Vikings at War by Kim Hjardar & Vegard Vike

Author:Kim Hjardar & Vegard Vike
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Ancient, Europe, Medieval, Weapons, Antiques & Collectibles, General, Crafts & Hobbies
Publisher: Casemate
Published: 2016-11-22T08:00:00+00:00

The first person to come and stay on Iceland was a Norseman, Ingolv Arnarsson. He and his foster brother Hjørleiv had been pronounced guilty of murder in Norway and they had to flee. In around 870 they sailed on an expedition to Iceland and overwintered in what is now Álftafjord. A few years later they came back to settle permanently on the island as the first colonists. In Norway they stowed two ships with as many moveable goods and household furnishings as they could and set sail with their whole household including the slaves, and such of their livestock as they could fit.

Tradition says that when they reached the coast of Iceland, Ingolv cast the posts of his forefathers’ high ceremonial chair overboard and said that he would settle where they came to land. The following year they found the chair-posts at what is now Reykjavik. While they were looking for the chair-posts they came upon Hjørleiv and all his men, murdered. The slaves had seen an opportunity to gain their freedom and had rebelled when they reached the island. They had then taken the ship and the women to the Vestmanna Islands. Ingolv went out to the islands, killed the slaves and freed the women. Violence had come to Iceland with the Viking ships.

Ingolv’s farm was the first centre of settlement on Iceland, as he was the first to sail there with the intention of settling. Many Norwegians followed, and probably a number of Swedes and some Danes. Some sailed direct from the west coast of Norway, but quite a few came via the British Isles, bringing Irish household members and slaves.

The Icelanders were not subject to Viking raids or invasions from abroad. Nor did they themselves set out on organised raids. However, as individuals or as small groups they took part in many of the biggest military campaigns in Europe. They participated as warriors, traders and skaldic poets. They entered service in the retinues of kings and chieftains, perhaps mostly in Norway but throughout Scandinavia, the British Isles, Normandy, Russia and Byzantium.

At home on Iceland there were no great military mobilisations or organised warfare. What did occur was what some have called ‘saga warfare’. As there was no central authority which could implement sentences, it was up to individuals to seek justice. The uncertainty about the allting’s (‘central parliament’s’) judicial authority led to bloody conflicts. These often took the form of murder by ambush or fire-raising. Duelling (‘holm-going’) was another usual way to resolve conflicts, but it was often misused as a means of self-enrichment, and the allting passed a resolution to forbid it in 1006. The constant feuds, which have provided material for the rich saga literature, led to the development of a state with its own legal system.

Christianity first came to Iceland with Icelanders who had been converted abroad. One such was the widely travelled Torvald, who brought with him a bishop called Fredrik, from Saxony, but this mission was unsuccessful. A messenger from King Olav

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