The Kylfings (

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''Kylfingar'';

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

''Kalevid''; Hungarian ''Kölpények'';

Old East Slavic Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian) was a language (or a group of dialects) used by the East Slavs from the 7th or 8th century to the 13th or 14th century, until it diverged into the Russian language, Russian and Ruthenian language ...

Колбяги, ''Kolbiagi'';

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...

Κουλπίγγοι, ''Koulpingoi'';

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

''al-Kilabiyya'') were a people of uncertain origin active in Northern Europe during the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

, roughly from the late ninth century to the early twelfth century. They could be found in areas of Lapland,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

that were frequented by

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n traders, raiders and mercenaries. Scholars differ on whether the Kylfings were ethnically Finnic or Norse. Also disputed is their geographic origin, with

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and the Eastern

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

all put forward as candidates. Whether the name Kylfing denotes a particular tribal, socio-political, or economic grouping is also much debated. They are mentioned on the

Viking runestones The Viking runestones are runestones that mention Scandinavians who participated in Vikings, Viking expeditions. This article treats the runestone that refer to people who took part in voyages abroad, in western Europe, and stones that mention men ...

, the

sagas of Icelanders The sagas of Icelanders (, ), also known as family sagas, are a subgenre, or text group, of Icelandic Saga, sagas. They are prose narratives primarily based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and earl ...

(most notably in ''

Egil's Saga ''Egill's Saga'' or ''Egil's saga'' ( ; ) is an Icelandic saga (family saga) on the lives of the clan of Egill Skallagrímsson (Anglicised as Egill Skallagrimsson), an Icelandic farmer, viking and skald. The saga spans the years c. 850–1000 a ...

''), and

Old Norse poetry Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in the Old Norse language, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Old Norse poetry is associated with the area now referred to as Scandinav ...

such as Þorbjǫrn hornklofi's ''

Hrafnsmál ''Hrafnsmál'' (Old Norse: ; "raven song") is a fragmentary skaldic poem generally accepted as being written by the 9th-century Norwegian skald Þorbjörn Hornklofi. ''Hrafnsmál'' largely consists of a conversation between an unnamed valkyrie a ...

'', as well as

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

records and

Rus' Rus or RUS may refer to: People * East Slavic historical peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia ** Rus' people, the people of Rus' ** Rus, a legendary eponymous ancestor, see Lech, Czech and Rus * Rus (surname), a surname found in Ro ...

lawcodes. According to the sagas, the Kylfings opposed the consolidation of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

under

Harald Fairhair Harald Fairhair (; – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first Monarchy of Norway, King of Norway. Supposedly, two ...

and participated in the pivotal late ninth century

Battle of Hafrsfjord The Battle of Hafrsfjord () was a naval battle fought in Hafrsfjord sometime between 872 and 900 that resulted in the unification of Norway, later known as the Kingdom of Norway (872–1397), Kingdom of Norway. After the battle, the victorious Vi ...

. After Harald's victory in that battle, they are described in the sagas as having raided in

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

and elsewhere in

northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

and having fought against Harald's lieutenants such as Thorolf Kveldulfsson.

Etymology

The exact etymology of the word ''kylfing'' is disputed and many different theories have been put forward as to its ultimate origin. The general trend has been to trace ''kylfing'' to the

words ''kylfa'' and ''kolfr'', but scholars disagree as to the meaning of these words as well. Cleasby notes that in Old Norse, ''kylfa'' can mean a club or cudgel. Thus the national Icelandic antiquarian Barði Guðmundsson translated ''Kylfing'' to mean "club-wielders".Guðmundsson ''passim''. As Foote points out, it can also mean a smaller stick, such as a tally-stick or wooden token used by merchants, and, according to Jesch, it can also mean the "highest and narrowest part" of a ship's stem. Holm discussed the term ''kylfa'' in connection with the word ''hjúkolfr'' which means "meeting" or "guild"; according to Holm, the second element ''kolfr'' could refer to a symbolic arrow traditionally used as a device to summon people for a meeting. These varied derivations have led to a number of interpretations. Holm offers two meanings: "archer" and "man armed with a

cudgel A club (also known as a cudgel, baton, bludgeon, truncheon, cosh, nightstick, or impact weapon) is a short staff or stick, usually made of wood, wielded as a weapon or tool since prehistory. There are several examples of blunt-force trauma caus ...

". A number of historians have asserted that ''Kylfing'' referred to a member of a " club in the social or Anglo-American sense", a "brotherhood" or a member of a Norse

félag (Old Norse, meaning "fellowship, partnership") was a joint financial venture between partners in Viking Age society.Fritzner, Johan (1867). Ordbog over det Gamle Norske Sprog'. Feilberg & Landmark. p. 139. Etymology The word ' is constructed by ...

