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate, launching raids on Constantinople and expeditions in the Caspian Sea. The Rus' are described in detail by the Arab traveller Ahmad ibn Fadlan, who described them as tall, blond and the most "perfect physical specimens" he had ever seen. "I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys and encamped by the Atil (Itil, Volga). I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blond and ruddy..." In the 9th century, the Viking Rurik is believed to have founded the Rurik dynasty, which eventually developed into Kievan Rus'. The North Germanic elite of this state were known as the Rus'. In the 10th century, the Rus', in cooperation with surviving Crimean Goths, destroyed the Khazar Khaganate and emerged as the dominant power in Eastern Europe. By the 11th century, the Rus' had converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and were gradually merging with the local East Slavic population, becoming known as the Russians. The North Germanic diaspora in the area were thereafter called Varangians. Many of them served in the Varangian Guard, the personal bodyguard of the Byzantine emperors. Among the prominent Scandinavians who served in the Varangian Guard were Norwegian king Harald Hardrada.

While the Danes and Swedes were active in Francia and Russia respectively, North Germanic tribes from Norway were actively exploring the North Atlantic. These Vikings were the first sailors in naval history to venture out into the open sea. "The final stage of Norse expansion in the west, the colonization of Greenland (which led to the discovery of America) was accomplished by notable feats of seamanship. These feats, moreover, afford striking illustration of the Norsemen’s great contribution to navigation: they were the first people who ventured to sail out to open sea. Before viking seafarers appear in history, voyagers were careful to follow courses that were never far from land; but the Norsemen struck boldly across the North Sea to the Orkneys and Shetlands, and they voyaged regularly across the open Atlantic to Iceland. These voyages were made in open boats; some ships had a small cabin at either end, but many had no deck or shelter of any kind. The hardships of voyages across the open sea in such ships must have been intense, but the Norsemen endured them habitually." This initially resulted in the colonization of the Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands, the Faroese Islands and Iceland. The most important Norse colony was the settlement in Iceland, which became a haven for Scandinavians who sought to preserve their traditional way of life and independence of central authority. "The first settler in Iceland was the Norwegian Ingolf, who came in 874. 1 He was soon followed by many of the exiled chiefs whom Harald had driven from Norway and the Scottish isles-; they were indeed the larger part of the settlement. They were men who were determined to keep their old freedom at all costs, and preferred to give up their possessions and live in a wild and barren land rather than yield to the new monarchy. They came to Iceland to save the old order of heroic society, and they preserved it there much as it had existed in early Germanic times before the great kings made their power absolute by destroying the free fellowship of the small lord and his men. The settlers of Iceland were men of more than usual force of will and love of liberty, the best of the Norwegian aristocracy The proportion of well-born men there was greater than in any other Scandinavian land, and it was in the gentleman’s household that the literary arts were practised most. Half or more than half of the literary power of Norway was thus concentrated in Iceland, and it throve the more for its concentration." The literary heritage of the Icelanders is indispensable for the modern understanding of early North Germanic history and culture. "In the eyes of the literary historian the most important of the Norse colonies is Iceland ; for in Iceland was written the greater part of Old Norse literature that survives today, and almost all that is of merit." In the late 10th century, the Icelandic explorer Erik the Red discovered Greenland and supervised the Norse settlement of the Iceland. His son Leif later made the first documented trans-oceanic voyage in history and thereafter supervised the attempted Norse colonization of North America. "The Greenland settlers and their descendants were intrepid voyagers and explorers. Eirlk’s son Leif sailed across the Atlan- tic to Scotland on his way to Norway, making the first trans- oceanic voyage known in history. And the Greenlanders also reached America ; no one who is acquainted with the historical value of Norse tradition can doubt it."

Later history

While Vikings were raiding the rest of Europe, their own Scandinavian homeland was undergoing increasing centralization. This is evidenced by the number of larger settlements being built. Some of these settlements became seats for royal mints and bishoprics.

