How To Rune A Good Time: Swedish History Museum

The Unna Stone, a viking-Christian memorial runestone,
showing both a sea serpent & a cross

Hello again, Blogonauts!

What do you know of the vikings? And how confident are you about that?

Today challenged everything I ever believed about the vikings (including whether that term even qualifies as a noun) when I visited the Swedish History Museum.

Since it was only about a mile away, I decided to walk to the Museum. The path brought me past a large flea market. What a crowd! And one table was selling monogrammed tea towels (that clearly needed to be fitted with someone who had similar initials). So I picked up a simple linen tea towel monogrammed with the letter "L." 😊 

But that was a distraction (both for me and for you) from Swedish History! The museum has created a compelling exhibit covering from pre-history through what is known as the Viking Age. Hundreds of objects are chronologically displayed to illustrate what we can known about the development of human culture in Sweden, up to around 1000 C.E.

(A second exhibit covers the time since the year 1000, but that wasn't nearly as interesting or well conceived.)  

Stone age jewelry, and a carved elk, all dating from before 2000 BCE

A carved stone comb and face

Many of the discoveries from the most distant times have been found in peat bogs, where low oxygen environment helps to reduce the deterioration of the materials. 

As their culture developed during the Stone Age from hunter-gatherers to agriculture, the family farmstead became the primary social unit. Tribes developed, and no doubt (as with all human relations) conflicts arose among them. But the Norse people were largely able to feed themselves working on the small scale. 

Then, from the Bronze Age up to the Iron Age, contact with cultures further afield heavily impacted Swedish life. The Norse culture wasn't immune to wanting to improve their weaponry, and these new metals were far better than the flint axes and arrows they had used for centuries.

It was difficult to get the raw materials for making bronze, but increased trade brought both copper & tin to Sweden, but in the quantities they could secure, the objects they made reflected their religion and their ways of life. 

A miniature bronze statue of Frey, the Norse god of fertility (tee-hee!) & prosperity

 

A mold for casting a dragon from molten bronze, and a similar bronze dragon head

During this period, contact with the Roman Empire (yes, we need to refer to Rome, even as we discuss Sweden) helped to create the runic alphabet. Some of the similarities with Roman letters may be difficult for the untrained eye to make out, but those who can read the inscriptions that are found on rune stones point to near one-on-one correlations. 

So, what about the vikings?

The term "viking" appears to refer to the act of traveling, similar to farming or building. You weren't a viking; you were a farmer who happened to be out "viking." 

The Viking Age lasted for only about 250 years, from about 800 to 1050 CE. (For reference, Charlemagne was crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800, and William the Conqueror conquered England in 1066. And for comparison, next year the USA will celebrate 250 years of independence.) 

As the Norse learned to build seaworthy ships, both men & women set out as explorers. Mostly they were looking for trade more than conquest... but... 

BUT, they weren't likely to shy away from a fight. Plus, there are plenty of stories in the Norse sagas of fierce battles that arose from vengeance & petty jealousy.

When you stop to think about it, though, isn't that also the core of Homer's Odyssey?

As the Norse travelers/vikings set out to explore (and there's evidence they made it at least to Constantinople, and perhaps as far as Iran), there's no reason to think that such emotionally charged inter-cultural dramas didn't play out also in real life. And when there's booty about, it's a rare culture that hasn't at one time or another decided just to take it.

Christianity also made it to Sweden early in the Viking Age. There is evidence that the Norse culture attempted to integrate their own beliefs and practices with Christianity.

Early crucifixes found in Sweden. I think they resemble Thor's hammer.

One other point was made: The Vikings, similar to their Roman counterparts, kept slaves, known in Sweden as Thrall. These were clearly multi-generational families required to do forced labor. Many were captured in battle, but others were made a thrall as punishment for crimes or due to unpaid debts. The trade in slaves continued outside of Scandinavia further into Christian Europe and in the Islamic slave markets. 

So... Wasn't that an enthralling day!

Ah... but on to today's phood foto. Since I left Estonia, my hotels have provided stupendous breakfast buffets, and so lunches and dinners have offered less intriguing culinary eye-candy. However, just so you know I'm not starving, here's a pic of the hefty bowl of beluga lentil soup that I had for dinner:

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Blog to you later!

Larry