.Holm 85Ravndal 75.Arbman 90. In a number of minor Icelandic manuscripts on mathematics and geography, ''Kylfingaland'' is identified as

Garðaríki (anglicized Gardariki or Gardarike) or was the Old Norse term used in the Middle Ages for the lands of Rus'_people, Rus'. According to ''Göngu-Hrólfs saga'', the name (also used as a name for Novgorod Land, Novgorodian Rus') was synonymous ...

, ''i.e.''

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...

, but the sources are unclear as to whether Kylfingaland is named for the Kylfings or vice versa, or whether, indeed, there is any connection at all. The

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

of ''Kylfing'' is ''Kolbjag'', following the pattern of development *''kolƀing'' (*''kulƀing'') > *''kolƀęg'' > ''kolbjag''. The ''Kolbiagi'' were a group of foreign merchant-venturers and mercenaries mentioned in a number of

Old Russian Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian) was a language (or a group of dialects) used by the East Slavs from the 7th or 8th century to the 13th or 14th century, until it diverged into the Russian and Ruthenian languages. Ruthenian even ...

sources. They are often mentioned together with the

Varangians The Varangians ( ; ; ; , or )Varangian
," Online Etymology Dictionary were

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

to describe traders and pirates of the Baltic sea. In Byzantine Greek, they were named ''koulpingoi'' and they served as a unit of the Byzantine army listed alongside the

Varangian Guard The Varangian Guard () was an elite unit of the Byzantine army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangian Guard was known for being primarily composed of recruits from Nort ...

, which was of Scandinavian origin. A very different derivation was put forward by the Russian scholar B. Briems. He hypothesised that ''Kylfingr'' was a direct Norse translation of the Votic self-designation ''Vatjalaiset'' and ''Vatja'' (or ''Vadjalaiset'' and ''Vadja'') used by the Votes, a Finnic people residing in

Ingria Ingria (; ; ; ) is a historical region including, and adjacent to, what is now the city of Saint Petersburg in northwestern Russia. The region lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian ...

. A non-Norse origin was also proposed by Julius Brutzkus, who argued that both ''Varangian'' and ''Kylfing'' derived from the

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of more than 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and West Asia. The Turkic langua ...

, particularly the Bulgar and

Khazar language Khazar, also known as Khazaric, was a Turkic dialect group spoken by the Khazars, a group of semi-nomadic Turkic peoples originating from Central Asia. There are few written records of the language and its features and characteristics are unknown ...

s. Brutzkus asserted that ''Varangian'' came from the Turkic root ''varmak'' ("to walk, travel") while ''Kylfing'' was a Norse pronunciation of the Slavic ''kolbiagi'', itself deriving from the Turkic phrase ''köl-beg'' ("sea-king"); under this interpretation the word ''Kylfing'' would be more or less synonymous with "

Viking Vikings were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

Identity

According to ''Egil's Saga'', the Kylfings were trading and plundering in

around the year 900. Thorolf Kveldulfsson, King Harald's tax agent in northern Norway, engaged

Saami The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several A ...

scouts to monitor the Kylfings' movements and report back to him. Countering their raids, he is reported to have killed over a hundred Kylfing marauders.''Egil's Saga'' § 10 (Scudder 20). Some scholars see them as Scandinavians while others consider them to have been a Finnic tribe, and assert a connection between the word Kylfing and the Finnish, Saami, and Karelian myths of Kaleva. Elsewhere they are described as a mixture of Norse and Finnish people who were employed as

mercenaries A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...

and tax-agents by Scandinavian rulers; in this context Ravndal interpreted the ''kylfa'' element to refer to a "club" in the sense of organization. Arbman argues that the Kolbiagi were a separate fur-trading guild. Postan ''et al.'', on the other hand, hypothesize that Kolbiag denoted a junior participant in a Varangian trade guild, rather than a separate group.

Finnic peoples

Holm (1992) considers Egil's saga to equate the Kylfings with the Finnic

Karelians Karelians (; ; ; ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group who are indigenous to the historical region of Karelia, which is today split between Finland and Russia. Karelians living in Russian Karelia are considered a distinct ethnic group closely ...

.Holm 86. In the 14th century, when the Swedish kings began to direct their attention northwards and encourage Swedish colonization in

Norrbotten Norrbotten (), sometimes called North Bothnia, is a Swedish province (''landskap'') in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland. Administration The traditional provinces of Swede ...