By the mid-11th century, the North Germanic tribes had been converted from paganism to Christianity and were under the rule of centralized states. These states were the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. "These Langobards thus lived south of the Angles and east of the Saxons, and were somewhat removed from the North Germanic people of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway" The Scandinavian settlements in Greenland disappeared in the 15th century. Modern groups descended from the North Germanic peoples are the Danes, Faroese people, Icelanders, " celandersdwell chiefly by the shores of the ocean, and in the river valleys which open towards the sea. They belong for the greater part to the North Germanic race (Norsemen) Norwegians and Swedes. "Similarly homogenous are the countries of China (with 92% Han Chinese) and Korea, as well as Scandinavia, in particular Sweden (where more than 95% belong to the North Germanic people of the Swedes. Iceland, which is even more homogeneous, was settled by the Vikings almost a thousand years ago, has remained unspoilt by outsiders ever since, and is now comprised almost exclusively of Icelanders in the ethnic sense.)" "The word Nordic is used to suggest the racial origin of the peoples of Northern and Northwestern Europe. The word Germanic denotes their linguistic and cultural unity. The main divisions of Germanic are: 1. East Germanic, including the Goths, both Ostrogoths and Visigoths. 2. North Germanic, including the Scandinavians, Danes, Icelanders, Swedes, "Norsemen." 3. West Germanic. The Old English (Anglo-Saxons) belong to this division, of which the continental representatives are the Teutonic peoples, High and Low Franks and Saxons, Alemanni, etc. English and German are both West Germanic languages. Care should be taken not to confuse Germanic and German. Germcm (Deutsch) is the literary language of the High German division of the Teutonic dialects. "Germanic" (Germanisch) is a generic term covering all that is included in East, North and West Germanic." "The Germanic peoples were of course in no way particularly identified with the territory covered by modern Germany; they stretched from southern Russia, where the Goths were settled in the fourth century, when they first came to grips with Roman power, to Iceland, which was settled mainly by Norwegians in the ninth century. The usual subdivisions are: North-Germanic, comprising the Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, and Icelanders; West- Germanic, mainly English (Anglo-Saxon), Dutch, and German; East-Germanic, Goths, Vandals, and Burgundians. These subdivisions have been established rather on the basis of language than of geographical location, yet, roughly speaking, the results of the two classifications coincide." "The North Germanic, or Scandinavian group, consists of the Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, and Icelanders. It is particularly interesting to follow the literary activity of three of these Germanic peoples, the Anglo-Saxons, the Scandinavians, and the Germans." "The Scandinavians, or the Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, Teutonic peoples, are so intimately related in race and history, that, except with frequent repetition, it would be impossible to discuss them separately." "With the Swedes, Danes, and Icelanders, the Norwegians constitute the Scandinavian or Norse branch of the Teutonic stock." "Teutonic, ( Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Icelanders, English..." "SCANDINAVIANS. People of the Scandinavian group of the Teutonic stock, consisting of the Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, and Icelanders." "Scandinavians (Swedes, Danes, Norwegians) are Germanic peoples, specifically the northern branch, and descendants of Vikings. Their languages and histories are closely related." "Germanic peoples (3A). A broadly defined group of peoples from northern Europe who began to move south into Germany and other areas of Europe around 500 B.C. Modern Germans, Austrians, Dutch, and the Scandinavians (Danes, Norwegians, Swedes) are the most numerous of today's Germanic peoples." "The Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes represent the Scandinavian branch of the Teutonic family." "European branches are thus divided... Germanic... Scandinavians ..Danes and Norwegians. Swedes. Icelanders." "Danes, Icelanders, Norwegians, and Swedes are Germanic, descendants of peoples who first moved northward from the North European Plain some 10,000 years ago, when the ice sheets of the last glacial period retreated." ""TEU'I'ONIC PEOPLES, a term now applied: (1) to the High Germans, including the German inhabitants of Upper and Middle Germany and those of Smtzerland and Austria. (2) The Low Germans, including the Frisians, the Plattdeutsch, the Dutch, the Flemings, and the English descended from the Saxons, Angles, etc., who settled in Britain. (3) The Scandinavians, including the NorWegians, Swedes, Danes and Icelanders." "The Teutonic peoples, as they exist at the present day, are divided into two principal branches: (1) Scandinavian, embracing Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders; and (2) West Germanic, which includes, besides the German-speaking inhabitants of Germany proper (see Germany) and Switzerland (q. v.), also the population of the Netherlands (the Dutch), the Flemings of Belgium, and the descendants of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in Great Britain, together with their offspring in North America, Australia, and other British colonies— the English- speaking peoples of the world." "Under the Indo-Europeans, the chief groups are the Celts (Irish, Manx, Welsh); the Teutons, consisting of Scandinavians (Danes, Swedes, Norwegians), Low Germans (English, Netherlands, Low Germans), and High Germans..." These groups are often referred to as ''Scandinavians''. "The north Germanic peoples occupied the southern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. They subsequently spread westward across the Danish islands and Jutland, and their linguistic descendants today are the Scandinavians and the Icelanders." "The Vikings, known by a number of different names, the most prevalent alternate name Norse or Norsemen, were related to GERMANICS, that is, other Germanic-speaking peoples. Grouped together as SCANDINAVIANS they are also described as Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians, depending on the part of Scandinavia in which they originated..." "Not all the Germanic peoples left the Baltic region in the period concerned and consequently those that stayed behind were to become the ancestors of the present-day North Germanic peoples, the Scandinavians" "The Norse (people of the north) are known today as the Scandinavians— the people of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands" Although North Germanic, Icelanders and the Faroese, and even the Danes, "The Viking Period of history-books, as is everywhere understood, does not extend backwards to include such early exploits but begins only at the end of the eighth century when the Scandinavian peoples and the Danes show unwonted activity and more than usual daring and persistency in their robberies across the seas." are sometimes not included as ''Scandinavians''. North Germanic peoples are sometimes called ''Nordic peoples'' by historians. "Ethnically they were of Germanic origin. They spoke a North Germanic tongue, best described as Scandinavian or Old Norse. That is to say, all Vikings spoke the same language, and this must have been conducive to a feeling of solidarity among the Nordic peoples." "Throughout the Viking period the Nordic peoples continued to speak a mutually intelligible language." "The primitive Nordic language (donsk tunga, vox danica) was still in use among these Nordic peoples at the beginnings of the Viking Age." Along with the Germans, the English and the Dutch, they constitute one of the main branches of the Germanic peoples. ""Dutch quite often refers to German (because of the similarity in sound between Dutch and Deutsch) and sometimes even Scandinavians and other Germanic people." "The Scandinavians are a North Germanic people closely related to the Anglo-Saxons, the Frisians, the Germans, and the Dutch."

The Nordic countries, especially Iceland, are along with the nations of East Asia considered some of the most ethnically homogenous countries in the world. "Descended from northern Germanic tribes, the Danes are among the most ethnically homogeneous people in Europe"

In the Late Middle Ages, the countries most associated with North Germanic cultures were briefly united under the Kalmar Union. With the rise of romantic nationalism in the 19th century, many prominent figures throughout Scandinavia became adherents of Scandinavism

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