, there were regulations that the Birkarls and the Saami peoples were not to be interrupted in their traditional activities.Holm 87. A large part of the Karelians were under Novgorod which was included in what Icelandic sources called ''Kylfingaland'', and thus the Kylfings could have been Baltic Finnish tribes under Novgorod.Holm 88. Solis Occasus in Sino Bothnico

Both

East Slavs The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor.John Channon & Robert Huds ...

and Byzantines consistently made a clear distinction between Varangians and Kylfings, and Byzantines distinguished between them in the same manner as they separated

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

from

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

s. According to Holm such separations are indicative of clear ethnic differences between the two groups. Additionally, both East Slavic and Byzantine sources explicitly associate the Varangians with Baltic region, which they called ''Varangia'', and in Arabic, the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

was called ''Bahr Varank'', ''i.e.'' the "Varangian Sea". There are no comparable connections when they mention the Kylfings. Another difference is the fact that the Byzantine sources connect the word ''varangoi'' with ''rhōs'' in order to make it clear that the ''rhōs-varangoi'' and the ''varangoi'' originate in Baltic just like the ''rhōs'', but do not establish the same associations for the ''koulpingoi''.Holm 89. The Kylfings have also been identified with the

Votic people Vots, also referred to as Votes, Vods and Votians (, ''vađđalaizõd''; ; ; ) are a Finnic ethnic group native to historical Ingria, the part of modern-day northwestern Russia that is roughly southwest of Saint Petersburg and east of the Esto ...

Carl Christian Rafn Carl Christian Rafn (January 16, 1795 – October 20, 1864) was a Danish historian, translator and antiquarian. His scholarship to a large extent focused on translation of Old Norse literature and related Northern European ancient history. He w ...

, Edgar V. Saks, B. Briem and

Sigurður Nordal Sigurður Nordal (14 September 1886 – 21 September 1974) was an Icelandic scholar, writer, and ambassador. He was influential in forming the theory of the Icelandic sagas as works of literature composed by individual authors. Education Nor ...

have proposed Kylfings to have been the Norse name for the Votes. The reason is that the

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...

''Vadja(laiset)'' can be associated with the word ''vadja'' (modern Estonian ''vai) which means "stake", "wedge" or "staff", which corresponds to Old Norse ''kolfr''. ''Vadjalaiset'' would consequently be translated into Old East Norse as ''kolfingar'', which in Old West Norse (Old Icelandic) would be umlauted as ''kylfingar''. Whereas some native names were Scandinavized, as ''

Rostov Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

'' into ''Ráðstofa'', the Norse learned of the meaning of other names and translated them, which they did at

Volkhov Volkhov () is an industrial types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Volkhovsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the river Volkhov (river), Volkhov east of Saint Petersburg, St. Petersbu ...

, and in the case of some of the Dniepr rapids. The theory that the Kylfings were Votes has been opposed by Max Vasmer and Stender-Petersen,Holm 91. whereas Holm finds it likely. Holm considers it apparent that the Varangians and the Finnic tribes were able to cooperate well, and he points to the relative ease and stability with which Finland was later integrated as a part of the Swedish kingdom.Holm 95. Jorma Koivulehto, a Finnish linguist, disagrees with the Vote theory and maintains that the Votic name or any other Finnic ethnonym is not etymologically connected with the name Kylfingar. Estonians have also been identified as Kylfings.

Scandinavians

Barði Guðmundsson identified the Kylfings as an East Scandinavian, possibly Swedish, tribe that infiltrated northern

during the late ninth century. Guðmundsson connects the Kylfings with the Germanic

Heruli The Heruli (also Eluri, Eruli, Herules, Herulians) were one of the smaller Germanic peoples of Late Antiquity, known from records in the third to sixth centuries AD. The best recorded group of Heruli established a kingdom north of the Middle Danu ...

who were active throughout northern Europe and in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

during the fifth and sixth centuries. According to Guðmundsson, many of these Kylfings may ultimately have emigrated to

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

during the ninth and tenth centuries. Other scholars have assigned a Danish origin to this tribe. Some scholars have considered the Kylfings of ''Egil's Saga'' to be a "conquering Germanic people", or the Swedish king's tax collectors. Holm (1992) considers such suggestions to be anachronistic because the Swedish kings lacked any interest in northern Fenno-Scandia during the ninth and tenth centuries, and not even the later law of Hälsingland mentions any Swedish settlement north of

Bygdeå Bygdeå is a locality situated in Robertsfors Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden with 502 inhabitants in 2010. The town is situated some south of the municipal seat Robertsfors and several kilometers inland from the Swedish Kvarken of ...

in southern

Västerbotten Västerbotten (), sometimes called West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in northern Sweden, located by the Gulf of Bothnia. It borders the provinces of Ångermanland, Lapland and Norrbotten. The region is famous for Väs ...

.Holm 86ff. Pritsak identified the Kylfings as a "professional trading and mercenary organization" that organized expeditions northward, into the Saami lands, as distinct from other

Varangian The Varangians ( ; ; ; , or )Varangian
," Online Etymology Dictionary were

viking Vikings were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

groups whose expeditions focussed on lands to the west and east of Scandinavia. This interpretation is supported by such historians as Stender-Petersen. A number of runestones in

contain the

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

''Kylfingr'', which may or may not be connected to the Kylfings as a group.

Other suggestions

A few historians have hypothesized that the Kylfings were a West Slavic people related to the Pomeranians. Under this interpretation, the Slavic term ''Kolbiag'' may share common origins with such place-names as

Kołobrzeg Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section ...

(formerly Kolberg), a town on the

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

n Baltic coast, and

Kolpino Kolpino () is a administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, municipal city in Kolpinsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Russia, located on the Izhora River (tributary of th ...

, a settlement near modern

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Status

Byzantine Empire

Eleventh-century

sources refer to Kylfings (Κουλπίγγοι, ''Koulpingoi''; often attested in the

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

plural ''Κουλπίγγων'', ''Koulpingon'') as being among the foreigners serving as mercenaries in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, but appear to distinguish between them and the Varangians. For instance, an imperial

chrysobull A golden bull or chrysobull was a decree issued by Byzantine emperors and monarchs in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Description A golden bull was a decree issued by Byzantine Emperors. It was later used by monarchs in Europe ...

, an edict bearing a golden seal, issued in 1073 exempts certain

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

from being forced to

billet In European militaries, a billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. In American usage, it refers to a specific personnel position, assignment, or duty station to which a soldier can be assigned. Historically, a billet w ...

soldiers of specific '' ethne'': Varangians,

and ''Koulpingoi''. In previous edicts issued in 1060 and 1068 the Koulpingoi had not been separately delineated.Laiou 91. Similar edicts were issued in 1082, 1086, and 1088. The edict issued by

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

1088, for instance, reads:

Russia and the eastern Baltic

The Kylfings were also active in the eastern Baltic and northern Russia. ''Kylfingaland'' may have been used to refer to

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

; on some runestones it has been interpreted as a synonym for Garðariki, the Old Norse name for

. The eleventh-century '' Ruskaya Pravda'', the

law code A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the co ...

of the

, grants certain privileges to Kylfings (''Колбяги'' or "Kolbiagi") in addition to Varangians ("Varyagi"). For instance, Varangians and Kylfings were entitled to press charges with an oath without relying on any witnesses. In addition, in order to swear innocence, they needed only two witnesses, whereas a native Slav needed as many as seven. Moreover, the Varangians and the Kylfings were entitled to give shelter to a fugitive for as many as three days, whereas Slavs and others had to hand him over directly.

Hungary

A military organization called ''Kölpények'' is reported to have existed in Medieval Hungary during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. Hungarian scholars have proposed that the ''Kölpények'' were identical with the Kylfings/Kolbiagi.''A Pallas Nagy Lexikona.''Székely 11. Hungarian sources regard the ''Kölpények'' as being of Scandinavian origin. They were hired by the early rulers of the House of Arpad, particularly

Taksony of Hungary Taksony (, also Taxis or Tocsun; before or around 931 – early 970s) was the Grand Prince of the Hungarians after their catastrophic defeat in the 955 Battle of Lechfeld. In his youth he had participated in plundering raids in Western Eu ...

in the 950s, to serve as frontier guards. They fought with their Magyar employers alongside

Sviatoslav I of Kiev Sviatoslav or Svyatoslav I Igorevich (; Old Norse: ''Sveinald''; – 972) was Prince of Kiev from 945 until his death in 972. He is known for his persistent campaigns in the east and south, which precipitated the collapse of two great powers ...

against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and the Byzantine Empire. Alternatively, the ''Kölpények'' may have been of

Pecheneg The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks, , Middle Turkic: , , , , , , ka, პაჭანიკი, , , ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Pečenezi, separator=/, Печенези, also known as Pecheneg Turks were a semi-nomadic Turkic people from Central Asia who ...

origin, as there was a Pecheneg tribal group called ''Külbej'' during roughly the same period.

''Austkylfur''

The

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

ic poet Thorbjorn Hornklofi wrote about ''Austkylfur'', or "East-Kylfings", in his epic poem '' Haraldskvæði''. In some manuscripts the name was, probably erroneously, rendered ''auðkylfur'' or "rich men".Chadwick 186. Some

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

s, using the nautical meaning of the word ''kylfa'', interpret the phrase as "eastern ships". Others, such as F. Jonsson, interpreted ''Austkylfur'' to mean "eastern logs", while Vigfusson believed that the phrase properly meant simply "men of the east". Another interpretation of the term used in ''Haraldskvæði'' is the derogatory "eastern oafs". Guðmundsson specifically identified the ''Austkylfur'' of Hornklofi's poem with the Kylfings mentioned elsewhere in Scandinavian and Eastern European sources, and interpreted the phrase ''Austkylfur'' to mean "eastern club-wielding men".Guðmundsson 82. In ''Haraldskvæði'' as recorded by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

in the ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

'', the Austrkylfur were described as being opponents of Harald Fairhair at the Battle of Hafrsfjord. As such they formed part of the force, led by

Kjotve the Rich Kjotve the Rich (Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old N ...

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

and the kings and jarls of

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

, and

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

, that came to Hafrsfjord to fight Harald's encroaching

hegemony Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states, either regional or global. In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of ...

. The exact relationship between the ''Austkylfur'' and the anti-Harald coalition is unknown. Nora Chadwick identifies the ''Austkylfur'' as the part of the force opposing Harald that came from Agder and Telemark. These districts lie further east than the other kingdoms opposing Harald's rule. After their defeat by Harald and his army, the Kylfings' property was plundered and their womenfolk, described as "eastern maidens", were distributed by the victorious king among his warriors.

Timeline

Notes

References

* Anderson, T.
Kylfingar
" in Hoops, Johannes, ''et al.'', ''Reallexikon Der Germanischen Altertumskunde.'' Walter de Gruyter, 2000. p. 520–522. * '' Anglia: Zeitschrift für englische Philologie''. Niemeyer, 1924. * Arbman, Holger. ''The Vikings.'' Praeger, 1961. * Blöndal, Sigfús and Benedikz, Benedict S.
The Varangians of Byzantium
'. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007 . * Brutzkus, Julius. "Warjager und Kolbjager." ''Acta Seminari Kondakov''. 1935. * Bugge, Sophus. "The Norse Lay of Wayland and its Relation to the English Tradition." ''The Saga Book of the Viking Club'', Vol. II. David Nutt, 1898. * Chadwick, Nora Kershaw. ''Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems.'' Cambridge Univ. Press, 1922. Originally published under her maiden name. * Cleasby, Richard and Guðbrandur Vigfusson. ''An Icelandic-English Dictionary''. Clarendon Press, 1874. * Foote, Peter Godfrey and David Mackenzie Wilson. ''The Viking Achievement''. Praeger, 1970. * Guðmundsson, Barði. ''The Origin of the Icelanders.'' Lee Hollander, transl. Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1967. * Hastings, John. "Kalevala". '' Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics.'' vol. 7. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908. *
Kaikamees -- ajalooline aunimi.
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'. Arcanum Adatbázis Kft, 1998. * Laiou, Angeliki E. and Roy P. Mottahedeh.
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'. Dumbarton Oaks, 2000. * Norvin, William. '' Classica et mediaevalia: revue danoise de philologie et d'histoire.'' Librairie Gyldendal, 1938. * Percy, Thomas and

Margaret Clunies Ross Margaret Beryl Clunies Ross (born 24 April 1942) is a medievalist who was until her retirement in 2009 the McCaughey Professor of English Language and Early English Literature and Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of S ...

. ''The Old Norse Poetic Translations of Thomas Percy: A New Edition and Commentary''. Brepols, 2001. * Postan, M. M., Edward Miller, and H. J. Habakkuk. ''The Cambridge Economic History of Europe.'' Cambridge Univ. Press, 1987. * Pritsak, Omeljan. ''The Origin of Rus'.'' Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1991. * Ravndal, Gabriel Bie. ''Stories of the East-Vikings''. Augsburg Publishing House, 1938. * Scudder, Bernard, transl. "Egil's Saga". ''Sagas of Icelanders''. Penguin, 2001. * Sootak, Jaan.
Development of Estonian Criminal Law
" ''Juridica International'', Vol. 1996-I. pp. 52–53. * Struminski, Bohdan. ''Linguistic Interrelations in Early Rus''. CIUS Press, 1996. * Székely, György. ''Hungary and Sweden: Early Contacts.'' Akadémiai Kiadó, 1975. * Vernadsky, George. ''Medieval Russian Law.'' Columbia Univ. Press, 1961. {{featured article History of Karelia History of Kievan Rus' Norsemen Historical ethnic groups of Russia Medieval history of Russia Novgorod Republic